Wensum Community Centre

Got away at about 5:45pm and had an uneventful run over to Norwich on a dark, cold night. Sufficiently cold for me to get my Winter anorak out! Arrived about 6:45 pm and a few minutes Nigel rolled up (in just his shirt?) just as Richard the entertainments manager appeared to open up. We had just started to get the gear in when Martin arrived to dep for the night. I took the trouble to set up the Fender 12 string but both guitars needed a bit of tuning – probably the cold weather! We did a bit of a soundcheck with “How Long Has This Been Going On” which went surprisingly well. But by about 7:50pm we were all set up and ready for a beer – thanks Martin! Some folks from Norwich WMC came to support, but noted that Mark James was on at the WMC so quite a few of the ladies were staying there! We opened up at 8:20pm to do about an hour of our usual sort of stuff and, although it wasn't crowded, there were enough in the concert room paying attention to keep us on our toes. Generally our lightweight set 1 wigging and banter went well, but there weren't many takers for dancing. After about 50 minutes we wrapped up with “Words” and took a break for another beer – thanks Nigel! Resuming set 2 we started with “Travelodge California”. I muffed a bit of the early part of the solo, but that aside we played it pretty well. The surprise 'accented' ending must have confused the audience who only started applauding as we shaped up for the next song. A number of people had been talking to us about Dave (and the tribute) so we did “Somewhere Under the Sun” as a dedication. I stuck on the 12 string through the “Hollies” and “Searchers” medleys but I think I changed back for “Do It Again”. Played on to an old Foot Tappery type climatic end through “Sweet Caroline”, “Wonder of You”, “Crazy Little Thing”, Johnny B Goode to finish with “Love is All Around”. I had a bit of trouble remembering this one but got there in the end. In the break I asked Martin to have a go at “Let There Be Drums” to open Set 3. That got a great round of applause and we got a few up dancing as we did “Dance the Night Away”, “Do You Wanna Dance” and “Amarillo”. As things were going well I called for Ace's “How Long”. By using a pick Nige got a great bass sound just like the record and we got the vocals so well we couldn't resist repeating the chorus several times at the end. And it went down real good with the audience, so we continued to pick and mix to another climatic end with “Unchained” and then “Walk Alone”. This went down a bomb as usual. I had primed Nigel for “Hippy Hippy Shake” as the encore so we tore into that and then Nige threw in “Saw her Standing There” for good measure. A great ending to a good performance. We had some fine complimentary remarks as we packed up – 'a class act' seemed to sum it up! Richard was apologetic that he couldn't get more people in from the bar to the concert room, but said that the sound had carried well into the bar and people there really enjoyed the band. Packed up and loaded by about 12:40am and home by 1:30am well satisfied with the night.

Watton Barn Ruche Ladies Night

We had a bit of confusion with deps and illness and finally ended up with Mick depping on the night. I arrived in good time at the gig on a dark, stormy night and had just pulled up when Mick arrived. We were directed to the back door and started to get the gear in through a mighty deep puddle. When Nige arrived he only had his Crocs on and soon got wet feet! By the time we had the gear in the floor was awash and I had to borrow a mop to clean it up before set up. Mick and Nige set up on the floor mainly to the right of the door so I set my Bose up to the left of the door leaving a bit of a gap to the door for emergencies. There was plenty of room so Mick decided to put up his lights as well. That involved quite a bit of lead running, but was worth it because they made quite a difference. Mick controls the lights from a floor unit I think. I met up with the Worshipful Master (a jolly Scotsman) and agreed times. We had along wait while they got through dinner, so we enjoyed a quiet drink and chat in the bar. Got changed into the black shirts with black ties and white waistcoats – made a change! It was about 9:50 when we started up with “Foot Tapper”. Mick caught the groove quickly and apart from a bit of an abrupt end it went very well. We continued through the usual set one easy going stuff and we were getting a good reception. Dancing was intermittent but they had just finished a big meal. The bits of banter we did went down generally well and the Beatles wigs got a bit of a laugh. I worked out towards the end of the set we needed slowies to get them dancing and we wrapped up with “Words” which filled the floor nicely. Because we were short on time, set 2 was only 45 minutes. We did an interesting “Searchers” where Mick took us on through the key change to A in “Needles and Pins” and then we had a job to get out and back to F to do “Walk in the Room”. But we handled it professionally without breaking down. We took a short break before wrapping up with a final 20 minute party dance sing-a-long, including a request for “Pretty Woman” which Mick sang well. It was after midnight as we closed with Mick singing “You'll Never Walk Alone”. This brought the house down, so we did do an encore with “Wonderful Tonight”. The Master was well impressed with the band and announced we would definitely be coming back to one of their do's soon. Quite a few members of the audience came up to say how much they had enjoyed it and we handed out several cards for prospects. Pack and load up was like working in a paddy field 'cos the puddle was still outside the door. Still we got away by about 1am pleased with a good night. I had expected Mick would fit in easily but the performance demonstrated more than that: showing strong vocal and entertainment potential once we get some rehearsal time in.

Dave Lemon's Tribute Dance at Green Park Centre Wicken Green Village.

Had a good run over with Jacqui and Claire aboard and Jack and George following. The Green Park Centre is on an old US air base and much of the site is dilapidated. One minute you are in the civilised Norfolk countryside, the next you are in this scene of devastation reminiscent of 'Mad Max'. Anyway we de-car'd and strolled past the burger bar bumping into Jenny who looked very well considering. Going on into the building I found Nigel and Charlie (and his mate Rick) working on the PA.



They had been there since 9:30am and were just about to power up. Just off the stage, and touchingly, Steve was in the final stages of setting up Dave's kit and some wigs as a display, we had an emotional man hug! Next I found Alan and said hello - he seemed in remarkably good shape considering his recent ailments and was quietly confident all would go well! Some country boys had started to arrive; including 'Boomerang' who had travelled up from a gig in Hampshire! They started tripping over Charlie's multi-core and soon got him to shift it to run over the over the door to the artistes dressing room – a good move I think! I brought my guitars and bits and pieces in and started to wire up the CD player and radio mic. Met up with Bobby Graham who gave me his backing track CD so we could test it out and it all seemed well. Next up we set the radio mic receiver on top of the CD player. When I tested this out I made a mistake asking Charlie for too much middle on the radio mic for Claire's announcements. Of course, Claire is a radio personality not a rock'n'roll close mic user and because the JTS rapidly loses bass proximity, we had to go back to Charlie's original setting - doh! Claire went off to interview artistes and I went over to see how Ms J was doing. I found her with Jenny and Hilly doing a roaring trade selling entrance and raffle tickets. In fact the hall was filling up rapidly and it was clear there would be a shortage of tables and chairs. Jenny and Martin set off to organise more furniture while Steve organised a big pot for the raffle tickets. Then Dan and Michele made their entrance - having been to the wrong Green Park (Rural) Centre first. Poor Michele was suffering from a bit of a cold but said she would still do a few numbers. Meanwhile Gordon James was due to be first on at 2pm, time was getting on and he was nowhere to be seen? With about 20 minutes to go he appears armed with a suit and a CD. We quickly sorted out his song sequence and he went off; I thought to get changed! After a few minutes time was marching on, and he still wasn't ready for Claire's 'cue' but eventually I found him the 'queue' for the bar. So I said 'leave that to me mate, you go and get sorted for your start!' So I got his drink and looked round - he had gone missing again! It turns out he was outside having a smoke... Finally he was ready to go, Claire started her welcome announcement, cue'd Gordon on and he starts up only a few minutes late – we were off! And from the off Gordon sounded the best I've heard him. Charlie had got a great vocal sound and the CD backing was clearer than Gordon's usual mini-disc set up. He got a big reaction from the capacity crowd appreciative of a close to on time start and soon had the country folk up and dancing. All went well through his set, and as he completed his spot, the afternoon settled into a pattern of Nigel / Rick setting up artistes, Claire introduction, artiste on for 20 or 30 minutes. My role being co-ordination and direction. Here is our Running Order and Compere's notes as directed by Alan, padded out by Nige and adjusted by myself:

RUNNING ORDER
Gordon James (20 mins) (2-2.20)
Gordon and Dave were friends in Weybourne as children and got up to many escapades together. One was Dave falling out of Gordon's boat. Gordon would sometimes do a couple of numbers with the Foot Tappers when he attended a gig.

Terry Edwards & Boomerang + Christine (40 mins) (2.23-3.06)
Dave played with popular country band 'Boomerang' many times. A studio recording CD of Terry and Boomerang with Dave as the drummer is available for purchase. Christine was lead vocalist in Dave's early/first? band 'Crystal Wood'. She is a well-known solo country singer/keyboard player. As Christine will appear halfway through Boomerang's set they will introduce her.

Bobby Graham (20 mins) (3.09-3.29)
Bobby has been a friend of Dave's for many years. They played together in 'Mississippi Delta' Last song: 'We won't forget you'

Winston The Singing Farmer
(20 mins ) (3.32-3:55)
A local legend. Dave played at Winston's farm a few years back with Alan Cannel and John Derek in the band 'Stealer'. I switched Winston up from the original order because Kenny and Hustler were delayed en route.

Kenny Lee & Hustler (4.05-4.25)
Kenny and most the boys took to the stage with a stand in drummer, 'cos their drummer was delayed. Anyway he arrived about 3 numbers in and did his bit. Dave has been friends with the band for many years - spending many hours chatting about music and bookings with lead guitarist Mick Breame. Dave and rest of the Foot Tappers played at Kenny's wedding bash in 2008 Last song: True Love Ways

Hi Definition (4.28-4.58)
A new band for 2010, four friends of Dave: John (lead guitar) lives in the same North Walsham street; David (keyboards, guitar) played with Dave in Tequila Sunrise; Mark (bass) may even be a distant relative; Martin (drums) went to the same school as Dave. When Dave saw Martin learning the drums on the suitcases and saucepans , he let him have a go on his kit - It was the first time Martin played a real kit. Special thanks to Martin for standing in as dep with The Foot Tappers so well. Last song: Crocodile Rock

RAFFLE (4.58-5.05) Alan had cunningly arranged for the ladies to draw the tickets and stuck them to the prizes, so we gained some time as self service of prizes could go on while the event continued.

Michele Summers
(20 mins) (5.20-5.40) Poor Michele was suffering with a cold so reluctantly thought it best to contract to a 3 song set. Rather than find a way of amplifying her guitar, Winston kindly lent his. Michele elected to start off with just a guitar and no backing with "Wind Beneath My Wings" and that went very well considering the cold. She had asked for the backing track for “Old Fashioned Girl” but we had a problem pausing the player so she continued without and it sounded just fine. We finally found a way of getting tracks cued and she finished with the song she did for Dave and Jens big 15 wedding anniversary: “Evergreen” complete with backing track. Michele's little spot made a nice complementary contrast to the other stuff on the show and was much appreciated by the audience now settling down to their tea.

Tequila Sunrise
(20mins) (5.43-6.13) One of the area's top country bands. Dave played with these for quite a while in the past. Last song: Six days on the road. Nigel particularly liked these boys and they certainly got the country dancers going.

Marc James
(20 mins) (6.16-6.36) A good friend of Dave's, often called in on Foot Tapper's rehearsals. Marc did a fine set and afterwards I approached him after to come up and do a few with the Foot Tappers. on our musical tribute to Dave section.

Shake Rattle 'n' Roll + John Jarvis
(40mins) (6.39-7.24)
Shake Rattle 'n' Roll are a top rock'n'roll band. Alan Cannell (lead guitar) is Dave's brother-in-law and the 'Main Man' organising the event. John Jarvis will come on halfway, so Alan will introduce him. For info, he is best known as Norfolk's Big 'O', lead vocalist with East Coast Rock and currently 60s duo Fick'n'Finn.

Foot Tappers
(30mins) (7.30-8:00)
Nigel and I took to the stage with Marty Baldry of The Peppermint Men on drums (thanks also to Marty for depping with us at Norwich). We rattled out “Foot Tapper and Just One Look”. The guitar sound in the monitor was loud and distorted, but I assumed (rightly) that Charlie would have it OK out front because we got a great reception. The three of us then donned the wigs one more time for a Beatles medley. I mistakenly missed out “Nowhere Man”, but the boys followed me courageously! We then rearranged to bring on Dave Brooks (ex-Tequila Sunrise) now bass player with popular 60s group 'Kenny and The Beat Merchants' and founder member Dan on guitar - playing my spare Godin. Opened up with “Heartbeat”, a bit lonely vocally without Nigel but it got them dancing. Then Dan and I went forward in our original waistcoats to do the Shadow's walk to “Apache”. This got a huge reception and whilst that 'thundered on' we rearranged to bring Dave Ainsworth up on bass and put Dan on vocal to do a dedication of “Under the Sun” to Dave. Got off to a weird start to accommodate Dan's slightly delayed arrival at the mic, but we got through the verses OK. We gained a bit of time as Dan curtailed the solo's and we rallied to an end. I was pleased to bring Nigel back on (with an unplugged guitar to hide behind) so we would have his harmony vocal for a slightly slower “Lying Eyes”. Maybe I got it a tad too slow but it went down well enough as a country crossover piece. Both the Daves had done a fine job on bass, but it was now time for Dave Ainsworth to depart and Nigel to get back on bass for the finale. Earlier in the event I had asked Marc James if he would come up and do lead vocal on the finale and he duly obliged by coming up on stage to join us. We got underway with “Sweet Caroline” and Marc did a great job belting out a smooth vocal Dave would have been proud of. And with strong backing harmonies it went down just great with the crowd. I asked Marc to stay and help us do “Unchained” as our dedication to Jenny. We know this would be hard for Jenny because Dave always dedicated this song to her, so we did the short version with one middle section running to an emotional end. I asked Nige what the time was? – 8pm he says, time to wrap up says I. So we got the crowd primed to do “Walk Alone” with us. Marc started it off and we joined in (still reading the chord sheets I'm afraid) and we brought the show to a huge sing-a-long climax. Marc was just perfect standing in on lead vocal and I shook his hand and thanked him profusely for standing in to help us out with those big finale numbers. Note: We had hoped to bring on Charlie (of Zebra Express) to do a number. Charlie depped on bass with the Foot Tappers several times. Of course Charlie was providing the PA and he wouldn't risk leaving the desk – good man!

Finally Jenny and Alan came on to thank everyone and close proceedings. A lot of money had been raised for charity. Jen gave a brave and tearful thanks to all for coming and to Dave for 18 years or marriage and then the event was declared closed.
We packed up our bits and pieces and were away by just after 9 pm. The others had to soldier on to after 10pm to get packed and loaded up. All in all a great send of for Dave that will bring some closure to many.

Wyverstone Village Hall Fundraiser

My old road manager from the 70's, Jack Hale (now a Reader at Newcastle Uni), and son George came over for the weekend, so I put up a couple of back seats in the Galaxy and loaded them and Jacqui in to make the 30 minute journey to the gig. It was very dark in rural Suffolk as we made our way and we thought there must be a time warp when we passed the village boundary sign for 'Stowlangtoft', not once, not twice, but three times. Arrived to find the hall open and Nige and Alex already there. With assistance from Jack and George we had the gear in very quickly. Met up with Steve and Stuart the organisers who were in good form and quickly got the hall stage lights fixed - they had to replace some bulbs. There is plenty of depth on this stage and I briefly considered using the 12 string but bottled out in the end. Set up went smoothly until I tested out the reverb. I hadn't realised how sensitive the Bose analogue input is in the reverb chain and you have to have the analogue input set to at least one quarter. Eventually things tested out OK and we got changed for an 8pm start. Started off gently with Foot Tapper etc and after a bit of jazz with “Phoenix and “Lady is a Tramp” we quickly moved onto to the Four Season and Beatle medleys. We got a surprisingly good response to everything we did, but particularly the rock'n'roll when we did “Blue Suede Shoes running into Whole Lotta Shakin”. Did “Move It and Easily Fall” by Cliff. We played for about an hour and took a break for some beer and buffet and then got on with set 2. Started with “Under the Sun, Tambourine Man, Hollies, Searchers” - all familiar stuff. We did risk the Eagles “Lying Eyes” but slipped back into to rock'n'roll before wrapping this set up with “Johnny B Goode” and “Dream” (a tad fast). After another break for the raffle and roll a coin at the bottle, we got on with a long 90 minute set 3. Steve did offer to pay more for extending the set but I said 'no! – donate it to the charity'. We started with “Dance the Night Away, Amarillo and Hey Baby” Then Nige slotted in a surprise with “Spirit in the Sky” - took me a minute to get sorted on guitar but it went down OK. Further along the way we rocked things up a bit doing: “Midnight Hour”, “All Right Now, “Can't Get Enough” and “Really Got Me”. We had had a few requests for things we couldn't do, but someone finally requested something we could have a go at: the Stones! So we rattled out improvised versions of “Honky Tonk Women” and “Jumping Jack Flash”. Nige put some up tempo dancier stuff in with “Hippy Hippy Shake, Lets Dance and Mony Mony” and then inevitably we had a request for some Quo; so we rattled out “Rockin All Over the World, Whatever You Want and Caroline” all a bit improvised 'cos we hadn't done them for ages! We finally wrapped up with Nige surprising me by singing: “You'll Never Walk Alone” - he did pretty darn good despite my taking a minute to find the music! This was followed by lots of applause and shouts for more, so we did a final encore of “Apache” with a couple of girls playing tennis rackets. It had been a great night and Steve was well chuffed with the result. Jack and George seemed to have had a good time leaving behind the wreckage of several beer bottles. We got packed and loaded quickly with the extra help and it was freezing outside. Made a slow and peculiar journey home in the mist and cold, only going through Stowlangtoft once and getting in about 1:30am.

Photo Shoot at Hindringham Village Hall

Nigel had arranged with one of his clients, Gary, to do a Photo Shoot for the new band. I was a bit delayed gathering last minute bits and pieces and only got on the road just before 9am. Pleasant sunny day albeit it a bit chilly. Despite diverting over the Nun's Bridges in Thetford to avoid lorry traffic in the town I had a very slow drive over to Swaffham. Ended up having to call Nige to declare a 20 minute late ETA, but when I arrived they had only recently finished setting up background and camera so not much wasted time. Gary took some shots of Nige and Mick for their Everly's duo that would be operating while I was away. Next we did various band type shots featuring Mick's snare drum, my PRS Hollowbody and Nige's Hofner Bass. Then we did a few individuals with Beatle wigs and Mick got dressed up as Freddy. As we packed up we decided to default to “Sky High” as the new name unless there was a strong reason not to. Gary and Nige went off to load up the pictures onto a DVD and Mick and I set off on our separate ways home.