Got a call from Nigel in the week to ask if I'd be up for depping on
guitar for Glyn from the Motives. He'd
had a car incident and damaged his leg and would be out for a couple of
weeks. "Count me in" I said
without hesitation; knowing I would have
to square it with Ms J who was hosting a beer festival weekend. Nigel added
that old drumming colleague Martin would be depping on drums as well - so it
would be a bit of a reunion for the old Foot Tappers rhythm section. "Great" I said "I'll look
forward to it!" Broke the news to
Ms J who was wonderfully ok with it.
Nige sent thru a set list of which about half were familiar or buskable
for me just needed to mug up on some
keys and about half a dozen songs that were a bit tricky. I had a couple of days to research and concentrated
on 'A Little Bit More, Come On Everybody, Love Really Hurts, Dancing on a Saturday
Night and 4 Strong Winds".
Come the day, I set off about 5:40pm for an easy paced drive over to Dereham. Arrived 6:45 to find the band had arrived and were setting up. Nige had just introduced me to Kenny (singer) and Hannah (keyboards) when Martin rolled up. I set up my Mesa Lonestar and my trusty Godin XTSA on Nigel's right and was soon operative. Nige suggested I cut the bass a bit on the Mesa; a good thought particularly for a 5 piece - it allows the guitar to sit above the bass in the soundscape and complement keyboards. Kenny had some PA gremlins to clear, but that didn't take long. We had a brief sound check with bits of "Crocodile Rock and Four Strong Winds". Martin's Tama kit was crisp and the bass drum sounded just great. Nige's bass was thru his mini Phil Jones Bass suitcase stack - I knew how good that sounds 'cos I have a single one at home and his double set up was awesome. After we came off, Hannah teasingly told me that she'd heard I was very disorganised and kindly offered to put my music notes in set order. (Nige had told them I was highly organised!) Had a beer with the boys and then it was time to get changed. Nige, Martin and I squeezed into the concert secretary's office to put on our black shirts and trousers. Then, shock horror, Nige found he had left his clothes at home "Kenny will kill me" he said. We improvised. I lent him my trousers, 'cos my travel gear was dark anyway. Nige came clean with Kenny and borrowed a shirt from him. Kenny decked us all out in pink ties to match Hannah's dress and we were set to go. We took to the stage a few minutes late and I still didn't know what the opening number would be until Ken announced "My Little Girl is Smiling" - Nige whispered in my ear the Key "E" and I went into busk mode. Actually its a fairly simple chord sequence with a nice guitar riff between verses and I was able to pick it up quite well. It was a bit of a strange sound experience for me: I am well used to the Bose set up and here the guitar and bass amps on the floor immediately behind us sounded distant - but I could hear the drums and keys well. The sound out front must have been fine 'cos the dancefloor soon filled. Most of the early few numbers I could busk or find in the book, but then the repertoire seemed to depart from the sequence Hannah had set up. However, with a combination of extreme busking and Nigel reminding of tricky chords, I got by quite well and even turned in the occasional improvised solo. Hannah as musical director is quite disarming. Typically she will turn and look at you with a winning smile that means "your solo if you want it". I was able to decline a couple and she just ripped out a great solo on the keys to keep it going. But I thought I'd have a go at "Your 16" - it was a bit jazzy (experimental) but I got thru in the end. Thereafter rock and roll solos were no problem; the Mesa is a great help with its valve compression and sustain making the solos really sing. (The Bose is always a more brittle sound). Early on I opened 'Four Strong Winds" with the XTSA acoustic sound with a lot of chorus to simulate a 12 string and I was surprised by how good it sounded through the Mesa. The night continued pleasantly; highlights for me included a great band performance of "Pretty Woman", a fair solo in "Johnny B Goode" and an audience request for "Apache" which Hannah improvised nicely considering she hadn't done it before. I elected not to do the Shadows Walk into the audience - my knees are not practiced! All too soon it was all over, we finished with 'Wonderful Tonight'; I did my own simplified guitar interpretation which Kenny was happy with. I know Kenny was disappointed with the audience turn out but he was happy with the band. We'd had a good night and for me I think were a few more on the floor than when the Foot Tappers last played there in 2010. Pack up was easy and I was soon on the road feeling strangely elated at a good night out. Bit foggy on the way home and I took a wrong turning in Thetford which meant I wasn't home 'til 1:45am. It had been great playing with Nige and Martin again and I got some positive feedback from Nige on Kenny's view of my depping the next day. I was looking forward to depping with them again the next week, but their guitarist Glyn had recovered enough to be able to play - I wished them well though.
