Apologies fans, for the lack of posts recently. The reason is two fold. Firstly, I actually have work to do. I may only have five days left in my job, but it’s the kids that would suffer if I didn’t try and replace the irreplaceable (i.e. me!). I’m not sure I could live with the guilt.
Secondly, seeing as Ian and I have been shoved into a corner, where the modern apprentice used to live (I like to call it the departure lounge) before she got fired, nothing works! My computer is too busy loading ‘pleasures of the flesh’, requested by modern apprentice and then crashing. She was a strange creature. This makes dossing at work more of a chore than the sneaky pleasure it once was.
Right, what was I meant to be blogging on about. Ah yes, the first night of The Mad The Bad And The Dangerous tour. A musical marathon that saw three sets and lasted over three and a half-hours. The setting was the Riga Music Bar in Southend. It reminded me of the fictional ‘Phoenix Club’ in Phoenix Nights. It had Riga written in italic gold sparkles on the black back cloth. It was also about 130 degrees in there. It was a sell out, but the owners had copped out on the air-con.
I was more of an endurance test than a gig. To summarise:
John Otway is a lunatic. A reasonably talented musician with 2 hits to his name, but one of the funniest acts I have ever seen. His well-versed routine with his wonderful guitarist had me in stitches. I won’t spoil it for you.
Wilko Johnson is very good. An excellent guitarist (he doesn’t use a plectrum at all, very good control and thumbs of steel), supported by a very good band. He pulls out his trademark moves, sings well and delivers a very good set.
Just over 2 hours in, and the doors at the back fly open. People flock out to get some much-needed oxygen. The meek are fading, but everybody knows what’s coming next. THE HAMSTERS.
Slim, Otis and Zsa Zsa, are probably the most talented live band I have ever seen. Technically, they are tremendous, they are such a tight unit, and Slim is such a good live singer. Combined with their witty commentary (i.e. "I know we are in chav central, so when I say I’m going to play R&B, I don’t mean f’ing Usher, OK!") you know you are in the presence of something, disciplined, professional but joyous. You can tell they enjoy it so much.
The best bit of their set is when they switch off the lights and the LED’s in their guitars light up the stage. Then Slim and Zsa Zsa walk into the audience and circle the room in opposite directions. They meet up at the back and then swap instruments and come back gain. Then Slim swaps his newly acquired bass guitar for the drums. All mind boggling stuff. Check out their website, the link is on the right.
In other news: I went to Leeds this weekend. I want to see Dan the man Sales of ‘Fish Hat’ fame. Sadly I can’t say much about the weekend due to the massive amounts of scandal that occurred. Pictures are not allowed for the same reason. People I love and care about read this blog and it would be wrong of me to label them as the filthy sex pests they know they are.
All I can say it that it was lovely to see everyone again, and I hope to see them at my leaving do. There is a special sort of friendship you have for people that I went to Uni with. It's probably because we lived and grew together. Some of these bonds however are exploited by filthy sex pests, but I can't talk about that. If word got out, they may shut my old Uni down (Keele by the way) because of the scandalous tendancies of its most revered alumni.
I apologies for the lack of pics. I am working on this. I need to embrace new technology more and not rely on my sister to do it for me. (By the way get well soon Sis) If you want to see cool pics of things, go to Ian’s blog. He’s got loads of them!
Bye for now, Andy
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