Saturday, September 30, 2006

From the ridiculous to the sublime - switcheroo!

This time it went the other way round - the first gig was the barmy one. Well, not that crazy I guess, but nothing like the next one I did.

This was a barn dance and I was depping on bass for a friend. She's a lovely lady, but the band she runs drives me crazy. The melodeon player is the sort of guy you quite like, but are ready to deck after about 20 minutes. He took his melodeon off, and got up to walk across the stage at one point. "NO!" I shouted. Too late. He'd taken his melodeon off, but not unplugged all the wiring that amplified it - so - with that still connected to his belt and to his melodeon, result was a big crash and the instrument tumbling to the floor, taking with it a glass of water (great on a stage full of electrical gizmatronomy).

We were on a small stage in a Church - a Baptist church. Unlucky for me - I wasn't driving for a change but this was a 'no booze' gig, so I had to put my cider tins away for the duration. We played, they danced and smiled (really, really smiled - all night long - it was scary!). £70 thank you very much and goodnight.

The PA didn't work properly (home made monitors with teak veneer front-room speakers and bell wire), the violin was out of tune (well, no friggin, monitors, what do you expect?), and no booze. Not my perfect gig, I admit.

Then - the following night! The Poozies! Ohh, yes, what a band! Two harps, guitar, accordion (well, you can't have it all), and four voices. They were sublime. And I was support act (all on my own, just me, no one else).

I did a good set I think (well, I was complimented at least thrice), and then they played fantastically. What a contrast.

Next? Next come my adventures with S - a lady from Israel who is young enough to be my daughter (I'm not ageist), a very fine guitarist, bassist and songwriter. But that's another post for another day.

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