A busy weekend of gigs kicked off with an acoustic solo set at Bubbles in my hometown Ashington last Thursday September 1st. This came courtesy of an offer from Mr Phil Hughes of Insangel Promotions and I was more than happy to oblige. Bubbles is a venue I've played countless times over the years. First as a young drummer with my first ever band AWOL, through to my early singing guitar playing days with JUNKSTER and The BLISTERS. So it felt comfortable yet fresh to be standing solo on such a familiar stage with so many memories, and it was time to make some new ones! After a few sound problems during first song THE BALLAD OF THE DISENCHANTED I soon found my stride as the banter and tunes flowed sweetly, in what almost felt like a warm up gig for my Mr.B slot the following evening. The reception from the intimate local crowd was warm and generous and I was happy with the start to what is gonna be a busy sonic fuelled weekend! I hung around for next band GRASSCUTTER from Newcastle who I hadn't seen before, so it's always interesting to check out new bands. After witnessing an uneasy soundcheck, the band kicked off with their groove laden psychedelic bluesy swagger and certainly grabbed my attention. But it was their intoxicated lead singer who'd even make Shane McGowan blush, that caught everyone's eye! Even though he was swigging from a bottle of water he seemed to get more pissed by each song! At one point he staggered and cracked his head off the PA speaker and with blood pouring from his head he slurred "it's only Rock n roll". I'm not sure if this was part of the act but his band didn't seem to care as they played on regardless with a more sobering intent. Fusing the likes of The Doors and early Kings Of Leon they definitely had an interesting unique quality to them. A strange end to a satisfyingly interesting night, and this was just the beginning. Big thanks to everyone who came down. Cheers to Phil Hughes and everyone at Bubbles.
Friday September 2nd saw me return to The Tavern in Blyth supporting Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer. Fresh from his successful Glastonbury appearance, this chap is very much in demand, as the busy packed house proved beyond doubt! Hitting the stage at 8:45pm the bustling unfamiliar crowd of ladies and gentlemen waited politely to see what I had in store for them. Opening up with recent new track IDOLS was a brave move, but one I pulled off with aplomb as I breezed though it to a brilliant reception. After second song THE DEATH OF THE 7" SINGLE I knew I had them on my side and it was going great. Picking the more lyrically humorous tunes to tailor my set to fit the mood of the night just seemed the right thing to do. It was cool to play a song like SKOOL DAZE which rarely gets an outing and is a number that everyone can relate to. Climaxing with OLD PUNKS NEVER DIE / ONLY FOOLS & HORSES brought my set to a rapturous end and I couldn't have been happier. I was dripping with sweat and every drop was well earned and deserved even if I do say so myself. Next up was the smartly dressed mustachioed chap himself who had the crowd eating out of his hand from the off. Beckoning them to the front of the stage and had everyone singing along to his opening song, our beige trousered aristocratic hero was in full flow. All hail the chap indeed. Although an acquired taste you can't help but be entertained by this clever talented ukulele wielding chap hopster. The highlight for me being his early 90s indie mash up including classic snippets from HAPPY MONDAYS, STONE ROSES and INSPIRAL CARPETS. A great end to another successful solo nights work. Thanks again to everyone who came along. Cheers to Vince Race and everyone at The Tavern.
Saturday September 3rd and this was shaping up to be one hectic roller coaster ride. I was right. With the rain lashing down we got to Druridge Bay Country Park site around 5:40pm, a mere 20 minutes before our allocated stage time. Also due to the shit weather the outdoor stage, where we had been due to perform, had been cancelled so we were moved to the Blue stage tent! Previous band Dennis were just announcing their last song as we waited eagerly for our slot! We were reminded of a strict 30 minute stage time as things were running very tight with the outdoor stage being knackered and having to accommodate all those acts into the remaining tents! So it was just our luck that our reliable guitar tuners decided not to play ball! With the clock ticking and the blue stage crowd growing by the second, Paul and myself were more out of tune than we were before we started! I wouldn't say we were panicking but this was certainly testing our resilience! After a shout from me from the stage, a helpful fellow guitar player saved the day by handing me a snazzy tuner! Thank you that man, whoever you are! We must have now used up a good 12 minutes of stage time. But hey this is rock n roll. It's LoGOz. Things aren't meant to run smoothly for us! It's all part of the rollercoaster ride we're on! So we're here now and we're gonna have a blast. And we certainly did that. One of the shortest sets we'll ever play LONG TIME DEAD, JUBILEEZER, HELLO LONELY, DISGRACELAND and MEXICOLA but the crowd fucking loved it! As did we! No sooner had the applause and cheers left our ears we were shunting it across the field with the rain still lashing down on us and we reloaded the cars to get ready to hit the Bebby! But before that we had time for a brief break and crack with fellow revellers as we enjoyed a Belgian beer and a German sausage.
We pulled up at the Bebside Inn Blyth around 7:45 to see sound man Steve Wolf happily setting the PA up. As we manoeuvred around him we were all set up in good time as we prepared for the two 45 minute sets ahead. It was great to see so many familiar LoGOz hardcore faces tonight so we knew we were in good company. Kicking off with INTERGALACTIC GIRL and straight into ALIENATION it freshened us up playing some older LoGOz tracks that only make an appearance on these double setters. We also threw in one of my old songs RUBY MURRAY that I wrote when I was in The Blisters. It's a fun song about drinking and curries and fitted in well towards the end of our first set. After a 30 minute break and another Scorpion lager we launched into our second set with LONG TIME DEAD. The crowd were now as warmed up as were as folk happily danced and sang long. Happy days. There was even another blast from the past we gave them my old band Junkster classic ONLY IN AMERICA. As we finished our second stint with the Sex Pistols anthem PRETTY VACANT, the Bebby massive demanded more! And we for one, weren't gonna disappoint! So MEXICOLA got its third airing of the day and everybody was happy! Not least us, and me personally who was knackered but buzzing after a hugely successful weekends gigging! Thank you again to everyone who came along and to all the staff at The Bebside Inn. Special mention to Jill D who saved the day a few times this weekend with transport help, you're a star!
Phew I think that's all folks! Thanks for reading.
Cheerz
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