Redditch Palace Theatre Sat Feb 6th

If you saw yesterday's blog you'll have read about those capricious couriers of karma, the Rules of Rock, and how they have the habit of kicking you right in the biffins just when you thought everything was clicking into place. Well, today we ALL got a good shoeing, and no mistake. It had started so well, too....a lovely little theatre, good ticket sales, a cosy stage, nice house crew, and a relatively short drive home after the show. The mighty Newcastle had larruped Cardiff City 5 - 1 last night, and there was a fish and chip shop just around the corner. God was in His heaven and all was well with the world. Except He must have been in His shed mending His holy lawnmower or something for most of the day, because one thing's for certain....He wasn't watching over US ! Everything was fine right up until soundcheck, and even then I didn't notice anything amiss until Den said he was feeling a little hoarse. Now, I was totally unaware of these equine proclivities, but what he gets up to in the privacy of his own home is, of course, his business.... He did, however, sound like someone whose voice was breaking for the first time, and the alarm bells started ringing. Den revealed he'd been aware of a bit of a problem with his throat for a few days, but had hoped it would settle down. Instead, it got worse. And worse. By the time the doors opened we'd had to take two numbers out of the set completely, change another for a less punishing song by the same artist, and put Jamie on standby to jump in at any point with the lead vocal if it looked like Den wasn't going to get through it. This was a Very Big Problem Indeed; four days in to a forty-four date tour and finding your main singer can't sing is NOT the ideal start, really. In a situation like that you've only got two options...you either cancel the show or you just grit your teeth and go for it. We opted for Plan B, and it was as if we were being punished for our temerity. A perfectly good microphone suddenly failed. When Clive went to run the first video insert, nothing happened. One of the projectors suddenly started glitching. The pyrotechnic firing unit, which had been fine at the interval, fell over, and the first pyro cue was missed. The laptop got stuck on a slide and I couldn't shift it for what seemed like an hour. And on top of all this, Den was getting worse and worse. Jamie and Steve in particular manfully filled the gaps, and Den tried as hard as he could, but he was fighting a losing battle with his throat. The audience, fortunately, were fantastic and extremely understanding throughout, and to our huge relief we went down a storm. After the show the War Cabinet met to decide on a course of action, and at the time of writing the plan is to go ahead with tomorrow's show in Hunstanton if possible, but to have Den examined by a Harley Street ENT specialist on Tuesday. After that it's in the lap of the ( Rock ) gods.....and we all know what a bunch of bastards THEY can be.....don't think there'll be many pleasant or untroubled dreams in the camp tonight, though...