Newport Riverfront Sat Feb 27th

We have that rare beast today, a drive between gigs that’s actually short and sweet. We’re breaking more new ground too, as this is the first time the show has been to South Wales. What we DON’T understand is why you get charged about twenty quid for coming INTO Wales over the Severn Crossing, yet you get OUT for free ??!! We think the public should be told…… The truck has to stick to the main roads and thus be subject to this latter-day highway robbery, but the crew decide “ sod that for a game of Cluedo “ and take the alternative route over the hills via Ross On Wye. It’s all very beautiful and sheepy and fieldy and stuff, and we’re enjoying our little run out, right up until the time until we get stuck behind a German truck driver who is also trying to avoid the toll by dragging his rustbucket artic up hill and down dale along a road designed more for horses and carts than Horsts and cars. Typical Johnny Foreigner, ducking paying what he’s due to Her Maj, Gawd bless ‘er. Yes, yes, I KNOW we’re doing it too but we’re British, dammit, so we’re allowed ! We finally get past this Teutonic tosser and sail into town. Today we’re at the Riverfront in Newport, a relatively new theatre that has already sold about 70% of the seats for tonight., so we’re really looking forward to the show. This is one of those venues like Stevenage and Harlow where there’s loads of space, great facilities and good crews, and when we eventually step up to the next level with this production we’ve vowed that we’ll be working exclusively in places like this. Because of the speed and ease with which everything happens, the atmosphere’s relaxed, and there’s even time to send out for ( and actually enjoy rather than wolf down ) a few pizzas before curtain up. A brief word about on – tour food is called for here. On big tours where a promoter or record company is involved you will probably have a tour caterer who travels with you, and this is bliss, let me tell you. You get three good meals a day plus there’s tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks on hand throughout, and many a time I’ve moved my production office into the catering area so I can be closer to all these goodies ( this was just before I had to have wheels fitted and all the doors widened, of course ). When you don’t have this facility though, you’re just grabbing what you can when you can, and despite the fact that we all start out with good intentions to eat fruit and organic vegetables washed down with a wheatgrass and carrot juice smoothie, after a couple of days we’re living off the four major food groups, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut with side orders of chocolate and Marlborough Lights. Healthy it’s not, but you need fuel and this is the fastest and easiest way to get it on board. I must say that an honourable exception is drummer Steve, who has not only been eating very healthily but who has also pretty much totally cut out alcohol for the duration of the tour. He obviously uses a hell of a lot of physical effort onstage each night and was concerned about sustaining that energy level throughout the whole two months, hence this commendable abstemiousness, but if his playing is anything to go by it’s working a treat. I wonder whether or not I should give it another go myself, and muse over this right through my Chicken Selects Meal. In the end I decide against it and order a McFlurry, reasoning that I need the bulk to help push the flight cases. When the doors open tonight I’m overjoyed to see a group of people coming in fully kitted out in 60’s clothes. A while back we played Lincoln Theatre Royal and there was a chap in the audience who was having his 50th birthday. He and his friends had all dug out their 60’s gear and they looked amazing. We made a note that night that when we can get ourselves a bit more profile we’d like this to be a feature of all our shows, maybe even to the extent of offering discounts on tickets for folks coming in 60’s clobber or offering spot prizes for the best outfit; it’s definitely something we want to encourage, though. Tonight’s crowd is one of those which has already decided to have a good time before the first note’s played, and they’re not going to be disappointed. Actually, the very fact that they get up and dance is testament to the band’s effect on them, as this venue is apparently very particular about people NOT dancing in their seats, so they’ve got areas at the sides and front for this. The audience are well – behaved patrons for the most part, so this little act of rebellion is maybe a throwback to that 60’s spirit ! Not for the first time I’m impressed with how the band effortlessly make the transition from small stages like Tamworth and Market Drayton to the wide, deep platforms like this one, and it just reinforces the conviction that this really can go all the way to the West End and blow audiences away there, too. However, I’m also aware that Den seems slightly detached tonight, and his between – songs banter isn’t quite as slick as normal. For example, he asks me to remind him of the venue’s name and then immediately goes onstage and calls it something different….not like him at all. His voice sounds fine, though, so it can’t be that, and he’s playing and moving as well as ever. One to watch…..The rest of the night is a triumph. We’re like a proper little Roman army on this tour, conquering towns and cities wherever we go, and my thoughts are already on what the NEXT major tour will be like once the word about this show has really got out. I grab a word with Den afterwards and fortunately he’s OK…..he’s just dog tired, having hardly slept at all last night. He’s a little bit of an insomniac, is our Den, and tour life isn’t exactly conducive to improving sleep patterns, so I make a mental note to keep checking on him. He still manages to get out front to do the meet and greet with the fans, but this IS something Arthur and I need to be aware of….if you don’t sleep and get over-tired, that’s when you’re at your most susceptible to illness, and we really don’t want him getting sick .He seems happy enough in himself, though, so we leave him to talk to the folks out front. Onstage everything is coming down in record time, and we manage to break the load – out record tonight ( 54 minutes from the last note being played ) thanks to the venue and the local crew, so it’s a happy bunch of people who jump into their vehicles when the truck doors close. Tomorrow we’ve got a real old hike right across to Boston in Lincolnshire on the other side of the country, so we’ve made the call to get an hour’s travel under our belts tonight and to lay our weary heads in the palatial surroundings of the Premier Travel Inn at Strensham Services on the M5. Oh, the unremitting GLAMOUR of it all……