Skegness Embassy Sun Feb 27th

We seem to make a habit of playing out of season seaside towns these days. Nothing wrong with that in itself, it’s just that when they’re on the North Sea like Skeggy then it’s about 25 degrees colder than anywhere inland, with an icy wind that blows right across from the Urals and straight up your gusset. “ Skegness – it’s so bracing ! “ say all the tourist ads, probably because “ Skegness – come and get frostbite in your nethers ! “ wouldn’t have sounded quite so appealling. At least The Embassy is warm and welcoming, and although we know that tonight’s not sold too well there’s a nice big stage, and so for the first time on the tour so far we can spread out and run the full production. One of the things that we were talking about on the bus last night was how both band and crew seem to have hit the ground running this time out….apart from the initial technical grief we had at Haverhill everything has been remarkably painless, and we’ve dropped into a really good groove right from the off. When I think back a year to how things were at the start of that first tour it seems like a lifetime away; events that would have had us run screaming into the streets last time are now met with a shrug of the shoulders and an“ OK then “. The band’s attitude has got a lot to do with it..…this is a very different way to tour than what they’re used to, but they’ve taken to it like ducks to water, and that’s made for a much easier working environment. It helps that we don’t have any major prima donnas in the tour party, of course, but it’s also because we know and trust each other more now. We know the band will always deliver, even when they’re feeling physically below par, and they know we’ll always make them look and sound great. Even Still As Yet Unnamed Chris Stocker The Monitor Chap has bought into the whole vibe, and so far his only crime has been to be younger and better looking than me.I’ve been on tours where band / crew segregation has made things almost unworkable, but there’s none of that here. Today’s a great case in point….with the help of an excellent local crew we bang the kit up in record time, so we have a nice relaxed soundcheck that seems to be over in no time at all, giving us the chance to get something to eat or even ( Oh luxury of luxuries ! ) grab a quick nap back in the cocoon of our bunks on the bus. As we’d feared, tonight’s not a big audience, and there’s an element of polite applause at first, but gradually a few whoops and cheers come in, and suddenly that invisible barrier is broken down. It seems to be the rockier numbers like You Really Got Me, Light My Fire and Pinball Wizard that get the best response, but the crowd sing along lustily when asked to and although there might not be many of them their demands for an encore at the end are loud and genuine.We hear after the show that the duty manager was so impressed with what she’d seen that she e-mailed the general manager at home during the interval saying “ you’ve GOT to re-book this show ! Good news indeed, but unfortunately another worry does rear it’s ugly head tonight….Den’s been carrying a bit of a bad throat for a couple of days, and after the show he’s decidedly croaky, so it’s on with the big coat and woolly scarf , a quick drop of jollop and off to bed for him. To make things even more fun Chris ( that’s Chris Keyboards, by the way ) seems to be coming down with the same thing. Our safe little bus may soon be turning into a plague house on wheels, so we’re going to have to keep a very close eye on everyone over the next couple of days. We can’t have history repeating itself…..can we ?

Market Drayton Festival Centre Sat 26th Feb

OK, let’s get this out of the way here and now. I’m a fat bastard. I love my food. In fact I love anyone’s food. Last time we were here, Sheila, the lovely lady who cooks all the grub in the venue’s café made us some fantastic cakes, and I may just have had a teeny tiny sample of each one. As a result, everyone in the tour party is convinced that we’re only back here doing this show tonight because of Sheila’s cakes. This is not true. We’re only doing this show because of Sheila’s cakes AND her toasted sandwiches. We love this venue, and we love the people who work here. Today we love them even more because since our last visit they’ve built a whole new backstage area with nice loos and a lovely, hot shower. They’ve even supplied us with a load of fluffy towels and some shower gel, and nothing ever seems to be too much trouble for Geoff and Glyn who run the venue. A nicer, more helpful bunch of people you truly couldn’t wish to meet. We know the show’s going to be a stonker before we even start, too….they love their Sixties music here, and fortunately they love us playing it for them. Although it’s always cosy onstage and there’s a slight element of Tetris about the placement of instruments, cases and so on, the atmosphere’s great and as the audience are virtually on top of you there’s a great communication between the stage and the auditorium. We’ve encountered one problem, though….what’s become known as The Chris Issue. We’ve never had two people in the party with the same name before, and it’s a bugger. We started trying to differentiate by calling them Chris Monitors and Chris Keyboards but that was too unwieldy. We then tried Big Chris and Little Chris but that didn’t work either, so we thought the easiest thing was to find a tour name for Chris Monitors. First out of the bag was “ New Pug “ followed by “ Pug 2 “ and even “ Not Pug “, but we need to help the poor chap make his own mark on the tour, so until anyone else can come up with a better moniker he’s know as “ Oy ! You !”. Suggestions to tony@thebootlegsixties.com, please…..Right. Let’s get this next bit out of the way quickly too. The venue fed us. Sheila may have made some cakes. I may have had a piece. Of all four of them. And then taken another cake on the bus after the show. See ? Simple. No problem, And CERTAINLY not deserving of the public humiliation dished out from the stage as Den regaled the audience with tales of wanton gluttony from yours truly. I mean, how unfair…after all, I was just helping the poor woman decide which one tasted best (the amswer was all of them, in case you’re interested ). But enough of this, and on to the show….we’re adding a new bit to “Suspicious Minds” tonight, as we’ve finally got the techy bit sorted out to do it in full, so we’re gradually getting towards the finished version of the show.. As soon as Jamie’s back up to full strength we’ll put the missing songs back in, and that’ll be that. He’s definitely starting to sound better already, and although he’s judiciously pulling back from going full throttle still, it only feels like a matter of time now. The show tonight is pretty flawless from top to bottom, and it’s genuine pleasure to watch the band’s faces as they play and see how much they’re enjoying this. The Market Drayton crowd are as vociferous and enthusiastic as ever, even cheering the film of Geoff Hurst’s last goal for England as if it had been scored tonight and not forty-five years ago, and the new “ Elvis moment “ works an absolute treat. There’s one lady of somewhat advanced years in the front row who sits throughout the evening with a sort of “ stunned mullet “ expression on her jib, and the initial feeling is that she must be finding it all a bit loud, but when the “party” section starts she’s up and dancing too. They’d seriously let us play all night if they could, and for all the constraints of size and finance it’s one of those places that we’ll try and come back to every time. After the show we get a really nice e-mail from a lady who was there tonight. The last time we played here she’d just tracked down her Dad who she hadn’t seen for 48 years, and the two of them came to see the show and were in tears as the band played “Walk Right Back” as it had become “ their song”. Unfortunately he was too ill to attend this time, but she told us her story and how much the show and that song had meant to them. Now, I may be a great big cynical old Hector at times, but when you hear things like that it makes you realise that what we’re doing here can seriously touch people’s lives. In the context of what’s happened with Clive it’s all too easy to trivialise this as just so much musical fluff, but it IS worthwhile and it can make a real difference. Altogether now….We are thr world, we are the children…..

Morecambe The Platform Fri Feb 25th

A long old run up to Morecambe for Nick and I in the equipment vans this morning, but the roads are unusually clear, and apart from having a struggle to escape the tractor beam of a McDonalds near Lancaster, I get there in good time. I’m also ridiculously pleased to get a series of texts from Clive asking how things are going and sending me a selection of his latest jokes; he may be down but he’s not out ! This is my first sight of Morecambe, and to be honest it’s not inspiring; it’s a cold, wet February morning, the tide is out, and all I can see as I drive along the seafront is miles of muddy shallows disappearing into the murk. With a shiver I remember that this was where a group of Chinese cockle – pickers were trapped by the incoming tide and drowned not that long ago. It’s grey, depressing stuff, and even the sight of town hero Eric Morecambe’s statue in classic “ Bring Me Sunshine “ pose can’t raise the spirits. I pull up to the gig to see the first problem of the day….last night’s duty manager has forgotten to take the lock off the bollard on the access road, so instead of being safely tucked in by the building with power hooked up and all systems humming, the bus is out on the main road being battered by driving wind and rain. To add to the overall ambience, a hideous denizen from the Ninth Circle Of Hell comes up ( you may also hear them referred to as “ traffic wardens” ) and happily slaps a ticket on the bus on the grounds that it’s causing an obstruction. The fact that the roads of the town are virtually deserted seems to have escaped this troglodyte’s notice, and unfortunately an attempt to explain our predicament merely prompts a swivel – eyed rant about rights of access and the sanctity of Her Majesty’s highways. I’m sure I also heard something about how we were all going to burn in eternal flames for having the temerity to park there, but I could have been mistaken. As soon as one of the venue staff finally comes along to let us in, however, the day takes a major turn for the better . The gig itself is a massive improvement on everything we’ve seen here so far…..it’s the old railway station, and the management have done a fantastic job of turning it into a cosy, quirky venue. House guys Shaun, Ron, Tom and Magic are friendly and helpful, and after a brew or four we’re warmed up and raring to go. It’s the band’s first day of using venue showers instead of having hotel rooms, and there’s a little bit of trepidation as to how they’ll deal with it, but apart from a few cases of terminal bed-head, they’re all fine. The set-up comes together quite quickly and the only casualty is the running board for the PA speakers which I spent several hours lovingly crafting earlier this week. After serving us well in Haverhill it finds the mean streets of Morecambe just too tough for it’s tender sensibilities, and promptly sheds two wheels as soon as it gets down the ramp. Epic fail….. The venue has been laid out for tonight in what’s known as cabaret style, in other words it’s tables and chairs rather than rows of seats; we did this once before in Bridlington and it worked really well. Tonight proves to be just as good; everyone is close to the stage, creating a nice, intimate atmosphere. Jamie’s voice is still suffering so we continue to run the slightly truncated show, and we realise that there’s a certain symmetry about the songs we’ve taken out….Go Now has gone now, She’s Not There isn’t there, and Elvis ( Suspicious Minds ) has left the building !There are about nineteen new songs being featured in full or in part, and there’s a second semi – acoustic medley been added, plus there are new outfits, new solo bits, new links and loads of new footage, so although it retains the essence of the regular show there’s plenty of different stuff for returning fans to enjoy. There are already songs that are showing early signs of becoming standout moments; a stomping version of Out Of Time closes the first half and Jamie does a fantastic job of Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade Of Pale ( or Skiffle Lie Fandangle , as it’s also known ), plus Phil’s twist on the Shadows is a corker…we may have dispensed with the Black Box Of Bafflement but the spirit of Hank still lives on !We’ve still to see Jamie’s new solo spot, and one song in the second medley can’t be done just yet as we’ve got to sort out some visual issues, but what we’ve got already is looking and sounding great, and the audience are lapping it up. For the second night running the show computer behaves itself, largely thanks to Tomps offering it a sacrifice of several pocket calculators and a digital watch, and apart from a couple of “ new cue “ visual glitsches the whole thing runs beautifully. Duty manager Shaun ensures that he earns legendary status after the show by giving us a big bag of doughnuts, sausage rolls and sandwiches for the bus, and so it’s a bunch of much happier campers who climb into their bunks and head south down the M6. As the bus pulls out there’s a bump from beneath the wheels and I look out the window to see what looks suspiciously like a traffic warden lying in the road where we’ve just been parked…….

Haverhill Arts Centre Thurs Feb 24th

Do you ever get that feeling that everything’s conspiring against you, and that maybe some things just aren’t meant to be ?? Now, I’m normally a “ glass half full “ kind of cove, but recently even my optimism has been given a severe shoeing. We’re about to start what is arguably an even more important tour than the debut outing a year ago, yet over the course of just a couple of days we’ve heard that Jamie’s chest infection is still giving him serious trouble with his voice, quickly followed by the dreadful news that our friend and fellow crew member Moore, has suffered a stroke and is in hospital. As Clive was probably the fittest and healthiest member of the whole crew this has been a major shock, and to be honest we’re struggling to get it to sink in. He’s got such a presence that it’s hard to imagine him being laid so low, and this has really cast a pall over our preparations. The only bright spot is that Tomps, despite being the most in- demand cameraman and video editor this side of the Rockies, has come to the rescue and managed to re-arrange his work so that he can cover the whole tour. It’s thus with somewhat mixed emotions that we arrive at the Arts Centre today…..we’ve got the usual pre-tour mixture of nerves and excitement peppered with a fair amount of anticipation, a dash of pure terror and a pinch of roiling guts, though on reflection the latter is probably last night’s chicken jalfrezi. For the first time in ages there’s also a totally new face on the crew in the shape of monitor engineer Chris Stocker. When Pug left us last year for Antipodean shores we’d half expected that he’d either run out of money or do something illegal, either of which would necessitate a sharp exit back to Blighty and the welcoming arms of the Bootleg family, but sadly he’s proved to be made of sterner stuff, and we’ve had to go back to the drawing board. Of course, with our contact network and our gazillion years in the business we could get a monitor engineer in no time at all, but it needs to be someone who fits in with our somewhat idiosyncratic bunch as much as someone who has the pure technical ability. We’d seen Chris before many times outside Milton Keynes railway station as he sat wrapped in rags with his dog on a string, and had been impressed with the cheerful way he shamelessly begged for money and scraps of food, so after a short negotiation about how many bottles of cider he’d be paid and a quick trip to a local sheep-dip, he was in. So finally the build-up is over, and here we are again in Haverhill. Now, first days are always a BIT fraught, but today seems especially knotty and gnarled. Chris is seeing the system built for the first time, and there are also new elements to the PA, so that all takes a while to get going, plus the computer which runs all the show visuals falls over and steadfastly refuses to start up again. Did you notice how calmly I slipped that in, Faithful Blogreader ? A year ago that news would have at best rendered me a sobbing wreck and at worst had me reaching for the steak knives to commit hara-kiri, but these days a combination of absolute trust in the abilities of my colleagues and, of course, some blind, desperate optimism gives me the warm, fuzzy feeling that it’s somehow all going to be fine. The other thing that seriously impresses me is the band’s attitude…..instead of having conniption fits, Den accepts the problem with almost Zen-like stoicism. Before we’ve even started the first date we’ve had to change the show anyway…..Jamie’s voice problems mean that we’re having to drop four numbers from tonight’s set….but the experience of last year’s tours mean that we now greet this kind of news with almost arrogant insouciance rather than bowel – loosening panic. As it happens, by some arcane process of digital alchemy the computer decides not to only to start working but to KEEP working throughout the show, although Tomps advises us not to breathe anywhere near it or even look at it in case whatever little demons are churning around inside it’s bits and bytes get the arse with us and go on strike again. All in all it’s been a pretty fraught and stressful day, to be totally honest, but then the lights go down, the “no smoking” announcement is made, and the magic begins all over again . Can I just say here and now that I’m going to make no excuses for not going into detail about the actual show here, because if I’m totally straight with you much of it went by in a blur of new cues, new songs and furtive sideways glances at our recalcitrant computer. Suffice to say that despite Jamie’s vocal worries the band, to use a well-worn X Factor cliché “ owned “ the stage tonight….and fear not, folks, there’ll be a lot more about the performances themselves in future blogs. One thing that DOES merit special mention, though, is that for the first time we’ve a big, spiffy, proper tour programme which Den put together with old mucker and all – round graphic genius Ian; it’s glossy and professional and I think I want to marry it and have it’s children. Well done chaps….big pats on the back due all round. Another marker of how the show is expanding and developing arrives tonight in the shape of a big, shiny double-decker tour bus, with bunks, kitchen, entertainment systems, engine, wheels and everything. This beastie is going to be our home for the next few weeks, though sadly not for me tonight….I’ve got to head back to base to pick up some bits and bobs for tomorrow. I DO get the dubious pleasure of being the pathfinder, leading the bus out towards the M11 and tomorrow’s show in Morecambe, but as I stop for fuel I see the bus pass me and disappear into the Suffolk night. Either driver Kev is now sure of where he’s going now, or else I’m going to find myself very lonely at the gig tomorrow…….