Harlow Playhouse Wed March 9th

We wake up bright and early ready to put our megaplan into action. Arthur hotfoots it up to Sandy in the knackered Merc to have it looked at again, and he’s going to head back later this morning in a rented van. The Millfield lads have done us one last favour by letting us leave the kit from the Merc here so that the poorly van can travel up to the garage unencumbered by our pile of poo. Unfortunately we have to take it outside the theatre quite early to clear their stage, so once again I find myself standing in the bitter North London cold babysitting a load of PA gear with Nick, and I begin to wonder if I’ve somehow offended the Sun Gods and am being punished for my transgressions. It’s so cold that as we wait a brass monkey comes up to us and asks us if we’ve got a soldering iron….At about midday Arthur pulls up in the shiny new Longmarsh rental van and we quickly load up the kit then huddle over the heater to try and thaw out our frozen bones. It’s a short hop to Harlow and our teeth have just about stopped chattering as we pull into the backstage yard where the bus is parked up and the lads are unloading the other van. This is our third time here, and it’s a really good place to work in….a nice big stage, plenty of wing space, and the closest we get to a “local” gig. They have tended in the past to have a bit of a draconian attitude to all matter health and safety related, rootling around in the back of amplifiers, mains distro racks and the like, but this time all is co-operation and smoothness. Head technician Peter even repairs a couple of bits and bobs for us during the build, and by half past two everything’s in place, making it about our fastest set - up of the tour so far…then the computer has a cow again and refuses to start. Tomps has developed a really good way of dealing with this….he knows that I get all panicky when I hear about things going wrong, so if I go anywhere near him when there’s a problem he just stands in front of the computer and says something like “ Move along…nothing to see here “ I’m quite happy to do so, because the next time I look he’s always managed to fix it as if by magic. He casts his spell once again here, and by six o’clock we’re all done and dusted, giving us a chance to check out the fleshpots of Harlow. Five minutes later, our curiosity satisfied, we head back to the theatre to chill out.. When we did this show last year I remember thinking that it felt like we made a jump up somehow, that the whole thing had moved onto a different level. There’s no Damascene conversion moment tonight, because every night on this tour so far has already just confirmed what I felt back then…this is ready for bigger things, and these dates are the next step in cementing our position in the UK touring calendar. The choice of material is bang on, the clever use of medleys has allowed us to bring in all or part of twenty-four new songs, the links are tighter, the new production elements add more quality to the proceedings, and overall everything’s just slicker and better. The band are always a pretty mighty proposition under any circumstances, but sprinkle on all the fairy dust that the production team bring to the party and you’ve got something special. Watching the band level a full house tonight is almost a privilege, and being an actual part of it certainly is. I’ve already said that everyone clicked straight into the groove right from the off on this tour, and tonight is another example…there’s an almost magisterial element to the band’s performance which crucially never strays into the territory of arrogance or, even worse, complacency. To use that horrific X Factor terminology, they “own” the stage every night, and when the stage is as big as this one that’s a very potent brew. When they’re fully in their pomp on things like Pinball and the closing medley section yu can see what a truly great band they’d be playing ANY kind of music; man for man they’re as good as any, and better than many, of the so-called “ stars “ on the circuit today. Gentlemen, I salute you !! After the show there’s time to meet friends and for one lucky member of the tour party, to renew an old acquaintance, and everyone is full of how great tonight has been, how much better than last year etc etc etc. This is the primal force, the lifeblood that keeps us going and makes everything worthwhile. No matter how long you’ve been doing this for, how jaded your palate and how cynical your attitude, nothing can beat the feeling you get when you know you’re part of something really, really good, and you’re there right at the start of it. Over the years I’ve been involved with the breakthrough years of bands like Culture Club, Eurythmics and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and they were all a brilliant adrenaline rush, but it’s definitely different when the show is yours; we can actually see what all the time, money and hard work we’ve all put in is about, and looking out at the faces of the audience as they’re clamouring for more at the end of the show is totally priceless. As we leave, the house crew seems genuinely impressed by what they’ve seen, and when they ask us to come back again they really mean it, and the atmosphere on the bus is humming. Only one man sits in detached silence, grimly clutching a mug of tea. That man is Nick Liddard, and he knows that he’s on rota to be driving the van to Aldershot later, following the bus. The projected departure time is 6.00am, so he’s reckoning on a few hours kip. It’s not to be, however……