Croydon Ashcroft Theatre Sunday March 25th

So we’re sitting in the car on the way home after last night’s show, and Tomps casually mentions that the clocks are going forward tonight. We stare at him, vainly hoping that this is some off – kilter joke, but no….his noble features simply exude truthfulness and integrity. It’s true, and it’s already 02.00am…except it’s not, of course, it’s bloody 03.00am, and I’ve still got to drop Tomps and Rodders off in Rushden, Pug in Northampton, and then get myself back to Oundle, near Peterborough. This is deeply, deeply unpleasant, and once again I’m reminded that many people still think this job is actually glamorous. Applicants wishing to trade places should apply to the usual address……It’s actually 04.30am by the time I reach the sofa I’m crashing out on tonight, and believe me, I DO crash !! I’ve got to be back up at 08.30 to go and pick the boys up for the trip to Croydon , so when my noisy alarm finally goes off I’m so sleep – fuddled that I think I’ve woken up in the middle of an air raid, and leap off the sofa, cracking both shins on a low coffee table. It also becomes rapidly, painfully obvious that all is not well in the plumbing department. Now, I reckon we’re good enough friends, Faithful Blogreader, for me to share with you the information that I was then gripped by an attack of what my old mother – in – law used to colourfully describe as “ the running brown bears “. It could have been the bag of mixed fruit and nuts that I munched through last night in a vain attempt to be healthy….by interspersing my regular McDonald’s sessions with something like nuts or yoghurt I reckon I’m bound to lose weight. I’m certainly losing weight this morning, but not in a good way. I actually start to fear I might not be able to get out of the house, which would be pretty awkward. It’s Immodium time…..Without further rmishap or damage to the upholstery of the car seats the boys are duly picked up, and we roll into the backstage area of Croydon Fairfield Hall twenty minutes ahead of our scheduled get - in time of one o’clock, only to find that Brother Lee Love and his Latter - Day Church of The Holy Pains In The Arse are having some kind of evangelical whoop – up in the theatre, and we can’t get in until 2.30. I have a Damascene conversion, and in a flash of light decide immediately that from here on in I’m going to practise Satanism and ritual sacrifice, starting with this lot. The technical manager pleads that he HAD sent me an e-mail telling me about this….and indeed he had…. this very morning, as I was driving down here. Useful. At least it gives us the chance to grab some breakfast ( SO much better for us than the extra couple of hour’s sleep we could have had…grrrrr ) and for me to test the efficacy of the Immodium I took earlier by chowing down on a healthy, nutritious cheeseburger. Luckily my little chemical friend is as good as he says he is on the packet, and the balance of nature remains stable. One of the nice things about playing here is that we get to use the house PA system, and it’s just as well given this delayed get – in, but despite everyone’s tiredness and my previous intestinal scourging, everything gets built quickly and easily. It’s a big old stage as well, so Rodders gets the first chance of the tour to really have the full benefit of the moving lights we’re carrying with us. We’re still running with just the one projector since the demise of the other two last night, but because of the height of the place, the image it projects is absolutely mahoosive. The audience numbers are unfortunately a little bit thin tonight ( possibly due to the venue sticking an extra £ 2.50 on top of the price of each ticket as a booking fee ! ) but there’s a lot of a-whoopin’ and a-hollerin’ going on out there, and the band are picking up on this. I really can’t stress enough how important this kind of feedback is, even for a band as professional as The Overtures…if you finish the first number and there’s a bit of sporadic applause and a load of “ go on and impress me “ faces out there, it’s a lot harder for any performer to get the enthusiasm flowing. No such worries tonight, though….the audience is totally onside and the set just flows along beautifully. Just to show that there’s no hard and fast rule as to what’s going to be the highlight of the set, the biggest cheers tonight are for Strawberry Fields, which, admittedly they DO play brilliantly. Light My Fire is probably next on the Cheer-O-Meter ( this one often gets a great response, and I’m always slightly surprised by it, as it’s a pretty uncompromising, balls – to – the wall rock and roll wig – out. Polite it isn’t, and I’m waiting for some of the older audience members to start passing away, but no….they seem to love the duelling guitar solo mentalness and Chris’s keyboard histrionics. Jamie’s solo take on handbags and Gladrags is always a winner, too, no doubt thanks to the female element in the crowd, but I have to say I’m really happy to see how well the new songs are being received as well, and Blackberry Way really IS a major grower. There’s some nice off – the - cuff banter onstage tonight as well, there’s a lovely feel to the night overall, and I have to say that we really HAVE hit our stride already…..it’s not just my wishful thinking !! It’s a pretty satisfied bunch of band and crew who leave the venue into the freezing south London air. As Gordon Ramsay would say, “ Great gig….DONE !” ( actually he’d probably say a lot more which I couldn’t repeat here, but you get the gist ! ). It’s nominally a day off tomorrow ( Arthur, Rodders and I have some gear – shifting and replacement projector – hunting to do, so we’re still on parade ) and as such we make the relatively short hop to Beaconsfield and the Etap hotel. Don’t know if you’ve ever stayed in one of these, but they’re somehow reminiscent of youth hostels…still, it’s a bed, and there’s a McDonalds next door, so we’re sorted. It’s not QUITE so simple for the other crew lads, as Tomps and Pug are taking the Hendermobile back to Northamptonshire, and that’s a loooong way. In fact, I’ll let Tomps narrate how that turned out himself tomorrow. In the meantime, did I tell you about the time I saw an old lady struggling with a cash machine ? I went up to her to see what the matter was, and she asked me to check her balance. So I pushed her over…..