Saturday 8 August 2009

photo by Ramblin' Mad

photo by Pete ( Tufty ) Jones

Ah! It seems so long ago. The above picture was taken on the steps of Leamington Town Hall back in the heady hippy days when we were young and about to go to London to try to get a firmer footing in the music business. Yesterday, at Art’s insistence, we all made our way to the Town Hall to take some shots of the new line up in the old location. Ramblin was our photographer and when he sorts the shots out I will add some of them here and hopefully a couple of live shots from the Assembly Show. Meanwhile ..........



photo by Tony Smith

photo by Ramblin' Mad

What a night! The audience was very warm and enthusiastic. There were a lot of people in the audience from our old days, some we remembered and some we did not. It always amazes me how folk expect us to remember details from more than forty years ago. I guess they were taking much more notice of us than we of them but that is part of the nature of performer and audience and the symbiosis we share. One very nice woman, a friend of my mother told me that she had slept in my bed in my old room at 38 Kipling Avenue, our house on the Forbes Estate in Warwick. She quickly stated that I wasn’t there. I laughed and said that I would have remembered if had I been there.


phone photo by Story John Edgar

It was touching to hear so many memories from people we shared our lives with in person back then and now, through our music. We all remember different bits of the story and it was fascinating to be reminded of some of the bits lost to us with the passing of time. There was one guy who timidly came up to me after waiting patiently in the line of folk wanting to touch base to tell me when and where they first saw us and other memories relating to the saga of EBB. The guy eventually asked me – “ When did Steve leave the band?” My response was a little irritated as I told him “ Steve didn’t leave the band he just played the f…… gig”. He just looked completely blank and shuttled off. Weird! Still it takes all sorts and I hope he enjoyed the show as much as most of the people I spoke with seemed to have done.
There were lots of wrinklies in the house as is always the case but there is a steadily growing contingent of younger folk coming to check us out. I had a delightful chat with one young woman who praised the band and told me she found the music surprising and complete. She was twenty years of age and it was clear we had made a very positive impact. I do get a huge buzz from connecting with the young as well as the older regulars who all together made the night one to remember for all of us.


photo by Tony Smith

It has to be said that The Assembly must be one of if not the best venue of it’s size in the U.K. We have not received similar service anywhere else here. The house P.A. crew Ed and Oz did a splendid job and they dug the gig man! All of the staff were very friendly and helpful. It was a real pleasure to perform there. Thanks guys.
It was a very pleasant surprise to find this kind of quality venue just up the road from where we started out although we knew of it by reputation before we arrived. Every aspect of this set up has obviously been carefully thought through from the technical operation to the catering. If you are ever passing check out fish and chips to die for in The Assembly restaurant.
So, thanks to all who came and came to say hello. As always thanks to our crew Spadge, Rik, young Sonny, and family and friends who make it all work.





Peace


Copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2 0 0 9

10 comments:

Mick Spall said...

What an awesome night, the tickets were bought for me as a birthday present by my 21 year old son, he being a drum and base fan was a bit apprehensive but had to admit it was one of the best gig's he had ever attended. i have owned several dvd's but never seen EBB live and the assembly is a night i will never forget, i remember the days when my old man used to come over to Kipling Ave to complain about the noise. Does anyone have any pictures of the psychodelic Edgar Broughton Blues Band van, I remember the old fellow on his racing bike vividly. and the "hippies" who lived across the road. I also remember Out Demons Out daubed in paint on the wall of Westgate school and had'nt a fucking clue what it meant. Where is the next gig, I can't fucking wait.

Anonymous said...

Oh how I wished to be at this concert. Well, there will be another one - must be one. May I ask you for the setlist?
- Christian

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the excellent set at Leamington Spa last evening! I really enjoyed it.
As it happens, it is only the second time that I have seen the EBB live. The first
occasion was in Dusseldorf, Germany in either 1970, or 1971. Being a 'forces brat'
and not allowed out much, I believe you constituted my first 'proper' live group.

Out of interest, would you have record of when that show took place, assuming of
course, that you only performed the once at Dusselforf during that time frame?

Again, thanks for a great evening's entertainment.

Best wishes

Tony Warren

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say thank you for a great night at The Assembly on Friday. It was a very special one for me - seeing my all time favourite band in Warwickshire 40 years on and in top form and my son Tom's band The Little Grey Men putting on a good show in support. What a night!

Love and peace.

Colin Franklin

Anonymous said...

Absolutely brilliant gig at Leamington on Friday night. Many thanks to you all

Best wishes



Mick

Anonymous said...

Rob - I do not want to pester you - but you may remember you very kindly signed some treasures for me a year or so ago.

I have just returned from your gig at the Assembly in Leamington. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to get down there from up here in Edinburgh - but I would have endured quite a lot to get there believe me. After 30 years or so I finally got to see you guys live! It was a wonderful experience - thanks to you all! I thought the set was a perfect balance, the sound was excellent and the venue itself was really good. Everyone seemed really friendly there and it was clear that there were many in the crowd who love the band as much as I do. To see you guys up there weaving your magic and conjouring up that music in front of me was incredible, so I just wanted to say 'thanks' for 30 plus years of exciting listening and a great evening of live music.

Hope to see you guys again before too long - maybe a Scottish gig sometime?

Best wishes to all - and thanks for a perfect show!
Dave

Anonymous said...

Yeh great gig, great music - thanks guys.

Vic Bojan said...

Having first seen Rob play in about 1964 (the Road Runners), it was great to see the EBB gig again,especially at such an excellent venue. It was certainly worth travelling from Chelmsford. Apart from the fantastic music (guitar playing and drumming especially), also, Rob (Edgar) still has a very powerful voice despite his age (!). I have an interest in the band because Art (Arthur) and I both went to the same secondary school (Oken High). His first band was called the Motives; like me, he remembers building his first bass guitar speaker cabinet in his back garden in Warwick. Happy days! I will be checking out the website in the hope that the band will be playing more gigs this year, especially as it's their 40th anniversary. I'm just disappointed that I didn't recognise anyone in the audience; however, I left my home town Leamington Spa to go to college way back in 1969.

Anonymous said...

Hi band,

Just 'found' you! Shame on me. Saw you at The Assembly, Leamington. Just brilliant!

Off to stock my collection with some Edgar Broughton

Good luck for your future gigs!

Chris Daniels (young dude, only 59)

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys
Leamington was way beyond what I expected. What a show. I never saw a band who played so much different vibes and full of emotion and sincere message. You guys are really special. Very wonderful.
Peace
Karl