village life

men at work

After Glasto Saturday was a day off and it was much needed. It was the first Saturday off for about six weeks so I really enjoyed it. I was still smarting about the the lack of consideration shown to the Spirit of 71 performers. The more I think about it the angrier I become. Anyway I won’t bore you with the entire catalogue of management errors.
Sunday was a huge contrast. The weather was beautiful as we set off in The Ramblin mobile for Mollington. This is an idyllic village just north of Banbury and where my old friend Peter Jones and his wife Pam live.

yours truly getting vocal advice from an octagenarian
- peter in white shorts

Peter is an old friend from early days when the EBB still lived in Warwick. He says the place is quite lively now which is great and was much needed. It used to be such a dead place that virtually shut down at around 9.30pm. Peter and the EBB and friends were involved in all sorts of escapades and it was so nice to sit in the sun and reminisce about the old days. Peter took all of the early EBB black and white photos. He is still a keen snapper and as a photographer he is developing a growing clientele locally. He has a good memory and we could have sat chatting about the old days for hours and hours. It brought back very happy memories.

The village had hosted its Summer Fete during the day and it had all gone very well. We eventually set off for the village hall where we found a keyboard amp that had been lent to us and the village hall pa system which was more than adequate. I plugged it all up using the keyboard amp as a monitor. We did a little sound check and we were ready. Then it was back to Peter’s gaff where we sat in their garden in glorious sunshine. Pam had made a lovely meal for us and she makes a proper cup of tea English style. Expeditions abroad have always been slightly marred for me by the lack of proper tea in a cup and saucer and on hot sunny day it is a delight.

After dinner we went back to the hall and Luke and I ensconced ourselves in the kitchen where we tuned up and went through our pre gig rituals. Unlike Glasto my little rider was duly delivered and soon Peter made an announcement and we were onstage.

luke has an inbuilt camera detector that works up
to 100 yards

The show was much longer than the Glasto show and we played almost every thing we had. Luke sang his songs and the whole thing went very well. After we chatted with our audience. I had a lovely chat with a lady in her eighties who was a choral singer. She gave me some good tips about light and shade in a vocal performance which was very sweet.

We signed a few autographs and that was it. We all went back for coffee at the home of a neighbour of Peter and Pam. John is a drummer with Roger Chapman and we had a lot to talk about. His wife Tess is a designer and she had Luke dressed in some cool pieces in no time at all including a very cool kilt. He says he wants more so we’ll see what develops there. What a poser! I wasn’t like that at his age ha ha! That is a lie.

new and old friends

I preferred the Mollington gig to the Glasto episode by a country mile. It was a kind of FDPFAFDW hybrid. Great people, we were properly looked after and a good time was had by all, including us. It was very late by the time we hit the road and another dawn was creeping away as we arrived back in London.


Thank you Peter, Pam and all we met in Mollington. It was lovely.

all photos by dave randell

peace