bridge fly by
It seems a long time ago when my friend and road manager John picked me up for a mini tour of the north. He drove from Cornwall on Wednesday morning last week and we drove to a Travel Lodge near York where we holed up until Thursday. It was a couple of hours drive to Newcastle for the next date of The Roger Chapman family and friends tour. I had already played Leicester and London the week before. Two thoroughly enjoyable shows for me. I've decided the Shepards Bush 02 gig is my favourite UK venue. I love the sound in there and the Edwardian interior that still looks fabulous.
The weather forecast for our journeying for the next few days looked a bit rough with snow and ice predicted on all sides. As it turned out, for the entire journey, we some how avoided driving in snow. It threatened to fall in Newcastle but didn't. We'd booked a late leave time so it was around 2pm as we headed for Newcastle on Thursday. We had a great gig there and set out for Kinross in Scotland immediatly after my set. We arrived at around midnight. By now a good few inches of snow had fallen but the roads were clear. The Green Hotel in kinross is home to The Backstage venue. It is a cosy 120 seater with a unique, museum like collection of rock memorabilia put together by promoter Dave Mundell. Dave is one of those guys who brings some thing special to the music scene because it's obvious that he really cares.
After a decent sleep John and I hung out in the rather plush if tired hotel. It is huge and rambling with nearby golf greens and a trout lake. Next time at the gig I shall get some fishing in. We sound checked at around 6 0clock after a splendid lunch. John had fish and chips and I had Scottish mussels in a chilli sauce with chips and delicious bread. They served a very nice pint of bitter so I was very happy. So nice to be able to eat and sleep so close to the venue. In this case the door of my room opened onto a staircase that lead down one flight to the entrance to the venue. This was perfect on a harsh wintery day when the venue would usually be a distance from the hotel. So, my very large bedroom was a very luxurious dressing room.
We were wondering if any one would make it on such a wintery night but we need not have worried. The lovely enthusiastic audience were a delight and it was very different and enjoyable for me to play a full set of material as distinct from a short support set for Chappo. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy playing a support role. I like the lack of pressure and I enjoy playing a short set also.
The show went very well and I think I moved it it all forward during this one performance. Like having an extra gear. I played the sequel to Evening Over Rooftops for the first time and that was well received. The song is called A Bowl of Flowers. I also played In The Half Light which I hadn't played for a long time. I've decided to include it more often. I was determined to utilise freshly discovered possibilities at the next gig at the British Rock and Blues Fest in Skegness. We had a day between the Back Stage gig and Skeggy so that was good. We would be staying in Skegness at the Butlins Holiday venue the night before my afternoon performance next day.
in the half light
The weather forecasts were still a bit grim but still our road was clear as we drove out of Kinross. The miles flew by and after flat acres of grim, desert like agricultural Lincolnshire country side we arrived at Butlins. After struggling to find the block our apartment was in on the Butlins site, we eventually found it. The apartment was a pleasant surprise once we were installed.
An early night was order of the day with a 9 am alarm to get to an 11 am sound check. It is not my idea of fun but it is different and I like different. The night before John had scouted the venue and returned with news that it was a cavernous room that would need 800 folk to make any kind of atmosphere. That was a bit daunting but I don't let things like that worry me these days.We arrived at the gig in perfect time and within ten minutes i was doing my sound check with a top pro crew. It took minutes for a big grin to grow on my face as the lush sound of the big rig filled the stage.
In this cavernous cold place the heating was only just coming on but the dressing room was cosy. The time flew by and soon the very nice young woman who was stage manager called me with five minutes to go. As for the previous, recent shows I had no nerves, just the desire to sing and play.
I peeped through the side curtain and there they were. An audience of about 1800. Now I really wanted to play. I walked out onto the stage and into my second home where I think I gave the best solo performance so far. I feel sure the audience got it and they got me. Enough said.
It was 1.45pm and the rain outside the venue was turning to sleet. Should we stay to spend our artiste food allowances or hit the road. A combination of leaving for every where as soon as possible and a semi intelligent SAT navigation system had served us well so we decided in favour of covering miles as soon a possible. The sleet turned to snow as we drove but didn't settle on the road. It calmed down as we approached Boston and cleared for a while. Driving rain seemed acceptable given all the snow we had managed to avoid. By the time we were in London the rain was gone and that boded well for John's trip home to Cornwall. I guess the total mileage for this trip was around 1500.
Thanks to every one who came and made it a buzzing time. I really had the best time. There were no problems worth a mention. All good. Now a few days off with a little first fishing of 20018 and then I will be recording through February and much of March.
Peace
