We thought that it might be a good time to talk about where we’ve been (and where we haven’t) over the last month or two; just so as you can get a flavour of what life with us can be like sometimes, as we wander the length and breadth of the country posing as the modern day circus animals we seem to have become….
Returning back from our Hawaiian vacation in August, it was time to turn our attention to the impending autumnal season, seemingly looming ever larger, as we peered through our telescopic sights toward imminent venue rendezvous’.
First up was the joyous occasion at The Greenwood in Greenford where we were once again joined by the eminent Mr Doug Sandom & Son; Chelmsford SC’s very own Wolfie who have all become such dear friends of the band over the last year or two. Couple this with a generous supporting audience from the army of old Who followers of yesteryear, that seem to be as vocal today as they were then. We can only be thankful as a band that this bunch of regular Who nuts have taken us to their hearts as they have.
At this point it was time for me to take leave of my vocal duties, due to college commitments, and pass the torch of Daltrey vocal pyrotechnics to Tom, my trustee sidekick who managed to wow the audiences in Hull, Watford, Fanrborough and St Albans. We should have played in Hartlepool, but due to the aforementioned college duties, it became our first casualty of the year. Something for which we were truly sorry to have to do, but one that was completely unavoidable. We are hoping that we can rectify the situation in the near future.
Brighton has always been a bit odd for the band. Playing there many years ago, performing Quadrophenia at The Dome, Moonie remembers getting half way through the show and having to evacuate the building because the fire alarm went off. Some years later we returned to the Concord with The Jamm and played to about ten people. So when our good friend Mark Wheatley sold us the idea of once again going back there with Quadrophenia, we weren’t, it has to be said, 100% sold on the idea. The Komedia though is a lovely venue, and we were heartened by the professionalism of all those present, we just hoped that all the commitment shown by everybody involved in this show would be rewarded. We needn’t have worried; Mark’s enthusiasm for everything he does was there for all to see; over 450 people coming to see us, with many travelling big distances to get there. This show was a huge testament to the promotional skills of Mr Wheatley; and not a single coloured A4 photocopy in sight. The man earns his commission because he works for it. There are some less scrupulous promoters around the place that should perhaps take note! A special mention has to be said for the two guys I met afterwards, who told me that they came down to hear a great piece of music played by a great band (did they mean us?). They’d missed their last train home back to Southampton and were going to sleep on the beach! Fantastic!
The day after Brighton, Matt and I decided to watch the England v Australia game there before heading off back to our respective homes. We’d both anticipated England being down and out by half time; how wrong can you be? While we were all very happy with the score; it meant that a revitalised England was to take on France on the evening of our gig in Hayes, and that only meant one thing…
Again we were joined by Doug Sandom and his son Keith and also Pete “Dougal” Butler’s good lady Sue, who presented Terry with some of John’s old plectrums as a gift from Alison Entwistle. It would be nice to be able to see Alison one day so that we could thank her personally, but until then, we would like to publicly say a big thank you from all the band, it was a very kind gesture. Apart from that, there was nothing really to report, except that England beat France, and the whole nation was now on a rugby roll.
If there is one thing we’ve learnt over the years with regard to playing gigs when the nation is gripped by sporting fever, it’s that we can’t compete with it; no one can really! We’ve fought our way through two Football World Cups, two Rugby World Cups, the European Cup, the Cup Winners Cup, The Cup of Cups and the King of Cups. Whatever it’s called, the result, irrespective of who wins, is that Who’s Who always comes out as valiant losers. There are venues scattered up and down the country that bear the scars of booking Who’s Who when the nation is in sporting frenzy. This weekend was no different.
Returning to Crewe and the Limelight just after the airing of the BBC Arena programme, felt a bit like meeting up with an old friend you know had just been assaulted. It wasn’t that the programme was nasty or venomous to the people of Crewe; it was that it portrayed them and their town as a one trick pony. That if nobody went to the Limelight then no one went anywhere. So every image you saw of Crewe made it look like a 1980’s South Wales mining town, that had just had the soul ripped out of the community by the non caring Thatcherite government of the time. I grant you, Crewe is not an attractive holiday proposition in the vein of Torquay, but the people are hard working and proud, and they didn’t deserve to have their town treated as though it were a North West English leper colony.
Anyway, back to the gig…
It was a quiet affair, due to the aforementioned rugger, but those that were there made the most of their Saturday night and enjoyed it. We then travelled down to Bristol, stopping off on the way at The Swan in Whittington, where we enjoyed a fabulously cooked meal in great surroundings, before being treated as trailer trash by some toffee nosed residents of the street, who had nothing better to do than to look out of their window, whilst waiting for unsuspecting people to leave their vehicles outside his/her house, then rush out (when there’s no one looking) and place an offensive notice on the windscreen of the vehicle. Absolute Cretins!
The Bieirkellar in Bristol is a wonderful venue to play, I played there many years ago in an old band called County Line and I know that Matt has fond memories of it too from his time in Dangerous. Dave, the guy that runs the place is a top geezer and looked after us really well as did Rich the sound guy, a huge Quad fan. It has been over a year since we last played Bristol. We’d had no end of enquiries asking if we were going back, but the third English World Decider of the week, in the name of F1 Sport had once again gripped the nation, and those that had enquired about us coming to Bristol, had no doubt voted with their crate of cheap ASDA bought Carling and stayed at home to watch young Mr Hamilton do his thing. Which was a shame because together with a fab support band, Re-Offender we had a fine time. I’d be a liar if I said the place was jumping; the only ones jumping were the one’s that you could sneak up on from behind and say “boo” to! We’ll be back there for sure in the New Year and hopefully they’ll be no more championship decider’s next time.
That’s about it for now; slightly long winded, but I had a lot to get off my chest.
Speak soon
Who's Who.
