The 2013 Tour Kicks Off!

Well, we still haven't decided what to call the 2013 Tour, but it got going on the 5th January at the lovely Privett Village Hall. As is normal these days, we had to fight our space with several acres of playgroup equipment (remember Bramdean a few years ago?), and we spilled off the small stage onto the main floor.

Here we see Tod looking aprehensively at the gathering throng.





He need not have been apprehensive - at least, not about the throng. There was a slight technical issue with Dan's amp - basically, it appeared to be buggered, which meant he had to drive off home and fetch another one. But not before a mass of Hampshire's finest minds had all had a go at mending it:

But while Dan was away, we thought we'd better get on - before a riot broke out, possible the first in Privett in several centuries. The lights went down, the songs started, and the floor seemed to fill, and it stayed that way for three hours. We thought we played very well, despite the lay-off and lack of rehearsal. Several band members still had half a foot in the Land of Phlegm, and would like to apologise for not being able to differentiate between black notes and white notes.

Still, it was a good start to the year. The gigs are beginning to come in now (two on April, one in May?) - all we need are some firm dates and a witty and amusing name for it.

More Shed 3b building work.

Following Dave's purchase of a new amp, there have been complaints from many in Central Southern England about their lights dimming on a Monday evening. SSE have responded by laying a new cable to Shed 3b, carrying a very rare and powerful 9-phase supply. That should sort it.

Farewell TWALOG, hello, er...

Yet another gig has come flooding in, this time in early January. So, it's no longer the Tour With At Least One Gig (TWALOG), it's now the Tour With About Two. Oh dear.

Rehearsal - 19th November

Another gathering in Shed 3b. Mindy and Ian not there, but the rest of us had a productive couple of hours, mostly working on the new couple of songs we're going to try to slot into the setlist. God knows where, but we'll sort that out later.

Here we see Tod with a clothes peg on his nose. Is this because:
A. Charlie has dropped one?
B. Tod's trying to give up the white stuff?
C. It is Tod's impersonation of Dave Edmunds doing 'I hear you knocking'?

Ring 0898 5656 0233 to enter. (Call cost £9.50/min)

Farewell TWANG - hello TWALOG

Well, TWANG (the Tour Without Any New Gigs) has been abandoned, and thanks to the booking that has flooded in, next year's tour is now TWALOG (Tour With At Least One Gig). It may sounds like a small Welsh town, but it isn't. At least, I don't think so.

The slight problem with TWALOG is that Ian is unavailable for the gig that has flooded in - and, more reprehensively, he's off to a wedding. If they had only asked us to play....

Another rehearsal

Well, we tore ourselves away from the the vital job of measuring how much completely unforecast rain we'd had, and had a little gathering in shed 3b. Dave, Mindy and John couldn't make it, but it was nice to see Ian back behind the skins.
We ran through a few old favourites, tried a couple of new ones, and had a long and healthy debate about the tempo and placement of some others.
Most importantly, we had an in-depth trial of the new Band Name Generator, whch uses the colour of your underwear followed by the last thing you ate. Among the results were:
Blue Spaghetti.
Green Onions. (seems familiar)
Commando Risotto
Brown Bread
Skidmark Sausage
Chocolate Chocolate
Pus Custard
Stripey Wife
Stripey Someone else's Wife.

You get the idea.

Last Night's Rehearsal

We had a very jolly little get-together last night. Only Mindy and Ian were missing, so we played a few favourites and then joined in with the exciting game of 'Shall We Play This One?' The rules are very simple:
1. We all suggest a new song that we should play.
2. Tod ignores all suggestions and plays 'Climbing From The Wreckage'. Again.

Actually, that's not quite true. We did polish off 'Don't Bring Me Down' with ease. I'm sure there was a Danfact about it, but I can't remember what it was.

Still no gigs lined up, though. There is even some doubt about any New Year event at the Slug'n'Thomas.