The Tichborne Arms, April 2013

Sometimes a gig goes so well, and is so much fun, and is generally reckoned to be so excellent that words cannot accurately sum up the evening. So here's a picture of Tod outside the pub with a pink umbrella.

Come to think of it, that doesn't do the evening justice either. Let's just say that, for some reason, we clicked like never before, and played our socks off. We were as disciplined and tight as we've ever been - a sentiment shared by many of the punters, old and new, who showed up for an evening of outrageous booze-fueled Dad-dancing (and Mum-dancing).

One very frequent compliment was that noise levels out in front were such that conversation was just still possible, and the music - as a direct result - was far more enjoyable. I think the same applies this side of the speakers, too.

The evening ended in the now traditional way back at base, with a groupie climbing in to the lamb pen for a cuddle, sitting on a bale noisily demanding a milk bottle to feed them. and then making a bit of a spectacle of herself trying to clmb back out in the darkness. Sadly, the camera failed to record this historic image. So we'll just have to make do with Tod and his pink umbrella.

A couple more rehearsals

We've had a couple of sparsely-attended get-togethers in Shed 3b -  no bad thing: instead of gossiping,  we've been able to concentrate of getting Jack familiar with the songs for the Ian-free wedding.

Meanwhile, we're all getting psyched up for tonight's Big Gig in a Very Small Place (aka The Tichborne Arms).

Thursday's rehearsal

A quiet get-together on Thursday - John, Tod, and Charlie joned up with Jack for an intense session getting him up to speed for the Ian-free gig. It was too much for Pudding, who did a widdle and then went to sleep in the sofa.

TLOGS on film.

Whatever next - see here

The Gigmap

The wonders of modern technology mean that it is now possible to click on the 'TLOG Gigmap' page (over on the right) and see where we've played over the years. There are one or two venues that I can't quite place, so any help welcome.

The Mindy Mash - the money

Over six grand raised.
Fantastic.

After Gig Party Debauchery Shock!!!!

Shocking photo of gorgeous TLOG groupie in three-in-a-bed [of straw] under-age action...

 ....

The Mindy Mash

It was a long drive south, through pouring rain and flooded roads, to the subtropical paradise that is Fareham. There, in the hall of a rather quaint little school, the Mindy Mash took place. A champagne reception, three-course dinner, auction of promises/donations, and then dancing to two of mid-Hampshire finest bands, the Chalk Flowers and the TLOGs.
















Here's the stage just before we started setting up - you can see the fairy castle and toadstool that we did our best to cover up. The castle had to stay. You can also see Mindy looking astonishingly calm and collected, bearing in mind she'd had about eight minutes sleep in the previous 48 hours.

Tod, John and Charlie started at about mid-day to get the PA/instruments set up. Here we see John doing everyone's favourite pre-gig routine: "one, two....one, two..."

By early afternoon, the Chalk Flowers had arrived, and had a bit of a sound check. Very nice they sounded, too. Here we see them in action; John claimed that it was absolutely essential that he spend so much time on his knees alongside the vocalists - something to do with accoustic research, apparently.

A very jolly evening was had by all. The dinner went well, the auction raised thousands, and both the Chalk Flowers and the TLOGS seemed to be happy with their respective performances - one or two sound issues weren't enough to dampen the evening. We kept smiling, which was good, because the photographer from The Field was busy snapping away for a feature on sad middle-agers in rock bands.for a future issue.

Special thanks and praise to Mindy, the brains behind it, and to Tod for the huge amount of hard work and knob-twiddling over a loooooong day...........

Next stop on the Batoffo Tour.

Be there, and support a damn good cause.

Monday's rehearsal

Hot on the heels of Sunday's highly successful Pavillijam in West Meon was another rehearsal in Shed 3b, with Jack getting up to speed as Wedding Drummer. There was some important business to attend to first, however, as Big Gok had died, and needed to be manhandled to the door of Shed 3c for the recovery lorry to take her away. ('Big Gok' is John's huge long throbbing supercharged Jaguar, by the way.) Any suggestions of bad backs or hernias were dismissed as the TLOGS heaved and strained to get Big Gok into position. What we'd have done without John in the driver's seat telling us what to do, I don't know.

Curiously, Jack arrived just after all the hard work had been done. Coincidence? Who knows. The rehearsal itself went very well, as we worked solidly through the set list.

Other exciting news concerns the new neighbours, who have moved into Steve the builder's old place - the house nearest Shed 3b. A short chat the other day established that they are diplomats (claiming not to have heard any of our rehearsals) and - more importantly - all keen musicians, playing keyboards and guitars.. I made it clear that they would be very welcome to come over and join in any time. But they might want to make sure any car hauling duties are over, first.

And Off We Go - it's The Batoffo Tour Proper.

Well, the Tour got going properly on Easter Sunday. Here we see most of the band in the process of setting up in the Thomas Lord- if it looks as if we're all standing around looking lost, that's because it's what we do while setting up.

Common Sense had prevailed, and we started at a more practical 8.30, rather than the advertised 10pm. The evening seemed to go very well - highlights included the man from The Field making at least ten new BFFs. There were one or two volume issues to be discussed, but only once Charlie and Ian's hearing has returned. So that could be September.

Best moment of the evening came at home time, as one of our keenest fans had to be dragged away from a posse of decadent ladies who made the Triple L's look terribly restrained. It sort of reminded me of this classic.