Saturday's Wedding

In the background of this picture is Old Winchester Hill, on top of which is a fort a couple of thousand years old. I wonder if our forebears and ancestors, as they toiled with hand and primitive tool to dig the magnificent ramparts and ditches, had any idea what would happen in mid-July 2013. What would they make of the arrival of the Thomas Lord Old Gits, ready to dig their own groove?

It was hot. It was sweaty. But the sun shone magnificently (and after the weather twelve months' ago, no-one is allowed to EVER complain about sunshine) and there was a slightly refreshing easterly coming down the valley.

Having set up in the morning, we regathered as the sun was beginning to dip.

(That's not the main marquee, by the way). We waited until the happy couple had made the most of the spectacular sunset for their photographs, and then watched as they had their first dance. And then we kicked off.

I think we all agree that it was one of our best gigs. The floor never emptied. The dancing was hard and fast, and, as last week, the dance floor wasn't big enough - and it was a big dance floor.

It was one of those evenings where good feedback makes us play better, and as we played better, the feedback got better. True, we had a couple of technical stumbles, but we effortlessly carried on through them. We even got to do our encore in full!

One test of a gig is the hour afterwards. Those who had to relieve babysitters were sent on their way, and the rest of us cleared up, all on a bit of a high. And even when we'd cleared up, we didn't seem top want to go home. Instead, there was some severe rifling of the buffet, and a mass outbreak of cheese and peanut scoffing took place. (New band name suggestion: The Cheesegrazers). Ian would have joined in with this undignified face-stuffing but was busy with a new fan.

Huge smiles all round. Sort of sums up the evening, really.