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J
A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6
Thursday
26th January 06
Four
Seasons Hotel, London.
A month off
to recover from Christmas is enough for anyone, so when
Dirk says ten minutes into the journey down the M6 that
he has missed Eddies little personal quips from the back
seat...I think he is being sincere. Actually,
Eddie is a surprisingly good mood considering that he
only found out that we had this gig last night.
Someone forgot to mention to Eddie that the gig had
come in late, and so he got a bit confused when Roy
texted him to say that he was being picked up a day
early.
The gig was for Canon at the Four Seasons in Hamilton
Place. We were a little apprehensive. 300 blokes
from about 30 countries on a conference, tables right up
to the stage....this sounds like its going to be a long
night! We'd agreed to split the set so that we
could perform "between courses".....it just
better! As will happen 9 times out of 10 at a
corporate function, either one of the speeches will
over-run, or one table will be outrageously slow
finishing their first course. So we all ready and
waiting to go on for about 45 minutes in a small room
adjacent to the ballroom. A fine set of club sandwiches
appear. 3 were eaten; 1 was hastily scuppered back
up to the hotel room we got changed in; 1 was carefully
placed in to an empty guitar case for safe keeping; and
the remaining sarnie was wrestled with and finally polished
off about 30 seconds before we went on stage.
The first set was a breezy six songs in length, and we
were amazed! All the chairs were turned round, and
the audience watched intently. These are the kind
of gigs where a band can "die on their arse"...but
we stormed it. Not only that, but we had a good
on-stage sound and we played really well.
The second set, after the main course, was no
different. The whole room watched avidly, with a
few people dancing at the back. For the last
couple of numbers, we were quite shocked to see the
whole room stand up and clap all the way through....this
doesn't happen that often at these sorts of gigs. We
left the stage with the audience still on their feet and
still clapping and as we walked through the kitchens,
the waiters and waitresses formed a sort of "guard
of honour" and they too were applauding us as we
made our way back to the ante-room. The most
enjoyable corporate gig we have done in a long time.
We get in the car and travel 100 miles west along the M4
to a travelodge near Bristol.
Friday
27th January 06
Queens
Theatre, Barnstaple.
I have to
admit, that I was a bit worried about this show.
January in North Devon didn't seem at first to be a
great idea. Who is gonna come out and see
us? It was a very pleasant surprise to find out a
couple of days ago that the show had virtually sold
out. On arriving at the theatre we find out that
the last few restricted view seats have also been
sold. Playing to a full house is always less
nerve-wracking than when the ticket sales have
struggled.
Dirk and I, ate in the fish & chip restaurant on the
next block to the theatre, and then walked round the
lovely town of Barnstaple in an effort to get rid of the
indigestion! While this was going on, it transpired that
young Edward had taken a liquid dinner in Wetherspoons.
One or two pints for Ed is fine, but anymore, and he is
likely to become a fool to himself.......!!
It's not the best show we have ever done tonight, but it
goes down very well with the audience.
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