Hope you all
had the best time over the holiday. I thought I
would start off this year with a bit of randomness by
posting up some images from a 2002 film I have recently
discovered and become outrageously passionate about.
The Jean-Pierre Jeunet, film "Le Fabuleux destin
d'Amélie Poulain", is known here as simply...."Amélie".
Tuesday
16th
January 07
The
Cavern Club, Liverpool.
Today is the
50th anniversary of the opening of the Cavern Club in
Mathew Street. My good friend Alex McKechnie has put
together a band comprising of his mates who all have
long standing connections with the club. Alex was
a regular at the club in the early 60's and saw the
Beatles here many times. Towards the end of the
decade he was a member of the clubs resident band, and
up until his retirement a couple of years ago, he booked
all the bands here, including Oasis and The Coral before
they made it. Drummer, Ray Johnson is one of the
most familiar faces at Beatle Week and now works as
resident sound engineer in the club. Paul Kappa
has played the club more times than the Beatles, and is
widely considered one of the best guitar players in
Liverpool. He also plucks the six string for Haré
Georgeson. My connection with the club goes back
to April 1984, when I was in the first band to play on
the re-opened stage. It seems bizarre to think
that in 1984 the whole club was carpeted!
So, The Alex McKechnie Experience performed a hastily
cobbled together 40 minute set comprising of tunes that
would have been heard in the early era of the
club. Arthur Alexander, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash,
Ray Charles and Chuck Berry all got an airing.
The afternoon was great fun, if a tad under-rehearsed.
Sunday
21st
January 07
Theatre
Royal, Windsor.
I'm pleased
to report that the wind that has been battering Britain
for the last few days has now subsided, making the
journey south pretty uneventful.
This is the fourth time we have played at the Theatre
Royal, and the second time we have appeared in the
middle of the run of a play. The play currently
running is "Treats", starring
Billie Piper and Kris Marshall. As it is not possible
to remove the stage set, we end up performing in the
mock up of someone's living room.
The Shea Stadium section is gonna look ridiculous!!
Kris Marshall plays the role of Dudley Sutton in a BBC3
drama Roy introduced me to called "Funland".
I couldn't resist sticking a note on his dressing room
door asking:
"How's that bucket working out for
you?".... a line from Funland which hopefully he
will have found amusing.
Good to see agent Mark
Lundquist turn out for this show, and it's always a
pleasure to have Tracy scrounge a ticket. I think
it's a bit of nerve though, that the car park behind the
theatre charges £7.00 for the evening, even on a Sunday.
Eddie's cold made for a few mildly amusing in-between
song incidents, especially since he wasn't carrying a
hanky.
Wednesday
24th
January 07
Chez Moi,
Liverpool.
Derek said
he liked the photo slideshows..... so, now that it has
turned so cold, here are some pictures from last summer
to cheer you up and get you in a holiday mood!!
