Sunday, October 29, 2006

21st October 2001

Thanks to all the Babylon Sisters and Brothers who made the trip up
to the Derbyshire Dales, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
For those of you who weren't there the gory details are as follows.
I made it up to Matlock Bath early on Thursday evening and made my
way to my mate Pete's house in nearby Cromford. We made our way down
to The Fishpond and got there just before the Babylon Posse. I knew
that there were people coming a long way for an acoustic gig so I
decided to include a few new songs in the set so they weren't
getting the same set that they heard last time. I included a few new
ones and I would like to hear any feedback or receive any reveiws
for the website so get typing. I thought the gig at The Fishpond
went ok but from correspondence I have already received it seems
that the gig at The Boat the following night in Cromford was the one
to be at. To be honest I was a little unsure of what was going to
happen and this is always a vibe becasue there is nothing I like
more than flying by the seat of your pants and I was prepared to
strap on the Biggles hat and take off. Southern Bird and Jock The
Duke came off the subs bench to replace Dave and Mike who had to go
home and it looked like we were in for a long night. The set up at
The Boat was excellent. The band leader Simon had an Atari set up in
the pub with a little kick-ass PA and a big bunch of mates to make a
row with. I think the line up was two / three guitars, bass,
two/three saxaphones, trumpet and keys. The house band is made up of
a load of musicians who gather there on a Friday for a jam. They
kicked it off and I did a couple of acoustic tunesand then we played
together and what a diverse set list it was. We covered Pink Floyd,
Louis Armstrong, Ian Dury and The Beatles. I had a great time except
for the fact that I was playing along to songs I didn't know without
being able to hear a single note I was playing. Simon has promised
to send me a tape but I am not so sure if I want to hear it that
much as it could be a bit embarrassing on my part. All the guys in
the band were cool cats and the Babylon Posse seemed to enjoy
themselves with Jock The Duke even managing to throw a few shapes
with his missus to Mustang Sally. We managed to muster enough
strength to drag ourselves away from the pub at about three in the
morning and bid farewell to the Babylon Posse. I went back to Pete
and Gill's house but just managed to catch sight of the Brothers and
Sisters flagging down an estate mini-cab which managed to get all
six of them in including the driver. if anyone reading this knows
Steve and Mark then you know what a potential record this could be,
I better get on to Norris McWhirter. I am not being "size-ist" but I
think both of these guy would agree with me when I say they aren't
the smallest of people and along with Jock The Duke I am sure the
ladies would have had to run behind so can someone mail me with
details of the short journey home or tell me about it on Thursday.
Earlier in the day myself, MJ and Ing, Steve and Mark all went on
the cable car up to The Heights Of Abraham which is in Matlock Bath.
When we reached the top we went and had a tour of one of the big
caverns there that was used for lead mining in the 17th century.
Steve and Ing did well to get up to the top as their fear of heights
was rearing it's ugly head and I had to wonder how Steve was feeling
when we stopped halfway up for the little "swing in the breeze". I
am sure the only reason for this is to "shit-up" the passengers and
make them imagine they are starring in "Where Eagles Dare". I have
to admit to having sweaty palms myself.
I have to tell you also about the top nights kip I had on my first
night's stay at pete and gill's place. They have a back bedroom that
is well insulated and has the comfiest bed on the planet ( and
beleive me I am a fussy bastard when it comes to bedtime ) When I
woke up I thought it would be about 10 but was shocked to see it was
one in the afternoon. Lazy boy.
I left on midday Saturday and dropped Pete of in Derby as he was
going to see The Rams with a couple of pals and although I had the
chance of a ticket I had to get back and missed what was probably a
forgettable 1-1 draw with Charlton.
I was up at the studio today compiling a load of stuff that Nige did
last week and his performance has rescued a track which was heading
for the recycle bin. The song, called "Ruby Blue", is quite a good
tune but it needed the right treatment and I think Nige has added
the catalyst to send it on it's way. I was listening to all the
stuff I have recorded on the track and doing a little mental edit
and I think it will be great when we get some good guitars on there
which, if all goes well, should happen tomorrow. I will let you know
next time.
P.S. I am still driving that peice-of-shit car.

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