I arrived at the same time as The Charlie Tipper Conspiracy who had driven up from Bristol, and the man behind the bar very kindly made us a row of cups of tea, lined up on the bar like cowboys' whisky.
The Charlie Tipper Conspiracy have been friends with each other for a long time and are a great advertisement for being in a band. They have hilarious bantz and an elegantly choreographed way of setting up their gear that morphed into a sound check with seemingly no effort at all.
There was a high family turnout in the audience (thanks everybodee) and after getting used to my fingers, I really enjoyed playing songs from the new album mixed in with some older songs (actually, there's something wrong with my guitar neck, as I discovered when I played the other electric guitar today, so I'm taking that one to Liverpool on Thursday instead).
I saw the band at the Indietracks Festival last year but there was so much to listen to there, that this felt like the first time I'd seen them. They are a songs band (absolutely the best sort of band) and they have a really positive vibe although not all of their songs are nicey-nicey. There are a lot of personnel in the band (six, although their cornet player wasn't there last night) and they make full use of harmonies and two guitars, backed up by keyboards and a grooving rhythm section. How to describe their music? Maybe Jefferson Airplane without the hippy sh*t? Me and my fam thought they were great, that's all! I'm so looking forward to seeing them next Thursday when we're playing at The Cavern in Liverpool.
At the end I got up to sing Femme Fatale with them; it's the first time we've done it live, and it was such a great feeling to sing with a band again.
Afterwards Neil took to the decks and plied to room with a series of smashing tracks.
It was no good... for the first time in five years I leapt on to the dance floor with Offsprog One and danced my feet off. The music was a mix of Northern Soul (that's what got me up), Thirties tracks, The Cure, you name it: if you could dance to it, it was there. Then I recognised a drum intro, and Neil was playing Sweetie by The Chefs.
What a strange thing to see a roomful of people dancing to a track we recorded in 1979!
If you'd told me back then that I'd be sitting in a room having just played a gig, next to one of two grown-up daughters, I would not have believed you.
The dance floor was incredible friendly. There was a mix of ages, genders, everything and a lot of smiling and chatting during the dancing. What a great atmosphere!
I bounced home like Tigger. My legs ache today but I don't care. All the worry lines (I've had a lot to worry about) have gone from my face temporarily. I had such a nice time and I think everyone else did too.
Here's another Chefs track you might like too Neil (I was trying to sound like Donna Summer and Ennio Morricone)
And here's some pics: waiting for the venue to open, the band setting up and the band playing. Plus a little puppet hanging out with no particular place to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment