Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Celebrating Brian

It was worth travelling back a day early to meet up with the remaining members of Asbo Derek (is it rude to call them the 'leftovers'? Good!) and some other pals including Kim and Simon from Oldfield Youth Club, Joe Davin from The Cravats and Steve Clements, to commemorate Brian Blaney's life and the publication of a book of his celebrated stories. The book was put together by Jem and Mark and is a wonderful tribute to Brian's life. It only seems a couple of weeks ago that I was zipping his wooly cardy up to his chin after spending an afternoon in the bawdy company of the band at the Prince Albert (all staff apparently suffering from Covid infections at the moment).

True to form the weather forecast was entirely wrong, and we sat in the sunshine and talked our heads off. Most people drank copious quantities of booze but I and my companion ate copious quantities of chips instead (although I still managed a Mr Whippy on the way back along the seafront).

There are still good things in life despite it's grim and overcast sky, and friends are very important at this time. I was delighted to hear that the band are going to continue in a slightly altered format and with new songs. The spirit of musicians is hard to crush!

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