Scratchers Saturday 13th October
17/10/07 18:48
'It's
pleasant driving from South London into the
heart of Surrey, arriving at The Three Lions as dusk
falls. It was a nice warm evening and Farncombe
village was emitting a welcome glow. It's a
really good venue, 'Scratchers', with a very pleasant
clientale and the manager, Neil, is a brick! We
like performing there.
So we set up:
The greatest stage set imaginable! Glistening amps (Vox, Fender, Trace Elliot), drums (a gleaming red Yamaha kit I believe) and guitars (a collector's dream of Fenders and Gibsons) all set up and hissing, the backdrop a large screen with England versus France Rugby World Cup semi-final about to take place on it.
England won! So follow that!
We did! We jacked up the volume and blasted into our own personal 80 minutes plus of endeavour. No half-time here, we pressed on relentlessly and played a venerable blinder! Steve was singing and performing well and above his game like the old pro he is, Mark was slugging his kit like The Incredible Hulk in a bad mood, Chris was sliding his bottleneck up and down like ..... (insert your own analogy) and the bass amp speaker was blowing the back of my strides hard enough to lift my multiple kilos up and off the stage.
As usual I had my eyes closed for most of the set, but when I did on occasions open the shutters for a snapshot of the audience they were obviously ecstatic. I read that loud volume (it must be harmonious) causes a loss of balance and the brain's attempt to make corrections causes this kind of rapture. GOOD!
We've constructed a great, cliche-free repetoire over the years. It has its own dynamic and refined itself into a collection of cleverly chosen and perfectly formed numbers, all killers with masses of great lyrics, and often boasting more than three chords! 'Paint It Black' has proved itself a winner especially with our enhanced 'bolero' section. 'For Your Love' we've turned into an epic! Chris shifts time and space with his 'Who Do You Love' solo. We have supercharged 'You Really Got Me'. The perennial 'I Don't Need No Doctor' needs no doctoring. 'Cold Shot' swings like a wrecking ball. WE deliver 'Keep On Rocking In The Free World' like the leviathon it is.
And watch this space, we've got Led Zeppelin's apocalyptic arrangement of 'When The Levee Breaks' in the pipeline.' So come and see us test drive it at The Wheatsheaf, and again at The Jolly Farmers. You know you can't resist!''
Mo.
So we set up:
The greatest stage set imaginable! Glistening amps (Vox, Fender, Trace Elliot), drums (a gleaming red Yamaha kit I believe) and guitars (a collector's dream of Fenders and Gibsons) all set up and hissing, the backdrop a large screen with England versus France Rugby World Cup semi-final about to take place on it.
England won! So follow that!
We did! We jacked up the volume and blasted into our own personal 80 minutes plus of endeavour. No half-time here, we pressed on relentlessly and played a venerable blinder! Steve was singing and performing well and above his game like the old pro he is, Mark was slugging his kit like The Incredible Hulk in a bad mood, Chris was sliding his bottleneck up and down like ..... (insert your own analogy) and the bass amp speaker was blowing the back of my strides hard enough to lift my multiple kilos up and off the stage.
As usual I had my eyes closed for most of the set, but when I did on occasions open the shutters for a snapshot of the audience they were obviously ecstatic. I read that loud volume (it must be harmonious) causes a loss of balance and the brain's attempt to make corrections causes this kind of rapture. GOOD!
We've constructed a great, cliche-free repetoire over the years. It has its own dynamic and refined itself into a collection of cleverly chosen and perfectly formed numbers, all killers with masses of great lyrics, and often boasting more than three chords! 'Paint It Black' has proved itself a winner especially with our enhanced 'bolero' section. 'For Your Love' we've turned into an epic! Chris shifts time and space with his 'Who Do You Love' solo. We have supercharged 'You Really Got Me'. The perennial 'I Don't Need No Doctor' needs no doctoring. 'Cold Shot' swings like a wrecking ball. WE deliver 'Keep On Rocking In The Free World' like the leviathon it is.
And watch this space, we've got Led Zeppelin's apocalyptic arrangement of 'When The Levee Breaks' in the pipeline.' So come and see us test drive it at The Wheatsheaf, and again at The Jolly Farmers. You know you can't resist!''
Mo.
|
Scratchers Saturday 13th October
16/10/07 22:10
WHAT A NIGHT! First we all watched the nail-biting semi-final of the
rugby World Cup, on the big screen, in which we witnessed England grind
the French hopes into the dust, or the mud. Sacre bleu! What a result!
They were shouting and cheering at Scratchers as if they could be heard
in Paris - and I'm sure it helped. Then we played two sets without a
break, which is great to do as you can really get into it. The notes
bounced of the wall, the sweat ran, and we really worked up a head of
steam, finishing off with an impromptu, rock blues-gospel version of
Swing Low Sweet Chariot - which is more or less where it came from in
the first place, minus the rock-blues bit - to pay tribute to the the
amazing efforts of the rosbifs of old England. We're looking forward to
our three gigs at Scratchers next year - it's always great to play
here.
Steve