Lordy lordy what a night we had...........up in Llanwrtyd Wells beer festival.
Its been years since I was up in Llanwrtyd so wasnt sure I would remember how to get there.I remember having to turn left in Upper Chapel and driving over the ranges but that was it.Pete was helping with diections after that so we did actually ger there ok.
Went into the pub and was recognised by the landlord and he said oh you look younger than your picture......a good start definitely.
He showed us the beer tent where we were playing.....a huge marquee with a stage covered in beer at the back. Tried to ring the others to see where they were ...no signal.Oh gawd here we are Pete and I will be playing an accoustic set...luckily Colin and Ian turned up then.They had had a slight altercation with a hedge but got there safe and sound...thank heavens.
Chris ,Nick and Jayde followed so it was a bit of a rush to set up but we managed.
By this time we had discovered that the roof of the marquee was constantly dripping.and that the guys were thoroughly enjoying the beer.....no surprise there then.
The audience were certainly up for a laugh as being pulled from the stage at one point and thrown around the dance floor by very drunk visitors to the festival proved.Ask me if any of the band rushed to my rescue........we'll take that as a big resounding NO.I didnt mind really it was all a hell of a laugh.Ian and Pete decided that the organic beer might make Ian's hair grow.Blimey I've heard some excuses in my time for drinking beer.....did it work.....uh still waiting to see :- /
Started getting a bit chilly though and had to wear my coat in the second half.By the time we had finished the car was completely frozen over and the roads were white.The roof of the marquee was still dripping though.I think the only thing not wet was Colin's head ......and no it wasnt due to the water sliding off it ...he had a hat on :-)
Peter the landlord was happy, as were the punters ,as were the band so a successful night all round I'd say.Definitely worth a visit - The Stonecroft Inn,Dolecoed,Llanwrtyd Wells.
The drive home was a bit hairy to say the least.I thought driving back over the ranges would be the best way but gawd the roads were totally white and sparkling...not a good idea at all.Had to stop at my Mum's in Brecon for sustinance.She is a late bird like myself so she didnt mind.She did however insist on playing some of the songs I wrote a long time ago which was tad embarassing but at least she didnt get out the baby photos
Mothers eh?? You gotta luv 'em :-)
Or should I say Talybont on Usk the setting for our Brecon Jazz fringe gig.
We were all a bit worried about the weather bearing in mind that we were playing in the beergarden. The band would be under a marquee but the poor audience were likely to get a bit damp if it decided to pour down.
Talybont is a lovely little village on the River Usk and The Star Inn has the added bonus of having the river at one side of the garden and the Canal at the other.This year they had set up a bar in the garden too so with the BBQ you didnt have far to stagger and no chance of missing any of the music.
The garden started filling up really fast and before long people were having to watch from on top of the bridge.
We started at about 1 oclock and the weather was lovely.I then committed the cardinal sin of saying to the audience ' Oh we are really lucky and the suns shining and no rain '. As I'm saying the words the clouds start appearing and the skies darkened.Me and my big mouth eh ? Luckily the weather held and it didnt rain.
That afternoons line up was our usual crew except we didnt have Chris the Keys as once again he was having to work but were lucky enough to have Pete Mathison on guitar and vocals who was fab as always.
We finished at about 4 pm and by then we were tired but happy as we'd had gigs Thursday and Friday nights and then had to get up early Saturday morning to drive to Brecon.
My only complaint about the afternoon was that there was no ' bum wiggling ' .....sigh
HOT - SWEATY - LOUD - an afternoon with the Grinning Idiots Bikers Club.It was to celebrate the club's 5th Birthday and celebrate they did.
The gig was at the New Inn Abercarn .It had certainly been a while since I had played there ( last time with my old band IN THE RED ) so it was nice to be back.
Was a great afternoon with the band playing 2 sets initially but then being persuaded ( by having lots of money thrown at us ) to play a third. I love it when that happens.We had 2 guest musicians with the band for the gig.Pete Mathison on guitar and Paul Trew on drums.Our keyboard player Chris was unavailable to play due to work commitments and Ian our normal drummist ( nothing normal about drummers mind you) was galavanting about in France on his holiday.
All in all was a very enjoyable gig with lots & lots of ' eating,drinking and being merry ' ...another guest drummer - Prob - having a blast ...oh and how could I forget..a certain amount of ' bum wiggling ' courtesy of one of the bikers.Made my afternoon anyway
