MJEB's Tamworth 2012 Tour Gig Report Part 2
As this blog is in Chronological order, go here to read part 1.
And now, after a sleep, financial reconciliation, album pre production phone calls and various other housekeeping duties, here's the 2nd part of the Tamworth Tour Blog!
Day 6
Ah, Day 6 and Breakfast. And what's on the menu? Hi Fibre Cereal. LOL
Mr Wizard had artfully arranged his hair for the morning. I gotta say, I like it, in a Robert Smith kind of way,
We decided to go in for another of Steve Passfields breakfast sessions at the Diggers, which is always a great show, as Steve does his own thing as well as inviting a whole host of guest muso's up for a spot. Rosie and I were particularly taken with the lyrics in a couple of the songs from his guests, and it may have inadvertently led to a new song of our own, but I'll keep that under wraps for the moment.
As we drove into the Diggers, I was chauffeured by the lovely Jo, which suits me just fine. As you may imagine, parking can be at a premium during the festival and I was amused by someones graffiti on the back of a VIP Parking sign :-)
You cant help but smile at the Parking attendant and mention it. Or, should you happen to be the gleefully malevolent person of your present interlocutor (ie: me), you might smile at the Parking Attendant and ask how long the hugs last for.
This will induce an immediate response from the now slightly-anxious young bloke manning the chair who will rush to assure you that No Hugs Are In the Offing, until he realises you're messing with him and grins.
Heh.
Now in a sign that Cafe Culture has spread far and wide, for those who travel to far flung places and are unhappy when the Soy Frappucino Machine is busted, please note that one of the advantages of Breakfast At The Diggers is...
Ahh...wake up and smell the Macchiato.
Mind you, I'm off the coffee, so this was purely an olfactory experience, enjoyed by our resident coffee fiends.
And so with Music in the background in the forecourt (oh, lovely alliteration eh?) thems what opted out from Fibre Plus (TM, 150% of your Fibre needs daily), chose the Country Brekkie..
We enjoyed the sunshine and songs and then retired to our gypsy encampment (ok, it was a house. Thank you Pete) to prepare for the nights gig in the Main Ballroom at the Diggers that night.
Smoky was telling'em whats what.
So to recap, we'd done two sessions int he Legends Bar, 1 in the Courtyard, 1 shopping centre gig.
The audiences were as variable as the venues and the time of day, as the Festival attracts a wide age range of attendees.
We had kept the sets mostly Acoustic, including some acoustic versions of the electric songs, such as 'Can't Tax Love', but for the evening sessions at the Ballroom we figured we'd start to introduce more electric material. Okie doke, ggood to go, lets have a look at the venue..
Yikes. That's a lot of (expletive deleted) chairs.
Here's me sounding a tad worried.
As a band that have done our fair share of Bar work, its a treat to see...
Dressing room? Ohh. Bloody Luxury.
Stage? Full lighting?
Now for some impressive muso reason, Mr Wizard is pointing at this thing. I think its an Amp. I think that's important somehow. If you figure it out, let Mr Wizard know. I am at a loss, but will behave as if suitably impressed Oh. A black box thing.
After that, its a ll a bit of a blur. No, I mean it.
The Lighting dude was enthusiastic. At one point I requested that he turn me over as I was done on that side. Here's what I got on the camera:
No, that's not the surface of the sun. Somewhere out there are People. Some where.
We had an enthusiastic audience who hooted and hollered (at least I think they were out there) and it put all the chaps (and Jo) in an excellent mood by the time we got back to base camp.
Cheers to Steve, Bernie, Val, and all the folks who came along.
Outside, my camera regained consciousness so I got an moment of Retro-Moderno Art Deco at the entrance to Diggers.
Day...whatever the heck is the day..Monday? Thursday? Is this Belgium?
Day 7
The next morning I was off in search of some condiment or other (yes e are a hard charging band that needs Fresh Garlic) and found that Tamworth, you can stand in line at the Supermarket and hear Guitar Legends whilst you shop. After exiting the checkout I stopped to hear a little of Phil Emmanuel playing to a big crowd.
That afternoon, we headed off early for the evening gig. I passed another knockout piece of signage, especially for a city feller like me.
Yep, that's right folks, $2 parking. I'd visit there just t pay that :-)
(sigh)
That night was our last gig at the Diggers, and our last with the lovely Jo Fitzgerald :-(
Boy can she sing.
And so, once more unto the stage as the boys did their setup.
And the artwork on the walls had its appeal.
We had a light crowd at the beginning of the evening, but as the last set rolled through, we suddenly had an influx which put me in a pickle. Do we just do our last few songs? These folks have just arrived.
With the agreement of the band, we went off the reservation, abandoned the set list (nooo!) and just asked them what they felt like hearing, which, surprisingly, turned out to be all the electric stuff!
We ended with Road Rise Up (I think..or was it Swamp Monster), either way, once again we completed our mission, took a long lingering glance at the Special Dressing Room...check the bathroom :-)
(Bravo, Bravo!)
we headed for home, knowing that our next gig was the late night session at the Albert the following evening.
The next day, Jo was due to leave, (bummer) so we enjoyed a last gig late night meal before turning in and awaiting our transition from Nice, Happy, Harmonious songs to the Dark Side as we prepared for the Albert Hotel gigs....
More to follow in Part 3.
