Hi all,
This weeks gig
Saturday 14th December
Hogs & Heifers
Bentham
Yorkshire
We like Hogs & Heifers, nice venue and good audience. Once again only the one gig but as always there is the possibility of a second cropping up (Friday 13th) so if it does we will let you know.
So last Sunday we were in Derbyshire at the Nags Head Ripley. Kicked off at 5:45 and finished at 8:15pm after three encores. What else can we say Great gig and home before 1:30!
Last week was my birthday, not a significant one although I am a year older now of course. DVDs seemed to be the main focus of the event, Hangover 3 which I have been looking forward to seeing for some time and also Karl Pilkington The Moaning of Life. Both were actually very funny.
I also treated myself to a couple of doses of Mr Blackmore on DVD:- Deep Purple Perfect Strangers Live (Australia 84) and Rainbow Live in Germany (95). You can say what you like about the man but there is no denying the guy can play.
Saturday morning I was hoping to meet up with Dangerous Dave for a breakfast fry up and a chin wag as hadnt seen him for a while. I have a couple of video ideas to be discussed amongst the general chat however it never happened. Still, keep watching out for those videos appearing early next year.
I took the bull by the horns last week and designed myself a Clan T-shirt with the help of an on-line T-shirt printing site. Figured I would just do the one, check out the quality and see if it generates any interest when I wear it. Im not great at design/art in fact I would say I am actually completely useless at it so I wont be holding my breath as to a positive response. Personally I think it looks quite good on the preview, not exactly what I wanted due to limitations of the site but well see when it arrives.
A couple of things happened recently which I think are worth mentioning. The first was the terrible incident in Glasgow which I am sure no one would have ever imagined happening. An incredibly tragic event that you really would never have envisaged happening when you left the house for a good night out.
The second of course is the passing of Nelson Mandela. A very inspirational man with great vision and conviction, unfortunately Im not sure the rest of his family have the same qualities.
So we are now a lot further into the Christmas season and possibly this year we may give a live airing to its Christmas (Lets have a good time). Weve never played it live but there is a strong possibility of it being performed at Alexanders Chester on 19th. That is currently looking like our last gig before Christmas Day.
As for Christmas itself I blow hot and cold really, I can see that having a focal point for a year is probably a good thing, also it does encourage people to meet up which they may not do otherwise. On the negative side though it is probably more to do with making money for many people and I do feel sorry for the people who are expected to work late on Christmas Eve and early on boxing day. I also feel sorry for the people who feel obliged to spend money they really cant afford on extra food, presents, decorations etc.
Its not a cheap business. Even posting Christmas cards can run up a hefty bill.
Rants
Jeremy Paxman what a moronic ignorant rude man. Im not sure if he was putting on an act when he was on BBCs one show last week but I dont think he was doing himself any favours. I actually thought his book (which he was supposed to be on the show plugging) sounded quite interesting but given that it is probably written with the same condescending attitude that the man obviously has I think Ill give it a miss. The guy is a journalist, same as many others, although in his deluded mind he obviously believes he is more important than that; hes not exactly changing the world and basically what he probably refers to as a strong assertive approach is called bad manners in my book no matter how he tries to dress it up.
I heard Miranda Hart on the radio the other day; she is apparently on a stand-up tour next year. Interestingly she was discussing the fact that it is in Arenas as opposed to theatres. Personally I am not a huge fan of 10,000 seat arenas for comedy or concerts. I much prefer to see people in theatres where even if you are at the back you can actually see the people you have paid to see. I dont really like to end up watching a giant screen and actually forgetting that the people are on the stage which is pretty much what happens. Yes I realise its more cost effective to play arenas and obviously generates more money but apart from bands like Kiss who have always geared their show to arenas from the start (very successfully I might add) Im still not convinced. For me the best shows are in clubs which hold a few hundred people and you can really see the performer(s).
I dont know why but my energy provider (Gas & Electric) is constantly sending me letters relating to the meter and the bill. We seem to forever being asked to read the meter and provide the reading, which we do, meter readers also seem to appear at very regularly intervals yet we receive bills indicating Estimated invariably requesting an increase in the monthly payments. I wish they would get their act together. What happens to the meter readings provided by us and their own meter readers I really do not know?
My good friend Neil Tudor posted recently about delays at the airport (caused as it turned out by the Air traffic system failure). I had to remind him that actually compared with the hardships endured by many people in the world waiting for a delayed plane was not exactly that bad but he quite rightly responded with the fact that I rant every week in this journal about far more trivial matters. I had to concede the point to be fair. It just reinforced the point that the pair of us have become grumps. Haha.
Argh when did Motorway services stop selling Ginsters pasties? Well Keele services specifically. A favourite stopping place for us after gigs and we were shocked to discover this horror on Sunday. Actually I never partake these days anyway, I usually wait until I arrive home but I would like the option to be available. I didnt call my album Pies, Pasties and rock n Roll for nothing.
Music
We have just been given a really rather good review for our The Clan 100% Live album this week from SKOPE Radio.
Now if we could just get a few more people to read it? In fact feel free to share this link as widely as possible.
I have been listening to Deep Purple Perfect Strangers Live (Sydney 84) which is the audio of the DVD mentioned earlier. It is pretty much the same set list as when they played Knebworth in 85 which was one of the best gigs I have ever been to, although actually I hate to say it but the Sydney gig is even better.
Child in Time was played which it wasnt at Knebworth and generally the playing throughout is on top form. Blackmore definitely had a good night and when he was on form like that it always made the rest of the band up their game. That was the thing with Purple, the set may have been the same but the delivery was always different. Unfair if you caught them on a bad night I agree but on a good night there arent many who could touch them.
If you see the current line up of course they will probably be consistently good but I doubt they are ever great.
In my opinion this is probably the best Purple Live album since Made in Japan and I have heard quite a few. In fact the inclusion of latter day classics such as Perfect Strangers and Knocking at your back door alongside the expected Smoke, Black Night and Highway star is very refreshing.
Current and recommended listening Deep Purple Perfect Strangers Live Sydney 1984.
Until next week
Keep rockin
Craig