Sunday 14 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Last dig of the year
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Last dig of the year: The weather though glorious today was not forecast to be great , so our last dig at Shillington this year was only to be one day. Anyone w...
Last dig of the year
The weather though glorious today was not forecast to be great , so our last dig at Shillington this year was only to be one day. Anyone who could get there in the week would be helping Derek finish off.
Another very nice house in ample grounds was our dig for today. The usual mix of pottery etc on the way down to 0.6m, including a very nice complete clay pipe bowl. Rarely get complete ones, usually broken pieces with plenty of the pipe stems (did I ever mention one of my Great Great Great Grandfathers was a clay pipe maker in Paddington in the 1860's) This has the design of crossed keys ( see photo), this is a papal & a masonic badge but more probably sold at a pub called the crossed keys at some stage. It's probably 19th century.
We got two probable post holes at 0.5m & 0.6m though nothing in the fill could date them for definite, though pottery near the second one (which was mostly in the side of the pit) was early Medieval (1250-1350 ish). We had a few nice sherds of this fabric, also photo'd here, Derek is taking this years finds up to Paul Blinkhorn (formerly of Time Team fame) for analysis next week so it will be interesting to get his expert opinion.
Sadly the weather forecast for Sunday was dire so it was agreed we'd knock it on the head. It's been a good digging season and I look forward to more next year.
Another very nice house in ample grounds was our dig for today. The usual mix of pottery etc on the way down to 0.6m, including a very nice complete clay pipe bowl. Rarely get complete ones, usually broken pieces with plenty of the pipe stems (did I ever mention one of my Great Great Great Grandfathers was a clay pipe maker in Paddington in the 1860's) This has the design of crossed keys ( see photo), this is a papal & a masonic badge but more probably sold at a pub called the crossed keys at some stage. It's probably 19th century.
We got two probable post holes at 0.5m & 0.6m though nothing in the fill could date them for definite, though pottery near the second one (which was mostly in the side of the pit) was early Medieval (1250-1350 ish). We had a few nice sherds of this fabric, also photo'd here, Derek is taking this years finds up to Paul Blinkhorn (formerly of Time Team fame) for analysis next week so it will be interesting to get his expert opinion.
Sadly the weather forecast for Sunday was dire so it was agreed we'd knock it on the head. It's been a good digging season and I look forward to more next year.
Friday 12 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......impromptu gigs
An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......impromptu gigs: Now's here's a thing. A gig. Generally we'd book up months and months in advance, you know it's coming. No bad thing either...
The joy of .......impromptu gigs
Now's here's a thing. A gig. Generally we'd book up months and months in advance, you know it's coming. No bad thing either, you can look forward to it, expect the great things that may come of it, but then there's the impromptu gig. The one you didn't even know you were going to! How does that work? Strangely I've had two in as many months. Regular readers of the blog ( please identify yourselves as I'm fed up with reading it on my own!) will know I won the tickets to see the Quireboys, this one's abit different though. Oliver works with a chap of similar age and similar music tastes to me. He'd booked these tickets but unfortunately for him could not get there. No3 son & him had obviously conversed about musical tastes, even if Olly said...…..'Yes my Dad likes that old crap as well!, ' so the tickets were offered to me! Wasn't sure at first as I had no intention of going to a gig on my own, forgetting that The Memsahib had heard a little of Steve Hackett a at Cropredy and found he passed muster, so we very excitedly excepted.
So off we went arriving parched at the Shakespeare Arms in Carnaby Street at about 6.30pm. Drink, entry to the Palladium, finding T shirt stall that took cards, another drink and seated for 7.10pm we settled. Only to be disturbed by the plaintiff call of 'Where's my bloody glasses.' and of course the ever popular prostate induced problem of 'Where's the karzi?' from gentlemen of a certain age of which there were many.
'Wow' is a much used word , if it is a word, but it is one I'd use to describe this gig. Steve Hackett's playing was sublime, the orchestral accompaniments added a new dimension to the music that I had never heard before. Put simply it was a brilliant night. It far exceeded what we thought it might be, to say it was a joy from beginning to end doesn't give the word 'joy' enough wellie to describe what we witnessed. This gig was the end of the line for this tour, how sad, I'd go again it must be said. Genesis fans are a mixed and varied bunch ,some total idiots some good sorts, though strangely or not so strangely, mostly males of a certain age ( the smell of aging testosterone is not a pleasant one!) but we had both had a brilliant evening. Top that Saxon!
So off we went arriving parched at the Shakespeare Arms in Carnaby Street at about 6.30pm. Drink, entry to the Palladium, finding T shirt stall that took cards, another drink and seated for 7.10pm we settled. Only to be disturbed by the plaintiff call of 'Where's my bloody glasses.' and of course the ever popular prostate induced problem of 'Where's the karzi?' from gentlemen of a certain age of which there were many.
'Wow' is a much used word , if it is a word, but it is one I'd use to describe this gig. Steve Hackett's playing was sublime, the orchestral accompaniments added a new dimension to the music that I had never heard before. Put simply it was a brilliant night. It far exceeded what we thought it might be, to say it was a joy from beginning to end doesn't give the word 'joy' enough wellie to describe what we witnessed. This gig was the end of the line for this tour, how sad, I'd go again it must be said. Genesis fans are a mixed and varied bunch ,some total idiots some good sorts, though strangely or not so strangely, mostly males of a certain age ( the smell of aging testosterone is not a pleasant one!) but we had both had a brilliant evening. Top that Saxon!
- Set 1:
-
(Genesis song)
-
-
-
(Genesis song)
-
(Genesis song)
-
(Genesis song) (Drummer Gary O’Toole on lead vocals)
-
(with Amanda Lehmann)
- Set 2:
-
(Genesis song)
-
(Genesis song)
-
(with John Hackett) (also with Amanda Lehmann)
-
-
(Genesis song)
- Encore:
-
(Genesis song)
Note:
Full band with the Heart of England Philharmonic Orchestra
Wednesday 10 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: 10th October 1918
An idiots guide to an Idiot: 10th October 1918: As the Great War drew to a close alot of the British troops were re-organised. Under manned units were disbanded or amalgamated with others...
10th October 1918
As the Great War drew to a close alot of the British troops were re-organised. Under manned units were disbanded or amalgamated with others, an infantry brigade formerly formed of four infantry battalions was reduced to three. My Grandad's battalion, the 15/Warwick's was disbanded the personnel going to the 14th & 16th battalions. My Grandad was allotted to the 16th battalion, this date shows a period of great movement:
00.01 hrs.
13th Infantry Brigade Operational Orders No 232 received, Bn would march past starting point at 08.15 Issued 00.220.
07.45
Bn moved via trains to St Aubert Farm, Dump Personnel. B Echelon parted on way to go to Esnes area.
11.30
Bn in new area and had dinners
12.50
Orders from Brigade to move to Caudry which had only been liberated this morning together with 2500 civilians.
13.30
Bn moved.
15.30
Bn arrived, billeted in S. outskirts of Caudry.
17.30
Dump Personnel rejoined with B Echelon transport.
The German Command were in Caudry until forced pushed out by the British 37th Division. The town had been occupied since 1914, locals were used as slave labour and around 10000 people were forced out.
00.01 hrs.
13th Infantry Brigade Operational Orders No 232 received, Bn would march past starting point at 08.15 Issued 00.220.
07.45
Bn moved via trains to St Aubert Farm, Dump Personnel. B Echelon parted on way to go to Esnes area.
11.30
Bn in new area and had dinners
12.50
Orders from Brigade to move to Caudry which had only been liberated this morning together with 2500 civilians.
13.30
Bn moved.
15.30
Bn arrived, billeted in S. outskirts of Caudry.
17.30
Dump Personnel rejoined with B Echelon transport.
The German Command were in Caudry until forced pushed out by the British 37th Division. The town had been occupied since 1914, locals were used as slave labour and around 10000 people were forced out.
Tuesday 2 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of.... Digs
An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of.... Digs: A chance to dig back in Pirton with Gil Burleigh could not be refused this weekend. Gil is a professional archaeologist & I think forme...
The joy of.... Digs
A chance to dig back in Pirton with Gil Burleigh could not be refused this weekend. Gil is a professional archaeologist & I think formerly the Hertfordshire County Archaeologist, in other words, what he doesn't know about archaeology probably isn't worth knowing so it was great to go back to the village. Last time I was there Cambridge University were still doing their outreach project run by Carenza Lewis, who used the pottery expert Paul Blinkhorn to analyse the pot finds, both appeared regularly on Time Team. One dig I was on, infact I was digging and being watched and commented on by Carenza, Gil, and another Cambridge archaeologist Cat, I could have felt very intimidated but they were so nice to this idiot digging I couldn't have been more star struck!!!
This weekends dig was interesting if alittle light on the finds. Alot of building detritus in the first couple of contexts, that was no surprise,it turns out we were digging on the site of a cottage built around the 1880's. A few pot sherds, the ever popular Victorian blue & white with one lonely sherd from the early Medieval period, then we hit clay at about 0.4m, this would have been the cottage floor, so we were keen to get below that to the sealed layers beneath. Another 10cm was still clay then we hit chalk, surprising for this neck of the woods. We only have two days to get a dig started and finished so time was against us. Gil suggested we half the pit to get on quicker, down and down we dug. The 'we' being me, Ivor & Nigel. & Saturday only, Annie. Halved the pit again, so now only digging a quarter if the 1m square original test pit, got nearly a metre down and finds had been non-existent most of the way. Gil brought out the augur to see how far the chalk went down but it was incredibly difficult to get it down very far, but as far as it went was still chalk, a depth of about 1.2m. It was deemed to be the natural so game over, just the delights of backfilling, my least favourite part! I should say we were very well catered for by on of the residents of the cottages opposite our test pit, who very kindly brought us tea & home made scones no less on the Sunday, with the occasional 'help' from her little daughter, who actually invited us round for |Sunday lunch, much to her Mum's surprise! I've been doing this a few years now but wouldn't consider myself an archaeologist, even with a very big 'amateur' prefixing it, I may, with encouragement call myself a digger, though Gil suggested I was short changing myself and said of course I was an archaeologist!
Sometimes the finds can be a bit thin on the ground, on under it to be more accurate, but that never detracts from the hope that you'll find something interesting in the very next pull of the trowel over the surface, it's always a jolly weekend though I must say it's less like Team Team and more Last of the Summer Wine does archaeology but it is a laugh. Where else could you find three fools dancing round in a metre square hole singing the 'Ying Tong Song' whilst tamping down the soil in the backfilling!!? Roll on the next dig!
This weekends dig was interesting if alittle light on the finds. Alot of building detritus in the first couple of contexts, that was no surprise,it turns out we were digging on the site of a cottage built around the 1880's. A few pot sherds, the ever popular Victorian blue & white with one lonely sherd from the early Medieval period, then we hit clay at about 0.4m, this would have been the cottage floor, so we were keen to get below that to the sealed layers beneath. Another 10cm was still clay then we hit chalk, surprising for this neck of the woods. We only have two days to get a dig started and finished so time was against us. Gil suggested we half the pit to get on quicker, down and down we dug. The 'we' being me, Ivor & Nigel. & Saturday only, Annie. Halved the pit again, so now only digging a quarter if the 1m square original test pit, got nearly a metre down and finds had been non-existent most of the way. Gil brought out the augur to see how far the chalk went down but it was incredibly difficult to get it down very far, but as far as it went was still chalk, a depth of about 1.2m. It was deemed to be the natural so game over, just the delights of backfilling, my least favourite part! I should say we were very well catered for by on of the residents of the cottages opposite our test pit, who very kindly brought us tea & home made scones no less on the Sunday, with the occasional 'help' from her little daughter, who actually invited us round for |Sunday lunch, much to her Mum's surprise! I've been doing this a few years now but wouldn't consider myself an archaeologist, even with a very big 'amateur' prefixing it, I may, with encouragement call myself a digger, though Gil suggested I was short changing myself and said of course I was an archaeologist!
Sometimes the finds can be a bit thin on the ground, on under it to be more accurate, but that never detracts from the hope that you'll find something interesting in the very next pull of the trowel over the surface, it's always a jolly weekend though I must say it's less like Team Team and more Last of the Summer Wine does archaeology but it is a laugh. Where else could you find three fools dancing round in a metre square hole singing the 'Ying Tong Song' whilst tamping down the soil in the backfilling!!? Roll on the next dig!
Wednesday 26 September 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Zeptember
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Zeptember: Yes you read that right, Zeptember. It's a thing that the radio station Planet Rock is doing to celebrate 50 years of Led Zeppelin ( Z...
Zeptember
Yes you read that right, Zeptember. It's a thing that the radio station Planet Rock is doing to celebrate 50 years of Led Zeppelin ( Zeptember, gettit!?), but why?
To be brutally honest I have never thought that much of Led Zep, yes I know that's heresy in some rock circles but I really can't fathom why Led Zep were and are still so popular.
They've got the odd good track to be fair, 'Stairway to Heaven' of course, then there's 'Rock n Roll,' 'Whole lotta love' & a brilliant short track called 'Hot Dog.' That's another thing, their songs go on for ages and ages, mostly far too long. I don't mind a long track, I like a bit of Prog rock, Pink Floyd, Genesis, the recent Camel gig so you can't say I don't like a long track but Zeppelins tracks are just boring with overblown guitar solos & I don't much care for Robert Plants voice either, he's now one of the venerable fathers of rock & I don't know why! His voice is far too whiny.
As a band they were only together for twelve years yet here's Planet Rock making up a celebration of fifty years! They are playing 200 Led Zep tracks throughout the month and their weekly 'Played in full' slot were a whole album is played from start to finish with no interruptions has been devoted to them as well. Of course if I liked Led Zep or the month was devoted to a band I liked (can't think how they'd get the play on words with the name of the month though) it would be different, frankly I'm Led Zepped out & can't wait for October!! And no, I'm not doing 'sober for October!'
To be brutally honest I have never thought that much of Led Zep, yes I know that's heresy in some rock circles but I really can't fathom why Led Zep were and are still so popular.
They've got the odd good track to be fair, 'Stairway to Heaven' of course, then there's 'Rock n Roll,' 'Whole lotta love' & a brilliant short track called 'Hot Dog.' That's another thing, their songs go on for ages and ages, mostly far too long. I don't mind a long track, I like a bit of Prog rock, Pink Floyd, Genesis, the recent Camel gig so you can't say I don't like a long track but Zeppelins tracks are just boring with overblown guitar solos & I don't much care for Robert Plants voice either, he's now one of the venerable fathers of rock & I don't know why! His voice is far too whiny.
As a band they were only together for twelve years yet here's Planet Rock making up a celebration of fifty years! They are playing 200 Led Zep tracks throughout the month and their weekly 'Played in full' slot were a whole album is played from start to finish with no interruptions has been devoted to them as well. Of course if I liked Led Zep or the month was devoted to a band I liked (can't think how they'd get the play on words with the name of the month though) it would be different, frankly I'm Led Zepped out & can't wait for October!! And no, I'm not doing 'sober for October!'
Tuesday 25 September 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: 25th September 1918
An idiots guide to an Idiot: 25th September 1918: You may or may not know that periodically I've tried to write what my Grandfathers were doing 100 years ago. Both were in the trenches,...
25th September 1918
You may or may not know that periodically I've tried to write what my Grandfathers were doing 100 years ago. Both were in the trenches, one a cavalryman one an infantryman. L/Cpl Alfred Gowers MM 2nd Bn The Middlesex Regiment was invalided out of the army in March 1918, my other Grandad was compulsorily transferred from the 1st (Kings) Dragoon Guards to the 15th Bn The Royal Warwickshire Regiment in September 1917 so for the past year he had been an infantryman, although they were sent to the Italian front to help bolster the Italian army from German and Austrian attack the 15/Warwick's along with many other units were rushed back to the Western front in March 1918 when the Germans launched Operation Michel. So devastating attack was it that the Allies were forced back to their positions of 1914. Eventually their attack lost impetus and stalled. The British got their collective act together and started to push the Germans back and continued to do so though not without loss. 100 years ago today his battalion had practised for a forthcoming attack and the prepared to relive the 1st Bn The Devonshire Regiment from the trenches at Haplincourt in Northern France ready for an attack on the 27th.
Saturday 22 September 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Battle of Megiddo
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Battle of Megiddo: One of the great things about the Great War lectures that the Herts At War group organise is that they cover many aspects and the many thea...
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Battle of Megiddo
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Battle of Megiddo: One of the great things about the Great War lectures that the Herts At War group organise is that they cover many aspects and the many thea...
Battle of Megiddo
One of the great things about the Great War lectures that the Herts At War group organise is that they cover many aspects and the many theatres of war. Though by far the greatest carnage was on the Western Front, that's were Field Marshal Haig and others thought the war would be won or lost, not in any of the 'side shows,' like this one in Palestine.
The British and Empire troops ( Australians & Indians in the main) scored a great victory over 'Jonny Turk' as he was disparagingly referred to. The Turks were infact tenacious fighters and no push over.
General Allenby (Commander in Chief Egyptian Expeditionary Force) was in Jerusalem by the end of 1917 but got no further as plans for early 1918 were put on hold once the Germans put in train their huge offensive of March 1918. Reinforcements were brought in from everywhere and Allenby lost some of his best troops to the Western front to be replaced by untrained Indian troops so everything was put back whilst these troops were brought up to battle readiness.
It wasn't until 19th September 1918 that the EEF was ready. The battle was started by a Handley Page 400 bomber obliterating the Turkish commanders communications, quite a feat by one bomber at night!
After a short sharp artillery bombardment the allies moved. Massed cavalry outflanked the Turks to stop them getting away. Unlike the Western Front cavalry were regularly used mounted as this arm was supposed to be used. Arab irregulars commanded by TE Lawrence of Arabia attacked from the north. The Turks were cut to pieces. By the end of October Palestine was liberated, from the Turks anyway.
Our lecturer this evening was Saul David, he's been on TV as well in very interesting documentaries mostly on World War One topics. He was a very good speaker and kept us all interested. The lecture was on the hundredth anniversary of the battle
.
The British and Empire troops ( Australians & Indians in the main) scored a great victory over 'Jonny Turk' as he was disparagingly referred to. The Turks were infact tenacious fighters and no push over.
General Allenby (Commander in Chief Egyptian Expeditionary Force) was in Jerusalem by the end of 1917 but got no further as plans for early 1918 were put on hold once the Germans put in train their huge offensive of March 1918. Reinforcements were brought in from everywhere and Allenby lost some of his best troops to the Western front to be replaced by untrained Indian troops so everything was put back whilst these troops were brought up to battle readiness.
It wasn't until 19th September 1918 that the EEF was ready. The battle was started by a Handley Page 400 bomber obliterating the Turkish commanders communications, quite a feat by one bomber at night!
After a short sharp artillery bombardment the allies moved. Massed cavalry outflanked the Turks to stop them getting away. Unlike the Western Front cavalry were regularly used mounted as this arm was supposed to be used. Arab irregulars commanded by TE Lawrence of Arabia attacked from the north. The Turks were cut to pieces. By the end of October Palestine was liberated, from the Turks anyway.
Our lecturer this evening was Saul David, he's been on TV as well in very interesting documentaries mostly on World War One topics. He was a very good speaker and kept us all interested. The lecture was on the hundredth anniversary of the battle
 |
| General Allenby |
 |
| Allied cavalry |
 |
| Our lecturer on the right. |
Monday 17 September 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Curry and Chips.
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Curry and Chips.: That was the name of an old Spike Milligan comedy, not one I know to be honest, but as it's got nothing to do with this blog that's...
Curry and Chips.
That was the name of an old Spike Milligan comedy, not one I know to be honest, but as it's got nothing to do with this blog that's OK.
Our local curry house, The Vantage, was having celebrations for their 25th anniversary. It was a special £10 a head buffet and drinks & we asked our good friends Gary & Cathie to see whether they wanted top come along as well.
Must say when we arrived my heart sank. It was rammed! Queue for the drinks, queue for the food, I thought what have I done! I was probably being abit thick to be honest at such a bargain price with two free drinks as well it was never going to be half empty was it!
Anyway, we made our way outside to a marquee to find a seat. Long trestle tables had been set up to you just got in where you could, ended up sitting next to someone I'd met at Fenwick in Brent Cross, she lives locally.
The selection of food was OK, unless you specified you got something of everything, it was nice, only warm though. However the company was excellent & the evening got better as the crowds thinned out , there were some very good Indian dancers and a huge cake shaped like an elephant...…..the two things are not connected, the dancers didn't jump out of the cake!
Didn't expect it to be a very late evening but we sat and chatted, moved indoors to warm up and chatted some more. We have made some good friends in Gary & Cathie & it was a very pleasant evening.
Our local curry house, The Vantage, was having celebrations for their 25th anniversary. It was a special £10 a head buffet and drinks & we asked our good friends Gary & Cathie to see whether they wanted top come along as well.
Must say when we arrived my heart sank. It was rammed! Queue for the drinks, queue for the food, I thought what have I done! I was probably being abit thick to be honest at such a bargain price with two free drinks as well it was never going to be half empty was it!
Anyway, we made our way outside to a marquee to find a seat. Long trestle tables had been set up to you just got in where you could, ended up sitting next to someone I'd met at Fenwick in Brent Cross, she lives locally.
The selection of food was OK, unless you specified you got something of everything, it was nice, only warm though. However the company was excellent & the evening got better as the crowds thinned out , there were some very good Indian dancers and a huge cake shaped like an elephant...…..the two things are not connected, the dancers didn't jump out of the cake!
Didn't expect it to be a very late evening but we sat and chatted, moved indoors to warm up and chatted some more. We have made some good friends in Gary & Cathie & it was a very pleasant evening.
Saturday 15 September 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Quireboys Gig.
An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Quireboys Gig.: What an old headbanger I still am! Two gigs in a week ( should have been three but missed out on Rose Tattoo tickets). This one was an add...
The Quireboys Gig.
What an old headbanger I still am! Two gigs in a week ( should have been three but missed out on Rose Tattoo tickets).
This one was an added pleasure as I'd won the tickets! A free gig ! Couldn't be better! Of course 'free' gig is a little misleading, add on train tickets, taxi to & from the station, dinner, a couple of beers, this was no free gig but it was a bloody good night!
Kentish Town 02 Forum again tonight, it's a nice venue. Originally built in 1934 as a cinema, later it became an Irish dance hall called The Forum and in the early 1980's another name change to The Town and Country Club, a music venue with a capacity of 2100. Like so many other venues it's now owned by Live Nation and called an 02. It's nice that alot of the original Art Deco features have been retained, it really does make for a better experience if the surroundings are pleasant.
Journey very easy and very efficient. First stop for a beer transfusion was to The Bull & Gate, a pub more or less next door to the venue. Another building that has retained some original features, it's been a pub since 1871 actually a gin palace when first built, it's Grade II listed.
In the 1980's it was a music venue and the like of Coldplay & Blur were nurtured here. No music now but a bloody good pub. Well kept beers, I was on Sambrook's 'Wandle' Ale. At 3.8% a good quaffing beer for a gig. The brewery is local, only a few miles away near Battersea Power Station & Wandle is the name of the river there, not a river I'd ever heard of.
Dinner then. Lambs liver with bacon, parsley mash and onion for me with Tara having a veggie meal of warm roasted fig and squash with cob nuts . Not a great amount of choice here for her but better than some, however the surroundings were nice including a very ornate marble sink in the Ladies...….Tara told me.
Apparently Spike from The Quireboys had looked in for a pint alittle earlier, shame we missed him an other gig goer met him and had a selfie taken as well. Not sure I'd have done that, may have depended on how many beers I'd have had. I try not to get star struck!
An early start with three support bands, we were in for a good night! Bit of a kerfuffle to get in. The bone headed door staff didn't know entirely what they were doing, lets be honest, they are only really needed if fights break out, they probably understand that. Harsh but probably true. Tara stood our ground & we got in the via the queue we were in though it seems it was the wrong queue for the tickets we had, anyhoo….. we were in! Bar! Scrumptious cocktail for T & a bottle of Old Speckled Hen for me.
No seats, bugger! This venue, when I've been before has unreserved seats in the balcony but for tonights performance that was the VIP, special guest area so we couldn't get in there. The very last thing I wanted to inflict on Tara was 4 hours of standing. Mooched about abit, looked at the T shirts that were it has to be said pretty uninspiring, without even the dates of the tour, think I'll look on line for one. Didn't get to ask the price but after Monday's £30 for Camel t's I wasn't holding my hopes up!
'Those Damn Crows' the first band on started about 6.30pm. Tara suggested we lean on a shelf type thing that backed onto the sound desk, this was a very good move, other than the blokes working the sound desk in front of us we had an excellent view.
'Those Damn Crows' were very very good, from Wales they belted out a great set. Only knew one of the songs that has been played on Planet Rock. The station seems to like them as they've played a couple of Planet Rock festivals, a debut album comes out in October that I have taken the liberty of pre-ordering. I liked them that much! Tara also thought they were good.
'Aaron Buchanan & the Cult Classics' were something of a let down tbh. Anyone who puts their own name in a band title must be viewed with suspicion. Aaron, a strange little chap who wore belt and braces, thinks he's very good, I suppose you've got to have an ego to be in the music business, he also likes crowd surfing (yawn!). They did their stuff and left the stage. Unmoved we waited for the third support act and this band did not disappoint! H.E.A.T. came on! From Sweden, their English of course impeccable, even the swear words! Can't find out why their title has full stops in between each letter, could be like W.A.S.P. and have no reason at all! But what the hell, their set was brilliant! Erik, the singer , had a sort of Mohican hair style without the gel so as he vigorously headbanged his hair was strangely compelling! For some unknown reason he did like to spit on stage. Always a horrible thing to do this just made him look an idiot which is a shame because the music was brilliant.
The Quireboys came on about 9.30pm and were great! The whole point of tonight's gig was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their album Homewreckers & Heartbreakers that was played from beginning to end. I quite like that idea. The album is a good one even though I didn't recognise all of the tracks immediately as live they were played abit differently. Then they played other hits they've had ,sad not to hear 'Sex party' but got alot of other great tracks. I could see from looking over at the monitors on the sound desk that several times the music went over their sound limit, I can do loud but sometimes it was difficult to understand the words if you didn't already know the song. Finished at just after 11pm and off we all went. An absolutely cracking evening, here's afew photos and the set list of the Quireboys, still waiting for the others to be published.
This one was an added pleasure as I'd won the tickets! A free gig ! Couldn't be better! Of course 'free' gig is a little misleading, add on train tickets, taxi to & from the station, dinner, a couple of beers, this was no free gig but it was a bloody good night!
Kentish Town 02 Forum again tonight, it's a nice venue. Originally built in 1934 as a cinema, later it became an Irish dance hall called The Forum and in the early 1980's another name change to The Town and Country Club, a music venue with a capacity of 2100. Like so many other venues it's now owned by Live Nation and called an 02. It's nice that alot of the original Art Deco features have been retained, it really does make for a better experience if the surroundings are pleasant.
Journey very easy and very efficient. First stop for a beer transfusion was to The Bull & Gate, a pub more or less next door to the venue. Another building that has retained some original features, it's been a pub since 1871 actually a gin palace when first built, it's Grade II listed.
In the 1980's it was a music venue and the like of Coldplay & Blur were nurtured here. No music now but a bloody good pub. Well kept beers, I was on Sambrook's 'Wandle' Ale. At 3.8% a good quaffing beer for a gig. The brewery is local, only a few miles away near Battersea Power Station & Wandle is the name of the river there, not a river I'd ever heard of.
Dinner then. Lambs liver with bacon, parsley mash and onion for me with Tara having a veggie meal of warm roasted fig and squash with cob nuts . Not a great amount of choice here for her but better than some, however the surroundings were nice including a very ornate marble sink in the Ladies...….Tara told me.
Apparently Spike from The Quireboys had looked in for a pint alittle earlier, shame we missed him an other gig goer met him and had a selfie taken as well. Not sure I'd have done that, may have depended on how many beers I'd have had. I try not to get star struck!
An early start with three support bands, we were in for a good night! Bit of a kerfuffle to get in. The bone headed door staff didn't know entirely what they were doing, lets be honest, they are only really needed if fights break out, they probably understand that. Harsh but probably true. Tara stood our ground & we got in the via the queue we were in though it seems it was the wrong queue for the tickets we had, anyhoo….. we were in! Bar! Scrumptious cocktail for T & a bottle of Old Speckled Hen for me.
No seats, bugger! This venue, when I've been before has unreserved seats in the balcony but for tonights performance that was the VIP, special guest area so we couldn't get in there. The very last thing I wanted to inflict on Tara was 4 hours of standing. Mooched about abit, looked at the T shirts that were it has to be said pretty uninspiring, without even the dates of the tour, think I'll look on line for one. Didn't get to ask the price but after Monday's £30 for Camel t's I wasn't holding my hopes up!
'Those Damn Crows' the first band on started about 6.30pm. Tara suggested we lean on a shelf type thing that backed onto the sound desk, this was a very good move, other than the blokes working the sound desk in front of us we had an excellent view.
'Those Damn Crows' were very very good, from Wales they belted out a great set. Only knew one of the songs that has been played on Planet Rock. The station seems to like them as they've played a couple of Planet Rock festivals, a debut album comes out in October that I have taken the liberty of pre-ordering. I liked them that much! Tara also thought they were good.
'Aaron Buchanan & the Cult Classics' were something of a let down tbh. Anyone who puts their own name in a band title must be viewed with suspicion. Aaron, a strange little chap who wore belt and braces, thinks he's very good, I suppose you've got to have an ego to be in the music business, he also likes crowd surfing (yawn!). They did their stuff and left the stage. Unmoved we waited for the third support act and this band did not disappoint! H.E.A.T. came on! From Sweden, their English of course impeccable, even the swear words! Can't find out why their title has full stops in between each letter, could be like W.A.S.P. and have no reason at all! But what the hell, their set was brilliant! Erik, the singer , had a sort of Mohican hair style without the gel so as he vigorously headbanged his hair was strangely compelling! For some unknown reason he did like to spit on stage. Always a horrible thing to do this just made him look an idiot which is a shame because the music was brilliant.
The Quireboys came on about 9.30pm and were great! The whole point of tonight's gig was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their album Homewreckers & Heartbreakers that was played from beginning to end. I quite like that idea. The album is a good one even though I didn't recognise all of the tracks immediately as live they were played abit differently. Then they played other hits they've had ,sad not to hear 'Sex party' but got alot of other great tracks. I could see from looking over at the monitors on the sound desk that several times the music went over their sound limit, I can do loud but sometimes it was difficult to understand the words if you didn't already know the song. Finished at just after 11pm and off we all went. An absolutely cracking evening, here's afew photos and the set list of the Quireboys, still waiting for the others to be published.
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| Ornate sinks in the ladies karzi in the Bull & Gate. |
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| Those Damn Crows |
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| Aaron Buchanan |
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Spike doing what he does best!
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