Blog
Unanimous
24th October 2011 | Larry
Chatting to the fans at the back gate afterwards, I get a chance to see what they really thought about the show.
Praise seems to be unanimous, no dissenting voices moaning about the absence of their fave song/hit etc even though that was a fear of some, all were convinced :-)
Birmingham Essential Lobster
24th October 2011 | Juliet
The crew go very early. They kick off at 5am to make the show happen.
American Chris is back. He got a new tattoo in Rio. It’s awesome. It’s Shiva. He is lighting without strobes.
Soup is a spicy cumin lentil one. Saul has instigated hygiene notices by the bread. Please hold the bread with the cloth etc. This does and does not happen..
There is soundcheck and VIPs come in and there are questions…there are answers.
Saul tells the assembled that Waitrose in Crouch End now do Essential Lobster. (Not in reply to any question, just something he thought worth mentioning.)
There are lots of tweaking of arrangements and mini run-throughs going on here and there in multiple dressing rooms somewhere in the backstage maze again…
Two choir girls are singing harmonies with Tim.
And then it’s nearly time to go on…but where are the black shoes?
They are located and the show begins…it’s a long one going way past the 10.30 curfew….
Phil from The Twang called into the aftershow, and Nathan from Frazer King came too…
Cardiff, Wales Millennium Centre
23rd October 2011 | Larry
Never been so fearful
23rd October 2011 | Larry
Never been so fearful before a gig as this one.
Mr. Negative was in full voice, what if they hate it? What if it all goes wrong? What happens if we FAIL?
I’m terrible company and avoid people; then 4 bars into Dream Thrum I settle, the orchestra come in on cue, the ending with choir in full flow takes the roof off the place. Mr. Negative skulks away, I give him the finger as he leaves and I start to beam, this fekkin WORKS!!!!!!!
Was it all going to come together on the opening night?
23rd October 2011 | Juliet
We got to Cardiff on Sunday after a two day stint holed up in hotel somewhere and long disciplined days of rehearsals with choir and orchestra.
Was it all going to come together on the opening night?
Luckily Yates Wine Lodge in Cardiff had Sky Sports and was showing the City United match. The score made Jim very happy.
The venue was very beautiful, modern and grandly architected.
Classical concert halls are backstage mazes, it’s possible to go round and round in circles looking for where you want to go despite endless signage. Endless doors, floors and corridors, and genteel people to point you in the right direction.
There was a lot of concentration in the afternoon and lots of discussion about set lists which kind of have to be a bit less random on the night with so many people needing to know what’s on…
Despite the set list being fixed there were three set lists on stage, creating a minor lilt on what came next.
Tim did his walkabout thing during Fred Astaire…the crowd were standing at the front and it started to feel like a normal gig. Big blokes making their bodies into X’s, arms up and out, standing solid giving it some welly.
Tim danced a duet of sorts with his Five Rhythms dance pal from Wales.
And after the show smiley Neil from the old days wanted to know what the soup was. It was sweet corn chowder (wheat and dairy free).
Rehearsals, Redditch
21st October 2011 | Larry
Summertime catch-up
19th October 2011 | Larry
Many apologies for the photo blog omissions over the summer but a nice burglar borrowed my camera and my two laptops and never returned them :-(
Most of my photos were backed up elsewhere but a few (Hyde Park/Madeira etc) slipped through the net. I have sourced a replacement camera on eBay now (the replacement or ‘upgrade’?? as it was sold to me was a frustrating disappointment, hey ho) so all is good.
Next stop: all things orchestral, see you soon.
Larry x
Transported to the Topkapi palace
6th October 2011 | Juliet
“We are going now,” said the London voice on the phone, ”so get down here ”….I did in 10 minutes, and was transported to the Topkapi palace with some of the crew.
Steve, Tim’s mate, met us in the big magical square. He found us amongst the crispy bread sellers and velvet hat vendors. Barry bought some hot chestnuts which the boy roasting them blew on thoroughly before handing them over.
We headed for where it was at…. The palace. A wonder of this world.
Having studied all this ancient architecture and cultural stuff at Manchester uni told us all sorts as we gazed and admired endless blue tile patterns and the architectural magnificence of the sultan’s palace and harem. The mega chaise longue thing was much admired. But would it fit the front room? As we wandered the ornate complex, Steve told us about eunuchs and their job spec and talked about the bathing.
Then when it all got too hot and time was running out, we wandered away down cobbled streets, and cooled down in a low slung coffee shop with tea in glasses and espressos….before crew call…
Meanwhile Tim, Jim, and Larry were doing radio and TV interviews. They didn’t get to see much of the delights of Istanbul, except from a car window.
Later there was a wander round the endless indoor bazaar selling fake designer gear, spices, carved walking sticks, clothes, precious stones, (is that chunk of lapis real?) and Dave’s faves the wonderful curly toed boots…
The venue was a bit of a way downtown. At 7ish it was time to do soundcheck and show. Traffic was still intense.
Later as the sun went down a dew settled on all known seatable surfaces, and on stage the guitar necks needed constant mopping.
Dinner was a sparkling Turkish buffet spread backstage outside. Stuffed vine leaves with cinnamon memorable and a calorific sweet milk pudding that only Dave dared.
All aboard the magic bus to Istanbul
5th October 2011 | Juliet
…More like an elderly coach tour of the Scottish Highlands and Islands than Summer Holiday. There was much dozing, and for one person only, the option of lying horizontal on the back seat. Turns were taken, with Saul given priority. He has a cold….
Incredible place names pointing towards Alexandropoulou…. The scenery was stunning. The vastness of northern Greece is magnificent.
Borders had to be crossed. This took time. The bus was big. The drivers were vague on timings. We stopped for coffee and feeding…
The driver reluctantly allowed his own bunk to become Tim’s rabbit hole. Tim disappeared down it feet first for times to snooze, and sometimes the hatch came down behind him. Sounds like a claustrophobics worst nightmare but….in the name of horizontalness… “Shall we leave him there?” asked Jim on arrival after the 10 hour journey.
We watch the sun go down somewhere over the Turkish border before zooming on to Istanbul…
Istanbul’s eastern promise is vast…miles of concrete and traffic jams encase it. But finally arrival. Tim has a shiatsu…then did his breathing exercises.
Later we are walked through cobbled streets to the restaurant. Fantastic colurful meze of bulgar wheat and salads and yogurty herb dips, then the offer of more served on plates that wore pointy hats of chunky pottery earthenware.
Enough of that. Ambled back to the hotel with Andy, trying not to get lost. A female busker is doing a bluesy sad song with guitar. There are drum rhythms coming out into the night. A szasz shop…the smell of roasting chestnuts and a stall selling pineapple and lush pomegranates…
Two days, two venues, two audiences, two setlists – one great city
4th October 2011 | Larry
Two days, two venues, two audiences, two setlists and one great city – that was Thessaloniki.
The ‘guerilla gig’ in the park by the White Tower was amazing, the tiny wooden stage at the Xarchakos café resembled a gazebo direct from the garden section at B&Q. The café is run by Giorgos and his lovely wife Sofia, assisted by Costas and Stella plus the rest of the ‘family’ there. The café has been in the family for three generations and tonight, according to Giorgos, is their finest hour.
During the late afternoon sun our tech crew have worked wonders and pulled together a rag-tag bunch of borrowed gear into a functioning PA and monitor system. One that just about coped with the task of filling the tree lined park with enough sound to entertain the, oh I don’t know, thousand or so people who were twitterbook savvy enough to know it was happening.
The set was a ‘what shall we do next’ kind of affair. Mark doing a sterling job on accordion, no mean task in a country full of expert accordion players, and Dave playing a stripped down kit somewhere in the bushes side stage.
Much later that night Giorgos and Co. treated a number of us to a ‘bouzouki’ night, we were expecting a tavern with traditional Greek folk music but were greeted by an extravagant, elaborate X-factor type show with sexily clad singers on a massive stage who were showered with enormous amounts of carnation flowers from the adoring crowd. By 3am the whole shebang resembled some kind of bacchanalian orgy with intoxicated folks dancing on tables turned pink with flower petals. Quite easily one of the most unique and bizarrely enjoyable nights of my life.
The ‘real’ gig the next night was a great contrast, an indoor baseball stadium that had seen better days . However, the audience’s warm and giving nature (clearly remembered from the 2009 Earth Theatre gigs) helped transcend the slightly decrepit surroundings into a seething, sweaty and joyous re-union with our Salonika fans.
Getting away with it all messed up was the order of the night when equipped with the best onstage sound we have had in ages we proceeded to make more mistakes than recent memory can recall. In direct comparison with the night before, where the sound was severely hampered and yet we hardly put a foot wrong. . . .Go figure!?!
There was a long bar all down one side of the floor that gave Tim a much utilised stage extension/runway to reach the people at the back whilst still affording everyone a clear view. Methinks we should insist on this feature for future shows, everyone gets served with drink quickly and Tim can go walkabout!! Great!!
