Post by DAVE HURRY on Jun 8, 2008 16:46:03 GMT
HI-ON IPSWICH
Back to The Railway! I left at lunchtime, headed for Stratford to meet Nicko “chocolate muff” McBrain Jnr who was returning to the Hi-On fold. I had all sorts of engineering issues on the way (London Underground did not want me to get there!) but made it with 15 minutes to spare. We trained it to Colchester and jumped on a rail replacement bus to Ipswich. Mr McBrain Jnr had gigged the night before, and looked like death warmed up. A pizza slice and a bit of muff at Ipswich railway station got him ready for the rest of the journey. We arrived at The Railway and sat about watching Sav's video from Dudley while we waited for the rest of the band to arrive.
Speed “what's that bit of wood doing on the wall?” Harris turned up first, closely followed by the van. I was delighted to see that my gear was all set up in it's rack cases, a job kindly undertaken by Adrian “eee, I'm such a numpty“ Swift. The Railway has bought a new desk and some monitors since we were last here, and Bruce “ten hour shower“ Dugginson acted as soundman during soundcheck. We're always too loud here, as there are whinging neighbours close by. Mr Harris turned down quieter than he's ever been, and all you can hear onstage is drums. This is A Bit Rubbish, but what can you do? You get the impression that a loud fart onstage would be too loud for the neighbours. Or possibly the Lady In Charge (who runs the show) just likes walking around with a dB meter. Who knows?
That said, soundcheck was relatively painless and we quickly retired to the upstairs room. I had some video editing work to do for the website (keep 'em peeled) and Speed regaled us with tales of a broken sternum...yow!!!
Showtime came, and we wigged up. Swifty had bought a leather waistcoat for last week which was a few sizes too large – perfect for yours truly! The Dave Murray waistcoat look hasn't appeared for a few tours, but it's classic. Now all I've got to do is find a way to stop people comparing me to Johnny Vegas...
The gig went well – the crowd in Ipswich are always loud and appreciative. Once again my new amp gear performed beautifully, and it was good to have the full band back together again. Having been told by Lady In Charge we had to be off by 11, we left the stage pre-encore at ten to 11 and had basically decided not to go back on so as to avoid an argument. Then we were told we could do five or six more if we wanted!!! Make yer mind up, love. We enthralled the audience with a 6 song encore (I think – I'm writing this a week later!) and still left 'em wanting more. A good show all round – no major fluffs as far as I can recall!
After the gig we packed down and said our goodbyes to Nicko Jnr who naffed off with his mam. Then we had some more fun with the proprietor.
Closing time had come, and we were asked to get shifted. To which we jovially said, “Yep, can we get paid first though?” Obviously we don't do this for nothing – given the geographical spread of this band, there are expenses involved. We'd made an agreement for a certain fee with the fella who books the bands (Ray or Roy, or possibly neither - I can't remember!). We were asked by the Lady In Charge what this agreement had been, and we told her. To which she responded, “well, that's not what I've got written in the book”.
First of all, why ask when you have a figure written down?
Second of all – what?
Now, we've played this venue three times in the past year, with a fourth booked in for later in the year. Each time, a similar discourse has taken place. Basically, she screws bands out of money. I've been told by a friend who's short-lived university band Pixelface played there once before that they had similar issues at this venue. That said, I tend not to get too worked up about these things – I like playing at The Railway, largely for the crowd who are always great. However, this time the attitude of the Lady In Charge was too much even for me to keep smiling. She sulked, she moaned, she called Ray/Roy and spoke to him (making a point to do it right in our faces), then she grudgingly gave us the agreed amount and said that we'd have to cancel the gig booked for later in the year because she “didn't want the hassle again”. The hassle? You MADE the hassle, my dear!!! Some sort of deep-seated conflict psychology at work there. Poor thing.
The story took a fairly humorous turn when we arrived at the Travelodge. Myself and Mr Harris wandered through the front door discussing the actions of the Lady In Charge, and the chap behind the reception desk said, “You wouldn't be talking about The Railway, by any chance?”. It seems she's famous for this sort of thing in the local area. It's such a shame – there really is no need for that sort of attitude. This fellow suggested a couple of other places to try, so we'll get on that. I'm sure The Railway can find another Maiden tribute willing to undercut us!
Thanks to everyone who came along – it's a shame that such a sour taste was left in our mouths from the gig, as the show itself was a blast. Apologies for the crap nicknames this week too – I didn't really want to write this particular diary as I'd rather forget the unpleasantness and move on.
It's a quiet June for us, then some special gigs in July to look forward to.
Have yourselves a cracking June!
Love,
Dave “I don't know, I was really drunk at the time” Hurry
Back to The Railway! I left at lunchtime, headed for Stratford to meet Nicko “chocolate muff” McBrain Jnr who was returning to the Hi-On fold. I had all sorts of engineering issues on the way (London Underground did not want me to get there!) but made it with 15 minutes to spare. We trained it to Colchester and jumped on a rail replacement bus to Ipswich. Mr McBrain Jnr had gigged the night before, and looked like death warmed up. A pizza slice and a bit of muff at Ipswich railway station got him ready for the rest of the journey. We arrived at The Railway and sat about watching Sav's video from Dudley while we waited for the rest of the band to arrive.
Speed “what's that bit of wood doing on the wall?” Harris turned up first, closely followed by the van. I was delighted to see that my gear was all set up in it's rack cases, a job kindly undertaken by Adrian “eee, I'm such a numpty“ Swift. The Railway has bought a new desk and some monitors since we were last here, and Bruce “ten hour shower“ Dugginson acted as soundman during soundcheck. We're always too loud here, as there are whinging neighbours close by. Mr Harris turned down quieter than he's ever been, and all you can hear onstage is drums. This is A Bit Rubbish, but what can you do? You get the impression that a loud fart onstage would be too loud for the neighbours. Or possibly the Lady In Charge (who runs the show) just likes walking around with a dB meter. Who knows?
That said, soundcheck was relatively painless and we quickly retired to the upstairs room. I had some video editing work to do for the website (keep 'em peeled) and Speed regaled us with tales of a broken sternum...yow!!!
Showtime came, and we wigged up. Swifty had bought a leather waistcoat for last week which was a few sizes too large – perfect for yours truly! The Dave Murray waistcoat look hasn't appeared for a few tours, but it's classic. Now all I've got to do is find a way to stop people comparing me to Johnny Vegas...
The gig went well – the crowd in Ipswich are always loud and appreciative. Once again my new amp gear performed beautifully, and it was good to have the full band back together again. Having been told by Lady In Charge we had to be off by 11, we left the stage pre-encore at ten to 11 and had basically decided not to go back on so as to avoid an argument. Then we were told we could do five or six more if we wanted!!! Make yer mind up, love. We enthralled the audience with a 6 song encore (I think – I'm writing this a week later!) and still left 'em wanting more. A good show all round – no major fluffs as far as I can recall!
After the gig we packed down and said our goodbyes to Nicko Jnr who naffed off with his mam. Then we had some more fun with the proprietor.
Closing time had come, and we were asked to get shifted. To which we jovially said, “Yep, can we get paid first though?” Obviously we don't do this for nothing – given the geographical spread of this band, there are expenses involved. We'd made an agreement for a certain fee with the fella who books the bands (Ray or Roy, or possibly neither - I can't remember!). We were asked by the Lady In Charge what this agreement had been, and we told her. To which she responded, “well, that's not what I've got written in the book”.
First of all, why ask when you have a figure written down?
Second of all – what?
Now, we've played this venue three times in the past year, with a fourth booked in for later in the year. Each time, a similar discourse has taken place. Basically, she screws bands out of money. I've been told by a friend who's short-lived university band Pixelface played there once before that they had similar issues at this venue. That said, I tend not to get too worked up about these things – I like playing at The Railway, largely for the crowd who are always great. However, this time the attitude of the Lady In Charge was too much even for me to keep smiling. She sulked, she moaned, she called Ray/Roy and spoke to him (making a point to do it right in our faces), then she grudgingly gave us the agreed amount and said that we'd have to cancel the gig booked for later in the year because she “didn't want the hassle again”. The hassle? You MADE the hassle, my dear!!! Some sort of deep-seated conflict psychology at work there. Poor thing.
The story took a fairly humorous turn when we arrived at the Travelodge. Myself and Mr Harris wandered through the front door discussing the actions of the Lady In Charge, and the chap behind the reception desk said, “You wouldn't be talking about The Railway, by any chance?”. It seems she's famous for this sort of thing in the local area. It's such a shame – there really is no need for that sort of attitude. This fellow suggested a couple of other places to try, so we'll get on that. I'm sure The Railway can find another Maiden tribute willing to undercut us!
Thanks to everyone who came along – it's a shame that such a sour taste was left in our mouths from the gig, as the show itself was a blast. Apologies for the crap nicknames this week too – I didn't really want to write this particular diary as I'd rather forget the unpleasantness and move on.
It's a quiet June for us, then some special gigs in July to look forward to.
Have yourselves a cracking June!
Love,
Dave “I don't know, I was really drunk at the time” Hurry
