Post by DAVE HURRY on Nov 27, 2007 18:23:04 GMT
HI-ON MILTON KEYNES & SWINDON
Friday 23 November, 2007
The Venue - 6pm
I left Dartford station at 3pm and arrived at the venue at about 5:20pm. Once again I was the first one there, though with good reason. Traffic had resulted in a late Speed "It wasn't me, it was the synth!" Harris (Speed? Late? Never!!!), and sadly an accident on the M25 had taken Joe Laz out of the picture for tonights gig - all came out alive, but all involved were well shaken up. Please direct all your best wishes and good vibrations in the direction of our young drummer and his fellow travellers.
Speed managed to get ol' Quicko on the blower, who put down his tea and raced to the venue. It could still go horribly wrong - Speed won't get here much before 7pm, and Swifty might get lost!
----------
HOME (I had no real time or energy to complete the gig diary on the road!!!)
Well, that gig went particularly well!! Quicko played like he'd never left (he even played The Clairvoyant!!!), and the rest of us put in some good performances too. Apart from the start of Phantom...ouch!. It really was a very good gig, though I felt somewhat out of it as I was really thinking about Joe and hoping he and his were OK. We got a decent recording of the gig thanks to one of Swifty's magic boxes, so look for those on the website soon...What would we do without Quicko McBrain?!?! HUGE thanks mate.
We meandered off after the gig and got a bit lost trying to find our Travelodge. When in doubt, look for a Little Chef! I'd got Dave "VBN" Shaw on the mobile telephony device thingy and he'd kindly agreed to do Swindon the night after for us. What a star. We're very lucky to know a network of people who can help us out with our occasional (or not-so-occasional) line-up problems. We all hoped it would settle down this year, but with Joe's band taking off and Iron-On booking in more and more gigs taking Bruce away from us, it's not looking that way
Still, we got a rider of lager from the venue which found it's way into the hotel room shared by myself, Adrian "Are you offended by my rhubarb?" Swift and Bruce "is it pink inside?" Dugginson. A nice bit of kip had rested me up for the real challenge the next night...
I was to sing. Fronting the band for the first (and, hopefully last!) time. Brucey had been snapped up for an Iron-on gig in Stafford, and our usual stable of stand-in vocalists had all been unavailable. Swifty put the idea of me fronting the band into Speed's head and that was it - I was to sing, and we'd get ol' Simon "Mavis Flurry" Bradders back to do the Hurry bit.
We arrived at the venue with plenty of time to spare, so I went for a swift couple of pints with Spook from the forums, who pulled up in a taxi around the same time we did. The rest of the band naffed off to look for shoes and sweatbands...
Once set up at the venue, it was time for soundcheck. My legs were shaking as I took the mic for the first time. But all was good, and everyone seemed happy enough with me voice. Off for some Swindon chips then...!
Showtime rolled around, and I was in Brown Trousers mode! It was a mad feeling, but once I was up onstage and going for it I felt fantastic! I know I'm not the worlds greatest singer or front man, but all the praise I got afterwards was all the vindication I needed. I started to crack on some of the highest notes (I'm no Bruce Dickinson, that's for sure!) but largely I think I sang well. Rich from the Iron Maiden fanclub forum bootlegged the show (with our permission of course - please, never do this without asking us or giving us a copy), and I can't wait to hear what it came out like. Speed explained to the crowd in the encore what had happened to get us to this gig and the warmth I felt from the audience was awesome. Also big thanks to Dave Shaw for filling in the drum stool.
That's it now for gigs until February (barring random cancellations, sometimes gigs appear two days away!). I'll try and keep the website interesting over the Christmas season and into the new year, but until then this will be the last of the gig diaries. Thanks for reading them - as long as you guys keep reading them, I'll keep writing 'em!!!
Love,
Dave "Scream for me SWINDAAAAAAAHN!!!" Hurry III
Friday 23 November, 2007
The Venue - 6pm
I left Dartford station at 3pm and arrived at the venue at about 5:20pm. Once again I was the first one there, though with good reason. Traffic had resulted in a late Speed "It wasn't me, it was the synth!" Harris (Speed? Late? Never!!!), and sadly an accident on the M25 had taken Joe Laz out of the picture for tonights gig - all came out alive, but all involved were well shaken up. Please direct all your best wishes and good vibrations in the direction of our young drummer and his fellow travellers.
Speed managed to get ol' Quicko on the blower, who put down his tea and raced to the venue. It could still go horribly wrong - Speed won't get here much before 7pm, and Swifty might get lost!
----------
HOME (I had no real time or energy to complete the gig diary on the road!!!)
Well, that gig went particularly well!! Quicko played like he'd never left (he even played The Clairvoyant!!!), and the rest of us put in some good performances too. Apart from the start of Phantom...ouch!. It really was a very good gig, though I felt somewhat out of it as I was really thinking about Joe and hoping he and his were OK. We got a decent recording of the gig thanks to one of Swifty's magic boxes, so look for those on the website soon...What would we do without Quicko McBrain?!?! HUGE thanks mate.
We meandered off after the gig and got a bit lost trying to find our Travelodge. When in doubt, look for a Little Chef! I'd got Dave "VBN" Shaw on the mobile telephony device thingy and he'd kindly agreed to do Swindon the night after for us. What a star. We're very lucky to know a network of people who can help us out with our occasional (or not-so-occasional) line-up problems. We all hoped it would settle down this year, but with Joe's band taking off and Iron-On booking in more and more gigs taking Bruce away from us, it's not looking that way
Still, we got a rider of lager from the venue which found it's way into the hotel room shared by myself, Adrian "Are you offended by my rhubarb?" Swift and Bruce "is it pink inside?" Dugginson. A nice bit of kip had rested me up for the real challenge the next night...
I was to sing. Fronting the band for the first (and, hopefully last!) time. Brucey had been snapped up for an Iron-on gig in Stafford, and our usual stable of stand-in vocalists had all been unavailable. Swifty put the idea of me fronting the band into Speed's head and that was it - I was to sing, and we'd get ol' Simon "Mavis Flurry" Bradders back to do the Hurry bit.
We arrived at the venue with plenty of time to spare, so I went for a swift couple of pints with Spook from the forums, who pulled up in a taxi around the same time we did. The rest of the band naffed off to look for shoes and sweatbands...
Once set up at the venue, it was time for soundcheck. My legs were shaking as I took the mic for the first time. But all was good, and everyone seemed happy enough with me voice. Off for some Swindon chips then...!
Showtime rolled around, and I was in Brown Trousers mode! It was a mad feeling, but once I was up onstage and going for it I felt fantastic! I know I'm not the worlds greatest singer or front man, but all the praise I got afterwards was all the vindication I needed. I started to crack on some of the highest notes (I'm no Bruce Dickinson, that's for sure!) but largely I think I sang well. Rich from the Iron Maiden fanclub forum bootlegged the show (with our permission of course - please, never do this without asking us or giving us a copy), and I can't wait to hear what it came out like. Speed explained to the crowd in the encore what had happened to get us to this gig and the warmth I felt from the audience was awesome. Also big thanks to Dave Shaw for filling in the drum stool.
That's it now for gigs until February (barring random cancellations, sometimes gigs appear two days away!). I'll try and keep the website interesting over the Christmas season and into the new year, but until then this will be the last of the gig diaries. Thanks for reading them - as long as you guys keep reading them, I'll keep writing 'em!!!
Love,
Dave "Scream for me SWINDAAAAAAAHN!!!" Hurry III