Post by DAVE HURRY on Feb 4, 2008 16:50:49 GMT
HI-ON FARNBOROUGH & NORWICH
WARNING - if you don't want to be spoiled about Maiden's current setlist, don't read this diary.
The first gig of 2008 fell on the second day of the second month, . Farnborough, Hampshire is but a short train hop from London Waterloo, so travel was no problem for yours truly. I met up with young Nicko "where's me socks?" McBrain Junior at Waterloo. The rest of us band types hadn't seen this chap since October, and were pleased to hear of his ladyfriend's faster-than-expected recovery from the accident in November (en route to our Milton Keynes show). Once aboard the train, I received a phone call from one Speed "I got blisters on me fingers!" Harris who had already arrived at the venue, thanks to some clear M4 action. Speed is NEVER first at the venue - in fact, I normally am! - so this call came as something of a shock. Slightly stunned, we continued our journey towards the Tumbledown Dick. (No, that's not rhyming slang)
Our tubthumper and I strolled up to the venue to find not only had Speed beat us to it, the other 40% of the band had also turned up! After a short reunion chat we set about getting the gear ready to go. Adrian "it's a complete fabric of lies" Swift was having some power-amp issues, so he broke out the ol' Marshall head, increasing the size of his stack dramatically. I became a little envious, but solved my inadequacy with an extra set of beer crates. Nicko Junior's inadequacies, however, are another story altogether...!
We had learned of the set Maiden had performed the night before in India, including their rather spectacular Moonchild intro (performed live, rather than the intro tape used on the Seventh Son tour), Hence, we decided to perform the exact same set, complete with Moonchild intro! This required an acoustic guitar, kindly donated by Mister Bruce "insert Rocky quote here" Dugginson. As we hadn't played together in this lineup since early October, we were all a bit nervous about how well it would gel. A few songs into soundcheck, we felt like we'd never stopped gigging! Once Swifty had got his synth delay right for Moonchild, we naffed off up the town to get some dinner.
The support band were pretty good (think Opeth without the cookie-monster vocals). They were local lads called Karrion, who I shall never forget largely for the bass guitar donned by their stage left occupant. A double-necked flying-V type bass, which weighed a sodding ton! Even Speed Harris, hench as he is, wouldn't wear that on stage! That young man is going to have some back problems in the near future! As soon as they were finished with their set, we started getting ourselves ready.
The gig was a storming success. Swifty had a couple of gear problems, but when you've got as much gear as he has then it's practically an occupational hazard! We added Phantom into the set at the behest of the screaming crowd - it's one that the support band normally play at gigs, but didn't that night for obvious reasons. I played really well, though me fingers were a bit worse for wear afterwards. As we all felt a bit rusty, we weren't sure how well it came across. We disappeared off into the bar to have a chat with DTT, Lord Summerisle and other fine folk who'd come out to see us, all piling the praise on. Sauntering back into the live room, I suddenly heard Phantom Of The Opera coming out the speakers. Then I realised it was us!!! The soundman had recorded the support band at their request, and had extended us the same courtesy (although we weren't aware onstage that we were being recorded). And it sounded killer!!! Speed rolled in and wouldn't believe that it was us, convinced it was really Maiden. It wasn't until he heard a note he dropped that he realised it was actually us!!! Top notch recording, which hopefully will be partly available through the website ASAP. We were all delighted hearing it back, and completely gobsmacked by how good it sounded. So much for first gig jitters!
We slept upstairs at the Tumbledown, which simply HAD to be haunted. It looked to be either in the middle of a renovation, or just completely forgotten. Paint everywhere, creaky floorboards, four dead bonsai trees on the windowsill... I took up residence in room 6 and the others piled into to two other rooms down the hall. The next morning we packed up the gear downstairs and headed for Norwich.
We were due at Norwich for 4pm, it being a Sunday. An extra bit of time really helps when you've got an earlier curfew. Sadly we ran into a pretty serious wreck on the M25 (air ambulances and everything) and thus were stationary for a couple of hours. Speed and I entertained ourselves with Helloween and some marvellous 80's tracks (everything from "Heavy Metal Hamster" to "Big In Yer Pants" - shame there wasn't any Ethel The Frog on there!). Once past that things picked up and we arrived at the Waterfront at about twenty to six. Doors were at seven, so the race was on to set up and soundcheck. I set up in record time (my rig is dead easy to set up) and discovered that Bruce's acoustic had decided it wasn't going to play ball - loose jack inputs defeat us all at some point! Thankfully a lovely young lady from the support band loaned me her acoustic, and Moonchild was back on for the first encore.
The gig was, once again, a stonker. Speed was having some mega trouble with a blister he'd developed the night before (which tends to happen when you haven't played bass in a while), and was so distracted by the pain that he made a fair few mistakes. He was less than pleased with himself, but despite that the gig was a success. Swifty's synth caused some furore, which was particularly hilarious at the start of Moonchild! I played the acoustic bars with Bruce and crowd on vocals - "Seven your desires..." came and went, with no synth E to be heard! Not Swifty's fault though - we reckon the soundman forgot to deploy the phantom power to the synth D/I box. However, we restarted, and the song was a blast. Such a kick in the testes, that one. Highlights for me were Heaven Can Wait (absolutely fucking storming), Mariner and Powerslave.
After a brief post-gig chillout in the backstage room, we packed down with the help of the excellent venue staff and set off to find some food, saying our farewells to Mr McBrain Jnr who headed off home. The lads dropped me off at me hotel and then trekked off to their respective homes.
As I type I'm on me train from Norwich to London Liverpool Street, and from there home. This weekend was a real shot in the arm, and I'm dead chuffed with how we played. We really hit it out of the park on both nights, without really expecting too. I'm frightened to think how good it would be if we actually rehearsed once in a while!!!!!
Two weeks til the next gig in Verwood (where, apparently, we're to be the first band they've put on). Until then, take it easy.
It's good to be back!
Dave "Is Vic there?" Hurry
WARNING - if you don't want to be spoiled about Maiden's current setlist, don't read this diary.
The first gig of 2008 fell on the second day of the second month, . Farnborough, Hampshire is but a short train hop from London Waterloo, so travel was no problem for yours truly. I met up with young Nicko "where's me socks?" McBrain Junior at Waterloo. The rest of us band types hadn't seen this chap since October, and were pleased to hear of his ladyfriend's faster-than-expected recovery from the accident in November (en route to our Milton Keynes show). Once aboard the train, I received a phone call from one Speed "I got blisters on me fingers!" Harris who had already arrived at the venue, thanks to some clear M4 action. Speed is NEVER first at the venue - in fact, I normally am! - so this call came as something of a shock. Slightly stunned, we continued our journey towards the Tumbledown Dick. (No, that's not rhyming slang)
Our tubthumper and I strolled up to the venue to find not only had Speed beat us to it, the other 40% of the band had also turned up! After a short reunion chat we set about getting the gear ready to go. Adrian "it's a complete fabric of lies" Swift was having some power-amp issues, so he broke out the ol' Marshall head, increasing the size of his stack dramatically. I became a little envious, but solved my inadequacy with an extra set of beer crates. Nicko Junior's inadequacies, however, are another story altogether...!
We had learned of the set Maiden had performed the night before in India, including their rather spectacular Moonchild intro (performed live, rather than the intro tape used on the Seventh Son tour), Hence, we decided to perform the exact same set, complete with Moonchild intro! This required an acoustic guitar, kindly donated by Mister Bruce "insert Rocky quote here" Dugginson. As we hadn't played together in this lineup since early October, we were all a bit nervous about how well it would gel. A few songs into soundcheck, we felt like we'd never stopped gigging! Once Swifty had got his synth delay right for Moonchild, we naffed off up the town to get some dinner.
The support band were pretty good (think Opeth without the cookie-monster vocals). They were local lads called Karrion, who I shall never forget largely for the bass guitar donned by their stage left occupant. A double-necked flying-V type bass, which weighed a sodding ton! Even Speed Harris, hench as he is, wouldn't wear that on stage! That young man is going to have some back problems in the near future! As soon as they were finished with their set, we started getting ourselves ready.
The gig was a storming success. Swifty had a couple of gear problems, but when you've got as much gear as he has then it's practically an occupational hazard! We added Phantom into the set at the behest of the screaming crowd - it's one that the support band normally play at gigs, but didn't that night for obvious reasons. I played really well, though me fingers were a bit worse for wear afterwards. As we all felt a bit rusty, we weren't sure how well it came across. We disappeared off into the bar to have a chat with DTT, Lord Summerisle and other fine folk who'd come out to see us, all piling the praise on. Sauntering back into the live room, I suddenly heard Phantom Of The Opera coming out the speakers. Then I realised it was us!!! The soundman had recorded the support band at their request, and had extended us the same courtesy (although we weren't aware onstage that we were being recorded). And it sounded killer!!! Speed rolled in and wouldn't believe that it was us, convinced it was really Maiden. It wasn't until he heard a note he dropped that he realised it was actually us!!! Top notch recording, which hopefully will be partly available through the website ASAP. We were all delighted hearing it back, and completely gobsmacked by how good it sounded. So much for first gig jitters!
We slept upstairs at the Tumbledown, which simply HAD to be haunted. It looked to be either in the middle of a renovation, or just completely forgotten. Paint everywhere, creaky floorboards, four dead bonsai trees on the windowsill... I took up residence in room 6 and the others piled into to two other rooms down the hall. The next morning we packed up the gear downstairs and headed for Norwich.
We were due at Norwich for 4pm, it being a Sunday. An extra bit of time really helps when you've got an earlier curfew. Sadly we ran into a pretty serious wreck on the M25 (air ambulances and everything) and thus were stationary for a couple of hours. Speed and I entertained ourselves with Helloween and some marvellous 80's tracks (everything from "Heavy Metal Hamster" to "Big In Yer Pants" - shame there wasn't any Ethel The Frog on there!). Once past that things picked up and we arrived at the Waterfront at about twenty to six. Doors were at seven, so the race was on to set up and soundcheck. I set up in record time (my rig is dead easy to set up) and discovered that Bruce's acoustic had decided it wasn't going to play ball - loose jack inputs defeat us all at some point! Thankfully a lovely young lady from the support band loaned me her acoustic, and Moonchild was back on for the first encore.
The gig was, once again, a stonker. Speed was having some mega trouble with a blister he'd developed the night before (which tends to happen when you haven't played bass in a while), and was so distracted by the pain that he made a fair few mistakes. He was less than pleased with himself, but despite that the gig was a success. Swifty's synth caused some furore, which was particularly hilarious at the start of Moonchild! I played the acoustic bars with Bruce and crowd on vocals - "Seven your desires..." came and went, with no synth E to be heard! Not Swifty's fault though - we reckon the soundman forgot to deploy the phantom power to the synth D/I box. However, we restarted, and the song was a blast. Such a kick in the testes, that one. Highlights for me were Heaven Can Wait (absolutely fucking storming), Mariner and Powerslave.
After a brief post-gig chillout in the backstage room, we packed down with the help of the excellent venue staff and set off to find some food, saying our farewells to Mr McBrain Jnr who headed off home. The lads dropped me off at me hotel and then trekked off to their respective homes.
As I type I'm on me train from Norwich to London Liverpool Street, and from there home. This weekend was a real shot in the arm, and I'm dead chuffed with how we played. We really hit it out of the park on both nights, without really expecting too. I'm frightened to think how good it would be if we actually rehearsed once in a while!!!!!
Two weeks til the next gig in Verwood (where, apparently, we're to be the first band they've put on). Until then, take it easy.
It's good to be back!
Dave "Is Vic there?" Hurry
