THURSDAY
So my ‘weekend’ started a little earlier than usual last week with a long drive to RAF Northolt on Thursday afternoon. I’d been booked to play at their Junior Ranks Summer party, ‘Sunset Festival’.
The event was held on an outdoor stage and the weather, for the first time at any outdoor event in the UK, was amazing! I played alongside the extremely talented Ian Britt as well as Shropshire based band Call of The Kraken and we all played alongside an extremely loud fairground ride called ‘The Sizzler’… I’m not sure how well the words ‘scream if you want to go faster!’ complemented our music but we certainly did our best!
FRIDAY
The rest of my weekend consisted of playing at some new venues in my current hometown of Shrewsbury. On Friday night I played at The Red Barn, a friendly little pub just on the outskirts of town with a lovely beer garden out the back.
I had a great night playing to a fantastic crowd! Sometimes crowds surprise you and this was certainly true on Friday – What at first appeared to be a very mellow and relaxed kind of gig quickly turned into the complete opposite – lots of big singalongs and plenty of drunk dancing.
I met some big characters that night including a Bruce Springsteen super-fan all the way from Australia – He claimed to have seen The Boss play live over 15 times and showed me photos of his visit to New Jersey and his tour around Asbury Park. Obviously this was followed up with lots of Springsteen requests and so I must have played at least five Springsteen songs that night!
SATURDAY
On Saturday I had a rare day of no gigs and so made the most of the free time and took Katie to see Yesterday the Movie. I won’t attempt to write a film review, but it was good, nothing more nothing less.
I had big expectations being a massive Beatles fan myself, but although Lennon and McCartney’s songs will never ever grow old, I unfortunately think this film will very soon…
The best thing about all these music based films that seem to keep coming out is that they are at least making proper music a little more fashionable again and if that means I can play more Queen, Beatles and Elton John classics then I’m all for it!
SUNDAY
I played at The Wild Pig’s Summer Festival on Sunday afternoon and the weather was fantastic yet again! I played alongside local acts Jordan Brown and The Weekenders at what is a great venue for live music, particularly with their outdoor decking/stage area.
It really is a dream to be able to sing for people outside in the sun and I’m looking forward to being a part of their next event in August.
On Sunday evening we then went for a classic British roast dinner before heading to The Wheatsheaf, Shrewsbury to catch Joe Seager's live acoustic set. Another class local act in Shrewsbury and a top guy too!