Capital Cities Tour: Part 1
Following an absence south of the border for nearly a year we were finally off on our jollies again for a gig at The Half Moon in Putney. We decided in our wisdom that, if we were heading down in a van we should stop and gig somewhere on the way back home. We got ourselves a date at Bannermans in Edinburgh and, along with Craig John Davidson and Dirty Shoes, we embarked on the 2013 Capital Cities tour………sorry Cardiff we forgot you until we were nearly home….no offence guys!
Our mini adventure began at Captain Toms on Thursday 18th July. Having loaded up the van Beefy, Keith, Flossie, John and the wonderful Captain jumped aboard and headed south. It felt great to be piling in to a van with all the kit and reliving our youths but in a sign of our advanced years we had to break the journey up with a stop at Dandy Dinmont camp site near Carlisle. Following an award ceremony for our record company boss and pal, the good Captain Tom (he is now officially House Captain of The Lorelei) we camped out for the night at the worlds quietest campsite.
We were up at the crack of dawn the following morning refreshed and ready for our monstrous drive to London. What we weren’t ready for was doing it in 30 degree heat in a van with no air con and vinyl seats! Not the most comfortable journey and Flossies really don’t like the heat!!!!!!! After 8 hours of sweating and trying to get comfy, broken up with a much needed food stop at Hollies Truck Stop, we arrived at The Half Moon and met up with Jonny, who had been mocking our suffering whilst enjoying a nice sunny day with a pub lunch and ice cold beer!
A great venue with an amazing heritage all we had to do before relaxing and preparing for the gig was get the gear in and get through a soundcheck. The soundman Anthony was an impossibly good looking man with impossibly brilliant ears. We are a soundman’s nightmare and you did us proud. A note to those of you considering taking up the live gigging experience, things are heavy, you will sweat and grunt setting it up, stairs are rubbish, soundchecks are long and boring, vans are uncomfortable and your diet will suffer irreversibly…..but it is all very very worth it!
