| After
a week at home it is time for a wee concert
in the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh
before a wee sojourn down in old blitey: our
first such foray into England since we were
armed with Uzbeks last year. This phrase viewed
in isolation will probably ring all the government
backed surveillance alarm bells and put us on
the preferred customers list for an all-expense
paid holiday to Butlins, Guantanamo. Red coats,
Orange coats, what’s the difference?
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Musselburgh
– “The Honest Toon”
is home to the finest horseracing course in
Scotland, well, the closest to my house, which
is kind of the same thing. The racecourse
is also part of a links golf course, which
has always intrigued me. This is like some
sort of Scottish triathlon where the contestants
have to race horses, play golf and all the
while bet on each other in some kind of mad
self-handicapping system where victory is
determined by a cocktail of odds and outright
performance. There is definitely something
in this: An Olympic sport for sure. It is
like beach volleyball but for horses with
golf, gambling, and alcohol.
Anyway,
the gig was great and we had a camera crew
recording it, so once we have inserted the
Battlefield Band body doubles (Chick Young,
Hulk Hogan & Daley Thompson; Alan will
play himself and perform his own stunts, as
usual); hopefully the footage will appear
somewhere.
After
a couple of days off, we head down to Shaw,
which sits on the frontier with Rochdale,
near Oldham. During the sound check, a couple
of young wags throw an egg at us through the
open fire door. This makes us feel a kinship
with John
Prescott
and we have no recourse but to interview
prospective private secretaries at half time:
the money’s no’ great and the
perks are even worse...
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This is a very nice crowd
to start the tour and it is great to have a
couple of pints with the locals after the show.
The young master bakers seem to have left but
it's great to meet Felix Savage
who not only possesses easily the best name
I have ever heard, but is a family friend of
Rochdale born Edinburgh fiddling star and our
pal, Simon Bradley.
Saturday,
29th April
Today
we have a short drive to Wath
upon Dearne so Alasdair and I take the slowest
possible country roads through the Yorkshire
country side on this beautiful day, searching
for what looks like the best place to eat a
roasted dode o’ meat. We eventually stop
in Wentworth near Rotherham and are not disappointed.
This is the town of the fine brewery, which
bears the same name. England often gets a hard
time from the culinary world and this is unfair
as a roast with tatties and a homemade Yorkshire
pudding is without peer and the beer in England
both varied and sublime. Nowhere else in the
world is there such a variety of quality, unpasteurised
ale.
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Today
we are playing a festival. Last night Wath
hosted the Oysterband
and tomorrow sees Duncan Chisholm and Ivan Drever.
Tonight we are sharing the bill with Eleanor
McEvoy who plays a great solo set.
After
the concert over a couple of pints we are discussing
Alasdair’s age. When Eleanor finds out
that he was born while she was at university
she quips, “That’s disgusting!”
which Sean reckons to be a good quote for Alasdair’s
future publicity
This is a great festival putting on top class
stuff (www.wathfestival.org.uk)
so anybody in the area should keep their eyes
open for next year’s programme. The techies
were particularly good and helpful so we would
like to make a special mention for martin and
his crew at the Purple P.A. Company.
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“You disgust me”
Eleanor McEvoy,
Wath, 2006
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Sunday,
30 April
It
is a long way down to totnes in south Devon so Rob
and I head off early. This is a short but great concert
series run each year by John Culf and a team of volunteers.
The hall is part of King Edward VI community college,
which has an arts heavy curriculum, and as such a
good room to play. We are treated to a fine meal cooked
by John’s missus, Jan, and served to us by the
lovely Polly whose sister, Helen Marriage, was at
the time in the throes of organizing the Sultans
Elephants trip through central London between
the 4th and 7th of May. During the gig, the punters
are able to imbibe a fine selection of local beers
and Juices – this is my kinda school.
After the show we find a suitably named Lord Nelson
Pub, which accommodates our post match pint requirement:
Lovely Jubbly
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