Went to a Garden Party

Yesterday saw Creeping Bentgrass out at Darwen, playing at a friend's garden party. I took the blue Mexican Stratocaster along for a change - nice to play it again.

Huge garden on several levels and a lot of people there - not that I am surprised by this in any way because Chris and Brian are excellent hosts and the food is always scrummy.

Not that Mr Lancaster gave me much chance to get my gnashers around much of it... "Keep playing while they eat, we'll stop in a bit..."

My fingers are an inch shorter... Great party Chris and Brian, thanks for inviting us!

Larbreck Hall Caravan Park

On Saturday night we played at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park. A smaller audience than in recent years, though with the amount of wet weekends we've had it's hardly surprising that weekenders have tended to stay at home this summer!

None the less, we had a good night and from all the compliments and an immediate re-booking for next year, we knew at the end of the night we were leaving them happy!

I mentioned the stage being built for us at the Wharles do a couple of weeks ago and it would be wrong not to mention the work that a couple the regulars put in every year to build a stage and put in lights - not just on stage but as this is in a barn where caravans are usually stored, there's a lot of preparation goes into these events before we even get there.

Barns are not noted for their lighting, so a night like this requires lights to be set up so the audience can see their drinks on the table in front of them!

And here's Fran doing stirling work with the little Flip video camera. We are hoping to have a DVD available soon as a souvenir of our gigs. Apart from anything else, it will give us something to watch and cringe to when we reach our dotage. Not long now...

Fylde Vintage Weekend and Farm Show

Last night we were out in the wilderness of the Fylde countryside (a very nice place to be!) We were playing in a huge marquee at the Fylde Vintage Weekend and Farm Show to a packed and very receptive audience who were determined to get the most out of us.

When we got there we found these two gentlemen building a stage for us. "Will it be alright?" we were asked.

"I was thinking about having a curving staircase to come down as we start," I said.

"Aye, keep thinking..." came the answer.

The show hadn't really got going until today, but the marquee filled up and there were several familiar faces who came to see us at the Heskin Hall show. Some indeed said they had come especially to see us again. I love an optimist...

I had had a rather frazzling couple of days fighting the weather to get back from Newcastle in time for the gig (see this blog entry for details) and was running on sheer adrenaline. This led me to make several instant comebacks to a large group by the stage who were quite witty and we built up a fantastic atmosphere during the night.

We started playing around 8:15pm and at 11:45pm I announced the last song but that was just a challenge to them and we played seven or eight encores, finishing well after midnight and eventually getting away sometime after 1:00am!

Now this was a field and not particularly well furnished with street lighting...

Apologies to anyone trying to sleep in the caravans we kept going past and reversing around whilst we tried to find the gate...

Also apologies to the good people of the Fylde who may have been awoken by the raucous and ever so slightly rude roars from the audience as we played "Living Next Door To Alice" as one of those encores. Well really, I was shocked...

To the young lady who kept shouting for us to do a Lady Gaga number... next year...

Photos once again courtesy of Jeannie Lancaster.

Myerscough College Open Day 2012

Apologies - it's taken me a while to get round to writing this entry - the gig was on Sunday 10 June - twenty days ago!!!

But straight after we finished playing I had to dash home, grab a bite to eat and drive down to Bristol for the night before carrying on to Yeovil for work on Monday morning! And somehow life has been a bit like that ever since!

Anyway, the weather was quite kind for a change. We had a good day and a long day and my fingers were a good couple of inches shorter at the end of it after pressing on the guitar neck all day...

As always at Myerscough, there was lots for visitors to see and do so it was nice when people stopped to sit and listen to us for the afternoon! Seeing as we had all the bunting left from the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we went all patriotic again!

Scorton Village Diamond Jubilee Party

You know, that rain that started last night kept it up all night and into this afternoon. So it was with some relief that we knew there was an alternative to the open-air field for Scorton Village's Diamond Jubilee Party.

We unloaded into the Village Hall and set up in a corner, whilst we waited to see whether anyone would brave the rain to turn up.

By heck they are indeed made of stern stuff in Scorton - the place filled and all the seats were taken and they still came in until there was a whole line of people standing at the far end. A special Jubilee Grace was said and then I got to play the National Anthem on the keyboard. Something I had only played once before and that only half an hour previously as a practice when we first set up before anyone came in! (Sorry, your Majesty...)

Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie had surrounded us with bunting and very pretty we looked too... It did mean that sneaking off stage for a trip to the loo involved ducking and choking or limbo dancing but hey... why not?!?

We kept to the less raucous songs for the afternoon and by the time we got to the end of the afternoon we had clocked up nine hours playing within a period of 21 hours given that we had been playing last night in Chorley. My finger ends are a touch sensitive...

Many thanks to the wonderful people of Scorton for asking us to perform and for all the lovely comments we were given at the end of the afternoon. It was a pleasure to play for you.

Heskin Hall Steam Fair 2012

Last night saw us at the Heskin Hall Steam Fair once more - we've been playing this event every year since 2006 and it is always a brilliant night for us.

A huge marquee was our venue for the night - half again as big as in previous years and as we set up only a couple of tables had people sitting at them. I needn't have worried though because the place filled to capacity with a considerable number of people standing close to the bar area as well as the seating area.

We were kept busy. In fact we played an incredible four and a half hours, finishing with a version of House of the Rising Sun.

For some reason my guitar effects pedal was giving me palpitations - it cut out once or twice but seemed to come back ok after a vicious kick... Going to have to look at that and hope it behaves itself today!

This afternoon we are playing for the Diamond Jubilee Party at Scorton Village. The weather is a bit wet - it was raining last night as we carried the gear back to the car and from the state of the field had been for some time.

It's not let up since then so I think we're going to be in the Village Hall rather than on the field but we'll do our best to inject a bit of cheer!

Witton Park 2012

Last Sunday saw us back in the courtyard at Witton Park in Blackburn for their annual fun day in conjunction with Myerscough College. The event included a collection of classic cars, some of which made me come over all nostalgic!

I worked out it was our 7th year at Witton! We first went to that same event to play in 2006.

And 2012 was a stand-out year. The weather was excellent - all sunshine and not a spot of rain. The chairs laid out for the audience were filled all day long - they were full when we got there with people waiting for us to arrive! We had a great day and unleashed a sprinkling of new songs into the mix including one of David's current favourites - Elvis's "You Gave Me a Mountain".

Our thanks go to Witton Park, Blackburn Council, Myerscough College, Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie our faithful roadies and minders, and of course all those wonderful people in the audience!

Photos courtesy of Jeannie Lancaster

The Flood

As a predominantly (had to look that up!) Sixties band we often hear folk tell us that there are no good modern songs.

However, whilst having a rather cynical view of types of music that require no talent at all and that can be described by adding a "C" to the beginning, I do think there is some good stuff out there at any time you go looking.

There is a bit of a fad for sucking the excitement out of music at the moment though but I can't help it when I arrange a new song for the band - I have to add a bit of drama!

So here's a fairly recent Take That hit for you...

Afternoon Gig

On Friday we played at the award-winning Elgin Hotel, Blackpool for an after lunch event for British Gas Pensioners.

This was our second event for the organisation and we hope they enjoyed it as much as we did. I rather think that they did from the comments we received!

And no surprises that the hotel wins awards because the food was excellent and every time we have played there, the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff has been top notch.

Our next public performance will be at Blackburn's Witton Park on Sunday afternoon, 13 May 2012 - come and meet us and say hello between songs!

Birthday Gig

On Saturday night we were playing a private booking for a birthday party in Thornton - a gig close to home for a change!

The birthday girl was very keen to secure our services and both she and the rest of the party-goers were enthusuastic in their applause during the night and their praise at the end of it.

We enjoyed ourselves too, giving Elvis's Burning Love its first public airing.

To book Creeping Bentgrass for your own party, event or club, email bispham2@hotmail.com or telephone on 01253 301324