In Hell they give you Rum

Here's another animoto video, using one of our oldest songs, In Hell they give you Rum. This version was recorded on Food for Thought in '95. I used mostly old photos in this one - blimey don't we look young...

Jagerbar, Melksham

We nearly ran over a deer on the way here - spooky...
Actually part of the Bear in Melksham, this new venue was only finished the day before, and we played the opening night on Good Friday. The landlord & his family had obviously worked like trojans to get everything finished in time, with a lot of sponsorship help from Jagermeister (favourite tipple of folk-metallers Korpiklaani and good ol' Metallica, by all accounts). It tastes like a (very) alcoholic cough mixture, and comes in test-tubes at -15c. Yum.
The place itself is vast & cathedral-like, with a cavernously high ceiling & a stone floor - in other words, it's an acoustic nightmare, as rapidly becomes apparent as we try to soundcheck. Oh well, let's hope some bodies will soak up the cacophony; off to the bar we go, just to do a bit more quality testing on that Jagermeister...
In the end we needn't have worried - most of the population of Melksham have turned out to check the place out, and a fair proportion of them even stay when we start playing, so the sound ends up pretty good. We are even treated to a unique display of Traditional Dancing, which involves rolling your trousers up to the knee and scuttling about like a crab. I got an unprofessional fit of the giggles at this point, and corpsed completely in the middle of a song...
By the end of the night we were all a bit hoarse, but luckily the Landlord was on hand with more of his special cough medicine. It did make me a bit drowsy, though... on balance, think I'll stick to Guinness.

A very quiet St Patricks night...

Last time we played the Bayshill Tavern in Cheltenham was pretty lively, so we had high hopes for this Saturday the 15th, especially as the Cheltenham Gold Cup had just finished and the town should still be knee-deep in merry Sons of Erin intent on spending their winnings...
Apparently not though; Chris's enquiry "So, any winners in tonight?" produces no response.
"Er... anyone lose their shirt, then?" Glum silence. It's going to be one of those gigs.
And not a green stovepipe hat or a Guinness promotion in sight, either - Ireland's bishops in their wisdom have apparently decreed that Saturday is the official St Patricks Day, rather than the traditional 17th, because this would clash with Holy Week, whatever that is.
Well, you can't expect much sense from a church that expects it's priests to stay celibate but doesn't mind a bit of ritual cannibalism, but this actually seemed like a pretty good idea to me - people are going to erm... 'celebrate' a lot more on a Saturday than a Monday, after all. Pity no-one told 'em.

King William, Glastonbury

Here we are again and Nige is back in the fold, his poorly wrist all better - as far as we can make out, he injured it falling backwards over an aerobics step - proof (if it were needed) that exercise is something best left to young, fit people...
The King Willy is on the High Street, squeezed in between the hordes of shops all eager to service the incense, candle & dreamcatcher needs of Glastonbury's pilgrims. Normally a fairly quiet gig this one, and with 4 other bands playing within a few streets of us, plus a Battle of the Bands at the Town Hall, we weren't expecting anything different, but unaccountably the place is packed, and people are up & dancing to the first song (I can only surmise that the 'Battle of the Bands' was more of a massacre, but we're not complaining!). They won't let us go until we've exhausted our repertoire of encores either, the slavedrivers...

Mr Wolfs, Bristol

Great little venue this - nice PA, right in the centre of Bristol, and bursting at the seams with people; one tiny gripe - no draught beer! AAaagh! Man cannot live by lager alone! But man will have bloody good try nonetheless.
No mandolin on this outing, as Nige has apparently injured his wrist in A Bizarre Exercising Accident, details of which remain shrouded in mystery... in fact, it was touch & go whether we'd have a drummer, after Nick scalded his hand in A Bizarre Baked-Bean Accident earlier this week (I'm not making this up). Lovers of Spinal Tap will see where I'm going with this, but fear not - Chris has already survived a Bizarre Gardening Accident a few years back, when a ride-on lawnmower exploded under him. Ouch.
First up tonight are the Monaros, a new band from Bristol playing only their 4th ever gig, though you wouldn't know it - bags of confidence, good poppy songs and a gorgeous singer - can't go wrong. The mostly youngish crowd loved 'em, and many thanks from me to their bassplayer, who lent me his rather splendid amp for our set, as mine is still sulking in a corner of a repair shop in Malmesbury.
We quickly barred the doors to prevent any escapes, and gave the audience both barrels - great fun, and one of the best gigs we've played in quite a while - loud, hot, sweaty & dark, just the way we like it. Great to see some familiar faces again too, especially Ally & Sol.
Oh, and ta to Grekken for the pic of our own gorgeous singer above!

http://uk.myspace.com/monaros
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17644302@N00/sets/72157604036135251/