the rather splendid poster from the first Star gig... |
Not a huge amount of gigs since the last entry though, as we were frantically trying to organise a new lead guitarist after the unexpected departure of Simon.
A new venue for us at the end of October was The Star in Fishponds - a quick Google of the place showed what looked like a shut-down pub with a load of terrible reviews, but in actual fact it's been recently taken over by the same team that run the Village Inn in Nailsworth, and they'd really gone to town on the place, gutting it completely and turning it into a real asset to the area (and god knows, Fishponds needs a decent pub).
We did this gig as a 4-piece, but by the time we returned to the pub a mere few weeks later in December, we'd not only recruited a new lead guitarist, Rob Fawcett, but also a banjoplayer, Johnny Gould, so for possibly the first time in our history we played with 2 new members - luckily both chaps are so quick on the uptake and generally talented that we sailed through it, which gave us lots of confidence for the coming year. The sound of the band has been beefed-up considerably, and we're all rather excited about the possibilities...
Next gig was at one of my favourite Bristol venues, Mr Wolfs, with support from the Bonfire Radicals - a brilliant alt/Folk band who'd come all the way down from Birmingham for this Tuesday night gig, and with a variety of debilitating lurgeys between them, as well - hope they decide it was worth the journey, as I'd very much like to see them down this way again.
Final gig of the year at the end of December was at The Oxford, Totterdown - another favourite Bristol haunt, and a great way to finish 2014...
Onwards and upwards!