ROGER & FRANS PAGES

MY WEEK
 

Lynton Band at The Barleycorn

An unusually relaxing week as far as road rage goes ! Just a single trip up to Milton Keynes on Monday morning and a couple of visits to London  on Wednesday and Thursday.  However, it was a very busy week in the local office involving working late into the evening most nights.  Not on Tuesday or Friday however! Tuesday evening I introduced Ray Phillips and Colin Pattenden (Nashville Teens) to Paul Bonner (The Honeycombs) over dinner at Egham. It was a beautiful evening and we sat outdoors at The Loch Fyne Restaurant.  The purpose of the evening was to try to do a deal regarding a show called Rock Around The Sixties.  This is a small tour currently featuring Mike Berry with Vanity Fare and The Honeycombs - and hosted by Richard Headingley (Chicory Tip).  It's not a blockbuster like Flying Music's Solid Silver Sixties Show - but it packs small theatres around the Southeast six or seven times a month. It's appeal to theatres is that it isn't "the usual suspects" who do the Solid Silver tour - and it's appeal to bands is the self-sufficiency of "Artists doing it for themselves", without any invisible management to rake-off of takings.  Most sixties bands have experienced bad management, and the do it yourself management of this show, with equal sharing of both the pains and the gains, is very appealing philosophically to guys who have experienced that.

The problem we were addressing is that Vanity Fare have been offered part of next years Solid Silver Sixties tour in March/April/May and the discussion was to ascertain whether The Nashville Teens could take over their slot in this smaller show.  It isn't just rolling out a fixed set - there is a finale in which all the musicians play together on stage in an audience sing-along - so there is an amount of rehearsal to be done as well.  The meeting was fairly enthusiastic, and although Ray still has to get the rest of the band together to discuss the proposition, I've also started planning our particular corner of the merchandising.  Overall a reasonably successful dinner! Although I worked really hard on Friday, I did manage to get to the golf range for half an hour at lunch time - and demonstrated to myself that my rotator cuff injury and crush fracture in my right arm was now well enough to wield a gold club. I also discovered just how therapeutic slamming a golf ball a couple of hundred yards can be when you're overstressed by work!  However, the downside was that after six weeks of "rest" I was nowhere near as accurate and I'm sure my style was all over the place! On Friday evening I left Fran cooking ready for our planned visitors on Saturday, and drove up to Hitchin - to The Sir John Barleycorn pub. This is familiar territory for me - forty five years ago I was a schoolboy in Hitchin, and our cross country course used to start up the old lane beside The Sir JB.  The lane is still there - I'd like to describe it as cobbled, but it is more sort of "rubbled" - not comfortable for driving over!

Tony Phillips rocking

I arrived just after half past seven and found Jack, Chris and Mike in the bar.  Unfortunately the place was virtually empty - where were the audience?  Colin and Spud (with Trisha) both turned up within minutes and it was such a small gig that we had the stage set by quarter past eight!  Chris & Mike went for a Chinese meal while Colin & I wandered to Waitrose for a sandwich, which we ate in the pub garden.    The band went indoors to start playing at about a quarter past nine and were amazed that the place was now heaving with folk !  Where had they all come from? The band love a good audience and this was a good one, who encouraged the band to achieve great form. Spud had brought his new Ludwig drum kit which sounded brilliant.  Colin's back was evidently a lot better - and he played a terrific gig.  Chris was sparkling and Mike played a couple of really amazing solo's - I particularly liked his work in the "Funk Version" of High Healed Sneakers. The band also came out with George Harrison's Isn't It A Pity, which was spellbinding.  The audience were very appreciative of the whole evening - many were dancing and there was loads of cheering and whooping - which always brings out the best in Jack.  He treated them to a couple of blue jokes and sang his heart out - he evidently loved the evening.    It was good to see Tony Phillips again - he now lives in Hitchin and was the co-sponsor of this gig.  He got on stage to sing a couple of old Rock'n'Roll numbers.  I think many of the audience were quite surprised to find that their old drinking buddy from the bar was actually quite a good singer.   The audience appeared to be really pleased with the evening - a good gig! It didn't take long to pack up but it is a long way home, so I didn't fall into bed until gone half past one. Saturday morning I went back to Blue Mountain Golf Club in Bracknell to meet Mark - my trainer - and to have my first proper golf lesson since I damaged my arm.  It was a beautiful morning and I really enjoyed the outing. Mark had watched me practising on Friday and confirmed that my stance was absolute rubbish - however after an hour coaching I was back doing it properly and feeling a lot more confident about both style and accuracy.  I can see that if I'm not careful I could get addicted to this game! When I got home I helped Fran complete preparations for a visit by Keith and Chrissy Jenkins - which is always good fun because they are a great couple for debating almost anything - great conversations. They were over an hour late because the M25 had stopped working, but that didn't matter because the lunch was a cold salad anyway.  Fran and Chrissy went to college together in the sixties - and are both absolutely ace chefs - so whenever we visit each other there is a competitive feel in the air whenever food is produced!  Fran had rustled up a cold Fisherman's Pie - which was succulent with fresh cream, flaky pastry and so many lovely sorts of fish it was almost a competition just to name them all!  The weather stayed good and we spent the whole afternoon under the Gothic Pavilion with a couple of bottles of champagne and a couple of bottles of fine old Rioja Gran Reserva.  Eating drinking and talking with Chrissy and Keith is so good that time just flies by and it was almost nine o'clock before they realised that they had a long drive home and had to leave us.    We went to bet comparatively early, and I didn't awake until almost ten o'clock on Sunday!  Despite the late start my Sunday was quite productive and I managed to do a phenomenal amount of gardening, including saving and replanting bits of our front hedge which is going to disappear in the impending makeover; and fixing a new frontage above the garden gate, which had been getting very tatty for years.   I spent much of the day up stepladders trimming hedges or up the big ladders cutting back the ivy which grows up the front of our property.  The day ended with a long hot shower at tea time while Fran held a Skype conversation with baby Gemma in Colorado - as only Grandma's can she was Gooing and Aaahing before I went into the shower, and still at it when I came out twenty minutes later! I spent the rest of the evening catching up email and publishing this blog. Another busy week planned next week, with at least one night away.  Hope your week is good too.