Remembrance day parade - Silvertown

Silvertown again ..  for the remembrance day parade .. same thing
Gather at teh Tate adn lyle car park

march to the church

service .. then tea and cakes followed by a march back again.

Peatbog Faeries, Wickham festival

We went to Wickham to film the Peatbog Faeries, who were set to close the main stage after the weekend.

We (Steph, Sue and myself) set off early from home, having packed up the cameras, making sure we had fully charged batteries, and fresh formatted media. Everything was packed into the big road trunk we had trialled at the Sankara Buffalo gig.
First stop was to pick up Karen, and then we pulled into the festival site. Everything was changed around from the last time we were there, and what was the car-park was not the festival site and vice versa. Luckily I pulled into the "caravans and campers" site, which allowed us to get a good view over the whole set-up.

We got the chairs out and had something to eat and relax before the efforts to come. It also gave us a good opportunity to catch up and have a good chat.

Around 4pm we went to the box office to pick up our passes, and meet our liaison person - Graham. we got day passes, and ViP bands, but could not be given the back stage ones yet. This was because Rolf Harris (or his people) had "sealed" the back stage areas, and we would have to wait until he had gone. However this gave us an opportunity to wander around the site, and whilst I found the teashop, the others went around the retail opportunities. A bite to eat while Wilko Johnson was doing his stuff.

We wandered around to the ViP area as Rolf's team was preparing the stage..  I was quite interested in his stage craft, much more than the actual content, and it was nice to see how he worked the crowd, all at his advanced age.

As he finished we went and got the van, to drop off the box at the stage door, and re-park. then the waiting game began. he was about to go, not quite, just coming, etc...  after a few jokes about being Rolf groupies, we were taken pity on by the head of gate security, who allowed us to wheel the box down the track, and the reality was he was still chatting ..

The blockheads were playing as we unpacked all the kit and got ready for the change over. A quick glance down the press pit, showed we would be in for a bit of a bun fight...  photographers everywhere, and the hose cameras in three of the slots. We would have to be persistent and work our way into the key points.

As the Blockheads got towards the end of their set, Sue and I went to set up the FoH camera on the lighting stage behind the sound stage. I also ran a small sound recorder, not from the desk, but just picking up the atmosphere. Back at the press pit Sue and Karen had two cameras each and were finding slots to run them. I placed the cross stage ones then nipped on stage and began placing the drum, and keyboard cameras, as well as one for the audience.

So we were all ready for the performance, and waiting for the line checks to be completed.

Most of the show I was running around checking the cameras, changing tapes and batteries, etc.

At the end the place emptied very quickly and we got on with the packing up, by now the back stage area was easier to get to so I could run the van down and we ran the trunk into the back.

The run back was relatively simple and pain free and we were home for 2 am, the weekend was over

Copthorne Carnival

Copthorne Carnival again ...  our usual set in the ring

Consortium Tour - Bristol Set Lists

Ryan James

• Fistful
• Breath & let go
• Machine
• Jerusalem
• Whoa
• Gaga
• Over the River
• Mountain
• Trouble
• River of Bones
• Serenade
• Yo!

 Noterminus

• Tarnished Halo
• Hilary
• Muted Creatures
• Fast One
• Hell No
• Crawling Seasons
• Haselupkers Ink

Sankara

• The Harm Principle
• Full Flow
• In God we Trust
• Enigma
• The Dolls House
• Lullaby for a Lost Boy
• Guilded by Gaslight
• Chasing the Sun
• Light Your Journey Home
• 
  
• (Precious Things)

Sankara - The Tunnels - Bristol

Final date of the Consortium tour ...  Bristol. I was hoping for some good footage to do a tour video from, but I suspect that "Prankgate" kind of put paid to that, although some of the tracks will be good.

Steph would be making her first outing on the tour, having been constrained by work commitments during the rest of it. First of all I had to drive to Coventry to pick up KT who needed to get back home and this was the simplest way. From there it was straight to Bristol, and no trouble in finding Temple Meads station. As we pulled in we spotted Scott and Maria wandering around, who gave us directions to the venue.

The venue was in two tunnels under the station approach road,  with plenty of free parking (it being Sunday) outside. While we were hanging around for access the girls went off in search of sustenance (note to self .. don't expect change from any money given to them!).

Getting the kit into the venue was very simple with access to the doors and ramps down to the main floor. we just backed the van up and walked it all down. the tunnels were quite wide, one for the bar and lounge area with the other for the stage and main floor.
As the gear was being unpacked, Jay and I were talking to the sound guy, who we found out used to play with Mark Knight (who dep'd with Blue horses after Debs left) in K-Passa. Much tall tales and reminiscing later....

The girls returned from their "shopping" trip and gave me back a few coppers and some hot cross buns, and the set up the merch stall by the bar, suitably situated .

the Pranks started fairly soon after sound check, but these are described well enough on other pages... Ryan's blog and Jay's blog -  suffice it to say they escalated and the dropped off.

Apart from the pranks the sound was the best of the tour, and the show was really very well honed by now. (except for when I tripped up over a couple of leads on stage!). I wait to see how the video footage comes out.

The other great bit from the night was meeting up with Andy after what seems like an age. He popped down to see us and brought his camera. it was good to catch up and we look forward to seeing his photos.  Not to be out done, Jay's daughter Buffy arrived down from uni as well (really looking for a cheap ride home) but also enjoyed the show as well as playing the main line photographer.

After the show an much lengthy good byes we headed off into the night bound for home ... uneventful drive and fell into bed at 3:30 am.

Sankara - The Courtney - Teignmouth

The Missing Gig of the tour ...  We were not at this one, it was just too far.

By all accounts this was a rocking night ... Ryan did not play as his acoustic set up was too much of a challenge for the PA..  but Noterminus and Sankara had a great time.

The after gig Curry was, I believe, the start of the pranks that continued into Sunday!!

Sankara - The Garage - London

The second half of the Consortium tour.. this time west going east and back a bit.... The first stop was London ..  kind of local(ish) for me, and the prospect of getting back to my own bed really appealed..

The thought of driving around the M25 on Friday night whilst the world was heading out to their country estates and second homes did not appeal and I quickly found out that I could get a cheap parking ticket at Gatwick and ride the train/ underground - even better the tube station was less than 50m from the venue. .... Sorted.

Sue and I cruised up tot eh long term parking, caught the bus almost immediately and then the train was on time a few mins after we arrived on the platform. Train journeys are not fun, but my way of coping is to plug in the electronic pipes and get lost in some serious practice - not good for your companions, but it gets me through the time. Before long we pulled into Victoria, and were fighting the crowds to the tube station (this just reminds me why I don't work or live in London).

At Highbury & Islington tube station it was chucking it down ... we hovered in the foyer for it to slow down a bit, and then did a big circle to find venue. As the rain came on heavy again, I gave up and looked on the phone, only to find it two doors down.

We waited outside for a few moments before my mind translated the images coming into my brain ...  we could not possible load through a door in rush hour when there are red lines on the road...  there had to be another door... there was and it was the other side of the building.

Gareth, Vinden, Noterminus and Ryan were all there waiting for the van to arrive, and pleasantries were exchanged, before we popped into have a look at the venue ...
Upstairs again in the smaller room (downstairs was being used by Eddie and the Hotrods and Nine below Zero). but again a perfect size for this tour. the room was rectangular, with the toilets to the side of the stage (also the dressing room, which resembled a sauna). The bar was at the back of the room. The stage was comparatively cramped, and we had to put the guitar rack in a cupboard to one side.

Additionally Jay and Paul had given up with the straight DI boxes and brought along speaker cabs, so they were not relying on the monitor mixes. Not sure if it was this or the break, but the boys were really on fire this night with plenty of jumping around.

For dinner we raided the local Waitrose city store, you can tell this was London, loads of fancy pastries and Pate, rather than bread and pork pies!!.

Sue manned the merch stall which we placed by the front door made cosy with a washing line and some coat hangers.
Trade was variable, but we did sell some cds to the guitarist from Nine Below Zero before he did his set!!

At the end of the show, we could use the front entrance, which made loading the van easier, and after some quick goodbyes Sue and I headed for the tube. The journey back was memorable only for the drunken loud mouths on the train, with tails I would really rather not have to endure...  but it was only for 30 mins. At Gatwick there was a short wait for the bus, but another testament to British society with the scramble for the bus and depositing suitcases everywhere. Before long I was curled up in my bed fast asleep.

Saturday would be spent preparing for the next day and the final date of the tour.