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Allo Darlin'
I was going to do a blog today about something else entirely - I emailed the script and sound files for Dinosaur Planet out to The Cast today, it's all VERY exciting - but then got a bit waylaid by trying to sort out our venue for the Fringe. It all got a bit vexatious (sorted now tho - more news on that tomorrow hopefully!) so I thought "What can I listen to to sort myself out a bit? To cheer me up and fill me full of The Joy?"
So I put the Eponymous Allo Darlin' album on. MY GOODNESS ME but it didn't half do the trick, it's AMAZING. I bought it last week in Sheffield and have been listening to it ever since (sharing ear space mostly with the above mentioned Dinosaur-based tracks and the Standard Fare album, which is also GRATE) and LOVE it. However, sitting and listening to it tonight it did that thing which The Albums You Will Always Love Forever do where they suddenly LEAP OUT at you and go "HA! Thought I was good did you? Listen to me KNOW! I'm FANTASTIC!"
My most clear example of this happening was with "Grand Prix" by Teenage Fanclub, which i listened to a few times, thought was OK, and put away. But then I listened to again a couple of months later and GOT it - all of a sudden EVERY song was BRILLIANT, i just GOT it, and it's been one of my favourite records ever since. This evening "Allo Darlin'" by Allo Darlin' did pretty much the same thing. Songs that had been smile inducing and catchy revealed themselves to be HUGELY CLEVER and RAM PACKED with genius lines. My favourite at the moment is "it gets bad, but it never gets Batman bad" but there are MILLIONS of other bits which GLOW with a life affirming, optimistic, witty JOY that hardly anyone else ever gets to do.
Now "Heartbeat Chilli" has come on again. It's GORGEOUS.
I don't think I'm doing a very good job of explaining this - I just wanted to get it on record that A New Favourite Record entered my life properly today. All I can suggest is you EITHER go to a gig (they're at SXSW at the moment, I think, but are back touring with The School soon) and buy it NOW (hey, I went all the way to Sheffield to get my copy and it was UTTERLY WORTH IT) OR be sure and BUY BUY BUY it when it comes out later this year.
In summary then: it's really really good, and i LIKE it!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 18.3.10
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(0) comments We were back at The Lamb last night for another Totally Acoustic and I was a little WORRIED about how it was going to go, as I knew that SEVERAL of my REGULARS weren't going to be able to attend. You've got to look after your regulars, because if they're not around it's a bit SCARY.
I calmed down when I got into the pub, however, to see a couple of people already there, and didn't even have to get into a PANIC about The Acts turning up, as The George Death Experience were already there and, just as I was saying hello, in came Orange Nichole. PHEW!
There was minor panic upstairs when I found that the room had been arranged DIFFERENTLY, with the Big Green Chairs arranged into one corner, rather than along another side. As I was MILDLY FREAKING OUT Leigh The Landlord popped his head round the corner. "We're having a big refurb next month", he said, "it's all going to be modern and different up here!" I don't like the sound of that I must say, i LIKE the upstairs room as it is, but we will, I guess, have to wait and see and hope for the best.
With the room sorted out and some more pals drifting in it was soon time to get started, and this is what i DID:
Don't, Darren, Don't
(theme from) Dinosaur Planet
2000AD Nans
It Isn't An Exam
Being Happy Doesn't Make You Stupid
My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once
It all seemed to go OK, though there was a LOT of talking (by ME) and I forgot the words a couple of times - NOTABLY in It Isn't An Exam where the line I forgot was "You don't have to revise". Clearly i DO - I do feel a bit out of practice with gigs at the moment, and I think it's more me WORRYING about forgetting words, rather than not knowing then, that makes me go WRONG. Brand new song "2000AD Nans" came out pretty much correct, and sounded rather good I reckon.
We then had a short break before The George Death Experience (i.e. George with a colleague playing Fancy Guitar) came on and was, as usual, BRILLIANT. He was very VERY funny and, in his own words from last time, had us all "in the palm of his hand". There were bits where everyone was laughing so much we started laughing at jokes that weren't actually THERE in the song. It was ACE.
As indeed was Orange Nichole, who came on next and was totally different from George (except that she ALSO was added by Fancy Guitarist) but also totally GRATE. Fantastic, winning songs put across with style and CHARM, everyone sat watching with a huge GRIN plastered all over their faces.
A lovely night of song, then, which didn't end there as we all sat around for a bit of a chat before going downstairs for another pint and a bit more YAKKING. I sat talking to some people from Boston USA and some people from ESSEX, and thought "This is really what The ROCK is really all about: THE GOOD TIMES". The morning after, I have to say I think I might have had a point there.
posted by MJ Hibbett, 17.3.10
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(0) comments Still a bit WEARY from all the Rock Action in Sheffield i had to get up Extra Early on Saturday morning (7.30am - ON SATURDAY) in order to catch my train to Derby, where I was due to meet with Mr R Newman to finish off the first stage of my BITS (Studio terminology) for Dinosaur Planet.
After a DELIGHTFUL journey I arrived at Snug Studio five minutes early, and was just TWITTERING this fact when Robbie came strolling around the corner. We went inside, and BEGAN.
The first chunk of business was to finish off all my VOCALS. Once again I used my REVOLUTIONARY "Sitting Down To Sing" method and with Robbie gently GUIDING my vocal stylings (ranging from the gentle "maybe one more try" to the positively HARSH "and how did YOU think that went?") we got it all done in good time, including some rather exciting WHOO OOH OOHs for the main track. We decided to AUTO-TUNE it in order to a) make it sound WEIRD b) make it sound LESS AWFUL and after one minor snag (it was all auto-tuned a semi-tone out - "I wondered why you were singing all the black notes", said Robbie) it was all done and we were ready for me to try and do a GUITAR OVERDUB.
Unfortunately for all concerned this was on the Cod Reggae Middle Eight for (theme from) Dinosaur Planet, which LEAPS in to the track at a SLIGHTLY different speed from the rest of the song, and on an entirely different rhythm. That's my excuse anyway. It took AGES to get right and eventually we had to use some sneaky Cut And Paste to get it right. Crikey tho, when we did it sounded MEGA!
All that was left then was to do a Rough Mix... of the ENTIRE ALBUM! This took a couple of hours, but was extremely worthwhile as I needed proper mixes of everything in order to get the Vocal Overdubs done for our GUEST CAST next month. Along the way we also STRIPPED OUT some vocals that I'd done which we didn't need and even found a song where I'd forgotten to sing the bits i DID need.
It was a long yet EFFICIENT day of WORK but by the end I had a CD PACKED with ROCK.
On Sunday, however, I decided to do the GUIDE OVERDUBS - most of the songs have additional vocals that will be recorded by other people, so I thought it'd be a good idea to do rough versions of these myself, lay them over the tracks we'd alresdy recorded, and then send them out to the people concerned. A good idea... which took BLOODY AGES and sapped all the JOY out of the tracks. Only for a couple of hours, mind you, but GOOD GOLLY what a long couple of hours they were. Who would ever have imagined that pretending to be a Space Dinosaur and saying "YARR!!!" could become boring? IT DID.
I guess that is one of the big advantages to going into a Proper Studio, as opposed to doing things at home. For one thing, I would guess that Mr Newman would be slightly more ADEPT than me at slotting audio files together, and for another I could have gone to the shops or Gazed Blankly Out Of The Window while he actually did it, instead of GLARING at the SCREEN for an hour. It was RUBBISH and, as usual with RUBBISH things like this, every time I thought I'd finished I would settle back to finally enjoy listening to it and IMMEDIATELY hear a mistake.
So it's STILL got to be finished off, but at least it IS nearly done, and i can start sending files out to people this week. The next stage is to gather most of the CAST together and go into ANOTHER Studio, this time in That London, and record vocal parts, I've a feeling that might be EVER SO SLIGHTLY more fun than doing it on my own!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 15.3.10
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(0) comments The whole "not doing as many gigs" THING this year is bringing out all kinds of effects good and bad. On the one hand, loads more time at home not feeling knackered and hungover, but on the other not seeing some of my friends as much. A particularly PIQUANT example of this is Sheffield - normally around this time I'd be getting ready to head up to play a Bank Holiday Fuzztival, but due to Various Events that's not happening AT ALL anymore, so i am down at LEAST two visits to Sheffield and it's Delightful People.
I was BEMOANING this general Lack Of Seeing Pals a few weeks ago at home when The Bands On My Bill said "You could always just go and SEE them." I was stunned - go and SEE my friends? Is that allowed? As luck would have it I'd ALSO seen that there was a gig with an AMAZING bill happening in Sheffield, so decided to try out this KRAZY SCHEME.
So it was that I found myself getting off the train in Sheffield last night, feeling WEIRD. Every single other time I've EVER got off the train in Sheffield I've had a guitar with me, and the LACK of same this time was FREAKING ME OUT. As I walked along the tramway I had to keep reassuring myself that, contrary to what my SPIDER SENSE was telling me, i DIDN'T need to run back to the train to retrieve my AXE.
I still felt ODD half an hour later when I got into a CAR without even my GIG BAG, but managed to QUELL this by entering into a Good Old Chat with Ms S Jenkins who'd picked me up, and we were soon in Walkley, striding up a HILL. And then STAGGERING up a hill - not Steph, who was POORLY, but ME, as I just can't deal with inclines. It's not natural.
We met Ms P Blackham in a curry house and settled down for further chat, also DELICIOUS CURRY. I had a Sag Paneer and it was the CHEESIEST paneer I've ever had - it went all stringy like Asterix In Switzerland!
We were only allowed to sit at out table until 8pm due to Reservations (for the table, not about us...) so we popped over the road for a Swift Pint before Steph, in a move of immense Adult Sensibleness, went back home to continue her Recovery, while Penny and I got a taxi into town to The Stockroom, where THE GIG was happening.
Unfortunately i MISSED the first band, The 10p Mixes, who i haven't seen for AGES, but DID get to see The Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut, who appeared to be on ROCKING form. There was a TON of new material of a DISTINCTLY rocky nature, and New Drummer Fairy was slotted RIGHT in. It was ACE!
Next up was Allo Darlin', who I don't think I've ever seen before, and not heard much of either. I've seen Elizabeth play on her own, I think, but everyone keeps going on about how GRATE they are so I wanted to find out if they were right.
They were VERY right - COR! They were ACE, it was a half hour of TUNES and jumping around and general EXCITING SCENES of How Gigs Should Be! BRILLIANT!
At this point I bought a whole BATCH of CDs, had a bit of an old chat (various) and then settled in to see The School - see, i told you it was an AMAZING BILL. They were, of course, FANTASTIC as they always are, and it was a very very happy Hibbett INDEED who said his farewells and stumbled out into the Sheffield night and back to The Ibis. Turns out going to see you friends WITHOUT having to do a gig works out pretty good!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 12.3.10
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(1) comments Last night we had a house guest, in the shape of Mr S Hewitt, who had come round for the first rehearsal of Dinosaur Planet: THE MUSICAL.
Before we go any further, let's get some BRANDING CLARITY on the many different versions of Dinosaur Planet that exist. So far we've got:
The Stand-Up Version - the original, as performed by me from last year's Fringe up to the other week at The Leicester Comedy Festival
The Concept Album - currently being recorded in various studios, set to IMPACT and change forever the world of ROCK later this year
The Animated Proposal - a script for a cartoon version has been written by Mr J Kell, and it was this that we performed at his writers' group at the start of the year
The Musical - this year's Edinburgh Show, wherein myself and Steve play all the characters and ACT OUT the whole thing
PHEW! That is a whole lot of versions - and hopefully ALL of these will later feed in to the WEST END SHOW version which I'm planning on working up once all these other ones are sorted out. It is the Franchise that just keeps on ROCKING!
So yes, it was The Musical that we were working on, with a script that has been developed over the past few months, based on the one for The Concept Album but with several adjustments to make it work with just the two of us. We had a complete run through of the whole thing, and by JINGO but it was good fun. With all due modesty I must say it was actually QUITE FUNNY - I'd been a bit worried that the talky bits might drag but much to my surprise a) they WHIP by at high speed and b) are full of GAGS!
It does need some work though - there's still a few sections where it stumbles over itself with the changing of COSTUMES (yes, COSTUMES), there's some scope for EXTRA GAGS and I need to look at one of my Accent Choices - the IDEA of Sean Connery playing Terry's Grandad is a GRATE one, but does slightly impinge on the CLARITY of what's being said.
Most of all though I need to look at sharing at the SINGING more, especially in the first half, where most of the songs are sung by ONE person. This is fine for gigs and the recorded version, but when we're doing it as a DUO a) it seems a bit flat when just one of us is singing compared to b) it's a LOT more fun and offers more scope for ACTING and GAGS when there's two of us. Our next practice is in a couple of weeks, so it's RE-WRITE weekend for me!
All in all though I think it's looking like being pretty FAB. My favourite bit is a LINE if have written for MYSELF as Terry's Mum which is so RIPE for AMAZING ACTING that they might as well just GIVE me the TONY AWARD right now, but it's PACKED with Good Bits. Now all we have to do is LEARN it!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 11.3.10
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(0) comments Here's something rather GRATE: an interview I did with Robots And Electronic Brains in the form of a SONG!
As you might guess, this took AGES to do as it is MUCH MUCH HARDER than you'd think. If you are now thinking "Well, i think it would be EXTREMELY hard, so there!" it was still MUCH MUCH HARDER than that. It was DIFFICULT!
It took us MONTHS to get it done, but I must say I think it worked out quite well. I've recorded a version of it WITH MUSIC too, which will hopefully see the light of day fairly soon-ish, once Mr J Possession has done his vocals. Doing songs AS songs is MUCH easier!
posted by MJ Hibbett,
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Croydon, City Of A Thousand Dreams
Well, not panic, but NERVOUSNESS anyway, not least because things were going to be a bit different this time. I love going and playing at The Green Dragon, as it's always a good night AND you get FREE BEER if you play AND the beer is DELICIOUS, but also because it's run by Mr T Eveleigh and there's usually someone else I know playing. This time Tim was off on holiday and all the other acts were unknown to me, so I wasn't sure what would happen.
I walked past the "Excellent Nandos", as featured in this week's Harry Hill, and into the pub where I noticed a sign on the wall saying that "rubbish EDF" were going to be turning off the electricity at 10pm. "I wonder when that was?" I thought. Mark The Soundguy (who tonight was also Mark The Event Organiser) BOUNDED over to say hello and also to tell me that that was TONIGHT. "We've got to be all finished by half past nine", he said. Ah. That would be why everyone was paying so much attention to the chap soundchecking, then. The gig had already BEGUN.
This chap was Adrian Taylor, who was soon joined by Simon Metheringham. Simon went on after him, and was joined by ... Adrian Taylor! I wasn't sure if this was HEINOUS CHEATING, but it didn't really matter as they were LOVELY - ooh, they did proper harmonies and EVERYTHING, it was ACE!
And then it was MY turn to go on. Usually at these evenings Tim asks three questions, one of which is "Do you have a fascinating fact to tell us about yourself?" This time, WISELY, Mark had asked everyone to just LEAP on stage and get going, in order to make sure everyone got a decent slot, but I couldn't resist telling everyone my fascinating fact ANYWAY, which was, of course, The Whole Judge Dredd Business. People looked IMPRESSED, and so I launched straight into THIS:
The Peterborough All-Saints' Wide Game Team (Group B)
Hey Hey 16K
(theme from) Dinosaur Planet
Don't, Darren, Don't
Being Happy Doesn't Make You Stupid
Billy Jones Is Dead
The Lesson Of The Smiths
It all seemed to go pretty well. (theme from) Dinosaur Planet went down the BEST, and it was good to feel that Don't, Darren, Don't works as a song OUTSIDE of its Parent Musical too. Crikey tho, i really MUST be out of practice because I could feel my voice start to BUCKLE after the first couple of songs, and was starting to Properly Strain by the end. Bad Hibbett, extra practice for YOU!
After me it was the very funny Mr Jay Foreman who, as the title would suggest, was very funny, and then that was THAT - time to pack up and GET OUT. Mark led a happy band of us round the corner to his local pub for a swift post-gig pint, which was GRATE. Usually after Green Dragon gigs I have to FLEE at high speed to go and get my last train home, so it was brilliant to be able to relax and have a bit of an old chat. Hmm... starting and finishing gigs early to enable relaxing PINTS afterwards? That's not a bad idea...
posted by MJ Hibbett, 10.3.10
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(0) comments I had a delightful day out at the weekend involving the HIGH SPEED TRAIN. It was GRATE!
As you may or may not be aware, the 2012 Olympics will be happening in London, mostly in Stratford which is about half an hour's walk, or a five minute tube journey, from mine own humble abode. As part of the MASSIVE construction work (during which much, though most would say not enough, of Stratford itself has been FLATTENED) they've been building a High Speed Rail Link from London St Pancras to Stratford and then all the way out to Kent, along the same route (i think) as the Channel Tunnel. Stratford International Station opened for business a little while ago and, as it was LOUDLY HALLOOED as only taking SIX MINUTES (where normally it takes about half an hour on the tube) my good friend Dr Neil Brown and I thought we would give it a go.
The Glamour And Excitement got off to a good start with us queuing at a wooden BOOTH outside Stratford Station for longer than the journey itself would take in order to get tickets. The ticket lady assumed I wanted a ticket to KENT, and looked at me like i was a LOONIE when I said "No, to St Pancras please." It cost us a fiver each, or £3.30 with Neil's railcard. BARGAIN!
With tickets in hand we went through the barriers and along to Platform 11 at the far end of the station, and then walked all the way long it until we came to a GAP in the fence. Here we SURPRISED a Transport Employee, who pointed us in the direction of one of his colleagues, leaning out of a portakabin. "Have you got tickets?" he asked. We showed him "No no, don't waster your time showing me," he said with a smile, "Just get on the bus!"
Another of his colleagues put down his newspaper and strolled to the bus that awaited us. This is the only way to GET to Stratford International - apparently it's going to have a link road, pedestrian walkways and DLR link when it's finished, but for now you have to get a Shuttle Bus (which contained 2 other passengers when we went) which takes you on an EXCITING JOURNEY through the MASSIVE construction site.
The walk and then bus trip had, once again, taken us longer than our eventual High Speed Train was meant to, if only just, but it was worth it when we disembarked at Stratford International. It's a MASSIVE station that will be a huge transport HUB in a couple of years, but for now it was DESERTED, and the huge ceilings, enormous windows and shiny floors only made it seem more so. For some reason there were ticket machines switched on - even though it was impossible to get that far without a ticket - and a clutch of further Transport Employees, AMAZED to see anyone.
We went down to the platform which looked like something out of "Survivors" or, as Neil said, one of those Virtual Life games where there's absolutely nobody about. The train soon came in, at HIGH SPEED, and we were the only people to get on. It was quite full with passengers who must have been slightly NARKED that an extra few minutes was added to their journey so that nobody could get off and two KRAZY GUYZ like us could get on, but we were soon ZOOMING away.
The trip FLASHED by and five minutes later we emerged from the tunnel near St Pancras and started to slow down for our arrival. As the ROBOT TANNOY said "This is St Pancras, where our journey ends" (a very nice way of putting it, I thought) it really looked like the six minute story was going to hold true... until we ground to a halt and sat in SILENCE for about five minutes, waiting for a platform to come clear.
WELL DONE EVERYBODY! I can't really complain, it WAS only five minutes but when that basically DOUBLES your journey time it does seem a bit much. Still, we eventually got to disembark and come down the Mysterious Stairwell that has sat right at the BACK of St Pancras ever since it opened, and emerge BLINKING into the centre of town. It was GRATE!
After that we set off on a HEARTY WALK along Regents Canal, stopping off for an ENORMOUS and DELICIOUS and CHEAP meal at Indian Veg in Islington before nipping into The Palm Tree in Mile End (one of the LOVELIEST and most PUBBY pubs in all of London Town) for a couple of Well Deserved Pints then making our way through A BIT SCARY Tower Hamlets Graveyard and HOME. It was a LOVELY day out and, BY GOLLY, I slept well that night!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 9.3.10
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(0) comments In my career in ROCK there have been many highs - playing live on Radio 1, the whole Hey Hey 16K business, gigging around the world etc etc - but on Friday something happened which pretty much eclipsed THE LOT. It was THIS:
What you're seeing there is a character in this month's Judge Dredd Magazine who is NAMED AFTER ME!
REALLY! A few people have said "Are you sure it's not just a coincidence or something?" And i say "YES! I am COMPLETELY SURE!" for LO! this story is written by the GRATE Mr Al Ewing who a) is surely the HEIR to writing Dredd come J Wagner's eventual retirement b) i have met on a number of occasions and found to be VALID c) CONFIRMED it to me via the medium of twitter.
So just to confirm: OH MY GOOD GOD! There is a character named after me IN JUDGE DREDD!!!!! If anyone knows of a HIGHER HONOUR than this then, goodness me, you can keep it to yourself for it would surely BLOW MY MIND! You can keep your Mercury Prizes and your Brits - THIS is pretty much THE most exciting thing EVER! Is there a Judge Him Out Of Radiohead? I THINK NOT.
And if there is, don't tell me.
Crikey - thank you Mr Ewing, and thank you THARG THE MIGHTY for letting it happen. Now, how long until the Constable Hibbett Summer Special is ready?
posted by MJ Hibbett, 7.3.10
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(2) comments It's all a bit quiet in the world of ROCK at the moment - the Validator Hiatus is in full effect, rehearsals for Dinosaur Planet: THE MUSICAL are yet to begin, and I'm waist deep in PHP and SQL as i skip happily through the fields of PROGRAMMING towards completion of the new look website.
SIDEBAR: yes, after my MOANING about Blogger and it's cessation of FTP Blogging Provision I went out looking for alternatives and eventually found that I'd need to get a new service provider in order to make ANYTHING work and, once I'd got THAT sorted out and rediscovered the JOYS of online databases, realised that actually the simplest thing of ALL would be to just do it MYSELF. So that's what I'm doing - hopefully this BESPOKE version of the webpages will be up and about before the end of April, and will feature EVERYTHING that's here now (in slightly different locations) and a whole HOST of extra features. I'm MOST excited about the possibilities of running parts of The Database Of ROCK online, so that not only will you be able to see where, say, an individual song has been released, you'll also be able to see EVERYWHERE that it's ever been played. ZANG!
Anyway, as a result of all this things are as stated a little quiet, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a couple of GIG ANNOUNCEMENTS. Here goes!
First of all I'm very very VERY happy to announce that The Validators' ONLY festival gig this summer will be at the Indietracks Festival! HOORAH! I know it's probably not that much of a surprise - and it wasn't like Monsters Of Rock were banging our door down or anything - but we're VERY excited about it. We'll also hopefully be doing a warm-up gig in the Midlands a couple of days beforehand, and then that'll probably be IT for us doing gigs together until November at the earliest!
In the meantime though there will, of course, be Dinosaur Planet: THE MUSICAL to look forward to and though we can't announce dates and venue for the Edinburgh run just yet (mostly because we haven't got it actually BOOKED just yet...) I am EXTREMELY happy to give the proposed dates for our post-Edinburgh Lap Of Honour. We're going to be doing TWO nights in London, on August 28th and 29th, at The Camden Head as part of the Camden Fringe Festival. Myself and Mr S Hewitt are rather CHUFFED with this, as it's a GRATE venue for it and who knows? We might even have got the hang of DOING it by then!
If you need further details of these or ANY of the THRILLING live performances we have scheduled do pop over to the GIGS section, and maybe see you at one of them!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 4.3.10
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Blue Screen Of Death, Where Is They Sting?
I didn't make too much fuss at first because, to be honest, the things that seemed to cause it weren't exactly Work Critical - watching YouTube or listening to streaming radio, for instance, were pretty much GUARANTEED to make it hang and/or go to the Blue Screen Of Death. Things gradually got worse and worse though, especially when I had to do some web stuff for work, and once it was crashing every hour or so I decided enough was enough and called in the Main Site IT Guy.
He came last Wednesday, when I was Working From Home, tried loads of stuff, and gave it a THOROUGH SCRUB. By 11am on Thursday it was crashing again! He thus came round again this morning to see what was going on, and we got TWO YouTube channels open, 6Music streaming live (featuring Lauren Laverne being BRILLIANT re: the just announced decision to kowtow to R.Murdoch and destroy huge chunks of what is good about the BBC), a flash animation, a STATS package and Photoshop opening HUGE pictures.
Nothing, of course, happened. "I've got a song about this", I said. "Is it indie?" he asked. I was astonished. "I saw your trainers" he said. Ah. "Yes", I admitted, and showed him this:
THAT didn't do it either so eventually he went away.
Twenty minutes later, of course, it crashed again. Just as I was halfway through writing this blog...
posted by MJ Hibbett, 2.3.10
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(0) comments I had a lovely weekend, heavily featuring several pals of long acquaintance.
On Saturday I went to Peterborough to enjoy a long discussed PUB CRAWL with Messrs Guest, Hare and Myland with whom what I went to school with. We generally only ever all get together for The Peterborough Beer Festival and have been talking for AGES about DOUBLING these reunions, and this weekend we finally managed it. We kept the them of getting very very drunk in Peterborough, however, and saw a LOT of pubs, many of whom I hadn't been in for nearly TWENTY YEARS. We started off in The Botolph Arms, which we used to go in a lot in the sixth form and shortly after and I got ACTUAL VERTIGO from the WEIRDNESS of walking in with the same group of people and finding it EXACTLY the same.
We had a BLOODY LOVELY time from start to finish, although i didn't particularly enjoy staggering out of BOGARTS (it claims to be called something else now, but isn't) at half past nine RATHER TIPSY and then realising I had about two and a half hour worth of TRAVEL to go before I could get to bed. You know when you start to get hungover while you're still drunk, and have to concentrate REALLY HARD on staying awake? THAT happened.
I was thus feeling RATHER delicate the next day when I had to set off to the final day of London Popfest 2010, where myself and Mr S Hewitt were due to present the POP QUIZ. After last year's rather shambolic affair we had, along with Mr J Jervis, made great efforts to ensure that this year's was rather more ORGANISED, which was a good thing as I don't think I would have PHYSICALLY COPED any other way. You know when a hangover PROPERLY kicks in at midday and makes your hands go numb? THAT happened. As The Alcohol In My Booze commented later on, it's not THAT long ago that we all used to do Ridiculous Drinking of this kind EVERY weekend and think nothing of it. Sorry, my insides!
Anyway I soon sorted myself out with coffee, juice, and Hair Of The Dog, and the whole quiz went off, I thought, RATHER well. I particularly enjoyed doing the Britpop Ink Polaroids round (i.e. Britpop album covers described in the style of Stuart David when he was in Belle & Sebastian) and Steve proved himself to be the MASTER of pub quizes by RAMPING up the tension throughout.
At the end we gave out GOODIE BAGS. I'd ordered some LOVELY paper bags and dug out the VALID stamp to decorate them, and myself, The Jerv, and Mr B Clancy had PACKED them with Rare And Little Seen Items Of Back Catalogue (hem hem) which everybody seemed quite pleased to partake of. After that there was just time for some chat with some of the MANY delightful people who were there before wandering home, there to sit quietly and watch telly, recovering from my exploits. What a lovely weekend that was!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 1.3.10
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(0) comments Today has seen us break new ground in EFFICIENCY and FORWARD PLANNING! For LO! We are having a ROW about a setlist.
"A row about a setlist?" you might say, "Surely that is the very cornerstone of The Validators' existence? Surely, when the Universe itself is at an end all that will remain is the faint whisper of you telling Tim you don't want to do 'The Symbol of Our Nation'?"
This is TRUE, but we don't usually start arguing about the setlist until a week or so before the gig (it's much safer than leaving it until the gig itself, when STRONG WORDS may become involved). THIS time however we are arguing about a gig which we won't be doing FOR FIVE MONTHS!!
To be fair to US, this is likely to be our ONLY gig this year, and it's hardly unexpected - in fact I have to say I was surprised that Certain Members Of The Band hadn't brought it up before - but still, that's a LOT of discussion time. I hope people realise, when (if!) they come to see us at this As Yet Unannounced Festival Appearance (MYSTERIOUS! Well, not very) that we have spent MONTHS carefully HONING our performance.
It'll still be written on the back of other people's setlists at the last minute, mind you, and Certain Other Members Of The Band (hem hem) may get tiddly and change things at the last minute without warning anyone, but it will be done with LOVE!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 26.2.10
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(0) comments I had an Important Meeting on Tuesday night with King Of Men and all round good guy Mr John Jervis. Our BRIEF was to discuss arrangements for the Pop Quiz section of London PopFest this weekend, and we were joined by The Hewitts for a section of the evening for these very purposes, but we ranged widely over a broad spectrum of topics, as is the way of such summits.
As well as drafting proposals for more efficient stock control at festival merchandise stands we also came up with a GRATE idea for PRIZES at the pop quiz, although to be honest it's actually a revival of a GRATE idea we had for the AAS Birthday Gigs a few years ago. We did gigs in Derby and London and gave EVERYONE who came a huge goodie bag full of CDs and singles - this was BRILLIANT for two reasons. Firstly, and most obviously, everybody who came went home with a bag full of free music. Secondly, and most excitingly for US, the board of AAS all cleared out loads of space that was being taken up by unsold records. Everyone's a winner!
So that's what we're planning to do on Sunday - every team (well, unless there's more than 10 teams, or THREE TIMES as many as last time) will get a bag (if the bags arrive in time) packed with FREE CDs that we've had lying around... sorry, that we've carefully selected from the treasure trove of rarities that take up so much space... I mean, which occupy hallowed ground in our homes. I've got BOXES of, frankly, AMAZING CDs which not enough people have heard which I'm very much looking forward to FOISTING on people - the Johnny Domino revival starts here!
So yes, if you're in London on Sunday do pop along. It's taking place at The Lexington from NOON, and we're starting at about 12.30pm. I'm especially looking forward to the "Britpop Ink Polaroids" and "Bobs In Pop" rounds!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 25.2.10
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(0) comments For the past few weeks I have been amusing myself GREATLY by fiddling around with the photographs and video we took of our trip to Germany last year, trying to make it into a DOCUMENTARY. It's finally FINISHED now - it's only 11 minutes long, but it took a lot of doing!
The biggest ISSUE I had was that there's huge chunks of time when we took a few photographs by no video, so it was all a bit STATIC, but I eventually got round that by making the pictures MOVE SLIGHTLY. It was a REVELATION! Now when I watch telly I can't help but notice that they ALWAYS do that - you hardly ever get a picture just sitting there, it's ALWAYS zooming in or wafting over to one side or something. I think it looks GOOD - The Type Of My Transition said "It looks like old Top Of The Pops!" which she meant as a compliment, and which I'm TAKING as one!
There's been some debate about what we'd actually DO with it - Certain Validators suggested making it a DVD, with all our other videos on there too (as well as some gigs, including the unedited footage of the final night's gig in Berlin, which forms the soundtrack), but that feels to me, at the moment at least, like a LOT of effort, so for now I've stuck it up on YouTube. It was a bit too long to fit all in one go, so I've made it a three-parter, as follows:
Part One: Getting there, Berlin, the Autobahn
Part Two: Ostpol, Dresden
Part Three: Sightseeing, back to Berlin, home
As you can probably tell, we had a HECK of a GOOD TIME!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 23.2.10
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(1) comments After work on Friday The Trains On My Track and I headed off for the long voyage SOUTH to Devon, where we were going to go and see our pals The Wilsons. The train was PACKED - RAMMED, even - and we had to change seats three times as people with reservations got on and off at various points. Still, we arrived in Good Humour and were met by the aforesaid Wilsons who took us off to their house in Picturesque Buckfastleigh, where we had CHIPS and went to the PUB, drank WHISKY and then RETIRED for the evening. DELIGHTFUL!
Saturday was a day of ACTION - Buckfastleigh is not a big place, but it is FULL of STUFF. We wandered down to the South Devon Railway, five minutes from their house, to see the TRANES. It was GRATE - a little diesel came in that could carry about 200 people, and I couldn't help by notice that a sizeable percentage of these were STAFF. Surely it doesn't take TEN people to drive a single carriage diesel 5 miles? It was almost as if they were having FUN.
We then walked down the river, waving at canoeists, to Buckfast Abbey, the place where they make the BUCKFAST WINE of ill repute. As we arrived a lady told us The Monks were about to sing, so we went in for the service. This also was GRATE - not just because of the singing (which was, well, just like on the telly really) but because it was so BRIEF. They did three songs (in ENGLISH, surprisingly, although because of the way they were SUNG it took a while to realise this), then a READING. My heart SANK at this point, with that feeling of DOOM i remember from SCOUTS, when you had to go to church and knew it was NEVER GOING TO END. HOWEVER, this reading too under a minute, there was one more song, and then they were off. NO ENCORES!
It all took ten minutes - i think The Church Of England could learn a LOT from this. If ALL Church Services were so a) short b) pleasant c) CALMING then attendance would ROCKET.
We had a bit of a stroll around, went to the cafe, then had a big old country walk featuring HILLS. I'm not very good at hills, it was KNACKERING. We eventually found ourselves at Holy Trinity Church, which was SPOOKY. It's WAY up the hill away from the Village and has MANY LEGENDS around it, not least the EVIL SQUIRE who sold his soul to THE DEVIL and is buried there. It's in RUINS now, as it was burnt down by satanists/arsonists (depending on where you read it) in 1992, and it's very strange to wonder round these old ruins, and then realise they were actually standing as a normal church less than 20 years ago.
We had a look at a LIME KILN nearby, walked along a thousand year old LANE (featuring wild CHIVES and wild GARLIC, which i ATE) and then down a path which gets filled with BATS in the summer and then down 196 steps to the village. With all that walking and LOCAL INTEREST i was DONE IN by the time we got back, so sat down and had a BEER.
During this extended seating I went down to Phil's home studio/GEEK LAIR to listen to his NEW ALBUM! I'd been hoping to get a listen to it, but was also a bit worried - what if it didn't sound very good? I need not have been afeared as it was BLOODY GRATE. I mean REALLY REALLY BRILLIANT - my favourite song was "I Own It" (a demo of which has been taken off his myspace, i've just seen - it was good too!) and i sang along with GUSTO, but ALL of it sounded FAB. I got quite excited about the whole thing - it's coming out on Slumberland Records too, which should mean it gets a bit of publicity, which would be GRATE. Mr Wilson is one of the Great British Songwriters, he deserves to be HEARD!
After all the excitement we had a BIG CURRY and then watched Wholphins, which is like a DVD magazine thingy from those McSweeney's types. It was GRATE! We watched an HILARIOUS one called "Heavy Metal Jr" about a 10-12 year old Scottish Heavy Metal Band (I will never forget the Dad saying "Your attitude defines your altitude") a touching and ALSO hilarious one about a class of Chinese kids having their first ever election (we BOOED CHILDREN) and then a slightly SAD and ANGER making one about a girl in Yemen getting THE HASSLE from pretty much everybody telling her to wear a veil and stay indoors.
And THEN we watched a film about The Undertones which a) was GRATE b) made both myself and The Talking Heads In My Documentary think "I never knew they had so many hits!" and c) featured an occasional Commentary Track from Phil and Pam, who KNOW most of them. This was ILLUMINATING, also FAB!
And then i went to BED - i was EXHAUSTED. Next day we breakfasted and got the train, UPGRADING as we did so, and relaxed after a long, tiring, but LOVELY weekend. When I got home i bought an Undertones Best Of!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 22.2.10
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(0) comments When I got back to Leicester i did INDEED have a bit of an old NAP, and it was LOVELY. Maybe it is the gentle slide into middle age (i am at THE TOP OF THE SLIDE tho, all right?) but sometimes in this crazy hurly burly life of hesticity putting aside an hour for a SNOOZE is DELIGHTFUL.
Suitably refreshed I had a shower and headed for The Criterion, there to meet Mr S Hewitt who had been out SEEING SHOWS. I was VERY impressed - when I used to live in Leicester the Comedy Festival seemed to happen one evening in a pub somewhere and never really affected me, so I was not only impressed that he'd managed to get out and SEE something - in fact TWO things - but also AMAZED that there was enough things going on to interest such a COMEDY CONNIEUSEUR. The Comedy Festival tho seems to have come on in leaps and bounds in recent times, and there did seem to be LOADS of things going on. INDEED there even felt like a bit of a Festival Atmosphere in the city... although that might be caused, in my case, by the fact that I'd seen John Cooper Clarke at Leicester Station that morning. John Cooper Clarke! He looked EXACTLY like you'd hope he'd look too, and SOUNDED like it too. COR!
We sat and compared notes on our divergent days, enjoyed some BEER, got set up and then watched as the room gradually filled with PEOPLE. We'd already sold forty tickets and by the time we started we had apparently SOLD OUT! Only just, but still - PHEW! We can keep calling it a SELLOUT SHOW on Press Releases!
The show itself was GRATE, by which I mean i really REALLY enjoyed doing it. I think it was pretty much the BEST version of it i have ever done - there were LOADS of LARFS (which is always a help!) and it all felt dead easy and fun to do. In a way I was sorry at the end, because it also felt like this was the very LAST time I would be doing this version of the show. When I did My Exciting Life In ROCK it never felt like I'd finished with it, as I still think I'll be doing it all again some day, but I'm pretty sure that from hereonin it's going to be the new Full Cast (2) Musical Version.
It'll be a shame to lose some of the GAGS - especially the "Platoon made of Vegetable Balti" bit, which i love - but when we do the TWO HOUR WEST END VERSION I'm going to try and get them back in as extra songs.
Hmmm... once I would have thought twice about telling people that I was genuinely, seriously thinking about writing a song about soldiers made entirely out of curry to fit into a West End Musical about Space Dinosaurs. Now: IT IS THE NORM.
Talking of curry - once the show was over there was time to finish our beer, profusely thank the lovely people who'd come, fill in our evaluation forms (audience members were evaluating the venue, organisation, and ME, while I had one to say what I thought of the festival and the people who'd help us: i thought it was all BRILLIANT) and then head off to ANOTHER West End: LEICESTER'S West End, for a celebratory CURRY.
The venue chosen was The Tamarind - I used to go there most weekends to pick up TEA for The Sauce In My Balti and I during our COURTING DAYS and I also went fairly often with The Board of AAS, because it was DEAD nice, but haven't been for a couple of years now. I was thus EXTREMELY pleased when one of the chaps there stopped, surprised, and said "We haven't seen you for a long time!" It was lovely!
As was the curry, and it was with a warmed tum and a happy GLOW that my colleague and I said our farewells, full of food and the satisfaction of a job well done. Leicester is ALWAYS brilliant, but this time it had been ESPECIALLY so!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 18.2.10
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(0) comments Last year while I was in Leicester for the Comedy Festival I booked myself in for a SESSION in Snug on the Saturday, which is when we did a whole lot of finishing off of the album. THIS year I decided to go back to do some WORK on the NEXT album, the Dinosaur Planet Concept Album.
I was staying in The Ibis (IBIS JOKE: They Gave Me My Usual Room. Yes, I will say this EVERY time i stay there) which is MEGA HANDY for the railway station. Unfortunately this time I was staying in a room DIRECTLY in line with the tannoys, so got woken up at 6.30am by someone very eager to tell me which train was coming in to Platform 1 and that I couldn't smoke. I got up to wander out and get me a SAMOSA for breakfast, but the place I usually get one from is now CLOSED. It wasn't KNOCKED DOWN like most places I used to go to, but still: PARANOIA.
For some reason CrossCountry trains were going to Derby instead of Birmingham this weekend, so i had the dubious pleasure of one of their little shunty trains. They've got new ones now but they seem to be making every effort to make them as FILTHY and HORRID as i remember them being. NAUGHTY CrossCountry Trains!
Anyway, I got to Snug at 11.28 and at 11.29 Mr R Newman came a-strolling round the corner ready to get us started. I was a bit worried about my Delicate Instrument (MY VOICE. STOP IT) being DAMAGED by over-use (STILL MY VOICE) what with still being a bit coldy and having a gig later on, so I decided to make it GUITAR DAY. And OH! What a day of guitars it was, as we put guitars on EVERYTHING!
EVERYTHING i tell you! I did HOURS and HOURS of acoustic guitar playing, overdubbing it on nearly everything as well as doing the FINAL two songs that hadn't been started yet, The Theory Of A Dinosaur Planet and My Theory Of A Dinosaur Planet. These took AGES as they involve FINGER PICKING. I'm not, as anyone who's seen me can attest, any kind of expert of this ART but I can get by in the live environment by doing it quickly, SHOUTING over the top of it, and hoping people don't pay too close attention. Recording is a different matter altogether, however, as it sort of MATTERS if you play the wrong bit with your thumb and make it go CLUNK as it is a CLUNK that will last FOREVER. Especially i you then think it would be a good idea to DOUBLE TRACK.
Further trouble came on Dinosaurs Talk Like Pirates. "What IS that strange noise?" asked Robbie. "It's like there's an open string CLANGING away every so often." I was forced to confess that this was due to me trying to play the chord B FLAT. It doesn't appear in many of my songs because I have never got around to learning it properly and, as with FINGER PICKING, i try to DISTRACT people from this by SHOUTING over the top of it. This doesn't work in a studio, unfortunately, so we ended up OVERDUBBING EACH CHORD. Yes, we went through the song and EVERY time there was a B Flat i played it AGAIN, with my fingers PRE-SET into the correct shape. The indignity!
We finished off with MORE of the same, as I moved on to ELECTRICAL GUITAR for Here Come The Dinosaurs. Years ago I used to play my electrical guitar with The Validators, but got fed up with breaking strings ALL the time. There's other reasons why i use my acoustic for all gigs now - it feels nicer, and it's what I'm used to - but the inconvenience of every other song featuring a loud KER-TWANG and getting my fingers SPLANGGED was a big fact. I was reminded of this when, halfway through getting the guitar sound right, I went KER-TWANG on the (very nice) Gibson I was borrowing.
There were no spares for it, so Robbie got out his FENDER. I looked at this with FEAR - i have PREVIOUS with Fenders - but happily i got through to the VERY LAST CHORD before it went KER-TWANG and thus persuaded me a re-take would be unnecessary. During this we had a Studio Visit from Mr F A Machine, who was bringing me a copy of "Rabbit Themes" by Johnny Domino (my copy had gone missing, and he has a BOX full of them in his attic) in exchange for some photographs of our Germany Trip. A good swap!
There was a bit more tidying up and then it was time for me to leave - i was KNACKERED and wanted to have a NAP before the show, and also to get on the train before the football emptied out - so we said our farewells. There's STILL a couple of guitar parts to do, I didn't get round to doing the reggae section on (theme from) Dinosaur Planet, for instance, but I'm back in again in a few weeks to do that and some SINGING, so all should be well.
Which reminds me - while we were listening back to my efforts at guitar on the aforesaid (theme from) Dinosaur Planet and Robbie was diligently micro-editting my parts to make them be in TIME (i always feel GUILTY and UN-PUNK when he does this, but it does sound better!) he said "Ha! Like 'Live And Let Die' by Wings!"
"Yes, of course," i said, for, as anyone who's seen the shown will know, the inspiration for having a Cod-Reggae Middle Eight in that song comes DIRECTLY from the same in "Live And Let Die." Then I realised Robbie hadn't actually SEEN the show, and was making this link ENTIRELY out of his own BRAIN. I was SO pleased - we'd obviously done it JUSTICE!
With that GRATE joy in my heart I returned to Leicester, there to try and revive myself with a NAP, a SHOWER, and then HO! For the FINAL NIGHT!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 16.2.10
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(0) comments Before we get to the MAD THRILLZ of Saturday's recording session I thought i would give you an RESTAURANT REVIEW. For LO! The Food On My Plate took me out for a Special Valentine's Day +1 Romantical DINNER last night!
I know: SOPHISTICATED. We even met up at a Proper Tea Shop, Maison Bertaux in The Soho. I can't believe I've just typed something SO ELEGANT! But blimey, they do a LOVELY pot of tea in there, it's the tea-iest tea you can GET.
Then we went round the corner to Zilli Green - it's a brand new Vegetarian Restaurant that's run by Aldo Zilli Off The Telly, which had opened the day before, apparently with Mr Paul McCartney going. I was a bit worried that he would be there, as I might have found that a BIT DISTRACTING. He wasn't, but Aldo Zilli Off The Telly WAS there greeting people, which was quite exciting (not as exciting as MACCA, obviously, but still). He even came round later on to talk to all the customers - we'd just been talking about how it was quite a BIG THING, and The Wine In My Glass had said it could be the TIPPING POINT for lots MORE Vegetarian Restaurants opening up, if someone as famous as HIM could make it work. "It's quite a big thing", he sai, "It could be a tipping point, if someone as well known as me could make it work." Bless, he looked DEAD NERVOUS about it. "People told me I was crazy - Vegetarians don't drink or have a good time." We LARFED OPENLY, i hope this helped calm him down.
Anyway, REVIEW: It was BRILLIANT. It didn't LOOK like a Veggie Restaurant (i.e. there was no BEADED CURTAIN through to the kitchen and there was a total LACK of a Community Corkboard on the wall) which I sort of missed, but i DID get the traditional PANIC looking at the menu. Normally if i'm out for a meal i have EITHER Balti (hem hem) OR Whatever The Single Thing I CAN Eat On The Menu Is. In a Veggie place i get THE FEAR, worried in case i get THE WRONG THING.
I had a LASAGNE. It felt a bit naughty to have The Traditional Vegetarian Option, but HOLY CRAP it was GORGEOUS. I also had some Marinated Tofu for starters and it was AMAZING. You know how usually tofu is a bit weedy and clammy and disappointing? This wasn't. It was GORGEOUS.
It was ALL delicious - The Items On My Menu had a Green Curry which was BLOODY FANTASTIC and we had Cakes VArious for Afters which were ACE. It was all round BRILLIANT!
It was also GOOD VALUE. As I say, I was being TREATED but asked out of INTEREST and, goodness me, I think I will be returning the treat there MYSELF some time. As we went out everyone said BYE BYE and I had to RESTRAIN myself from HUGGING Mr Zilli himself (which would at least have finally disproved the Vegetarians Don't Drink THING). Imagine tho - if it DOES do well and other Celebrity Chefs FINALLY decide to get off their collective arses and LEARN to do Proper Veggie Food, how AMAAAAAAZING would that be?
VERY Amazing, is the answer. I wonder if I should nip in for Lunch?
posted by MJ Hibbett,
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(0) comments I headed off to Leicester after work on Friday for the opening night of our run of Dinosaur Planet at The Leicester Comedy Festival. I was due to meet Mr S Hewitt up on the platform so bought my ticket from the machine and set off, counting my tickets as I went.
"Strange", i thought "there doesn't seem to be a return ticket. And why does it say 'SINGLE'? ARGH!" I'd only done gone and bought a SINGLE by mistake! I queued up for 10 minutes and BEGGED the Nice Man to change it for me. How could i have been so STUPID? "Don't worry", he said. "I've done it myself on Fridays - a single is exactly the same price as a return." Ah. So that's how - it wasn't ME being stupid after all!
I thanked him PROFUSELY and ran up to HOP on the train, where there was no double seat available for us. This was a bit of a drag as we'd planned to have a read through of the DRAFT script for our TWO MAN version of Dinosaur Planet. Luckily there was a couple of Dicky Seats in The Lobby further up, so we were able to make our first step on the road to BROADWAY. It sounded pretty good - Steve suggested a couple of ways I could swap lines/remove characters to make it FLOW more easily, and also seemed to enjoy my Bold Decision to cast SEAN CONNERY as Grandad. I think it's all going to be all right!
We got to Leicester and popped over to the Ibis to get me checked in. I took Steve up to my hotel room where i IMMEDIATELY took off my clothes and started taking DRUGS. All right, I was just putting my gig shirt on and having another Vitamin C And Zinc Lozenge (apparently it's the best way to ward off a cold, and it did seem to work) but still - LIFE ON THE ROAD!
With all that done we headed to the Criterion for a couple of beers and a) MASSIVE b) DELICIOUS pizza, after which I realised I had probably best be careful and have an ORANGE JUICE. So i DID - in The CRITERION for heaven's sake, i am NOTHING if not The Complete Professional! We also met our door team, who were GRATE. Like last year we had a team of students working for us, as part of their Arts Management course, and like last year they did a GRATE job. Obviously I'm going to think well of ANYBODY who hands me an envelope stuffed with CA$H at the end of the gig, but they did EVERYTHING, leaving me and Steve to LOLL AROUND like ROCK STARS. Rock Stars drinking Ale and saying "Thank you" all the time, but still ROCK STARS.
Soon people arrived, including my pals The LAwsons and The Sutcliffes (NOT two little known C86 bands, however much they sound like it) and we NEARLY, tho not quite, Sold Out again. There was loads of people who i didn't know who they were, it was STRANGE to me, but also THRILLING, as I did the show comprising of all THESE songs:
(theme from) Dinosaur Planet
Don't, Darren, Don't
(theme from) Dinosaur Planet
A Little Bit
The Theory Of A Dinosaur Planet
Here Come The Dinosaurs
My Grandad Is Nuts
The Battle Of Peterborough
My Theory Of A Dinosaur Planet
We Are The Giant Robots
Dinosaurs Talk Like Pirates
We Are The Dinosaurs
Literature Search
Strangely Attractive
Please Don't Eat Us
For The Fate Of The Earth
A Little Bit More
(theme from) Dinosaur Planet
That's a LOT of songs - it's like The Dinosaur Planet Ultimate Edition! I did EVERYTHING from Edinburgh (except the It Isn't Nice To Eat Your Friends, which has been SUPERCEDED) PLUS the new songs PLUS some Brand New GAGS which I've thought up over the past couple of weeks, and it all seemed to go down pretty well. It definitely speeds up once The Giant Robots arrive, as it always HAS done, but it didn't feel like it took an HOUR.
Well, except for one man - as with last year, I had a group of people down the front who'd been sat in the room already and didn't want to have to move, so paid to stay. Most of them seemed to really enjoy it, but he seemed very annoyed at the overrun, and cleared off early. He will never know how the earth was saved!
Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though, including ME, and I settled in for a VERY VERY enjoyable post-gig hour of CHAT and BEER which featured rather a LOT of us going "aah, do you remember when..?" and saying "Of course, that pub's been knocked down now."
Steve, being the PARTY ANIMAL that he is, went on to ANOTHER pub afterwards, and then ANOTHER after that. I went home to BED though - I had a busy day ahead of me!
posted by MJ Hibbett, 15.2.10
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