| Tour Diary |
Cardiff
Having slept in the van on Bodmin Moor for our last night in Cornwall, we set
off quite early to Cardiff where we were to meet up with Crav at his
workplace. It took a while to get there as we stopped in at Jamaica Inn to look
at the smuggling museum and had a wander round Launceston where I was
chuffed to find a homebrew shop.
The gig that night was in a squat called the Red & Black Umbrella. When we
arrived, there was a roaring fire going and we made our way near to that as it
was a cold evening. There were plenty of doggies in to keep Rags happy,
including Charlie, the main attraction of the evening. Poor Charlie has a
deformed leg and needs an operation to amputate it, or else it will become
more out of shape and painful with age. The operation cannot be undertaken
by the PDSA so will cost £1900. The idea for this evening was to try and raise
a few quid towards it. I played first and was slightly worried as this was
another completely acoustic gig, but everyone remained quiet and listened so it
wasn’t too hard on my voice. Next up were two guitarists, each playing
brilliantly. After them came a local poet, who was more like a rapper without a
beat, and had a really clever way with words and was enjoyable to sit and
listen to and to finish things off was another acoustic singer/songwriter. I love
nights like these with an eclectic bunch of performers.
On Friday, I was booked to play in Pontypool, so we headed off around
lunchtime. We knew it would only take an hour to get there but wanted to have
a look at some countryside while we were in Wales. We ended up driving to
Merthyr Tydfil as, having both been there at separate times in the past, wanted
to see what it looked like now. To be honest, I remember it being a lot rougher
than it was, as did Rags, so it looks like the council have finally poured some
money into the place and its ‘regeneration’. On our way out of town, we saw a
road sign with a familiar name on it; Aberfan. I have only seen Aberfan in black
and white from the old news footage and it was strange to find ourselves there
on a sunny day. We followed the signs to the memorial gardens where we
went for a quiet wander. Very sobering.
Once in Pontypool, we found the pub (the Dragonffli) and parked up.
The place was in darkness so we waited around in the van. Another van pulled
up and it turned out to be Andy from the Dukes Of Bordello who, along with
Deadbeat Deluxe, I was playing with. At 6pm the doors opened and we helped
Andy in with all his band’s gear and got the merch stall set up. I wasn’t due
onstage until 9pm and wished I’d got there a bit later as there is nothing worse
than waiting around. The event said the doors were a 6pm so I assumed I’d
start at around 7.
The venue was very cool, being a separate room away from the main pub but
the only trouble was that the lighting was really bright, which gave the place no
atmosphere. Rags had a word with the soundman to see if something could be
done (actually, I think her words were “The lighting is too harsh for a woman of
my advanced years”) and he managed to switch on the stage lights located
either side of the stage. With the strip lights off, things looked better, but the
stage lights were flashing at a rapid rate, and it all looked a bit trippy. I found
the control boxes and switched them on to a slower setting which improved
things considerably.
Once 9pm arrived, I hit the stage and rattled through my first song, Warzone,
and straight into song 2, This Place. About a quarter of the way in, TWANG!
My bloody G-string snapped. Oh yeah, fnar fnar etc, but this was more
serious than knicker elastic. I managed to keep playing and, luckily, had a
spare guitar in the van which Rags ran out to retrieve for me while I finished the
song. I managed to give it a quick tune up and finished the rest of the set
without incident, it still catches you out though. The rest of the night was great,
the two other bands were entertaining to watch, and we headed off and parked
in a layby, choosing to do this as we were tired and couldn’t be bothered drving
back to Cardiff late at night.
Saturday’s gig was to be another interesting one. The day started well and
even the weather stayed dry. We went out for breakfast to a local waffle café
with Efa and Crav and I had a vegan cooked breakfast followed by vegan
banoffee waffles. It was absolutely lovely. We then wandered round the
shops waiting for Efa’s laundry to finish and had a look at some modern art
installations at a local arts centre. Some of the installations were very thought-
provoking, others were just plain baffling. A few hours later we headed off to
the Royal Oak, the setting for that night's gig. It was a fundraiser for
Surplusfest and there were bands playing in the main room and acoustic acts
outside in between the bands’ sets, hoping to catch the smokers. Thankfully,
Efa had thought to bring along an amp and microphone, I think we would have
struggled to be heard without it. Just before my set, a girl had asked if she
could play and sang a few covers. At one point, she made a request to borrow
a 6 string acoustic which was ignored by both myself and Efa. I don’t lend my
guitar to anyone, especially not a drunk girl that I don’t know! She sat down
when it was my turn to play and proceeded to talk very loudly over me, and
laugh loudly, and shout. See what I was trying to say before about people
playing covers, then talking over everyone else? At one point during my set, I
heard something hit the ground and smash, which I assumed was a beer
glass. It turned out to be her rather expensive looking SLR camera. Oh well,
what goes around comes around (and reminds me why I never lend my guitar
out) Efa was up next and played brilliantly and went down well.
Sunday was my last gig in Cardiff, Efa had managed to get me a last minute
slot at the Moon Club as part of the Cardiff Oxjam Takeover and, as luck would
have it, my slot was before her set. I was given a soundcheck and then had to
wait for half an hour for the band downstairs to finish (the idea being much the
same as the night before where, once the band downstairs finished, the crowd
would hopefully come upstairs to see what was happening). Unfortunately, it
didn’t really work out like that though as, apart from Rags and Efa, I only had a
couple of others in to watch. A few more did come in and out during my set but
it always makes me feel sorry for everyone involved that has put work into an
event, be it the musicians, sound engineer or person collecting tickets on the
door, all there as volunteers. Still, I enjoyed playing, the sound was great, and
the folk that did stay to watch were enjoying it.
Having slept in the van on Bodmin Moor for our last night in Cornwall, we set
off quite early to Cardiff where we were to meet up with Crav at his
workplace. It took a while to get there as we stopped in at Jamaica Inn to look
at the smuggling museum and had a wander round Launceston where I was
chuffed to find a homebrew shop.
The gig that night was in a squat called the Red & Black Umbrella. When we
arrived, there was a roaring fire going and we made our way near to that as it
was a cold evening. There were plenty of doggies in to keep Rags happy,
including Charlie, the main attraction of the evening. Poor Charlie has a
deformed leg and needs an operation to amputate it, or else it will become
more out of shape and painful with age. The operation cannot be undertaken
by the PDSA so will cost £1900. The idea for this evening was to try and raise
a few quid towards it. I played first and was slightly worried as this was
another completely acoustic gig, but everyone remained quiet and listened so it
wasn’t too hard on my voice. Next up were two guitarists, each playing
brilliantly. After them came a local poet, who was more like a rapper without a
beat, and had a really clever way with words and was enjoyable to sit and
listen to and to finish things off was another acoustic singer/songwriter. I love
nights like these with an eclectic bunch of performers.
On Friday, I was booked to play in Pontypool, so we headed off around
lunchtime. We knew it would only take an hour to get there but wanted to have
a look at some countryside while we were in Wales. We ended up driving to
Merthyr Tydfil as, having both been there at separate times in the past, wanted
to see what it looked like now. To be honest, I remember it being a lot rougher
than it was, as did Rags, so it looks like the council have finally poured some
money into the place and its ‘regeneration’. On our way out of town, we saw a
road sign with a familiar name on it; Aberfan. I have only seen Aberfan in black
and white from the old news footage and it was strange to find ourselves there
on a sunny day. We followed the signs to the memorial gardens where we
went for a quiet wander. Very sobering.
Once in Pontypool, we found the pub (the Dragonffli) and parked up.
The place was in darkness so we waited around in the van. Another van pulled
up and it turned out to be Andy from the Dukes Of Bordello who, along with
Deadbeat Deluxe, I was playing with. At 6pm the doors opened and we helped
Andy in with all his band’s gear and got the merch stall set up. I wasn’t due
onstage until 9pm and wished I’d got there a bit later as there is nothing worse
than waiting around. The event said the doors were a 6pm so I assumed I’d
start at around 7.
The venue was very cool, being a separate room away from the main pub but
the only trouble was that the lighting was really bright, which gave the place no
atmosphere. Rags had a word with the soundman to see if something could be
done (actually, I think her words were “The lighting is too harsh for a woman of
my advanced years”) and he managed to switch on the stage lights located
either side of the stage. With the strip lights off, things looked better, but the
stage lights were flashing at a rapid rate, and it all looked a bit trippy. I found
the control boxes and switched them on to a slower setting which improved
things considerably.
Once 9pm arrived, I hit the stage and rattled through my first song, Warzone,
and straight into song 2, This Place. About a quarter of the way in, TWANG!
My bloody G-string snapped. Oh yeah, fnar fnar etc, but this was more
serious than knicker elastic. I managed to keep playing and, luckily, had a
spare guitar in the van which Rags ran out to retrieve for me while I finished the
song. I managed to give it a quick tune up and finished the rest of the set
without incident, it still catches you out though. The rest of the night was great,
the two other bands were entertaining to watch, and we headed off and parked
in a layby, choosing to do this as we were tired and couldn’t be bothered drving
back to Cardiff late at night.
Saturday’s gig was to be another interesting one. The day started well and
even the weather stayed dry. We went out for breakfast to a local waffle café
with Efa and Crav and I had a vegan cooked breakfast followed by vegan
banoffee waffles. It was absolutely lovely. We then wandered round the
shops waiting for Efa’s laundry to finish and had a look at some modern art
installations at a local arts centre. Some of the installations were very thought-
provoking, others were just plain baffling. A few hours later we headed off to
the Royal Oak, the setting for that night's gig. It was a fundraiser for
Surplusfest and there were bands playing in the main room and acoustic acts
outside in between the bands’ sets, hoping to catch the smokers. Thankfully,
Efa had thought to bring along an amp and microphone, I think we would have
struggled to be heard without it. Just before my set, a girl had asked if she
could play and sang a few covers. At one point, she made a request to borrow
a 6 string acoustic which was ignored by both myself and Efa. I don’t lend my
guitar to anyone, especially not a drunk girl that I don’t know! She sat down
when it was my turn to play and proceeded to talk very loudly over me, and
laugh loudly, and shout. See what I was trying to say before about people
playing covers, then talking over everyone else? At one point during my set, I
heard something hit the ground and smash, which I assumed was a beer
glass. It turned out to be her rather expensive looking SLR camera. Oh well,
what goes around comes around (and reminds me why I never lend my guitar
out) Efa was up next and played brilliantly and went down well.
Sunday was my last gig in Cardiff, Efa had managed to get me a last minute
slot at the Moon Club as part of the Cardiff Oxjam Takeover and, as luck would
have it, my slot was before her set. I was given a soundcheck and then had to
wait for half an hour for the band downstairs to finish (the idea being much the
same as the night before where, once the band downstairs finished, the crowd
would hopefully come upstairs to see what was happening). Unfortunately, it
didn’t really work out like that though as, apart from Rags and Efa, I only had a
couple of others in to watch. A few more did come in and out during my set but
it always makes me feel sorry for everyone involved that has put work into an
event, be it the musicians, sound engineer or person collecting tickets on the
door, all there as volunteers. Still, I enjoyed playing, the sound was great, and
the folk that did stay to watch were enjoying it.
Once in Cardiff, we followed the sat-nav to
Crav’s door and he jumped in the van to
take us round to his and Efa’s flat. We’d
met them both before when they stayed
with us for the weekend back in July when
we were gigging in Glasgow, Edinburgh
and Aberdeen together. Their flat was in
an old pub/hotel and we were told to make
ourselves at home. There was also a
lovely curry Crav had made which we
helped ourselves to.
Crav’s door and he jumped in the van to
take us round to his and Efa’s flat. We’d
met them both before when they stayed
with us for the weekend back in July when
we were gigging in Glasgow, Edinburgh
and Aberdeen together. Their flat was in
an old pub/hotel and we were told to make
ourselves at home. There was also a
lovely curry Crav had made which we
helped ourselves to.
| Full set from the Dragonffli, Pontypool 14th November 2014 |
Efa was finished for about half past 7
and had a birthday event to attend to
so she went her way and we went ours
(straight back to the falafel shop!!)
and had a birthday event to attend to
so she went her way and we went ours
(straight back to the falafel shop!!)
After she was done, we headed back to the flat
to drop the gear off and went into town.
Friends of ours were in town for a gig at the
Moon Club so we went to say hello.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to speak to them
so went off for something to eat. Efa and Crav
recommended a place that served falafel wraps
and took us there, and we weren’t
disappointed! They were perfect, and I’m not
even a fan of falafel as it usually quite dry. I
am now though.
to drop the gear off and went into town.
Friends of ours were in town for a gig at the
Moon Club so we went to say hello.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to speak to them
so went off for something to eat. Efa and Crav
recommended a place that served falafel wraps
and took us there, and we weren’t
disappointed! They were perfect, and I’m not
even a fan of falafel as it usually quite dry. I
am now though.
| Copyright Mark Ayling 2018 |