| Tour Diary |
Southbound Continued.....
I had contacted Noah in Ilminster a few weeks beforehand to see if he would be
willing/able to put me on. We chatted on the phone and he explained that he
usually hires the local village hall and puts on DIY gigs but, seeing as it was
short notice, nothing would be available. He did have another idea, if I was up
for it. He said that he would be happy to set up a tarpaulin in the woods, rig
some speakers up to a 12v battery and build a fire and get a few more
musicians and poets etc to play. I loved this idea so said ‘yes!’
On the drive to Ilminster, I texted to ask if it was still on as the weather had
been pretty atrocious recently and he was still up for it. We arrived in town
around 5 and texted him again, and he drove down to meet us. He’d just been
up in the woods setting the gear up and it all looked good for the night, even the
weather was staying dry. He took us to Andrew’s house, which was just in the
Market Square, and gave him some money to take us out for food. Andrew
said the local Chinese was very good but, on our arrival, we found it shut (as
was the Indian and chip shop). We went off to the supermarket and decided on
vege hot dog sausages with rolls and salad which we cooked and ate back at
his flat. At about 7pm, the wind got up and it started pouring with rain. This
was disappointing as I know that Noah and his friends had put a lot of hard
work into making tonight happen. I was still up for playing though, but hoped
the people watching wouldn’t get too cold and wet. Andy suggested I move the
van from the square to the back of the flats and park next to his car. I did this
and opened the side loading door to take my spare guitar and merch case out.
Luckily I had my head inside the van as the next thing I heard was a loud
CRASH!!!! Fucking hell, bits of hard stuff were hitting my back and I thought the
building behind the van had collapsed. It turned out to be a very large tile from
the roof had smashed onto the roof of the van and shattered everywhere. I
moved the van and suggested Andrew move his car to somewhere safer.
Thankfully no more tiles fell off.
While I was out dodging falling debris, an executive decision had been made;
the gig in the woods was off. This was a shame but, given the pissing rain and
blowing wind, it was probably for the best. It was decided, with Andrew’s
consent, that the gig would now be held in his flat, so we had a lovely intimate
evening of music of various forms. First up was Henry, playing fiddle and
singing old folk tunes. Next was Carpy playing a few of his own acoustic punk
tunes (though, for some reason, he wouldn’t play ‘Wanker Bouncer’). Once my
set was done, we were treated to a few songs by an unplugged 51st State.
Much local cider flowed and we walked through the miserable night to the local
park and watched drunken punks lighting fireworks which was both fun and
scary! It was a brilliant night and rates as one of the highlights of the tour.
Andrew had been kind enough to let us sleep on his futon and I’m glad he did
as it would have been cold and miserable trying to sleep in the van.
The next morning we wanted to look round the local area and someone
suggested we head to Chard Musuem which had a display of prosthetic limbs,
which sounded interesting (in an odd way) but when we got there, it was closed
for the winter. We headed off to Perry’s Cider Farm instead and tasted some
lovely ciders before purchasing a load to take home.
My next gig wasn’t until Thursday so we headed back down to Cornwall for a
few days.....
I had contacted Noah in Ilminster a few weeks beforehand to see if he would be
willing/able to put me on. We chatted on the phone and he explained that he
usually hires the local village hall and puts on DIY gigs but, seeing as it was
short notice, nothing would be available. He did have another idea, if I was up
for it. He said that he would be happy to set up a tarpaulin in the woods, rig
some speakers up to a 12v battery and build a fire and get a few more
musicians and poets etc to play. I loved this idea so said ‘yes!’
On the drive to Ilminster, I texted to ask if it was still on as the weather had
been pretty atrocious recently and he was still up for it. We arrived in town
around 5 and texted him again, and he drove down to meet us. He’d just been
up in the woods setting the gear up and it all looked good for the night, even the
weather was staying dry. He took us to Andrew’s house, which was just in the
Market Square, and gave him some money to take us out for food. Andrew
said the local Chinese was very good but, on our arrival, we found it shut (as
was the Indian and chip shop). We went off to the supermarket and decided on
vege hot dog sausages with rolls and salad which we cooked and ate back at
his flat. At about 7pm, the wind got up and it started pouring with rain. This
was disappointing as I know that Noah and his friends had put a lot of hard
work into making tonight happen. I was still up for playing though, but hoped
the people watching wouldn’t get too cold and wet. Andy suggested I move the
van from the square to the back of the flats and park next to his car. I did this
and opened the side loading door to take my spare guitar and merch case out.
Luckily I had my head inside the van as the next thing I heard was a loud
CRASH!!!! Fucking hell, bits of hard stuff were hitting my back and I thought the
building behind the van had collapsed. It turned out to be a very large tile from
the roof had smashed onto the roof of the van and shattered everywhere. I
moved the van and suggested Andrew move his car to somewhere safer.
Thankfully no more tiles fell off.
While I was out dodging falling debris, an executive decision had been made;
the gig in the woods was off. This was a shame but, given the pissing rain and
blowing wind, it was probably for the best. It was decided, with Andrew’s
consent, that the gig would now be held in his flat, so we had a lovely intimate
evening of music of various forms. First up was Henry, playing fiddle and
singing old folk tunes. Next was Carpy playing a few of his own acoustic punk
tunes (though, for some reason, he wouldn’t play ‘Wanker Bouncer’). Once my
set was done, we were treated to a few songs by an unplugged 51st State.
Much local cider flowed and we walked through the miserable night to the local
park and watched drunken punks lighting fireworks which was both fun and
scary! It was a brilliant night and rates as one of the highlights of the tour.
Andrew had been kind enough to let us sleep on his futon and I’m glad he did
as it would have been cold and miserable trying to sleep in the van.
The next morning we wanted to look round the local area and someone
suggested we head to Chard Musuem which had a display of prosthetic limbs,
which sounded interesting (in an odd way) but when we got there, it was closed
for the winter. We headed off to Perry’s Cider Farm instead and tasted some
lovely ciders before purchasing a load to take home.
My next gig wasn’t until Thursday so we headed back down to Cornwall for a
few days.....
| Copyright Mark Ayling 2018 |