Brewers Arms - 13th June 2009

Well, back at the Brewers for the third time - can't be bad!
Overall, another successfull evening and considering all four of us were a little out of sorts, we enjoyed it - we hope you did too! Andy was extremely tired following a hard week of packing ready to move house and considering he has the most strenuous job in the band, hats off to him for his performance. Jock had bad guts for most of the day and felt a bit icky (hence he drove himself home this time!), again he played superbly and compliments at the end of the night confirm that both Andy and Jock on the rythum section play really well together. This was the first gig for a long time that Harley was chauffered and he took advantage and plied himself on the good 'ole Newkie Brown. - Unlike Jock who plays consistently no matter how much he has had to drink, Harley has a long way to go before he can keep up with the big boys! Beanz was just Beanz and had quite a few missed lines. There really is no excuse for forgetting words that you have been practising for weeks. Either the J2O was spiked or the Peroxcide from his new look went to his head!
Kerry, Shirl and Heidi did us proud again backing for "Ruby" and Mo and her posse filled in the blanks for "Parklife" - two songs that don't compliment our set list if no-one joins in!
Dan did us proud on the sound side again this time, utilising our new stereo power amp and managing not to blow all the electrics in the pub (ha ha - if you were at the Spotted Cow, you'd know what we're talking about)
Donk managed to stay awake and arrived on time to unload the van, and load it back up and was wearing his "roadie" t-shirt with pride bless him. He also stood guard of granny Beanz and kept her company whilst she came to see her little soldier perform.
Beanz also publicly gave Wayne the credit he deserved this week by giving him a special mention over the PA. Donk and Dan aside, he has been the most supportive of everyone in our entourage. Despite various cock-ups and the set not changing much at the moment, he continues to be there for us at every performance and we are extremely grateful. We dedicated "Little Willy" especially for him, a song he had forgotten about since his childhood after being nicknamed it from his Dad.
When we started playing the pub wasn't overly busy, and through the middle it started to pack out - unfortunately becoming empty again simply because it was so hot and everyone retired to the garden - not because they couldn't stand us i'd like to add! Because of this, reactions and feedback came at the end of the night instead of during the performance.
It was nice to see a few familiar faces again - it seems we are starting to get a bit of a following which is a good sign - spread the word, Kneeslider intend to be a force not to be reckoned with! (That's a figure of speech by the way - it's not a competition, it's about entertainment!)
We had lots of good feedback at the end of the night and it was reassuring and comlimentary that Tanya considers us "her band". We were the first band she booked, and her pub was our very first pub gig - we are always appreciative of her support in providing us not only with the consisitent opportunity to play in her pub, but also spreading the word about us to others.
We have a three week break now, after gigging every weekend for six weeks I think we deserve it! We shall return on the 10th July, back at the Spotted Cow and hope to see you there!
Cheers everybody - see you soon!

The Spotted Cow - 5th June, 2009

Well - what to write indeed other than "Rock and f*****g Roll !

All four of us had been looking forward to this gig for ages. The Spotted Cow in Cowplain is the pub to play in the area on a Friday night. It is quite a large pub and is bustin' from wall to wall on a good night. Tonight was no exception.

We arrived quite early and commenced setting up. We knew that it may take a bit longer as we were going to use our new power amp for the first time. Unloading the van was pretty quick as the "Donk" didn't fall asleep in the bath and arrived with the rest of us. Tensions started to get a bit high with setting up all the leads and stuff to the new amp which wasn't going 100% to plan. The technical stuff is best left to Andy and Dan who know what they are doing and Jock, Beanz and Harley are always concious of being in the way and becoming more of a hindrance than a help! Whilst Andy and Dan had a play with setting up the new amp, Beanz and Harley went outside for a bit, both admitting that whilst they had been looking forward to it for ages, actually at the moment, they felt like it was all going tits - up!

Jock on the other hand, refuses to get stressed out and found the ideal excuse to shoot off for a bit. He drove to the pub but as we all know, likes a drink whilst he's playing. Beanz offered him a lift home afterwards which then meant he had to leave his car overnight. Donk was on hand so Jock had the brilliant idea of taking the car home and returning on the back of Donk's 1200 Bandit. Splendid idea but would he make it back on time if at all on such a well looked after machine (that's sarcasm by the way!)

Andy and Dan finally found a workaround for setting up the new amp and Beanz and Harley continued to set up the bits that they knew how to do. Plugging MIC's in mainly. Jock arrived shortly after beaming from ear to ear and processed straight to the bar to get the beers in.

Set-up was almost complete and we ready for the sound check - the pub was heaving already and just to add to the pressure, sat directly in front of us was the lead singer, Darren and guitarist, Murph from Papparrazzi, a very well known and popular band on the circuit!

We sound checked with the usual "Teenage Kicks" and Dan adjusted accordingly. We then had a 20 minute chill out session before going on. The first set as always was slow to start (audience wise) but towards the end of it, they were warming to us - singing along and cheering etc despite some technical difficulties with the new equipment which packed up early on in the set.

During the break, Dan reverted the set-up back to the good old peavey amp - we might be overloading it but hey - tha'ts how we roll baby!

By the time the second set had started, you could hardly move in the place and they were definately on side. No song went without applause - the reaction from this audience was phenomenal and the guys lived for the moment. We had people joining in, dancing, cheering, all you would expect at a live performance and when we had finished, they screamed for more!

Time was against us as we went on a bit late for the second set but we agreed to do all three encores to top the night off. "Baggy Trousers" to start followed by "Born To Be Wild" and then our alltime favourite "Vertigo". The first verse went well and partway through the second there was a "pop" and everything went dead. What a way to finish! Last song and we blew the electrics in the pub - Now that's Rock 'n' Roll !!! Quite a few people were shouting at the landlord, assuming he had switched us off but this wasn't the case. A quick check that everything electrical was now off line comfirmed we blew it - yeah!

It took quite a while to break the gear down and re-load the van this time round as there were so many people wanting to talk to us - congratulating us on a good performance and general chit chat. The Landlord came straight over and shook our hands determined to get another date out of us there and then and the feedback from the guys from Papparrazzi was superb. We were expecting a little critism but they had nothing but praise for us and we thank them for their support and kind comments. That's great showmanship and no doubt we will go and support them sometime!

We'd like to say this was probably the best gig so far, and whilst you are probably bored with hearing this on every blog, it just goes to prove that we are obviously getting better - this comes from the feedback we are getting from the people who watch us and they, at the end of the day are the people that count.

WE SHALL RETURN