A warning to us all don't you know….
Elephant Shelf back at the Music Palace supporting Chris Farlowe
It’s been an interesting week for both the Shelf & the Deltas.
Elephant Shelf was supporting Chris Farlowe & the Norman Beaker Band, on Sunday the 5th. the evening also featured a short set by Jack Shay & Midnight 36 at the Music Palace 159a Tottenham Lane Crouch End London N8 9BT.
On the Friday we did a Delta Ladies guest appearance at Brooks Blues Bar with the Spike Drivers plus a cast of 1000’s of acoustic roots & blues people. Its the last night of the Brooks Blues at its present venue as its moving house to a new in Fulham for 2012.
It's just another day
I had a really good night out listening to Albert Lee & Hogans Heroes at the Castle in NW11. It was a mind bending gig. I have of course seen Albert Lee on TV and youtube, so I knew it was going to be good and it was. Â It takes a lot to get me going but this gig was really great. Fantastic guitar playing, and a few surprises in the set list too, like ‘The world is waiting for the sunrise’, it couldn’t have been more varied and entertaining. Also the live sound is one of the best I have heard in any venue.
I was privileged to play there a week or so back with Elephant Shelf to a small but perfectly formed audience and prior to that I saw Georgie Fame, which was also a great gig. So thats the good stuff and it doesn’t get any better than that. Unfortunately the venue like many others is under pressure and is struggling to continue which is a great shame as its one of the really great places to listen to or play live music. Â If you do see a gig advertised there its well worth the trip. They also offered me a job behind the bar 🙂 LOL. I don’t think I would be terribly good at it to be honest, (though there are a few people I know who’s personal fantasy is exactly that, bet lynch eat your heart out) and I might be tempted to drink the profits. They do Real Ales and good food to so that would have been OK.
Today has been mostly involved in working on some web stuff (which I find incredibly tedious these days to be honest) and  running through some stuff on the piano and violin and a bit of tidying up. I am also getting used to using a video camera after a gap of a few years as I intend to start including video as part of this blog too. The camera is a bit flaky at the moment but its starting to behave  so I might be able to start using it properly in a week or too with luck.
Winter draws on
Any Les Dawson fans out there? Well there’s a lot going on right now, and most of it is fairly positive for a change.
On a personal level things are a little bit more stable now, though there is still a lot to be done. I am amazed at the number of people that actually visit this blog and I wish I had some stunning insights that I could share with you all but unfortunately I don’t. It’s been fairly hectic on the gigs front with the Elephants Shelf & the Delta Ladies mostly out London which is good but I am suffering from a little bit of motorway fatigue as I have seen quite a bit of the M4 and the M25 in the last couple of months (mostly at about 03:00 in the morning).
It’s refreshing to find so many really good venues providing live music with really enthusiastic audiences, and we seem to have found quite a few lately.
Elephant Shelf is at the Tunnels Bristol Thursday 16th
Having a little trip to Bristol with the Shelf tomorrow. 🙂
My first ever live vocal performance on ST FM in Burnham Essex with Elephant shelf
A Pink Hippo says: I had quite a fun weekend;
Saturday May 8th was a great night at the Blues Room in St Albans backing the rather good >> Earl Jackson which was basically a Rock & Roll night. We did an opening Elephant Shelf set and get Earl up to keep the folks rocking till about 12:30 so another 3 hour set fueled only by 2 pints of draft Guinness. A great bunch of people there and I think they really enjoyed it, and they were up and dancing right till the end. We also had a guest appearance from Rollo Marquee a very good blues harp player who will be playing at the Blues Room soon too.
Sunday May 9th of to ST FM in Burnham Essex to do a live to air set with Elephant Shelf .
We did four songs, with an interview with the band sandwiched in-between. We were on the Sunday night show with Veteran Essex musician, journalist and broadcaster Tim Aves ‘Blues is back’ show.
We met Tim previously when he played with the shelf at the Blues Room. Tim is a very well-known, award-winning figure on the national UK blues scene, as a performer, writer and event organiser.He sings and plays harmonica and guitar and spent 17 years on the road, clocking up more than 3,000 gigs across the UK and continental Europe in the 1980s and 1990s with legendary Essex rhythm’n’blues band AUTOMATIC SLIM, who shared stages with a huge range of major artistes, including Status Quo and Dr Feelgood. He later spent a further 13 years fronting the highly-regarded (but sadly, now disbanded) Texas blues outfit, THE ROCKIN’ ARMADILLOS (The band also featured Saint FM Rock Show co-host Paul Lester on drums and Gasbags co-presenter Jane English on vocals.)
We enjoyed the experience and we hope to be back down in Burnham on Crouch in the not too distant future . The live sound was mixed by Pete Crisp who engineers at the St Peters Studio and who also gave us a copy of the tracks that went to air. Then another Real Ale and a Veggie burger, and off home to London.
Elephant Shelf with Tim Aves.
The Cleavage of Death circa 2006
The Cleavage of Death circa 2006, originally uploaded by diana99.
Another Blast from the past, filmed in a Pub in Holloway.
Gosh it’s all rather different now.
Its a blast from the past. Elephant Shelf back in 2008 Unicorn Camden Playing Just another Someone
Its a blast from the past. Elephant Shelf back in 2008 I think at the Unicorn Camden
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Diana and Betty Boop too
Its not my bass I am just keeping it warm for a friend.
