One of my favorite venues to play at.
Would you buy a used car from this man?
Olivers Jazz bar pre gig a while back in the day
Elephant Shelf Skegness Rock and Blues the aftermath
Well we got to the gig despite the snow and everything else. We arrived on the Friday nighty just in time to get food as it was thrown in with the accomodation, but it was only availble between 5pm & 7pm so waving our Butlins ration cards we dived in. Then as we were not plying we watched some of the bands, we caught some of Paul Jones with The Blues Band and also Ben Waters who is a very good Boogie Pianist. Then we went back to one of the smaller stages to watch The  Mick Rutherford Band who were very entertaining and  Micks legware was also quite exotic.
We had a couple of drinks and watched the Bare Bones Boogie Band who may well be playing at the Blues Room in St Albans in the not too distant future. We wandered around a bit and looked at the Blues Matters stand and had a cup of tea and went to bed. We got up on Staurday too late for the Breakfast and determined that we would go in to Skegy and get something there. It was still very cold but not quite as bad as the night before so I nipped out and took a couple of pictures of the snow then we got in the van to drive in to town. Of course the van would not start and needed a call to the AA, the guy came out did some checks and as expected it turned out to be the battery which had gone from being aged and frail to expiring in the embrace of the North Sea chill.
So he got the van started and I followed him into town to get another battery which he fitted and then I went back to the camp.
We had been asked to take part in a Jam session to promote the bands show that evening but circumstances were against us. The rest of the band turned up in good spirits having had a reasonable journey.  We had a sound check at about05:30 which was done very well by the on site sound guys who were real pros and got us a very good sound onstage mix as well as off. We had decided as it was a new audience that we would open with a couple of full on tunes Snakebite followed by Morning Letter and keep the pace up up as it was a straight through 90 minute set.
After the sound check the Robbie(bass) Rosie (vocals)and Terry(Dums) went off to eat and we went for an interview with a Welsh Blues radio station as a couple of the guys had called us a little earlier as Vicky had been in contact with them earlier in the year. We had a very good talk and tried to share some of the insanity that is Elephant Shelf , what makes us tick and all about the songs as Elephant Shelf is a very distinctive band on the circuit particularly as it features Violin/fiddle and keyboards as a lot of the other bands tend to be Guitar and blues harp. Also we only play a couple of covers in our set at most and they are often quite different in approach thn the way they are normally performed. There was just time to grab a quick bit before we got on stage at 8.30 and as the newbies we had the opening slot. We did a very high impact set and it was great to have room to move around on stage too unusually I did not have a drink on stage but as the beer was a bit crap perhaps that was not so important, at least I could not trip over it. we got the audience on our side fairly quickly and I did my Vocal number Just another Someone to a pretty good reaction too. I wondered how it would go as its a mile down the road from blues and features a Violin solo, but it came across OK and the duet with Rosie was really powerful too.
Also on it’s first gig with the band the Pink Hippo who sat on top of the monitor watching the set..
We also managed to get some of Gary Boners Roadhouse to watch the set and enjoyed it, and as they have played Colne and various other festivals quite a few times that was good to know. Alan from Blues Matters also made it to the show and was very impressed which was also very encouraging. The set was really tight and there were none of the little disasters that plagued us at the Boogallo weekend last weekend. We also met a guy from France who was a radio DJ and was also not very
far from Mazamet where we will be staying for as we have 3 gigs with the Delta Ladies Duo which we are using to also help sell the Band in France. So all in all not too bad a day. We watched the Mustangs who were on after us, had a couple more drinks and chatted to one of the Girls who sings with Roadhouse then tea and bed.
Sunday morning was fairly uneventful as was the trip home, though I was a bit knackered by the time we got back .
Skeggy Rock & Blues Weekender
Another weekend away with Elephant Shelf Looms, this time at Butlin’s Skegness and there are some really good bands on to watch as well, so it should be a fun one. I shall report back soon
Butlins Skegness for
The Big Rock and Blues weekend 29/01/2010
From £55 pp
The Big Rock and Blues weekend 29/01/2010
From £55 pp
Animals & Friends
Nazareth
The Yardbirds
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Ben Waters
Chantell McGregor
Chicken Shack featuring Stan Webb
Tygers of Pan Tang
Wishbone Ash (Featuring Martin Turner)
The Blues Band
Oli Brown
Jay Tamkin
And Elephant Shelf of Course
Follow this link for all the details:
http://www.bigweekends.com/break-detail/Index.aspx?tcm=tcm:29-30133
A busy weekend
My first week-ender with Elephant Shelf at Hayling Island of all places. It went well despite a few litle problems.
When we got there as soon as we strated to unload it pored with rain. Better yet I took a Chair for the Piano which was soaking wet and ended up doing the sound check sitting on it so I was soaked right through. The rest of band turned up late so Vicky and I had to do all the unloading from the van. Because they were late we did not get much of a sound check. So it was a bit rushed and the onstage sound was not quite as I would have liked. Having got soaked I had to wear a completly diferent outfit than the one I was expecting to wear for the gig. I hope it looked alright, but who knows. Terrys snare drum broke as well. Seconds in to the first number the Piano went silent. possible due to a lead affected by the damp. then two numbers in Vicky broke a string! That never happens. Still a not bad reception and sold a few CD’s. We did a 90 minute and then went off for a drink and watched the Spikedrivers who were headlineing that night.
They did a good rootsy show and had the audience with them from the start. There was a late night Jam which bands are expected to attend where you mix with the punters quite a few of which are players at every level.
It was an interesting experience, as we were landed with a very drunk slide guitarist…Â We escaped at about 02:00 am had a very rock & roll cup of tea and went to sleep.Â
Up at about 09:00 tea & bickys and a dash of to breakfast and a quick post-mortem on the days events, then get the gear off the stage area and back in the van. We were doing an unplugged set in the early afternoon which was as well received as the main set the night before and we manged to sell a couple more CD’s and got some good feedback from the punters too. On this set my Violin A string snapped mid song and so I managed on 3 strings ish.
We watched the next act had half a Guiness and went home. Had a quick snack then off to Sta Albans to veiw the second night of the Blues room venue which was very good with a very happy crowd.Â
Details of the event below:Â
A fab weekend of blues and R&B in the friendly atmosphere of Lakeside, Hayling Island.  Headlined by Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges with the fabulous King King featuring superb guitarist Alan Nimmo, plus the ever-popular Spikedrivers,the all-danceable Swamp Cats, new to Boogaloo the extremely entertaining and lively Elephant Shelf, plus up-and-coming young and talented guitarist Ben Poole and his band.  Sadly Son Henry has been taken ill so is not allowed to fly BUT we have been fortunate to book Trafficker in their place with guitar supremo Tommy Allen.
Boogaloo Promotions Blues Bonanza weekendÂ
Next week were are off to Butlins at Skegness to do it all again :)Â Â
The Blues Bonanza at Lakeside Hayling Island Hants Friday 22 Jan – 25 Jan 2010
Wearing my Elephant Shelf Blues Hat for a change this is let you know about this little shindig:
If you fancy a weekend out of London then why not
The Blues Bonanza at Lakeside, Hayling Island, Hants
Friday 22 Jan – 25 Jan 2010, £139 pp half board. Code RNB10
A fab weekend of blues and R&B in the friendly atmosphere of Lakeside, Hayling Island.  Headlined by Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges with the fabulous King King featuring superb guitarist Alan Nimmo, plus the ever-popular Spikedrivers,the all-danceable Swamp Cats, new to Boogaloo the extremely entertaining and lively Elephant Shelf, plus up-and-coming young and talented guitarist Ben Poole and his band.  Sadly Son Henry has been taken ill so is not allowed to fly BUT we have been fortunate to book Trafficker in their place with guitar supremo Tommy Allen.
More details to follow soon! Live bands every night, acoustic blues session on Saturday and late night jams led by Five Field Holler. Tony Farinha is MC and DJ for the weekend.Â
LAST FEW ROOMS LEFT!
For more information about Lakeside, visit:Â Lakeside | Warner Breaks
 Details on the link below.
Boogaloo Promotions Blues Bonanza weekend http://www.boogaloopromotions.com/documents/17046LAKBonanzalealfet.pdfÂ
Don't strike up the band
By Nigel Hawkes :: Wed, 02/12/2009 – 09:41
Visit a pub and there’s every chance you’ll hear background Muzak, or high-volume Sky Sports coverage of Premiership football. But what are the chances of hearing live music? At least as good as they have ever been, says the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which controls the licensing of pubs. Nonsense, say musicians, who blame the 2003 Licensing Act for drowning live music in red tape. The facts to settle this argument ought to be there, but aren’t. Ever since the act came into force there has been a long-running argument between the department and its critics, who assert that dodgy statistics, misleading statements by ministers, and a failure to collect the right sort of data make its claims unbelievable. Far from “flourishingâ€, as the Government claims, music in pubs is declining or dying, they say. The department’s claims are based on rising numbers of premises applying for licences – 8,000 more in the latest statistical return, up to March 2009. But comparison with the period before the act is difficult, because then all licensed premises had the right to have live music played by one or two musicians, without applying for any further authority. All private functions raising money for good causes were exempt, as were all performances on public land. The 2003 legislation abolished all these categories. The act was heavily criticised during its passage through Parliament, so in 2004 DCMS commissioned MORI to survey how it had affected live music in pubs/inns, hotels, restaurants/cafes, student unions, small clubs, members’ clubs and associations and church and community halls. The minister responsible at the time, Richard Caborn, celebrated the results as showing that there had been 1.7 million gigs “in bars, clubs and restaurants†in the past year. In fact, this figure covered all the premises listed. In pubs/inns, clubs and small restaurants the number was only 850,000. Hamish Birchall, a jazz drummer, adviser to the Musicians’ Union during the passage of the bill, and tireless critic of the legislation ever since, challenged the minister’s claim and referred the case to the Market Standards Research Board, who agreed that the claim had been misleading. While this was going on, the DCMS retrospectively changed the press release on its website to make it look as if Caborn had never made the claim in the first place. The MSRB ruled that the actual number was 1.3 million, but that covered pubs/inns, restaurants, and two categories of club – small clubs and members’ clubs and associations. When challenged, a DCMS minister in the Lords acknowledged that the press release had been changed to correct “a misleading statementâ€. In 2007 the DCMS commissioned another survey, which concluded that 76 per cent of pubs and clubs had a licence to stage live music. The 2004 survey showed that, historically, only 44 per cent had done so – evidence that the number had increased, not diminished. (There are questions about the reliability of the 76 per cent figure, because many of those interviewed were not responsible for obtaining the licence, and in about a fifth of pubs licensing is handled centrally by a management company. It would have been better if DCMS had simply searched local authority public licensing registers.) However, this survey combined with the evidence that music licences are growing at 5 per cent a year, have convinced the DCMS that the Act is a success. But when asked in the Lords last month what proportion of that increase is accounted for by schools and councils, and what proportion by premises that would not have needed a licence before the 2003 Act, Lord Davies of Oldham replied that no such data was collected. In that case, Hamish Birchall argues, a meaningful comparison is impossible, in spite of ministerial claims that the Act “had improved things, not made things worseâ€. The DCMS claim on 22 October when the latest statistics were published that “more licencees are widening their customer appeal by putting on live music†is, he says, misleading or irrelevant because we do not know who these licencees actually are. Still, it is good to know that the DCMS statistician Adam Cooper is a regular reader of The Publican. In response to a story in the newspaper in August reporting that the Local Government Association had been forced to withdraw claims that 80 per cent of licensed venues were permitted to host live acts (the correct figure, it now says, is 55 per cent) Dr Cooper weighed in in the Readers’ Comments section, pointing to the 2007 survey in support of the original LGA claim, but not disclosing who he was. Mr Birchall, who recognised the name as that of the DCMS statistician he had earlier corresponded with, promptly reported him to DCMS for a breach of the Civil Service code of honesty and impartiality. (No holds are barred in this battle.) But Dr Cooper was exonerated because, said the head of Human Resources at DCMS, he was merely presenting in a neutral manner extracts from a publicly available document. He should, she acknowledged, have identified himself as a member of DCMS staff in the first comment he posted. “The DCMS is content for staff to participate in online debate about their work, provided they do so openly and in accordance with the Civil Service Code and do not bring the department into disrepute†she said. The campaigners for live music see a glimmer of light in the recent promise by Gerry Sutcliffe, whose portfolio as Minister of Sport evidently includes licensing, to consult on plans to allow venues with a capacity of 100 or fewer to put on live music without a licence. The plans were welcomed by John Whittingdale MP, Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, whose report in May said that “absurd†licensing laws were damaging the live music scene. But hardened campaigners like Mr Birchall suspect the consultation is a delaying tactic. Just how peculiar the legislation is was shown by new guidance on the act’s exemption of “incidental music†from requiring a licence. A pub can put on a performance by a stand-up comedian backed by a piano without needing a licence: but a pianist backed by a stand-up comedian needs one. You can have a pianist or other instrumentalist playing background music, but unless you have a licence you cannot allow patrons to join in in a sing-song. A group of carol singers outside a shop is exempt: but not a carol performance organised in a shopping mall. Further, for incidental music “there should be no expectation to listen or to watchâ€.
So music’s fine in pubs if you don’t listen to it.
Elephant Shelf at the kings head Video
A nice little add-hoc video clip of the shelf at the Kings Head.
With me getting a bit Jules Hollandish on the piano. Dave Grigg is deputizing on bass in this video.
May you live in interesting times
Â
I played two gigs this weekend: at Charlotte St Blues on Friday with Elephant Shelf in front of quite a big crowd and at the Garibaldi in St Alban’s as half of the Delta Ladies. Both gigs went really well but could not be more different though both audiences were very enthusiastic. I often think I only really come alive when I am playing and that seems be the case at present. Its going to be quite busy until the start of November as I have another three gigs this week and if I could keep going at this rate most of my problems would be solved.
Earlier in the week I did my Cabaret turn at the Cellar Door with Greta Garbitch (AKA Menno) which we had a really good crowd attending too. Then as a complete contrast I met up with Glenn Patrick who plays Blues and is from the States and we played a few acoustic numbers round at Vicky Martins place with Terry our drummer also in attendance. Glen turns out to be a very nice guy with a lot of interesting music anecdotes as well as a really good musician.the reason that we all met up was Vicky was doing an interview for Blues Matters magazine.
Glenn has a website here >> http://www.glennpatrik.com/ well worth a visit.