The Wivenhoe Regatta

Well, this was a funny one, it started off really rather badly but finished on a high.

Our manager originally booked the show as a normal pub gig and didn't realise what a big event it was. He was then told we would need to arrive at 10am and spend the whole day hanging around until we were due to play in the evening, This was because Wivenhoe is so busy on Regatta day there is nowhere to park. As you can imagine this wasn't very popular with the band and it was pointed out we were being paid less than £3 an hour!! 

However, a week before the gig we agreed a 2.00pm arrival to play at 4.00pm - phew everyone was happy.

Trepidation - where would we park? How would we get the gear to the quay?

We drove down Rose Lane next to the pub. It seemed to have been blocked off just for us and was the perfect place to leave the cars.

OK, it did have double yellow lines but hey, we're a rock band. Then we saw the traffic warden heading our way, we tried to look inconspicuous (very difficult if you are in multi coloured shirts and red trousers!!) but he was great and let us stay there - RESULT - smiling faces - it was all going so well.

Our manager went inside to find Claire the landlady who was unsurprisingly rushed off her feet.

He returned five minutes later looking a little sheepish - everything had overrun and a burger bar was currently performing on our stage. But we could set up the gear in about half an hour so all was not lost.

                                          Burgers, One   Psycho Dehlia,   Nil

Two hours and three huge pans of burgers poured onto the griddle later, we were still waiting.

                                        Burgers, Two    Psycho Dehlia,   Nil

Now the Psychos are like finely tuned stallions about to race in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, you can imagine the veins in our necks bulging and about to burst as we waited, not very patiently, for a signal to start unloading. Even Stondan's selfless act of eating nine whoppers to speed things along didn't work and it was nearly 3 hours before the burgers played their final encore.

The starting pistol had been fired and after all that standing around we were ready for action.

In hindsight the delay meant a load more booze had been consumed, so everyone was ready for a good time and it turned out to be a REALLY fun gig - from the Birthday wishes, to the children joining in, to the heavy-metal band's manager (Mark I think?) who joined us on Satisfaction. It all went really well, with a decent on and off stage sound and a fantastic audience.

Afterwards we had a load of great comments so thanks for that, it's brilliant when people come up and have a chat, we know it must be difficult, us being rock gods and all that, lol 🙂

Fish and chips to finish the day - couldn't be better

Floyd's twin tired but content !!