Simply the Bass.


As far as pictures of me playing the bass go, this is one of my favourites.

They call me Mellow Yellow (quite rightly).

It was taken during a soundcheck on the 19th May 2011 in a theatre in the Netherlands whilst on a short tour there that crossed with my thirtieth birthday. The actor and guitarist Tim Pont took the photo of me playing whilst seated on the stool I had to use for much of the run, thanks to the onset of labyrinthitis, which meant I couldn’t play standing up due to dizziness; I’m about as un-rock-&-roll as un-rock-&-roll can get.

I didn’t really want to be away for such a significant birthday, but the tour fell at a time when I could do with the money, plus the run was brief enough to not get in the way of my other commitments. It just so happened I had a few days off close to a gig in Amsterdam, so my wife came over for that, thus making at least that part of the run a bit of a working holiday.

The show was a Best of the Seventies & Eighties affair, which meant wearing some terrible outfits, but playing some enjoyable music. One night, I had to come off stage during the Tina Turner song The Best, because I’d unwittingly cut my thumb while playing. I was completely unaware of the injury until I looked down mid-verse to see my bass covered in enough blood to suggest I'd used it to slaughter a farm animal; who knew vamping in F could be so dangerous?

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Image
Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...
Read more

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...
Read more

Hoo-ray and up She Rises.

So much has happened since my last post in March that this blog risks sounding like an itinerary. The main news is that Hitchin Mostly Comedy will return in the summer at a new venue, the Queen Mother Theatre . The road to this decision was convoluted, though enough fell into place en route to leave me optimistic about this new start. The catalyst was a survey I ran via our mailing list a few months back, in which I asked, "If the club returned in the current climate, with tickets still around £15 (and with similar line-ups), would you still attend?"; the response to which, in simple terms, was a resounding yes. Nearly 250 mailing list subscribers responded in a single week, with around a hundred also taking the option to leave some feedback. And only two people were abusive, which counts as a win when you consider they posted their comments online anonymously. Imagine how many more insults we would have received if the comedy club was a woman. Particularly if she was Diane ...
Read more