mostly david ephgrave

Today didn’t contain much in the way of writing, though I got to see my friend Rob, who came to Hitchin for one of our not-as-regular-as-we’d-like catch-ups. It’s always great to see him, particularly now we don’t get the chance to work together like we did when I was knee-deep in actor / muso work. Those gigs were far more bearable whenever he was in the band, particularly when we did the Buddy show together. I first met Rob in 2006, on my second Buddy tour. I did the first one the year before and hated it as - outside of the rhythm guitarist and drummer - it had a horrible atmosphere, with a band that didn’t click. Despite playing Buddy and being at the centre of the show, I was constantly undermined onstage by the emcee, who didn’t trust my ability and would consequently talk over me. He did this with good but misguided intentions, but it was tiring to always be backfooted by someone who was jaded with the show anyway, and didn’t consider how it...

Twelve years ago, I toured the UK with a show called ‘Rock and Roll Heaven’. One week, we found ourselves stranded at Grimsby Auditorium. There are a few downsides to touring. One of them is having Grimsby on your itinerary. The town has very little to speak of, except for the Auditorium which isn’t ; it’s a sports hall, caught adrift in the midst of a deserted residential area. You could put together a strong case suing the venue for Trade Descriptions; a theatre, it’s not. Another problem with touring is finding somewhere to eat. You can spend hours wandering a city, trying to find a decent meal before you need to be at the theatre. The only options in Grimsby were chips, chips or chips (with optional fish). One day, we visited the neighbouring town of Cleethorpes. The streets literally smelt of gravy. It was as ominous as it was savoury. Whilst sitting in a café tucking into a round of fried breakfasts (which wasn’t much different from eating chips), we looked out o...