Just before Christmas, Anna moved out of our house, taking her handy broadband computer with her. I've now rescued my friend Paula's old computer from the top of the house, and am back on tortuously-slow dial-up again. But at least I can resume my Blog (log onto internet, sign into Blogger account, log off internet, write Blog, log onto internet again, post Blog, etc), though I won't be able to include the photos of the gigs that I've been taking over Christmas (an unexpectedly large mobile-phone bill, blameable on the frequency with which I was emailing photos from my phone to the computer, also puts pay to that plan for a while). 'Cos I was out such a lot over Christmas, I'm only gonna briefly re-cap the stuff we ended up going to, as my memory is even more unreliable after a few weeks of celebration.
Saturday 16th December: Step had organised a Christmas gig at Venue M in George Street (formerly De Niro's, formerly George Street Hall), and I went along with Caroline. We were too early, as the bands had been a bit disorganised, so went along to the Hastings Arms for a drink first. When we got back to Venue M a bit later, the DJ was playing that great Fog single, followed by a MBV/Chapterhouse shoegaze face-off, so the omens were good. Jonathan Martin and a couple of friends played first, and carried off the job of warming the place up well (the venue was still filling-up), and I caught up with the Rumiko lot. The Dawgs came on stage and played some of that zydeco, and we realised that tonight was the social choice for almost everyone we knew: Tim Hoyte; Alfie & Robert; Tara, Caragh and Jackie; Rebecca and Anna; Josie; Harvey and Logan Wilson; Emma and her partner Sacha (also Step's drummer, it transpired); and all the other friends and partners of the various groups. Patrick and Helen turned up very briefly too, and we all got confused when we couldn't see them anywhere (they could only have stayed for a few minutes, I guess). Reuben turned up, intending on DJing later, and we agreed that I'd pop home at some point to get a few bits of vinyl to help him along. The pace of the evening dropped a bit during a set from Zoe Konez, which was fine, but by this point I was getting hyperactive, so I ran back to my house and pulled-out the records Reuben needed. Ella appeared at her door offering Cava, so I dragged her down to Venue M too (though she didn't stay long either, once she'd caught up with a handful of her friends). Rufus had been manning the sound-desk all evening, but when he was due on stage, we roped Harvey in to perform the duties. Rumiko Jr played a vibrant set, culminating in a double guest spot from Alfie on harmonica, and Step on fiddle, for 'We Get Lost'. Step stayed up there for his headlining set, as Tymon Dogg & The Quickening (who I think were the aforementioned Sacha; Muz, once of The Heaters, on bass; and Simon Shaw - who'd played earlier with Jonathan - on guitar). By this point I was very merry, and either my hearing was going, or the sound had got a bit mushy. I ran around giving Christmas hugs and kisses to lots of people (and probably promised loads of thing I don't remember), before realising I was on the verge of passing-out, so I grabbed my records back from Reuben in the DJ booth, and got quickly back to bed.
Tuesday 19th December: I was down to my last few pounds, but wanted to pop to Revolver to see Dean play. I'd had a bath in the evening, so my hair was sticking up all over the place as it dried, and I'd been reduced to some very holey clothes while I did my laundry that evening, whcih meant I looked a bit of a state when I got down to the bar. I spent my money on the only pint I could afford, and sat with Jonathan and Rufus while Dean, accompanied by Simon Shaw this time, played his first set of the evening. I noticed Christa sitting at the top of the room, with a big flashing badge on, so I realised it was her birthday, and went over for a chat with her. She was out with one of her brothers and several of her friends (some of who'm I knew, such as Paul, and some that I didn't), and was having a great time, but I knew I wasn't going to be sticking around too long that evening, so I left their group with a promise to try and catch up at the Winter Solstice gig at The Carlisle a few days later (I didn't make it in the end, as my sister and her family flew in from Australia that evening). In ordinary circumstances, I may just have asked one of my friends if they could stand me a drink (though I'm always quite reluctant to do so, but I generally accept when they're offered, and hope I remember to buy that person one back in return soon after), however, I was aware that I looked even more of a pauper than I actually am, so I apologised to Rufus that I'd miss his set, and said my goodbyes to Jonathan, Dean & Danielle, Alice & Steph, and went home to do something else.
Wednesday 20th December. Rumiko Jr had a pre-Christmas gig at Smugglers for Ewen's birthday, and when I got there, Regular John were lining-up to play too. It turned out also to be Andy Warren's birthday, and he'd asked Zoe Konez to play, so it was quite a full night. However, I must confess that I can't remember very much about it at all (my memories will have been smudged-over by the New Year's Day gig at the same pub). I did say Hi to Helen and Patrick, which was a relief, 'cos I thought they were blanking me at Venue M the other day, which wasn't the case at all, it turned out; but mostly I just sat by the pool table with a mized bunch of folk, and watched the music. I know it was good to see the boys from the 'John, 'cos I'd not caught up with them for about a month; and I recall Michael was working and wasn't able to play with Rumiko; but the rest of the night is just flashes of dissecting the state of the local scene with Marcus, Deano & Rufus. Maybe my photos (which I'll try and upload into this Blog entry at some point) will illuminate things further.
Friday 22nd December: It'd been my day-off work, and I'd spent a while at home, before Carolyn Fouracre and Roschendah texted to get me to join them down at The Dragon in the evening, where they'd gone after the Council's Christmas event that afternoon at St Mary In The Castle. I joined them, and a schoolfriend of Carolyn's, with the intention of just staying for one drink, as I was going to catch Jonathan Martin at Smugglers, before heading to the Brass Monkey for yet another Rumiko gig (Dean later admitted he wore himself right out in this run-up to Christmas). But after one pint I'd changed my mind, and stayed with them for another couple, before Roshendah decided she ought to get back over to Bexhill, whilst me and Carolyn and her friends went along to the Royal Albion for a bit of karaoke. I'd had enough to drink to make me agree to sing 'Fairytale Of New York' with Carolyn, and by the time the song came-up I was able to pull-off a just-about passsable Shane MacGowan, whilst Carolyn's Kirsty MacColl performance mostly involved whispering "Stu, it's your line! Oh, shit, it's mine..." in place of actually singing. I looked up, and people were indeed leaving the pub: excellent! Afterwards, some drinkers told me how bad my singing was: yay! We all got a lot more drunk, and there was a bit of Christmas snogging, until it was decided that I'd accompany Carolyn to The Carlisle, where there was some kind of function going on upstairs. In order to appear more casual about us arriving together, she introduced me to a guy she wanted to hang out with as "My gay friend Stuart" (Having already been introduced to Carolyn's mate down The Dragon as "Our bisexual S&M pornstar friend Stuart" I was getting used to this). I'd totally missed my plan of seeing Jonathan do his Katjam thing at Smugglers, so I made my excuses and went straight from The Carlisle to Brass Monkey to see Rumiko. As with Step's gig the previous weekend, almost everyone I knew was out, but on this occasion I was already drunk when I arrived, so I'm not really able to report exactly who was there. I sat with Caroline before Rumiko played, and I danced a lot with Kim and others while the band played, and then I think I said some rather daft crush-style stuff to Alice and her friends (and, indeed, sisters, I suspect) before finally doing something sensible, and heading home. Although I did (for the first time in years) think it would be a good idea to get a kebab in George Street, and even noticing myself swaying unsteadily on my feet in the mirrors in the kebab shop didn't put me off. I ate most of a lamb doner, and put the rest of the meat down for the cats when I got in. Needless to say, they enjoyed their midnight feast (either they licked their dishes clean, or the garlic sauce dissolved the encrusted cat food), and therefore didn't wake me up for their breakfast the next morning, meaning I overslept for work (which is an annual habit for me at Christmas now).
Sunday 31st December: New Year's Eve, and almost everyone I knew was going to a party at Hayley & Marc's place, but I favoured going into town to see The A Team at Brass Monkey, expecting there to be more of my friends there than anywhere else. Before I went out, though, I finished off the task I'd set myself earlier that weekend, namely finally assembling Anti - the new Dizzy Tiger compilation album (this required much last-minute texting, phone calls, and trips to Smugglers and Michael & Caroline's flat to pick up CD-Rs with other tracks on. Mission accomplished, I went into town around 10pm, and walked straight into a near-empty Brass Monkey, which was a suprise. I sat on my own with a drink, and said Hi to Billy when he arrived, but had no-one to socialise with until Plum turned up with some Rye friends (and, shortly afterwards, Holly Palmer and her friends). When Rufus and Bonj had turned up, I was asked if I could stand in the monitor room while they played, just in case the mics started feeding back (in which case, I'd be ready to turn them down or off). I agreead, and Bonj said he'd collar me when they were ready. A bit later, I had a tap on the shoulder, and turned round to see a stranger in a cream safari suit and blonde wig. It was, of course, Bonj, in character as Hannibal Smith, so I went with him to the booth and he showed me what I might need to do. The rest of The A Team that night were Rufus as BA Baracus (but a green Mr T this time, which I thought was meant to be seasonal), Matt Jukes as Face, and Billy as Murdoch (Paul was absent in Wales, so at least it was a 4-man A-Team again). The venue had filled up a bit more by this point, so there was lots of dancing once the audience realised what the gig was all about. After only one or two songs, it was time for Rufus to shout 'Happy New Year' stuff, then it was on with the tunes. Pete Wilkes popped into the booth a few times, to check I knew what I was doing, and make some adjustments to the mics and lighting, but otherwise I mostly filled the role of unofficial cloakroom attendant for people such as Christa, and sounding-off man for some amiable, but very drunk, emo guy in a local rock band. A-Team highlights included the theme from Fame (with note-perfect Bonj solo) and Home And Away (with affectionate duetting by Rufus and Bonj, all high-notes hit, just about). I flicked the mics off afterwards, and Rufus shook my hand with his green one, and got me a drink. They went off to get changed again, and I wandered around, watching people dancing to garage records (where had this group of kids, for whom 'Stray Cat Strut' was the totemic tune, come from? And where were they when Billy Childish played a few months ago?), but was feeling a bit left out, and so rather than hang-on for the others to make it back downstairs, I just decided to walk home. However, Nichola called me over as I went past The Dragon, and persuaded me to come inside to catch up with Rebecca. It was another private-party, but Paddy was happy for me to come in, so I ended up getting an exciting New Year's Eve bit of socialising done at the last moment after all.
Monday 1st January: In the afternoon, I walked over to my parents, and got a text on the way from Nick and Melinda, who were heading to Hastings to catch up with us all for a couple of days. After some time with the family, a bunch of us drove over to Caroline & Michael's flat, which is where Nick and Melinda caught up with us. We all went back to my parents and watched The Sarah-Jane Adventures with the kids, then I got Nick and Melinda back to the Old Town to dump their stuff. We walkd back through the rain to Smugglers, where Southernwood were onstage. I'd never seen them play after all these years (in fact, I was several years behind the news when I found out Alena had joined them) so I was really pleased to see them at last, doing a wayward but endearing fragmented take on the US left-field. We'd arranged for my sister and her husband to come along while they were in the UK, and they brought my Mum along too, which was fine, although some drunk European student lads mistook her for the picture of the Queen on their £10 notes. I chatted to family and friends, and then Rumiko got up to play their first set. Unlike some occasions, when they may do a slow set first, with a faster one later, played two full-energy sets that evening, so my family did get to see them going off at full tilt. My folks went off home afterwards, and I got drunk catching up with Nick & Melinda while we waited for Regular John to set up (which took ages, for some reason). They played a blinder though, and lots of people took photos and films, and the Europeans danced like loons, and asked me where the 'sexy Queen' had gone... I said Hi to the likes of Christa, Reuben, Ollie, Danielle and Alice, and waved at Plum and her crew, who'd occupied the pool table. Rumiko were finally up for their second set, and it was great (oh, if only they and the 'John had got their albums out in 2006, as I was expecting...) and Nick formulated plans to make a proper film of next year's New Year's Day special (both he and Melinda work in film and photography over in Toronto). After the bands had finished, the bar stayed open for the revellers, but (as he always does) Ewen refused entry to any latecomers after 11pm. At one point, this included a large group of guys who happened to be black, which was misconstrued by a couple of the punters as being racist on Smugglers' part, and as some kind-of white-victory by some tosser of a barfly. Dean and Rufus made sure the guys understood why they weren't allowed in after 11 (everyone, unless they've been doing bar-work or a gig that evening, gets treated according to the same rule, so me, Paula, Reuben, Rufus and Dean, for example, have also been refused service by Ewen in similar circumstances), and generally smoothed things over, though a couple of people walked out in sympathy. That clouded that part of the evening only a little, and after reluctantly accepting a couple more drinks from my mates, I knocked it on the head for the night, and left Nick and Melinda with the spare keys so they could make their own way back home later.
Saturday 16th December: Step had organised a Christmas gig at Venue M in George Street (formerly De Niro's, formerly George Street Hall), and I went along with Caroline. We were too early, as the bands had been a bit disorganised, so went along to the Hastings Arms for a drink first. When we got back to Venue M a bit later, the DJ was playing that great Fog single, followed by a MBV/Chapterhouse shoegaze face-off, so the omens were good. Jonathan Martin and a couple of friends played first, and carried off the job of warming the place up well (the venue was still filling-up), and I caught up with the Rumiko lot. The Dawgs came on stage and played some of that zydeco, and we realised that tonight was the social choice for almost everyone we knew: Tim Hoyte; Alfie & Robert; Tara, Caragh and Jackie; Rebecca and Anna; Josie; Harvey and Logan Wilson; Emma and her partner Sacha (also Step's drummer, it transpired); and all the other friends and partners of the various groups. Patrick and Helen turned up very briefly too, and we all got confused when we couldn't see them anywhere (they could only have stayed for a few minutes, I guess). Reuben turned up, intending on DJing later, and we agreed that I'd pop home at some point to get a few bits of vinyl to help him along. The pace of the evening dropped a bit during a set from Zoe Konez, which was fine, but by this point I was getting hyperactive, so I ran back to my house and pulled-out the records Reuben needed. Ella appeared at her door offering Cava, so I dragged her down to Venue M too (though she didn't stay long either, once she'd caught up with a handful of her friends). Rufus had been manning the sound-desk all evening, but when he was due on stage, we roped Harvey in to perform the duties. Rumiko Jr played a vibrant set, culminating in a double guest spot from Alfie on harmonica, and Step on fiddle, for 'We Get Lost'. Step stayed up there for his headlining set, as Tymon Dogg & The Quickening (who I think were the aforementioned Sacha; Muz, once of The Heaters, on bass; and Simon Shaw - who'd played earlier with Jonathan - on guitar). By this point I was very merry, and either my hearing was going, or the sound had got a bit mushy. I ran around giving Christmas hugs and kisses to lots of people (and probably promised loads of thing I don't remember), before realising I was on the verge of passing-out, so I grabbed my records back from Reuben in the DJ booth, and got quickly back to bed.
Tuesday 19th December: I was down to my last few pounds, but wanted to pop to Revolver to see Dean play. I'd had a bath in the evening, so my hair was sticking up all over the place as it dried, and I'd been reduced to some very holey clothes while I did my laundry that evening, whcih meant I looked a bit of a state when I got down to the bar. I spent my money on the only pint I could afford, and sat with Jonathan and Rufus while Dean, accompanied by Simon Shaw this time, played his first set of the evening. I noticed Christa sitting at the top of the room, with a big flashing badge on, so I realised it was her birthday, and went over for a chat with her. She was out with one of her brothers and several of her friends (some of who'm I knew, such as Paul, and some that I didn't), and was having a great time, but I knew I wasn't going to be sticking around too long that evening, so I left their group with a promise to try and catch up at the Winter Solstice gig at The Carlisle a few days later (I didn't make it in the end, as my sister and her family flew in from Australia that evening). In ordinary circumstances, I may just have asked one of my friends if they could stand me a drink (though I'm always quite reluctant to do so, but I generally accept when they're offered, and hope I remember to buy that person one back in return soon after), however, I was aware that I looked even more of a pauper than I actually am, so I apologised to Rufus that I'd miss his set, and said my goodbyes to Jonathan, Dean & Danielle, Alice & Steph, and went home to do something else.
Wednesday 20th December. Rumiko Jr had a pre-Christmas gig at Smugglers for Ewen's birthday, and when I got there, Regular John were lining-up to play too. It turned out also to be Andy Warren's birthday, and he'd asked Zoe Konez to play, so it was quite a full night. However, I must confess that I can't remember very much about it at all (my memories will have been smudged-over by the New Year's Day gig at the same pub). I did say Hi to Helen and Patrick, which was a relief, 'cos I thought they were blanking me at Venue M the other day, which wasn't the case at all, it turned out; but mostly I just sat by the pool table with a mized bunch of folk, and watched the music. I know it was good to see the boys from the 'John, 'cos I'd not caught up with them for about a month; and I recall Michael was working and wasn't able to play with Rumiko; but the rest of the night is just flashes of dissecting the state of the local scene with Marcus, Deano & Rufus. Maybe my photos (which I'll try and upload into this Blog entry at some point) will illuminate things further.
Friday 22nd December: It'd been my day-off work, and I'd spent a while at home, before Carolyn Fouracre and Roschendah texted to get me to join them down at The Dragon in the evening, where they'd gone after the Council's Christmas event that afternoon at St Mary In The Castle. I joined them, and a schoolfriend of Carolyn's, with the intention of just staying for one drink, as I was going to catch Jonathan Martin at Smugglers, before heading to the Brass Monkey for yet another Rumiko gig (Dean later admitted he wore himself right out in this run-up to Christmas). But after one pint I'd changed my mind, and stayed with them for another couple, before Roshendah decided she ought to get back over to Bexhill, whilst me and Carolyn and her friends went along to the Royal Albion for a bit of karaoke. I'd had enough to drink to make me agree to sing 'Fairytale Of New York' with Carolyn, and by the time the song came-up I was able to pull-off a just-about passsable Shane MacGowan, whilst Carolyn's Kirsty MacColl performance mostly involved whispering "Stu, it's your line! Oh, shit, it's mine..." in place of actually singing. I looked up, and people were indeed leaving the pub: excellent! Afterwards, some drinkers told me how bad my singing was: yay! We all got a lot more drunk, and there was a bit of Christmas snogging, until it was decided that I'd accompany Carolyn to The Carlisle, where there was some kind of function going on upstairs. In order to appear more casual about us arriving together, she introduced me to a guy she wanted to hang out with as "My gay friend Stuart" (Having already been introduced to Carolyn's mate down The Dragon as "Our bisexual S&M pornstar friend Stuart" I was getting used to this). I'd totally missed my plan of seeing Jonathan do his Katjam thing at Smugglers, so I made my excuses and went straight from The Carlisle to Brass Monkey to see Rumiko. As with Step's gig the previous weekend, almost everyone I knew was out, but on this occasion I was already drunk when I arrived, so I'm not really able to report exactly who was there. I sat with Caroline before Rumiko played, and I danced a lot with Kim and others while the band played, and then I think I said some rather daft crush-style stuff to Alice and her friends (and, indeed, sisters, I suspect) before finally doing something sensible, and heading home. Although I did (for the first time in years) think it would be a good idea to get a kebab in George Street, and even noticing myself swaying unsteadily on my feet in the mirrors in the kebab shop didn't put me off. I ate most of a lamb doner, and put the rest of the meat down for the cats when I got in. Needless to say, they enjoyed their midnight feast (either they licked their dishes clean, or the garlic sauce dissolved the encrusted cat food), and therefore didn't wake me up for their breakfast the next morning, meaning I overslept for work (which is an annual habit for me at Christmas now).
Sunday 31st December: New Year's Eve, and almost everyone I knew was going to a party at Hayley & Marc's place, but I favoured going into town to see The A Team at Brass Monkey, expecting there to be more of my friends there than anywhere else. Before I went out, though, I finished off the task I'd set myself earlier that weekend, namely finally assembling Anti - the new Dizzy Tiger compilation album (this required much last-minute texting, phone calls, and trips to Smugglers and Michael & Caroline's flat to pick up CD-Rs with other tracks on. Mission accomplished, I went into town around 10pm, and walked straight into a near-empty Brass Monkey, which was a suprise. I sat on my own with a drink, and said Hi to Billy when he arrived, but had no-one to socialise with until Plum turned up with some Rye friends (and, shortly afterwards, Holly Palmer and her friends). When Rufus and Bonj had turned up, I was asked if I could stand in the monitor room while they played, just in case the mics started feeding back (in which case, I'd be ready to turn them down or off). I agreead, and Bonj said he'd collar me when they were ready. A bit later, I had a tap on the shoulder, and turned round to see a stranger in a cream safari suit and blonde wig. It was, of course, Bonj, in character as Hannibal Smith, so I went with him to the booth and he showed me what I might need to do. The rest of The A Team that night were Rufus as BA Baracus (but a green Mr T this time, which I thought was meant to be seasonal), Matt Jukes as Face, and Billy as Murdoch (Paul was absent in Wales, so at least it was a 4-man A-Team again). The venue had filled up a bit more by this point, so there was lots of dancing once the audience realised what the gig was all about. After only one or two songs, it was time for Rufus to shout 'Happy New Year' stuff, then it was on with the tunes. Pete Wilkes popped into the booth a few times, to check I knew what I was doing, and make some adjustments to the mics and lighting, but otherwise I mostly filled the role of unofficial cloakroom attendant for people such as Christa, and sounding-off man for some amiable, but very drunk, emo guy in a local rock band. A-Team highlights included the theme from Fame (with note-perfect Bonj solo) and Home And Away (with affectionate duetting by Rufus and Bonj, all high-notes hit, just about). I flicked the mics off afterwards, and Rufus shook my hand with his green one, and got me a drink. They went off to get changed again, and I wandered around, watching people dancing to garage records (where had this group of kids, for whom 'Stray Cat Strut' was the totemic tune, come from? And where were they when Billy Childish played a few months ago?), but was feeling a bit left out, and so rather than hang-on for the others to make it back downstairs, I just decided to walk home. However, Nichola called me over as I went past The Dragon, and persuaded me to come inside to catch up with Rebecca. It was another private-party, but Paddy was happy for me to come in, so I ended up getting an exciting New Year's Eve bit of socialising done at the last moment after all.
Monday 1st January: In the afternoon, I walked over to my parents, and got a text on the way from Nick and Melinda, who were heading to Hastings to catch up with us all for a couple of days. After some time with the family, a bunch of us drove over to Caroline & Michael's flat, which is where Nick and Melinda caught up with us. We all went back to my parents and watched The Sarah-Jane Adventures with the kids, then I got Nick and Melinda back to the Old Town to dump their stuff. We walkd back through the rain to Smugglers, where Southernwood were onstage. I'd never seen them play after all these years (in fact, I was several years behind the news when I found out Alena had joined them) so I was really pleased to see them at last, doing a wayward but endearing fragmented take on the US left-field. We'd arranged for my sister and her husband to come along while they were in the UK, and they brought my Mum along too, which was fine, although some drunk European student lads mistook her for the picture of the Queen on their £10 notes. I chatted to family and friends, and then Rumiko got up to play their first set. Unlike some occasions, when they may do a slow set first, with a faster one later, played two full-energy sets that evening, so my family did get to see them going off at full tilt. My folks went off home afterwards, and I got drunk catching up with Nick & Melinda while we waited for Regular John to set up (which took ages, for some reason). They played a blinder though, and lots of people took photos and films, and the Europeans danced like loons, and asked me where the 'sexy Queen' had gone... I said Hi to the likes of Christa, Reuben, Ollie, Danielle and Alice, and waved at Plum and her crew, who'd occupied the pool table. Rumiko were finally up for their second set, and it was great (oh, if only they and the 'John had got their albums out in 2006, as I was expecting...) and Nick formulated plans to make a proper film of next year's New Year's Day special (both he and Melinda work in film and photography over in Toronto). After the bands had finished, the bar stayed open for the revellers, but (as he always does) Ewen refused entry to any latecomers after 11pm. At one point, this included a large group of guys who happened to be black, which was misconstrued by a couple of the punters as being racist on Smugglers' part, and as some kind-of white-victory by some tosser of a barfly. Dean and Rufus made sure the guys understood why they weren't allowed in after 11 (everyone, unless they've been doing bar-work or a gig that evening, gets treated according to the same rule, so me, Paula, Reuben, Rufus and Dean, for example, have also been refused service by Ewen in similar circumstances), and generally smoothed things over, though a couple of people walked out in sympathy. That clouded that part of the evening only a little, and after reluctantly accepting a couple more drinks from my mates, I knocked it on the head for the night, and left Nick and Melinda with the spare keys so they could make their own way back home later.
posted by stu huggett at 10:57 AM
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