Finally, a day off! But not from making bottles and changing nappies!
Well, what can I say? Things have changed a lot since the last time as I'm now a father, which as some of you know, is the most incredible feeling in the world. I know I never mentioned Mel being pregnant on here at all, but I just hate to tempt fate and didn't want to say anything until we knew everything was ok, which it is of course. Elliot Grace is settling in well at home, she loves her milk and is being really kind to the both of us by sleeping through the night. She's 4 weeks old this Saturday and already she's changed. It was a really emotional time when she was born, the labour was very long and very painful for Mel but I am so relieved that they are both healthy. I'm also incredibly proud of Melissa who has taken to motherhood so naturally, seeing the two of them together is just so amazing, they have such a bond. Thanks for the kind emails you've sent too, it means a lot.
So, onto other things then. A week or so after Elliot was born I was in Newcastle for a Marshall Roadshow there, and then in Penrith for the guitar show there which was over 2 days. All shows were great, the attendance gets better and better and the crowd loved it, especially the people who hadn't yet seen the Marshall Band, let's just say we made an impression.
The following week there was a leaving party for Jim's driver, John Kent. John has been driving Jim round (the bend) for over 20 years and has given up a lot of his life to do it. It's sad that he's moved on now but it's about time he had some time for himself, we will miss you Johnny boy. It was great seeing a lot of the guys from Marshall, and it was Elliot's first party which she slept through until about an hour from the end, and we were the last ones out!!
So, onto the craziest week ever I think. Last Monday (5th) Waysted all hooked up in Nuneaton to rehearse for the the tour, it all came together really easily and was sounding great. Before the tour started on the Thursday, I had 2 Marshall shows in Wales to do, the first on Tuesday (6th) in Newtown, and then onto Bridgend the following day (7th). Both shows went down a storm, with around 250 at each one. The crowd seemed to all be a little reserved for the first half of each show but by the end were louder than us, and that's frickin' loud!
The following day (Thursday 8th) we were back in Nuneaton to start the tour with a little warm up gig where we'd rehearsed on the Monday, at the Queen's Hall. Pete made the wise move of getting married to Rashida the day before, so of course he turned up completely sober. Not. We got through the show fine, but there were a few words had after, just to clear the air so the rest of the tour ran smoothly. The following night (9th) we were in Hednesford, a strange phoenix nights type place as it's a full on rock venue, with an all you can eat chinese in the backroom. I ain't complaining though 'cos the food was all good! And so was the show, the crowd were totally into it and it's great to finally come out and meet the fans on this tour, we played really well too. The next night (Saturday 10th) we rolled into Paignton in Devon, again, great gig although it took me nearly 8 hours to get there as the M1 had been shut, it took me over 2 hours just to get to the bleedin' M25! I turned up late so we couldn't soundcheck, but it didn't matter, we played fantastic again, Pete, Fin and Paul are really kickin arse. I headed home after the show and got home around 3am Sunday (11th) morning, got up at 9am, and headed to the Motorcycle museum in Birmingham to do the guitar show there with Marshall, it was a quick in and out type thing but Rob picked Farid up from the airport, met me there and we went on and rocked the place, after we were done I headed down to Bristol to continue with the tour. Everything had been going fine up to this point, and it was just a shame that some piece of shit decided to break in to my car which was parked in the NCP across from the venue. Here's a piece of advice to the waste of skin that did it: It's a simple rule, if your going to break in to a car, at least have the courtesy of doing it properly and going in the glovebox etc. This sad fuckhole just saw the coins in my coin tray, which amounted to no more than £2.50 and smashed the window for that, had he spent more time he could have had my CD's etc. Oh well, I didn't lose anything.
The show that night at the Bierkeller in Bristol was even better than the the previous shows, we're just constantly bettering ourselves. I got home that night and was pretty fried after doing 2 gigs in a day and having to drive home with no window, it kept me awake though....ha ha!
The next night (Monday 12th) we were in Dudley at JB's. It all went really well, and the sound on stage for me was probably the best so far. After a day off, we were on home(ish) soil on Wednesday (14th) in Milton Keynes, nice short drive up the M1. Once again, killer gig and we all seem to be getting used to the set now and trying different things within the songs. Especially 'Love Loaded' in which there's a tribute to our heroes. Confused? I just don't want to spoil it for those of you who havent seen us yet. So there you go. We've had a couple more days off to recoup and ready to go back out stronger than ever. We go to Cleethorpes tomorrow then onto Leeds, Sunderland, Glasgow (know you guys can't wait), Sheffield and finish in Sutton. Thanks to all the fans who have come out and enjoyed it so far, you guys really know how to make a noise.
Sadly last week I recieived the bad news that my friend Eric Roche had lost his battle with cancer, if you ever saw Eric play you will know that he was the most incredible guitarist, making everything seem so natural with rhythms and melodies. If you knew Eric as a person then you'll know he was one of the nicest people in the world. There are a lot of people who will miss him, including me, but I'm sure he's in a much better place now, jammin' with the best.
CG
Well, what can I say? Things have changed a lot since the last time as I'm now a father, which as some of you know, is the most incredible feeling in the world. I know I never mentioned Mel being pregnant on here at all, but I just hate to tempt fate and didn't want to say anything until we knew everything was ok, which it is of course. Elliot Grace is settling in well at home, she loves her milk and is being really kind to the both of us by sleeping through the night. She's 4 weeks old this Saturday and already she's changed. It was a really emotional time when she was born, the labour was very long and very painful for Mel but I am so relieved that they are both healthy. I'm also incredibly proud of Melissa who has taken to motherhood so naturally, seeing the two of them together is just so amazing, they have such a bond. Thanks for the kind emails you've sent too, it means a lot.
So, onto other things then. A week or so after Elliot was born I was in Newcastle for a Marshall Roadshow there, and then in Penrith for the guitar show there which was over 2 days. All shows were great, the attendance gets better and better and the crowd loved it, especially the people who hadn't yet seen the Marshall Band, let's just say we made an impression.
The following week there was a leaving party for Jim's driver, John Kent. John has been driving Jim round (the bend) for over 20 years and has given up a lot of his life to do it. It's sad that he's moved on now but it's about time he had some time for himself, we will miss you Johnny boy. It was great seeing a lot of the guys from Marshall, and it was Elliot's first party which she slept through until about an hour from the end, and we were the last ones out!!
So, onto the craziest week ever I think. Last Monday (5th) Waysted all hooked up in Nuneaton to rehearse for the the tour, it all came together really easily and was sounding great. Before the tour started on the Thursday, I had 2 Marshall shows in Wales to do, the first on Tuesday (6th) in Newtown, and then onto Bridgend the following day (7th). Both shows went down a storm, with around 250 at each one. The crowd seemed to all be a little reserved for the first half of each show but by the end were louder than us, and that's frickin' loud!
The following day (Thursday 8th) we were back in Nuneaton to start the tour with a little warm up gig where we'd rehearsed on the Monday, at the Queen's Hall. Pete made the wise move of getting married to Rashida the day before, so of course he turned up completely sober. Not. We got through the show fine, but there were a few words had after, just to clear the air so the rest of the tour ran smoothly. The following night (9th) we were in Hednesford, a strange phoenix nights type place as it's a full on rock venue, with an all you can eat chinese in the backroom. I ain't complaining though 'cos the food was all good! And so was the show, the crowd were totally into it and it's great to finally come out and meet the fans on this tour, we played really well too. The next night (Saturday 10th) we rolled into Paignton in Devon, again, great gig although it took me nearly 8 hours to get there as the M1 had been shut, it took me over 2 hours just to get to the bleedin' M25! I turned up late so we couldn't soundcheck, but it didn't matter, we played fantastic again, Pete, Fin and Paul are really kickin arse. I headed home after the show and got home around 3am Sunday (11th) morning, got up at 9am, and headed to the Motorcycle museum in Birmingham to do the guitar show there with Marshall, it was a quick in and out type thing but Rob picked Farid up from the airport, met me there and we went on and rocked the place, after we were done I headed down to Bristol to continue with the tour. Everything had been going fine up to this point, and it was just a shame that some piece of shit decided to break in to my car which was parked in the NCP across from the venue. Here's a piece of advice to the waste of skin that did it: It's a simple rule, if your going to break in to a car, at least have the courtesy of doing it properly and going in the glovebox etc. This sad fuckhole just saw the coins in my coin tray, which amounted to no more than £2.50 and smashed the window for that, had he spent more time he could have had my CD's etc. Oh well, I didn't lose anything.
The show that night at the Bierkeller in Bristol was even better than the the previous shows, we're just constantly bettering ourselves. I got home that night and was pretty fried after doing 2 gigs in a day and having to drive home with no window, it kept me awake though....ha ha!
The next night (Monday 12th) we were in Dudley at JB's. It all went really well, and the sound on stage for me was probably the best so far. After a day off, we were on home(ish) soil on Wednesday (14th) in Milton Keynes, nice short drive up the M1. Once again, killer gig and we all seem to be getting used to the set now and trying different things within the songs. Especially 'Love Loaded' in which there's a tribute to our heroes. Confused? I just don't want to spoil it for those of you who havent seen us yet. So there you go. We've had a couple more days off to recoup and ready to go back out stronger than ever. We go to Cleethorpes tomorrow then onto Leeds, Sunderland, Glasgow (know you guys can't wait), Sheffield and finish in Sutton. Thanks to all the fans who have come out and enjoyed it so far, you guys really know how to make a noise.
Sadly last week I recieived the bad news that my friend Eric Roche had lost his battle with cancer, if you ever saw Eric play you will know that he was the most incredible guitarist, making everything seem so natural with rhythms and melodies. If you knew Eric as a person then you'll know he was one of the nicest people in the world. There are a lot of people who will miss him, including me, but I'm sure he's in a much better place now, jammin' with the best.
CG
