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BLOG: 24/07/08 Another busy week. Last Thursday to Saturday were gigs in Reading, Didcot and Southsea. All three gigs went down really well, and thanks to everyone who came and saw us. Next up was an HMV instore appearance in Norwich. A quite surreal experience, and only a short set, but great fun. HMV provided some particularly large security guards to look after us, which made us felt like Mcfly! We're grateful to HMV for hosting the gig, and also to PMT Norwich for providing the PA for us. Tuesday saw us visiting Oli's old school as they were celebrating the end of term and also their 50th Anniversary, so we did a half hour set to hundreds of very loud high-school children. Our small PA struggled somewhat to compete against the screaming kids, but everyone had a great time and I think a lot of young teenage girls in Norfolk are now in love with Oli....! Wednesday was an incredible day. We travelled to the Robin 2 in Wolverhampton to support Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen. Jon Cleary is Bonnie Raitt's keyboard player, and tours with his own band (The Absolute Monster Gentlemen) playing original New Orleans funk. Our set seemed to go down well, but I was unprepared for what came next. We're all big fans of Jon Cleary, and we knew we were in for a treat, but they were even better than we could have dreamed of. The band were amazingly tight, played fantastic songs and put on a great show. I have run out of words to describe how good they were, so do yourself a favour and check out their Cd's and if at all possibe, catch them live. And as if that wasn't enough, the band were also really friendly and chatty - we spent a lot of time hanging with them that evening. For me, drummer Eddie Christmas was particularly cool - unbelievably funky drumming, played with conviction, style and groove, with some ridiculous chops thrown in when needed. I've started using an extra snare drum on the kit (after months of Oli and Fred pestering me!). It's a Premier 10" x 6" auxiliary snare, and it sits to the left of my hi-hat. Also I've had a change of hi-hats - now I'm on 15" Paiste 2002 Medium hats. We have a quiet August this year as I am taking 2 weeks holiday, and Oli is then away for 3 weeks touring in America with Blinddog Smokin'. Some time to relax! Then it's back to work in September and October including gigs supporting Devon Allman and Walter Trout. More soon, and thanks for reading. Simon
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