2023 was a weird one. We started
with a gig in April, for Gerry Watkins and The Moonlight Eclipse
project. Then the jinx set in again. A gig at Brown Street in
Salisbury had to be cancelled when Steve, our drummer, collapsed
after the sound check, and was taken in to hospital. He was
eventually diagnosed with Kidney and Bladder stones. This led to a
long lay off. Steve got operated on, and was on the road to
recovery, when Rob dropped the bombshell and quit on us.
It didn't take too long to replace Rob. Steve was originally our
guitarist back in 2006, but a personal issue led to him being unable
to fill the role permanently. So we turned back the clock, and moved
him to guitar. A new drummer was recruited in the form of Danny
Silvers. Danny was in a band in Calne with Mark and Steve back in
the 1980s and 90s. He is also the drummer with popular local covers
band Homer. After about 3 months of practice, we started to sound
like a band again, which is probably just as well, because our gig
at The Castle in Swindon was looming.
November 11th 2023 arrived, and our first gig with the new line up.
If practices were anything to go by, then all would be fine, and
they were. Although, on paper, we had two sets of about 35mins, we
managed to eek out the required 45mins for each. The venue were
happy, we were happy. The next chapter of this band had just
started.....
Hot on the heels of the Castle gig, was a return to the Cotswold in
Cheltenham. This came about, due to Shaggy pinging emails around,
telling promoters and venues about the Castle gig, and that we felt
ready to hit the road again as a gigging band. The only date where
the venue had a free night, and we were all available, was November
24th. Unfortunately, our jinx struck again, and the gig had to be
cancelled due to Marks car developing an alternator fault on the day
of the gig. He and I are the only drivers in the band, and the
cheapest van hire we could find was £169.
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