Let's Do The Show Right Here (16/03/13)

Which actually became a genuine, serious idea that nearly happened in the real world

Is it unseemly for a man of my advancing years to still think it's a good idea to get the band back together?

Okay, a quick recap. Those of you who've been following this will be aware of this little bit of backstory, those who haven't and are interested can scroll down. It's all down there somewhere. 

But to sum it up briefly;

1984, there was Boyish Daze. Four of us. Lasted a year. There might be a tape somewhere but I doubt it.

1985 to 1987 we were Vanilla Beserk, couple of different line ups, never really had a 'definitive' line up (but I know what it would have been) played The Fire Station in Bootle a lot, supported a band made up of ex-Dexys members once, went on holiday, came back, split up, I've talked this one through. It ended badly, I was basically asked to leave my own band. I wasn't happy about this. For a long time. But I'm a grown up now, I'm past that.

I do realise though that I've never really indicated what we sounded like. First Kaiser Chiefs album 15 years too early would be fairly accurate, although when Oasis first appeared Andy (bassist in Boyish Daze) rang me and told me that what they were doing was what I'd been doing in 1983. He was right.

Then there was nothing. Again, for a long time. I got this new guitar with some money I had. J suggested that I ring Mally (bassist for Vanilla Beserk) and see what he was up to. We got together.
We got in touch with Geoff (drummer for both bands) and suddenly we had a band in their mid 40s looking for a singer. Just like we'd been in the eighties but a lot greyer.

And, as we had in the 80s, we found a singer on our doorstep. First it had been Pete, Geoff's cousin. Then it was Mark, Mally's next door neighbour (3 of us in the same road, best way to start a band). This time it was Geoff's son. 14 going on 15, it seemed like a mental idea at first but he was a good singer and an equally good guitarist so what the hell.....

We rehearsed on and off for so bloody long that by the time we finally gigged our singer was 16 going on 17. We got to play the Zanzibar and The Cavern before Mally decided that he didn't really want to do this all over again. He'd played in plenty of bands in the time that me and Geoff had been 'retired', he wasn't getting the same novelty that we were (and, trust me, there is very little in life more enjoyable than being on stage with a guitar in your hands when you haven't done it for twenty years.) So we drafted in one of the singer's mates on bass and had a handful of gigs before the two of them started Uni and we split up again.

And that's it. My gigging days over.

Unless.....unless....

Now this is the daydream; I'm 50 in October. I may have mentioned this. Our kid asked me a while ago what I was doing for my birthday. It hadn't occurred to me to do anything for my birthday other than weep softly in a corner somewhere; to lament my quite definitely, no two ways, can't argue with the facts now, lost youth. But what if I hired a club? What if I got everybody together for just one night!

We could play all those songs that we stopped playing in the mid 80s, we could play the stuff that we only finished with two years ago. We could have both singers on stage sharing vocals, we could have keyboards again. God, we could even hunt down the violinist that we had at the end of 86. We could be epic. 

Any issues that any of us may possibly have had with each other at any point (and lets face it, I've listed a few) would be gone. It would be perfect.

And as daydreams go, its a pretty damn decent one. I've got the setlist ready, I know who I'm inviting, I know how great it would be. It's a daydream that can last until I get the first Facebook message saying "errrrmmmm, no. Don't think it's that good an idea TBH"

But in some alternate universe it's happening. And, if by some chance this daydream stepped back on stage in this actual reality, then that would be it. That would be enough. I would hang up the guitars and stop dreaming about 'getting the band back together.'

Yeah, right.

Of course I would.