Day 251. Paint splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat. (8/9/13)

Okay, I'm a bit late and I'm genuinely really really sorry about that but I've also just a genuinely a really good excuse reason for that.

Tonight, for the first time in three years I rehearsed with a band, with the only band that I actually ever wanted to be in (with the exception of the Bunnymen, The Beatles and The Clash and I was never really going to join them was I?)

There was a degree of trepidation going into tonight, a huge amount of excitement but a slight frisson of anxiety. If tonight went well with just the three of us playing then we could easily add our singer/lead guitarist on top and we were sorted. And I would have a gig for my 50th.

If it didn't then I wouldn't. Was I having a party anyway even if we weren't playing? Was I buggery. No gig, no party. I've no desire to celebrate the idea of being 50, I intend to mark the event 5 days before I hit it by pretending that I'm still 22 and playing songs that last saw the light of day 25 years ago, by getting as many people as I can in a room and basically saying 'here's what I used to do when I was young, before most of the people in this room ever met me, good wasn't it?'

And it was. Good, that is. We played songs that we'd recorded in a small studio in Liverpool in the first week of 1985. Two of those are in the set. We played a song that's always been covered in keyboards on nothing but guitar. That's in. Two songs that Mal had never heard but Geoff and I had gigged together a few times, fisrt one clicked immediately. Soon as I figure out the chords for the second I'll let you know. Both in anyway. Some that all three of us, plus our singer/lead guitarist, played at The Cavern. In the set.

And we worked on a couple of covers for the encores (trust me, we'll have encores, it's my 'do' - no encores, no buffet, simple equation) neither that were expected, one I'd kind of planned but not mentioned and one that we just drifted into but I will 100% guarantee the entire room will love.

And that was my evening. And I'd planned to blog bit by bit in a 'live' fashion as the evening went on but I was basically having too much bloody fun, most fun I've had in ages.

And somewhere in the night the question was asked 'would I be paying tribute to our very first singer with his final words from our very first gig, "thanks you've been a fucking great crowd"?

I admit that I had definitely considered it. I probably won't but in the spirit of  the request I'll say this, and I've said it before but it bears repeating;

Being in a band is fucking great.

J, book the hall. And we're going to need a DJ

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