all five horizons

About a year ago, my husband bought himself a bass guitar since he has been wanting to learn to play for years.  It was very pretty and sat happily in our lounge on a stand in the corner. It was picked up occasionally and was a conversation piece but that was about it. Finally, ricardo got round to finding himself a tutor so that he could learn to play in earnest. And learn he did! He clearly has a natural ability for it and enjoys playing immensely. Then a couple of months ago, his tutor told him about one of his other students who had a band that needed a bass player.  And so began my husband’s rock career.

Their first gig was a short 3-song set at an open-mic night at a local pub. While people drank and ate, band after band took to the stage to play an eclectic range of music. I waited feeling completely nauseous. I realised I had turned into Francie who acted like such a jerk when Charlie sang in public for the first time. I didn’t want to be embarrassed for them. Or by them. Most of all, I didn’t want them to make a tit of themselves. I had no idea how good they would be or what they would sound like. I think I was easily as nervous as they were. I needn’t have worried. Sure, they were by no means polished - they still had a lot of work to do - but they sounded good. No, they sounded really good.

The band consists of a 15-year-old lead singer (I could be him mum - completely depressing) with a voice which is more mature than you would expect. Bluesy and strong but still needs to be honed.  The others are all about to go off to Uni which makes ricardo at 29 the grandpa of the group but easily the best looking (although admittedly I am biased).

Last night, the band (called Lucille) played their first full set at another local pub in front of friends and family. It was a roaring success and they should be feeling very pleased with themselves. To have come so far in such little time is fantastic. What is less fantastic is packing about the gear in the pouring rain afterwards but until they start their arena tour, I fear a few more grotty nights in my future of hauling heavy crap around in the rain. They still have a lot of work to do to improve and hone and polish but that’s only natural. And though I didn’t really expect to be doing the whole local band thing again 15 years after I was doing it the first time, I can’t say I’m not enjoying it. Now I just need to make a t-shirt that says ‘Bass Players Do It Better’ to really nark my mum!

For my own benefit as much as anything, I am going to attempt something I have been meaning to do for a long time, namely, list all the bands I have seen live. This will involve a lot of research to remind myself what year (and if I can find it, venue) I saw them. I have started a new page where I will build my list - I will post each time I make a significant update. This is the list so far with upcoming gigs (well, gig) and 2007’s shows:

Upcoming:

Foo Fighters, Wembley Stadium, London

2007

Stereophonics, NEC, Birmingham
Foo Fighters NEC, Birmingham
Serj Tankian, NEC Birmingham
Foo Fighters, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
Snow Patrol, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
Pink, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
Kanye West, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
The Fray, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
The Thrills, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
Dizzie Rascal, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
The Hoosiers, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
The Fratellis, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire
Goo Goo Dolls, V2007, Weston Park, Staffordshire

I would have seen more at V but it rained on Saturday meaning we ended up drinking FAR too much Lilt with vodka and so we went to bed while Kasabian were on the stage. Rock n roll.

One of the best gigs I have been to was the Green Day concert at Milton Keynes bowl in June 2005 (how was it nearly 3 years ago? God, that’s scary). This is a band that really knows how to work the crowd, play some rocking music and also inspire young (and not so young) kids all at the same time. I challenge you to find me one person of the 65,000 there that did not get blown away. And if you do find them, give them a slap from me. The weather was perfect - hot and sunny - and the beer was flowing. We had our good friends around us. The gig itself was a perfect mix of all the old favourites, the new (at the time) American Idiot album and a couple of kooky covers thrown in for good measure. They got some kids up on the stage to jam with them (I choose to believe these weren’t plants!). We bought the live album and everytime I listen to that, I get goosebumps.