It started when we found out that The Arc wanted us there for 5:30pm, unheard of in our history of gigging. So at 2 o'clock I hurriedly rang Nick (who lives in Sheffield) and luckily found out that he was not at work but rather in bed! He had decided to have the day off. So he said he would set off soon and be in Boro about 4ish. Phew. Then I rang Hussain the keeper of the van to make sure he could get the van down in time. No probs, 4ish he would arrive. Phew. Then I checked with Richie and he had already decided to finish early, but he suggested getting Shauno on his way. Sorted. Neil (aka Curly), the promoter, also said he would prefer us not to bring a kit, because one of the other bands was bringing a kit and they only wanted 1 kit for all the bands. OK, fine, no kit but we would bring everything else.

So, about 5 o'clock we set off, kitless, got to the venue on time. Rang Curly to let us in and he did sound genuinely surprised. So it was probably 5:30 for 6 type job I guess. Anyway we unloaded using the goods lift and we were good to go. No other bands yet. Then Tens and Units arrive...without a kit! They then said that they had told Curly that it was a real pain for them to bring a kit, to get us to instead. So in the end we went off to get the kit, well the 3 guitarists did, the drummer was keen to snag the Fontleroy title and stayed!

The gig itself was a 14+ job. We haven't done an all-ager for years. But they are good, cos the young blighters get all excited which beats the apathetic attitude of people once they reach the legal drinking age. And we played very well indeed. Shauno even did the "touch the audience's hands" thing on Fleethouse, hordes of the juniors were rushing to reach out to touch him. Twas funny. Anyway a good 'un that. And I could even have a drink because of the generousity of Hussain who was driving. Hussain was also in love and as such was naturally intoxicated anyway (see pic).

The next day was Darlo at Club :FACT. We were due to leave at 6:30 and had decided to take everything this time after the previous night's debacle. I had spoken to the promoter and he said the other band would therefore use our kit and bass amp. At about 4:45 Nick tells me George is ill so he is going home! Fair enough, you can't argue with that, but I thought we could well be buggered. I decided to try Gillam, drummer extraordinaire, who had sat in at the skatepark gig. I rang, he said "Yes, sound. I was wondering what I would be doing this evening". He also later said we were lucky cos he usually has a drinking mission booked for a Friday night. So off we went a little late but near enough. I had left a message on the Mischief forum, and a few skaters had said they were coming. Sure enough there was a crew out in Darlo, Luke, Lanny, Little G, Boris and more. And it was James' (aka DJ Gumbo Ya Ya) birthday. So I gave him the full collection of 4 Pellethead badges for his birthday, what a lucky man! Thanks for coming boys!

Then the snow arrived, absolutely a ton of it. I was due to drive to Swindon straight after the gig, so I was starting to panic. Luckily after half an inch or so, it stopped.

The Traits went on first with lots of friends watching and then buggered off after their set, and their friends went with them. So with a bit of a depleted audience we kicked off and it was a complete stormer of a gig. Gillam drummed phenomenally well, with nor pratice and no warning. The quality crew that were in seemed to have a good time. Very enjoyable.

So then I pack my car up and have a look at getting out of the carpark and find a badly parked car blocking my path. So I had to wait. AN HOUR LATER we found out it was someone from the bloody Traits' car. I finally pulled into Swindon at 4:20am, luckily just about awake.