Silvia Bluejay

Best thread EVAAR!!! And happy new year to you too. 😎

@Clarky Jack is not allowed to sell the surf green Lull. Or the Chowny for that matter. End of. 😎

I think the parking situation there may have changed for the worse since the 90s, though.

Yes it is. And so are Happy Jack's basses. The curly lead is, however, ambidextrous. Next question? 😛

I think you mean The Aeronaut (next to the police station) - that burned down a few years ago and has been rebuilt and refurbished. I don't remember what it was before becoming The Aeronaut but I think you're right about the name. Edit: unless you were referring to the Chatsworth, of course, which did not burn down but may well have changed name.

The Red Lion And Pineapple is still there, still not doing music. The Chatworth opposite does DJs and Sunday live bands. The King's Head opposite the George and Dragon has been gutted and refurbished and is now a wine bar. The John Bull has long been renamed The Gunnersbury and lost its mojo re. music - they still do some, very occasionally, but the owners sold part of their back yard to developers about 10 years ago and now they have got flats with complaining neighbours if they make noise (quelle surprise). The George IV and the Tabard are the two decent music pubs left in Chiswick.

HJ and I used to live in Chiswick. We know that pub well, have played there and seen friends' bands there. ☺

'Acton' is a place, Blue (a suburb in West London), so that's meant to be a pun.

We've just tested it - sounds absolutely fine. But yes, we always have plenty of spare 'everything' in our cases at gigs.

Incidentally, I've found the perfect rig for our new purchase... 😉😛

Nah, it's a very nice place, but space for the band is tight. We've played there before, so we know the drill. We'll be fine.

Yup, very true. We were talking about that with HJ. And it happens to be the only Fender item I have in my whole rig, so that's another first for me.

Rockabilly NYE gig in a posh gastro in the Chalfonts. I'll be confined to a square foot space in front of the band, by the main entrance, with my tablet and the cameras. But it should be fun.

PS looks like it does come in Fiesta Red! Load the photo above and zoom in on the bottom right hand corner.

The look is more understated with two of my own basses.

My favourite colour is mint* green. While I have no basses in that colour for one reason or another, @Happy Jack has no fewer than two. The supercool curly lead is his Christmas present to me - but I'm so going to lend it to him at the next Damo And The Dynamites gig, when he'll be playing the Lull for a few numbers. 😎 *a.k.a. SURF green. 😉

Having said that, the load-in was OK compared to most of what's been described here!

The by now Basschat-infamous White Hart in Hemel!

Yup it is! We played there the first time when @Happy Jack was depping with a band who only did old-school, big, very heavy equipment. We played there again a few times with The Junkyard Dogs, every time putting lighter and lighter gear in the van, knowing what expected us. Then we stopped bothering to get gigs there.

We have the whole of the PA in our car for every gig, as well as the bass rig and, for Damo And The Dynamites, the double bass and the guitars with their rig (as well as Damo himself, but he hasn't needed to be carried anywhere so far!). I also have lights, roller banners and photo equipment to carry. So yes, we now tend to select only those venues where parking and load in are not too much trouble.

You may also remember The Victoria Club in Aylesbury. No legal parking in front of the club, and the hall is up two flights of stairs, requiring a quick load into the entrance hall downstairs - while keeping an eye on parking wardens - followed by carrying everything up the stairs. Same in reverse at the end of the night. *shivers*

I've checked their website, and I see that they still haven't got a lot firmed down in terms of star guests and their slots, especially on the Sunday. (Now, where have I seen this situation before, I wonder...? ) We've got a gig on the Saturday, so that day is a bust, which is a shame because, so far, it looks like the better day to attend. On the other hand, the Sunday is all 'TBC' so we may still be surprised.

Posted on BC Twitter and Facebook as planned!

Making a note of that as we speak. See you there.