As an alternative to just showing you the gigs we are about to do, we thought it might be interesting to show you where we have been and a brief description of what it was like.

This is also our way of thanking the venues for their support and allowing us to entertain their customers.

Road to Hell (2002 Dates) | Road to Hell (Jan - Apr 2003) | Road to Hell (Current)

23 September 2003 - Wedding Party

19 September 2003 - The Cow, Beeston

And lo, normality returneth with a bang!

Yes, Robin was back once again, despite comments about him leaving the country at the first sign of a really important gig! He has also been warned that he needs to keep certain dates available next year to avoid a repeat of the situation. Not that Rick wouldn't mind doing it again!

Tonight's gig was a return to a venue that provides a good stage area and a good audience so we were looking forward to the prospect.

Coincidentally, the gig was also an opportunity for Paul's brother to really celebrate his birthday so he was bringing quite a number of people. We seem to recall there was another birthday at the show we did here last time.

Anyway, since quite a number of people at the front had seen us before, there was quite a lot of calls for oddball numbers, whether as a challenge or just because they wanted to hear their favourites. Could this be why we started off with a "Bucks Fizz" number and included a Billy Ray Cyrus tune as well?

You could say that the night's set was very varied but then again that's pretty much what we do so no change there then. The only difference was the scope of some of the material. Fancy including songs by Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, AC/DC along with Clarence 'Frogman' Henry and Chuck Berry.

Almost as usual there was a bit of Paul showcasing his guitar skills, with suitable encouragement from his brother, the guest guitarist slot and Huw and Paul flying about the stage. We even had the swap instruments act with Huw ending up on guitar and Paul on bass.

One unusual part of the night was Huw forgetting the words to "Paranoid" when it came to him signing and Paul reminding him of what they were. Huw now thinks that there is a bit of a conspiracy going on forcing him to do lead vocals when he doesn't really want to.

All we can say after the event, is thanks once again to the management and staff of the Cow and thanks to all the people who came out to see us, bought T-shirts and said nice things about us. We are already booked in here again so we look forward to entertaining you all in January next year.

13 September 2003 - NABD Rally

# It waaaaaaasssss Friday morn, when we set sail...

Well, actually it was Friday afternoon. Paul had set off with his caravan in tow (SHED DRAGGER!) for Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire, site of the NABD "Autumn M'Nabd'ness" rally. Huw (and Ped) had set off for a hotel about 10 miles away from the site. Where was Robin... ?

Well, Robin was in Scotland. He had booked his holidays some weeks before hand and couldn't cancel. We had auditioned a number of drummers a few weeks before to ensure that we had a Robin replacement for the rally. After much debating, it was decided that Rick Mercardo (part American, part Portugese and 100% insane) was to fill his place.

By 9:15 Saturday morning, the Beer Monsters (and replacement) were assembled at Cornbury Park to find out what the agenda for the day was. We were competing in the Battle of The Bands and would be required to play (in the Beer Tent - result!) a number of times that day. As we unloaded the gear, we were accosted by members of the previous night's bands - impressed by the quality of the amps! (Marshall and Ashdown should be paying us commission). That made us feel a little more settled, so we chatted away with fellow musos.

By mid afternoon, there were just two bands left - ourselves and a four piece band called The Mojo. We each had to play an hour long set and then the results would be announced by 5pm.

Both bands did their best to entertain. The Mojo (all under 25 and eye candy for the ladies) played a storming set of originals and covers, including rocked up versions of "9 to 5" and S Club 7's "Don't Stop"! Then it was our turn (all over 35 and eye candy for the undertakers)...

We started out with some of the usual songs, "La Grange", "Boys are Back in Town" and soon had built the crowd up. It was at this point that we pulled out a couple of blinders. We launched into "Summertime" with Paul playing some of the best licks we've heard in a long time. The entire tent went silent (even to the extent of the people running the bar stopping serving so that they could listen). We then played "Sharp Dressed Man" and wandered off into the audience, which raised a few eyebrows. Then we did the opposed fly-past, followed by the "pass the guitarist through the bass player's legs" to much applause. We got back on stage and finished our set, throwing in more of the classic rock stuff people have come to expect from us like "School's Out" and "Alright Now".

We sat around, beers in hand, waiting for the judges to decide. Then the announcement came over the mic. A unanimous decision - we'd won!

Our prize was a trophy, to support the main act that night, to be one of the main acts at next year's Autumn rally, and to be a main act at the National Rally.

So at 7:30pm, having been suitably fed and watered, we took the stage again. The place was packed!

We had been told by Rick (The NABD chairman, not the replacement drummer) that we had to make sure we played "Summertime" again, which we assured him we would, but apart from that and a couple of other numbers that were requested, we tried to ensure that we didn't repeat anything we'd played earlier. "Summertime" gained the same response as previously (the sight of that many bikers stood in silence is awesome!), "TNT" got everyone shouting back the "Oi!", and "Johnny B Goode" saw the crowd treated to the "Find a guest guitarist" slot. The assembled crowd got a full hour of Beer Monster-y fun and they seemed to like it.

When we'd finished our slot, Rick from NABD came on stage and congratulated us on our performance. The shouts for an encore were deafening. After we came off stage, a lot of people came and got contact details from us, with promises of slots at their rallies and parties, so we hope that works out..

We would like to thank Rick and Jules from NABD for letting us play. Hopefully you'll be seeing more of us on the rally circuit now.

30 August 2003 - Private Party, Balderton

Church halls across the land look out, the Beer Monsters aren't afraid to play there after this gig! It was good from our point of view with a large raised stage area to perform on, something that we don't get very often.

With all of the gear set up and Paul having worked out how the stage lighting could be used to enhance the look of the stage, we set to work to entertain a new audience. With such a mixed age range, it was difficult to know where to start but after Paul asked people to come up and tell us what sort of stuff they would like us to play, we had a fairly steady stream of people asking us to play their favourite songs. Where we could play them, we did.

Some of the suggestions like Buddy Holly, Black Sabbath and Status Quo (spit) were easy to incorporate but others like Van Halen's 'Jump' were a little difficult since that song is mostly played on keyboards. We did however do 'You really got me,' which although originally done by the Kinks, the version we play has more in common with Van Halen.

Playing three forty five minute sets meant that we could mix the material up so that unexpected surprises like 'Dance the night away' by the Mavericks could appear out of the blue and get people moving on the dance floor. We even had to play 'Down, Down' by Status Quo twice to allow the bar hangers (I wondered if this was a typo for "Head Bangers" - Ed) to come out from their hidey-hole and strut their stuff in front of the whole room.

When all is said and done, the night was for one reason and that was Dave's 40th birthday celebration so we couldn't have asked for more when he pronounced himself more than satisfied with how things had gone. It was also the case that quite a few other people took contact details with a view to perhaps giving us a call at some point in the future too. It therefore looks like we will be playing this area again soon.

As with all of our gigs, we cannot help but thank the audience there and the organisers of the event but an extra special thank you for this one goes to the unknown person at The Navigation Waterfront in Newark who when Dave spoke to them looking for a band to play for him, recommended us. We really appreciate it when people are this enthusiastic about what we do and how we do it. As a result, we are really looking forward to playing there again in November and enjoying the unique atmosphere that is always there at the venue.

29 August 2003 - The Old Volunteer, Nottingham

Up until the 8th August this was going to be another party type show here but that changed with the passing away of Sam Burgess from The Drains. What was going to be The Volo Fest in aid of the Julie Cotton Foundation was suddenly, and quite rightfully changed into a celebration of the life of a talented young musician taken away from the audience far too early in life. We were honoured to be the lead off band for the weekend and hoped that we could set a high standard and get the collection for his family off to a good start.

It was good to see so many friends and musicians turning out to remember Sam and equally it was especially gratifying that the remaining members of The Drains were there too. It was as much about showing them our respect and appreciation as it was about Sam.

Luckily, Paul was almost fully recovered from his cold and we were up to full strength on the amplification front so we were ready to entertain in our usual good time way.

Kicking off the set with 'La Grange' proved that the original accusation, that this was Paul's current favourite, was wide of the mark since it was Huw that asked to start with it!

With so many people in, many of who had seen us before, we were soon getting songs suggested and once again where we could, we played them. The first set was a very mixed bag of material that garnered widespread approval and, after a gentle reminder from Paul, had people putting their hands in their pockets and chucking their loose change into the collecting bucket.

In the second set, with even more people having arrived, the party tunes came out to be played and we soon had people dancing and singing along to stuff like 'Hi Ho Silver Lining,' 'Wig Wam Bam,''Addicted to Love' and our classics of 'Spirit in the Sky' and 'Tainted Love.'

With the end of the night upon us, and the audience seemingly refusing to leave, Lol agreed to us carrying on a bit longer on condition that people drank their beer and in a moment of inspiration, suggesting that they all pay to get out of the venue.

Finally, after the last strains of 'Purple Rain' had faded away, people started to leave and it was truly wonderful to see people being as good as their word and chucking money into the bucket on their way out. All we can say is that we can't thank you enough for your generosity. The total raised on the night was over £225 and with two more full days of the festival, it looks like the target of £1,000 is achievable. We are only sorry that due to commitments elsewhere on Saturday evening, we won't be able to return to support the cause until Sunday.

Thanks again to Lol & Kev of the Old Volunteer, Jim, Simon and Rob from Joker, John from Congo's Secret Chimps, and last but by no means least Sam and Phil from The Drains.

28 August 2003 - The Merevale, Nuneaton

After having to cancel at the last minute when we were booked in here last time, we nearly had to do so again because Paul had been suffering from a bad cold. Being the 'true professional' that he is, he gamely pumped himself full of the usual suspects and managed to get through the night in fine voice.

According to the staff, the town centre was pretty much deserted probably due to the drizzly conditions, so that accounted for the low turnout that we found when we got there.

In an effort to keep things under control and to save Paul having to carry loads of stuff about, we had decided not only to use the little rig but Paul had not brought his mighty Mode Four. This was substituted by Robin's Randall 80watt guitar combo, an amp that Paul regularly wants to buy but Robin never sells.

Without the monster guitar power available to Paul it was up to us to keep a lid on the overall volume to get a balanced sound between all of the instruments. With the quieter material this was easily achieved but on the rockier stuff, it became a bit of a struggle. There's not much competition if you get 80 watts of guitar amp up against 575 watts of bass amp so the Randall was pushed to the verge of breakup.

Unusually for us, we were asked to play three thirty minute sets which meant that Paul's voice had more opportunity for rest but didn't make it easy to capture the audience. The choice of material was as eclectic as usual but we didn't seem to be getting much feedback. Polite applause greeted each tune and there were a few calls for specific songs but not the usual clamour. It wasn't until after we had finished that people started coming up to us and saying how much they had enjoyed it and when were we going to be playing there again. The sense of relief that we got from this was palpable and meant that we look forward to giving the venue the full works next time.

Thanks to the staff for making us feel welcome. We hope to see you all again sometime soon.

22 August 2003 - The Horse and Jockey, Basford

The topic of conversation after we had set the rig up, was what sort of stuff were we going to do for the audience. Huw’s suggestion was that it was going to be a ‘different’ night with lots of varying styles and plenty of goofing around. He was proved more than right since, at a guess, something like 75 percent of the stuff that we played was not on our list of songs.

We kicked off with what seems to be a favourite of Pauls, ‘La Grange’ by ZZ Top. After that who knows what we played because the regulars that had seen us before knew just what Paul is capable of coming up with and forcing the band to play along to.

Choose your own description of the set if you will but material ranging from country style, line dancing material to Donny Osmond, Elvis, The Chieftains, Ray Charles, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Dire Straits etc made for an interesting, if challenging night for Huw and Robin. We were busking almost from the off and hardly let up all night.

Our newest addition to the set, ‘Dizzy,’ last recorded by Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff, got an airing segued in from another track the title of which escapes. But all said and done the only issue was whether we had entertained the people who were there. Judging by the comments of the people as they left at the end of the night, we think it worked.

Thanks and congratulations go to Marie, the landlady, for not only asking us to play at what was effectively her party, but for keeping us in beer all night and for keeping the venue going and making it pay, a feat not previously achieved there for quite some time.

Thanks also to Ali & Doreen for coming along to support us and for demoing some of their material to us with a view to Paul arranging it ready to be properly ‘Monstered’ at some point in the future. Who knows, you might end up on a guest slot at a future show here.

As always here, we were glad to return and see some familiar faces as well as hear some familiar calls for songs. Thanks for enjoying what we did and coming to see us, we hope that you will continue to support us when we play here again.

16 August 2003 - Private Party for Trent Wings (Goldwing Owners Club)

How do I describe this gig? What were the best bits? Sitting here at the keyboard it just seems like a blur despite their being no mind-altering drugs involved – well except a little alcohol!

Before the event, we had been told that the room was only small so that suggested using the little rig but as the big rig had not been unloaded from the previous night, it was available. This was an accidental good move since although the room was not very big, it was big enough to need the extra power and with the room filled with people the sound was punchy but controlled. Just how we like it!

The organisers were happy to let us choose when we went on and how long we played for but they wouldn’t let us just drink beer! Anyway, with the bar open until the last person had left, we decided to give the party our best shot and do three sets.

Kicking off the set with ‘La Grange’ had widespread approval and obviously set the tone for the evening. During the course of the show, after we had played a few numbers, people were leaving beer mats with requests and also shouting them out. I can gladly report that the suggestions didn’t include any from Cliff Richard. Two gigs in a row without any mention of the alleged vice free one. Excellent!

Requests for ‘Parisienne Walkways’ by Gary Moore, were a little wide of the mark in as much as that track does require a lot of work and at this stage we were not ready for it. We even had a request for ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica so Huw and Robin got to show off that they knew it, even if Paul didn’t. That should raise the pressure on him to learn it when we get chance to rehearse together next.

As the evening progressed not only were we treated to the sight of some customised three wheel Honda Gold Wings all lit up, but we stormed through playing as much high voltage rock’n’roll as we could, aided and abetted by Gerry playing similar stuff on the disco between sets. It was enough to get the room rocking and plenty of people dancing

During the night and after we had finished, we were really quite embarrassed by the compliments paid to us about what we played and how we played it. You made us feel like rock stars and for a trio of fun loving entertainers, that was praise indeed.

We would like to thank Jules for first of all drinking with Huw, and probably help fund his drink hobby, but also taking the chance on him recommending we play for you. We think we passed the audition and we are already looking forward to a repeat for the Christmas bash.

Thanks also go to Gerry for being the main man in having the event, running the disco and having a birthday on the same day. No less a vote of thanks should go to the bar staff, all two of them, for keeping everyone supplied with ale and also taking time out to dance the night away when they could snatch a moment.

15 August 2003 - South Wingfield Social Club, South Wingfield, Alfreton, Derbyshire

This place is certainly different from many of the venues we have played at. For starters, it is out in the countryside yet attracts a good audience that really appreciate what we (and others, it must be said) do. Secondly, and we don't remember this before, there was a burger van parked outside. If we had known that beforehand, some of us wouldn't have forked out our hard earned into the stuffed coffers of the giant golden arches.

As an example of the quirky nature of the venue, whilst we were unloading gear, two women walked past with two cute little donkeys. As they passed the sign advertising our show, one was heard to comment "Oh, the Beer Monsters are back!" Could she have been warning the donkeys that they were in for a great night or something different? Our hope obviously was the former!

Alan, the promoter told us to go on stage at 9:30pm since one of the club regulars was having a stag do and they were going into Ripley to start off with and intended to return to the club at about 10:00pm so he didn't want to miss too much.

We weren't sure what to do for the first number of the first set, but for us that's not unusual. Luckily, Liz was on hand to make up our minds and suggested that as the signs all said the Beer Monsters are back, and bearing in mind the donkeys' predicament, we started with Thin Lizzy's 'The Boys are Back in Town." An excellent choice as it turned out which got the audience on our side right from the word go.

The first set continued in a mixed vein with some slow or steady numbers so we could save some of the up tempo stuff for later when the stag do returned. There seemed to be some Hendrix fans in so as a refreshing change nobody asked for Cliff Richard material during the night. Result!

With the return of the stag party in time for the launch of the second set we started off gently with Fleetwood Mac's 'Albatross' or Albert as we call it. The pace then quickly grew faster. But the place really took off when we started up a medley of 70's tunes. 'Wigwam Bam,' 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' some Bay City Rollers, Slade and other material had people up on the dance floor and going for it. That's always energising for a band and so we pumped in our rocked up versions of 'Sweet Dreams (are made of this)' and 'Tainted Love' to keep them moving.

With the end of the night rapidly approaching, there was a request for 'Johnny B Goode' so Paul got to demonstrate what can be done by one man, one guitar and one mighty amplifier. Having said that, both he and Huw went off into the audience with Paul once again cajoling solos from members of the crowd.

At the end of the night, the cheers and clapping were really appreciated and even better, Alan has asked us to return in November so we are all looking forward to coming back and rocking the place, hopefully with some new material for you to enjoy.

Thanks to Alan for booking us for this and November's date. Thanks to everyone who came, including we were told, people from outside the locality and a big thank you to the club for providing an excellent venue with a great atmosphere that bands want to play in. Your success in this is not mirrored everywhere so it does you proud.

9 August 2003 - Bingham RFC

The short journey to the venue raised our expectations enormously with large fluorescent posters advertising our gig located along the route. It felt like we were almost famous.

Reaching the pavilion, we found that the room was not large enough to accommodate the big rig so we didn’t bother with it, nor did we bother to mike up the drum kit expecting the volume to be a potential issue.

Having set up the gear, we all wandered off outside to try to keep cool in the heat of the evening and had a bit of a chat to some of the audience who were also outside for the same reason.

The general consensus of opinion within the band and the promoter was that we should go steady for the first set and then depending on the audience’s reaction, perhaps add the energy for the second set.

If the posters had massaged our egos, the fact that as we went to the stage to kick off the evening, Jimi Hendrix was playing “The Star Spangled Banner” did them no harm either!

Picking up on the Hendrix theme, Paul decided to start with “Little Wing” which was greeted with polite applause. Paul spoke to the audience after the song, suggesting that they were a little classier than we had come to expect!

The set continued in a gentle vein until Paul made comment about the fact that we had been advertised as playing Blues and Rockabilly and so as not to fall foul of the description we would do some of this type of material – even if it meant Huw and Robin learning the songs very quickly!

Three or four numbers followed in that style, all of which were totally unfamiliar to the rhythm section but which the audience appreciated.

It was shortly after this that Huw’s amp decided to start to play tricks on him causing his sound to disappear. Despite swapping basses, changing from the radio pack to a direct cable connection and other general fiddling, he couldn’t seem to coax more than either a loud buzzy noise or almost no signal.

Realising that this might take some fixing, we completed the first set and cobbled together a back up solution only to find his amp working perfectly once again for the rest of the evening.

The second set kicked off with “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits and by this time the audience numbers had swelled, the serious drinking had kicked in and the requests for strange material began. We have often found ourselves on the end of this kind of thing and it is quite strange how the name Cliff Richard almost always comes up. Is it through a genuine respect and appreciation of his material or is it the only name you can come up with that is supposedly cheesy enough that a local blues/rock band are unlikely to know it. I know I can’t figure it out so answers via e-mail or on the message board please!

With the audience increasing, our ‘support act’ also turned up. So when we started ‘La Grange’ by ZZ Top, Mick joined us on stage to blow some harmonica and since it is now a regular feature of this number that Paul and Huw go off into the audience, Robin found himself with company on the stage for the first time since probably Mick last supported us!

As we drew closer to the end of the evening, the louder, bouncier material made an appearance and drew appreciation especially when Paul decided to show off some guitar tricks during ‘Johnny B Good.’ He certainly hasn’t played guitar with his teeth in quite a while so that was a particular treat. Perhaps his dentist thinks so too!

Following permission from ‘The Management,’ Paul introduced the last number by explaining that unless we did it, the bass player wouldn’t get driven home! From the reactions of the audience after the last chords of ‘Free Falling’ had died out, it looks like it was a good choice to end on.

We would like to thank everyone for coming, for Rod promoting the place as a live music venue and for booking us as the first band to play there as part of this promotion. We all hope to see you again soon.

3 August 2003 - Bar Oz, Nottingham

Haven’t we been here before?

There’s a strange sense of déjà vu about this gig. Let’s see.

Is this Bar Oz? – check.
Is this the last night before a refit? – check
Is there alcohol available? – check
Is Gordon an Australian – check

Yep, we have done this before! Seriously though, the last time we played here was supposed to have been the last ever night of Bar Oz before the refit but builders being builders, they decided to delay starting work so we were booked to do it all over again.

Fresh from Wrexham the previous night, all three of us were up for it and there were plenty of familiar faces to cheer us on, heckle us or ask for daft songs. It wouldn’t be a real Beer Monsters gig unless there were elements of all three present to some degree.

Gordon had told us to do whatever we liked during the evening so this seemed to act almost like a red rag to a bull and we went for it big style. If it wasn’t for our token Australian performer, Chris Foss, who introduced some taste and decorum to the proceedings, we would have exploded!

Bar Oz seems to attract a very mixed audience and it has always been the case playing there that we get asked for the most bizarre material. Tonight was no exception but we were not to be beaten so when someone suggestedsongs by “The Wurzels” we trotted out “I’ve got a brand new combine harvester” and “I’m a cider drinker” in quick succession.

It was at this point that a small group walked in who claimed to be from Birmingham and who were “slumming it” in Nottingham to celebrate birthdays. Being suitably refreshed they were not afraid to give of their time and voice so when Huw spotted their accent we set off playing anything we could think of by bands from Birmingham. Duran Duran, Black Sabbath and Slade tracks all got played.

Taking the ethos of trying to please the audience as much as possible was taken to a new extreme when we did a Stones number following a request by the doorman during one of our beer breaks. He certainly didn’t seem to expect Paul & Huw to join him outside at one point and start running up and down St James Street. Of course if he had seen us play there before, he should have known. It’s just too much of a temptation for them to resist.

Sadly all good things must come to an end and so after the last note was played and we started to pack the gear away, Gordon and the rest of his staff swung into action removing virtually anything that wasn’t screwed down – Gordon had even been removing shelves during the gig as well.

So it is really going to happen this time. Bar Oz is no more and we will have to wait for it to reopen as whatever before we can take up Gordon’s generous offer of free beer all night.

Thanks to everyone who came to see us, to Gordon for having us back and to Matty, the bar staff and doormen for making us feel welcome once again. See you all again soon.

2 August 2003 - The Talbot Bar, Wrexham

The Talbot is quite a change for us being a cellar bar and right in the centre of town, the real bonus though is that the PA system is provided so that meant we were travelling somewhat lighter than for other shows. Result!

Having carried the back line and monitors downstairs, we soon had the stuff set up and did a quick sound check before sitting down for a well earned beer or two.

There were a few familiar faces in the audience which is always good but there was quite a mixture of people there so we knew hoped that what we would play would suit as many of their tastes as possible.

The audience gradually increased in size but we learned later that there was a rally on locally that was probably drawing people to it so the venue was never as packed as when we were there last. Undeterred though, we set off on the first set playing a very varied selection of tunes to see just what floated people’s boat.

It soon became obvious where the majority vote lay so for the second set, the rockier side of our set list came out for an airing.

Once again, Paul & Huw decided to partake of one of their quite frequent strolls off into the audience before producing the now regular “opposed flypast” and “solo between the bass players legs.” (I really need another description for this since it doesn’t necessarily show just how insane it is and besides, I’m bored with typing it!)

There were quite a lot of shouts for us to play different material and we tried to oblige as far as we could but there are some people who clearly think that we are far more capable than most and are able to reproduce tracks that have a lot more musicians normally playing. You can’t imagine what a boost for the ego that is.

Anyway, after we had finished, we were congratulated by plenty of people and we were all glad that you came and enjoyed our brand of music.

As always, we would like to thank the audience for parting with their cash to see us, we hope to be back in the area again at some point so we will see you all then.

27 July 2003 - The Running Horse, Nottingham

Billed as “the best of the local bands who play here,” (thanks Barry) meant that we had a lot to live up to but as we consider this to be perhaps our homecoming gig, we weren’t about to let the billing get in the way of us having a good time.

It was good to see some familiar faces including half of Joker amongst the audience. This was particularly appreciated since we knew that Joker had played elsewhere in the afternoon so had made a big effort to come down and support us after coming off their own stage so recently. Big thanks to them for that (Robin, you're showing your age! These days it's "Big up to da Joka Massive!"... Ed).

Talking about Joker, the previous evening had been Jim, their bass player’s, birthday and to celebrate he had organised a “Woodstock Revisited” evening featuring us and The No Name Band as well as themselves. Having played there last night in a 60’s & 70’s theme, it seemed like Paul wanted to include some similar material so as the night progressed we ended up playing things like “Wigwam Bam” much to the amusement of Barry watching from his usual bar stool. It must be said that it is probably only us who could get away with playing such cheesy material in a venue like the Runner!

Sadly, although Paul and Huw wanted to do their usual trick of wandering off into the audience, Paul was having technical problems with his wireless pack and had to keep swapping back to playing using a cable. One of these days he will get into the habit of keeping on top of which batteries are new and which should be chucked out, never to get anywhere near his transmitter again.

Thank you to Barry for booking us despite the band not necessarily fitting the usual blues based stereotype. We will try next time not to over run our time. Thanks also to Mick, Everton and Dave who also came along. Sorry that we didn’t really have time to get you on stage with us this time.

19 July 2003 - Private Party, Calverton

As private birthday parties go, you couldn't get much better than this. An open house with large gardens within which kids and adults alike could enjoy paddling pools, water slides, bouncy castles, garden tractor rides, plenty of food, plenty of drink and a small marquee with some Beer Monsters in it playing loudly until close to midnight.

With all that going on, it was a good job that the farm was well away from other homes and that the owners of the houses closest to the venue were at the party too.

The weather played it's part too since although there was a bit of a breeze to start off with, which caused a little bit of modification to the marquee, it calmed down nicely so that in the end it was a nice warm evening allowing people to site or stand outside with their drink of choice and take in the music and atmosphere.

With such a mixed audience, we had to be careful to pitch the right material at the right time and to try to meet the myriad disparate requirements - anyone for "Bob the Builder" or The Tweenies' Theme tune?

The first set started off gently complete with a row of kids sat in front of us entranced by our activities and, we learned later, desperate to get our autographs. It wasn't long though before some of the more up tempo material made an appearance which got a few feet tapping and some people singing along.

ZZ Top's song "La Grange" had Paul & Huw disappearing off into the audience in a quest to find previously undiscovered talent on guitar and sure enough there were a few budding soloists found.

Taking a beer break allowed us to grab some food and more drink, Paul rediscovering his love of cherry bakewell cakes, before returning to carry on where we left off.

Andy, the birthday boy came up to join us on joint lead and backing vocals during a few tracks and this resulted in an unusual occurrence for us. During Delilah, the stage area was bombarded with items of lingerie, we presume for Andy's benefit but it certainly made us feel famous, especially after signing a few autographs for the kids during the break.

Again, during the night, Andy revisited the stage and kept us topped up with drinks (including whilst we were playing!). Apparently at one point Paul drained a whole bottle of Stella whilst continuing to crank out the guitar part. Well, we are not known as "The Water Monsters" are we?!

With the end of the night rapidly approaching we decided to slow things down and let the audience dance to a few slow, romantic tracks before finally thanking everyone there for making a great night of it.

We would like to thank Angela, for taking the recommendation of a friend and booking us without seeing us, feeding us and keeping us in beer, Andy for providing great entertainment for all the guests as well as keeping us in beer and singing with us, and the rest of the audience for saying such nice things about us. We were glad to have provided the entertainment for such a great night and since Andy won't be 40 again, making his party a memorable one.

18 July 2003 - Bugman's Bar @ Games Workshop, Nottingham

This was billed on our site as a "corporate booking" but what a spectacular venue it turned out to be. The booking alluded to the fact that the venue in Games Workshop's factory was designed to give the feel of a bar belonging to a mythical dwarf brewer called Josef Bugman ( see http://www.games-workshop.com/news/uk/events/warhammerworld/bugmans.htm for more details) but that didn't prepare us fully for what to expect.

On arrival, since Paul had been delayed on the way home in his truck, we were intent on getting set up and going as soon as possible so as not to disappoint the crowd of people there. As such, we didn't get to take in the surroundings until during our first beer break but seeing the heraldic insignia, stone & wood flooring, torch holders and the like was all very impressive. The Medieval Hall, located next door and set up for game play was also a sight to behold.

We had been given a clue of what to expect of the musical tastes of the audience so it wasn't long before the louder, rockier material was getting an airing and Paul & Huw's amps were cranked up higher than normal, the bar being large and mostly wooden so the sound needed to travel.

The stage area, raised above the main floor gave us a good view point into the audience and the area immediately in front of it also served well as a "flight path" for the now infamous tomfoolery that Paul & Huw got up to. It was perhaps just a shame that we didn't learn, until after the event, that they could have climbed onto the trestle tables and walked down too. We now know so next time that could happen.

During the beer break we got talking to some of the audience and found a guitarist who fancied having a go, so armed with this knowledge coupled with the fact that Mike, the bar manager, wanting to get up and sing a song with us, we set off into the second set pumping out some raucous material which seemed to meet universal acclaim. Our guest artistes also got up with us - first of all Pete played guitar on a Hendrix number and then later Mike came up and sang Stormy Monday. Both guests earned their applause and we couldn't fault them at all.

Sadly the evening had to come to an end and we had to pack up and leave but we are hopeful that we will be back since we enjoyed ourselves so much and we want to do it next time with an even bigger PA system so that we can really fill the room. Thanks go to Mike for booking us and making us the first band to play there in quite a while and also plying us with drink, singing with us and making us feel most welcome.

6 July 2003 - The Old Volunteer, Nottingham

It's all in a good cause!

This gig was in aid of the Julie Cotton Cancer Foundation and had turned from being just us to three bands entertaining the crowd from ahem, around 3:00pm until 8:00pm.

With our PA being used for all three bands this posed a little bit of a challenge since we had to accommodate "Covered in Dogs" requirements for lines into the PA. Good job Robin had remembered to bring his mixing desk which we slaved into the main one. Paul did a great job avoiding too many problems with feedback.

The format was supposed to be us on first, then "Covered in Dogs," followed by "The Mick Rutherford Band" and then back to us again but things got adjusted and we calmed things down a bit after Mick Rutherford with a bit of acoustic blues and harmonica courtesy of Zack.

We started off our first set quite gently to get the crowd ready but as we ramped up the energy it was during a spirited rendition of "School's Out" that Robin's bass drum head exploded - a world first for him! Luckily, Paul Westmoreland from MRB had a spare in their van so during a rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" this was changed by Paul and Robin with each taking turns to play the cymbal parts whilst the other worked on changing the head.

"Covered in Dogs" followed us on with an eclectic mix of material including songs by Snowy White and Tracy Chapman. The audience seemed a little reticent but this could just have been down to preparing themselves for "The Mick Rutherford Band."

After a brief swap over, and a couple of minutes spent by Paul telling their guitarist how to work the Marshall amp, MRB launched into their set. Was it me or did the volume level go up! Having said that, our PA system swallowed it all up, spat it out and was only running at about two thirds of full power so it could have gone louder if we needed to!

Mick included some guests in his spot. First of all Barry Turner joined the band followed by Paul and then finally Simon from Joker since each one of them had at one time or another played with the band. With MRB employing the talents of the guitarist from "Doctor and the Medics" what else could they finish with but "Spirit in the Sky?" That went down well if a little loudly.

Zack's laid back soulful acoustic blues was a welcome relief for all after the sheer volume of MRB and it also gave some of the bands time to catch up or in the case of Barry Turner, time to go out and get some food!

With the evening rapidly approaching a close, we decided to swap things about once again and MRB came back on to play a couple more before handing over to Covered in Dogs who kept the stage warm for us.

To close the show was a real honour after some excellent entertainment from all concerned, it was just a shame that it had to end when it did after news reached Ped that her nephew had been involved in a motorcycle accident and had been taken to hospital. Perhaps when Huw updates the site, he can add the latest news about this so those that expressed their concern can be kept informed. (OK, at 4pm on Monday 7 July, he's stitched, stable and on his way home - with a warning from the doctor - "Wear a helmet, or carry a donor card, your call...")

As a band we would like to thank everyone there for making it an enjoyable event and raising plenty of money, the bands and Zack for playing for free and giving their all in the heat to make it such a pleasurable way to let the audience feel better about parting with their hard earned cash.

Thanks also go to Lol & Kev for providing the impetus for the event and letting us have a blast. We hope that it wasn't too loud!

3 July 2003 - The Merevale, Nuneaton

What can we say here except we are very sorry. Sadly, Paul was delayed (by over 2 hours) in unloading his truck full of cycles by those awfully nice people employed by a major high street catalogue store, the name of which we will leave you to guess. We don't want the attention of their lawyers!

The delay meant that to get back in time to load his car and make the gig would have been impressive to say the least since he was in Basildon, Essex. A truck travelling at over 100mph would have been a sight to behold were it possible without the speed limiter set at 56mph!

This is the first time we have had to pull out of a gig and to say that Paul is particularly unhappy is an understatement. If any of you are on the look out for a reliable Class 1 HGV driver and can offer decent money for a regular trunk run that leaves him free to continue to entertain you all, you should pass the details on to him via the band's e-mail address.

With Nuneaton being a new area for us, we were particularly looking forward to getting to see a new audience and introducing them to the music and mayhem that is part and parcel of our act. Hopefully, we can do something to redress this at some stage in the future.

29 June 2003 - Bar Oz, St James St, Nottingham

This was billed as the event to close the place but unbeknown to us at the time it turns out that the works schedule has had to be put back so we are booked to do it all again one more time.

This was the first time we had played here with all of our new kit so the audience were in for some even higher quality sound and we were in for our usual strenuous lugging of heavyweight equipment. The things we do to entertain!

With the fact that we were starting up with people in the bar that perhaps hadn't expected a loud band we decided to start off gently so Paul called for "Ain't no Sunshine" followed by "Sultans of Swing." These seemed to go down well and we quickly followed that with a quick word from our sponsors before Paul decided that we should continue in that vein with "Unchain my Heart." Paul seems to regularly introduce this number by referring to it as by the bloke with the dead arm (Joe Cocker) but this time he found a "lookalike" in the audience (Hi Nick!) and thanked him for joining us on the night!

The set continued with "Little Wing" and then Bryan Adams' "Run to You" during which Paul forgot that we were missing the second guitarist and proceeded to sing the high guitar part. This was not unusual but the strange thing was he was only reminded after the first guitar break and then by a member of the audience! The beer must have been kicking in by this time already!

After a beer break, we decided to go with the audience's suggestions and rev the energy levels up a bit but certain members of the audience thought that they would challenge us by shouting for some different material. We had requests from an Irish member of the audience for any U2 or Irish song and also a Scottish song.

Not ones to take a challenge lying down, Paul decided that for the Irish element we would play The Chieftains' Irish drinking song even though Paul was certain that he could remember all of the words and the rest of the band weren't even familiar with the music. Having successfully got through that, Paul then started to play "Bullet the Blue Sky" by U2. He could only remember one verse but that was enough to satisfy the Irish element. For the Scots song, we racked our brains to think of something that we knew that was by a Scottish artist but the only thing Paul could think of was "Donald where's yer troosers" so that was what got played.

Since Gordon, the landlord, had said to us that we could play as long as we wanted, we took a quick break after rocking through some high energy rock stuff and when we came back on we felt obliged to play "Paranoid" since Alison had made it known that this was her favourite and that she would be most disappointed if we didn't play it for her. You can't say fairer than that so play it we did. Paul had to cheat a little though since he is still not completely familiar with the words so he had the lyrics printed on a sheet of paper which he took a quick glance at as he played. Bet you all thought he was looking to choose the next song eh?

Anyway, with Paul having to get up really early to drive his truck the following morning, we called time on the event despite calls for more and proceeded to break all the gear down and cart it away. Sorry that we couldn't stay longer but jobs are jobs and all three of us have them and as they pay for all of the equipment that you see in front of you, they do need looking after.

We would like to thank Gordon and Matty at Bar Oz for inviting us back again and being determined that we are the band to close the place. We are honoured to have this privilege. See you again soon!

27 June 2003 - The Doghouse @ The Greyhound, Loughborough

This time, not only was the PA provided but we were supported by a fine local band called "Where the wire leads," (one of their guitarists made a brief guest appearance with us, but more of that later…)

Kicking off the first set with "The Boys are back in Town" was a good way to announce our return and served well to give everyone there an idea of what we are about - well for those who had never seen us before. It seemed only a short while into the set before Paul & Huw were off into their "wander off into the audience" routine and once again Paul managed to find some budding guitarists amongst the crowd.

Premiered live for the first time was AC/DC's song "TNT" and perhaps we missed an opportunity there since there were a few people shouting the "Oi, Oi" chant along with Huw. Later on Paul even managed to remember the words for "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath without needing help from Huw. It was a bit of a giveaway though with him hanging the words up from his mike stand!

By the time the second set started, the audience had swelled and we treated them to a wide range of our "rock" material although perhaps "The Birdy Song" doesn't really fit that description. During this time we decided to do "Wishing Well". Paul explained that on the record, there are actually 2 guitar parts, and under normal circumstances, we couldn't do the second part. However, tonight we had spare kit and spare guitarists sitting around! After a bit of coercion (from us and his mates), our guest guitarist got set up ready for his debut as an honorary Beer Monster - and a fine job he did as well, even when Paul threw him in at the deep end and got him to do an improvised solo in a song he didn't know.

With "Wishing Well" over, we got back to our usual tricks. "Delilah" seemed to go down well, judging by the number of singers mouthing the words of the chorus, and so too apparently did "The Sultans of Swing" after someone had asked for some Dire Straits.

For the final number of the evening, after getting permission to carry on from the management, was "Purple Rain" and once again, there was plenty of singing along.

Once again, we would like to thank those people that travelled to see us, including some of the audience from the "Swan in the Rushes" gig, Russ (Ross?) our sound engineer for the evening, Ped and Nick our road crew and the management for making us feel welcome. We hope to see you all again soon.

8 June 2003 - The Navigation, Newark

"Hello Newark, we're back!"

What a pleasure it was for us to return here again. We all have good memories of the previous show and we were ready to party once again with the enthusiastic audience. Despite competition in the form of the Newark Festival, there were still plenty of people who had paid their good money to be entertained and we weren't about to disappoint them.

Arriving early, we delayed bringing all of the gear into the venue to allow some of the patrons there a little more time to soak up the friendly atmosphere. Once everything was set up, we kicked off with "Unchain my Heart" which was quickly followed by more classic material, which seemed to be appreciated by all present. We even dropped some newer material into the set by performing "La Grange" by ZZ Top.

After the now almost ubiquitous wander amongst the audience, opposed fly past and solo between the bass player's legs, the crowd seemed sure that we were not going to let them off lightly so we fooled them by taking a short beer break.

With the second set, we proceeded to ramp up the energy levels and rolled out such classics as Free's "All Right Now," Alice Cooper's "School's Out" and newer stuff like The Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams (are made of this)." From our point of view, it seemed like everyone in front of us was dancing, clapping, singing or all three which was the effect that we were looking for. Seeing this always revs us up and we worked at it until Paul realised that time had beaten us. Announcing this drew lots of shouting for more which, after getting the OK from the Bar, we proceeded to do. Being the end of the night though, we had to slow it down so "Purple Rain" got an airing to get everyone back on an even keel before they had to depart.

A lot of people came up to us after the show and thanked us, which is always gratifying and we hope that this serves as our own little "thank you" back to you. Specifically, we would like to thank all of the people who showed up having travelled across from Nottingham. Robin would personally like to thank Steve, Mercedes and Esther for finally making it and saying nice words about the whole thing.

Thanks also to Karen for listening to her staff since apparently it was they who recommended us to step in after a cancellation. Obviously, we must also thank the staff who recommended us. We really appreciate all of your support.

We will be back here in November so we look forward to seeing you all again.

31 May 2003 - The Victory Club, Breaston

Another venue where we weren't sure what would be expected from us but where we converted that into widespread appreciation.

Kicking off with "Unchain my Heart" got the audience's attention after the bingo and we were almost immediately handed a couple of notes of what the audience wanted us to play. Sadly, both tracks, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin and "Night Train" by Guns'n'Roses weren't really possible to do well by a three piece band but someone shouted "Dire Straits" so we immediately played "Sultans of Swing" and that seemed to gain us some kudos.

The first set ended with "Johnny B Goode" with Paul off encouraging the latent guitarists in the audience to partake of a quick solo or two much to the amusement of their friends.

After a few games of bingo and Robin drawing the winning raffle ticket to make someone's day, the second set soon had everyone back into the swing of things.

The second set had our usual mixture of up tempo numbers with the inclusion of a new track that we had spent a little time working on - "La Grange" by ZZ Top. To us, it was obvious that this should now form part of the ever growing set list since we played it well and the audience loved it!

We ended the night, despite calls for a further encore, with Prince's "Purple Rain." Considering we had never really worked on it before, this has now also become an integral part of the set.

We have already been told they want us to go back and play for them again so once Dick (the agent) sorts that out, you can rest assured that we will be back.

Thanks to the club's committee and membership for allowing us to play. We look forward to doing so again.

26 May, The Half Crown, Long Eaton

Picture the scene, the Monsters are sitting in their luxuriously appointed rehearsal/recording studio working on some new material as well as knocking back the occasional cold one.

The phone rings and its one of the agents that used to book Paul's solo act. "Do you fancy doing a gig for me this evening?" We think for a moment, how tired are we and then think, well we've just bought some new toys so it would be a shame not to play with them. "OK then, just tell us where and when we are expected!"

Paul has played here before but even though he knew we didn't need the big rig, we wanted to experiment with the new professional drum microphones that Robin had purchased that very day and it would be asking too much of the small PA system to handle vocals and powerful drums.

We got there nice and early to find that we were supposedly replacing a "top duo" so weren't really sure what was expected. The agent soon put our mind at ease as to what kind of stuff we should do.

The first set consisted of some steady material, Dire Straits, Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix and the like and the audience seemed to be loving it so with the second set we decided to up the tempo.

Our versions of "Sweet Dreams (Are made of this)," "Tainted Love" etc were well appreciated. We even had some requests for some rock'n'roll numbers from Paul's past which went down really well.

During "Johnny B Goode" Paul again discovered talent in abundance within the audience since we were treated to some classy guitar solos and the audience weren't sure where to look with both him and Huw playing from amongst them.

We would like to thank Reg & Dick, the agents who booked us in here and who have promised us more work both here and elsewhere so keep your eyes on the web site as another gig has already materialised for next weekend.

24 May 2003 - The Cow, Beeston

You would have thought that with this being the third consecutive night of playing, we would have been jaded but nothing could have been further from the truth. With this being a gig booked to celebrate Charlie's birthday and with Beeston being almost home territory for Paul, there were a lot of people there that knew of us and were looking forward to hearing our music. We even had proof that the Friends ReUnited web site worked when one of Paul's old school friends, Lynn dragged her husband Ken along. (Paul's comment - Ken is not to be confused with Barbie's friend despite the fact that Lynn is blonde!)

The really great thing about the Cow, from our point of view, is that the stage area is far bigger than we have previously been used to. That not only gave us the opportunity of spreading ourselves out more but gave Paul and Huw more posing space without having to disappear into the crowd. That isn't to say that they didn't disappear again, just that they could do more goofing around in full view of the crowd.

We had a hard time keeping up with the many requests for various songs that were being shouted out but we tried our best, Certainly Huw and Robin did sterling work keeping up with some of the left field music that Paul had them playing. They're getting good at jamming out strange tunes straight from Paul's head. I mean, jamming Eddie Cochrane and Cliff Richard material!

Another relatively unusual thing occurred when Dave shouted, as per usual, for us to play Black Sabbath's "Paranoid." This was obviously meant as a bit of a joke since he knows that Paul doesn't know all of the words but Paul decided to give him a verse only to suddenly find Huw taking over lead vocal duties and completing pretty much the whole song. An audience member even commented that he sounded really good doing it. Way to go Huw!

With the large stage area, Paul & Huw could perform their now ubiquitous "opposed running flypast" as well as "between the legs" soloing. At another point during a Hendrix song, Paul even demonstrated playing with his teeth, something he doesn't do too often for fear of needing the assistance of a dentist if things go wrong!

The great atmosphere kept us going until we realised that we were going over time and so we had to finish off there and then. Sadly this is another venue that has difficult neighbours.

We would like to thank all of you for coming to see us and giving us such an enthusiastic reception. Thanks also to the landlady for booking us and also putting us in the diary for another show there. Keep your eyes peeled for details of this date, it is on the web site!

23 May 2003 - Private Party

As a way of celebrating an eighteenth birthday, you couldn't have really asked for a better event. Private room in a popular city venue, food and drink aplenty, a disco and oh, the Beer Monsters!

After negotiating the lift to get all of our gear up to the first floor function room, we squeezed into the area allotted for the band and proceeded to sound check the gear. Concern was expressed that the volume might be a bit much since whilst things were quiet awaiting the guests to arrive, we could clearly hear what was going on downstairs.

As the guests started to arrive and the room began to fill, the DJ started his set and we soon realised that our concerns on volume levels were going to be unfounded. It seemed like he was running his gear hard to keep up with the sound levels that we had produced.

Going on stage straight after the DJ had got people on the dance floor was always going to be a challenge but we weren't disappointed when people stayed dancing.

We were careful to choose material from our set list which we thought would meet with the approval of as many of the people there as we could and since this covered all ages, we had our work cut out.

During the first set, Paul invited the birthday girls, Katie and Kat, up on stage and they impressed the audience with their newly discovered talents as lead guitarists in the Beer Monsters.

It was also during this set, that the audience were treated to the strange site of our new backdrop falling forward and almost covering Robin! How many people noticed, apart from the band that is, that all the while he was covered up with Nick (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~evznd/ for details of how intelligent our crew are!) , our roadie, trying to rescue him, he never missed a beat. Anyone would think that he was some kind of drum machine totally unperturbed by having things suddenly fall on him!

With the second set, it was either the party atmosphere that was really kicking in, our we chose just what was required, but we soon had lots of people dancing and singing along to some rocked up classic pop tunes from the 60's through to the 80's.

All too soon, we had to finish off and the reception that we received was great. Many people commented how much they had enjoyed it and we hope that those people that asked for contact details, will get in touch so that we can help them have another party or event to remember.

Our thanks go to our friend Dave who kindly recommended us to Katie's parents and obviously a big thank you to them for trusting Dave's musical judgement and booking us for this important occasion.

22 May 2003 - The Running Horse

18 May 2003 - The Old Volunteer, Nottingham

Haven't we been here before! We could have sworn it was only a couple of weeks ago and therefore suspected that there might be a lack of an audience. How wrong could we be! It seems like you can't get enough of us fooling around. Thanks to one and all of you.

The stage area took on a different look for this show since we have taken delivery of a large back drop featuring the band's signature character, Red Reg. This was suspended behind Robin and despite Paul suggesting that it would make an excellent feature to the show if it collapsed on top of him, it stayed up all the way through without even a wobble.

With all of our equipment and now the back drop, it is taking us longer to set up and take the gear down at each end of the event, so much so that Paul has asked people to remind us that we are only meant to be a good time band and not just buy every toy in the catalogue. Perhaps our next "purchase" should be a proper roadie with his/her own van so that we can get things more organised? Any volunteers?

Instead of doing two sets, which is the norm for the venue, we ended up doing three to much appreciation, even if it meant that we were still packing our stuff away whilst the DJ set his gear up for the disco that followed us.

One member of our audience, Rob, was celebrating his birthday so Paul asked him what he fancied playing for him at the end of the first set. His response was anything by Yes to which Paul replied that we didn't know any of their material. Strangely enough though, at the start of the next set, just as a tease to Rob, we played the intro to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" which we don't think he was expecting. Perhaps his suggestion was meant to catch us out but failed?

Set two brought out the now regular "guest guitarist" contributions from female members of the audience. A slide guitarist was soon found, and in a departure from previous occasions, a country style guitarist was revealed too. What a talented bunch you all are. It's no wonder we are not going to give up our day jobs when we have an audience as musically skilled as you.

Again in set two, Paul and Huw performed their now legendary opposed fly past and quickly followed that up with the "solo whilst passing between the bass player's legs" routine. There was even an attempt to get in on the act from a member of the audience but perhaps getting close to Huw proved too much and at the last minute, discretion got the better of him.

The third set, included a version of "Mustang Sally" sung by Fiona, one of our long standing friends and it was great to see her back on a stage performing after the pain and suffering that she has had to endure over the past couple of years. Keep getting better Fi, the local music scene wants to see you back at your best.

The band would like to thank Lol and Kevin for having us back once again. Keep an eye on our gig list for further dates at The Volo, and if you're not coming to see us anywhere, why not check out some of the other great bands that play there. The Volo's website can be found through our links page.

10 May 2003 - The Swan in the Rushes, Loughborough

Never having played here before, we weren't sure what to expect in terms of room size and audience. We had been told that the room held about 80 people, that there was a skittle alley within it and that it was about 20 feet wide by about 30 feet long so we took a gamble on the small PA set up. We needn't have worried as we could have done it with an even smaller set up.

After carrying the gear up the fire escape, we began setting stuff up, squeezing it all in where we could. We would like to apologise to those people whose evening was disrupted by our having to move tables and chairs to squeeze into the corner.

The beer festival was in full swing at the other end of the room with casks of delicious ales racked up and waiting to be sampled but we had a job to do so couldn't do more than a small amount of drinking. Such a shame but hey, we are here first and foremost for your entertainment!

Since the primary reason for the event was the drinking of fine ales, we started off at a gentle pace not wanting to frighten everyone there. We kept control of the volumes even though Paul and Huw had brought their high powered equipment.

Restraint is not something that we do regularly so it was good for us to do for a while before the demands of the crowd grew for more rocky, louder material. Funnily enough, even though the sound got cranked up a bit, nobody came to the stage with a hand written message on a £20 note asking us to turn it down as Paul had suggested. We wonder why that was?

For the second set, we were straight in to the louder end of our repertoire and it was good to see some people dancing along despite the confines of the room with all of the people and furniture in it.

Kicking off with Johnny B Goode had all eyes on Paul as he firstly played his guitar behind his head and upside down before wandering off into the throng looking for some budding guitarists. He soon found some willing volunteers and had them playing solos. There was even a first for us when we found we had a slide guitarist in our midst!

More classic rock followed with our rendition of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water. This seemed to go down well on the basis that someone recorded it on their mobile phone, perhaps to use as a ring tone. If you hear someone in Loughborough blasting out Smoke from their pocket, you will know who it was!

As the evening wore on, and more "words were had from our sponsor" we kept notching the energy up higher. Nobody seemed to mind at all, the expressions on everyone's faces showed that this was what you wanted to hear and enjoy.

Sadly, all good things had to come to an end and after Huw's trip out onto the fire escape, ostensibly to check the weather (it was raining) we called it a night only to be told to play on. After another song, we were again told to carry on so we asked for suggestions and once again it was suggested that "What's going on" would be a suitable finale. Everyone was soon singing heartily along with us and with that we decided to finish. If that is what you remember from the gig, good, that should mean you want to see more of the same when we are in the area again.

We would like to thank Ian for taking Marie at the Horse & Jockey in Nottingham's advice and booking us. Additionally, thank you to all of you there, including our travelling fans, who made our first visit to this most excellent watering hole, a truly good night. We hope to see you all again soon.