25th March 2001

Let me begin by saying Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out
there. Low was a top vibe. It is quite weird standing in a theatre
with 2000 people while a band are playing and there is absolute
respectful silence. They played most of the stuff from their new
album and a couple from the last with a couple of oldies thrown in,
a perfect combo for any gig. I went to the gig with Stevie B (hope
it's not too loud), 'Arris (it's a bit too loud) and Afro Celt
Martin. I am going to do some recording with Martin who has now
finished the Afro Celt's album and has a little free time on his
hands so I have beaten him into submission and he is going to record
some vocals with me. When I recorded "ripe" I had Wal come down and
man the controls so that I could concentrate on getting the singing
right but he was laid up with the bad back and now has to do a stint
in the West End so he has been replaced by Mart. I hope this will be
in the next week or so and then the final peice of the puzzle will
be Nigey Nige coming down to put some fairy dust on the top. He is
currently doing some pony gospel music in Nashville when he really
should be in "Nash-ville" vibing up my tracks. I am waiting to hear
from The Borderline in London about doing a gig on the day before
the gig in Southampton so as soon as it is confirmed it will appear
at the top of this page.

21st March 2001

Well what have we been up to this week!! I have been at home for
most of the last two days as my daughter has been unwell and was off
school so Dad has been down the doctors and administering the
medicine (nice two-hour wait in the surgery to be told my daughter
has "the lurgi that is going 'round"). I went up to Liverpool on
Sunday to see the Reds play Derby County. Not a great game but you
have to go just in case it is. I am getting fired up for going to
see Low tomorrow at Shepherds Bush Empire which, unlike the footy,
should be guaranteed entertainment and a vibe for all concerned and
I will let you know how they were next time. While I am writing this
I have my studio pc next to me and I am running off some prize cd's
for the people who have sent their exotic holiday snaps so Angela,
Tall Paul and Marky Mark: Your cd's will be on their way soon. I
have had all the info from my busted pc tranferred to my studio pc
and now I have to sling it all onto the new pc. I have also been
touching up a photo which I am going to use for the sleeve of "Le
Grande Fromage". It is a picture of 'Arris's late brother George
playing the guitar and he definitely looks like the big cheese so I
guess I had to use it. While we are on the subject of piccies; I
have just sorted out connecting the video camera to the pc and
picking a couple of stills to put on the site so in the next couple
of days there should be some new pics in the galleries. Anyway I'm
off back to pc hell. No chat this week due to Low so I will see ya
next week.

7th March 2001

Well we are into day three of The Posies-fest and so far it has been
a vibe. I was surprised when I turned up at Dingwalls to collect the
tickets on Monday afternoon and saw that the gig was not an
"unplugged" but a full band performance which was something to look
forward to even more. Me and Stevie B went " up west" to look at
some vastly over priced technology in the shape of digital pianos.
Nice lunch and then on to meet Rueben down the NFT for a few swiftys
then over to the east end for a few more and then back on the tube
to go to the gig. Travelcards are value for money. Met up with
'arris and Frankie B in the Fuckpig and Firkin. We saw the support
band who were called Cosmic Rough Riders who are signed to Alan
McGee's new label Poptones. McGee was the head honcho at Creation
records, the label that gave us Oasis (thanks!). Verdict on the
Cosmic Rough Riders: Another Scottish band that sound like Teenage
Fanclub but who will probably become huge. The Posies were great and
played a couple of the oldies and a few newies as well as breaking
into rock classics for a bar or two. Nice version of Elvis
Costello's "Chelsea" which was a tribute to all the great bands that
have played at "the hole in the floor" called Dingwalls.
Tuesday afternoon was spent down the NFT courteousy of Rueben
watching "Meet The Parents". Not really my bag usually but Bobby D
very rarely gives a duff performance so it was worth it just to see
him. From there it was on to Upstairs At The Garage for the second
Posies gig. This was the two main guitarists doing individual
acoustic sets featuring non-Posies material. Some good, some not so
good but I had to go for fear of missing something great.
Wednesday was the final show at Notting Hill Atrs Centre which was
hosting a Poptones night so I arrived at 9.00 to be told by the
bouncer that unless I was on the guest list I had to wait in a queue
outside. As you can probably understand I was not too pleased but in
my eagernes to see the band I took my place in line and met Cujo Kev
and Benny Boy there. It was only after Cujo Kevs girlfreind was
informed that we would have to stand outside for half hour in
addition to the fifteen minutes that I decided I was not going to be
treated like a mug so I said my goodbyes and left Posie-less. The
day I ever give preference to non-paying guests over paying fans at
my gigs will be a cold day in hell. I was absolutely disgusted and
will be telling Mr McGee as much when I put pen to paper this
evening and write him a little note. Oh well at least it wasn't cold
or pissing down. Thanks for tuning in to the Posies information
line, next installment will be back to King Of Pop information,
that's me and not the freak with the little nose who has been crying
at the Oxford Union this week.

4th March 2001

Well after a month off I am back on-line and ready to fill you in
all all that has happened since we last spoke. I am sorry that it
has taken so long to get round to doing this but computers are shit
and when they decide to go wrong they go wrong in a big way and
usually just after the warranty runs out. Anyway enough of my
moaning lets get to the meat of it. I will fill in and go backwards.
This week I am going to see The Posies at least twice and maybe
three times if I can make it as they are over here plugging the last
album which was a live unplugged thing called "In Case You Feel Like
Plugging In". They are still one of my fave bands although they
don't technically exist as a band anymore. I will let you know how
it goes. Hope you enjoy the catching up.