First entry - Bromsgrove

Well it seems the band at least are interested in my blog. Some were even keen to give me information to put on here! A good start me thinks!

Well the first show of 2010 was great...good to be back on the ole tour bus! my pink squashy pillow was there waiting for me! It was quite strange as we were a (wo)man down but more about that later. Jeff had on his new super dooper ear phones, he was also wearing 'Brut 33' that someone gave him as a joke at xmas. I sniffed his armpits later in the day, twas reminiscent of dads! He said he showered and scrubbed the stuff was still on him! Thats the power of the Brut people.



Arrived at the venue at 1ish. The Artrix



I set about making the teas/coffees, this is the job I do so I get out of lifting heavy boxes! (don't tell anyone!)

This was taken during the set up, note jaunty angle Glitter ball bar is on!



I tried to do serous journalistic style interview with Jamie our lighting tech, but instead it just became a chat. I can't believe he is a teenager still and not 35!! Also tried to take his pic but he wasn't having any of it! this is the best i could get!



The first big news story is the setting up of the NEW, drum kit. Jeff was quite keen to talk about his new kit, and I wrote down some notes!! (i'm taking this blogging seriously folks!!)

Ok so here are some shots of said drum kit first of all.







Ok so here we go, this lovely piece of kit is a Pearl Masters Custom kit, Patch has nicknamed it 'Buff bins' (as Jeffs nickname is Buff from when he used to work out!) It's finish is diamond glitter, he thought it'd look better under the light, but i'm starting to get my suspicions that Jeff is a bit girly underneath all that manly exterior! It's VERY very pretty. it's the kit I would like to have if i could play the drums. It has two bass drums, which is what Nick Mason used to have, (trying to keep the floyd thing accurate see!).
It was made in Taiwan and was ordered in July, arrived a couple weeks ago! 6 months - Thats how long they take!
I asked him Journalist style to give me 3 words to describe playing this new kit, he said..... wait for it.............

......... Much more fun....... (disappointing as Jeff is a Grammar school boy after all! )


Each drum has a name....
so introducing.....

......On 8" Tom 'Mary-Jane',
on 10" Tom, 'Lucy-Anne',
and on 12" Tom, 'Janie-Louise!!'
On 14" Floor Tom - 'Shakira',
and on 16" Floor Tom 'Beyonce'


Moving on, there was a crisis, a vital missing piece of equipment to make the projector work. Here is the picture to go with this event. note Chris L poking her head around (cute!).. Jamie on the iphone looking for a nearby Maplins, and Steve looking fretfully at an item that was related to the missing item! Paul is looking on fashioning a lovely 'in the flesh' T shirt.



Chris T and Patch went off to find the Maplins, few of us we sat around and had yet more tea!

Later I captured this shot at the correct moment. We changed around the stage set up, for the first time tonight not knowing how much it would mess up everything sound wise for the monitor desk. Here is John, mid stress about something..



Ok so with Patch & Chris returned with special power suply (self named the 'Heroes')(cue cup of tea for them!) we went about sound checking. After sound check, we commenced milling about, Drew had got me some chips, life saver as was starving!! Steve showed me his glued together finger..His nail had come away a bit and when he played guitar it was coming away from the skin (ouchy) so he super glued his nail to his skin!!! cue picture!



Ok so SHOW TIME..... felt very odd to be singing on my own, and missed the company up there, and our little looks to each other but tried to not look like felt strange. The Audience was great. Nice full crowd!

Heres Wendy selling the merchandise in the foyer!



Run like Hell noises
During run like hell Steve L does these intro bits and gaps in between, during the silence some crowds like to add their own comments or sound effects! Last nights was a kind of EWWWWWW said in a enthusiastic way - unusual but it made me smile!)

At the end we met some of the crowd, and i'd like to give a special mention to Gary and Anna who came to see us in Cardiff and had travelled to see us in Bromsgrove and were saying in the local travel lodge, it means a lot when people have made that effort to see our show... They hope to see us again in Monmouth, see you there guys!!

Blog followers!
If you read the blog please come up and tell me after the show and i'll give you a special mention!!! Might even dedicate a page to it!!

Phew first entry over and out!

Welcome to my blog

Hello world...

My name's is Polly (thats incase anyone actually reads this who doesn't personally know me (chances slim i reckon!)) I have been inspired to write a blog about my adventures (can you call them that, hmmm??) as a backing singer. I was inspired firstly by my sister who has a family blog and more recently by my good friend who is now au pairing in Manhattan New York..

Firstly I have a feeling there may be a lot of ramblings in here, it's what i do well and i'll eventually get back to the point i was making so just hang in there. There may also be a lot of ......'s i like them too. I will try not to overdo the !!!!!'s

Firstly I will need to introduce the key players in this blog (ie the band....)

Chris T - He's our MD (Musical Director for any un-musically inclinded readers!). I have known Chris since I was about 18 and he had a long floppy hair style.. (he doesn't have that now as you can see.)



Me and Chris are entertainment entrepreneurs on the journeys to gigs. We once created a game of bingo out of scraps of paper, thats how long the journey was. Desperate times call for desperate measures.. The most recent body parts picture game was a huge success (you know when you each draw a part of a body, hide it then pass it on to the next person and they do next body part down?) (no? well you should)

Did I also mention he has a fab voice (smooth and silky i'd say!!)

Next is Jeff who I have also known since I was 18 (he also went to my school but was older than me so I have only a vague recollection of him) He was always dressed a bit grungy if my memory serves me well. He bashes drums quite well, and there will be a special blog about the new Drum kit!!! There may also be a special blog about Jeffs changing hairstyles!! (contain that excitement people!)

(he may not like this picture but I like the look of 'bog off and leave me to my music' about it!)

Then we have Patrick who plays the bass geeetarr! He takes a good photo (lucky bugger) Patrick is quite outspoken and you always know where you are with him.. but he's also very kind and sweet, especially when he talks to his daughter.. I can't repeat a lot of what Patrick says on here...



This here is Steve L, otherwise known as Papa Loar. This man is a whizz on the guitar. I might even use the word legend, but he gets all embarrassed by such things.. I think Steve is ace, although he shocks me by some of the things he comes out with.. and i'm quite unshockable.



Steve W
This is the sax man! He's got a pair of lungs, yet when he talks you never know there was such a fiesty music machine in there.. I love our little chats, and he is kind and friendly to everyone.



Audra
She has now moved on to pastures new, but she has been a huge part of the band from when it started and we've had so many good times.. I will miss her very very much, she taught me to line up my makeup in a very organised fashion (this probably actually happened about 3 times out of 30!) I in turn taught her to be a little more care free with her things, and showed her how spilling tea is actually an art form I created!
This girl has a voice on her and I will try my best to fill her shoes (not her real shoes as she can wear extremely high ones and I can't! Ouchy )

Heres Audipops!


Drewbear
He's the sometimes menacing looking bouncer (he fends off all the screaming male fans, I wish!) and roadie and driver, but he is mainly Drewbear.



Chris L
Chris is in charge of projection, she counts along to the songs and presses important buttons to change the pictures on the screen (no click tracks here!) She is also a sneaky photographer, who can be relied upon to pop up and take your picture when you least expect it. If you ever see me smile on stage while looking offstage a bit, it's usually Chris dancing along to the backing singer moves!!

This is how I usually see Chris!


Paul
Is our sound man and bless him he has a lot to deal with when we arrive at venues, and also before we get there! It's hard to get a picture of Paul as he's always rushing around and looking a bit stressed.. I will try to get some more cheerful pictures on him!

Here is Paul looking quite happy!


Glenn Povey
Still to come is Glenn (I like to call him Glenda in my head, rolls off the tongue rather nicely, he has also been called Laurance, and headmaster. He is our manager, so i'd better be very nice about him... He's very handsome and charming and.... he has a baseball bat that we all bought him (spinal tap reference) He also says 'I don't belieeeeeve it' a lot but not like Victor Meldrew! Jeff does a good impression of it! Patch's come second if I was giving out impression awards here!



Wendy is our merchandising lady and she's very enthusiastic about the band (her man is Chris btw) She is always Jolly and happy and drives for miles to sell her feathers/hair things/handbags and then drops in on where we're playing..
Here is Wendy (stolen from her facebook!)



Jamie Trant - Lighting Technician
Picture to follow

Star of some of our shows!!

The laser machine.


what the lasers look like from out front!!