A Few Days Off

Thanks for the gigs so far. Really enjoying myself out there and the response from you guys has been great in all respects. I`m carrying on with the mixing of FFA Live in these few days off. Meanwhile Nigel has written in his own `style` a little summary of the first week of the tour..i take no responsibiltiy for the man..he`s mad. Will miss him at the next two shows but welcome him back on Sat and Sunday. Over to you Mr Hopkins..Nige Writes; The past two weeks has been an interesting period in my life. I`ve been up and down like a brides nightie. My rehearsal with Martyn was a quick talk through the set list, cup of tea, a little bit of playing then Martyn and I finish the first song and Martyn exclaims "What are you doing for the rest of the tour"?....... oooo! Now! he asks me. Originally I was only asked to do the St David`s Hall in Cardiff. Martyn had rehearsed all his songs by himself with a view to performing them with his usual unmistakable style, but now he decides to ask me along to add a hint of madness to the rest of the tour and of course, in my usual style......it`s I oblige. It started when I offered to make Martyn a cup of at the Cardiff gig. I ended up making him a cuppa and instead of sugar, I gave him a coffee sachet. Good start...... The crowd were fantastic and it was lovely to hear Amy Wadge perform as I missed her at the gig she did when I was playing for Steve Balsamo at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff 18 months ago. Birmingham was a great venue. Complete with a Chinatown feel to the stage. My theremin was asked to make an appearance........a little sidetrack. My answermachine message on my mobile features something that usually makes the caller put the phone down and ring again because they aren`t sure they have the right number......It`s an Accordion and Theremin duet...........extremely annoying, but amusing. A usual answermachine message would be preceded by fits of laughter and comments about my sanity.......but hey!.......the sanity went west three years ago when I first toured with Mr Joseph. I`m sure it`ll turn up one day. I wasn`t sure I could make York and Glasgow. I`m glad I did as I got to enjoy the delights of Peter and Fiona Churnsides hospitality. I`m going to ask them to adopt me. At the Cottier theatre, Glasgow I got to meet Stewart Henderson again which was fantastic. It`s been two years or so. His opening poem had me in stitches and then I filled up with tears at the end of it. Got to admit though, they had the heating sorted out an Worksop was a great night. I got to meet some lovely people in the foyer. Seeing Nikki and Kath three nights on the trot sat in the front row made me realise, "they are madder than me". It was nice to meet you both Our last night of the four was Coventry. To be sent to Coventry is usually a means of telling you that you`ve done something wrong, but in this case as always, the Warwick arts centre was a superb evening of great music, laughter and lots of surprises for me. Martyn seems to throw songs into the set that we may not have played for sometime. It`s always a pleasure to be challenged because it steps your game up. I found a few interesting items behind the stage. A dog that resembled "Dougal from Magic Roundabout", Duck calls(which came in handy for "Strange Kind of Friend" to accompany the rain sound effects the audience created), there were gravestones, prams, babies( dolls that is), hats, costumes, melodicas, you name it....it was backstage and I was thinking how to incorporate them into the set. I thought at one point as there was a flat cap, overalls, false beard and a massive brush...Martyn could have made his way back on for the encores by going back on stage, sweeping the requests up which would allow the audience think it was over...that would have been great. My journey home this time was not fraught with wire crocodiles( I hallucinate when tired), but it was very foggy and I was glad to make it to my own house to barge my way through the multitudes of letters and junk mail that awaited me. The past four days has been fun. I got to spend time with Martyn, young Jon Curtis(our trusty front of house soundman and my room mate) and Karen who was selling the merchandise each night and was a great travel companion for the last leg of the journey from Worksop to Coventry. We`d compared Little Chef Olympic Breakfasts, the size and condition of the sausages, the texture of the eggs, the amount of beans ( we were counting), Why do all the pictures look SO GOOD and yet!, why do the mushrooms looked like they`d been left for dead in the pan and the general well-being of the staff that had cardboard cut-out smiles to accompany the pen and order pad they so lovingly gripped onto like it was the winning lottery ticket. It`s always a pleasure to play with Martyn and as we`ve said before, we`ve tried to be as one on stage. I try to follow him in all his Rollercoaster emotional performances and when we pull it off, it`s like magic without the rabbits and glamorous assistant. I look forward to Milton Keynes and The Brook in Southampton where there will be other shows of surprises, more so for me than all of you........where will Mr Joseph take me this time?.......mmmm! what song will we do? What will I find backstage? Is the Chef in the Little Chef little? I never seem to see anyone working there so I assume there is a criteria to be matched for each chef job....... "Here is the Counter, If you are taller, you can`t work in the Kitchen" "Can you hide the eggs amongst the beans and make the breakfast look like it`s been through a furnace"? "Twice" "How many fingers am I holding up"? "Can you make the chipped Potatoes so small they get stuck in the customers throat?" .......am I being Silly? I suppose the Madness of Joseph has descended upon me again............. Take care and I`ll see you all soon........ Nigey