What an amazing weekend! We're back from Guernsey after our most recent mini adventure and first gig that involved getting on a plane.
Paul came over to mine and John's house on Thursday night. He'd been full of lurgy and thought a couple of beers might help him sleep. Plus, we were using one big suitcase for shared luggage so that we could take an extra guitar. We were entitled to one case each in the hold. So we had a bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, snare drum and our big case of assorted stuff for the hold.
Paul and I went to the Exeter Inn, my local, for a couple of beers and then came home and chatted for a bit. Well, until 1am! Will I ever learn? I expect not ;-)
At 5am, three mobile phones set off their alarms! Urgh! I got up and made coffees. Oh and swore alot. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't do mornings. Bully and Katie arrived at 5.45am and we were in the taxi by 6am. Our next door neighbour has a VW Transporter taxi which was rather convenient. Seats for all and loads of luggage space.
The queue at the airport was ridiculous, even when using the fast track check in service. I was impressed to see Paul put his Gibson through the oversized luggage without climbing in with it. He's been a bit concerned about his baby being put in the hold. Bully got stopped in security for ages. They wanted to search his Big Muff! (That's an effects pedal if you didn't know!) But there were lots of jokes made about cavity searches.
The flight should've been 25 minutes long but fog over Guernsey meant that we were taken to Jersey. We sat in the plane on the runway for ages while the captain checked the weather. We were told that we had a one in four chance of landing in Guernsey. If we couldn't land, we'd be taken back to Exeter. Nooooooooooooo! I didn't get up at 5am to sit in Exeter airport all day! John spoke to Nick (the guy who booked us) to ask what he wanted us to do as we had the chance to get off in Jersey and take the ferry. Nick assured us, "it happens all the time, stay on the plane".
We got chatting to a fellow passenger who lives in Guernsey. "Oh, are you the punk band that's at the Doghouse tonight?" Kewl... people know the gig is happening ;-)
We managed to land in Guernsey and proceeded through security. As soon as they saw the guitars we were stopped and everything searched. *sigh* It wasn't helped by Indesit saying "I wish!" when asked if we had any illegal substances with us. I knew we should've brought the gaffa tape! After we'd been frisked, we were greeted by Nick at Arrivals. He sorted out a taxi to follow as he couldn't fit 5 of us and all the gear in one car but we were reunited at the Doghouse 15 minutes later and shown to our rooms.
The Doghouse used to be a hotel so we had what probably used to be a suite comprising of a bathroom and two adjoining rooms. This did mean that the girls had to go through the boys room to get to the bathroom, but we coped.
We went for a wander and to forage for food. We stopped at a cafe which made us breakfast even though breakfast time had finished. Sadly the breakfasts were a bit disappointing and very expensive. Still, it helped refuel us a bit.
It was pretty wet and miserable so we went for a short wander and found a pub. In the corner was a retro games machine so Katie and I played Pacman and Frogger for ages.
We were back at the Doghouse for 3pm to soundcheck. Todge our soundman was very welcoming and before long we had a pretty nice sound, although it was weird hearing Paul without his Randall amp which has lots of bass grunt. We had a couple of beers (Randalls of Guernsey) before dinner. The servings were huge! We hadn't had a lot to eat so we had starters and main courses. We had a lie down before getting changed for the gig.
The Doghouse was full with expectant people waiting for the gig to start, and very enthusiastic they were too. A couple of guys got a bit too enthusiastic and fell into the monitors, knocking a mic stand towards Paul's Gibson. Hoover and I adopted our defensive positions on stage so we could push people back before they fell over the monitors.
Nick was delighted with the performance and reports came back to us that it was the busiest Friday night they'd had of 2008. Excellent! We were in bed for about 2am having had a very long day.
I woke up at 9.30am and chatted to Katie for an hour before getting up. John had gone out early to meet a friend of his mum's who lived on the island so we arranged that we'd meet up with him in St Peter Port after breakfast. The Doghouse doesn't do food before 12ish and by that time, I felt more like lunch so opted for pizza. The chef was very accommodating making whatever we wanted for breakfast whether it was on the normal menu or not.
The weather had got worse today so we mooched around a few shops in town before finding a pub. Are you spotting a theme here? We had wanted to get a bus around the island but decided looking through steamed windows on a miserable day wasn't the most fun we could have. We weren't soundchecking today so went to our rooms and chilled out. I'd brought portable speakers so Paul and I took turns to plug them into our mp3 players... in some cases, unplugging it from the other's rudely before the end of the song ;-)
My neck started hurting at teatime (no idea what I did to it) and I had the onset of a sore throat which felt more lurgyish than singing too much. I was feeling like I was falling apart by this point.
Once again, we had an expectant audience waiting for us, and lots of new faces. Its often the case that the Doghouse has different clientelle on both nights. We found that both nights, people were going nuts for the 70s classic punk, although Green Day went down rather well tonight and there were three ladies doing the actions to Seasons in the Sun which was great to see.
Paul had borrowed a guitar from a local that he'd met the night before in the pub. They'd got talking Gibsons and Vinnie had brought in his £4k Les Paul Custom Special for Paul to play at the gig! Blimey! You'd have to prise Paul's Gibson out of his cold dead hands before he'd offer his up!
We stayed in the bar talking for quite a while before moving to the boys room. Katie was already fast asleep and didn't hear a thing. I think we went to bed at about 4.30am.
I woke up with major neck pain, to the point of struggling to get out of bed. Once I got up and moving though it eased enough so that I didn't look obviously crippled. We were scheduled to play an acoustic set on Sunday but had been told the night before that there weren't many bookings for lunch so not to worry about it and enjoy a day off. That was a very nice, and tempting offer, but we decided to play anyway. It had been advertised and we didn't want to disappoint even one person.
Paul and I played a few songs that stray from our normal genre: Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, Muse and My Chemical Romance. Bully played a Wayne County song which was very entertaining and had everyone laughing and clapping, then Katie played guitar and sang some more mellow songs such as Lisa Loeb, Otis Reading and Jewel. Kewl. We finished the set with some jamming of punk songs in a different style. I Want Candy with a funky groove is fantastic. I realised after the gig that I'd forgotten to bring my minidisc recorder downstairs! Doh!
We had a beer with some of the audience (who'd also been to the gig the night before) before finishing packing and heading off to the airport. We were all really sad that we had to go home, it'd been such a good weekend.
The flight was delayed by 45 minutes but both the flight and the taxi ride home were very quick. I made some food and then went straight to bed. I was knackered!
I can't speak highly enough about the people of Guernsey who were very welcoming and couldn't do enough for us. Particular mention has to go to the Doghouse staff who bent over backwards for us all weekend. Thank you very much. We'd love to come back again ;-)
Thursday
Paul came over to mine and John's house on Thursday night. He'd been full of lurgy and thought a couple of beers might help him sleep. Plus, we were using one big suitcase for shared luggage so that we could take an extra guitar. We were entitled to one case each in the hold. So we had a bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, snare drum and our big case of assorted stuff for the hold.
Paul and I went to the Exeter Inn, my local, for a couple of beers and then came home and chatted for a bit. Well, until 1am! Will I ever learn? I expect not ;-)
Friday
At 5am, three mobile phones set off their alarms! Urgh! I got up and made coffees. Oh and swore alot. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't do mornings. Bully and Katie arrived at 5.45am and we were in the taxi by 6am. Our next door neighbour has a VW Transporter taxi which was rather convenient. Seats for all and loads of luggage space.
The queue at the airport was ridiculous, even when using the fast track check in service. I was impressed to see Paul put his Gibson through the oversized luggage without climbing in with it. He's been a bit concerned about his baby being put in the hold. Bully got stopped in security for ages. They wanted to search his Big Muff! (That's an effects pedal if you didn't know!) But there were lots of jokes made about cavity searches.
The flight should've been 25 minutes long but fog over Guernsey meant that we were taken to Jersey. We sat in the plane on the runway for ages while the captain checked the weather. We were told that we had a one in four chance of landing in Guernsey. If we couldn't land, we'd be taken back to Exeter. Nooooooooooooo! I didn't get up at 5am to sit in Exeter airport all day! John spoke to Nick (the guy who booked us) to ask what he wanted us to do as we had the chance to get off in Jersey and take the ferry. Nick assured us, "it happens all the time, stay on the plane".
We got chatting to a fellow passenger who lives in Guernsey. "Oh, are you the punk band that's at the Doghouse tonight?" Kewl... people know the gig is happening ;-)
We managed to land in Guernsey and proceeded through security. As soon as they saw the guitars we were stopped and everything searched. *sigh* It wasn't helped by Indesit saying "I wish!" when asked if we had any illegal substances with us. I knew we should've brought the gaffa tape! After we'd been frisked, we were greeted by Nick at Arrivals. He sorted out a taxi to follow as he couldn't fit 5 of us and all the gear in one car but we were reunited at the Doghouse 15 minutes later and shown to our rooms.
The Doghouse used to be a hotel so we had what probably used to be a suite comprising of a bathroom and two adjoining rooms. This did mean that the girls had to go through the boys room to get to the bathroom, but we coped.
We went for a wander and to forage for food. We stopped at a cafe which made us breakfast even though breakfast time had finished. Sadly the breakfasts were a bit disappointing and very expensive. Still, it helped refuel us a bit.
It was pretty wet and miserable so we went for a short wander and found a pub. In the corner was a retro games machine so Katie and I played Pacman and Frogger for ages.
We were back at the Doghouse for 3pm to soundcheck. Todge our soundman was very welcoming and before long we had a pretty nice sound, although it was weird hearing Paul without his Randall amp which has lots of bass grunt. We had a couple of beers (Randalls of Guernsey) before dinner. The servings were huge! We hadn't had a lot to eat so we had starters and main courses. We had a lie down before getting changed for the gig.
The Doghouse was full with expectant people waiting for the gig to start, and very enthusiastic they were too. A couple of guys got a bit too enthusiastic and fell into the monitors, knocking a mic stand towards Paul's Gibson. Hoover and I adopted our defensive positions on stage so we could push people back before they fell over the monitors.
Nick was delighted with the performance and reports came back to us that it was the busiest Friday night they'd had of 2008. Excellent! We were in bed for about 2am having had a very long day.
Saturday
I woke up at 9.30am and chatted to Katie for an hour before getting up. John had gone out early to meet a friend of his mum's who lived on the island so we arranged that we'd meet up with him in St Peter Port after breakfast. The Doghouse doesn't do food before 12ish and by that time, I felt more like lunch so opted for pizza. The chef was very accommodating making whatever we wanted for breakfast whether it was on the normal menu or not.
The weather had got worse today so we mooched around a few shops in town before finding a pub. Are you spotting a theme here? We had wanted to get a bus around the island but decided looking through steamed windows on a miserable day wasn't the most fun we could have. We weren't soundchecking today so went to our rooms and chilled out. I'd brought portable speakers so Paul and I took turns to plug them into our mp3 players... in some cases, unplugging it from the other's rudely before the end of the song ;-)
My neck started hurting at teatime (no idea what I did to it) and I had the onset of a sore throat which felt more lurgyish than singing too much. I was feeling like I was falling apart by this point.
Once again, we had an expectant audience waiting for us, and lots of new faces. Its often the case that the Doghouse has different clientelle on both nights. We found that both nights, people were going nuts for the 70s classic punk, although Green Day went down rather well tonight and there were three ladies doing the actions to Seasons in the Sun which was great to see.
Paul had borrowed a guitar from a local that he'd met the night before in the pub. They'd got talking Gibsons and Vinnie had brought in his £4k Les Paul Custom Special for Paul to play at the gig! Blimey! You'd have to prise Paul's Gibson out of his cold dead hands before he'd offer his up!
We stayed in the bar talking for quite a while before moving to the boys room. Katie was already fast asleep and didn't hear a thing. I think we went to bed at about 4.30am.
Sunday
I woke up with major neck pain, to the point of struggling to get out of bed. Once I got up and moving though it eased enough so that I didn't look obviously crippled. We were scheduled to play an acoustic set on Sunday but had been told the night before that there weren't many bookings for lunch so not to worry about it and enjoy a day off. That was a very nice, and tempting offer, but we decided to play anyway. It had been advertised and we didn't want to disappoint even one person.
Paul and I played a few songs that stray from our normal genre: Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, Muse and My Chemical Romance. Bully played a Wayne County song which was very entertaining and had everyone laughing and clapping, then Katie played guitar and sang some more mellow songs such as Lisa Loeb, Otis Reading and Jewel. Kewl. We finished the set with some jamming of punk songs in a different style. I Want Candy with a funky groove is fantastic. I realised after the gig that I'd forgotten to bring my minidisc recorder downstairs! Doh!
We had a beer with some of the audience (who'd also been to the gig the night before) before finishing packing and heading off to the airport. We were all really sad that we had to go home, it'd been such a good weekend.
The flight was delayed by 45 minutes but both the flight and the taxi ride home were very quick. I made some food and then went straight to bed. I was knackered!
I can't speak highly enough about the people of Guernsey who were very welcoming and couldn't do enough for us. Particular mention has to go to the Doghouse staff who bent over backwards for us all weekend. Thank you very much. We'd love to come back again ;-)
posted by Heather at 4:05 pm
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