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| SUMMER BALL 2000 | ||
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How to Book a Band
Without a doubt, Stuart and Lindsay provided superb entertainment as our live band... but how did they get the job? Hairy Dave was the man who booked them, and it proved to be an interesting experience...
The Summer Ball Entertainment:
The Diary of a madman None of the characters or events in this article are fictitious (not even the Hairy(TM) Monster). In the interests of maintaining a humorous representation of the events, no names have been changed to protect the innocent, no animals were injured during the making of the Ball, and no offence was intended to any one party to the making of the Ball. The author reserves the right pass comment in jest (especially in times of desperation).
How the abominable creature come to be: The scene is set; it is the day after an encounter with Andy White in Manchester. Two weary travellers happened upon The White House Inn, where within they rest a while. Their conversation turns into something akin to Dr Jekyll, Mr Amberry in conversation with the increasingly Hairy Monster. Henceforth, a madcap idea was spawned. Get a good band for the ball. The creature evolved, turned into a nightmare, nay, living hell. Could we get a suitable antidote for the lack of merriment that appeared to prevail the ball? Could such a performance by the likes of Andy White or the Saw Doctors be undertaken? There had to be numerous good bands that could fall within our very limited means. The Hairy Monster set forth. The fiendish plan grew into a series of increasingly more menacing possibilities. For some, contact was difficult, for some contact could prove to be expensive, for some contagious.
Searching for the Band: For those that don't know what went on to organise the entertainment for the Summer Ball between 26th March and 10th September, a complete martyr to the cause, and fool - I set about to try to get some form of decent entertainment for the event that seemed so far off. The basic parameters had been set, we wanted something fairly folky, not entirely Ceilidh and not expensive. It all started the day after the Band on the Wall gig where the acquaintance of Andy White (great guy) was made. The whole experience became rather bizarre - "So you're Hairy Dave". Contacted him out of sheer cheek. He replied with a series of emails, three in one day - date not possible, chose another date, and we can arrange to be there if the funds are available. He was prepared to get a band together for £500. Although it was agreed that Mr White was offering a bargain, we (the undefined organisers) were not able to justify such expenditure for an artist that may not have been to the taste of all. This though, was a great starting point, considering that all that I wanted from him was advice on where to look for the information, not actually intending to sign him up for the gig. During the time that I was in discussion with Andy (We are on first name terms by then), I was looking out for other bands. Pick a big name, try them for information, and see if they are playing any festivals, trawl through some of the other bands on the line-up for information and availability. The idea of trawling big names sent me looking up the Barnsley Babe, Without a doubt, Kate Rusby (Ooh) and onto the Otley festival. The Otley site led me to the Hall Brothers, and a gig local to me at a village fete, I thought this could be a good, cheap way of talent hunting and it was. Got talking to Nick and Duncan (the Brothers) and things looked good. I'll tell you more later, this is a bit of a cliff hanger. Poor Little Ritch Girl, a duo with many guises, were heard by Wendy, Craig and Myself in the Stickle Barn and in Fibbers by Mike and Judith, they sounded just what we were after, a good mix of traditional folk and folk - rock covers. Mike mailed a flyer that he had picked up for me to mail them. Unfortunately they would not be available on the 9th September they had a prior evening arrangement, so no luck there. Read on to find out what actually happened! Whilst listening to the Whiskey Priests I went surfing for their site, and started another bizarre series of communications. I asked if they knew of any bands that might be able to help. Gary Miller, Singer, Guitarist, mailed back to say sorry but the Whiskey Priests would not be available, too expensive to get in the musicians, too expensive to hire the PA, etc. But, the Mad Dogs & Englishmen may be available at a very reasonable rate, or he would try Blyth Power, or Joseph Porter. He had further words within his own sub-groups and contacts, unfortunately they would all be unavailable for the ball. While still in communication with the Hall Brothers, things were starting to look good; they would probably be able to do our gig. Asked the Saw Doctors for information on bands that they might know - no reply. Cambridge Folk Festival - Met Kate Rusby and John McCusker, gave me a few more ideas of people to try, The Bush the Tree and Me (Not bad and they sound good), no reply. There was some sort of vague guidance from some where, but I can't remember. I was also thinking about Disco gear at the same time, borrowed (stole) Emma's Yellow Pages (which I still have) to look for equipment suppliers, after a bit of mailing a number of suppliers, I decided that Lowfold Audio in Lancaster were offering the best deal and were very friendly. I also tried to get some Fireworks from home, but to no avail.
And at the last minute... The end of August soon came around, I thought that I had every thing done that I could, PA sorted, band sorted, no fireworks, but that was an after thought anyway. I had already booked a weeks holiday off work for the run up to the Ball, so I would soon be too far from real contact to do anything, and felt there was no more that I could be doing. Tuesday, the week before the Ball, the Hall Brothers mailed me to say it might be better if they cancelled, because not all of the band could make the Ball. They felt that the remaining musicians would not be ideal for the sort of dancing that we wanted. They felt really bad about it, and reluctantly I had to agree. So a week to go and we had no band. I felt Crap. Mailed Mike with the news to receive the reply, which read quite simply "Bollocks". Wednesday I was suicidal at work, feeling that I had failed, phoned Mike, then started a desperate search for a new band. Tried various names for information I tried Formicarium for information - No reply. Tried Kate Rusby for information, Steve Rusby gave me the name of one of the agencies that we had already tried, as did Mike Harding. Mike (A) suggested retrying Poor Little Ritch Girl, who were answering to the name of Lindsay and Stuart, the gig that they thought that they had got for the evening was actually in the afternoon. They asked what our budget was, and I asked what they were prepared to play for, we agreed a price. And most favourably they felt able to join us in Langdale for around 8:00 PM. So my moment of suicidal thought went out of the same window that I was going to take. I went on holiday feeling that little bit better, having still not obtained fireworks, which was a minor set back, compared with the set back of having no band a few days before. Holiday consisted of a Poozies gig in Whitehaven, where I enquired about fireworks. Name and address supplied, I tried, but no luck. The weather was most displeasing, so I ambled in the direction of Keswick, haircut and out of boredom - Tourist Information office, fireworks? Try down the road - no look, try Hayes Garden Centre -Ambleside. Raining and too windy for walking, so a day in Ambleside was called for, fireworks obtained then swiftly deposited with Craig in the cellar at the Youth Hostel.
Postscript You lot know the rest - you made it a success by turning up and showing your appreciation. Many thanks to all that helped to organise the Ball in various ways, but a big thanks must go to Craig and his staff and especially to Mike. I think that you will all agree, he did a great job over the months getting you all to part with your money. What a great turn out. He kept me a bit saner than I would have been over the months, hearing about the latest news on the entertainment side of things, while we calculated how much money was available to spend. I am glad that all that attended the Ball enjoyed it; Both Lindsay and Stuart enjoyed doing the gig, Gay Gordon's and all, especially as they couldn't find their other gig that day. I spent over an hour on the Sunday morning talking to Stuart, and was glad that other people showed their appreciation to him. In all honesty it was fun learning how powerful my computer could be when associated with the right inspiration, cheek and vocabulary (verbal effluence), a series of well placed complements can work wonders (it's a shame that I don't have the same success with the Ladies). I had a great time helping to organise the event (apart from feeling that I had failed to get a band); and I had a great time over the weekend of the Ball. It was good to see everyone; maybe next (if there is a next time) there will be even more support for a great excuse for a pint.
Cheers Hairy Dave. 
Hairy Dave sets up the elusive fireworks for Saturday Night |
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