casapete

I seem to remember the bar opening times are governed by flight times though, closing after the last one etc so best check. There is the inevitable Wetherspoons in Yeadon which probably closes around midnight I guess.

There’s always the option of maybe being a bar open at the airport 😂

Forgot to add that Norman, for a small donation to a Cancer charity, will give you a guided tour of the upstairs collection in the shop. Well worth your time and money I think. Mrs CP lured me to Hemswell with the promise of a few guitars. She browsed the antiques while I checked them out. Not a massive selection, but some oddball stuff there (Indian f hole acoustic - 'Hobmer' for example!) as well as some Mex fenders and Epiphones. Café downstairs wasn't bad either, good coffee and millionaires shortbread!!

Mmm, not sure about this.... Scarborough Thieving Harry's

It’s been there a long time, but you maybe wouldn’t have noticed it amongst all the other antiques shops as the frontage is a bit like one of them. (This is maybe deliberate to keep it as a ‘destination’ for people in the know to go to rather than attract unwanted tourists looking for cheap tat! ) The shop is just a part of what Norman does - he sources a lot of things for films and theatre productions as well as other stuff. A really knowledgeable chap with an amazing collection of significant amps ,instruments and memorabilia.

Went about a month ago, and all seemed well. Got talking with Norman and he showed us his amazing collection of vintage stuff upstairs, along with some great anecdotes about where & how they were obtained etc. An absolutely lovely bloke, but unfortunately people and businesses like this are becoming all too scarce now. I’ll definitely be back to buy something soon. Incidentally ( as you’re not far away), have you heard that the antiques place at Hemswell (just off the A15 at Caenby Corner) now has a room with guitars ? Some strange vintage European jazz acoustics when I was there, along with some other stuff. Few basses but you never know...🙂

I find this mostly happens for me when the shop only sells new stuff. PMT's recent 'no price tags' idea puts me off even more. I'm usually more tempted in shops where they have a fair selection of used/vintage things, like when I recently visited Old Hat Guitars in Horncastle. Tried a few instruments out there, in a friendly and relaxed retail environment. Didn't buy anything that day, but will definitely return soon to see what else they have in.

I've had a really varied few gigs this last week. Started with a tea dance style event for a 50th wedding anniversary in a swish hotel in East Yorkshire. We brought along a great trumpet player / singer who really helped entertain the audience, so we went down really well. Next two nights were with my regular band doing theatres including the great Burnley Mechanics. Sold out crowd, great venue and crew and audience well up for it. Saturday I was with my guitarist partner playing in our acoustic duo at a birthday party in an old vicarage near Leeds. Played in the dining room to all 16 of the guests! Bit odd at first, but lovely people who were loving the cocktail bar provided a lot, so they were all up dancing after desserts and coffee! Then last night (Sunday) it was the duo again, but this time in a great new venue situated on West Pier in Scarborough harbour called The Lookout. Only small, but no problem. Sold out crowd enjoyed food before we played, nice intimate atmosphere with great staff and views over the bay. Finished by 9pm, two more bookings in the diary so happy days.

Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets in Hull on Friday. Absolutely superb gig at a great venue, Jubilee Central. Los Straitjackets are an American band channelling 60's surf / twang sounds but somehow making them sound up to date. They perform in Mexican wrestlers (Lucha Libre) masks throughout! Two guitars, bass and drums, all great players. Their performance was just full of humour but still totally spot on - really entertaining. They also served as the backing band for Nick Lowe, who was on superb form. Nick treated us to a great selection of his songs, from old to new. At 70 he is still in great shape and voice, sounding just superb. Two encores, the last one being a solo version of Elvis Costello's 'Alison' when you could have heard a pin drop - breathtaking stuff. One of the best gigs I've seen in ages, if you get chance to see them on this tour then you won't be disappointed. ( Apologies for the crappy photos!)

So sad to hear this. Condolences to John’s family and many friends. RIP.

Have to agree with most of the above. I just don't get the festival thing, and never really did when I was younger too. Attended a few major ones ( Reading, Knebworth etc) because of the line ups, but now it seems people part with large sums of dosh before they even know who's playing so presumably going for the whole festival 'experience I guess. In the late 70's I did the Blackbush Picnic thing - Dylan, Clapton and others playing to some 300,000 people I believe. Nightmare of a day for me, which ended up taking 4 hours to escape the car park after all the NCP staff had gone home early leaving it as a free for all to exit. Best one I went to was the Capital Jazz fest at Alexandra Palace, again late 70's - great line up including Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. Went to the one a year or two after which was relocated to Knebworth - again, great line up and well organised too. Also stopped doing any big gigs pretty much as well - arenas just don't seem the right way to enjoy the music I like. Along with paying more for the privilege of being miles away / crap sound / watching video screens. For that I expect to pay less than if it was a smaller more intimate venue. Blimey, what a grumpy old s*d I've become......🙁

Tort on black works for me, but then so does white pearl. Only one thing for it.....fight!!!

Me too. Not sure about having lots of instruments on show TBH, much as I love 'em. Maybe just one every now and then though - my recently acquired cherry Gibson 335 being the current favourite.

The older I get, the less geeky I am over anything really. Never been one for altering / upgrading basses unless really necessary, although always like to keep them in good clean working order. Bit fussy about looking after all my kit, but only to a point. Don’t have bass related t-shirts , although some Fender apparel still in my wardrobe. Still enjoy this site along with music mags, and attend a few guitar shows when I can. Always check out a band’s set up when I go to gigs, particularly the bass rig ( so damn those IEM users....😉) and derive a lot of pleasure hearing a nice old bass played well through a proper amp.

Joke surely. “ Funerals” ?

Nice strides and shoe combo there.

Was it just me, but didn't find that / him remotely funny in the 70's ? I wouldn't even dare to listen to it now...

New Springsteen album is released this weekend, containing this. OK, I know it's a bit like 'Everybody's Talkin', but still working for me anyway. Great pedal steel too, nice...

I didn't mean he/it was sinister, just pointing out that the song and /or title probably wouldn't be well received in these sad times in which we live, however innocent they were originally.

Staying with Queen, ‘Fat bottomed girls’ could be seen as not acceptable in these times of body issues, along with it’s content about “naughty nanny”.

Ditto ‘Young girl’ by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap , but a bit more creepy.

This. A week or two away will make everything seem better when you return. It’s a time for new experiences and a break from routine so just enjoy it.

When you think about it, so many tunes ( Rock, reggae, rap etc etc) have lyrics which can maybe be interpreted in different ways. I remember seeing George Melly years ago singing 1920’s Bessie Smith songs which were full of double entendre and the audience ( including my mother embarrassingly enough!) loved him. It was the humour and clever innuendo that made it acceptable I think, unlike today’s more obvious and blatant references. ( Just realised I’m sounding like a Daily Mail reader, apologies...) Other songs which later fell into that category include ‘Shake rattle and roll’ ( “I’m like a one eyed cat peepin in a seafood store”) and The Coaster’s ‘Poison Ivy’, all about STD’s !! On a slightly different tack, not sure how ‘Little Children’ ( Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas ), ‘Clare’ ( Gilbert O’Sullivan ‘) or ‘Save all your kisses for me’ ( Brotherhood of Man’) would be viewed in these perhaps less innocent times?