Simon. Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Many moons ago, my then band were doing quite well on the local Edinburgh scene, so we were put in as local support for a gig on that year's NME tour. The hope being that we would pull in our usual crowd as ticket sales hadn't been great. The bands on the tour? Welsh outfit Terris and some bunch of lads called Coldplay... To be fair, they were nice enough guys, albeit painfully shy. And utterly, terminally dull on stage. Fortunately Yellow was released about a week before the gig, so the place was absolutely rammed. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 14 hours ago, Cat Burrito said: I have so many stories but the one that raises the most eyebrows is that we gigged with Boris Johnson's sister. Obviously we try to keep Basschat politics free but just putting that out there. It was at the Troubadour in London around 10yrs ago or longer. I don't recall her set but she wasn't a big fan of her brother. His children have formed a symphony orchestra. 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswareham Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) Since someone has mentioned being told to eff off by Lemmy, I guess I'll mention my encounter with the great man. Twenty years ago, the singer of the band I was in had a friend at Metalhammer magazine who got us VIP tickets to their annual awards at the Kentish Town Forum. At one point I went to the bar, where I ordered a drink while stood next to my childhood hero Gary Numan and was then excitedly making a bee line for my singer to tell him about it. This meant crossing the central area of the balcony, where I was stopped by an enormous bouncer and asked for my pass. I showed him my VIP wristband only to told I needed a "VVIP" one to enter that area. As I was about to turn away and take the long route round, a gravelly voice said "It's alright mate, he's with me". I looked to see who had said this, and saw Lemmy motioning me to sit in his booth. He had a beautiful woman sat each side of him (I later discovered they had been paid to escort him all evening), and a bottle of JD on the table. I sat down, he offered me a drink and then he said "I love your jacket man". Said jacket was an army surplus East German thing I'd bought the week before at Camden Market. I ended up having a shot of his JD, before thanking him and making it over to my singer and regaling him with what had happened. The night got a bit hazy after that, but I ended up at the after party along with acquaintances who were also in attendance since we had a mutual friend who was playing in Cradle of Filth. That proved embarrassing, since the singer of CoF decided to pick a fight with the members of Murderdolls. Since they were all at least a good foot taller than the rather short Mr Filth, he got kicked down a set of stairs and a slagging off in the next issue of Metalhammer. Edited March 9 by chriswareham 7 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 About five years ago I went into a florists in Kidderminster the day before Valentine's day. Ordered a bunch of Roses for the then Mrs StingRayBoy and nodded hello to the long-haired, leather jacketed old feller waiting for his flowers. We stood there and made "Tsch, mad this innit, what are we like?" faces at each other for a very long five minutes, while my brain played "That's Robert Plant. That's Robert Plant. That's Robert Plant. Out of Led Zep." on a loop. They say never meet your heroes, but I think he handled it really well. 2 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 On 07/03/2024 at 14:29, tubbybloke68 said: I done my first gigs supporting the band Robin was in at the time called’ Boxing clever’ . We’re all from the Horsham area. Still see the singer Brent around to chat with. First gig was in a village called Blindley Heath in East Sussex. Blue anchor pub, no idea whether it’s still there! No, it's now a Smith & Western - an American Cowboy themed chain restaurant The Blue Anchor was there for a long time though, but closed up maybe 20 years ago 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbybloke68 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 22 minutes ago, Graham said: No, it's now a Smith & Western - an American Cowboy themed chain restaurant The Blue Anchor was there for a long time though, but closed up maybe 20 years ago Thanks for the update Graham, ironically a Horsham based family started the smith and western chain, there’s one here still, though it’s moved premises, one at Crawley and think still up top of box hill, dorking too. Yes it was a long time ago , I was about 17/18. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knirirr Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) FWIW I've gigged with two different pianists who also happen to be physicists and are notable enough to have Wikipedia pages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hopkins_(musician) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Marshall_(academic) Edited March 9 by knirirr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediocre Polymath Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) At university in the mid-2000s I shared a stage/bill a few times with 2010s pop-star Ellie Golding (Eleanor-Jane Goulding, I think she was at the time). These were tiny pub and university campus gigs, mostly for free beer and attention. She was a decent guitar player back then and used to do sets of singer-songwriter-y stuff (Ani DiFranco, Joni Mitchell, etc.). Could never have predicted the trajectory her career has taken. Edited March 9 by Mediocre Polymath 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 34 minutes ago, Mediocre Polymath said: At university in the mid-2000s I shared a stage/bill a few times with 2010s pop-star Ellie Golding (Eleanor-Jane Goulding, I think she was at the time). These were tiny pub and university campus gigs, mostly for free beer and attention. She was a decent guitar player back then and used to do sets of singer-songwriter-y stuff (Ani DiFranco, Joni Mitchell, etc.). Could never have predicted the trajectory her career has taken. Her brother was/is a member here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I used to be in a band with the keyboard player from the Courteeners and a different band with the drummer out of Catfish and the Bottlemen when he was about 15. A friend of mine toured the world playing keys with Cradle of Filth, she's got some good stories! On stage, they were all evil, baby-eating monster types - off stage, they were middle-aged blokes from Ipswich who complained about their shoulders hurting. Good days! 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Back in the early 90s, just after I'd picked up the bass again after a long break, a local pub was renovated and re-opened as the Blues Tavern. The new owner/landlord, whose name I forget, was well connected in the music business and had the late Denny Laine living in a motorhome in the carpark. Denny used to run the regular Jam nights and so I got to play with him a few times. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyb625 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I had a very nice chat with Stephen Morris and his wife Gillian, backstage at the Krankenhaus Festival. They live in Macclesfield, which is just down the road from us, so we chatted about how rubbish the council was, plus the best way to get to Muncaster Castle from Cheshire amongst other things. I didn't have the first clue who he was, so it was somewhat surprising to see him on stage later in the day being interviewed. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I was asked to appear in a charity video for ELO in the late 80's miming bass. Went to a studio and just played along to the track whilst we were all being filmed. I can't remember much about it and only being 18, I didn't really know much about ELO but they were all very nice. Recorded an album at Paul Weller's studio in Ripley which Paul played on a few track. I had to teach him a few of the piano parts and at the end of the week we all went for a curry in Ripley. We then supported him on his Sonic Kicks tour. Recorded an album with Mark Wallis who produced the It Bites album, Travis albums, engineered on U2's Joshua Tree to name a few. The studio was owned by Geoff Downs of Buggles fame and John Payne from Asia. Geoff played Hammond on a few tracks and John sung backing on a few tracks. They were both super nice people. Hung out backstage with Cactus World News and Deacon Blue at a festival we were all playing at in the 90's. A few mates of mine went to see Mike Peter's play in Bath Moles. Mike asked if anyone could play guitar and my guitarist friend stepped forward and was his roadie for the night. Got to hang out and chat music with him and talk about our band with him. A few months later, I interviewed Derek Forbes and then saw him when he was playing in Portsmouth. Mike Peter's was also singing in the band and he remembered us and we ended up having a good chat again about music. I played bass with a band for a few months as a dep that had Jodie Hawkes (Chesney's brother) on drums and a few other siblings of famous musicians. Supported 80's pop band Breathe at Guildford Civic Hall (G Live) in the 90's. One of our roadies, Patch, was the drummer in The Audience with Sophie Ellis-Bexter and The Sunday's. After a tour in London, we headed back to his studio for a party which happened to be some old mill and he played us the early demo's of track's from Natalie Imbruglia's first album and Robbie Williams - Millennium which started out as a reggae track. Paul Nicholls who was in Eastenders was there as well as other people who I can't remember. To now go full circle, I recorded an EP in a studio in Soho in the late 80's. There was a guy working there who was super kind and let me use his amazing Vintage Fender basses. It turns out to be our very own @Steve Browning 😁 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 25 minutes ago, Linus27 said: It turns out to be our very own @Steve Browning 😁 You won! 🙇♂️ </THREAD> 😊 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Me, Finnish rockers 69 Eyes and a squad of lassies all got turfed out of a party in the Cathouse. Felt sorry for the lads, it was their party 😆 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 I've chatted with a few people over the years about a mutual love of P Funk... Firstly, Flea - we shared a "hand rolled cigarette" after I'd blagged my way into an after show party at the Astoria. And Lenny Henry - I arranged to have lunch in the BBC bar with a mate, who brought Lenny with him. They were working on a sitcom together. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Getting plastered in a London hotel lobby with members of Aussie band 28 Days, afterwhich my buddy and I proceeded sitting in wide chairs and drinking whisky, whilst the band members took responsibility for a makeover of the building, which o.a. was about filling the elevators with everything that fit inside, and waiting for someone on another floor to hit the button. The receptionist was wonderfully calm through this, just remarking they'd notice their bill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 3 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said: And Lenny Henry - I arranged to have lunch in the BBC bar with a mate, who brought Lenny with him. They were working on a sitcom together. Funny enough, our kid met Lenny Henry whilst at a hotel when having to pay visit to the toilet On 09/03/2024 at 02:32, StingRayBoy42 said: They say never meet your heroes, but I think he handled it really well. I had similar the other week after a gig when I was stood next to Mark Radcliffe😁 That could be a topic about who you saw in the toilet, but I reckon George Micheal would probably win. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 5 hours ago, lurksalot said: Funny enough, our kid met Lenny Henry whilst at a hotel when having to pay visit to the toilet I had similar the other week after a gig when I was stood next to Mark Radcliffe😁 That could be a topic about who you saw in the toilet, but I reckon George Micheal would probably win. Was it a Premier Inn ? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 How could I forget?! I played the Sousaphone on an episode of Lucy Worsley's history thing on the telly, the one about the Peterloo massacre. She's lovely - really friendly and down to earth. That's me in the background. (I'm the one with the Sousaphone.) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 I'm not sure what's more awesome: the fact that you were on TV (on the Beeb, no less!), or the fact that you can play a sousaphone! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Just now, EliasMooseblaster said: I'm not sure what's more awesome: the fact that you were on TV (on the Beeb, no less!), or the fact that you can play a sousaphone! Oh... stop it, you! ☺️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 09/03/2024 at 02:32, StingRayBoy42 said: About five years ago I went into a florists in Kidderminster the day before Valentine's day. Ordered a bunch of Roses for the then Mrs StingRayBoy and nodded hello to the long-haired, leather jacketed old feller waiting for his flowers. We stood there and made "Tsch, mad this innit, what are we like?" faces at each other for a very long five minutes, while my brain played "That's Robert Plant. That's Robert Plant. That's Robert Plant. Out of Led Zep." on a loop. They say never meet your heroes, but I think he handled it really well. Who would have thought. Finding a Plant in a Florist. 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 5 minutes ago, steantval said: Who would have thought. Finding a Plant in a Florist. Pity there were no ex-members of Pink Floyd so you could watch Robert Plant while Roger Waters. 3 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 1 minute ago, MacDaddy said: Pity there were no ex-members of Pink Floyd so you could watch Robert Plant while Roger Waters. Bill Withers if there ain't no sunshine... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.