Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

On Stage At The Ord

by admin - 17:09 on 05 April 2014

So that's the new-look Strays' first gig over with. The bar proved a greater attraction than the dance floor but there were occasional outbreaks of enthusiasm, particularly for All These Things That I've Done and Mr Brightside. You can always rely on The Killers.

The playing was less than polished in places – the band's not yet match fit – so we made up for it with enough volume to drown out the world's most rattly fridge, hidden behind the bar, and a tempo in several songs at least half as fast again as the ones we'd rehearsed.

The volume must have been too much for the Ord's electrics to cope with. Rocking In The Free World came to a premature end when a tripped fuse silenced Richie's guitar, my bass and the PA and plunged our half of the stage into darkness. Or maybe someone was expressing an opinion.

Our evening ended with the usual anticlimactic dismantling of equipment and loading into Jim's van followed by much hanging around in the car park while Gregor quizzed the management about the discrepancy between what we'd been promised and what we'd been paid. The discussions ended amicably.

Thanks to everyone who danced, cheered or just waved a glass at us – it was good to see lots of familiar faces. And if life now seems drab, empty and pointless with no Strays gig to look forward to, or if you were unavoidably absent from this one, don't worry. We return to the spotlight later this month at a charity bash in Evanton – details to follow soon – and the top team of Jim and Richie are hustling for gigs all over the Highlands.

We'll be back.

Moggy Update: Pandora the convalescent is full of beans and spent the day driving Matchgirl mad (I was absent on market duties) while being prevented from making stitches-splitting leaps from and on to furniture. Several escape bids were foiled when the door was opened to allow Willow and Maia into the open air, the cat-flap now being locked to keep recovering kitties indoors. It's going to be a long ten days.

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