Wednesday 8th December 1999Ashton - WitchwoodWell, we thought that we were being clever using Autoroute (computer based highway map) to plan our route. Unfortunately it decided to send us on the scenic route, so it ended up taking 7 hours to get to Ashton and once again, we were late. Luckily the venue people didn't mind too much and we soon getting ready to soundcheck. As we were late AGAIN, we decided to do without a soundcheck and watched the other two bands, Beaver and Love ???? Emily ???? soundchecking. The PA was a wee bit fierce, so we hid out in the little cupboard shaped room that is the Witchwood dressing room. There was a lovely spread of sandwiches and beer on the table so we tucked in, sat down and relaxed. The venue was gettng fairly healthily full by the time that Beaver started to play. They played some old school punk rock with some great lyrics. The lead singer worked the audience with style, I enjoyed them very much. Next on were ??????? who really reminded me of a great band from my teen years Penetration. The singer had a really good voice and the mixture of punk and prog worked very well. I was a bit worried that the people who had come to see the first two bands were going to go home before we were due onstage, but I needn't of feared as most of them stayed to give us a chance to prove ourselves. True to form, as we didn't do a soundcheck, the sound was great and we felt free enough to play a good and tight set. A few of the other band's fans vacated the venue, but most of them stayed. After the gig we had been offered accomodation from Dave, who very generously was laying open his home to an Abdou onslaught. Putting up 7 people is no mean feat but he did us proud, in fact most of us had beds for the night. I was in 7th Heaven as my bed was directly below a brand new iMac in a beautiful shade of green. I slept like a log and woke up feeling bright as a button. Dave helped me get online to upload some of the tour diary and to collect my email. He was even kind enough to lend me an A-Z of Sheffield so that we could find today's gig. What a geezer! I am a happy bunny FB xxx
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