Friday 17th September 1999

Southampton - The Joiner's Arms

It all started off very smoothly, we picked up the hire van and loaded the equipment without a hitch and well in time to get to Southampton for the soundcheck.

Then a minor disaster took place at a petrol station near Guildford, in the guise of my Bruv, Bam Bam. Somehow he managed to fill the petrol van with diesel which resulted in a prompt breakdown, an hours wait for the AA followed by a tow to a garage, a bit of siphoning and another dent in my credit card.

Instead of arriving for 5pm for the soundcheck we got to the Joiners at 9.30, just in time to catch the last couple of chords from Plastik. I'm sorry that I missed 'em as they sounded pretty good.

Next on were my mates Dan The 50lb Man. I just about managed to eat the lovely venue veggie curry before running to catch them. I have known singer John for a good while, in fact he sold t-shirts for Carter on the last US tour. His partner for this gig was Kev, who is a newer friend. Kev is standing in for John's bruv Ish who had a bit of a car accident and couldn't make it all the way from sunny California.

Anyway, the two of 'em are backed by a viscous and bouncy backing track, not a little reminiscent of a certain band that I used to be in not so long ago. The twin guitar / vocal onslaught certainly got the room moving although it was a bit of a shame that there wasn't more people in when they played, as they missed a real treat. The songs are great and shone through despite some difficulties with the sound. I believe that it was Kev's first ever gig and he is to be congratulated for learning the songs in 2 days flat. In fact, he only met John 3 days ago!

Next on were @tomica, who played a great set with a bit of an REM feel to it along with bits of Neil Young to make a very pleasant sound indeed. I particularly enjoy the bass player, he is top.

It was gone eleven when we got ourselves together to go up on the stage. The venue wasn't packed by any standards, but there was a good 80 odd people in.

It wasn't one of our best gigs, I have to admit. It all felt a little disjointed to me. but talking to my bruv afterwards he said that the sound was pretty good and the crowd had a whale of a time. There was a lot of very spectacular and drunken dancing going on.

Ex Carter man Wez was there along with my mate Ferret, it was really good to see them again. Wez was on top form and had us in stitches in the dressing room.

My human interactive Auto Cue Rob came in useful as usual although he gave me a bum steer on one of the songs and I ended up singing the wrong lyrics. He also missed the first song as he was in the dressing room in a drunken haze, snoring his head off.

So, it wasn't the best ever gig, but not bad at all and we have been asked back, which is a good sign.

Thanks to everyone that came, it was lovely to see you smiling faces.

love fruity xxx