joestilgoe

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Shed Duet #5 - Trevor Dion Nicholas

You will have seen Trevor even if you don’t immediately recognise the name. His excellent face has been EVERYWHERE for the last few years advertising Aladdin (he was the genie, not Aladdin. Or the lamp. Or Jasmine. Or the tiger), and he conquered and occupied that role for 2 years - his first job in the West End. HOW WAS IT HIS FIRST JOB IN THE WEST END? Well, he’s American guys - he’s not faking that accent - he’d already built a huge reputation for himself in the US - as huge as his magnificent voice. He was so iconic in the role he’s still rolling around on the side of buses.  

I met Trevor just as he was coming to the end of his run as the Genie - he was one of my guests at Crazy Coqs in 2018 and though we’d never met we clicked immediately. I’d asked if he knew the musical Big River... “Know it?! I was IN IT!” He’d played the role of Jim - the role he sings in this duet - not many people know this musical - I only know it from the album we had in the car growing up as Dad had seen it on Broadway in the 80s. The songs are blindingly good - all by Roger Miller, writer of ‘King Of The Road’, and they tell the tales of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. John Goodman was in the original cast...

So we agreed we loved that song, and we did it that night. We’ve since worked together on a Wizard Of Oz show for Radio 2 last year - he was a lion, I was a scarecrow - Trevor has great lionish qualities, and was perfect in that show. I love his voice, his laugh and his contagious enthusiasm (I chose not to use the word infectious but it turns out plumped for an even worse choice).  

He is now, or was playing George Washington in the West End production of Hamilton, so he is, like many in the business, frozen in time while we wait for some positive news that theatres might be able to reopen. Until that time, watch this or just gaze at his Instagram and Twitter. 

Thank you Trevor. 

[joestilgoe]

Shed Duet #4 - The Mighty Clive Rowe

Like with many brilliant performers it feels like you know them long before you actually meet them. It gets confusing sometimes doesn’t it? I actually met Clive for the first time when he agreed to be one of my guests for the 2nd Joe Stilgoe & Friends week at Crazy Coqs in London. YES HE IS A FRIEND NOW THANK YOU. It was years before though when I first saw him - a virtuoso performance on his own in a show called Sadly Solo Joe which was appearing alongside a show I was doing at the Cardiff International Festival Of Musicals. We all went to see him and knew he was a star of great shininess, so I stayed in touch with his glittering career and saw him again a few times before we actually met. 

One of the most enjoyable times we’ve had working together was for the Royal Albert Hall production of Guys & Dolls, directed by the great Stephen Mear. Clive was reprising his Olivier award-winning role of Nicely Nicely Johnson, and I was cast as his best pal Benny Southstreet. Every time I was on stage it was with Clive, and every time I was on stage I had the time of my life. I’d seen him play Nicely when he won the Olivier at the National some years ago, so to see him up close and work with him in such detail was like the best lesson in stagecraft I’ve ever had. The rest of the cast weren’t too shabby either...

Clive is a completely lovely man, and as well as being so honoured he agreed to sing with me, I’m just glad I know him and that he knows me. We don’t know what’s going to happen to our industry, but as long as there are Clives to bring all that truth, wonder, joy and artistry, there’s hope that it will return in full force somewhere down the line. 

He’s a humble fellow and doesn’t go in for all the self-promotion nonsense but if you’d like to find out more about this great man of theatre (and film), here’s a link to more info. 

[joestilgoe]

Shed Duet #3 - Hadley Fraser

Ah, Hadley. Hadley Hadley Hadley Hadders Haddog Hadman Hadoobydooby dib dob. What a joy this man is. Actor, singer, writer, father, husband, new-beard owner. Those are his main jobs. There are others. Maybe he’s a fireman too. Today though, his only job is to be my guest.  And what a guest! And what? A guest? Andy Watt, you guessed! 

We first met last year for a Radio 2 show celebrating The Wizard Of Oz, but it felt like we’d known each other before. There were links of course... “do you know *****?” “YES! I was at school/ cubs/ arm’s length with that person!” “Did you know that ********* was in ******?” “Yes, and that person was ****** with ***** long before *****. And then of course there was the ******.” It went on like this for months. Then we had to sing. Also with us that day was the human monument Trevor Dion Nicholas and the incredible Rebecca Trehearn - we’ve all kept in touch, which is what happens when you do something lovely with lovely people. 

Hadley and I, though, have fostered a burgeoning writing relationship, which was destined for HUGE THINGS before old/novel Corona peeped its annoying head around the corner. So we have to be content with this. He, like many of my shed duettees, was one of my guests last year at Crazy Coqs for my 4th “Joe Stilgoe & Friends” series, and he also joined us on stage at Christmas for the Lyric show. He’s an amazing performer, but he also loves jazz singers and songs, so I thought I’d throw him this old Irving Berlin classic. My Dad used to sing this one with his pal Peter Skellern, and I just think it’s a joyous, silly classic. 

As ever, you will forgive the sound issues - it’s lockdown guys! I don’t live in Abbey Road! 

Hadley can be found here (Twitter) and here (Instagram), and on his website here and as he was due to star in the West End run of City Of Angels, I’m sure he can be found in that dazzling show once all this nonsense is over. 

Enjoy this one and I’ll be bringing you another sooner than a spooner. 

Love and best washes,

Joe 

[joestilgoe]

SHED DUET #2 - Liza Pulman

Liza and I met recording her new album - she’d invited me to come and play piano on a reworking of the ballad Bye Bye Blackbird. I knew of her from Fascinating Aida and I’d also been doing a tour around the UK which seemed to be following her Streisand show in every theatre. It was a joy recording that song so we thought we’d try something else - me in the shed, her in deepest Cornwall. Amazing the wires stretch that far...

She chose the song - happens to be one of my favourites - Peter Skellern used to sing this one and he got me into Hoagy Carmichael. Hoagy is a favourite of so many singer pianists, as he wrote songs that just fit so well in the voice and under the fingers. I also met Hoagy’s son recently, just before we were all confined to our bubbles, and we had a lovely chat about his dad, the songs and the life of a man who was a huge star in his own right as well as being one of the great composers of the 20th century. 

So it is June, but I’ve never been to Memphis. Half-truths...

Liza sings so beautifully on this - I convinced her she didn’t need the mic - we can hear her incredible technique and soul just on the iphone. I’ve been doing all my shed things acoustically, as it’s a shed - I wanted it to sound how it would if you were all crammed in there with me. 

Liza’s new album has been delayed until next Feb but she has released an EP - The Heart Of It  featuring Blackbird -  Tony Levin adds something lovely on fretless bass too. You can hear that and find out EVERYTHING about Liza on her website here. Follow her too on Twitter or Instagram. 

[joestilgoe]

SHED DUET #1 - Jamie Parker

During the shed shows, which were daily at lunchtime and are now on Saturday nights (better for cocktail guilt), I was getting mildly obsessed with the idea that I would run a concurrent series of duets with my favourite singers, not only to showcase their brilliance but also to make music with other people again. Much as I love a solo session, and believe me the reduction in time spent arranging and printing is a bonus, my real love is playing with other musicians. So I started, with the quite stupendously excellent actor Jamie Parker. Then I stopped - too much to do, with the daily shows and children and life, so it was a solitary notch on the duets board until I got my act together and fired up the series again. I’ll be talking about each duet here, and popping in some links and info about each collaborator so you can find out more. 

Jamie and I met in rehearsal for High Society at The Old Vic. It was a dream gig for me, and it turns out, for Jamie too. He of course had made quite a name in classical roles on stage and on film, but he’d just been doing Guys & Dolls down in Chichester, and it turns out he’s not only a big Sinatra fan, but he also has one of THE GREAT voices for this kind of material. I loved hearing him sing ‘You’re Sensational’ every night from the dressing room -  effortless power, class and emotion and the tone you could only dream of. 

We’ve stayed in touch as he’s gone on to more great things, including originating the role of the adult Harry Potter in the West End play - we took him out to lunch at The Ivy in between shows - we were definitely fans that day. Now back from New York and like all of us eager to perform in some way during the lockdown, I asked him if we might reprise the number we sang with Rupert Young in the show. He was as brilliant as ever, and it was a great start to the series. 

Jamie can mostly be found here on Twitter - Jamie Parker

[joestilgoe]

Friends (and paid acquaintances)

I was in France for a week - or near as dammit. A little corner of Paris (in Piccadilly) was my home as I spent one glorious week wafting around the marble and mirrors of that French theme park they call Zedel, like a true flaneur. I was only a couple of glasses of pastis away from cramming a dog-eared copy of Madame Bovary in my back pocket and humming Maurice Chevalier b-sides.

The reason for my semaine de soufflé was a return to the magnificent home of cabaret in London - Crazy Coqs. Down the stairs, turn right, and the beautiful 1930s art deco opulence transports all incumbents back to a more glamorous age (or if you don’t think it more glamorous, then almost certainly an earlier age). I hadn’t played there for a while, so I knew I had to be back with a bang. The bang came in the form of roping in various friends to be my special guests during the week, and it was a nice mix of jazzers and those I’ve met in more theatrical circles. All were absolutely brilliant, and for those who came to a few of the shows, I think it brought something unique to the week - it certainly made me raise my game to try to match the lustre of these amazing performers. 

Here is the account of the week, in classic 30s-postcard-style note form.

MONDAY

1st show - Claire Martin. The High Priestess of British jazz singing. I get to work with Claire often, and in fact the first time either of us appeared here was as a new double act, the show being April In Paris. We also asked Imogen Ryall - friend of Claire’s and excellent jazz singer - fine line in vocalese and writing nifty lyrics to existing jazz tunes. They both sang up a storm. Lovely entry into the week - Claire sang my new song for her ‘Between You And Me’, which she and Kenny Barron are due to record this summer for her new record. Imogen introduced me to new tune - ‘Lawns’ by Carla Bley. Forgot to say today was my BIRTHDAY, so Claire procured a glass of fizz for me during a rushed supper of sea bream and set lists. And chips. Always the chips. Happy Birthday was sung by the crowd as I ran to the stage (run, in case the clapping doesn’t last).

MONDAY - LATE SHOW

Later that night... my band boys were the second show of the evening - Ben and Tom, pom tee pom, Tom and Ben, dagga dagga den. Still on a high after first show, but enjoyed this one equally. First time with band here - great crowd of Monday late-birds - who cares about Tuesday mornings? First appearance of the improv blues - something about railways, Theresa May and Swansea. All very prophetic. Happy Birthday a little more forced this time (I might have asked for it).

TUESDAY - NO SHOW

There was filming. Michael Caine was there. Good excuse for a night off.

WEDNESDAY 

Natalie Williams. My great friend and frequent Ronnie Scott’s sparring partner (mostly during the Valentine season). New song - Lady Luck. Finally finished the lyrics on the train on the way up. Only taken 5 years. Nat also sang beautifully - highlight was ‘How Glad I Am’ - a Nancy Wilson song I’ve unknowingly loved for ages (in that I never knew what the song was). Also McArthur Park. Someone left the cake out in the rain...

Props to Ms Williams also for swapping last minute as Rob Brydon was filming that week and suddenly couldn’t do the Weds slot. Sorry to those who then couldn’t rearrange, but neither was anything less than a great stand-in for the other (though in a police line up you would notice the difference). 

THURSDAY

1st show - Jamie Parker (Olivier award still fresh). From High Society days, Jamie just finished Harry Potter the week before - I mean he was in the play rather than having just read the books - very lucky to have him. He sings a dream, and chooses interesting repertoire. Highlight being ‘Hamlet’ (Frank Loesser song - the title gives away the plot), and then a great Tom Waits song called ‘Annie’s Back In Town’. We duetted on World On A String - Jamie was on fire, great voice, great connection with the audience. Oh, if anyone has that picture of us together please send in. 

THURSDAY LATE SHOW

Brandon Allen on tenor sax, standing in at late notice for absentee woodwinder Giacomo Smith - Brandon had his son Raph in for the soundcheck. The joys of Soho parenting. Raph wasn’t too keen on our sound, but I knew it would be fine with more people in the room. I forgot the middle 8 to ‘My One And Only Love’. My One And Only Job, it should be renamed. Brandon was fantastic, nice to catch up and chat about life - he’s touring with Kyle Eastwood as well as his own projects. His latest venture had its premiere at Ronnie’s last week - Soho Suite. Glass of wine after, bumped into some friendly faces. Apologised. 

FRIDAY

1st show was the power-glamour pairing of Katherine Kingsley and Dom Tighe. (They’re married). (To each other). KK just been announced as playing the lead in massive new musical about Dusty Springfield next year called Dusty. Old pal Maria Friedman is directing. So, she sang two Dusty songs - what a voice! Huge power and range, showed off by extra song from Singin’ In The Rain. She played Lina Lamont to great acclaim. ‘What’s Wrong With Me?’ not in the film, but a great number. Dom followed and charmed and beguiled with ‘Younger Than Springtime’ and ‘On The Street Where You Live’. What a smooth bar steward. Both joined me for last song - ‘God Only Knows’. Katherine’s choice, and what a blinder. Mention of mutual appearances at mutual weddings. I sang Waterloo Sunset at theirs, and God Only Knows was at ours. Katherine and my agent (one and the same) was in. Thumbs up. 

FRIDAY LATE SHOW

Brydon. Well. Never thought he would say yes, let alone show up. He was glorious. Said he was nervous, ended up staying on stage for 30 minutes. Alan Bennett, Michael Caine, all three voices of Barry Gibb, Elvis, they were all there. ‘Impossible Dream’, improvised blues, Grease sung in a cut glass English accent. Joyous. Quite overwhelmed after he’d gone, such a great performance. Chatted backstage about The Trip, Human Remains and everything else I professed to be a fan of. 

P.S. Rob and I have just reprised our Barry Gibb moment at the Old Vic gala, and another improvised blues. Quite the new Flanagan And Allen we are...

SATURDAY

The magnificent Clive Rowe. Clive Rowe The Magnificent. Told the audience I was a bit of a fan - highlight was his Top Hat/ Puttin’ On The Ritz hybrid, which got its own standing ovation. Another after Well Did You Evah? (He was Frank, I was Bing). Clive is a legend, and the audience knew it. He charmed and wowed, and he was a delight in rehearsals, so all round it was quite the Saturday night. 

Then, on the train home, Katie called. London Bridge. Truly awful. We hoped we didn’t know anyone involved. Next morning, an email from Julian Ovenden, my guest that night. He was there - he arrived at 10.05 on his motorbike after finishing his play, and witnessed most of what we all read about. I told him of course he didn’t have to do the gig. He called later - he wanted to do it. He didn’t want to be thinking about the horror he’d seen all day. 

So.

SUNDAY

Julian is quite the star, and if you’ve seen any of the John Wilson proms recently, he’s often stolen the show. Coupled with huge TV parts and loads of theatre work, it’s fair to say we were lucky to have him there. But then, after last night, we were doubly lucky. We were all lucky to be there. Julian spoke beautifully about it - not too much, as this is a show and it has to go on and people often want to escape the day. He sang even more beautifully. A great rendition of an old Jerome Kern number called ‘The Land Where The Good Songs Go’ was my highlight, but I took huge guilty pleasure in performing Sondheim’s ‘Agony’ as a duet. Who was on piano? Ovenden. Annoyingly talented as he is, I was struggling to read the Sondheim score in rehearsal, and he said ‘I can do it’. So he did. Massive fun. Julian left to a huge standing ovation, had to get home and be with his family.

 I left with a big grin and lots of memories of a truly special week. Thank you, Crazy Coqs. We’ll be back next year. 

[joestilgoe]

Is a blog an appropriate forum for announcing a podcast? You bet it is! Here's the first Joe Stilgoe Podcast. Go well, Joe

[joestilgoe]

UK TOUR DAY 12 - Horsham

                                                                   The Capitol called....

(In note form)

Arrival - wrong entrance - Tour Manager Joe drives Bluebell all the way round the one way system to get to the right entrance - Non-Tour Manager Joe walks round using legs - fake piano used for first time on tour - we fool many people - special mention made of the Wimborne lights so we get lovely tungsten bulbs behind us again - the tech crew have a secret stash of Disney and Pixar cardboard cinema promo cutouts - sustenance is sought in a Bill’s (we love Bill’s) - the boys have burgers - I HAVE MY CAREER TO CONSIDER - I have an Aperol Spritz - reminds me of Italy, and maybe I need that sometimes - Ben reveals his parents are coming - it’s a big theatre, but it’s pretty full - Tom plays a particularly elegant solo in the acoustic number - lots of blasts from the past in the foyer - one woman dances at me for 45 seconds - JJ pays a visit - James from the tech crew turns out to be Norman Wisdom (on tour) - Ben’s parents - blueberry muffins backstage - we nearly forget the piano - road closed on the way back - again TomTom is to blame - she is NOT contrite - afterglow from show outweighs negatives from bossy navigation device - home. 

Thinking of home, if you take out the middle three letters of Horsham you get Hoam, which feels like home, but has the rsh taken out of it. No rush to get home? No rsh to get hoam? Horsham.

Moving on....

Some pics:

 The very worst photos yet, but note a) great art deco station and b) first outing for the fake piano (casing with a keyboard in). 

[joestilgoe]

UK TOUR DAY 11 - HELMSLEY

                                                                      Up with the White Rose

I can’t find the ‘illuminate keyboard’ button on this csompeutre, beqr with me, I”m in the tour bus.

GOT IT.

A trip to Yorkshire just isn’t a trip to Yorkshire without someone pronouncing Thirsk as Thrisk. And this is what happened when we went to the beautiful town of Helmsley, right in the north of what is already quite a north place. And quite near Thirsk/ Thrisk.

After the stone-lusting of Corsham, we were hit by a different kind of stone altogether (”A DIFFERENT KIND OF STONE”, everyone says, together). You might almost call this York stone, though you’d be mad to as round here talk like that will have you sent to the fields with seed in your hair for the buzzards to peck at.

The gig was great fun, again... Are we due a duffer? Hospitality was taken before the show at a nearby watering hole with excellent beer and Tour Manager Joe’s parents. The highlight of the evening was definitely an impromptu rendition of my song ‘We Should Kiss’ by an a cappella group who I met in Buxton two years ago, when they asked me if they could arrange it for 4 voices. They sprung it on me during the post-show signing. Amazing. I’ll post the video separately. It deserves its own post.

Post show

Werewolf was played for the first time, in our quite strange B&B next to a coal-fired power station somewhere off the M62. Werewolf is a card game with an app that you play with minimum 4 people and the aim is to not be the werewolf, or if you are, lie and convince people you aren’t. It’s fun. We polished off a couple of bottles of Castillero Del Diablo (good wine for werewolving) and 4 packets of ‘hotel biscuits’. Ben was the werewolf quite a lot.

In the morning, Ben, werewolf, who doesn’t/ can’t eat eggs, was for once the bearer of a breakfast smile, as his eggless face observed the rest of us eating eggs. Bad eggs. We had egg LITERALLY on our faces. At these moments home beckons more powerfully than at any other. And so does marmalade.

Before I go, I should explain these pictures:

1. Tiny but excellent Steinway

2. Rider: 1 pen, Flaubert’s Three Tales and a Famous Five book (Billycock Hill such a good a choice).

3. ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba -- ba -- baaaaa.

4. Silver shred anyone?

[joestilgoe]

UK TOUR DAY 10 - Corsham

                                                                   Wilts you were here...

A conversation:

Tom: “I think this is it.”

Joe: “Yes, Corsham Post Office, looks quite Corshamy to me.”

Ben: “It’s beautiful, look at those buildings.”

Joe: “Oh yes, Bath stone. You can’t beat it.”

Ben: “Why would you want to beat it?”

Tom: “I really like this place.”

Joe: “It’s kind of the perfect town, isn’t it, and there’s the arts centre!”

Ben: “Let’s live here.”

Joe/Tom: “Yes”.

And what a conversation! You guys really want to be in the back of the Focus/ Saab/ Sunshine Bus, as whichever vehicle we’re in the banter is sizzling.

The show at Pound Arts, Corsham, lived up to the hype we’d created talking about the colour of the building materials in the town, and with a packed house we did a better job of raising the roof than we had in Bromsgrove. The roof was actually visible and not shrouded in mist. 

This is what happened:

We slipped Abracadabra back into the set, there was a drama with the cheese toasties, Ben and the piano both wore Boston on their fronts, the woman who won the goody bag had to leave before the end so someone else had to be chosen but balloons were delivered to the early-leaver (she sent me a lovely message to say so), Ron was there, who I met at the Don McLean gig, and there were 5 women in their 80s on the front row who told Ben it was the best night out they’d had in years. Maybe that was a chat up line. 

We look forward eagerly to Helmsley, far, far away in North Yorkshire. See you there, travellers/ readers...

[joestilgoe]

UK tour Day 9 - Bromsgrove

                                                             Touchdown in the Midlands

The Artrix - We thought it was an Asterix character, but it turns out to be a glorious and beautifully stocked arts venue, with a ceiling that seems as tall as the Shard (it looks high in this photo but it went on for another mile above this). Tom ran the tech, Steve was duty manager, the Steinway was an absolute peach, Tour Manager Joe got over-excited about the Neumann vocal microphone I was allowed to use, and we all had a great time playing in this part of the country for the very first time. It should be said, this was in no way down to the provision of two of the green ones from a box of Quality Street on the rider (I’ve named them choc block but they probably have an official QS moniker. Anyone?). Nor was it because we visited the finest Slug And Lettuce this side of the Chilterns, though both of these felicitous happenings did make for an easier life on the road, and after a game of ‘Best Fact About Bromsgrove’ (this can be played with most towns) we were as relaxed and primed as any slick-suited, leather booted trio ever was. 

Mention must be made of the poor couple who parked in the wrong bit and were locked in while a security guard was called from Birmingham to come and rescue them. Please don’t associate my gigs with car park purgatory, guys. If you get in touch we’ll make sure the next one is pain (and money) free, I promise. 

We also met the best friend of Billy’s mum (my guitarist who sadly couldn’t make the tour. Billy, not his mum).

Thank you bonnie Bromsgrove, we’re off to Corsham next. Wiltshire be going?

[joestilgoe]

UK TOUR DAY 8 - HASTINGS

                                              The White Rock Theatre

A lengthy sea-less chasm had opened up since Worthing, so a trip back to the coast was timely and much needed as we rumbled down the A21 (often tempted to just go straight over the roundabouts) and deposited ourselves in what has become a favourite haunt. I’ve recorded 2 albums in Hastings, so this was a bit of a homecoming. The White Rock is a fine building, directly opposite the slowly recovering Hastings Pier (whose fund-raising event I played at about 18 months ago), and just down the esplanade from the best curry house in the south, Bay Spice. 

We played a new game - Memorise The Menu (no time to get to Bay Spice, this was upstairs in the theatre restaurant). It was a one pager, so well within our grasp, but the pies caught us all out. Thinking about it, the curry menu would have been a nightmare. We’d still be there. 

Ben received his new green braces, which were so thick and heavy-duty we felt sure they were actually a harness for shinning up telegraph poles. Turns out we weren’t far off. WORK BRACES, said the packet. I think they’re pretty swish. So did Ben (when he wasn’t propelling himself across the dressing room).

The gig was a belter, with a packed house and the busiest merchandise stall this side of the Vatican. We’d almost give the Ultimate 80s Xmas Party Night a run for its money (see below), though how everyone fits in the world’s smallest, and shortest, lift is beyond me. The boys are playing and singing like a dream. This is the best bit of touring - really getting to know the material and each other’s playing. Hopefully the audiences notice...

Me old mucker James McMillan was there with family - lovely to see The Producer in his own patch, but alas Liane Carroll couldn’t join us as she was working elsewhere. It’s Liane’s hometown, born and bred, so we’ll have to make sure we get her next time as you have to see her sing ‘Seaside’. 

See you again, Hastings. We roll on to Bromsgrove... 

[joestilgoe]

UK TOUR DAY 4,5 & 6 - Gateshead, Shrewsbury Ampthill

Strictly speaking (but not Strictly speaking - I just don’t have time to comment on dance), these dates weren’t part of the tour, but I did go to these places and I did do music in each of therm, so technically it qualifies for being be-blogged. 

Gateshead - I was asked to perform as part of ‘An Evening With Tim Rice’ at the beautiful, inspiring Sage concert hall, where I’d been a few times before with John Wilson and the Northern Philharmonia. It’s always a thrill to take the train up to Newcastle, especially the last leg when it waits on the bridge over the Tyne and you get a full view of the Sage in all its curvy, curious splendour. The gig was a collection of Sir Tim’s greatest songs, and among the performers were Rick Wakeman, Kerry Ellis and  Clare Teal. Brilliant choirs and orchestra too  - I was Che, Timon, Pumba and King Herod (normal line-up of legends) and we all had a ball. And I met childhood hero Janet Ellis.

To Shrewsbury the next day, down to London on a Virgin train, undignified run from Kings Cross to Euston then up to Shrewsbury on a Virgin train. That definitely qualifies as touring. I was reunited with the trio (or duo - Joe Stilgoe and The Reynolds Farmer Duo?) in the serene setting of the Maidment Hall in Shrewsbury School. The gig was a sell out (See picture - fire door keep shut) and Tour Manager Joe did a magnificent job all round (he just happened to have a full PA system in the back of the sunshine bus). He did have a problem with wasps though. He’s petrified of wasps, and where he’d parked he seemed to have disturbed a quite large nest of them. So they surrounded his van, and nearly surrounded him, but faster-than-a-wasp movement got him in and out quicker than you can say ‘What’s the buzz?’ (Tim Rice reference)... We had a couple of drinks in a local watering hole after the gig with the great John Moore, and made up a game called FuturePet (rules will be explained at a later date). Again we stayed at the beautiful Hambrook House (we did this gig in 2013) - thanks to Charlotte and family for putting us up for the night and for definitely the best sausage of 2015. 

Ampthill - Reynolds OFF (on duty with Clare Teal in Lancashire) - the wonderful Chris Higginbottom in his place behind the drums. This was a charity event to raise money for the Leonard Cheshire Home, next door to the venue. Ampthill - apparently it means ‘ant-infested hill’ in Anglo-Saxon. Tour Manager Joe doesn’t mind ants, so he was ok. IT’S JUST WASPS. We had to use a keyboard as the upright Joanna in the venue didn’t cut the mustard, but SOMEONE forgot the power lead so SOMEONE had to drive to Bedford to get a new power lead, but I... I mean SOMEONE got back in the nick of time and Tour Manager Joe calmed any power worries by actually knowing about electrics and things like that. Bananas came in a fruit bowl moulded from an old Shadows record, and chocolate biscuits came in two denominations, as of course we always demand. The gig was great fun, we met lots of lovely Ampthillians, and we broke the merchandise record (TWO people bought a mug!).

Hastings next...

[joestilgoe]

Norwich. The photo evidence. Also, I'm REALLY sorry about the grammatical stink bomb I set off in the last blog. 'How was this been allowed to happen?', I wrote. This clearly makes no sense. There are two options to make it better and get the planet spinning again, and I think I'll choose the option that replaces 'was' with 'has', as my fingers meant to type. Sometimes I type like I play the piano, with all fingers pressed down at the same time. Sorry.

[joestilgoe]

UK TOUR DAY 3 - NORWICH

The Playhouse, to be exact. On approach into the city (me in the back, Ben driving, Tom navigating), I declared I’d actually never been to Norwich before. How was this been allowed to happen?, we all thought, and probably said out loud. In my mind, I love Norwich, I love its fabled 365 pubs and 52 churches (one for every day/ week), I love that its football team play in bright yellow, I even love its associations with the great A Partridge. But no, my visits hence totalled zero (or zilch, as Alan might say).

It rivalled my brain’s imaginary appraisal, that’s for sure. Except for the pizza. The pizza was hell. The crowd a joy, the Playhouse a joy and we played a blinder (Ben says). I even sold an LP. The Totally (totes) bags are even selling. I might be a shop. What do you do for a living Joe? Oh, I’m a shop. A shop that sells two CDs, a record, a mug and a bag.

Sarah won the goody bag. Again, great exclamation after the announcement. There’s a danger this is becoming the highlight of the show.

The piano was a Steinway. Small but wonderful (like Tom Thumb, Dudley Moore and my daughter).

Funnily enough we listened to the audio book of I Partridge on the way up and way back. This inspired a really quite lengthy chat and Wikipedia session in which we debated whether bananas were fruit or herbs (or a gas?), what came first: the orange or the colour orange, and how pineapples used to be decorative in upper class dinner parties. Between the three of us, we’re so ruddy interesting.

Outside the car, we go back to being uber-hip jazz cats, obvs.

ADDENDUM: I’m writing this on the train to Shrewsbury, and actually eating a fruit Shrewsbury biscuit. There’s a bit on the screen now. Last night I was in Gateshead performing at the Sage for An Evening With Tim Rice, which was excellent fun, if a little hairy (literally so in the case of me playing Timon and Pumba in ‘Hakuna Matata’). I also dabbled with Che Guevara and King Herod. Quite the list of heroes…

Tonight’s not an official tour date but I will still write it up as if it’s a school holiday written by one of the teachers (a fun time was had by all…).

We’ll catch up with the bandwagon in my second home, Hastings, on Monday. See you there.

Oh, pictures to come in a separate post as I can’t seem to get them to stick to this…

[joestilgoe]

UK TOUR- DAY 2- WIMBORNE

                                        Missed Turnings, Passion Fruit and The Lobster

Last night was the premiere of Joe And Tour-Manager-Joe Ride In The Yellow Sunshine Bus. Joe (TM Joe) calls it Bluebell, but it is a machine with many names. As yellow as it is, we managed to miss 2 junctions on the way to Wimborne and one on the way back (M3 was shut, THANKS GUYS). On my way to meeting Joe to hop in the Golden Goddess I also managed to miss my junction and nearly got all the way home again. This is the nature of touring. Hopes, dreams, vocal warm-ups in a Mercedes Sprinter going the wrong way down the B3219.

Wimborne, as ever, is the perfect town. Beautiful Georgian architecture, great pubs, and what about that Minster??? Oh, and the Model Village...

We love the Tivoli. Last time I played there was just after I released my first album in 2008. I’m amazed they had me back... They were as wonderful as ever and treated us well.

As you can see, the lighting was spectacular. We’re going to steal Keiran’s lighting design and take it on tour. Things like this really make the difference, as we didn’t expect it, but Keiran takes his job seriously and loves designing different plots for different shows. 

The food was interesting. Slightly rushed. Well, very rushed. So rushed that they had to shovel my lobster and chips (I promise this was within our budgeted meal tokens) into an ice cream carton as an impromptu take away. The lobster was probably thinking “this is how you treat me? I’m supposed to be HIGH END”.

A passion fruit (English) fell on me on the way back from the pub, when I was rushing with the lobster. Ben knew what it was. It’s massive and orange. It’s not an orange.

The crowd was (were?) a delight, lots had seen me in High Society. Tina won the goody bag. I mentioned the passion fruit, and in fact showed it to the audience. I showed them my English passion fruit. I should edit myself. Especially when I did a joke about the Wimborne Ultimatum. 

We were in an old cinema...

The tour rolls on today to Norwich. Home of many churches, pubs, and brutally associated with Alan Partridge forevermore. It’s going to be great. See you at The Playhouse.

(First ever photograph of a lobster in tupperware with a kazoo next to it?)

[joestilgoe]

THE UK TOUR - WORTHING

Yesterday we began our tour in earnest. Well, Worthing actually. What an absolutely beautiful place, lit by the late summer sun that we’re all getting quite used to and bathes everything in a golden glow. We piled in to the Worthing Pavilion, which is right on the pebble beach, as you can see. After the cursory check to see if our instruments and fingers worked, we were ushered to this table al fresco, got crapped on by a gull and then had some truly life-changing chips (and poo-compensating, obviously). 

The gig was great, lovely crowd, great venue, Martin Lavender won the goody bag for the evening but it was his wife who screamed with delight so of course everyone thought Martin had a VERY high voice. (I met him after. He didn’t).

Tom was minutes away from wearing these socks for the show (pictured). We almost thought it was ‘a look’, but sartorial sense got the better of him and he retrieved his stunt socks from the car. He was asked later (in what was the first instance of impromptu Q&A at a gig I can think of) whether, as his hands both did different things but at the same time, there was any difference in the size and the shape of each hand. It might just be the best question ever asked of a bassist. Tom said he didn’t think so.

Standing ovation at the end. I’m not bragging, it could well have been people leaving. I’ll take it though, and if we don’t get another on the tour, we can always say WORTHING STOOD FOR US. We loved it there and hopefully we can return to those larger than you’d expect pebbles, over-fed gulls and GREAT CHIPS. Long live the British seaside...

Next stop is Wimborne, tomorrow. The Tivoli theatre is a beauty, should be fun (hope I haven’t encouraged more Q&A...).

Toot toot!