Simon Little

Hello Folks,

I’m going forn the rather risky move of blogging whilst still actually on the road. Could be tricky and you’ll have to excuse any typos and spelling mistakes as I’m hacking away at a German keyboard and all the letters are in the wrong place… Thought it would be better to do this now before I forget all the place names and all the gigs merge into one big tour blob…

We Started out this leg on a very small stage at The Pumpwerk in Wilhelmshaven. Barely managing to all squeeze on at once, we still had a good show with a great audience.

On Friday we returned to the same venue in Zwonitz we played last year (and it turned out we were there exactly the same date last year- they had a poster from the last show up on the wall that we’d all signed). It’s a great venue, again with a very small stage. The stage also has a balcony towering over it on one side, the close proximity of which I found out the hard way whilst setting up the gear… I’ve still got a massive bruise right on the top of my freshly shaved head where I jumped off that side carrying a flightcase and all but knocked myself out. Wouldn’t be allowed in the UK… health and safety and all that… The dressiong room at that venue is virtually pitch black with almost no lighting to speak of; just as we’d remembered it from last time. It’s the sort of lighting that if you were to put something down, you’d be hard pushed to find again at the end of the night (something Mark discovered last year with one of his favourite shirts…. we were all more cautious this time). It was another good show with a really fun audience, and they’ve said they’d keep the 8th March free for us from now on (we all love those annual residencies!)

On Sunday we played my favourite venue so far. It’s called the Blues Garage and it’s just outside Hannover. As we drove into what can only be described as a larger, and possibly bleaker version of the Slough Trading Estate, I really didn’t have high hopes for the gig. We walked into one of the huge industrial hangers and inside they’d built the most amazing Mid-Western style Blues venue. The owner Henry had decked it out with vintage gas pumps, old guitars and radios, various other class items of Americana and some fantastic artwork. All that was missing was the sawdust on the floor… We had a big stage with an even bigger drum riser for Steve and the backline and the show was storming. I love those sorts of venues, Henry was great and has invited us back next year so that’ll be one to look forward to. You really felt as if you were in some really happening dusty Mid-Western blues joint…until you stepped outside onto the industrial estate.

There was a house photographer there too and he took some good shots of the band so hopefully I’ll be able to post some of them up here and on Maggie’s page. keep your eyes peeled…

We had a day off yesterday in Melle, but it pissed with rain all day. Typical.

We’re playing in Melle tonight, then we’re off to Krefeld (I’ve got no idea where that is either.. my German geography is non-existant). We’re going home next Monday after 6 more shows. If anyone’s in town on Tuesday I’ll be playing Lea’s ‘Wall To Wall’ show at the Pizza Express on Dean Street with special guest Mornington Lockett. Should be a good one folks…

Anyways… see you soon. Hope someone reads this or I’ve just wasted a good half hour on this bloody thing.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Simon x