old news

June

The Mutter Slater Band made its début at the Hope & Anchor in Bridport on Saturday 6th June, and once more we won over the audience while sticking to a set of 100% original material, always a tough call in a pub environment.

Friday 19th saw Broadband (Tim Broad, Grant Day, Toby and me) play at the Royal Portland Arms to a full house (not hard at the RPA), and on Saturday 19th the Mutter Slater Band played an excellent set at the Best of Dorset Festival near Milborne St Andrew. This was followed to a trip to Devon and another festival, this time in Kingsbridge in Devon. Again our original material was warmly received by an audience to whom our set was unheard.

This festival environment seems to really suit MSB, and we seem to raise our game consequently. This is where the band should be going – the pub gigs are serving more as invaluable and thoroughly enjoyable dress rehearsals.

On Thursday, June 18th, Robbie McIntosh, Geraint Watkins, drummer Danny Cummings and myself played at Weymouth College Theatre. Robbie and Geraint chose numbers alternately, no set list needed here. Their original material was mixed with covers from Bill Withers, Freddie King, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke and the like. It was a wonderful concert to be a part of, and it went down a storm. Robbie and Geraint’s onstage banter had the punters giggling away.

Custer’s Last Blues Band played its now-regular last Sunday of the month gig at the Hope & Anchor in Bridport on the 28th, a great afternoon of blues, boogie, swing and jump jive, with Hamish Maxwell in fine voice.

July

The Robbie McIntosh/Geraint Watkins Band played at the Tropic, in Ruislip, West London on 3rd July. I love playing with this line-up, as Robbie and Geraint trade songs, licks and witty asides with great aplomb. I’d love to do another tour with these guys.

Mutter Slater did a solo set as support. It was fascinating to hear his songs performed in this way, and it really won over the audience.

I have to deviate from my own gigs to mention a little gig I went to on 4th July. It was Jeff Beck at the Albert Hall and it was a breathtaking performance. Beck’s band was supported by Imelda May and her excellent band, after which Beck, Jason Rebello (keys), Tal Wilkenfeld (bass) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) took over. Beck’s set called on albums as far back as Beckola, Truth and Blow by Blow as well as more recent material, and he and the band were on coruscating form. As if that weren’t enough, he was joined onstage by none other than David Gilmour towards the end of the set. Absolutely breathtaking, and unforgettable.

The Mutter Slater Band made its début appearance at No.6 in Weymouth on Friday, July 10th. It’s a great gig – the in-house PA, monitors and backline mean that I was able turn up with just a bass and a bag, no unpleasant humping (missus). Luxury. We had a reasonable turn-out, and we got some great feedback from those present.

The next night C Sharp Blues assembled for a hastily-arranged gig at the Excise House in Weymouth. A cracking gig ended with a group of stag-nighters trying to bribe us to do an impromptu gig in their front room afterwards, but their generous offer was politely declined.

On Friday 17th I got my jazz head on for a gig at the Royal Portland Arms with the wonderful pianist and chanteuse Julie Lewis and drummer Malcolm Lee. We played some of Julie’s excellent compositions and chose numbers from the Real Book, the jazzer’s bible. It was a real thinking-on-your-feet gig, and I loved it.

There followed consecutive gigs with the McIntosh/Watkins Band, at No.6 on Saturday 18th and at the Quicksilver Mail on Sunday 19th. The Weymouth gig was wonderful, a great turn out and a lovely atmosphere with Robbie and Geraint in particularly fine form. The Quickie gig was great, but it didn’t feel as good as the previous night for some reason. I guess we’re getting spoilt!

No.6 is getting to be something of a second home – I was back there with C Sharp Blues on Friday 24th. It was huge fun. We played at the Bridport Festival on Saturday afternoon on a perfect summer’s day. It was a really lovely afternoon, complete with the world’s worst juggler, stilt walkers, whirling hippies, loads of kids running wild, dodgy hamburgers – a festival, basically.

The month was rounded off with a Custer’s Last Blues Band set at the Hope & Anchor in Bridport. There was a lovely vibe, with all concerned on fine form.

August

August began on the 1st (no surprises there) with a double header – a set at the Ilchester Arms in Abbotsbury with Broadband followed by a Significant Birthday Party for Emma Gale (the creator and updater of this website), where we recreated the band that played at her 21st in Essex. Tim Broad (guitar & vocals), Nick Gomer (harp and vocals), Paul Fancy (drums) and I also tried to recreate the set we played back then. Not hard, really, as the Brahms & Liszt set hasn’t changed that much over the years! If it ain’t broke, etc.

I had another double header on Saturday 8th. In the afternoon the Mutter Slater Band played an open air set in South Street, Dorchester as part of that town’s Summer Saturday Live series of concerts and street performances. A pretty transient audience gave the gig a busking vibe, enhanced when a few passers-by chucked loose change onto Ady’s traps case. We made 30p each!

Micky Biggs picked me up straight after the gig to whisk me off for a C Sharp gig at the Green Shutters on Portland. The pub is down by the docks, and the audience was a mixture of locals and merchant seamen from various points around the globe. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Philippino stokers playing air guitar!

The Mutter Slater Band played at the George in West Bay on Thursday 13th August. The gig took on a concert kind of feel, with those present seeming to hang on to every one of Mutter’s lyrics. One punter came up at the end to declare it the gig the best live concert he’d seen since Van Morrison in 1992! That’ll do nicely.

I really get the feeling that improvements in our song arrangements, including more three-part harmonies, and our new material are winning over audiences more readily, whether in a pub, in a concert setting or at a festival. People are really starting to get it! This was borne out the following night when MSB played at the Royal Exchange on Portland. It was a much rowdier setting, but it went down really well again.

The Mutter Slater Band returned to the Bull’s Head in Barnes, London on Monday 24th August. Several people that had seen Mutter solo supporting the McIntosh/Watkins Band at the Tropic in Ruislip in June came along, and they loved it, as did a couple of journalists who’d come to see what Stackridge’s front man/flautist was up to with his own band. They were very favourably impressed.

C Sharp Blues were back at the Green Shutters, Portland on Friday 28th, followed by a Steamer Ducks set at No.6 on Monday 31st. Keyboard ace Steve Burholt was with us, which is always a treat.

September

On Thursday 3rd the Mutter Slater Band plays at the Rydal Arms, New Milton, Hampshire and on Friday 4th at the Royal Portland Arms. I’m back at the RPA with the Julie Lewis Trio on Sunday 6th, starting around 4pm.

Chris Lonergan

 

Valid CSS! Valid HTML 4.01!