Honest John Plain.

Burnley: The Talbot: 24-11-11.

Why, shiver me timbers, stap me vitals, & roger me senseless with the thick end of a rag mans trumpet!!!! Honest John Plain?   Honest John Plain, playing the only Uk show of his tour?  In bloody Burnley? What the devil is going on?  I mean no disrespect to the good people of Burnley but a thriving metropolis with a large catchment area, it ain't!
 However, it was a mere stones throw over the Pennines for the breadknife & me to witness a man who's written, co-written & performed on more power-pop classics than you could wave a shitty stick at!

Ably assisted by Mr Steve Fielding on bass & vocals, Honest John treated us to an array of classics from his vast repertoire. Brickfield nights & First time from the Boys, material from the Crybabys, (where have all the good girls gone) even Howitt road from the Amigos, as well as a smattering of old 60s standards, all stripped down & played acoustically, makes you realise just how bloody good these songs are. (Aaah bliss).

Hell, we were even treated to his amalgamation with the Lurkers, New Guitar in Town, Flamin Nora! it's a few years since I've heard that little beauty. In fact in hindsight, that was quite a good album. I'm gonna have to try to dig that one out of the vaults & give it a spin.
The Quality moment of the night was when our John taunted the Burnley faithful with their recent defeat to the mighty whites. To do that in a town like this, bloody hell, the guy must have balls of iron.

All in all, 'twas a thorougly entertaining evening. A real appetiser before we see 'the Boys' in London in the New year.
  A lovely way to spend the breadknifes birthday.

Mr honest John Plain; we thank you.
Chin chin.

Walter Lure in the U.K..

Number 1 of a trilogy.
Nottingham: Old Angel: 3-11-11.

Oh my word!
 Has it really been a year since we last saw Uncle Walter on these shores? 
Thankfully, he didn't make us wait another 26 'til we got our Waldo fix. 'Er indoors & me were over the moon when we found out there was going to be another 3 gigs from The Man, & so soon after the last lot!
 Niiiiiiice !
 First port of call then; the Old Angel Inn in Nottingham. Only 65 miles from home & just over an hour away by car. I could get used to this.

 The Old Angel, is a tiny venue, (though we do prefer the word cozy) & the lighting rig is virtually non-existent, which means I had to use the infernal flash. (Damn it).
 'Twas absolutely grand bumping into friends old & new prior to the show.The Derellas, Jez, Ray & Ossie; lovely to see you blokes again. 
 Now I am certainly not going to bore you with Waldos' set list. Why? Because you all know which tooons Waldo & the boys played. It's the reason we all turned up here tonight, more of the same please my dears.

Since Uncle Walter arrived in the country, the boys had only had one rehearsal prior to this show. One rehearsal?? 'Gordon bloody Bennett'! These fine fellows tore it up in no uncertain terms, adding a whole new vitality to the tooons you can trust. Yer old mate Jez Miller sounded a real class act when handling the vocal duties normally associated with Herr Thunders & Coiro. 'Pirate Love' sending a real shudder down the back of my gregory. 
 Never before have I been to a gig which flew by like this. 'Twas the mere twinkling of an eye my little cherubs. Time certainly does fly when you're having fun.

Without further ado, Madame Tightpocket & me headed for the hills. (Well, the old pit stacks of Pontefract to be precise). For we did indeed have a busy day in front of us on the morrow. Many a bus & train did have to be caught & on time, if we were going to once again sample the delights of Mr Lure & his brethren. Not to mention the taste bud ticklers of the Kings Cross, Chop Chop Noodle house.
 By 2am we were tucked up in bed, but could I sleep? could I hell. We'd another 2 nights of musical ecstasy to get through. Niiiiice !

As ever, my dear faithful readers. Please feel free to nick, nab & snaffle any of the pictures should you so wish, for any purpose that you may desire. Hell, if they're not to your taste; .....then don't.
 See you very soon for part 2 my dears.

CHIN CHIN!