Pilgrimage To Swindon
In the last month or so, former XTC guitarist Dave Gregory has put together a covers band so he could go out and do some gigging again, just for the fun of it. So naturally I had to head over to Swindon and see them.
For the more recent arrivals to my journal who may not be aware of the significance, between 2002 and 2005 I played drums in a tribute to XTC called X-sTatiC. Swindon is XTC's hometown, and we played there several times (once in the very venue Dave was playing tonight), and each one became a major event because of the XTC fan forum. Though they continued making records for another two decades XTC stopped touring in 1982, so many of the fans never had the chance to see them live. Being scattered around the world, many of the forumers had also never met eachother. So when we played there it became a focal point for them to make a pilgrimage to the hometown, meet eachother and celebrate the music. People came from France, Sweden, Israel, Japan and the USA to see a tribute band in a pub. Even members of the band's families came to see us and show their support. Musically and physically it was the most demanding material I ever had to play; emotionally it was the warmest, most supportive audience I can imagine, and the result was some of the most intense and most amazing gigs I ever had, and probably ever will. (Here's my account of our final gig at the 2005 fan gathering.)
So yeah, actually meeting a member of the band for the first time... pretty big deal.
Within two minutes of getting inside the venue and buying a drink I was recognised by some of the aforementioned fans. (I never know how to deal with this; I've never been one to bask in glory, and knowing it's reflected glory just makes it weirder.) Then a few minutes later Ed, X-sTatiC's bassist, turned up; first time I've seen him in almost two years. Ed had been at the band's previous gig a month ago, so when Dave Gregory finally appeared it was Ed who introduced us. It wasn't a lengthy conversation, but Dave was clearly very happy that we'd cared about the music enough to play it live, and I know he'd heard good reports about us even if he hadn't actually heard us himself. Which is all the reassurance I need, to be honest.
Dave is quite an acclaimed guitarist, very much a muso's muso. XTC were initially seen as part of the post-punk new wave movement, in which guitar solos were seen as an indulgence to be avoided, so a lot of Dave's contribution to the XTC sound was in arrangement and texture. But he could still throw in the occasional tasty lead break when there was a space that needed filling, or a passage that needed highlighting. Now he's playing for fun, though, he's free to show off his chops and indulge all he wants. So this evening, alongside a smattering of old XTC numbers, there was a fair bit of prog rock. We got King Crimson's "Red", "Roundabout" by Yes (for which Dave plays Rick Wakeman's keyboard parts on the guitar), "Riders On The Storm" from The Doors, Led Zep's "The Ocean", and Rush's "Tom Sawyer". Rush are my other favourite band from before I seriously discovered XTC, so having the two collide like this was decidedly cool.
So I've spent an evening listening to some classic prog rock played live inna pub, and had a positive meeting with a musician of great personal importance. Win.
For the more recent arrivals to my journal who may not be aware of the significance, between 2002 and 2005 I played drums in a tribute to XTC called X-sTatiC. Swindon is XTC's hometown, and we played there several times (once in the very venue Dave was playing tonight), and each one became a major event because of the XTC fan forum. Though they continued making records for another two decades XTC stopped touring in 1982, so many of the fans never had the chance to see them live. Being scattered around the world, many of the forumers had also never met eachother. So when we played there it became a focal point for them to make a pilgrimage to the hometown, meet eachother and celebrate the music. People came from France, Sweden, Israel, Japan and the USA to see a tribute band in a pub. Even members of the band's families came to see us and show their support. Musically and physically it was the most demanding material I ever had to play; emotionally it was the warmest, most supportive audience I can imagine, and the result was some of the most intense and most amazing gigs I ever had, and probably ever will. (Here's my account of our final gig at the 2005 fan gathering.)
So yeah, actually meeting a member of the band for the first time... pretty big deal.
Within two minutes of getting inside the venue and buying a drink I was recognised by some of the aforementioned fans. (I never know how to deal with this; I've never been one to bask in glory, and knowing it's reflected glory just makes it weirder.) Then a few minutes later Ed, X-sTatiC's bassist, turned up; first time I've seen him in almost two years. Ed had been at the band's previous gig a month ago, so when Dave Gregory finally appeared it was Ed who introduced us. It wasn't a lengthy conversation, but Dave was clearly very happy that we'd cared about the music enough to play it live, and I know he'd heard good reports about us even if he hadn't actually heard us himself. Which is all the reassurance I need, to be honest.
Dave is quite an acclaimed guitarist, very much a muso's muso. XTC were initially seen as part of the post-punk new wave movement, in which guitar solos were seen as an indulgence to be avoided, so a lot of Dave's contribution to the XTC sound was in arrangement and texture. But he could still throw in the occasional tasty lead break when there was a space that needed filling, or a passage that needed highlighting. Now he's playing for fun, though, he's free to show off his chops and indulge all he wants. So this evening, alongside a smattering of old XTC numbers, there was a fair bit of prog rock. We got King Crimson's "Red", "Roundabout" by Yes (for which Dave plays Rick Wakeman's keyboard parts on the guitar), "Riders On The Storm" from The Doors, Led Zep's "The Ocean", and Rush's "Tom Sawyer". Rush are my other favourite band from before I seriously discovered XTC, so having the two collide like this was decidedly cool.
So I've spent an evening listening to some classic prog rock played live inna pub, and had a positive meeting with a musician of great personal importance. Win.