Part the second. Better late than never.
OK, Saturday morning now. All clean and shiny after a lovely shower, and fuelled up by a Greggs Bacon and sausage sarnie, with coffee, I headed off across the A66. I wasn't sure at times where sky started, and land finished, but I soon arrived in Penrith, and partook of a Morrisons brekkie, and very nice it was too. Having filled the van with diesel, I settled down to await the arrival of a certain North West dealer.
Once he had arrived, sorted out parking, opened the shop and made the coffee, it was time to peruse the goodies on offer. I was persuaded to part with some of my hard earned for a shiny flashy thing, and we discussed what equipment would be needed for each function. It turned out that we could set up my rig early, so off we went to a local village hall to do so. I hung my new flashy shiny thing from the overhead, along with two Cheetahs.
My part of the venue was tiny, so sound was provided by the 12" Alto sub, and 10" tops. More than adequate, and Andy decided that this combination worked well. We returned to his shop to load up his van, and headed off to a hotel near Lake Windermere.
Then it got " interesting". Andy got called back to the shop, and I carried on to the hotel. I'm convinced I must have been on cycle tracks half of the way, cos the van only just fitted. There was a huge traffic snarl up in Ambleside, I got lost, and Andy arrived first, which surprised us both. I had offered to help him set up, but that wasn't possible as the wedding was running somewhat awkwardly. Due to inclement weather they weren't sure whether the ceremony would be indoors or outdoors, when it would take place, what would be needed, or where. All people involved ( Andy included ) were so laid back they were virtually horizontal. I by contrast was now a bag of nerves, worried that I may not get back to my gig in time, that the weather would really do something silly, or I'd have a problem on the narrow roads. Thus, I shook hands with Andy, and set off for my gig.
On cue, the weather did something silly, with torrential rain causing rivers to appear on the roads, and two buses meeting each other couldn't pass, and blocked the road. Fabulous. :mad: Eventually, a path through was created by a lot of manoeuvring of buses, and we were moving again. I got back to Penrith, and after a pit stop at McDonalds for coffee, made it to my gig.
From the start, it looked as if my gig was going to be somewhat low key. No advance requests, no instructions, and a general air of apathy led me to believe I was in for a grueller. I got in, and my dancefloor was covered in tables. Obviously, food was high priority. Eventually, the tables were cleared, and the lights were " dimmed ". To be exact, all turned off except a searchlight over the dancefloor. This effectively killed all atmosphere, but my floor was never empty. That's cos it was always full of under fives. Yippee. After the food had finished, and I'd started to get vaguely busy, I was offered food. Good timing, or what eh? The end of the night arrived uneventfully, and I got packed up. The flavour of the evening continued when after tiptoeing out into the pitch dark to load the van, as soon as I'd finished, someone switched on a whacking great outside light. Thanks a lot, love. :mad: I was then given a huge plateful of food to sustain me across the A66. :eek: It was exceedingly good, I have to say. :) Halfway across, the phone rang, and a somewhat surreal conversation with Andy followed, as we discussed our nights and guests, as we headed for our respective beds. It was interesting to note that Andy had been told to turn his Maui 5s down!! :D:D
Back to Scotch Corner around one thirty, and bed again, this time with a lovely warm quilt. :)
