Bob and I flew back from our summer sojourn in LA on September 28th and on the 29th Rob Cross and I started our final flurry of rehearsals on the Isle of Man ... me fully jet-lagged and not much use to anyone! Our starting date - October 13th - loomed large and I was soon hurtling down the M5 towards Cardiff to have our very last rehearsal near Rob’s home in Canton on the 12th. All went as well as it could, given the absence of the energetic push and excitement of a real live audience - our fingers were still very firmly crossed all the same!
Though Bob was already on the road with CBR, he managed to wangle it so that he could come to the first show at the The West End Centre in Aldershot - yay! There were many dear friends at that first gig, including some of the staff, in particular Barney and Julie, who have been there since I first started playing this fabulous gig, 10 years or more and it made us feel so much less up-tight than we might have been. I’m always worried I haven’t got enough songs to fill both 45 minute slots and so waffled a great deal desperately trying to remember all the daft stories I wanted to share ... the first set apparently stretched to an hour! Oops.
Aldershot West End Centre - numero uno! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
All in all we were both relieved to have the first show under our belts, with a seemingly ecstatic crowd cheering us along all the way. Phew ... think we got away with that one!?
We stayed with our dear friends Pam and Martin Dury, who of course came along to the show and had a fabulous party-spread laid out on their dining table when we got back to their delightful abode. The clink of champagne flutes could be heard ricocheting around Sandhurst - which might have had the men in the Officers club worried for a short while ... ? OK maybe not. We were celebrating not only the success of our first night, but also to Bob and I having had our nuptial adventures in February - ah. Such sweet, sweet people! We all slept soundly!
Bob had to train it back to Londinium the following morning, while Rob and I checked and re-checked our packing before heading towards Devon and Otterton Mill. This would be Rob’s first time ever in Devon ... or Deverrn ... as he insisted upon calling it! Bless.
Caroline ad Simon Spiller took over Otterton Mill and all it’s wonderful attachments: bakery, cafe, restaurant, art gallery and shop ... a few short years ago and in the first 6 months had to deal with a devastating flood which had the whole place closed for a month! According to the insurance loss adjusters it should have been 3 months! To say they worked very hard to get the place up and running again, is a ridiculous understatement! The place is now back to it’s enchanting best, if you ever get the chance to visit you must; it’s a truly wonderful experience! the food is EXCELLENT!
Otterton Mill devon aka gig number 2! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Apart from a few little technical difficulties, the show went pretty smoothly. I even had stories specifically connected to the venue which I generously “shared” ... much to the hilarity of the “sold-out” crowd! Did I tell you it was a sold out show?! It was a fairly lengthy drive back to Cardiff and the “Manx Embassy” ... where we were to sleep the next couple of nights - bless Rob’s stamina (or should that be youth?)for driving the whole way!
Third up in our run of six shows (sack your agent I hear you cry ... that’ll be me then!), is delightfully quirky Prema Arts Centre in Uley Gloucester. I’ve played here once before ... none of us can remember exactly when ... 4/5/6 years ago? it was great to perform here again. I love this place. It has the feel of some eccentric’s batty home but also feels strangely modern with it’s vibrant artwork and vivid decor ... definitely up my straza!
This was also the first night Rob had chance to sing a few of his own songs as an opening set - he was delightful of course!
Our friendly sound man Mark, was also the barman ... actually he was the barman who’d been on a course to do sound - there is a difference you know - anyway he was very patient with us ... with me to be fair. The performance space is a hexagonal room with lots of hard surface areas and the sound kept befuddling me! Is there such a word? Obviously ... coz the spellcheck fairy hasn’t tapped me on the shoulder! It was all fine in the end though both Rob and I struggled to hear the all important loop shenannigans through a couple of the songs ... no one else noticed thankfully.
Prema Arts Centre Uley ... gig 3! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
A much shorter ride back to the embassy this night and time for a little night cap too ... ah.
And onto gig number 4! I’d been mildly worried about my throat holding out over a run of 6 nights after an absence of 18 months but so far ... no signs of fatigue at all - amazing! All that yoga and hot water drinking have done me the world of good! Hurrah.
I love The Mill in Banbury and have played here countless times over the 20 odd years I’ve been gigging there! The staff here are particularly wonderful and always happy to help make everything just right - which it was! Life is good. Roblet did another gorgeous opening set much to the delight of the well turned out audience. It was lovely to see a number of great friends at half time too. Chris Howarth notched up his second gig so far this tour and my lovely friends Ann and Brian James were there with a number of CC virgins! yay. One guy brought along 12 CC virgins for musical sacrifice! Wow.
The Mill Banbury ... number 4 from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
This night we drove back to be with Pam and Martin near Sandhurst again and though we insisted they NOT feed us when we turned up at 1am ... the cheese, pate and biscuits found themselves on the table amongst the rare old Scottish Whiskeys that dotted the tablecloth. They’re very naughty people! That’s why we love them so.
The following morning was rather nerve wracking as I’d been asked to perform a very important ceremony at Mr and Mrs Squidney’s (aka Phil and Pat Chappell’s) adorable home in Crowthorne. As part of our enticement, Pat had promised us a delicious brunch ... which did not disappoint! Man that woman can cook!
Rather than try and explain this wonderfully surreal experience, I’ll let the short video do the explaining for me - enjoy! We certainly did.
A funny thing happened on the way to Bournemouth - a ceremonious experience from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Bournemouth Folk Club was one of the venues Rob and I played last time round and we both looked forward to performing there again. We arrived early in order for Rob to get some contact lens stuff only to find he’d left his all-important prescription back in Cardiff - doh!
Roblet once again did a beautiful set before the first half and had the crowd eating out of his hand by the end of the first song. Bless! It was a scatty night of remembered and not remembered anecdotes and songs but all in all it was a wonderful experience and we left happy and ready for our, by now expected, scotch night cap! We love Pam and Martin!
The Stage Bournemouth - gig 5 of 6! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
And so to the last of our first run of 6 exciting shows. But before we got toColchester Folk Club at the wonderful Arts Centre, I had a songwriting workshop to attend to! Gulp! I never do these things but it seemed churlish not to accept the invitation when it came from Tim Pells at the Colchester Institute. I would be staying with Helen Watson for the next few days so I sneakily asked her to come along for support - which thankfully she did!
Standing in front of a class of 18 and 20 year olds is a very daunting thing, especially when you’re not used to it! I had an hour and a half to talk about my process of writing ... without performing anything, as I opted to “save” my voice for the show. I did have my trusty Apple Mac with me to play a number of choice songs as examples of what I was talking about. Helen interjected several times at very appropriate times getting me out of a couple of verbal cul-de-sacs! Phew! She had some fabulous observations to share. I think the budding songwriters of Colchester were truly inspired! Thanks Tim for the opportunity!
And so onto the Arts Centre which is cleverly tucked inside an old church. Rob was already set up and ready to go when Helen and I turned up and once sound check was done - very quickly - we all traipsed off in search of “proper” food. Which we found in a smart but reasonably priced Italian Restaurant on the high street. Delicious.
Feeling satisfied and nourished we were both ready, willing and able to get on with the last of our run of 6. Rob once more set the scene for a great night and we took the fabulously responsive crowd by storm! Phew ... thank you Colchester ... you were great!
Colchester - gig 6 of 6!! whoop whoop ;-) from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
I’ll be back with the next batch of show blogs in a week or so ... it’s all going brilliantly so far ... Friday traffic jams on the M6 not withstanding ... you’ll definitely hear about that in the next installment!
Thanks for dropping by as ever ... hope to see you out there very soon!
Much love
Christine XX
