We last left you as our 6th gig of the tour finished and I drove off into the night with the delightful Ms Watson. I spent a wonderful few days in her and Clea’s company in their tiny wee cottage in Burnham-on-Crouch. There was sunshine, showers, blustery winds and so much more ... with oodles of scrumptious food, wine, deep restorative sleep and a great deal of laughter ... the perfect combination in fact. One day, Helen and I went off to Maldon in search of garlic bulbs for planting - though we came back empty handed, a jolly good time was had none the less.
A Jolly Day out with Helen Watson from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
On my way back up the country I stopped off at East Stoke to stay with the Ansell family and met up with Bob along the way! Yay. After a wonderful evening in Diane and Bryan’s beautiful home, Bob and I drove further up the country to my next gig at the Bury Met, a fabulous venue I’ve played in many and various guises, including: Gregson/Collister, Daphne’s Flight, Hell Bent Heaven Bound, solo and with Howard Lees and Rory McFarlane as well as Dave Kelly and the Travelling Gentlemen ... so I knew what I was coming to. However ... I’ve never quite experienced the place with the same level of excitement (anxiety!) as this night.
For starters we ‘d been bumped up to the big room from the cozier basement space - in and of itself something to celebrate - plus there would be a number of lovely friends and family attending ... some from as far off as Los Angeles and some long lost family from my dad’s side as well as my dear and very wonderful friend Lynda Turner ... so I was PRIMED! Bob and I arrived at the venue at 5pm as arranged. As we turned into the parking space Rob called to say he was stuck in traffic and would be with us around 6.15pm ... no problem at all ... doors were at 7.40, plenty of time.
I got set up and sound checked and sorted Mr Ben’s patch for the evening and greeted several of my guests as the clock ticked merrily away. At 7.15pm ... Rob called to say ... you might have to start without me!! Eek! Bless him ... he was trying not to panic ... as was I! We had several contingency plans up our sleeves and I was about to hit the stage on my own at 8.10pm when he called to say he’d be there in 5 minutes! So we held off until he arrived ... looking pale and wan ... we plied him with hot tea and the promise of food at half time. He basically plugged in and we played! He’d left Cardiff at 12.30!! Oh bless his large cotton socks!
We had to shuffle a few songs around so that we ended up not using the loop station at all in the first half ... Mary was without the layered vocals at the end but was just fine for all that. It turned out to be a great gig ... the audience had been kept up to date with what was going on and were patience personified. My friends from LA were mightily impressed and my cousins, uncle and their partners were lovely and delighted to be reunited. All is well all shall be well.
Bury well Met from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Bob and I had the luxury of staying in a Spa Hotel for the next 2 nights ... close to my lovely friend Lynda, who came by on Saturday to have dinner with us. The food was excellent and the company even more so. It’s one of the delightful off shoots of being on the road ... catching up with the ones we love. xx
Sunday was Hitchin Folk club ... another favourite venue full of favourite people too. The club’s been going for 40 plus years and run for the most part by Maureen Jones and her lovely husband Keiron. Maureen has been under some serious health issues over the past year and is now on a waiting list for a liver transplant ... I know she would have loved to be there for our show but was in hospital having some essential tlc ... we send her much love on a regular basis! You could add yours too ... it all helps!
Keiron, bless him had been into London to see Maureen and was a tad later than normal setting up the PA but very happy that Maureen was perkier than she had been for some weeks, if not months - brilliant! We shared in his positivity!
More dear old friends turned up to this gig: Paul Leitch came all the way down from Scotland, Julie, Chris Howarth - who notched up his 3rd show this tour - and Steve Lima - hurrah! A fun filled and smooth running show with ecstatic responses was just what the doctor ordered!
Happily in Hitchn from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
I dropped Bob off at Luton airport on Monday morning - he caught a bus to Heathrow and flew off to LA on Tuesday ... ah bless. And I headed back to Burnham-on-Crouch and the delectable company of Helen and Clea once more. Helen and I had threatened to write together but found the allotment much more enticing! We did actually finish a song we started way back in February - when I was still a single girl ;-) ... there’s hope for us yet.
Helen's alottment heaven I from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Helen's heavenly alottment II from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Several days, a chicken and leek pie and hot chili later ... and it was time for gig number 9 at Great Bardfield and the fabulous High Barn. Though the audience were small in number they more than made up for it in enthusiasm and banter. The space itself is so wonderful it wouldn’t matter if it were empty ... I’d still have enjoyed it. Chris Howarth ... bless his great big generous heart ... made it gig number 4 in one tour! I really must have a T shirt made for him.
High Barn Great Bradfield from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Rob and I drove off into the night and 2 hours later walked back into the Ansell household ... it was very late and we were very grateful that Bryan stayed up to let us in ... we slept soundly! Diane and Bryan are so easy to be around and offer such warmth and sustenance that it was hard to get back in our cars and drive off the following day!
We made our separate ways to Liverpool docks and to us, the familiar sight, sound and motion of an Isle of Man Seacat Ferry, which eventually took us to Douglas. There had been serious storms all day and though the wind had died down considerably by the time we got onboard ... the captain decided to leave an hour later than scheduled ... just in case!
The first hour or so were easy peasy lemon squeasy but once out in the open Irish sea, we really started to rock! So I put my coat over my head and my ipod on loud to drown out any ho heaving ... if you know what I mean? It did the trick. We were an hour and 20 minutes late arriving but still intact ... always a good thing I find. Phew.
I actually had a lie-in the following day and woke almost refreshed and ready for our big gig at the Centenary Centre in Peel - yippee! We found out only a couple of days before that we’d be able to attempt a livestream broadcast of the entire show!
The Centenary Centreis a very special place run with volunteer help and generous donations to improve it constantly. This time round there was a theatre style bar and raked seating plus a roomier dressing room ... all brilliant!
After sound check Rob and I treated ourselves to a truly scrumptious dinner at Tyni ... a wonderful new bistro down by the marina - DELICIOUS!
The show got off to a shaky start as our special guests “Strengyn” were unable to perform due to the fact that Paul - one half of the genius duo - met with a very strange accident between a motorbike and a football! Luckily all were relatively well but not well enough to play that night. Get well soon and definitely see you both next time! We did however have the delightful presence of 19 year old Alanna Mclean, daughter of Dave and Lizzie - 2 gorgeous people I adore - who sang 3 blues songs brilliantly! Thanks Alanna ... and Dave for stonking piano accompaniment!
Rob and I were both a bit nervous knowing there would be cameras on us - Dave and Christy filmed the whole event as well as having a static camera broadcasting our every move out onto the ethereal airwaves of the interweb! Eek!
Peel Centenary Centre Isle of Man from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Regardless of our anxieties we threw ourselves into the night and basked in the warmth of the tumultuous applause of a standing ovation at the end of the performance ... wow ... thanks Peel! And the world ... there were only a few technical difficulties during the first half which were all sorted by the second set and we had people watching in Los Angeles, the UK and other parts of the Island -amazing!
I love a rainy day ;-) from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
With only a few days of leisure before the next run of dates I somehow managed to fit in a 7 year old’s birthday party, lunch with mum and dad, an osteopath session and a hairdresser’s appointment for a hair colour top-up plus a vibrant girlie dinner with chili, wine and a weepy film! Phew ... I’ll be glad to get out on the road again for a bit of a rest!
Jamie's birthday fireworks! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Hope to see you at a gig or 3 in the next few weeks and I’ll try to keep you up to date with all that’s going on!
Thanks as ever for dropping by ... see you again soon.
Much love
Christine XX ;-)
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