May the Force be with Lost Sheep and Wolves...

Wednesday night I saw Charles Ross.  If you haven't heard of him, search for him on t'internet.

I saw him, last year sometime doing one man Lord of the Rings.  One man, playing all parts, doing all three Lord of the Rings Films in an hour and a half.

This time, he was doing the Star Wars trilogy.  I didn't enjoy it as much as the LOTR, probably because I don't know the story very well.  It is thirty years since I've seen some of it...



Friday night, and I saw the Bad Shepherds. Ruarri Joseph came on as a warm up act and was very good. After the break Ade came on stage in a t-shirt printed "I STILL HATE THATCHER".

The band were superb as ever, but a little rushed.  I think some venues have a curfew - I prefer when bands can just play, and get carried away with the music without having to worry about when they have to be finished by.

The venues don't have much choice, the local councils seem to relish the chance to pounce on live music as noise pollution.  Often this is from a complaint, usually just one person who has moved in next to a pub, then spends their entire life complaining about the slightest bit of noise from the pub. Here's a tip.  If you dont like to hear music coming from a pub, then DONT MOVE NEXT DOOR TO A PUB!!



Sunday night I went to Wolverhampton.  Never been there before.  Unfortunately it seemed to be shut.
I walked past several closed pubs - even the KFC was shut at 6 pm.  I eventually found one that was open, but it didn't have any beer!

There are loads of superb old buildings in Wolverhampton, but unfortunately most seem to have been abandoned. 

I found the civic hall, where I was going to see Mark Radcliffe and Chris Lee. It was closed.  There was a poster in the window advertising the Slade rooms, about half a mile away, and this is where the gig was.  Nice of them to let me know!

Got to the slade rooms with ten minutes to spare. Have a pint - guess what - they haven't got any draught beer!  Maybe the Wolves Civic lot hadn't told the Slade room they had a band on tonight either.

Mark and Chris were very good, but it was unusual to see mark without his drums.  I know he isn't physically attached to them, like a grafted on accessory, but he is a superb drummer and I've kind of got used to seeing him standing over a set of drums (or leaning on a bar).

Mark read loads of extracts from his new book. Thanks Mark, I don't need to buy it and read myself now!

I noticed on their poster that they are playing in Clitheroe on Wednesday, very close to my home town. In fact I went to school in Clitheroe.  I might go see them again...