My Lovely Horse

I will give a quick brief of the start, as you all know what usually happens:-

Get minibus, load up, drive to Dover, drink, drive to Germany, drink, hotel, sleep, get up, coffee, coffee, coffee, drive to gig (O’Dwyers), set up (whilst keeping volume down?!!?), dinner, perform gig, applause, encore, applause, drink, pack up gear, back to hotel.

By then we had all had a skin-full. Stumbling up to our family room (plenty of space), we got ready to crash out. A couple of last cigarettes and we were ready. In the dark end of the room, from above, was a coughing sound. A breathless moaning. I looked round to see a rattle falling to the floor, and heard heavy footsteps leave the room. It was getting light out.

MORNING !!….has broken, like the first morning, blackbird has spoken… Got washed up and went to the bar for coffee. In reception I found Scott sleeping like a baby on the sofa under his quilt. He’d had a rough night, but looking on the bright side he had made £40 from the coins Japanese tourists had thrown at him as they tip-toed past.

Eventually, we all struggled to the bar to try and get sorted, cradling hot drinks, bloodshot eyes staring back at us from the mirror, thinking "Why?".

A few apologies got passed around for the evening before but nobody was bothered. It was forgotten as quickly as…er…

Time came for our three hour drive to Augsburg, and to find The Last Post, Irish bar and Mexican food. HONKY TONK FESTIVAL. Why don't they do these in the UK? 31 venues, 1 town, all with live acts, rock, blues, cabaret, whatever takes your fancy. All for the price of DM20 (approx. £6) - a bargain.

We met Jim landlord on arrival, who on seeing our gear unload, set about increasing the size of the stage. The whole place was wooden also, so it was going to get bloody hot later in the evening. After a two song soundcheck it was time for food and drink. The food was great and the beer welcome.

Jim dropped us off at our picturebook hotel. Mmm, receptionist / landlady with Basil Fawlty levels of rudeness - a typical Bavarian welcome? Hope not. Back at the Last Post, 8.30p.m. and the place was heaving. People queuing at the door to get in, and already there was no more room. We struggled through to the stage and p.a. and once there we were not going anywhere in a hurry.

Bar maids…mmmmm. Cheeky minxes, each and every one of them. They wore ‘Coyote Ugly’ t-shirts. It should have said ‘Coyote Hubba Hubba’. After winching my jaw up from the desk, the boys were ready to start(9.30-9.45). The first set started and had the audience singing along in no time. The boys finished to rapturous applause.

Set two got more Rock! Covers and original material both appreciated equally. Sweat dripped off everyone. More people were crowding round the door to get in, but had to make do with listening from outside. Someone mentioned Mallet (last year's Honky Tonk headline), but in the same breath said how Euphoria totally overshadowed them. Mallet were soon forgotten. Who? The Manchester boys seemed to be enjoying it, surrounded by more pretty young things. The crowd were staying, and were definitely going to stick around to listen to the best music they had heard for years.

The third set was more of the same, and more. Dancing, singing, applauding, these folks couldn’t get enough. Getting my arse chewed off part way through spoilt it for me, but it was soon forgotten.

The last set was the rock set. (Basket Case, Things She Says, Should I Stay or Should I Go? ) Now the boys were going hard. (?!!?) This was a top night. "Whole lotta Rosie" finished the evening, with cries of "Angus" from the crowd. They went wild, calling for another encore, but we left them gagging - until next time, guys!

It was time for a quick shake down of the gear back into the van. –8 degrees outside and my nips were jutting out like transit wheel nuts. But we were soon back inside. Time to drink and relax.

Eventually we left for the hotel. Only took us 30 mins of searching to find it. Climbing into a soft warm bed was bliss. Missing breakfast in the morning was a bugger.

Home. We had to leave sometime. It was a gorgeous day. Very inspiring. Five minutes into the journey I fell asleep. I woke up to a strange conversation half way home; I think the topic was ‘Absolute Bollocks’. Not wanting to be outdone, I joined in (my favourite subject, in case you hadn’t already guessed).

Thanks to Jim and the staff at the Last Post, Jim Murdoch, Klaus and Angie for the photos, everybody who came to the gig, and you for wasting your valuable time reading this drivel.

Daddy love froggy. Froggy love daddy? Ribbit…