THE GIG THAT NEARLY NEVER WAS!!!!

What can go wrong? Well…. nearly everything!

5am and nothing was stirring… except for me. Marc, Chris (Gibbo’s dep for this gig) & Squirrel were well on time for our departure to pick up Mike enroute to London City. We met Tracy, Leigh, Dave & Rich at the allotted 7am. Checked in and proceeded to the restaurant in Duty Free for a thoroughly deserved breakfast, all seemingly ready for our 8.25am flight to Zurich.
This is when the day was turned upside down!
8.00am All flights in and out of London City were cancelled until further notice due to low cloud around London.
9.00am The Swiss Air desk re books us all on the 1.50pm flight to Zurich….from Heathrow!
10.30am We catch the bus to Heathrow that decides to take a route straight through the centre of London.
12.15pm We arrive at Terminal 2 Heathrow
12.30pm We check in, go through to Duty Free and await our flight to Zurich
1.30pm We get called through to board our flight
2.30pm …still on the runway at Heathrow – we missed our take off slot!!!
By the way… did I explain that we had to be on stage in Bern at 5pm, local time!!!!!!
3.15pm We finally take off
5.15pm We land in Zurich and clear Passport Control and the baggage hall in record time.
5.30pm We are speeding toward Bern
6.30pm The normal 90 minute trip takes an hour(!) and we arrive at the venue. Luckily there are over 400 people still waiting for us.
6.45pm We go on stage to the most rapturous ovation I have ever encountered. Apparently, the crowd were made aware of our plight.
The required 60 minute set ended up being 2 hours long including 2 encores. What a show! Absolutely fantastic!
We did however, have one more mishap, when Chris Kibble our keys dep fell off his riser and nearly knocked himself out. I did what any trooper would have done; I made sure he was okay, gave him some water, told to stay still and get his composure back and then played keys for the rest of the song!!! Thankfully for me, and the audience, Chris returned for the next song to finish the gig, nursing a very sore arm and leg.

The next day was nowhere near as exciting as everything came and went on time except for the shenanigans in Duty Free. But then we wouldn’t be The Chicago Blues Brothers without the odd bit of drama and chaos!

TURKEY WITHOUT THE DRESSING!

Just back from a truly restful and much needed break.
I took the picture above whilst enjoying copious amounts of EFES PILSNER.
Now… to those that have visited the country of Turkey – especially the Dalaman Coast – will bear witness to its extreme beauty and hospitality. The areas of Calis, Fethiye and Olu Deniz warrant high praise indeed.
Anyway…..

‘Stitching up’ various members of our fraternity by posting caption competition seems to be fair game and very popular of late.
Not wanting to miss out – and somewhat reversing the scenario – I have also posted my own pic which I will gladly put up for a suitable caption ……. and eventual ridicule!

Yours,
Pete Tobit
Producer - & very occasional ‘JAKE’!

BRING ME SUNSHINE……..

The Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury must be situated in the some of the loveliest countryside that England boasts.

Well as some of you may or may not know, the late great Eric Morecambe suffered a massive heart attack on the stage at The Roses Theatre and passed away in dressing room #2 – good job Tracy doesn’t know as she certainly would not have occupied that one.

In actual fact, Tewkesbury was the site of the last CBB visitation from the ‘other side’! We were staying at The Royal Hop Pole Hotel and after a terrific gig and a certain amount of ‘partaking’ in the bar we all retired to a sound sleep – some more soundly than others. Our drummer of the time – the infamous Roger Jacobs – was, shall we say, visited by a young lady! Hang on… I hear you shout! No this wasn’t a young lady of substance, but one of a ‘see through’ variety that happened to talk to him, sit on his legs (he was in bed and under the covers at the time) and then proceeded to vanish – Doh! The next morning presented the rest of the band with a rather shaken and dishevelled drummer.

Well enough of the Derek Acorah stuff and onward with the show…..

An initially very reserved audience soon gave way to the usual raucous shenanigans and once again CBB have worked their magic and given that we are back next autumn, the audience must have gone away extremely happy.

Here’s to next year and hopefully the only spirits we encounter then will be in a bottle …… hopefully marked Remy Martin!


Cheers- Pete.

'I actually ordered two- and could you please not throw the other one...'

It's time for a caption competition. Here's a picture of Mike relaxing in the luxurious surroundings of the departure lounge of Marseilles Airport on our recent visit there. Can YOU come up with a snappy one-liner to sum it up? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Cheers- Leigh

Purple Hayes

I thought I'd say a few words here about last night's Beck Theatre show- it was that rare thing for me, a local CBB gig. Having spent most of the previous couple of weeks fending off phone calls, text messages and e-mails from people asking for free tickets I spent the days before the show attempting to shake off a rather peculiar virus that among other things caused my hands to swell up (Pete alluded to it in his last posting about our Dunstable show) and my limbs to ache. Come the day of the show I still wasn't feeling 100%- I was asleep until about 10 minutes before we had to leave for the venue- but in the end everything went well with everyone I spoke to after the show saying how much they'd enjoyed it, and my Dad complaining that there weren't enough guitar solos!

Excellent!

Thanks to all who made it all happen- you made a happy man feel very old...

Leigh.

…on a wet Tuesday in Dunstable, CBB ROCKED!!!!!

Imagine a theatre that has everything a touring production needs to make sure they have a good night:
Great Parking, Perfect Access, Great Technical Crew, Fantastic Stage, Phenomenal Theatre, Helpful Front Of House Staff, Amazing In House PA Rig……..and a full house, and you must be at The Grove Theatre, Dunstable. Hurrah!!!
The Cast raised their game and the Dunstable gig will definitely go down as one of the finest in CBB history.
Leigh’s hands were on fire (literally!), the guys sang out of their shoes, Tracy was….Tracy, Marc, Ian & Squirrel out did themselves and finally the Brass players even behaved!
The show was memorable in so many ways I would not even try to list them, except by saying a huge CONGRATS to all involved – on and off stage.
Where to from here? Well, Hayes in a couple of days, and it’s Leigh's home town gig. I really hope his hands are better by then!

Pete Tobit
CBB Producer Chappie

Hello Harlow!!

Driving into Harlow I am reminded that the Government of 3 or 4 decades ago must have had a template for new towns as it feels just like Basildon or even Stevenage!
Once the ring roads and roundabouts are successfully circumnavigated (!) the Playhouse Theatre looms ahead, and very modernistic it is.
With Mario away undertaking ‘Briefcase’ duties, I, once again, am forced out of self inflicted retirement!
The theatre is great with the production crew even better and all too quickly we are sound checked and ready for the off, with one exception – Leigh O’Guitar! Leigh calls to say that he is involved in a bomb scare in Uxbridge and will try and be there before the start – well, he will be, because we can’t start without him.
With the ‘G’ forces still apparent on Leigh & Shirleys faces (they managed to make it from Uxbridge to Harlow in 45 minutes. "’onest M’lud, they didn’t break the speed limit!" Yeah, right!
The show goes up on time and is a stonker with only a couple of lapses of foot in mouth on my part – Hey, I haven’t done the theatre show since….the last time!
Onward and upward then and all go for Dunstable where we’ve got quite an audience, apparently.
Anyway, time for a curry in Old Harlow!
Pete Tobit
Producer - & still very occasional ‘JAKE’!

To Marseille and Beyond……….!!

How can anyone possibly whinge or moan when you are privileged to do our job! It would take some hard hearted person to think negatively of our trip last weekend.
We, once again, graced the shores of the South of France and the weather was nothing less than magnificent.

Following the scenic route through Marseille, arrival at Le Brusc (see pic) and the ferry across to the private island, we turned up at the venue – the ballroom of the hotel where we were staying – to a fully set up stage (did we request backline techies?) and so, sound check took a whole 10 minutes; and that included resetting some of the stage!
A private table was reserved for us in the gardens of the hotel restaurant where food and wine flowed like…….good food and wine really!
By now it’s 10.00pm and we really must do some work so we head back to our rooms and re-emerge 10 minutes later ready to rock. The show is received enthusiastically and following a couple of encores we retire back to the gardens to enjoy a cocktail or seven!
Very unusually, Leigh & myself retire around 12.30am leaving the others to make up for our shortfall – we believe the 3.00am still saw a hardy few – who shall remain nameless – still enjoying the hospitality.
9.00am welcomed more than a few heavy heads and after breakfast the ferry was waiting to return us to Le Brusc whereupon we transferred to the cars for the return to the Airport and then onto and upward to Blighty.
I would like to finish, where I started, by saying we really are privileged to do what we do, and I for one, never take anything for granted and enjoy the journey to the full.
‘D’accord’, I wish you all ‘Bientot’ and look forward to seeing you at a show near you soon,
Pete Tobit
Producer - & very occasional ‘JAKE’!

Dazed in Hayes

Just got in from the Hayes FM interview- no sign of Phil (shame!) but Jill asked me enough simple-yet-tricky questions ('so then Leigh, tell me all about the show') to leave me wondering what to say next on at least one occasion. Still I got through it all without swearing, and even managed to read out the theatre details from a computer screen (they hadn't warned me that I was going to have to do that!) without too much trouble. Oh and they played 'Gimme Some Loving' from our album and all promised to come along to the show. Yeah, right...

http://www.becktheatre.org.uk/

- we're there on Friday 26th September.

Cheers- Leigh.

Radio on!

Just a quick note to say that next Wednesday (10th September in case you've lost count) your guitarist and humble narrator will be doing an interview on Hayes FM to promote our upcoming show at The Beck Theatre. I'm on The Phil and Jill Show (yeah, I know!) at 2.30 p.m. and the station can be found at-
http://www.hayesfm.org.uk/
-or at 91.8 FM if you're in the Hayes area. I'll do my best to avoid a Pistols/Grundy style swear-fest...

Have a listen and hear just how awkward I sound when I'm doing this type of thing!

Cheers- Leigh

Local lad made good!

Hi guys, it's Mike (Elwood) here.

Some of you may have read my earlier post about my feelings in the lead-up to our show at Colchester's Mercury Theatre, as it was my hometown show. Well, the show was last Friday and it was absolutely fantastic! I couldn't really have asked for a better crowd. They were really vocal & enthusiastic right from the start. The roar that went up when I first walked onto the stage nearly took my breath away. Then it was on with the business of the show, which went off without any real cock-ups, other than the few very minor hiccups which tend to happen when we haven't done a full theatre show in a while (it's been about 3 months I think, having spent the summer playing mostly festivals). The most significant hiccup however was courtesy of yours truly, when I proceeded to launch into the introduction for My Girl, before being politely informed by Tracy that the next song was supposed to be Looking For A Fox... whoops! But I suppose a momentary lapse in concentration is forgivable on a night such as this, and I think we got away with it. At the end of the show, the audience were brilliant. They made plenty of noise and showed fantastic appreciation for the job we'd done. The ovation each band member received when introduced were some of the best I've heard.

Then straight after the show finished, it was time for myself, Mario and whichever members of the band were available, to head out into the theatre foyer and meet the audience. We do this after most theatre performances (if the size of the Front of House allows). But this time was obviously very special for me. I saw all the people who'd come along to see the show, including quite a few that I had no idea were coming and whom I hadn't seen in a few years (including my former Head Teacher!). It's always a buzz to meet the crowd after the show; chatting to them, thanking them for coming, signing whatever CD's, programmes, etc they've purchased from the merchandise desk. Although tonight, all the autograph requests and photo ops appeared to be a source of a little surprise and much amusement to the friends of mine who've known me for so many years! The band are now on a high, really looking forward to the next show and so am I. So I'd just like to thank everyone who was there that night. You gave us a great night and I hope we did the same for you.

Well, it would appear that I've rambled on sufficiently now. I was hoping to be a little more succinct this time, but those of you who've read my past blogs will know that brevity doesn't appear to be a feature in my writing. So, once again, thanks for reading this and thanks for supporting the show... now go and do something more productive!

Love & kisses Mike 'Elwood' Hyde (theatre luvvy and local celeb!)

Nice one Mike- but what on Earth could be more productive than blogging?!? L.H.

Local lad makes good?

I've been asked to write a blog about our show this coming Saturday (22nd August) at The Mercury Theatre, Colchester. This particular gig is quite a big deal for me, as Colchester is about as close as I get to a 'home town'. Yes, my parents and most of my immediate family have already seen the show in other venues, but this will be the first time I've had most of my closest friends there and the first time I've had any more than a handful of people in any one audience who I know. It's also worth bearing in mind that all these first times are not simply the first time that my family & friends have seen me in this show, but rather the first time they've seen me in any professional production. In fact, the last time most of my friends saw me perform would either have been in my last 'am dram' production, playing Danny Zuko in Grease at the age of 18, or possibly even as part of my own Blues Brothers duo, playing a grotty little pub in Tiptree on Christmas Eve, probably aged around 19 or 20. Either way, I'd like to think I've come a long way since then!

When it was first booked, I was really quite nervous about the show, as I had no idea how it would sell - even if I brought along 50 friends and family, that still leaves 450 seats to fill! A half-empty theatre, struggling for atmosphere, is NOT the way I wanted my oldest & closest friends to experience the show for the first time. But all these worries were proved to be misguided when I went in to the theatre a few ago to pick up some posters for the show. I spoke to the marketing chap there, who was surprised to say the least, when he saw how many tickets had been sold in the first week of release. "Wow, you've already shifted 250 tickets! That's unbelieveable for a show with no 'star names'" he said. Little did he realise!

But now that my fears over ticket sales have been laid to rest, I find myself looking forward to much different aspects of the show than I expected. There will be a lot of people there that night who, while maybe not professionals, certainly know their way around a live band and theatre production. So obviously I've been concerned with my own performance. I want to hit every note perfectly, be on the spot for every dance move, and have my every joke and quip find their mark. Not because I fear the odd flat note or missed step will be noticed or scrutinised, but because I suppose I want to make them all proud of me, friends and family. It sounds soppy and sentimental, I know, but I can I think of no better way of expressing it. This however, is all secondary to the thing I'm really looking forward to them seeing - the band! I feel so privileged to be on stage with the calibre of musicians and performers we have in this show, and I know there will be members of that audience who are simply blown away by them. Guitarists will sit awe-stuck by Leigh's solos, brass players will wonder at the tone, fluency (and panache) of Dave & Richard, bass players will live every note with John as he stands proud; loving every single moment of every single song. I don't want this to sound like an advert or a quote for a poster, it is genuinely how I feel about being lucky enough to perform with these guys. So in summary, I suppose how I feel about the upcoming Colchester show is, as I would have predicted, a mixture of nerves and excitement... but not for the reasons I would have predicted. But I'll be sure to post something up here once the show has passed, to let you all know how I think it went and how I feel afterwards.

Bless you for reading. I hope to see you at one of our shows soon - maybe even Colchester?! Until then, all the best. Mike 'Elwood' Hyde

We've just learned that the show is sold out! Hurrah! -L.H.

The time I met a REAL hero...

If it’s Wednesday and you happen to be in Cornwall, then it must be in Flambards!
For the uninitiated, Flambards is sort of museum cum theme park featuring exhibits from all the passed World Wars, Falklands conflict and the current crisis in the Gulf. But, it also houses various rides of varying scariness.
Whilst sitting having an absolutely tasteless and totally overpriced burger, I managed to catch some garbled message that a Falklands Hero was on site and would be signing copies of his latest book.
Having experienced close friends going off to the said conflict and experiencing the catastrophe that Maggie Thatcher created at first hand, there was only one name that is synonymous with the Falklands debacle, and that was of one Simon Weston. I won’t prattle on about how he got his horrific injuries on the Sir Galahad when it got bombed, how the 49% burns left him unrecognisable or even how he needed over 75 major operations, but I will only celebrate and applaud his heroic attitude of ‘let’s get on with it’ that he needed when 22 of his 30 comrades in his platoon died in that explosion.
Simon, it was a pleasure to meet and talk with you and I hope more people in this world could have the same attitude as yourself….it would be a better place.

Pete

Elwood blogs

In this shiny new computer age, with mobile telephony, digital television, the interweb and such like, it seems that communication and information are more freely and easily available than ever before. With this free and wide-ranging communication of course, come new forms of publication, perhaps the most notable of which being the 'blog'. What an odd and intriguing phenomenon it is. It seems to be part diary, part essay, part broadcast, part stream-of-consciousness, part manifesto. I myself haven't had much experience with blogging. I've read a few, the clear majority of which I found informative, educational and entertaining - perhaps it should be a BBC enterprise?!

The blog I've found myself reading most often though, is not by some anonymous Whitehall insider, or a slightly nutty octagenarian giving his view on youth culture. No. It has been the blog by our very own Leigh 'love child of the two Steves' Heggarty. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. This may be to do with my lack of blog experience, but I suspect it's more to do Leigh's unique writing style and more importantly, his unique world view. Dramatically different from my own, I find myself totally engaged by his tales on everything from his experiences as a youthful, anarchist punk rocker, to the most mundane of weekdays working in a local music shop. This, I believe, is what gives the 'blog' it's unique voice. It's not the expansive prose about the minutiae of a person's life; that's always been present, certainly in modern literature. It's the ability for anyone, young or old, educated or not, to express themselves, their thoughts and their feelings on absolutely any subject and to have it read by, or at least accessible to, millions upon millions of people around the globe. We live in fascinating times and make no mistake about it, in hundreds of years time teachers will be talking to their pupils about the advent of the internet in the same way that children today learn about the industrial revolution.

Well, after that (not-so) brief introduction to my thoughts on blogging, I'd best get on with actually writing one! Thanks to those of you who stuck with it right to the end of that blog. Now, I urge you, go and do something more productive with your time!

Mike 'Elwood' Hyde

Thanks for the plug Mike!- L.H.

WHERE'S BLOODY ROBIN HOOD WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!?

And so to Nottinghamshire, to a gig that was as wet as…. a day that really is very wet(!) and to share a stage with top Queen-a-likes KILLER QUEEN.
Given the marathon journey trying to avoid all sorts of tomfoolery on the M25, M10 and M1, we arrived on time…. only to hurry up and wait.
The KQ’s mighty Spinal Tap-esque drum riser (18’ x 14’) pyramid had yet to be constructed and the all required blinders (some 70 odd) had to be positioned and wired in; then and only then could the band ‘sound check’ to, and with, their sequencers and tracks.
There were more lights on stage than in David Gest’s tanning salon and when the lighting engineer asked what we needed, I courteously informed him to turn the lights up……...and leave them alone.
Our sound check was more of a 10 minute line check to make sure all could hear what they wanted to, and then wallop! We did what we do best. Rain, hail, snow or sunshine, nothing stops us from having a good time and the crowd duly responded and all parties were impressed and satisfied….bring on the mighty Queen!
Having retreated from the stage at a very civil hour, we where made up to be travelling home in the light….then as we just got onto the M1, the squealing from under the bonnet stopped! The fan belt and bearing have snapped! DOH!
Enough said, that 3 hours later and after various much fractured conversations with the AA, we were picked up and dropped back to our various locations. Squirrel, Gibbo & me being the last, we happily retired around 3.00am.

And you lot think our life is all sex, drugs & rock’n’roll. If only...

Pete

-photo shows various band members consoling themselves with takeaway food; ailing van clearly visible in the background, swearing not pictured... L.H.

So glad you made it!

Hello to all and welcome to the all new blog site for the CBB’s .
I would like to start with 'what the hell are you doing here?' or 'once upon a time there was a man'…. but it’s been bloody well done to death!
In plain and simple terms, you are all very welcome to visit and read about the lunacy & shenanigans that we all get up to on the road, and from venue to venue.
Now, you might at this point think, ‘what the hell do I want to know what a Tandoori Tart and 8 aging punks & hippies get up to in theatres?’ And to that, I not only applaud you but also have no visible means of response!
However, as an active participant in on & off stage tomfoolery for some 12 years, and now in my official guise as - fanfare please- stage sweeper (no really, I need to make sure the stage is clean before the show goes on) I, with the rest of the reprobates, have experienced every single emotion known to mankind whilst spreading the word of The Chicago Blues Brothers all around Europe and I would not swap one moment of our lunacy for a ton of gold – what the hell am I saying!
By visiting this page regularly, you will be an accomplice to our experiences and, via the editorial talents of our G-string thrasher– Leigh O’Guitar– we will leave you in no doubt that the majority of the cast & crew need to be institutionalised.
A note to the cast, beware of the monthly caption competition! This features members of your beloved show in what might only be described as altruistic situations and positions…. enough said!
Contributions from you, our beloved readers, will also be included in the hallowed pages of this here blog – obviously once your piece has been thoroughly scrutinised and sanitised by the cast member to draw the shortest straw. Just send them in via the e-mail address on the 'profile' page and we'll do the rest!
And so, I gratefully hand over to Monsieur O’Guitar, his incomparable wit and his mighty quill to take control of these insertions and regular updates and look forward to encountering one or two of you at our forthcoming dates.

Finally, don’t forget, CBeeBies aren’t just for Christmas!

Cheers!

Pete Tobit

Hi y'all...

Welcome to our blog page, where we will attempt to unravel the mysteries of our global success for your delectation and delight.

Enjoy!