Being in a band – life behind the scenes.

• (From left) Lee, Matt and Tom in the van.

  Perhaps I am a little romantic about being in a band but I always felt it was like being in a gang, a gang of adventurers who set off into the unknown, secure in the knowledge that we were a tight crew, one for all and all for one. Because gigging or touring can be a bit like that, turning up in new places to face new situations and new audiences and never knowing what difficulties might be faced. But we knew we could cope because we were tight.

• The first band I played with that really didn’t have this togetherness was Hawkwind and the US tour of 78. I was the new boy and got along pretty well with everybody but Bob and Dave had fallen out and various others weren’t getting on and Dave, without telling the others, constantly asked me to do radio interviews promoting Sonic Assassins, of which I was a member, as the successor to a soon-to-be defunct band.
• I certainly remember playing in Ark that we had a pretty solid feeling and the same with most of the bands I played with in France, particularly Stradivarius, with whom I played 100 gigs in all sorts of situations. Once, the hall we were playing in suddenly became a battleground as two large gangs attacked each other. I remember knocking a couple of them off the stage with my mike stand. Suddenly the police arrived and tear-gassed the room which drove everyone outside and it was all over. We waited a little while for the gas to clear, started playing again and everything was calm.On another occasion, we were playing at a village festival in a pass going up into the Alps, when a load of Scottish football fans arrived in a convoy of vehicles on the way back from a match in Italy. The village gendarmes quickly disappeared as 50 or so of these very drunk young men took over the front of the dancefloor. That night, we took it in turns to sleep on stage and protect our material from budding kilted drummers in particular.We worked as a cooperative, all money was shared along with much else we had and we took turns driving the truck although often it was left to the last man standing. And although over the 3 years I was with them some members came and went, the initial spirit of the band survived.

• Lastwind playing at Shildon.

  All this brings me to the recent Lastwind tour. There were 8 of us involved, 5 musicians and 3 crew. Latch, Sol, Ken and myself were the regular band members but, although having spent quite a lot of time with them in rehearsal and recording time, we had never gigged together. And then, as Hugo was tied up and couldn’t come, a new person had been brought in to replace him. He called himself Lee but I was told this was not his name: he was joining us under a false name for some reason.

• I had 3 friends who were more than willing to come on the tour with us but Latch proposed a driver/roadie, George, and a projectionist, Matt. So I just brought along my old friend Tom as security/merchandising. A lot of time was spent in the splitter van we had hired. George was driving and Ken, an experienced courier driver himself, sat next to him, helping him with which road to take and Sol sat on the other end, They presumably conversed but we couldn’t hear them in the back – we constantly had music on (from the one working speaker) supplied by our various iPods and similar. I must admit I preferred mine or Latch’s because we both had shuffle mode on rather than whole albums or Matt’s, because, like mine, there was some hiphop, reggae etc and not just straight rock.
• Lee sat reading ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, standard reading I would have thought a good twenty years ago or more, and remained quite quiet. Matt and Latch played games of poker and video games on Matt’s tablet and Tom and I chatted occasionally but mainly listened to the music or looked out the window. Matt and Latch were also always the two who kept us all waiting at every stop, particularly after nights in the hotel and we began to joke it was because they spent a lot of time getting their dread locks looking good.

• The crew outside the van (minus Matt who took the photo).

  There was a quite good feeling when we ate together although we tended to stay in our groups. Sound checks went well and we played well, getting better with each performance. I was the obvious leader having not only written all the songs but also organised the tour. Nobody expressed surprise that hotels were booked and paid for, fuel for the van paid for and per diems doled out. The original band knew I had no money and that we were doing the tour on a wish and a prayer. They knew, I had stated it at our last rehearsal, that I had had to borrow some money (to be paid back after the tour) to pay for the van. My pension credit for the month arrived the day we set off and I used that to pay for the first couple of days expenses then it was gone too.

• The first couple of gigs we weren’t sure what sort of public we would get and the turnouts were very low and we left Co Durham with enough money for fuel to Carlisle and Edinburgh and I borrowed some more money from family so as to pay for the hotel in Carlisle. There, following what the management had told me, and it being a Saturday night, we were expecting to get a good crowd but they didn’t turn up in numbers. We played well and while the band were packing up I went to see the managers about the money side and was told that the entries hadn’t covered what we owed so they wanted money off us. I knew this was wrong and we didn’t have any cash anyway so I got into a face off with some very aggressive people, not just the managers but some thugs who suddenly turned up. The rest of my crew, Tom excepted, looked at their feet, packed up their gear and remained silent.
• That was a late night and I didn’t feel very happy about what had happened but felt sure that Edinburgh would be good. and it was. Less people than we expected cos of the blizzard outside but a decent crowd and we got paid our fee plus food and accommodation in the flat above the venue. I didn’t sleep there as I went back to my son’s place. We decided to have a band meeting at my son’s before setting off to Newcastle for the next gig. Besides myself, the only two who really spoke were George and Lee, both outsiders, not really part of the band. They saw me as an employer who was not going to fulfil his contractual duties with regard payment and wanted to return home quickly. Nobody else fought against this idea so I agreed and home we went – Newcastle had been in doubt anyway due to the weather conditions.
• It turned out that I lost my voice and the next few gigs would have been difficult anyway but we did Plymouth and Bristol, without George but with my friend Sarwar on board. George was at the Bristol gig and was friendly and sympathetic. Lee was rude and uncooperative deliberatively singing the wrong lyrics to one song and accusing me of financial skulduggery. He deserved a good slapping and very nearly got one.

• Lastwind playing at Plymouth White Rabbit.

  All praise to Matt who kept his cool all along and who was the only other person to have put some investment into the tour, his partner having made the Lastwind t-shirts for sale. I lost about £2k, about £1.4 borrowed, and will be paying that back to my family – luckily they have given me time cos I live on pension credit.

• Neither George or Lee had spoken to me about the fact they were only on the bus for the money. But I supposed, as they were friends of the others, that they would have been aware that the whole tour was precarious.
• In future I shall be making sure that when we go away to play everybody in the bus is on our side and totally aware that we ain’t in it for the money and that the rule is we share equally what is left after basic expenses have been covered. And, that we need the all for one, one for all attitude to spread out to looking after each other if there is something that happens to one of us.
• Still, I enjoyed the gigs, those who saw us were very complimentary and we did play pretty well. I’m looking forward to playing at a couple of festivals this summer and I know the whole band is looking forward to our next gig at Sonic Rock Solstice. But lessons that I had already learnt have been learnt again. We’re never too old to learn.
• And many thanks to Ken, Latch and Sol for making my songs come alive and to Matt for being fun to be around and producing some good projections and to Sarwar and particularly Tom for their loyal support and effort.

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