I heard my wife’s voice, “We’ve sold all the seats, it’s standing room only and people are queuing outside – we’ve got to open the doors!”.
I thought at this point I would wake from my afternoon nap to find Cobweb the cat patting my face in the hope of a pre-dinner snack. But no, I was awake and it was true, the John Hackett Band were at The Greystones, Sheffield about to play to a full house!
Apart from a momentary wobble, when I managed to start that pianissimo solo theme in the middle of ‘Hierophant’ with a sound more fitting to an episode of Doctor Who than the original lone glockenspiel (where’s Roger King when you need him?), it was a smashing gig and I think the band enjoyed every minute of it. It was lovely to see so many friends there – I won’t try and list you all for fear of leaving someone out but thank you all for coming along to support us at the launch of ‘Red Institution’!
On Saturday it was then off to Oswestry for an evening at Hermon Arts, a former chapel that has been beautifully brought into the 21st century with an excellent sound and light system. We had the warmest of welcomes from the staff, and there were even cushions on the pews for those whose sensitive bottoms might get fidgety during those long proggie solos…
On both nights we were delighted to have Dikajee and her friend Sarah open for us. It was also wonderful to have Dikajee join us on stage for ‘Dreamtown’, ‘I Talk To The Wind’ and ‘Red Institution’.
A special shout out for Goblin at The Greystones and Jason at Hermon Arts for both doing such a superb job on sound!
