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The
Greys bar in Brighton - acclaimed venue for live music.
JOHN JORGENSON
& FRIENDS ~ UK TOUR ~ SEPTEMBER 2001
9/8/01
& 9/9/01 ~ Days Six and Seven -Stockport and Brighton
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On Sunday morning we had to get up really early to make an interview in Brighton
by 2 pm. Brighton is about a 4 1/2 hour journey from Stockport,but with roadworks
and traffic you can never tell. We made good time getting to Brighton,but once
there had a bit of a nightmare. I called the radio station to get directions,but
no one was at the switchboard. As we headed into town the traffic got worse
and worse. We finally were running out of time and asked a cab to show us the
way to the station. He did, but when I got up to the intercom at the door I
was informed it was the wrong station! So we got back into the van, and headed
back where we thought it might be, only to stop for directions at a convenience
store to find out we had the wrong street name as well! Finally we did make
it to the station, and fortunately it was not too late to have a bit of an interview
on air.
We then
headed over to the Greys, where the evening's show would be taking place. It
is a very small venue,and we had to be creative with setting up gear to take
up as little room as possible so as not to take up too much room away from the
audience! This show had also been sold out for a few days and we had lots of
friends coming down. After getting set up we were fed another stunning meal
at the Greys, and the friends started arriving. We had the chance to visit with
Charley and Hattie Webb,who had come down with their brother Brad and parents
Graham and Mandy. We got a message though Graham that John Mahon and some of
the other Elton John Band members were going to try and come done after a taping
that afternoon in London,but unfortunately couldn't work out the transportation
and had a very early call the next morning.
The venue
rapidly filled up and we got into the first set,with only inches between us
and the audience! We were happy to see some friends came al the way from Luxembourg
to see the show! We again did away with any semblance of a set list,and just
went with the moment selecting the songs for the set. After a brief break,we
did our second set,inviting Hattie Webb to come up and play a number with us
on her Irish harp. She is an excellent harpist,and the crowd loved this extra
musical treat.
I started
to go into a long solo intro for "Mystery Girl" but got diverted and
played a bit of "Man Of Mystery" and "Apache" and ended
up playing a full length version of "Little Wing" instead. I do feel
thankful often at the way the rest of the band can just follow me no matter
how many left turns I take! Too soon it was time to finish up,and while signing
a few CDs I heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Tam Johnstone! I was
very pleasantly suprised,a Tam had told me he would not be coming to see us
until Thursday at the 100 Club. As fate would have it,someone brought his dad
Davey's "Smiling Face" album with Tam's photo as a baby on the cover.
I had to capture the moment when Tam then signed the cover photo of himself
from many years ago!
I also
got the chance to meet Brendan Sando who has created my website. It was great
to meet him face to face and to let him know how much I appreciate his work
on the site. Too soon we had to load up the gear for a drive up to London,where
we will check in late to the hotel,thus avoiding the Monday morning traffic.
When we
arrived,we found that the van wouldn't fit into the hotel parking structure,so
I will have to get up at 8am to feed the parking meters each 2 hours-so much
for the sleep in I had planned for Monday! I guess sleeping will come when we
get home...!
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