Well where do I start to describe what an awesome weekend I had?? It all started off as Helen picked me up from work on Friday. Yes you heard right…WORK!!! Its been my first full week back to work and well that is where I am now writing this, but I wanted to capture the mood before reality sets in.
We made our way to Birmingham to the wonderful Red Lion Pub in Hockley to meet with Ben Dlugokecki and Andy Wilde. As soon as we got there Ben, well he was just being Ben, had us crying with laughter with stories of him and Andy coming away for a dirty weekend and having sex in the hotel amongst other things. I think Malibu and Coke has a lot to answer for! But Birmingham loved these guys and they will be remembered here for a long time for playing a Perfectionistical set.
I got a little drunk as pints of Stongbow was only £1.50 so managed to take us the scenic route out of Birmingham, via a lay by on the A38 for a much needed stop!
I managed to drag myself out of bed on Saturday at about 11.30 and realised I still had so much to do for the gig. Finally got to Junktion 7 at about 3pm. Everybody seemed to be running late so it was not bad. With help from Censored and Intruso boys we got all calendar stuff stuck up and soundman Gareth was getting ready for recording a live version of "When You Come Along" on the night.
I am not going to talk about the music in detail – IT WAS ALL FAB, just the highlights….
Ben Haynes of 45 Rebellion, thanks for stepping in at the last minute opening up the day and for the cherry beer and chocolate coins. Funny enough the beer has not been touched, but the chocolate is but a distant memory.
Thanks Richard Snow for bringing your Inlaws to play on our Anniversary gig, playing excellent set, leaving to play another gig and then Rich coming back doing "delightfully dodgy" covers with intoxicated Ben Dlugokeci. Thanks for the lovely card too mate.
Adam Smith thanks very much for making the journey from London and for dedication of Green Day classic "Good Riddance". Loving "Pride and Glory"!
Intruso lads were great helping before hand with sticking up calendar stuff and after a shaky start enjoyed their set.
I was completely blown away by The Counterfeits, thanks for joining us all the way from Bristol.
More local talented in the shape of Captain Dangerous whose quirky storytelling songs were a big hit with the crowd.
Next was the only other person who played at first gig same weekend last year and that is Ben Dlugokecki. Ben and Andy were amazing as usual and I'm so grateful. Thanks for the hilarity afterwards Ben. He is the only man that can remember every word of "American Pie" whilst barely being able to stand up!!!
Next up it was Eddyfink who came up all the way from London to play. They completely "wowed" me and the "Happy Birthday" version was really awesome, best one I have ever heard. They have a single out today and you can either: Buy limited signed copy here (500) or Download it from iTunes.
Junktion 7 is now packed to capacity awaiting the arrival of headliners Censored. This was most definitely our biggest Great Escape crowd to date. Thanks for the "interesting" card and messages lads and for most superb hugs throughout the night. I can't wait to hear "When You Come Along" or any of the other songs and will try and get my hands on a copy of the whole recording.
Next up moment in the night I had secretly been looking forward to the most. The Warm also all the way from Southampton, who also get better and better all the time. Great songs, great CD and dead chuffed they cancelled some personal plans to come up and join us.
The Auxiliaries up next in the night with a sterling performance, thanks must go to Nikki (bass player) for selling loads of tickets before hand.
Finished off the night with Starscreen, but not before Helen brought on this huge cake that looked like it was on fire with the amount of candles. Obviously she is unable to count. We popped the bottle of champers courtesy of Ewen and The Four Last Things and celebrated the fact it was Neal of Starscreen's birthday too. Really enjoyed the set, another band that gets better each time I see them.
Very late now it was time for drunken karaoke thanks to Ben Dlugokecki, who dragged Richard Snow on stage to sing songs including. "You can call me Al", "Mrs Robinson", "Losing my Religion", "American Pie", (all 29 verses), Rich doing Erasure, but biggest surprise was when Ben played "Living on a Prayer" – move over Bon Jovi! They were joined on stage with Neal and Gaz of Starscreen to do some songs and Nathan did some fab Ocean Colour Scene.
On the whole an excellent night for charity and a great birthday party! Only dampner on the night was the amount of drunk teenagers around. Not sure who these kids are or where they came from, but not really something I want at these nights. Also a little disappointed with the volume of Calendar sales. If anybody wants to buy a calendar, please get in touch with me.
Left Junktion 7 with Helen and Andy and stopped at Helens for the night after raucous party at hers involving conversation and white hot chocolate before going to bed at about 4am. Thanks for your hospitality mate.
Woke at Helen's and after a cuppa and a shower there was just enough time to get into town and meet Boyd and Simmo of the Warm for lunch. Dlugoman and Andy were supposed to join us but were halfway home at that time…shame on you!!! Had a lovely time and it was nice chatting for a couple of hours before they headed home.
The day just got better and better but not at liberty to divulge further details lol, just looking forward to next weekend and going away for a whole different birthday celebration.
Finished off my birthday weekend with my housemate Flowerpot by downing a few glasses of vino before bedtime.
Thanks to everybody that joined us for the day, especially those who made a lot of effort involving trains, and hotel rooms. I so very much appreciate it and I had well as the title says…"The Best Party Ever"
Thanks to Matt, Nathan and Chris for pulling out all the stops and selling loads of tickets in advance and for just being superb as always.
Feel free to post some pictures :o) x