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September saw 4 gigs in 8 days. I think its fair to say that I was a little out of practice and not really match fit for this kind of intense itinerary. However, live music is one of my most favourite things to go and see, and the pandemic brought that to an end for two years. I loved all four gigs. The Kim Wilde concert at The London Palladium had been rescheduled twice due to COVID and eventually went ahead 2 years after the original date. I’d met Kim for my last fundraising book, The Record, and I had always wanted to see her live. It was a terrific Greatest Hits show and yes worth the wait.
I always enjoy a local gig as it avoids those late nights! Frank Turner played Reading Hexagon and this show was amazing. I only really got into his music during the writing of the last book and meeting him before another gig at The Hexagon. Since then I have been a big convert and have seen him live on a number of occasions. This gig was right up there with all the others.
Another person I met for The Record was Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet. I met Steve and his partner Sabrina in Brighton, and it’s hard to find two nicer people. Once again the pandemic meant that I had to wait a lot longer than I wanted to see my first concert by Steve’s band The Sleevz. This was another local gig in Wokingham, and it was quite an eventful day for Steve and Sabrina as their car caught fire on the way to the gig! A really great evening with plenty of Spandau Ballet classics.
Department S at The 100 Club in London made up the gig list. They were probably the first non-chart band that I discovered as a teenager in the 1980s. I bought the Is Vic There? single on Demon Records long before the RCA reissue made the charts. I was too young to see them back in the day, but did finally see the reformed band some years ago. This line up has recently changed once again, but it didn’t matter as they were absolutely brilliant and it’s exciting times with a new album in the pipeline.
They were supported by Eddie Macdonald, one of the original members of The Alarm, which was a win win situation for me. Another artist for which 2023 looks like being exciting times for. This also meant I got to meet two Alarm friends in person for the first time, Margaret and Jan from Norway. I was able to hand over their copy of my album in person and spend a really nice evening with them.
I had an appointment with Urology at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. I had seen my doctor about a small lump on my lip, so I explained I thought I had a lump on my testicle. I was referred to Urology after an Ultrasound and yes there is a lump. They believe it is most likely a cyst, but it is in an usual place for a cyst, so they are keep an eye on it and I have had another scan recently and have an appointment in early January.
I took the lovely Bluebell with me to North Wales for the Love Hope Strength Beach Hike in support of the charity. This was the first time that I had seen some of my Alarm friends for two and a half years. The village of Dyserth was the setting as this is the home of Mike and Jules Peters of The Alarm. I stayed in Rhyl with Bluebell and I took her down onto the beach, after our nightmare trip due to an accident on the A55, and it was just stunning with the beach virtually to ourselves. The trek the following day was about 12 miles in perfect conditions. I wasn’t sure if Bluebell would be able to do the whole walk, but she was brilliant and after the long walk spent the evening asleep in the pub! Music for the weekend was supplied by Smiley from The Alarm. I hope to do another one of these treks next year.
September 16th was the release for my record, A New Dawn. This Fields of Dawn release was something that I had worked incredibly hard on during the year, and in my humble opinion think that it’s a pretty fine album. All the effort has been rewarded by terrific support with over £1100 being raised so far. On the Friday night of the trek in North Wales, Smiley stopped mid set to tell everyone about the album with words of kindness and support that meant a great deal. I had already been able to hand out copies of the album to people who had pre-ordered it, but over the weekend, and no doubt as a result of Smiley’s plug, quite a few more copies were sold.
I could never have predicted when I began the Fields of Dawn musical project at the beginning of 2020 that it would raise over £2000 for the cancer charities. I’ve learnt so much and I am a much better musician and songwriter as a result. Supporting Bowel Cancer UK, Love Hope Strength and The Bowel Movement gives me extra purpose and drive to the music.
I have recently put in a new order for more CDs of the album due to the success so far. The big challenge is selling all 100 copies of the vinyl with about half sold so far. If you have a turntable you could do a lot worse than purchasing a copy x
