Fatbwoi Live @ Kettering Arts Centre 140412

word up you crazy cats!!

its been a fun (and also hectic) couple of weeks here on planet bwoi... which is, as ever, just how we like it... complete with good friends, thang-shakery, and songwriting - happy time

first up - some of the thang shakery...

saturday 14th was wildfire sessions 1st birthday festival at kettering arts centre... a birthday party like none other, one which the wildfire crew deserved for the quality work they always do, complete with a whole pile of quality tunage...

i caught sets from the legend that is kevin hewick, and budding for-ex trader stevie rigsby (who needs to work on his bartering a lil' bit), as well as my jaike, before dropping some tunes of my own...

opened with the one about the chicken... moved onto the one with the dance moves... as one does, but hereabouts we should perhaps rewind a lil'... for when i took to the stage, i was not alone...

making their first appearance since last summer at the cross keys was the midgetbwoi army, armed with shakers and some funky-ass dance moves...

you have not seen soulful grooving like it (no really - you haven't!!)...

but they (and i) had an ace time, so who can knock it?! there was even a (sort-of) harmony on some of the random bits that they've picked up...

i reckon with the energy expelled by the three of us during that set, we probably could have powered the building for a week - now that's ecologically friendly! 8)

back to the music...

there was a début outing for newbie 'modern condition', which i think went down really well. its a lil' bit slower than some of the others, although still heavily up-swung... fun to play too. its got two riffs, and a lil' bit of "oh dear, what can the matter be?" - fair to say its definitely a bwoi tune...

there was also a first ever acoustic outing for 'wrong', which had previously only ever seen the light of day as an fb5 tune... enjoyed playing that too, without a backing band its a slightly more melodious affair (in that it feels inappropriate doing the shouty bit on the chorus without the bwois behind me) - but all good fun!

finished off with bullet and forces, my dancers exhausted...

all-in it was a really good day, i enjoyed myself (as did the midgetbwoi army) and big love and props go out to stevie and the wildfire sessions crew, not just for putting it on, but for all the work they do year-round providing quality nights at which to enjoy some quality tunes...

thanks guys! and happy birthday

fb 8)

fatbwoi live @ walrus gumboot 010511

word up you crazy cats!! how the devil's are ye?!

last night was the walrus gumboot show at lock 42, supporting young minds... and i had me a most excellent evening right about there... i like

there was of course the usual leicester-related travel disaster... you know how it goes (and this has always been so...) every-time i go over to play in leicester i either : -

a- get lost on the way to leicester, and then seamlessly navigate the one way and get straight to the venue (the best example of this being when i drove to the outskirts of manchester in a moment of northbound/southbound related confusion)

b - get straight to leicester and then grow considerably older as all the roads i need to be there are not... godamn one-way madness grrr....

yesterday was an a, i headed up from the sunny mk, and owing to a "police incident 'on a bridge'", i think it actually took me longer to get there than the manchester episode, so the less said about that the better, one day i will have a helicopter - problem solved.

but enough of that...

there was a whole raft of quality musicians on show yesterday... (and me)

my man rhett was essential as ever, droppin' some quality tunes (first up on his own guitar before unfortunately snapping a string and moving onto ian's guitar)... to misquote zz top, dude got a voice, and he know's how to use it... but seriously, he was over this way for the luau and if you haven't caught up with him yet... you really should. i defy ya to listen in, and not mooch off singing along...

owing to an extreme case of non-organisation i played the 'rhett barrow request' version of my set... its more environmentally friendly as i don't gotta write the set-list down on a too-small-to-be-seen-in-the-dark piece of paper... but did lead to a couple of pauses...

but rhett had me drop some goodies, haven't played back in the day for a while, but my man was most insistent...

probably best if i give the 'fashion model' dance-moves a miss next time though *shock*

last-up was the living legend that is kevin hewick... i haven't seen the mighty kh with his new band before, but they put on a kick ass show... you gotta love kh 8) he delivered a mighty slice of death, death, graveyards and death... and more than just a smattering of 'spiritual energy'... why thank you sir! a top quality set, a visually engaging spectacle that was thoroughly enjoyable...

all-in it was a top night, thanks to ian for putting it on an inviting me to play... good work sir...

and of course if you didn't make it yesterday, or you possibly you did, and you feel like supporting the cause, it is still possible to make a donation through the just giving page, which is approximately here... 

www.justgiving.com/Ian-Babington0

right about now... i'm off to shake that thang again at the old market inn in kettering - happy time!!!

peace-out ya'll