Charity Night For Trinity Hospice At Coast Riders

Saturday 25 November 2017 saw us back at Coast Riders Diner and Bar for a charity night in aid of Trinity Hospice and in memory of the wonderful Janet Houghton, whose baby Coast Riders was.

There were stalls selling all manner of crafts, perfumes, cakes, jewellery and lots more. Coast Riders was filled to bursting with people. There was a tombola and a raffle. Miss Franny came home laden with handbags and other stuff...

Two old geezers got up on stage and played a bit - a bit??? I think it was getting on for four hours but there was quite a break for food and the raffle. Even so by the end of the night I had some sore fingers after playing guitar!

A fabulous night was had by all though and it was the sort of night that Jan - "Big Jan" as she was known on account of her being ... not that tall really - would have loved.

We made sure we played all her favourite songs and everyone - eventually - went home happy...

...once the vampires had been seen to!

Creeping Bentgrass Gig Catch-up

Memorial Concert

Saturday 14 May 2016. We played a memorial concert for a young lady, wife and mother who died tragically of cervical cancer. She was too young to be called for a routine test and by the time the cancer was found it was inoperable.

Remembering Rachel.

Eccleston Steam Fair

Saturday 4 June 2016. We found ourselves driving down twisting country lanes somewhere to the west of Eccleston in Lancashire. The Heskin Hall Steam Fair that we had played for years has moved from this year and we were heading for a farmer's field out in the country.

The event looked bigger than ever and with our long-time collaborator, Jack Gerrard at the helm, we knew that the facilities would be top notch. The marquee is always the size of a small palace and with a dance floor and twinkling LED lights set in the draperies over the stage area, it looks the biz, particularly once it goes dark.

There's always been a good crowd in the marquee at this event and so it proved this year. Despite the new venue, we recognised lots of regular faces and we gained some great feedback and a couple of future gigs too!

I even got to play a couple of instrumentals too - that'll teach him to "lubricate his throat" so much...

Myerscough College Open Day

Sunday 12 June 2016. Everything was looking good for this year's open day at the land-based campus of agriculture college, Myerscough College.

The weather started out fine and sunny, though the forecast was for rain around late afternoon. In the event though it arrived a bit before schedule and by 1:30 we had to admit defeat and move all the gear out of the wet. Our wet-weather alternative spot were showing the Euro football to a disinterested few and that was that. Hopefully we'll have a sunny day all day next time!

Birthday Party at Coast Riders

Monday 13 June 2016. We had been asked to play at the significant (must have been 21...) birthday party of the lovely Andrea who rules our favourite venue, Blackpool Coast Riders Diner & Bar, with a rod of iron. (That is what you asked me to put isn't it Andrea?)

Here's the birthday girl with the two of us after our set. The venue has recently started a carvery project which we went to try out the other Sunday lunchtime - yummy!

Not only was it Andrea's birthday celebration but someone else who had reached the age of 70. Obviously I cannot mention a lady's age, but added together they would have been 110... Hang on kids... Did you just blow those candles out...?

I'd brought out the ice blue guitar at Myerscough on the previous day, so tonight I gave the woody a chance to come out and rock and roll! A lovely looking guitar, but I still personally prefer the tone from the cherry red guitar. Everyone else says they can't tell the difference, so maybe it's just different, not necessarily better. Another great night at Coast Riders - and (why was I expecting this?) a couple of challenges for next time in the form of half-forgotten songs from way back!

Fylde Farm Weekend, 2016

Friday 24 June 2016. The Fylde Farm Weekend. We are once again in a marquee, this time in a field next to the M55 motorway in Treales.

The weather had been a bit damp during the day, but it was fine and the field was firm enough as we drove in and made our way towards the back of the field where the beer tent was situated.

This is usually a quieter event for us than the Steam Fair, but there was a good-sized audience of between 70-80 people for most of the night and as usual there were some regulars and familiar faces to be spotted.

Nice lighting effect!

Instrumental time! Photo opportunity!

Another good night - favourite quote of the night: "We come here every year and always say you couldn't possibly get better - but you do!" Thank you kind sir and we hope your hearing improves soon!

Letting The New Year In

On New Year's Eve, Creeping Bentgrass took to the stage at Coast Rider's Bar in Blackpool. It's become a bit of a tradition at Coast Riders to challenge us to do songs we don't usually do. Sometimes we are told in advance and have a chance to do a full backing and sometimes it's a song I've never heard of, leaving me to busk as best I can to whatever David is fondly imagining to be the tune... We did ok with Falling In Love With You but then came something called Seven Spanish Angels which I'd never heard of... Oh, and the one we had prior notice of was Lee Marvin's Wand'rin Star which tested how deep I could go!

A great night as always at Coast Riders - we are now proficient at previous challenges Running Bear, Penny Arcade and even my attempts to play Ravel's Bolero go down well! Happy New Year! We will be back at Coast Riders on 27 February for a charity night.

90th Birthday Party

Last Saturday we played for one of our own. Miss Jeannie's mum, Joan, was 90 years old and we gathered family and friends together at our favourite Blackpool venue, Coast Riders under the care and catering of our good friends Pete and Janet.

There was a fabulous buffet laid on and I have to mention the Southport bikers' club members who turned up with a huge bouquet of flowers for Joan. She didn't seem to want to take up the offer of a ride on the back of a motorbike, but I'd swear it was declined with a twinkle in her eye...!

Here's the birthday girl with Peter and Miss Jeannie, her son and daughter on the two sides and Elaine, her son-in-law's sister and Miss Franny adding their congratulations.

We tried out a couple of the new songs, knowing we were amongst friends, but "Happy Together", "Keep On Running" and "I Like It" sounded so right that I'm sure audiences in 2015 will get a chance to hear them!

And just in case you think that at the grand age of ninety the birthday girl would stay off the dance floor - think again!

Charity Acknowledgement

Received today is a poster from the British Heart Foundation confirming our raising funds of £710 at the gig at Blackpool venue, Coast Riders Diner on 18 October this year.

I expect we will be arranging another charity event for next year - watch the dates feature on the band's page.

Creeping Bentgrass Charity Gig For British Heart Foundation

Last Saturday, the 18th, we performed for the second of our own charity gigs of the year. Usually we do these every two years, but the response after the April one was such that we set about organising this one almost immediately.

It's for an invited audience, but we always have a few new faces at these events, brought by friends or family. Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie were kept busy on tombola and raffle with help from daughter Gillian and a few friends. We already had lots of raffle prizes but special thanks must go to all those who turned up with more, including an expensive pair of hiking boots which made their winner very happy!

David sang to a hairbrush for some reason during "Wooden Heart" - he claimed someone called Elvis did the same thing in a film... I don't know...

A special mention must go to Peter and Janet at Coast Riders Diner, who not only provided us with a free venue and food but also added a very generous sum to the pot and we ended up (so far) with a collection of £710 for the British Heart Foundation. Someone from the Coast Riders people asked us to play Johnny Preston's Running Bear, a song we've never done before, but hey - if we know the song we love a challenge and they were incredulous that we'd never played it before! I was a bit incredulous at the key David chose to launch into, to be honest, but that's a different matter. I'm now designated to come up with a polished version for the next gig...

We now take a short break from gigs as Miss Franny starts radiotherapy. Little did we know in April when we did the gig for Cancer Research that we would be in need of the results of that research within 6 months. But things are progressing well. As for the Heart Foundation, well I'm already a heart attack survivor and David carries a second one in the shape of a pacemaker in his shoulder. He claims this makes him a Time Lord, but the dalek he tried to intimidate was having none of it...

Party Antics

Saturday night saw us once more at the fabulous Coast Riders Diner Bar, playing for Pete's 65th birthday. Themed as Luau-cum-holiday night, the room was filled with rather loud shirts and one or two snorkels...

An interesting night - I was playing against a persistent tinnitus background hiss and was a bit paranoid that I might not be able to hit the right notes. I mean singing rather than the odd guitar/keyboard whoopsie! Anyway a few new tunes got unveiled. Apart from Pete's birthday it was the anniversary of Elvis's passing so In The Ghetto got a first play, as did a 3-song medley of Teddy Bear, Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog. The last time we were at Coast Riders I made a rash promise that we would come up with a version of Roy Orbison's Penny Arcade and also The Beatles' P.S. I Love You came out.

And I have an awful feeling we may have... no surely not... but yes... I definitely remember playing Dancing Queen...

Creeping Bentgrass at the Fylde Car Club Meeting

Saturday night saw us once again at the Coast Riders Diner venue, playing for the Fylde Car Club as they met prior to the next day's display at Cleveleys.

They brought a great line-up of classic cars with them - I always thought that a car became vintage when it reached 25 years old. But thanks to an anonymous comment which I checked on the Oxford Dictionaries site, I now know they are 1919-30. Given that cars become and will always become rare once they reach a certain age, I quite liked my "wrong" version... Anyway, I'm thankful for learning something new!

This is the first incarnation of the Ford Capri. A two-door version of the Consul Classic with a streamlined rear window - the Classic had a window that sloped inwards like the 1960s Anglia. The bright red really pops and red is an infamous colour for fading over time.

Another 1960s car, the Triumph Herald. As a teenager a couple of my friends had these in the seventies in various states of disrepair. I remember one which had a huge hole in the floor and you had to rest your feet on the bulkhead in front of you whilst watching the road fly past beneath your legs... It was a bad idea to go out in this car on wet days because spray from the wheels shot into the car interior, particularly when the wheels turned to go round a corner! This example was in much better condition!

We were there to play a bit of music though and enjoyed ourselves playing to an audience that sang along, clapped and shouted for more.

When we play Status Quo's Rockin' All Over The World audiences always do the "Quo Dance", testing out their hips and waists with gusto! We were unable to see the cars at Cleveleys the following day due to our playing at Myerscough College's Open Day - a report of that to follow later. But we'll catch up with the classic cars later in the year at Fairhaven Lake near Lytham.

Creeping Bentgrass Cancer Research Night

On Saturday night Creeping Bentgrass played at the Coast Riders bar in Blackpool.

This was one of the rare charity events that we arrange ourselves. They happen roughly every two years and this year marked a move from Staining Village Hall to the Coast Riders bar on Cropper Road, south west of the end of the M55. A massive thanks must go to Peter, Janet and team at Coast Riders. They were really superb and very accommodating.

Around 70 people gathered and as we knew at least one person in every party, it was a very jolly start to the night as we welcomed lots of friends. A few friends of friends had travelled a long way: two ladies from Spain and a party all the way from Australia!

We unveiled a couple of new songs including Roy Orbison's Leah, one of his B sides that was especially requested by Pete from Coast Riders and I played my own version of a Bert Weedon instrumental, Red Guitar which is very lively and seemed to go down very well with the audience.

We had a few special guests. Peter and Shelagh Cooney have supported us several times and we have developed a couple of songs to do together as a foursome.

Chrissie Turkington joined me for the first time to perform the Dolly Parton bits of Islands In The Stream. We played it once years ago at an informal party night in Edinburgh but this was her first performance with me on a club stage and she nailed it, making the song a very memorable part of the night.

Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie were kept busy with a raffle, bottle tombola and hot pot supper to sort out and by the end of the night we had raised £425 for Cancer Research and had a load of fun doing it. In fact reaction from both the venue and the audience has been such that a much earlier return than the usual two years may be called for! Watch this space. Our dates can be found on the band blog's side column.

Car Club Gig

On Saturday 22 June 2013 we were out at the Coast Riders Cafe on Marton Moss, Blackpool playing for a car club.

We got there a bit early as the cars were being judged and I wanted a few photos. This MG ended up with the top trophy for the night.

A Jowett Javelin sports car - no, I don't remember them either...

I do remember the Consul Classic though! This Ford was the first British car with twin headlamps that I remember. I nearly bought one for £65 when I was 17 but in the end bought a chunky Hillman Minx for £40 instead - cheapskate!

And had I taken the blue guitar that night, this rather scrummy Jag E-Type would have just matched it!!!

But I had the red one with me instead...

And one to match the scratch plate!

Oh yes... and we played a bit of music as well...!