...hey everybody,hope everybody is well;im fine...re: well i promised myself that when i got home last december from The Micky Jam
and Deke Iceberg concerts, that once i unwound i would write a story about my experience.i figured it would take me a few days...um well
i've unwound now so here is my story for those who'd like to read it : ...i got to JFK and walked up to the gate.from the bar i heard music i
recognized...it was "freedom rider" by Traffic.never heard that in an airport before.for the next hour waiting for the plane i was regaled with
some good obscure classic rock.it must have been a preset station.i heard Yes -"yours is no disgrace" Dave Mason-"only you know and i
know"...lots of surprising but great tunes that now i can't remember...that was a good lead in...i got off the plane near Swansea after a
connection and long lay over and made my way to Swansea and to my hotel...i called Gary the Luthier who made the Micky sg guitar i bought
from George.he offered to come pick me up the next day and take me back to his house to give the guitar a tune up.after sleeping i
met him the next day.he arrived with his lovely wife and son and we went back to his house on a nice drive.when we got there,we went
out to his work shed.he let me put a peace sign and signature on the wall where every guitar he made had been logged.he opened up the
guitar and let me see inside where his signature was.he modified it slightly and gave it a great set up.we rapped about music,various and
sundry.again a beautiful man with a beautiful family.at his house surrounded by guitars that he made his young son said "i like
blue guitars Daddy".it was adorable.Gary's Dad was there too.he had seen Micky perform...later Gary gave me a ride back to Swansea where
Deke was playing(at the Micky concert Gary was playing at the pub downstairs.i found him to be pretty darn good.he came upstairs briefly but
said he didnt have time to stay and jam)Gary is a cool dude, great guitar maker, and a great musician and i'm grateful for the guitar he
made...when i got to where Deke was i was worried it would be sold out.but it wasn't.i came back later and saw Michael and Helena opening
boxes of Deke's book in the bar...after a long time or a short time George showed up and allowed me to take a photo of him perusing Deke's
book for the first time...i bought my own copy and headed upstairs.i said peace to Michael and to Bob who i met before.no signs for the gig,no
signs of any promotion,but after a while the room filled up a bit...the show was good,but a couple tunes had the kinks still being worked out
of them, at the beginning of the run.i had it in my mind to go to all of Deke's shows, having come from overseas,but i didnt know exactly how
to swing it.i had booked hotels and b and b's in close proximity to each gig.but traveling between those points was dicey.someone suggested i
ask Bob about getting to the next Iceberg gig cause he lived nearby.he gave me his moblie and told me to give him a call the next
afternoon.i got Deke to sign the book...the next day Bob agreed to pick me up at a train station and take me over to the gig.i had to wait a
few hours in the town where he picked me up.i parked my bag and guitar in a cafe/bar and read Deke's book.i was liking feeling the
ambience;when he went to see Elvis movies i felt like i was there...then i met up w Bob and we drove and talked:about playing
music,teaching music,politics,and various and sundry.we did discuss the break up.it didnt sound very fun or functional.as i'm friends w Phil
(Phil likes a lot of the same music that i do and puts down a "like" which i dig) and Martin on fb and haven't heard what they have to say i
won't comment further or take sides on something that is now receding further into the past; just to say that i hold Bob in the highest
possible regard as a musician and human being after spending quality time with him and hearing him up close...as night approached the road
started getting windy.it started snowing. a lot.this gig was in a place that back in the states we would affectionately refer to as "east
cupcake"...we drove down a steep hill precariously to where we thought the gig was.it was a dark and desolate cottage from the outside.Bob
made some calls; no answer.he was wondering if the gig was cancelled.the mood darkened further.we waited a little while.a lone car
appeared.a man got out and turned on the lights of the cottage.he was the owner Steve, a nice cat.we put Bob's drums together(he let me
have a tap) and i tried to warm up. on the inside it was a bar with lots of band posters on the wall(possibly some of which were imported from
a previously owned bigger venue that hosted many legends over the years)...the band showed up and played to a full room...the set was
tightening up in my view.i talked to Will who while signing records for a young local Man fan remembered signing a book for me at the Micky
jam and proceeded to tell some racy stories about the BITF album era that i won't repeat here ...after the gig it was very icy on
the steep road...i was amazed that we managed to traverse it.Bob dropped me off at my b and b a country mile away that had a huge
radiator next to the bed(funny thinking of that in the summer)that i was thankful for...the next day Bob again out of the kindness of his heart
agreed to meet me at the train stop to hitch a ride to the Micky jam.we met and left a little earlier for a day drive.this day he played me
demos of the new project that he and George are working on.on some of the tracks he was singing but was wondering who to get to do some
vocals.i thought he sounded fine singing the stuff himself.i enjoyed hearing the interplay between George and the other guitarist.it sounded
like they were switching off on lead and rhythm with complimentary results.hope it comes out soon...so we made it to the Micky jam...George
was there ...some local people were there and helped facilitate a soundcheck for me.one told me next year all i had to do was pay for plane
fare and i could stay at his and his wifes cottage with all the free dope i could smoke.sounds like a plan...George was gonna give the specs a
little later on sitting in...some fans came in Tony Smith,Nick Ring,Rob Woolfe a bunch of others but a bunch more were at the pub...a few of
us wandered up/down the road to the pub.many more fans were there and it was good to see the ones i'd met before and meet some new
people id only read from on the forum...we made our way back over...had some nice conversations with fellow fans and settled in to listen.it
was a good show with different guests coming in and out over the night...somewhere in the middle before Deke's set George came up to me
and said "do you know Romain;what do you know the best?" i said i knew Bananas & 7171 551 the best but i thought i could swing
Romain...he came back later and implied we'd jam w Deke on 7171 551...a little while later Deke:"is anyone Man enough to take the stage"
such as it was this was my cue.so i got up there and just tried to plug in as quickly as possible(i had already tuned).Brian Breeze came up to
me and told me the opening chords.but i didn't listen because i thought"i know the changes";alas he was talking about the intro which i didnt
know.so i had to use the old adage "when in doubt lay out"; theres always a lot of people to cover parts at jam sessions.oh well.so i played
the lead lines w the harmony and a bass note and some scratch guitar behind Deke and noodled at the end.didn't take a solo wasn't sure of
the protocol.but after we were done Deke came up to me and said "nice one Davey".that was enough for me...later the aformentioned local
gave me a little bit of smoke and the Man fan contingent started to make our way home.a local guy on the st was messing with some of us
fans,referring to me as "she"...i was thinking to myself, its 2011 not 1962, this guys not used to long hair on a man?what is this, easy
rider?...well his bark was worse than his bite;he faded off into the woodwork...Rob W and i stayed on to help Bob with his kit then walked
back to the hotel where Rob also kindly allowed me to stay in his room on a fold out...a bunch of us convened to the lobby with a bottle of
something.wont try and name everyone lest i leave anyone out...eventually we retired after attempting to make reservations for next year ...i
do have one complaint about Rob.he snored...it was one single short snore,sometime in the middle of the night....otherwise he was quiet as a
mouse...the next morning i had some breakfast with Tony and Nick and they gave me a ride back to town.just one more show to make it
to :the Deke show at the legion in neath...so i made my way over to neath to the legion.again saw some faces i recognized...now this gig felt
a bit different.basically i started feeling some culture shock like a fish out of water far away from home.people were definitely staring at
me.they knew i was from somewhere else and some people thought i was a girl(i'm not)it was surreal,slightly unnerving but a powerful
ambience w a ying inside the yang of a xmas/bday vibe .the smoke i was given intensified the experience.Deke came into the bathroom while
i was in there and said "nice playing with you Davey" i shouldve thought of something witty to say like "why?" but i said "that means a lot.it
was a dream come true for me(i mean Deke's on that level to me,i'll take that to my grave,he's an immense guitarist,singer and songwriter in
my book,i mean i don't think he's bulletproof;anyhow i digress)to which he said "you tragic creature"... again i should have said something
poignant like"im here to inform you that it is opposites day" but all i could say was "you call yourself that and everyone else that in your
books"(it was actually in an old copy of the welsh connection where he refers to himself as that after a flubbed tv line on a talk show)...i will
say that "circumstances" had special meaning to me that night...we left the bathroom and it was almost time for the show...they were playing
some loud good music over the speakers(Santana: samba pa ti) but also bad(Clapton:here in heaven)...i now was really starting to feel
Deke's repetoire,but i realized it wasn't such a "hippy" philoposhy that Deke was repping in his songs.there were shades of it but also shades
of nihilism(at one point Deke did say "go nihilism" during the philisophical banter that took place before "please don't go").it was like scary
but compelling in a "can you stand it,can you get your bearings back" kind of way;being taken off on a tangent without grounding, but a
strange kind of mystical experience...map of india was best this night,it was so good...another night contained the best razor blade and
rattlesnake...another the best 7171 551...thats how the run came across to me...there was at least one perfect version of every song to
enjoy...but i did enjoy this last show the best of the Deke performances...there was something about the ambience there at the legion that
took me way out there from what i know...and since it was Dekes b day he had some good jokes: "Bob and Lemmy are always 'texting' like a
bunch of pansies" Deke found out he was a week older then Lemmy...he told a story about hanging with Terry Williams and Lemmy when he
was breaking up with Hawkwind.Lemmy wanted to form a new band that played real heavy music.he invited Terry and Deke to join.Deke
said " no Lemmy,never would ...never would...i mean no one would buy it"...Deke was a bit chagrined that someone came up to him during
the break and said "who's Lenny?"...Deke seemed to really enjoy playing there... after the show i went back to say goodbye and help Bob
with his kit.Will was back there with Deke and he said "did you have a good time last night?" i said "yeah it was beautiful" he said "im
surprised how many parts you knew,you knew more than he did "gesturing at Deke who demurred.then Will stepped out and i said "bye Deke
i'm heading to new york" he said "thats tidy, if youve got to be in america new yorks the place" he then started to tell me a story about being
in nyc back in the Man days wandering into a bar after a show and seeing B.B. King...it was fun hearing the intro to the story but then he
realized it was in the book.i told him i was on page 87...he said "is it good" i said "you do realize that you are a fantastic writer right?" he said
he wasn't sure after getting lost in it...i told him happy b day...he said thanks...Brian Breeze came in and said goodnight and "peace" Deke
said "piece of what?" Brian said "peace of ass" and went home...then Deke said again "nice playing with you Davey" ...i said "likewise"...then i
left...again i helped Bob with his kit and he gave me a ride to my hotel(again thank you Bob)...i was thirsty at night and went down stairs to
the bar where there was a little fridge open...i did it:i took a tiny bottle of bitter lemon i love that stuff...i left a couple of pounds in the
room...the next day i made my way to the airport waited all day slept another night and had a long lay over before i finally got home to
brooklyn...thanks to George,Bob,Rob,Tony,Nick and everyone else who helped me get around.and it was great to see and talk to
everybody...looking forward to the next one...here is a link to some pics and to a film Pete Middleton made of the Jam-peace and cheers
everyone...
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2871615878454.148537.1501593211&type=3 http://www.facebook.com/springdavey?sk=photos#!/video/video.php?v=3806004197578
