Bunting and Biryani

The sun reigned down in Bracknell.....the school field was a mass of colour and cheer. Bunting flapped playfully in the wind children ran around with their faces painted and grown ups sat chewing the fat (Nothing to do with the burgers on sale) Blue plastic school chairs formed an arena in front of two Gazebos an awning and Eddy the camper van which acted as an impromptu stage like focal point for The Stone Jesters to unleash their music onto the now growing crowd.

The Morris dancers danced the choir sang ...this was a typical English school fete ...and it felt great......the rain clouds still visible in the sky just kept their distance and as the wind stretched the gazebo’s durability to the Max in the afternoon sun Scooby doo let out the first notes of “I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers up my nose ...I mean in my hair....a school fete....for everybody else it was.........maybe even for the rest of the Stone Jesters...for me it could have been my very own Glastonbury (without the mud...oh and a considerable less amount of people...but you get my jist) The holy one and I don’t play in that song so we both got the crowd clapping and I must admit I had a little ting of emotion enter my head......I thought of the search for the singers we had this spring....the knock backs ,the slating, the negative vibes....now all gone.....I looked across at the Holy one he was stepping on his foot pedal he looked over at me nodded as The Scoobs drew to an end .......he played the first riff to Ruby and that was it we were off the whole band jettisoned into full pelt ...the Funky Padre’s Mancunian voice belted out ,Wifey was there Sax firmly anchored with Scooby doo and her Dadaddahhs. Barabanshik was half set up in the awning doing what he does best...............The Stone Jesters had morphed from the ashes of Hot Machero the transition complete we were gigging again.

The gig wasn’t without incident however “Breakfast at Tiffany’s was interrupted by a plea from a mother of a missing two year old .....we picked it back up again but through out the gig we thought we were going to be blown away at times ....(The crowd were obviously blown away). The comments after were fantastic and those that know us and have seen us throughout the last year have said this was the best gig yet and these the best singers we’ve had.One parent this morning stopped his car got out on purpose came up to me and said what a wonderful atmosphere we created and we were very good. This filled me with pride.

It was a good performance we thought, a few points to improve on ,a few odd finger slips but the video of which proves there was nothing major. The Holy one and I being on the ends of the band kept getting spoken to whilst playing.......you see I was MC for the afternoon announcing what was going on at the fete etc......(strange appointment as I’m the shy and retiring type). In Kultural Karma a girl walked straight up to me and said

“Excuse me I have a request....”

My original thought was “piss off I can’t play and speak at the same time “..................then I thought ...how cool someone wants us to play their favourite song.....then I thought or may be the request is to make like shepherds and get the flock out of here.....then she said
“From the Food tent there is still loads of chicken Biryani can you push the Biryani!”

I think I said “We don’t know that one was it done by Oasis? “ but it was met with a blank expression . I realised I should have been playing a descending bass line responding to Wifey’s leccy guitar ......I slipped back into the song...a little messily but no real harm done. I imagined what Adam Clayton U2’s low ender would have done if there ...at Twickenham he had a similar request.......oh how we need Roadies!

Just to clarify whilst on the subject of Kultural Karma , contrary to what Mother dearest thought the line is
“ Put on your shoes and dance to the news” not “ Dance in the nude!!!!”