This month has seen my car show calendar completed for 2018. On 2nd September, I attended the inaugural Vauxfest event at Billing Aquadrome and on the 8/9th I attended the AACI’s last bash of the summer.

Vauxfest
The VBOA has been absent from Billing for the last couple of years, but now that the venue has U-turned on its “no more car shows” decision, a new event has popped up to fill the Vauxhall (and Opel) shaped void.

Vauxfest, the brainchild of organiser Richard Watt, ran between the 1st and 2nd September and I went along on the Sunday to see what it was all about.

Rather than being organised around car clubs, the event was open to anyone owning/driving a “loosely” historic Vauxhall/Opel. An owner would arrive with his/her vehicle and park it in the next available space in the current row. This meant that vehicles of all types and ages were displayed together.

In addition to the vehicles, there was an autojumble and various catering/other concessions.

Because of the nature of the event, the vehicles on display probably differed quite considerably across the two days. I have no idea if Saturday was bigger and better than Sunday or not.

I arrived at Billing around 12:30pm, by that point, and by my reckoning, there were approximately 100-120 vehicles.
 
I am fan of the seventies stuff but there wasn’t much to get excited about from that decade, there was more from the noughties, 90s and to a lesser extent, the 80s. I wandered around with my camera for about half an hour before I left. 

Lots of effort had obviously gone into organising Vauxfest, but it was low key in comparison to the VBOA National Rally. Still, it’s early days for the event and I’ll look forward to it growing in awareness and status in the future.

Click on any image below to enlarge. High resolution images available, if you'd like one, just get in touch.

AACI Late Summer Open Nationals
On the 8th and 9th I went to Billing again, but this time to attend the American Automobile Cub International Late Summer Open Nationals. Regular readers will know that over the last few years, this car club’s events have become firm favourites on my calendar. This was the third such gathering this year for me.

Normally I attend AACI events on the Sunday of the weekend they are held, this year, because I already had commitments on the Sunday, I decided to go on the Saturday.

The weather had been predicted to be horrible; the afternoon was overcast but, aside from occasional spitting rain, the heavy showers predicted didn’t materialise. I took a chance and headed to Billing to find that lots of exhibitors had decided not to take this risk.

The number of vehicles on show was frankly disappointing but there were still some gems. The Starsky and Hutch liveried Grand Torino shown below was a joy to see. It wasn’t there on the Sunday so I would have missed it if I’d stayed at home.

After mooching around for a little while and accepting that the returns for the journey out were limited, I decided that I’d just have to come back on the Sunday too. Though I only had until mid-morning to participate, I am glad that I returned because the Sunday was significantly better.

The weather was better too and this time, I spend a couple of happy hours with my camera enjoying and photographing a range of exciting vehicles. More were still arriving as I left, but I couldn’t hang around.

One poignant thing about this event was the respect shown and sense of loss felt in the American car community following the recent passing of the legendary Burt Reynolds. In terms of the cult of the Pontiac Trans Am, Reynolds was almost single-handedly responsible for the car’s place in history. Smokey and the Bandit was a feature of this show and there were plenty of Trans Ams present as well as red Bandit sleeved jackets, cowboy hats and fake moustaches. There was also a “Snowman” Kenworth truck and trailer.

As mentioned above, the outing on the 9th completed a hattrick of enjoyable AACI events and my thanks goes to the organisers for all their hard work.
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Vauxfest
AACI - https://www.aac-int.com/

Other Relevant Posts:
https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/american-cars-and-fathers-day-thoughts
https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/car-show-and-car-sos
https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-late-summer-open-nationals-2017
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-summer-open-nationals-2017
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/24424-the-aaci-summer-nationals-and-fathers-day
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-late-summer-open-nationals

On the 25th August I went to The Craufurd Arms in Wolverton to see Electric Six. The band from Detroit, fronted by Dick Valentine, achieved fame in the early noughties with songs like “Danger! High Voltage” and “Gay Bar”. The gig was my second outing in Milton Keynes in two days that featured bands from across the Atlantic (see separate Anvil review).
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DSM 1V
Electric Six was supported by a UK outfit I’d never heard of called “DSM 1V”. I thought that an odd name for a band and so I went and looked up the reference. It turns out that it is a diagnosis term for a major depressive disorder.

And that was sort of appropriate given that the melancholic eighties inspired electric pop/rock band with a synthesized drum machine reminded me a little of REM … and Michael Stipe and his men were a miserable bunch.
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Again, like REM, DSM 1V’s music didn’t inspire me. But moustachioed and mullet haired front man, Guy McKnight, was interesting and had a great voice. To me, he looked a bit like Freddie Mercury, behaved like Iggy pop and danced like a proper space cadet. Whilst the rest of his band mates were unanimated, McKnight was manic, intense, angry even and if he’d be fronting a punk band and the music was heavier and faster, he’d have been brilliant … as it was he looked/behaved like a nutter who might lose it at any moment.

McKnight tried to get a relatively uninspired audience rocking to his manic beat but the pogoing, the forays over the barriers and out into the audience, the invasion of personal space and the direct, borderline aggressive staring didn’t really work on the night.

When the set was done, the band cleared off the stage and that was pretty much that.

During the downtime between acts, I recognised and talked to a few folks that I recognised from the Anvil gig the night before, I wasn’t the only one have two nights out on the bounce.

Electric Six
Whilst Electric Six has been prolific in producing music over the years, I only have “Fire” in my CD collection and that is the album that contains the tracks that the band is best known for (see above).

The 25th was the first time I had seen the band perform live so I didn’t know what to expect in terms of presentation or antics. When the band members were in their civvies pre-set and doing their equipment and sound checks, I’ll be honest, they could have been the roadies for all I knew.

When the band members dressed in their performing finery finally took to the stage, there was no doubting who the fans had come to see. Electric Six got a much warmer welcome than DSM 1V. The gig was a sell out and the Craufurd’s show hall was packed for the headliners; the audience a full mix of ages from teen to middle agers, lots of women in the audience too.

When I first saw front man Dick Valentine, I thought he had a look like Tom Hanks about him, mannerisms like Harry Hill and a dress sense like your secondary school history teacher. Non-descript slacks, comfortable shoes, a red shirt with a broad collar and a green velvet sports jacket.

All the band members were wearing “smart” clothes and most of them were wearing shades … no tour shirts on show. The primary guitarist, referred to as the “White Wolf”, wore a white suit, he reminded me of Kelsey Grammer or Alistair Petrie. The secondary guitarist in his sports jacket, slacks, shirt and shades looked like Goodfella, Ray Liotta, and the bass player reminded me of Jason Statham. So, without even contemplating the keyboardist and the drummer, you’d got a school teacher, a gangster, a hard man and a show off. Electric Six’s music crosses genres and defies categorisation, some hard rock, some glam rock, some pop etc... the outfits worn defied the rock categories for sure.

 I don’t have the set list to share, I didn’t get to pick one up at the end of the gig and, to be honest, there were a number of tunes I simply didn’t recognise. Singing along was always going to be a struggle for me, but it certainly wasn’t a problem for many others present. All in all, there were between fifteen and twenty songs including the encore.

Though Gay Bar, Danger! High Voltage, Dance Commander and many other cool tracks were shared, it was probably the final track of the evening that actually impressed me the most. I think it may even have been called “Show-stopper”. During this tune, the band completely switched around. Valentine took to the drums, the drummer took to the microphone and sang, the White Wolf picked up the base, the base player picked up the Wolf’s guitar, the keyboard player took the second guitar and the second guitarist took over keyboard duties. The revised band played flawlessly and, in that act, proved that all the members are flexible and skilled musicians. 
   
Electric Six, whilst not as heavy or as fast as the bands I usually see did genuinely impress. The gig was good fun, good natured and well appreciated by all in attendance.

Full marks to The Craufurd Arms too, its ability to attract transatlantic talent to Milton Keynes is to be applauded as loudly and enthusiastically as Electric Six was.

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Electric Six

Towards the end of August, I went to a couple of cracking gigs at The Craufurd Arms in Wolverton. The first gig was Anvil on the 24th and the second was Electric Six on the 25th. I’ll write about the gigs separately.
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Anvil is a long established Canadian heavy metal band comprised of Steve “Lips” Kudrow (guitar/vocals), Robb Reiner (drums) and Chris Robertson (bass). The fellas were only in the UK for a couple of gigs (the other was the Stonedeaf festival in Newark) and were promoting the new album “Pounding the Pavement”.

And it turned out that the album title was a nod to real life. During the set, Kudrow explained, the band is determined to keep working and making metal music despite increasing age, decreasing awareness and reducing incomes. He likened Anvil to door to door (in the band’s case gig to gig) salesman doing the hard yards and trying to make the sales.

Anvil’s heyday was the 1980s and the fellas are of retirement age now, Kudrow is 67. Like the band, the audience was an aging bunch too, I guess that those that followed Anvil from its early days are going to be a little long in the tooth by now.  Lots of grey hairs were present and I fitted in just fine (though I’ll admit I should have worn a tour shirt of some description instead of my Adidas branded generic rugby shirt, which didn’t fit in at all).

To keep the earnings up and the costs down, I found out later that the band was travelling light … very light. The chaps turned up at the Craufurd with two guitars, some symbols and a small quantity of merchandise. That meant the venue had to go into overdrive to provide and then set up the rest of the kit (amps, drum kit, microphones etc.) necessary for the gig to take place.

For the band, there were no back up guitars and no trusted roadies to “fix” things if they went wrong. Fortunately, there were no busted strings during the performance and so no one would have been any the wiser that the fellas were on a tight budget.
 
After the support act, “The Tony Rolfe Band”, had completed its set, Anvil took to the stage. Shortly after launching into action, Kudrow was off the said stage with his guitar and performing in the audience. I was very close to the front of the hall and that meant it was amusing trying to decide which way to look. Of course, Kudrow’s guitar’s power cable followed him onto the floor and that left me and many others passing it backwards and forwards over our heads as he meandered around the hall before returning to his band mates. When out of microphone range, which was an issue as he mingled, Kudrow had a neat trick of holding his guitar up to his mouth so that the pickups would act as a substitute.

In addition to Kudrow being enthusiastic off stage, he and Chris Robertson were very animated when on it too. Rolling eyes, big grins, lots of lip action and other exaggerated facial expressions were so common that I found myself thinking about Aardman Animations and Wallace and Gromit. Maybe the next time Anvil makes a movie, Nick Parks could be the man to sculpt it.
   
There were various other points of amusement during the evening. At one stage, Steve Kudrow played his guitar with the aid of a gold coloured, penis shaped vibrator.  Then in between songs, he reminisced about times past and things lost. His stories about meeting Lemmy and engaging over drugs and booze, were entertaining and enjoyed by all present. He could do a good impression of Lemmy’s gruff voice too. 
 
Here’s the set list: 

1. March of the Crabs
2. 666
3. Ooh Baby
4. Badass Rock 'n' Roll
5. Doing What I Want
6. Winged Assassins
7. Free as the Wind
8. On Fire
9. This Is Thirteen
10. Mothra
11. Bitch in the Box
12. Swing Thing
13. Daggers and Rum
14. Metal on Metal
15. Running (encore)
16. Born to Be Wild (encore)

During the set, Robb Reiner performed a belter of a drum solo. Bearing in mind that he wasn’t using his own stuff and wouldn’t have known until the evening what was included in the kit he was provided, he worked his magic with real aplomb.

At the end of the gig, I went to buy a copy of Pounding the Pavement but there were none left. The old hustlers lost themselves a sale, which is a shame bearing in mind how keen the band is to keep its flame alive. I’ll be able to get a copy on Amazon, but I regret that I didn’t get a copy at the gig and get the guys to sign it.

I can however report that the gig was good fun, good natured and top quality … and that I’d really like to see Anvil again.

I understand from the event team at the Craufurd that Kudrow/Reiner/Roberston had a great time too and are keen to play the venue again in the future. Hopefully next time, they’ll come slightly better prepared.

I’d bet that the fellas had a better time in Wolverton than they did in Newark. Playing at a festival just can’t be as immersive/rewarding as playing at a venue like The Craufurd Arms. 

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From the age of 16 I wanted to ride a motorbike, but I put it off for more than 30 years for all sorts of very sensible reasons (cost, danger, practicalities, higher priorities etc.) …

… and I’ll admit there was the issue that Mrs Baldwin threatened to divorce me if I succumbed to temptation.

But we have been married for a long time now and the kids are getting older …

And lately, the desire to tick the motorcycle thing off my mental bucket list was strong. My thought process was that I either took the plunge, or accepted that I was never going to do it. I have binned plenty of my dreams/fantasies over the years but this was one that I didn’t want to consign to the skip.

So, on the 17th August, I entered and ultimately passed my CBT. Passing was not a forgone conclusion and there were a number of occasions when I thought I might not “qualify”.  Fortunately, it all started to come together for me when out on the road later in the day. In the end, I achieved enough to get my certificate but was all too aware that getting it didn’t exactly make me Barry Sheene. What I would need was a lot more practice.
   
So, on Sunday 26th, I bought myself a motorbike.

The old-boy-buying-a-motorbike story has of course resulted in me being accused of having a mid-life crisis (that accusation initially levelled by Mrs Baldwin on Facebook) and I have had to acknowledge that there is some truth in it. My mid-life standing is of course without doubt, the “crisis” element is worthy of some reflection.

For me, it was never about rediscovering my lost youth or making myself more attractive to women (though both outcomes would be okay too). My issue was simply time – it going by at pace and even beginning to run out, at least in terms of learning and then having the time to graduate up the motorcycle hierarchy of licences and engine CCs. As a mid-lifer, I know that I am not invincible and can’t take it for granted that my health and physical fitness (such as it is) will accompany me into my fifties and beyond.

Mastering my little red 125 Yamaha has become the latest challenge for me.

My first, and frankly Herculean comfort-zone-slasher, was driving it back the 72 miles from the outskirts of High Wycombe in what felt like monsoon conditions. The bloody rain was torrential.

The Moto GP at Silverstone got cancelled because the weather was so bad. But it didn’t stop me!

Not perhaps the brightest introduction to the world of two-wheeled motoring. Brave … maybe. Stupid … most probably. I was riding a new bike through places I had never been with no maps or satnav to guide me.

By the time I got home, I was soaked through to the skin and shivering. I kid you not, my boots were full of water and my leathers (jacket and gloves) leaked so much black dye into my arms/hands that it looked like I had sleeve tattoos. But …

… at least my first solo motorcycle trip didn’t see me crash it.

I have since added another 150 miles to the odometer and am a lot more competent/confident than I was on the 26th. Fortunately, the Yamaha is not fast and it takes a while to get to not fast too. Being very conscious of my inexperience, I also ride it sensibly, for sure a damn sight more carefully than I drive my car anyway (or would have ridden a motorbike in my youth). I don’t try to look cool either, obvious ‘L’ plates, a plain white helmet and a high vis vest accompany me on every trip.  Be safe, be seen is my mantra …

And crisis or not, that’s so middle aged!

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On the morning of Sunday 15th July, I went to the annual Vauxhall Bedford Opel Association (VBOA) rally. I have been every single year since 1996 (many other reviews available) and so I was hardly going to miss out this year. As was the case in 2017, the event was held at the Showground in Market Harborough. I arrived at around 10am and stayed until about 12pm.
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For the first time ever, my overall impression was one akin to disappointment.

On the bright side. The event was better organised than last year. Lessons had been learned and the meadows had been mowed and the overall space available had been better utilised.  

The reasons for my despondency came down to fewer vehicles being displayed (at least the seventies cars that most interested me anyway); added to that, it’s just about a year since my good friend Gary Martin died. It was Gary that originally introduced me to the Vauxhall car club scene back in the nineties. As I wandered around the showground, I thought about him, so I am sure that influenced my perspective too.

Being an event stalwart, I can report that I don’t see many new cars/participants, mainly the same vehicles year after year, albeit in declining numbers. When one year’s photo album is compared to another, I find that I have taken the same photos again.

Where the event used to occupy the best part of a day for me, this year, I was all done and ready to leave after a couple of hours.

Perhaps it was the World Cup final that was discouraged visitors?

I chose to go on the Sunday because I suspected attendance on Saturday would be most affected given that England was playing Belgium. But maybe the final was more of an attraction than the play off.

The Vauxhall Viva Owners’ Club used to be one of the best represented clubs at the rally, this year, for some reason, the volume of vehicles in the club’s allocated space was the lowest I have ever seen. Maybe the club is in some kind of organisational disarray. This bothered me because Gary used to run the memorabilia operation for the club back in the day and, across a few years in a row, I helped sell the merchandise at the VBOA events at Billing Aquadrome. 

In stark contrast, the Viva Outlaws Club, which used to be quite small, had managed to organise a far greater turnout, albeit only comprised of 1960s HB Vivas. 

The Droop Snoot Group (DSG - I used to be a member of this club) had a reasonable turnout but it seems to have experienced diminishing returns over the last few years. Even the Opel Manta Owners’ Club attendee numbers were down.
 
To complicate things further, some attractive vehicles were in odd places. Of the handful of photographed vehicles never seen before, a few of them weren’t with their peers. To illustrate, one of the nicest cars I saw, a yellow 1800 Magnum coupe, was in the car park rather than on display, which was a shame. Another smart looking HC derivative was on show but some distance away from the DSG or VVOA clubs (see the green car in the photo below). Both cars would have added value to either of the aforementioned clubs’ display spaces.

Despite the observations above, there were some new (to me) interesting vehicles to look at. On the DSG stand, there was a lovely, burgundy, rally prepared Magnum 2300 and on the VVOC, there was a red Viva HB convertible with fully modernised engine and running gear. With that car, I did find myself wondering if the cost associated with the conversion would have been reflected in the value of it afterwards. The purist in me wasn’t keen on the updates (and I didn’t like the alloys at all) but the practicalist (I made that word up) was thinking, it would be a lot more rewarding and sensible to drive with the enhancements.

And driving brings me to the end of this post - I’ll keep going to to the VBOA Annual Rally but if the current trends continue, it won’t be long before it will take me longer to drive to the event and back than I will actually spend there.

I have heard that the showground has got planning approval for housing – it might not be that long until the VBOA needs another venue re-think. Maybe a return to Billing?

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Previous Posts
2012 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/annual-vauxhall-pilgrimage-washout.html
2013 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/vboa-all-car-club-rally-2013.html
2014 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/that-petrol-emotion
2015​ http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/reflections-from-the-vboa-national-rally-billing-2015
2016 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/vboa-national-rally-at-billing-aquadrome-july-2016
2017 Not Billing – a VBOA National Rally review

Other related posts
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/a-trip-down-memory-lane-pot-holes-and-all
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-droopsnoot-celebrates-its-40th-birthday
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/vauxhalls-heritage-centre-ndash-a-nostalgic-trip-to-luton.html
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/a-vauxhall-event-reminder-and-a-billing-plaque-saga-update
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/the-omoc-comes-through-for-me.html

Third Party Site Links
VBOA
Viva Owners Club
Droop Snoot Group

I read the news about the death on Geoffrey Wellum on the BBC today and wanted to mark his passing in my own way. Wellum was a Battle of Britain pilot and he died at the grand old age of 96.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-44895703

Years ago, I read his book about his WW2 experiences entitled “First Light”. My Dad read it first and then urged me to do so as well ...

... and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that wants some insight into the stresses and strains that Wellum and his fellow pilots were under on a daily basis. In his writing, he is open, frank and inspiring too.

In his late teens and early twenties, Wellum spent much of his time expecting to die (and at times not even caring if he did) and so it is rather fitting that, having survived the war, he went on to have such a long and decent life.

To borrow some sentiment from Winston Churchill, Wellum was one of the few to whom so many of us owed so much. And though we have seen his last light in this world, hopefully it will be burning brightly in the next.

Rest In Peace. 

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On Saturday 30th June, I attended two vehicle related events and thought I’d share some observations and photos.

The first outing was to Watford, the village associated with Watford Gap, the famous M1 services and the often-referenced dividing line between north and south.

On a green next to the village hall, a classic car show had been arranged. Not a large affair, approximately 40 vehicles, but with a decent variety of eras and countries of manufacture represented.

Some highbrow stuff was present including an Aston Martin DB6, a C-Type Jag, an E-Type Jag, a 50s 190 Mercedes. Then there were some more attainable things like 60s/70s Fords and Austins.  Then there was my favourite car of all, a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner.

This blue collar, aggressive sounding, Yank, V8 muscle car in bright orange had all the subtlety of a riot … but for me, it was the star of the show. I took as many photos of this car as all the others put together and went and told the slightly bemused owner that “I loved his car”.

Some eyebrows were raised by the more discerning classic car owners when the Roadrunner roared into the show space, but the sense of drama, power and petrol fuelled excitement was not bettered by any of those motors others might think were better.

From my soapbox to a whole event dedicated to them … Welton Village’s annual soapbox derby.

Regular readers will know that I have attended this event every year since 2014 (other reviews available – see below). The format followed that set in previous years, so nothing new to report from that perspective. 

The derby is jolly good fun, it’s free to attend and the village is always packed with visitors that come to enjoy the show. This year was no different and, in the blazing sunshine, I spent a few hours watching the action and taking photos of the wacky racers; some shared below.

One unexpected celebrity type vehicle was on display … the fastest shed in the world. You can read more about it and owner Nick here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-40945974

In the derby, and in homage, a mini, non-V6-powered soapbox shed was competing.

One creation that I didn’t actually get to see take to the course was the pink, roadkill like design. If I am honest, the thought of taking it down the steep course terrified me. Whoever rode it must have been brave … or masochistic … or suicidal … or plain bonkers.

And on that point, if you live anywhere nearby, or even if you don’t and could get to it, you’d be bonkers to miss this event. It’s that good.

My thanks go to all those responsible for making it happen. For one day a year, Welton village is the coolest place to be in the whole of Northamptonshire.

It is a shame that Watford village’s car show clashed in terms of date – the attendee numbers at the soapbox derby were in the thousands compared to the dozens at the car show. At least Watford and Welton are only a few miles apart so it was possible for those so motivated (like me) to go to both. But, I bet Watford’s car show would have been more successful if it had taken place on the Sunday rather than the Saturday.

Click on any image below to enlarge. High resolution images available, if you'd like one, just get in touch.

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2014 review - http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/derring-do-danger-design-and-descent-at-derby
2015 review - http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-2015-welton-soapbox-derby
2016 review - https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-2016-welton-soapbox-derby-a-review
2017 review - https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/welton-soapbox-racing-and-the-british-grand-prix

​In the follow up to the Desert Storm post from yesterday, this one is about the gig headliners, Karma To Burn (K2B). The three-piece band, originating from West Virginia, USA, delivers heavy, stoner rock/metal with southern rock accents. 

Kind of like the hard rock world’s spin on classical music, K2B’s set was entirely instrumental, no vocals/singing at all.

I was already familiar with the band’s music (I listened to “Almost Heathen” in the car on the way to The Craufurd), but I didn’t expect the gig to be quite the way it was.

Having never been to a K2B show before, I was anticipating darkness, lots of red/blue light and dry ice to give the experience a real intensity, a bit like I experienced when seeing Samsara Blues Experiment (when the lack of other sensory type input gave the music a greater power/resonance).

But, my expectations were completely wrong. In fact, the fellas turned up and played without a light show, dry ice, branded back drops or any other glitz/glamour.

William Mecum, guitarist, was the most unassuming, restrained, unanimated frontman that I have ever seen in charge of a band. He had a microphone, but he kept away from it, almost like he thought it was going to bite him.

Mecum had a good act of coming up to the microphone, looking like he wanted to say something, observing the audience hanging on in anticipation and then, with a wry smile, moving away having said nothing. Comedic, well timed/executed and well appreciated by his audience. When he did step up and say something, he was pretty much monosyllabic and/or indecipherable.

At one point of vocal clarity, he joked about playing a love song – how the heck can you do that with no lyrics thought I. The tune played after this announcement was in no way different in style to the rest of the set. My kind of love song then – hard, no nonsense, uncompromising rock.

Love songs clearly don’t involve any sloppy stuff in K2B’s world.

Whilst Mecum was right of stage, Eric von Cutter, on bass, was to the left and Evan Devine in the middle on drums. Both were as unassuming as Mecum. Devine looked like Jesus if you ask me.

After the gig I had a conversation with Eric and later with Will and both were as laid back off stage and they were on, no show off/showbiz distance or petulance about them at all. I paraphrase but when mentioning the lack of “show” the response “We just want to play man, if the rifts don’t do it for you then tough, that’s all you’re getting!”. And I couldn’t argue with that.

The set list for the gig was as follows:

1. 39
2. 14
3. 1
4. 61
5. 34
6. 5
7. 19
8. 32
9. 62
10. 9
11. 57
12. 20

I know that list reads like some kind of Chinese takeaway food order but I kid you not, that’s it. And why not? If the tracks don’t have lyrics, why worry about giving them names either? The numbers are economical and once again evidence K2B’s disinterest in anything other than the music.

For the band, the music (and the joy of playing it) is everything. In fact, so much so that there’s no other “performance” at all. And rather than be boring or disappointing, it was a slightly odd but surprisingly refreshing experience. 

The only shame was that the gig wasn’t the sell out that I expected it to be. I bought my ticket on the same day the venue announced it; on the night of Tuesday 26th June, I could have bought one (as could many others) on the door. Maybe it was just too hot and a “school night” because K2B and Desert Storm are class acts that deserve packed gigs. Still on the bright side, it was an intimate event that allowed those present to be close to and engage with the bands during and after the show.

I’ll be frank, I really liked this band and I’d like to see it again. Not sure when I’ll get the chance again though. I’ll have to defer to the Craufurd on this matter.

My thanks to K2B for a great gig and to The Craufurd Arms for booking the band. It pleases me no end that this little venue in down town Wolverton can draw in well-known, interesting and decent bands from around the world.

And on that subject, my next visits to the venue are on the 24th and 25th of August. I’ll be seeing Anvil (the long established, influential Canadian metal band) and then Electric Six (from the USA).

Maybe I’ll see you there.

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 On Tuesday 26th June, I spent a most enjoyable evening at The Craufurd Arms in Wolverton. Two top notch bands were the source of my enjoyment, one, Desert Storm, that you may well have read about numerous times on this blog (and if you haven’t, you can catch up - see below) and the other, Karma To Burn, that I saw perform live for the first time.

Desert Storm (DS) dominates this particular post, I’ll write about Karma To Burn separately.

As I have written about DS before, I’ll make my observations about this show rather than repeat the insights that I have shared already (also, if you are new and I am lucky, you'll read six/seven posts when you only arrived to read one).

When the band took to the stage, the first thing that I noticed was that the usual bass player, Chris Benoist, wasn’t present. Instead the bass duties were being handled by Rob Glen, a chap that I had met before, but in conjunction with one of his earlier bands “Mother Corona” (also written about on this site - see below).  Apparently, Chris B. had some prior commitments and couldn’t make this tour.

It’s not the first time I have seen the band without its bass player, last time (at another gig at the Craufurd), Ryan Cole took on the bass instead of his usual guitar role.

The reason for mentioning the above is that I am genuinely impressed that the band can play as a four-piece or a five piece with different members and still deliver a rousing, professional performance.
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DS was the support band at this particular gig, the chaps played the following eight-song set:

• Journey’s End
• Too Far Gone
• The Brawl
• Queen Reefer
• Kingdom of Horns
• Titan
• Convulsion
• Enslaved in the Icy Tundra

On another professional matter, this time one mixed with a touch of irony, Rob Glen wasn’t even through “Journey’s End” before his amplifier ended its journey … and died. That left him in a very stressful situation as he went about rectifying the failure by replacing a component. He put his guitar on the floor and got on with the fix.

When he put the bass on the floor I thought it was another problem waiting to happen. Me. I’d have ended up walking back on to the guitar, damaging it and then falling off the stage and damaging myself. Fortunately, Rob was spatially aware and calm enough not to augment the fault with an accident.

Whilst the amplifier was being fixed, the rest of the band carried on playing, no drama and genuinely sounding good, even without the four-string (well five on a technicality).  All very professional I thought. Talking to front man, Matt Ryan, afterwards emphasized it further, his view “shit happens, just carry on”.

Next DS observation - the entire band was sporting full beards, even Chris White the guitarist who normally looks rather more clean-cut than the rest of the fellas. Matt Ryan had grown a significant, inch or more below chin, red beard over the six months or so since I last saw him. Even stand in member, Rob Glen, had a full/long beard too. I asked Chris White if he’d been put under pressure by his band mates, you know the “your lack of facial hair is detracting from our image” kind of discussion. Apparently, he’d grown the fuzz of his own volition … but I still wasn’t sure it wasn’t a peer pressure decision.

Desert Storm was touring and promoting its latest album entitled “Sentinels”. Before I wrap this post up, I’ll mention how I acquired this album.
  
A number of weeks ago now I popped into the HMV store in Milton Keynes shopping centre. To be frank, it took me a little while to find the shop because it had moved location in the centre and was about a quarter of the size it used to be. Blink at the wrong time and you’d walk past without noticing it. HMV's high street days are surely numbered.

Despite HMV MK being a shell of its former self, I wandered up to the heavy metal section, searched for, found and duly purchased Sentinels. I was genuinely pleased for the band - when its material can be bought in a crappy little HMV store, the band has surely made it?

But then it deserves to - good music, a good work ethic, skilled musicians and decent chaps to boot.

Sentinels is cracking as was the gig at the Craufurd Arms.

Thanks guys, I’ll look forward to seeing you again soon.

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Previous reviews available

17/02/15 Eating, drinking and rocking on the Cowley Road (incudes references to Mother Corona)
19/03/15 Desert Storm and some other noisy bastards
26/06/15 Mother Corona at the Craufurd Arms
10/12/15Desert Storm at The Craufurd Arms – a gig review​
10/08/16Digression, Desert Storm and Honky​
04/12/17 ​Ten year, cellar matured Desert Storm joy

On Sunday 17th June, I went to Billing Aquadrome to enjoy another event hosted by the American Automobile Club International (AACI). This outing was the sixth such event (previous reviews below) in two years and once again, I had a fine time - the sun was shining, the cars were gleaming and I was smiling. 
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As usual, and regardless of the day’s label, I was on my own. The rest of my side of the Baldwin family stayed at home – expressing their love by allowing me to do my own thing without interference/hassle. My dad, though without my company, was surrounded by others that love him, so he was okay too.

I wandered around with my camera and spent a few happy hours enjoying the motors. As seems to happen every time, I saw some cool cars, like the Pontiac Catalina or Plymouth Scamp for example, that I had never come across before.

This post’s primary purpose is to share some of the photos (just scroll down if you’d prefer to get to them without delay) but, as is typical of me, I’ll share some other observations/reflections too. 
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I am becoming more and more convinced that vintage American cars are bigger, bolder, brasher and just better than their British counterparts.  From a purely gratuitous viewing perspective anyway (I am discounting fuel economy, environmental pollution, handling etc.), the Yanks beat the Brits hands down. To illustrate, compare the Ford Zephyr Zodiac MKII below to the Chevy Bel Air. Enough said!

A few cars at the show were people magnets; for example, the spotless black Dodge Charger Daytona pictured below had people around it all the time. He had so many folks wanting to speak to him that the owner must have had a sore throat by the end of the day. 

On the subject of owners, one thing that I noticed was that many of the vehicles’ primary carers were in their sixties or seventies. That doesn’t surprise me really and here’s why. I am a child of the seventies and the cars I like the most, and would want to own, are from the tail end of the sixties or the seventies. If for a moment, I/we/you accept that I am representative of other classic car folk, it could be anticipated that someone born in the fifties would like vehicles from that decade and the tail end of the forties. It’s a nostalgia thing!

That age observation led my train of thought down another route (route 66 if you like, that’s American and old too) – I hope that the exhibitors in their retirement years have made provisions to ensure that their vehicles continue to be loved by their families when they can’t take care of them themselves anymore.  Though a number of vehicles had “for sale” signs in the windows, so I might be touching a nerve here.

Maybe it was just because it was Father’s Day that I reflected on this sensitive subject. My lad for example looked at my photos with a “so what” attitude. He is 15 and couldn’t be less interested in 70s motors. There was me feeling renewed excitement when I flicked through my post event shots, my son, only enduring the experience because it was Father’s Day, was bored after five photos. 

If I actually owned one of the vehicles (like the gorgeous Ford Torino below), I know that I couldn’t rely on Mrs B. or the kids to care for it once I needed care myself.

But that’s a depressing thought, so I am going to stop and park it.

What I am not going to stop though is going to this club’s get togethers. The next one is in my diary, it’s at Billing again on the 9th September. Maybe I’ll see you there.  Thanks to all those at the AACI for putting on another great show.

Click on any image below to enlarge. High resolution images available, if you'd like one, just get in touch.

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AACI - https://www.aac-int.com/

Other Relevant Posts:
https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/car-show-and-car-sos
https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-late-summer-open-nationals-2017
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-summer-open-nationals-2017
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/24424-the-aaci-summer-nationals-and-fathers-day
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-late-summer-open-nationals