Monthly Roundup #10 - December '18

Here we go, the final entry of the year! December started with a pretty busy week, but then settled down a bit from there which allowed me to chill out and enjoy the holiday season for myself! I usually take on gigs around Christmas and the New Year, but this year I treated myself (and my wife!) to a bit of time off, which was very nice indeed!

December was kicked off with a one-night show on Saturday 1st at the Royal Hippodrome here in Eastbourne, with the wonderful Helen Ward-Jackson. The show was titled “I’m Every Woman”, and the theme was Helen picking a number of classic songs by her favourite female artists - so that included the likes of Whitney, Diana, Ella, Adele, Tina, Dusty… You get the gist! It was a really fun night playing some fabulous songs with a great bunch of musos, and all the crowd were well up for it - plus my wife came along for this one, so I had to make sure I brought my A-game!! But yes, it was a great gig that was enjoyed by all! Gear-wise, I even whipped out the 8” tom for this one (which doesn’t really come out all that often), so that was a fun change setup-wise!

Set for Helen Ward-Jackson’s show, “I’m Every Woman” - also, spot the cheeky 8” tom!

The next day I had a band call for a short run of “Whistle Down The Wind” I played on the following weekend. I must admit, when I first took it on, it was songs like “No Matter What”, “Whistle Down The Wind” and “Cold” that came to mind, so I thought it might be a fairly straight forward gig from my side of things… When I then started listening back to the soundtrack and eventually got my hands on the part, it turned out there were a few more complicated bits dotted around in there which I’d forgotten about, so it was fun getting to grips with those moments! Needless to say, it was all fine on the day, but I was glad I had a quick flick through the music in advance!

Whistle Down The Wind band call.

Midweek, between the Whistle Down The Wind band call and first show, I had another gig with Tom Fitzpatrick - this time plus horns which made a nice change - sax, trumpet and trombone. The addition of the horns meant I could justify pulling my 22” Zildjian A Swish Knocker out the bag, which I must admit, I don’t use as often as I’d like to because sometimes it’s just a bit much… but for this, it was great fun to have at the ready! The gig was a really nice play, with plenty of tunes from the likes of Sinatra, Bublé and others.

Swing gig with Tom Fitzpatrick - check out the monster that is my 22” Zildjian A Swish Knocker!

The weekend that followed was that of the Whistle Down The Wind run, with 4x shows from Friday-Sunday, so just a short stint. As mentioned from the band call, it’s a funny show musically as when it all starts off in the first act, it lulls you into something of a false sense of security before waking you up with a few hairy moments through the second act! I enjoyed the challenge that it presented though, and it was another fun show to be a part of.

Whistle Down The Wind setup.

Whistle Down The Wind was my last gig of the year, as I then took some time off around Christmas and the new year in order to enjoy spending the season with friends and family, without having to dash off to various gigs and miss out on all the fun! My wife and I enjoyed a few days in Sweden over the last few days leading up to Christmas, then we were with our families over the Christmas period before heading over to the Isle Of Wight with a couple of friends to see in the new year, so much fun was had! I hope that those of you reading have also had a wonderful Christmas and new year, whatever it looked like, and I look forward to catching up with you in 2019! Thanks as always for checking in. All the best! Ed.