Practice, yes, slimmed down, yes,

Present
Ad, Fea, Tom

Practised playing songs without vocals with the view of speeding up our recording sessions later. 'The Smile', 'Somersaults', 'Found By You', 'The Corner of your Mind'.

We also tried 'I Can See Clearly Now' and played 'Change', 'Sparkle and Shine'.

Fea went home before the post practice pint at the pub leaving Tom and I to talk nonsense at the bar.

Topics of conversation for the evening: Tom over-estimating the size of his eldest daughter's school after claiming she was the best in the school at 'x', Ad should be a primary school teacher but always looks deflated when that is suggested, the podcasting business and to improve one's product. Rock and Roll.

Gig: Wootton Bassett

The Wootton Bassett Carnival. Or Street Fete, or whatever.

Two sets. One at 1245hrs and the other at 1545hrs.

Elvis supported us. Weather fantastic. Small thronglette of support.

Wayne the village 'character in the street' was our Bez.

Cricklade was mentioned a few times.

Lots of people requesting CDs afterwards. Which is always a good sign. Apart from the woman who desperately wanted an Elvis CD not a loopy one. Ad informed her that he believed Elvis already had a couple of albums in the shops. She slapped him with the back of a loopy CD and walked off saying that she was Cricklade too. Odd.

Thanks to Wendy, Jan and Ash for the help with the photos.

Set
Kids in America
Corner of my mind
Someone
Somersault
Ordinary Life
The Smile
Wonderful
Lay your table
Town called Malice
I'm a believer
Saw Her Standing There
Mustang Sally

Full Practice: at The Ilsleys

Present
Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom

Squeezed in before the gig the following day. Gi looking refreshed from his Spanish Holiday. We met at 10am. We set up in Fea's classroom. And enjoyed the space. We cracked on through Eg's initial set list and, worryingly, it all went rather well.

We had a halfway break in the staff room. With no milk. Ad and Eg continue to display some sort of thought harmony by both appearing with those travel mugs for the day. Topics of conversation included Academic Qualifications and what they really mean. Fea tried to interest everyone in his school's achievements. Eg vowed never to send his children there.

Slimmed Down Practice V: Gig Approaching

Present
Ad, Eg, Tom

Ad arrived four hours early. Talk about one extreme to the other. Ben's looking a bit tired thanks to his slightly overweight baby boy. It also appears that someone has pinched the sound desk from the room we've been using. Eg hands over some Big Red from Chattanooga for Tom whose car is overheating. We find out that Fea's guitar, with which he's been lovingly playing for years under the impression it was a Fender, is actually a Squire. Fea's mortified. Ad is back from South Africa.

This evening was spent going through the songs we were planning on playing for the following Sunday's Festival in Wootton Bassett.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation
Tom's concerns over people's false sense of Self during Karaoke - thanks to the clamouring of wives and girlfriends [although not his]. Public performance liability insurance. The Loopy Facebook group. Eg's changing rooms. Podcast possibilities. Leaving copies of Evel Knievel in places around South Africa and the US. Someone asking us to stop sending them our mailing list emails. Webstats telling us we have a Chinese audience out there. In China.

Slimmed Down Practice IV

Present
Ad, Eg, Tom

With Felix on paternity and Giles unavailable the only record we're spinning tonight is the number of consecutive 'Slimmed Down' practices. Which is very 'exciting' seeing as we're rapidly approaching another gig. August 5th. Wootton Bassett. Festival. Which probably means it's a village fête or something.

Tonight we were in the back room again. And in view of the recent spate of Pub Last Order Failures, Eg brought some tinned Tanglefoot. Genius.

Songs of note: 'I Can See Clearly Now' cover.

Oh. And Studio Rehearsal fees have gone up.

We did indeed make it in time for a pint at The Willow Tree.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: Ad finds out he's lost money on shares in MICE. Fraud Squad involved an' all. Eg's off to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tom's weekend street gig. How to do a management buy out. Grooming young boys to sing our songs.