Goodbye to 2010 and all that...

Subject	Goodbye to 2010 and all that...
DateCreated	1/1/2011 10:46:00 AM
PostedDate	1/3/2011 6:56:00 AM
	Well it had it's highs and lows like any other year. The early part of 2010 saw some big changes, with me having to find a new home as the old family pile was sold from under me.  That was both a sad and stressful time for many reasons, but there are times when you have to move on... Fortunately, I now have a new home and am secure for the foreseeable future - well as much as anyone is in these uncertain times.  Highlights of 2010 included the first High Voltage festival (search my old blogs if you want to know more) seeing great shows by KISS and Alice Cooper, and far too many to mention smaller gigs (again, see my old blogs) many of which were at The Gaff, as well as the usual other old haunts like 12 Bar, Purple Turtle, etc. Also various messy nights at Big Red, the Intrepid Fox, and the odd visit to Decadence.  I managed to settle into my new home surprisingly quickly. It's not perfect, but it could be a lot worse and now I am settled and quite happy with most aspects of my life. I'm living in an area I know well and like, and am only a few minutes walk from both the tube and the 'big train' into Kings Cross. Things are ticking over nicely, but I think it's time to rev it up a bit!  The uncertainty and then major upheaval of the early part of 2010 year meant I had to keep the band on the backburner until the dust settled. It's a bit frustrating not playing any gigs of my own for a while, but still going out to see loads of other people playing. However, I am slowly sorting myself out and plotting a return to the stage hopefully in the not too distant future - once our bass player gets back from Mexico! Actually, that's not what's holding things up - it's me getting my arse in gear and struggling to find worthwhile places to play. The local music scene has largely died a death over the last five years or so, with many places either closing/being demolished, or simply not booking bands anymore. The very few places that are left leave a lot to be desired for a proper rock 'n' roll band. It's difficult getting a foot in the door at the moment as nobody want's to book a new and untried band and they are only interested in having the same few old tried and trusted bands back over and over again... On the plus side I treated myself to a lovely new amp for my birthday and finally found that authentic 1950's rock & roll tone I've been after for so many years. Next on the list is my dream guitar - which is now in my sights. I think I may have to think about selling one or two guitars as I simply don't have the space for so many now - after all, I can only play one at a time and some haven't been used for years. New guitar + new amp makes me fired up and itching to crank them up!  So now I am finally settled into my new home, if there is one New Year's Resolution I should make - it should be to get the band going again and get out there playing. Other than that, I already have a few gigs (of other people's) lined up to attend. I expect I'll be buying a ticket for the High Voltage festival again - that was definitely one of my highlights of 2010!  So far they've only announced two bands - headliners Judas Priest and Dream Theatre - only one of whom I'd like to see. The first few bands to be announced for last year's festival didn't appeal, but the bill got far more attractive later on as more bands I really wanted to see were added, so hopefully the same will happen this year - but I'm not putting my hand in my pocket quite yet... So what else does 2011 hold? To be honest I have no idea - but I'm quite happy with that. Now the worries of not knowing where I will be living are behind me I expect I'll just concentrate on doing more of the good stuff that I enjoyed last year: Going to see hundreds of bands - even more than last year. Having a good time seeing my friends at all the gigs and drinking too much while enjoying some great rock 'n' roll. These things make me happy - life is good. Who knows what else may happen? And if it doesn't, I'll still be happy anyway, 'cos (to paraphrase one of Lemmy's old lyrics) I got my friends and I got rock 'n' roll, and beer. And that's all I need.