Chapter 3 : Hitting The
Road
Having had a very successful debut at the
Pavilion Hotel, the band set off the following afternoon full of confidence for
the gig at the Wedgewood Club, in Stoke-On-Trent..... the first "proper
Clubland gig" ! Back in those formative days, 617 had no lighting rig
and the P.A. consisted of a pair of Laney 4 x 12" upright cabs, with a
Carlsbro 100 Watt Marlin Amp !! The "P.A." just served the lead vocal
and backing vocals - all the instruments were just on backline and the drums
weren't miked up at all ! Sounds so ridiculous now, doesn't it !?! But even
though the bands' gear was pretty minimal, it was still decided that in the
interests of "band cameraderie" - and also ensuring that everyone turned up for
the gig at the right place and the right time - that the band would hire a van
to transport everything to gigs. Those Laneys weren't much to look at,
but they were still a bit too big to fit properly in a car !! This was when
617's association with the now-defunct Long Eaton Van Hire began
!
But another long
association also began again, right from "day one" - 617's "faithful
Roadie", Paddy, also came along to gigs to help out with the gear. He
had been "Roadying" with 617 in it's original incarnation as a
twin-guitar rock band and was just as keen to still be involved again now. But
more than just a Roadie, Paddy was, and always will be, a constant source of
amusement for the band, spawning a thousand apocryphal stories, amusing
anecdotes and happy memories for everyone ! Even at that first gig at the
Wedgewood Club, Paddy decided to "operate" the lights, which were little more
than a few small coloured spotlights mounted on the ceiling above the stage,
switched individually by normal domestic light switches. After 45 minutes of
trying to flash them in time with the music, the band came offstage to find
Paddy in a heap in the floor, drenched in sweat, hands shaking ! But that is
one of the "cleanest" stories of amusing incidents centering around Paddy...
many of which involve beer, women, casinos, Midland Kebabs and raw
chillis...
Even though the band only had minimal gear back in those
days, it was just about adequate - for the time being at least - while
617 were just starting out and playing fairly small clubs. It was
probably just as well anyway - Paddy was always pretty good getting the gear
into a venue, but usually too drunk to help get any of the gear out afterwards
(and some things never changed) !! But it was decided at a very early
stage that most of what the band made by gigging, would be ploughed back in
order to get more - better - equipment.
First big step was
the addition of some lights for the band. This is where Coop reenters
the 617 story : Back in the "pre-clubland" days of the band, Coop had
some home-made lights which he operated for them. When Keri and Geoff
originally left the band and the gigging stopped, Coop dropped out of the
scene. But now that the band were "on the road" again, with a diary full of
work, Coop was keen to get back into it again, so within a couple of weeks, he
was once again out with the band, operating his home-made lighting. This too,
was a very simple setup - nothing as sophisticated as PAR cans and Dimmer Packs
or anything like that !! Just a vertical array of coloured spotlights mounted
inside empty paint cans, switched on or off from a home-made desk of toggle
switches. There were also a couple of plain white spotlight cans mounted on a
stand behing the drum kit too, which acted as "crowd blinders" and looked great
when shone through smoke. Again, it all sounds somewhat ridiculous now - but it
worked a treat and added a new dimension to the bands performances - especially
considering that back in the 80's, many bands still didn't have any lights at
all.
Ever the innovator, Coop's next big idea was
to introduce pyrotechnics the the 617 show. True to form, these were
also home-made, from short lengths of scaffolding tube welded to a base, acting
as the flashpots. Into these were inserted good old-fashioned camera flashbulbs
(remember those !?!), which were then covered with "about a dessert spoon full"
of Lycopodium Flash Powder. Up to six of these were wired up together
(depending on the size of the stage.... it was usually only two or three !) and
fired using a 12 volt Scalextric transformer, again, controlled by Coop
"out front" at the lighting desk. Simple, straightforward... yet the effect was
stunning and thrilled audiences everywhere - many of which had never seen
anything like this before in a club band !
After only a couple of months of gigging, 617 were
soon "snapped up" for "prestigious" Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Years Eve
gigs - "prestigious" because clubs want to make sure they book the best acts
for these dates - and they're good payers too !
By the end of the 1987, 617 had certainly had a
whirlwind six months and were looking forward to the year ahead.
On to Chapter 4 :
Page 3 of
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