Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Thin Lizzy / FM / The Treatment

30 November 2012

FM Tour Diary: Southend Cliffs Pavilion - 30 November 2012

So as you know I'm being very good by going straight to bed. I'm all tucked up nice and cosy and suddenly get strafed by a huge bluebottle which proceeds to buzz around the room. Incensed I'm out the bed chasing it round like a man possessed trying to batter it to death with the only weapon I had to hand - a small hand towel. Could I kill the annoying little b***er? No I bloody couldn't. I soon tired of this and went back to bed, unlike the fly which seemed quite happy to buzz around and get on my tits until I finally dropped off to a fitful sleep.

I woke at 7.44am to hear the insomniac little sh*t still buzzing around. I got Talk Sport radio on the TV and dozed for a couple of hours until 10am. I got up, had another attempt at dispatching the pesky fly to the afterlife and again failed miserably. I got dressed and found a Costa Coffee just around the corner… aah that's much better.

I head back to the hotel, shower and pack my suitcase. We meet in reception at midday and head off towards Southend. It's Friday afternoon but thankfully the traffic isn't too horrendous and we arrive just before 4pm. We had to make a couple of stops at two music shops en route to try to get a replacement foot-switch for Steve's amp as his had gone missing. Lizzy aren't soundchecking today so we can get our gear straight on stage. We soundcheck with no dramas and retire to the dressing room. Showtime is 8.20pm again. Merv and I go up to the stage and watch The Treatment go through their paces. What a great little band, they're all in their teens, good work fellas.

With 8.20pm fast approaching we slip into our stage gear and go up to the stage in preparation for the job in hand. The lights go down, the Pink Panther strikes up. It's that time again... Rock o'clock. Fingers crossed we don't have any mishaps. We launch into "I Belong To The Night"… come on now, own up who didn't have their fingers crossed? My snare drum is sounding a tad strange... aah the tape holding the snare wires on appears to have snapped. We have to put up with it sounding like a timbale until we get a chance to change it during Metropolis. The rest of the gig goes without a hitch and we begin to hit our stride.

Back in the dressing room everyone is much happier with the show. We're staying in Maidenhead tonight so we pile into the bus and head off towards the hotel at a steady 63 mph. I'm feeling pretty tired so I think it's straight to bed again for the drummer tonight. We arrive and get checked in. After a quick inspection my room appears to be free from annoying flying insects. It's 1.45am as I slip I into bed.

Night all.