Less than a week to go!!! Yes not long to go now and though best to have a catch up as plenty to talk about since the last post as it seems quite a few people now check the Blog from time to time other than us!
First of all a BIG thank you to all that have sponsored us, if you look at our on line just giving page http://www.justgiving.com/tearsforbeers we are now at £1099 which if you include gift aid takes us to £1370.90. We do appreciate this big time especially in this day and age when lots of people ask for sponsorship.
The 16th saw our Hardleybury music festival with all sorts of music descend on Hardley/Langley. We started off with Pearl (picture) with a 45 minute acoustic set which set the standard for the rest of the day. A joy to hear, amazing what two guys and one guitar can achieve and wish them luck in their promotion of their CD. Next on board was the Spanish Rock Band TEA.
Late stand in due to a last minute shuffle in the line up. Again their own stuff but first rate, instantly likeable. I thought they were ace and even bought their latest CD! The funniest revelation of the day had to be on their slowness to set up and get going. Apparently in Spain most of their gigs start around 1am. So the 4pm slot was far too early for them! Once started very much enjoyed. Next up was Egypt more Heavy Rock with Blues thrown in. Very talented and certainly could be heard all around the district foe miles around. But as they said, there is only one way to play this sort of music! Thanks for Alan for bringing Egypt and TEA to our festival.
Next up was the local school bands headed up with Across the Board b but all their proud parents, friends and relatives. Really great stuff to see, the musicians of tomorrow. Also good for them to play in front of a live mixed audience. All went away with smiles so excellent stuff guys and a big thank you to Richard Craig’s for organising this which brought an excellent different dimension to the day. Finally we ended with Audio Junkie, which could not of been a better way to end the evening with their wide range of cover versions. Guaranteed to be liked by everyone, a must to see if you get the chance. The Sex Pistols Anarchy in the U.K was fantastic, that chair will never be the same again?!
So again, thank you to the bands, thank you to the locals who manned the bar, glad you enjoyed it so much you wavered the fee :o) and of course thanks to the people who bought tickets and came so in doing so was supporting Oxfam.
As to training our last big training walk was the week before which saw us catch the 06.30 train out of Norwich to Great Yarmouth followed by a walk back using the Wherrymans way. With support crew meeting us at three points this ended being a dress rehearsal with us covering 32 miles in 12 hours (plus one unplanned stop in Hardley, thanks to Justin for the J2O's as passed his front door!). As ever as the miles pass the conversations become more comical and bizarre! Bitter disappointment that the Reedham Ferry didn't sell Duty Free plus Rachel’s insistence we had seen a Unicorn! For me the highlight was in the last 100 meters of the walk when we had a world premier of Rachel’s "Happy Dance". Yes all on a high, ready for the big day, BRING IT ON!
So apart from a few smaller walks by individuals to mention, just leaves me to sign off. Guess the next Blog will be post Walk!
For those who would like to see a selection of Photos covering the last 5 months, please paste the following link into your browser:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027487&id=1234676639&l=2c72819a13
Catch you all later
Tristan
