Lend me your ear while I call you a fool/You were kissed by a witch one night in the wood

Friday 24 August and we are at Fibbers for the Odin Dragonfly debut album launch. Arriving about 20:20 I find the place is as silent as a grave, but not because of a lack of customers, oh no. Sarah Elizabeth Dean (see also Soundsphere) is playing harp and singing on-stage and respectful punters are whispering their orders over the bar ‘cos nobody wants to be the pin that drops. As she finishes her last song, our final musketeer arrives, a bit miffed that he’s missed her. Still, more about that later.

Next up is Aimie J Ryan singing and playing acoustic guitar. She looks familiar and after a wee while I figure out that Aimie actually works here, behind the bar! Right, that’s all sorted then. The crowd is thickening a bit now and a few familiar faces are beginning to reveal themselves: Livvy Sparneen (Breathing Space and backing vocalist with Mostly Autumn) with her ‘rents and latest squeeze, Bryan Josh (Mostly Autumn), Chris Johnson (ex-Lo-beams, Hazzard County, keyboards with Mostly Autumn), and of course Angela and Heather themselves mingling with the crowd, before going onstage.

Odin Dragonfly kick off and are extremely well received, not surprising really. They rattle off almost the whole album track for track but have to drop a few towards the end because of time constraints. Heather gets a bit tearful a couple of times, sometimes the lyrics are a bit too close to home following her split from Fish last month. Angela is completely radiant (expecting the patter of tiny footsteps) and the girls keep up a lively banter between themselves and with the crowd. Overall, bloody brilliant. Of course, I bought the album and got Angela to sign it. I’m so sad.

Having left Fibbers, we ambled along to The Old White Swan. We couldn’t remember if the Hazzards were playing or not, especially having seen Chris at Fibbers. Anyway, there they all were: Chris, John, Tom and Paddy, getting ready for the second half of their set. They are, as usual, flipping superb. The only downer on the evening was the lack of John Smiths, and I was reduced to drinking Bass. Blah! As we were about to leave, we spotted Sarah Dean (the harpist) again and spent a good half an hour chatting to her about playing the harp. I never realised that there were pedals and levers for changing key. This all goes to prove, that going to the pub can be an education. Oh, and Sarah gave my mate a demo CD to compensate for missing her performance. He was very pleased.

Yes we’re happy as fish, and gorgeous as geese, and wonderfully clean in the morning

So, synchronicity? What’s all that about then? On Friday I was helping to arrange flights for a work colleague to travel to Brno for a conference. Brno is the second largest city in Czechoslovakia. Did you know that? I’d never heard of it before. Then on Sunday I was watching MotoGP, the Czech Grand Prix from… yep you guessed it, Brno!

So, meta-synchronicity? What’s all that about then? I’ve gone months without any synchronicity at all, and then along come two in quick succession. Spooky!

As you have probably figured from the lack of musical references, I wasn’t out again this weekend. Still I am looking forward to the Odin Dragonfly album launch at Fibbers on Friday.

I’m on holiday this week, working on my book and listening to loads of music; Tool, Genesis, Catherine Wheel, Joe Bonamassa, Ginger, Sigur Ros, King Crimson, American Heartbreak, UFO, Roadstar, New York Dolls, Buckcherry, blah, blah. I’m just trying to make you jealous ‘cos you’re probably at work.

Over bridge of sighs/To rest my eyes in shades of green

So, synchronicity what’s that all about then? In my last blog entry I told you all about my exciting outing to HMV where I randomly (no such thing) picked up the Small Faces’ Ultimate Collection. Then yesterday my copy of Classic Rock magazine vomitted through the letterbox and who was in the RIP section, Don Arden! Don (born Harry Levy, 4 January 1926, Manchester, England - died 21 July 2007, Los Angeles) was the Small Faces first manager, also known for overseeing the careers of Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath, and being the father of Sharon Osbourne. Spooky!

Hope you got your things together/Hope you are quite prepared to die.

Yes, yes, my ears are burning; I know that I haven’t been blogging. It’s the silly season you see, everyone is on holiday. Hazzard County weren’t playing at the Mucky Duck last weekend and the other York venues looked a bit short on talent. Still I can natter on about stuff if you’re interested...

On Saturday I plundered the HMV 2 for £10 Sale and rescued a couple of CDs worth mentioning. Real blasts from the past these were. The Small Faces Ultimate Collection is a double CD with 25 tracks on each, that’s 50 tracks in total and a massive chunk of late sixties, early seventies nostalgia, absolutely brilliant. Even better than that is Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Chronicle. 20 tracks including a few covers: I Put A Spell On You, Bad Moon Rising, Down On The Corner, Travelin' Band, Up Around The Bend, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, etc. Basically a tenner well spent.

Whilst browsing in Waterstoats I stumbled across Peter Robinson’s seventeenth, and latest, crime thriller in the Inspector Banks series, Friend of the Devil. OK it was in hardback but it was half price, so the same price as it will be in paperback. Quite why Inspector Banks has never been made into a TV series is beyond me. The story lines are up there with Morse and Lewis. The Banks stories are set in a fictitious town in North Yorkshire with plenty of music and Yorkshire references, especially York and Leeds. I think that’s why I like them so much. Robinson is only five years older than me so we have pretty much the same taste in music. I’m so sad that I have the whole series at home. Throughly recommended. I’m not on commission you know!

Have you been to the carnival/I would like to see you

That was a very nice holiday, thank you, but I’m back in white. Yes, I know, normally I wear black, but this is where the story starts so bear with me. It was a full turn out at Fibbers as four of us gathered to watch Cardboard Radio’s final gig. Are we a jink? Do we only watch bands in their death throes? Nah.

CR were doing a two hour set with appearances from special guests throughout the evening. So we had the lardy cake that is CRs scatter gun sound with a light sprinkling of Led Zep covers, decorated with large dollops of Haley Hutchinson, Rob Hughes (Idle Jack And The Big Sleep), Chris Helme , fragments of Hijak Oscar and more. Very tasty.

Now is it me, or now that we are smoke free does everybody smell a bit sweaty, a bit cheesy feet, a bit incontinent? Speaking of which, I was making my way to the gents, resplendent in my white shirt, when Mr Hughes turned away from his mates and collided with me and managed to empty the best part of his large glass of red wine down my right hand side. Cheers mate!

After the party we stumbled along to the Old White Swan to catch the second half of Hazzard County’s act. The balmy evening had dried most of my wine stain out by this time and we settled in to rounding off the evening with some comfort in sound. The Hazzards did their usual sterling job, which sounds pretty bland but actual belies the fact that they are bloody good. They finished off with a psychedelic version of Who do you love which segued into Iggy Pop’s I wanna be your dog, with just a touch of Steppenwolf’s Born to be wild in the middle. It was absolutely flipping brilliant!

I didn’t get home until a quarter to two in the morning but you’ll be glad to hear that a half hour soak and a white wash cycle has restored my shirt to its original gleaming whiteness. Of course, I’ll never wear white again, ho hum.