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Live Music at Lime Street Station – Opening of Wirral Line – Merseytravel

merseyrail lime street station live music liverpool penguin Live Music at Lime Street Station, Liverpool. Merseytravel operates a hectic and crucial schedule of train, bus & ferry services within Merseyside. Due to a large sandstone wall falling on to the track and collapsing, the Wirral Line service was closed for a few months. Regular train commuters became too well familiar with the replacement bus service. Luckily no one was injured during the wall collapse. Also no trains were involved in any accidents. As work carried out to rebuild the wall they were eventually able to open up this crucial service. With the closure of this popular service disrupted on the Wirral Line, Merseytravel wanted to thank commuters for their patience in a way of a small celebration. We were contacted to help celebrate the reopening of the line on the first day of the week.

It was an early gig, sorry I should say a very early gig. Our arrival time at Lime Street was 6.30pm with a performance time of 7am. Rising early and rubbing our eyes, we allowed an hour to travel into Liverpool (we knew traffic and parking may hold us up). When we arrived at Lime Street we could not see any signs of celebration. After a bit

merseyrail lime street station live music liverpool penguin

of detective work and asking blank faced operatives did they know anything about it. We soon realised we were to perform on the lower level of Lime Street. Down the escalators we went.

 

I must mention at this point the skill involved travelling down escalators with a cart full of equipment. Bungee straps are a life saver. You have to time and balance the whole procedure just right. It’s also wise to wait until no one is in front of you especially on a descending escalator. I usually leave it to Andy as I’m well aware of my lack of coordination. Put it this way I could never be a cat. I’m more of a dog. The memories of a body covered in nettle stings and rashes from when I was a child trying to balance on a fence still haunts me. That moment when I fell I knew I would never be a cat. More like a cat with no whiskers.

merseyrail lime street station live music liverpool penguin

After we navigated the escalators we headed down the tunnel to our performance location. We passed a busker on the way who looked like he had been sleeping there all night. He gave us a sturdy look as we passed him with our equipment. This was obviously his spot and it was well guarded. It reminded me of the scene from Harry Potter were the three headed dog called “Fluffy” was guarding the Philosophers Stone. This guy was far from Fluffy so we decided not to play our music to hypnotise him.

Once we arrived (far away from Fluffy) we were met by a yellow penguin and some silver and yellow balloons. Three lovely ladies were preparing to set up with trays of cupcakes. The exceedingly delicious cakes had little Merseyrail rice paper logos on. It was a very thoughtful way of Merseyrail to thank commuters with a bit of live music and a cup cake to start off their day.  As we setup and started playing some music the commuters started to come through.

merseyrail lime street station live music liverpool penguin

Relieved to have had their travel times cut in half they began to flock into the city centre with glee (and a cake). With good vibrations flowing from the outset it was a perfect celebration to start of the week. Most of the commuters took a cake and gave us a smile as they scurried through in a hurry to get to work on time.

It was funny with some commuters though as they suspiciously looked as if to say what is this going to cost me? The ladies had to explain several times that the cakes were free and it was a celebration of reopening the service. Sometimes you can’t even give things away. It’s an eye opener to anyone who is not used to giving things out on the street. Some people can be a bit grumpy (especially in the morning) and a tad suspicious but the smiles and the friendly appreciation far outweighed the “bah humbugs”.

The once extremely popular service started off slow since it was the first day opening. Not everyone who once used the service   realised it was open. The dedicated few who trusted the information given to them through Merseytravel advertising had paid off. A good few hundred people had gone through the station in around an hour and half. The live music and cakes were well received.

merseyrail lime street station live music liverpool penguin

We said our goodbyes to the penguin and the staff and headed off past “Fluffy” and back up the escalators (delicious cakes in hand). Thank you Merseytravel for asking us to play for this celebration. It was a pleasure to be involved and thank you to all the staff who looked after us.

ORGANISING AN EVENT?

If you wish to book live music for your venue, festival, event, wedding or party you can contact us HERE to check our availability

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Grizedale Rocks Festival & Queens Head – Cumbria

Grizedale Rocks. Its that time of year again were we head up to Cumbria to perform for the legendary yet relatively intimate Grizedale Rocks Festival.

grizedale rocks live music cumbria queens head hawkshead festival campsiteOur performance at Grizedale Rocks was to be on the Saturday night. We arranged a gig to coincide on the Friday night at The Queens in Hawkshead since we would be travelling to Cumbria.
We drove up on the Friday night arriving in Hawkshead an hour or so before setup time. Immediately we saw the chalkboard outside notifying people we were performing. The sign made me laugh. It read “The Famous Rag Tag Misfits”. I loved it so much that I was compelled to post it on Instagram. I always joke that we’ll always be famous to our Mums. You’ve got to love the sense of humour of the staff at The Queens.

The pub is always busy throughout the year with tourists staying in the hotel above the pub. The rooms in the Queens Head are very well maintained and each room has a bespoke feel to it. They are modern yet quaint and we would definitely recommend staying here if you’re ever in the Hawkshead area. People visit from all over the world book in and they are always a brilliant crowd. A lot of people come to visit the famous Beatrix Potter sights. To think that she grew up here and was inspired by the beautiful surroundings in her stories. Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck were nowhere to be seen though. They must have been in bed by the time we arrived.

grizedale rocks live music cumbria queens head hawkshead festival campsiteWe always receive a warm welcome from the staff who always have a smile on their face. Since we have been performing at The Queens for many years now and we feel like part of the family. Its always a pleasure to perform here and they always look after us. Both our sets went down really well and a great night of live music made sure the guests had a brilliant night. They are always an encouraging and appreciative crowd. We finished up our sets and headed over to the staff house to bed down for the night.

The next day we had our breakfast courtesy of The Queens. It’s worth travelling all this way for the breakfast alone. The food is divine here. Products are locally sourced where possible and subsequently it’s not the type of place where you would find any frozen chips. I suppose I would describe it as fine dining in a dog and wellington boots friendly pub in cosy surroundings. After saying our farewells and thanking the staff we set out to see the sights of the Lake District.

Since we had a bit of time to kill we tried to think of a place we had not yet visited. We’ve been coming here for many years but there is still so much to see and do. It’s like a giant outdoor playground which is right up our street. The Lake District is truly a lovely place and deserves world heritage status that guarantees that the area be preserved for the next generation. We decided to visit a place known as Cathedral Cavern in Ambleside. I am so glad we took the time to visit this wonderful spot.

grizedale rocks live music cumbria queens head hawkshead festival campsiteWe parked up about a twenty minute walk from the attraction and headed out into the cumbrian wilderness. Stomping down a beaten track saying hello to every passer-by. To be honest we must have looked a little bit mental since we only had our leather jackets and gig gear with us. Not the typical dress code for ramblers. Next time I will be packing a pair of red socks so I can fit right in. I suppose the red socks separate the pros to the amateurs (us in this case).

When we arrived at Catherdral Cavern we were blown away. Lots of little coves and tunnels with a huge big cavern as the main attraction. Of course we had to test the acoustics. They were simply out of this world. Singing at the top of my voice admiring these acoustics, I was stopped dead by a pounding Labrador heading straight for the pool of water in the middle of the cavern. The cavern became busy with tourists so we made our exit. It was time to head over to Grizedale Festival.

It’s high summer and the longest day of the year has just passed by. Children have broken up from school with six weeks of summer holidays to look forward to. Free range kids have taken over the campsite and the water pistols are in abundance. Kids with buckets of water balloons look at me with their wet mischievous faces. Camping is on the minds of many families and the sun is shining. The weather is looking just fine (that’s got to be said in a Southern American accent otherwise it just wouldn’t sound right).

grizedale rocks live music cumbria queens head hawkshead festival campsiteThis year’s Grizedale Rocks in the Lake District and has been arranged a month or so earlier this year. A fun weekend with lots of live music and wholesome organic food produced and sold on site. New this year is a beautiful Tipi. The central attraction to the campsite. Inside you will find an assortment of delicious cakes and ice cream. We could see our usual spot in the cow shed was being tidied up from the live music from last night and prepared for tonights music.

As we arrived we immediately saw the owner and his fiancée who seemed who have a confused look on their faces. We gave out big hugs and then became aware as to why they were so bewildered to see us. It seemed there had been a misunderstanding over dates. They thought we weren’t coming and were relieved to see us. They thought we were playing on the Friday and not the Saturday. It became apparent that because the dates had been changed a month earlier the dates had been mixed up. No one was to blame and we were all very relaxed about it. With their relaxed demeanour they simply said “no problem you’re here now, what time do you want to play?” We are good friends with the owners so they knew by my horrified look it was all very genuine.

grizedale rocks live music cumbria queens head hawkshead festival campsiteAs we settled in and absorbed the vibe of the festival, the owners were very proud of their new construction of the Tipi. Once entering we noticed that they also had bacon and sausages for sale all produced on the farm. That’s our breakfast sorted for the next couple of days.

We decided to take a walk over to where we would be performing and to introduce our self to the sound guy. We noticed a guy setting up a drum workshop. Yay I was in heaven. Sometimes we run the odd drum workshop so it was good to see how others do it. While we waisted we enjoyed the barn in the peace and quiet knowing the chaos that was to come. As we started whacking the bins, children started to appear to see what the noise was about. It was really good fun and very noisy. Therefore I think by the end of it the guy who was leading had near on lost his voice. Trying to control twenty odd kids with drumsticks and drums is pretty tough. Believe me the concentration span of a child is to just whack the nearest thing to them.

There was an eclectic mix of bands booked in tonight. Our friends Paul and Suzanne from The Boggle Band was down for a set and it was good to catch up with some familiar faces. We were due to go on at about 8pm just as it was going dark. We did a sound check and the barn was filling with eager looking faces. There were quite a few familiar muddy faces in the crowd and lots of smiles.
The festival is hugely popular and only so many tickets are available each year. Potentially the festival could be ten times bigger in terms of crowd/campers although the organisers are happy with the current capacity. I suppose it would become a huge hassle and the more people, the more complicated things become.

grizedale rocks live music cumbria queens head hawkshead festival campsiteOur set went down brilliantly. The audience were amazing. So with dancing, cheering clapping and a few “wahoos” it was a pleasure to perform. Since we are a 2 piece we usually go on before the big bands. This is fine with us as headlining is not all it’s cracked up to be. With our set over we can now enjoy the festival and have a drink or two. We cracked open the cider and enjoyed the remaining of the night. Problems started to arise when we ran out of cider (we had been sharing it with most of the campsite) and we realised we had a bottle of dark rum in the van.

It was all systems go. As a result we danced the night away. We are not big drinkers and unfortunately as the midnight hour passed Andys colour started to change. He told me “I’m just heading back to the van to get a top up”. I carried on dancing and 5 minutes, then 10, then 20 minutes passed by and Andy was not in sight. Andy never returned.

grizedale rocks live music cumbria queens head hawkshead festival campsiteI decided to call it a night. Since I had been dancing for a few hours I think the alcohol had taken less of an effect on me. When I returned to the van he was in bed fully clothed, fast asleep and far away in dreamland.

The next morning we arose to a lovely breakfast prepared for us. So we sat out in the sunshine and decided to leave it a good few hours before heading back. Huge thanks to everyone at Grizedale for having us. Most of all to everyone who supports live music. We look forward to next year…

On a final note heres a quick video of our performance taken by one of the audience…

ORGANISING AN EVENT?

If you wish to book live music for your venue, festival, event or party you can contact us HERE to check our availability

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Festival Themed Birthday Party – Richie & Jenny

birthday party band live music liverpool rag tag misfitsFestival Themed Birthday Parties and weddings seem to be all the rage now. Which we love as guests are relaxed and there is a great atmosphere in the air.  It is also perfect for our performance and the interactive percussion seems to go down particularly well.

A last minute enquiry for a 40th birthday party led us to the Wirral in Merseyside. We were booked to entertain the fun loving Richie & Jenny and their guests for Richie’s 40th Birthday. It was a spur of the moment decision for them as they had originally planned to go to Vegas. They decided they wanted to celebrate with friends and family and opted instead for a Mini Festival style party in their back garden. On the cards was a hog roast, a bouncy castle, a lively audience and live music from us The Rag Tag Misfits.

Upon arrival we had been met by Jenny who greeted us and invited us into to meet the birthday boy. The party was well underway when we arrived. They had a lovely large garden with a gazebo prepared just for us. We carried our equipment over to the gazebo and began to setup. With around 80 guests including lots of children the party was the perfect size for the garden they had. It amazes me how many friends people have. I suppose it shows the genuine and kind nature of the people who book us.

birthday party band live music liverpool rag tag misfitsThe atmosphere was full of energy and the bouncy castle was being put to good use by children who were no doubt jumping out the sugar rushes from the sweets. It makes me laugh how much energy children have. They bounce and they bounce then jump off for a quick slurp of drink. Red faced and sweaty they then head back for another session of bouncing.

If only adults had the same amount of energy and if only exercise for adults was so much fun. Instead we get treadmills and step machines. But to be honest kids are flexible. I recently tried to do a forward roll and nearly broke my neck. I can’t remember it being that difficult when I was 10. Andy also tried to do one and ending up being wedged in the corner of the room against a table. He was stuck upside down for quite a while making strange noises. I think he underestimated the length of his body. I had to control my laughter before I could help. On a bright note we learnt to leave the gymnastics for the professionals and children. Gymnastics is not our call in life so we’ll stick to the music.

We began to play and the the rain held off as we played the afternoon away into some beautiful evening sunshine. There is always the risk of rain in the UK. It can make planning a party or wedding outside quite nerve wrecking. It can make or break the party. With this party though I’m sure if the rain did start people would be mud sliding and dancing in the rain.

birthday party band live music liverpool rag tag misfitsOur first set went down really well and the interactive percussion was going down a treat. The children flew off the bouncy castle to see what all the noise was about. Our box of percussion instruments were emptied out quicker than a cat dodging bath time.

The age group for the party was a complete mixture. Our audience ranged from grandparents to toddlers so it was important to play a mixed bag of music. We even played postman pat which went down particularly well.

Jenny a wonderful host made sure that we had been well catered for with drinks and offered us to help ourselves to the big roast during our break. So as we broke for some refreshments we chatted to Richie and Jenny and posed for photographs with a large printed picture frame. It was a lovely idea as it would enable them to get party snaps of everyone at the party.

They realised half way through the party they had run out of glasses. So the paper cups left over from a 1st Birthday party came to the rescue. A drink is a drink at the end of the day. It was quite comical though seeing grown men walking around with pink 1st birthday cups with ladybirds on.

birthday party band live music liverpool rag tag misfitsIt started to turn into more of a festival feel when Richie and Jenny realised that for some reason their garden had became to flooded. Unsure of the exact cause of the flood the party carried on regardless. It looked as though a pipe had burst which is a whole lot better than raw sewerage at your feet. A troop of guests fetched wood and mats to place on top of the flooded ground. Nothing was going to stop the vibe and whats a party without a few muddy feet.

Richie , Jenny and their guests were really friendly and made us part of the celebrations. Back stage for a musician you can sometimes feel a little bit like a spare part since you don’t know anyone. Its always a bonus when your introduced to people and made to feel welcome. We usually try to mingle with people so we can understand the vibe on the streets so to speak. Its so important to know how to read an audience. It helps to interact and connect, so it makes for a good show.

After 30 minutes or so we went back on and performed some more live music for the party. Once again we received a warm reception. The audience were fantastic. The grown ups and children enjoying every song and our percussion box was still empty with every instrument utilised. We ended on a receptive audience clapping intently and it seemed an encore was on the cards. So we obliged. Who can resist an audience who chant “one more song”. Its when you’ve had a five song encore and explained this really is the last one that you have to stop. After all we needed to top up our drinks in our pink cups.

birthday party band live music liverpool rag tag misfitsThank you so much for asking us to be part of your day. Jenny and Richie you were fantastic and organised a brilliant party. You have a wonderful family and a great bunch of friends. We wish you all the best for your birthday; a true celebration of life.

We received a lovely review from Richie following the party:

“Opted for a last minute mini festival for my 40th and managed to book these guys in at short notice. Unbelievable performance and song choice which couldn’t have gone any better. We haven’t stopped talking about Rag Tag Misfits all day!!! The perfect choice. 100% be recommending for future gigs/parties” (Richie Southern – Birthday Party)

ORGANISING AN EVENT?

If you wish to book live music for your venue, festival, event or party you can contact us HERE to check our availability

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Wychwood Music Festival

wychwood festival whats on tickets the levellersThis weekend was a fantastic opportunity to perform at Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Whats better is our paper anniversary fell on the  same weekend and this was the perfect place to celebrate.  We have been married for a whole year and our newly wed phase has reached its first milestone. The timing of the festival was quite ironic as The Levellers were also performing. The Levellers are a very special band to us and we used one of their songs “The Road” for our first dance 12 months ago. This song pretty much sums our life up and I suggest if you’ve not heard it get onto YouTube and find it. In fact here’s a link to the very song . The weird thing is our first dance exactly was not only 12 months to the day, but to the exact hour when the Levellers were due to be on stage.

We arrived at Wychwood Festival which is based at Cheltenham Race Cousrse in our trusty van Scooby.  Wychwood Festival is an annual event and it was our first time in attendance. A quick glance at previous lineups revealed a plethora of bands.  We reported in at the information point, collected our wristbands and festival programme and headed off to the camping area. Looking at the programme there were plenty of bands to choose from and it looked like the perfect weekend to celebrate our first year anniversary.

Our first impressions of the campsite was, well very hilly. Everyone who was camped up seemed to have levellers for their vans (no pun intended). There were stewards guiding people to available spots and he parked us on a hill. Now this is a complete nightmare for us. We’ve slept in the van on unlevel ground and never again. It really is no fun to wake up with with all of your bodily fluids in your head or feet. Due to the blood being dis proportioned throughout your body in the morning you end up resembling a Smurf with a hangover.

So we spoke to the steward and told him about our predicament. He told us a few smurfs walking around the festival could be quite a good look. I explained that our Smurf costumes were at the dry cleaners and he assisted us by helping us find a flat (ish) spot.

wychwood festival whats on tickets the levellersAll camped up, cider cracked open we headed down to the festival to check out the buzz. The festival is not far from the camping and we could hear the music clearly from our van, the bass enticing us to head towards the madness. This year we had the pleasure of  OMD, Billy Bragg, Beans on Toast, Buzzcocks, Dohl Foundation and many, many more. With our a highlight headlining slot on the Sunday evening With The Levellers.

There was a host of international acts on the main stage, the acoustic tent, the big top, the comedy stage and the hobgoblin stage the festival was a great experience. With a great selection of stalls, activities and workshops (I can say I can now weave with willow). We used our handmade willow magic wands to mostly hit each other with or to point in the direction of where we would head next.

wychwood festival whats on tickets the levellers

Since we were there for the whole weekend we were able to see the festival for what it was and all it had to offer. I must mention one of the stewards and his hat. He was brilliant and we had lots of hat conversations. At some point during the festival someone had attached a peg to my coat. I later found it and attached it to my hat. This particular steward had an array of items attached to his hat. Cue the hat conversations.

In the centre of the festival was a big red double decker bus. Selling crumpets, cakes and hot drinks. We took the opportunity to dine on the top deck and enjoy the view of the festival. Crumpets are the best culinary experience on this earth (comes close to pancakes). They go with almost everything from cheesy beans to Nutella. It is a staple part of our diet at home so we indulged in some with a fantastic view. With science exhibitions, painting, an interactive musical centre peice, craft making, workshops, a comedy tent, and much more the festival really did have something to offer everyone.

wychwood festival whats on tickets the levellers

Our performance was on Sunday  lunchtime in the acoustic tent on an open stage. We introduced ourselves to the host who was very friendly and we met some fantastic people who were brilliant musicians. We love moments like these as its a perfect example of meeting people and making friends through music. They were so welcoming and encouraging. They gave us details of other events that we should apply for (of which we shall pursue). The marquee was pretty busy and it was a laid back type of affair. We’re happy to say that our performance brought people in wanderers from outside who could hear the music. It was very relaxed and family orientated. We love these type of crowds and they are perfect for what we do. Overall a good performance in a beautiful location.

By the time Sunday night came we waited with trepidation for The Levellers to appear on stage. We were right at the front and were a short distance from the band. The Levellers performed a blistering set and sounded fantastic. They were connected with the audience even joking that they had a school run the next day. They mentioned  to make sure to cast the tight vote in the upcoming snap election which was mentioned several times by performers throughout the festival.

wychwood festival whats on tickets the levellersI must say it was the best performance I have ever seen by The Levellers (and we’ve been to many of their gigs). Lead singer Mark Chadwick was on fine form fronting the band. The energy was unreal. Then it came, our song “The Road”. At this point my eyes filled and a year to the day, to the exact hour we had our first dance again. It was magical.  The performance finished with an explosion of  streamers flying out over the audience. It was brilliant they closed the festival in style. When the band had finished I took the opportunity to use the streamers as dreadlocks and we At th and they all seemed to enjoy playing. ,

It as a wonderful weekend. Thank you to all the organisers at Wychwood Festival for making this one of the best music festivals we’ve ever attended. Keep up the good work, keep music live and keep on rocking on.

ORGANISING AN EVENT?

If you wish to book live music for your venue, festival, event or party you can contact us HERE to check our availability

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New Gibson Guitar

Having recommened the Takamine TF77-PT to anyone who is wishing to replace their Takamine with the same Takamine, this is an update.

It seems that this particular model is suitable for finger pickers, with is sultry warm wood of exquisite Koa and Cedar top it is the perfect blend for a chilled out vibe guitar that has a decent preamp built in. Having gigged with this guitar I must say it has become apparent that we don’t rub along together, we simply don’t get on and have split up, citing musical differences. Yes this guitar has to go, and is currently for sale. Anyone reading this and loves finger style guitar with a hard to find limited edition and highly sought after wood type please message.

The guitar is wonderfully built and is a pleasure to hold in your fretting hand, it is so smooth, the sound is great but we just haven’t been able to get the sound we wanted in live performances.

So after all the effort to finally get a new guitar, the very one that was scuppered from under us has finally been purchased, the aforementioned Gibson J45 and we are getting along nicely, so far so good. We haven’t gigged with it yet so time will tell, but it is a guitar that wants to be heard and is very bold and brash sounding, it is a workhorse and shall be put to the test very soon.  Having just come back from the Wychwood festival and watched Billy Bragg playing a Gibson J45 it seemed to carry across brilliantly, it has a reputation in guitar circles and players alike that is second to none so you can expect it to conform to what has become and is affectionately named “The Workhorse”.

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Wurzledubz VW Festival – Live Entertainment

This May bank holiday was the VW festival Wurzledubz down in Somerset, this being our third year playing at the festival, our thanks goes to Keith for booking us into play, Matt for giving us his time and dedication to setting up the PA, Sound & lighting for us and those of you who sat to watch us despite ebign hung over from the night before.

 

We had been booked in this year for Wurzledubz live entertainment on the Sunday, we arrived on the Saturday night to watch the main band who we thought was The Wurzels when in fact they were called Mangled Wurzels. A band we know from Liverpool called Jed had also played a spot and is a really nice chap who plays drums in a band called Lunar Corona up in Liverpool, he is also a great story teller and enchanted us around the campfire whilst we sat and played guitar.

The main entertainment for the weekend was the Mangled Wurzels, they had the crowds and had been very entertaining. They are a 4 piece band comprising of keyboard, guitar, bass and vocals, the guitar played had an interesting live setup with some guitar wizardry going on, they also provided milk bottles especially for the audience to participate in the songs. Once they played “I’ve got A Brand New Combine Harvester” the crowd were really up for it, and in their native Somerset tone delivered some classic banter between them and the audience. They band did really well and enthralled the crowd with their take on modern songs in a Wurzels type fashion. The crowd loved the band and they had played really well, everyone was dancing away and the singer came out into the audience being chased around by a little kid who didn’t know any better.

So with the Saturday night of to a great start, the following day saw a few saw heads, with this being mainly a family event a lot of folks decided to take part in the water slide during the day and spend the rest of the day having a lazy Sunday afternoon. Wurzledubz live entertainment was Rag Tag Misfits. It was our turn to entertain the audience despite their hangovers. We went over to the marquee with Matt who helped us set the sound up and did a fantastic job. As matt put on some music after finalizing the sound for us, people starting to arrive, mind you only a few at first. The time was getting on so we decided to start playing. As we did more people began to arrive and sat and watched us play our first set for Wurzledubz live entertainment.

People began to arrive and as we started the second set a lot of people had come over to get into the spirit of things. We slowly started picking up the pass and before long a few ladies had shaken off their apathy and got dancing to the music, it actually ended up with us playing 500 miles to a lot of people who had somehow found the energy to dance along, so a good job done and we accomplished our goal. We even sold a fair few CD’s so that was a great bonus for us to come away from a gig that started our so quiet and finish on a big high.

Thanks for having us Keith, hopefully you will see us again next year, Wurlzedubz is a great family orientated festival and helps to raise money this year for the Air Ambulance. As one of the regular attendees was involved in an accident earlier in the year having been hit by a great big deer, suffered life threatening injuries and was brought back to normally no thanks to the Air Ambulance crew, his rehabilitation was so strong that he was able to attend this years festival.

Amazing!

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Statham Lodge Wedding- rag tag misfits

Statham Lodge Wedding – Rag Tag Misfits

Today was a baking hot early summers day, really hot some 28 degrees and as it was a may bank holiday the weather was perfect for a wedding. In fact on this glorious day we had indeed been booked to play at Jane Bradley’s wedding at Statham Lodge in Warrington. Statham Lodge is a fine place with extensive gardens looked after by the garden maintenance staff. We rocked up around dinner time to play our afternoon set before jenny and her guests went inside for the evening meal. The sun was shining and you just had to feel sorry for the guests who had been in full suits, even a tie was pushing it, but you have to look the part for a wedding.

As the guest went inside to witness the marriage of Jenny Jones we had to setup just outside the window, trying to evade and distract the guests from our labours we managed to set the equipment up without too much of a distraction. Today was the test of our new Roland Street Cube EX, with 50 watts of power and the last gig that the new acoustic guitar would play before being sold.

As our new spangley shiny amp was rearing to go, we awaited the arrival of the newly married couple to join us outside where they would pose for photographs and mingle in the beautiful gardens of Statham Lodge to be entertained by Rag Tag Misfits.

They came out into the backing sunshine, posed for family photographs and then quickly took refuge under the mature trees and out of the sun. We just about managed to reach them with our new amp as they had gone quite away from initially walking out the door; still there was some guests that had sat in the sunshine around the parasol.

The guitar it seems wasn’t behaving itself and struggled to EQ itself properly, whilst the amp was just about cutting it, the sun was bearing down on us and the guitar didn’t like is one bit. We struggled on with the sound troubles and tried to make the best of the situation, it is of course a momentous day for the newly married couple and we had to keep everyone happy and entertained, this is our job after all.

We put the percussion instruments out and some of the kids joined in and seemed to take a liking to the shakers, looking like a big giant lollipop one of the young boys was trying to eat it; at least he was enjoying it.

With the afternoon coming to a close we played our last few songs before the guest had been called to go back inside.

Thank you for having us Jane & Husband, we wish you’re the very best for your future together.

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Hop Vine Burscough

Tonight was our turn at the Hop Vine pub in Burscough, Lancashire. The Rag Tag Misfits had been booked in for the Saturday night whilst Bone Shaker had been booked in the night before. SO it was a weekend of live music at the Hop Vine. We arrived just before 9pm to setup and the pub was casually busy serving delicious food that it has built its reputation on since taking over ten years ago.

On this occasion we had been joined by Emma & Paul Rimmer from the private party at O’Brians Tea Rooms in Ormskirk. They had some friends over from Canada and had come to watch us this evening. We set up our equipment in the band area as the table finished their meals we had the room to occupy it. On this evening we had been also joined by jess and her gang from Southport, we had our very own fan club, Ellie was also in attendance whom we met at The Woolpack, she is a lovely lady and next time we see you the drinks are on us. So with our fan club seated and awaiting the start of the music we set the night off with a bit of the Beautiful South, carrying on from that we kept up the momentum and before long people had been getting into the music which was very nice.

Not long into the set a group of girls came up and asked to sit just behind us, they said they had listened to us online and could they request a song by Steve Earle, Galway Girl. Thankfully we knew it and said we would include it in the set and would you care to sit down behind us. They had come quite a way hailing from west Houghton, and seemed to all work together so they had been up for a good night out. So with the drinks flowing and the music getting off to a great start, our alligence of fans had been entertained at the hop vine and took to the floor and danced the night away.

It was a great turn out and you don’t always get this many people coming to watch you but tonight was a great now and people came to enjoy the music, so that was great.

Please see our gig listings for Rag Tag Misfits next gig at the Hop Vine in Burscough.

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Thornton Hall Wedding

Thornton Hall Wedding

Today would be the joining of Jenny & Lee joining in the hand of marriage at Thornton Hall Wedding venue in Crosby. This wedding had been booked in advance for quite some time, with Lee first seeing us at a boxing day gig we had played in memory of one of his football friends who had passed away at a really young age. I remember that gig, a lot of fondness for the belated friend, they gathered around in a circle to Oasis’s “Champagne Supernova” and invited us in to sing with them.

Today though was Jenny & Lee’s big day, they had spent the weekend at the Thornton Hall Wedding venue, as it is a luxury Hall with Bistro, bar, Gym, Hotel, Spa, you name it they’ve got it. Set in some impressive gardens it is a venue that is of the highest standard, if your ever in the market for a bespoke wedding venue, this is the place.

We arrived just before 5pm to liaise with the wedding coordinator, the guests had been in the other room, just been officially married. Thornton Hall Wedding venue is Licensed for civil marriages and civil partnerships so you can do the whole wedding package all under one roof. Having met up with the wedding coordinator we had been shown the function room where we would be setting up. Just as we started moving the gear in, the dance floor was being laid down, it seemed the dance floor would be close to our little corner where we had been told to play and that the DJ would turn up and play behind the exit doors. So as it all of the pieces came together, dance floor was laid down and the Flash sprayed and moped clean, sparkling with its LED lighting. We set up our equipment next to the lovely white draped sides of the room waiting to greet the bride and groom.

The Rag Tag Misfits had been asked to play a special song for jenny & Lee’s wedding here at Thornton hall in Crosby, the special song they had both requested was by a band called Kodaline “The One”, a lovely wedding song that appeared to be quite fitting for the newly married couple.

We had spent quite a number of weeks  written just for weddings, it was perfect . We spent a few weeks learning the song, as it was their first dance request, we couldn’t afford anything to go wrong. The other song that had been requested from Lee to his beloved new bride was by the band Train, the track was called “Marry Me” again another well placed song for a wedding, not cheesy, very modern sounding, a finger picked type song that would be perfect to sing to your bride. This song Lee decided should be played last, after we had finished our second set, it worked very well, bringing them both together after all the party songs and with them both caressing one another on the dance floor, they had everyone taking snaps of them and videoing their last song with us for the evening.

What a great wedding this was, set in the lovely surrounding of Thornton Hall, we wish Jenny & Lee all our best for the future together an thank you for booking us to play for your big day.

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Private Party Formby

We had been asked on a number of occasions to perform some live music for Deb & Les, and as happened we just couldn’t get the dates they wanted as we had already been booked. So this year, a date came in and we had been actually available to play, Hurray!

The reasons for the party and entertainment was that Deb was leaving her job and going into a new one at Liverpool University, she would be leaving behind a team of people under her wing that she had worked with for a long time, a dedicated bunch who did a good job well. They would be giving her a good send off with a ruddy good knees up and their house in Formby.

The day arrived, so we loaded up the van, loaded up some tunes to play in our break and sat our sights on Formby. Around half an hour later we meandered into a housing estate and scouted about for the right house number. As it happened Les was just popping out down the road to take Deb to the pub. It seemed that they planned to all meet at the pub first, get some drinks down them and then come back to the house for the live music and party. It wasn’t long before Les came back and showed us round to the back of the garden, Les had put a decent marquee up for us and provided some shelter should the weather take a turn for the worst.

As we waited for the guests to arrive, Les provided us with some drinks and we chatted about the wedding we had played in North Wales a few years back as that is when they saw us perform the first time. Some time elapsed so we played some background music and awaited the arrival of the guest from the local pub. After a short period Les had said they were all on their merry way..

When the guests arrived Deb was with them and they all gathered round in the garden so we immediately began to play our first song. For this special leaving party we had been asked to play a special son, well 2 special songs actually, one of them was the classic Beatles track “In My Life” the one with the George Martin piano piece in the middle. The second was an old classic jazz type piece called “My Baby Don’t Care For Me” by Nina Simone. Les & Debs had been really appreciative of us learning these special songs and the Nina Simone song had been a special surprise from Les To Debz, so that was a great touch and went down well, despite the fact that it was raining by this point in the evening. As the party disappeared inside thanks to the inclement weather, the chippy order arrived. The local chip chop has won awards for the “Best Chip Chop” and so everyone had been ordered Fish and chips, including us. It was a nice treat and was really nice touch, simple but delicious grub.

After the food had been eaten we played our second set and the rain was coming in, luckily we had been under a little gazebo and it was holding the rain off quite well. As it was only the last few songs we had Deb & Les come out barefooted on the grass to dance the last few songs away.

Afterwards it was time to go inside and mingle with the guests who had taken refuge inside. Whilst inside we listened to an arrangement that had been specially written to the song of “All Things Bright and beautiful” by Deb’s colleagues. They gave everyone a sheet of paper to sing the words, a bit of an inside joke on their behalf though it was quite funny.

Later on a man had asked could hear play a song on my guitar. Always reluctant to have anyone who’s had a drink or two to play the guitar, you never know what might happen. It seemed that he was a sound chap, had played music all his life, and had been asked by Debs to give the guests a song. At first it was a hard call to make and we had thought about us leaving so declined initially, though after he asked a second time, we gave him a chance. It actually turned out rather well, he played a finger picked song and it was a nice song, one of his own that he had written a few years ago about his father. SO that turned out rather well, and he was really respectful as regards to the instrument, a true gent.

The party it seemed would go on into the small hours and it was time for us to leave, we said our goodbyes to Les & Debs and wished her well in her new job. Thanks a lot for having us and we hoped the rain didn’t dampen your spirits too much, we finally managed to play for you both.

 

 

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