A Rye smile

Time to break my radio silence and reflect on an event-filled and eventually fulfilling evening in Rye. You may want to line up some refreshment before you read on, it's turned out rather lengthy...

The Ypres Castle Inn occupies a picturesque spot in Rye half way up the side of a hill between Gun Gardens, at the top, and Fishmarket Road (or the A259 to some people) at the bottom. First on the agenda of surprises as I followed my sat-nav was a drive down Deadman's Lane, which seems to be an approved way of approaching the town's one-way system despite being in some parts no more than about 7 feet wide. More proof that sat-navs should really take account of the size of your vehicle.

After a deal of cautious driving around the narrow and sometimes cobbled streets, I pulled into Gun Gardens to spot Andy right behind me in his van. Having parked up temporarily we located the pub along a pathway and down a flight of well-worn steps; no small distance and altitude that we'd have to convey the gear over. Still the show must go on. Colin, Jon and Lee were already there and had parked in a side road off the other side of the main road down the hill. This then required them to lug gear uphill rather than down.

We were a bit pushed for space inside, the pub being fairly compact despite having enough room to feed 45 Belgians who were booked in to the restaurant the next day. However squeezing a five-strong band into the space for three is our speciality; well it is now. Things were balanced on other things, tucked out of the way in corners or left in Andy's van, as circumstances dictated.

With all of us having got there by about 7:30 p.m. for a planned kick-off time of 9:30, there was no sense of urgency - at least until I went to move my car from its resident-bothering location in Gun Gardens to where the other guys had left theirs. My first mistake was not walking down to the main road to get a view of the surroundings. My second was in interpreting Lee's description of the side road (the name of which he hadn't noted when he parked) as being some sort of parking bay on the pub side of the main road, rather than a road opposite. Hence I frittered away all our spare time driving round the area looking for a spot that didn't exist. After much metaphorical banging of head on steering wheel and a couple of 'phone calls, the geologically-themed name of Rock Channel was established for the side road, the sat-nav came into play again and the rest was straightforward.

The landlord of the Ypres Castle Inn had ventured that the influx of punters was not as numerous as usual but it seemed like a respectable turnout to us. With people hovering in a way that gave the welcome impression they might well be interested in what we were going to do, we set up as quickly as we could, but again things weren't as straightforward as they could have been, as Andy and I both had a go at connecting the PA speakers into the wrong sockets on the back of the mixer-amp (different wrong sockets mind you), giving results that varied from very little sound to none at all. Not a mistake that either of us should make again. Finally with the clock showing 9:25 we had a quick soundcheck and were as ready as we'd ever be.

From the word go we were both impressed and encouraged by the generous response of the crowd, who tapped their feet, sang along and even danced at various moments of the first set; and the second for that matter. Jon and I were debating at half time whether we could consider our "party piece" to be Enter Sandman or Down, Down. I favour the latter as I've never personally seen it played by another mixed-repertoire covers band (as opposed to a Quo tribute for whom I would expect it's mandatory). Hardtail have rounded off the second set with it for most if not all of our gigs, whereas Sandman is widely covered and a more recent addition to our repertoire. However on the night you can't argue with the punters and Sandman certainly got the biggest reaction of the night as I remember it. And to think we were going to plonk it in the middle of the first set until reason prevailed.

With a little more time left after Down, Down and the support of the crowd undiminished, we cast caution to the wind and played an encore two-thirds consisting of songs we'd not previously tried at a gig; such is the way when the wind is in your sails. An AC/DC classic that is - gulp - nearly 30 years old was followed by a Status Quo classic that is even older, and they went OK for a first time. Then to finish on a high note we banged out the fast version of We Will Rock You and said goodnight.

It is the dilemma of the small-scale band that if people like you, and want to tell you so, the time when they do it is as you're packing up roadie-less and with only the residual post-performance adrenalin to underpin the effort. Thus it was, so apologies to any of the kind attendees if their words of appreciation (and words there were!) we addressed in part to the tops of our heads as we bent over unplugging things.

Here I should mention for the benefit of some of my fellow band members that two separate guys, both of whom gave the impression that they knew what they were talking about, advised that we really needed to mic up the guitars to add some of their sound to the PA output. Investment ahoy, I feel.

Once the crowd had ebbed away into the night, we set about humping the gear down a score of irregular stone steps in the dark. Then it was homeward bound, me getting there at the very rock'n'roll time of gone 2:00 a.m.

So, having gone down well and received favourable on-the-spot feedback, we're very much hoping to be back at the Ypres Castle Inn before too long. We hope that our noisy endeavors were a match for the warm welcome from management and crowd alike, for which we thank you very much.

If you're in Rye at other times you'd do well to stop by the pub even if we're not there - details are on their web site.