The single most rock n roll moment on the tour so far happened when, during the closing moments of The Phil Sky Experience’s headline set, Olie and me wringing as much noise as possible out of our instruments while Michael pounded the cajon from all sides like a demented hornet, all of a sudden Michael clutched his tambourine and hurled it wildly across the audience to thud on the floor somewhere at the back of the pub as I fell to my knees and dropped my guitar on the floor. Friday night was just that kind of gig.
And so we’re back on the long, long road of the tour and it felt good to be back out there - The Kings Head in the heart of the our county town of Buckingham being our next port of call. As the tour bus pulled up, people where already mingling in the cold air outside the venue and with Christmas now out of the way, a fist full of regular fans from Milton Keynes had made it out with us and it was good to see some friendly faces out there in the audience.
Olie opened the evening with a great set of tunes and while his excellent Christmas song Snow Came Down may not have been in tonight’s set, his equally excellent new song and Six String Theory Tour tribute was and it was a genuine treat to start of the evening. Next up, covering for Scott who was sadly unable to make it tonight, was the effortlessly fantastic Bine The Peg. For her first song, the pub actually fell silent as people took notice of her classy, intelligent blues and smooth, casual styling. It was really great to get her onto the tour bill and songs like I Wanna Be A Movie Star and Sylvester just get better with every play. Then on third, The Further Adventures Of Vodka Boy plowed through their set and genuinely rocked, mixing lively versions of Iridium Layer and Lady Gaga covers and finishing with fan favorite Drunk Poet Blues. Catch these guys at Silsoe or you won’t get another chance to see them again till the summer!
And with that we made it back to where we started, a righteous headline set from The Phil Sky Experience. Every time I play with these guys it feels like something magical happens. It’s a slightly ramshackle magic, like a billycart rolling down a bumpy hill, but that makes it no less exciting. I’m not sure now if the Experience element of our band name applies to the audience or the band members but I certainly dig the experience a lot of being inside The Phil Sky Experience. There I am, kneeling on the floor of the stage, thrashing my guitar, while our percussionist hurls a tambourine out into the audience. If being on board with the band is like rolling down a bumpy hill backwards in a billycart then the end of the set feels like the cart colliding with a tree at the bottom of the hill - you might end up bruised and a little confused, but speaking for myself all I can really think of the chance to do it again. Awesome! ;-)
