Life begins at fifty..
These birthday party/gig combos are starting to become a thing – I love it! This time round it was for Dave’s 50th – Caroline had been busy organising all manner of exciting things. Dave knew he was having a party, but he didn’t know who was playing. For us the day started with gathering a few bits and pieces – Ella was frantically finishing off some paper cuts which were gifts for Dave and Caroline (who shares his birthday), I grabbed some food from the shops.
Caroline picked us up to go to the pre-party at their house – which meant we got to spend some time with Murphy the awesome festival hound, and have a few drinks with the gathered folk who were either staying with them or outside in camper vans – their street had become a mini festival by the looks of it! Then it was a short taxi ride to the venue, Brennan’s in Long Eaton, where we were ushered into the function room which was stocked to the gunnels with food and people already.
Dave meanwhile was in the second taxi run – which gave us the opportunity to catch up with folk already arrived – and prepare to film Dave’s reaction when he walked in to see the magnificent Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican banner on display over the stage (not to mention the band themselves). Ken had called me to ask where the venue was – when he was parked next door – and it didn’t take long to get the party underway. The venue had a novel power system that cut out if a certain noise level was reached – with a gauge over the bar. Luckily the sound system was plugged into the kitchen which bypassed this!