Although I can’t remember when I first saw
them, I have long been a fan of Band of Jackals, a Nottingham band who has been
together three or four years. We were lucky enough to have them in the studio
last year for a live session on NottinghamLIVE
and I have regarded them as a band that would surely be lucky enough to break
free of Nottingham’s restrictive music scene and go on to bigger and better
things. Sadly this won’t happen now (at least in the current line up if the
reports are accurate) as tonight was their final gig, surely a late contender for
gig of the year, at one of our best venues – Jam Café.
Even more unfortunately, today was my Nana
Freda’s 90th birthday and a party had been organised by various
members of the family in the communal area on the complex where she lives. If only
I had a time machine so that I could go back and visit my great-grandparents
and ask them to either hold on for one more day or try and manage the day
before. I’m sure they would have understood the request of a stranger who
informed them that one of his favourite bands would be playing their final gig
in ninety years time and I wouldn’t want to miss it. It might of course have
been easier to ask the band to put things off a day but if I’ve got a time
machine I am getting my moneys worth. Having said that, if I had a time machine
it would have been possible to attend both of these events and (had I felt like
it) also gone to the Crown Court Christmas meal.
I wasn’t in the mood for any of these three
possibilities to be honest, as I am in a mild depressive state (brought on
incidentally by the Christmas party season) and couldn’t be arsed being sociable
with anyone, not even my family. I’d already decided against the Christmas meal
but had planned to go along for a drink after work just to show willing. Another
option was to go back into town after my nana’s party and see the gig, but I was
still suited for the courtroom and by the time I got home I remembered that I don’t
have the capacity for alcohol that I once had and watched the BBC3 repeat of Eastenders instead.
Even when my mood is good I still suffer from
crippling shyness and need to psyche myself up to leave the house to go
anywhere, yet once I am there I thoroughly enjoy myself. Tonight was an
example, I wouldn’t have missed my nana’s birthday party for the world and it
was lovely to see members of my family again as we don’t get together on this
scale often enough. For a 90 year old woman, my nana does incredibly well
compared to some of the people in her flats who seem to have given up on life
and seem content to sit at home waiting to die. She loves her family and we love
her and she really enjoyed the party which is all that matters. My cousin had
booked a singer to entertain us for an hour but she was one of those people who
walk around the room holding the microphone in front of people for them to
complete the line. The young son of one of my cousins was found hiding behind a
door in the kitchen because “that lady keeps singing at me”, my thoughts
exactly and had there been room I might have joined him. Once she had finished
(with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’) I felt able to relax safe in the
knowledge that I wasn’t going to be called upon to tunelessly turn out a quick “let
it snow let it snow let it snow”.
===
My daily blog can be delivered straight to your Kindle for 99p a month
(link)
Listen to The Sunday Alternative here
My Sherwood Radio archive is here, why not listen and donate?
All donations received via the PayPal button above will be used to fund creative
projects such as podcasts, short films, documentaries, comedy sketches and a
whole lot more. You are under no obligation of course, but thanks in advance if
you do drop something in the pot.
