Bellowhead live at Lewes

So.... we woke up in our fabulous bed and had a fabulous bath. Spent some time trying to wake the sleeping teenager and went down for a delicious breakfast. Wandered around Lewes for a bit, spotted random members of Bellowhead as the afternoon wore on. Lewes is a strange and quaint place. There are very ancient buildings just dotted about in in the normal streetscape. looked at the castle with the great views; eerie through the fine drizzle on Saturday. Met up with Sam, Fiona and children at Bill's and had a great tea - they do fish finger sandwiches and cheese on toast. It's great. I opted for a spicy veg stew which was perfect. Fiona saw mine and had the same. Fortified, we adjourned to the Brewery Tap round the corner, a very comfortable and cosy pub, and had a pre- gig drink all together, then Jake went off with Sam, Kaya and Ryan for and evening of curry, beer and computer fun.

Phil, Fi and me strolled up the hill to the town hall to see Bellowhead. We had a drink in the bar, and then found a good spot to stand. What was really disappointing was that so much of the hall was seated. Yes, seated at a Bellowhead gig. Who thought of that? Anyway we had a small space among some friendly people in which to jiggle about.

The music, a mixed bag. Low point first...Bruton Town. Bellowhead added nothing to this song in my opinion. Maybe it was just so new they were testing it out - they did say this about some of their newer stuff. Maybe it's my own taste and experience. It felt like they were just going through the motions with it, and maybe it's just that I prefer the Pentangle version. The other new material was excellent though, a melancholy song about death, and some really full on instrumentals. A perfect rendition of Flash Company. Love it in their songs where the music falls apart -in a controlled way of course- and then perfectly climbs back in together for the climax.. Bellowhead are sounding really polished as far as their familiar work is concerned. So exciting to go and see them play live again, and have such a great time with friends, too.  Fi came back to the hotel with us to phone a cab, and after she got home, sent Jake back in the cab. Perfect. we had a brandy in the bar and waited for him, and we all went up for a wonderful deep sleep.

Lewes part 1

Just returned from Lewes, and it just the break we needed. The first evening went well, we arrived at Pelham House at 6ish and were shown to two sumptuous rooms. Already a worrying surprise as we had booked a standard single for Jake and a standard double for us, and we thought they'd made a mistake; they had already given us a bit of a reduction on our booking. But no, we had been given an upgrade! Jake's room was modern and had a beautiful view of the Downs; our room was bigger, a suite with its own corridor leading to a huge bathroom with the bath in the centre of the room. The beds must have had the best mattresses of any hotel room so far. Perfectly flat and firm. Crisp white bed linen, huge bath towels. Gorgeous smelling Neutrogena shower gel. We congregated in our room, had some coffee and biscuits and went to visit Sam and Fiona and their children Kaya (oops not sure of spelling) and Ryan.

What a blast of an evening. Haven't seen them for about four years. Greeted with a glass of strong red wine, the conversation and wine flowed steadily all night. We ate a spicy fish stew and lots of ripe cheese and talked a lot. Jake was happy sitting with the adults and playing games with the younger children. It was perfect and we made plans to see them the next day. We had gone to Lewes specifically to see Bellowhead and while we were there, to catch up with Sam and Fi. w had got three Bellowhead tickets, thinking Jake might want to come too, and be won over, but no. So we offered our spare one to Sam or Fi, and came to a most suitable arrangement. Jake would stay in with Sam and the children, and Fiona would come out to play with us. 

More in part 2

Bellowhead here we come

Well, we're off to Lewes on Friday night...can't wait. So much stress the past few months, actually since the day after we got back from Whitby last summer. This year is going to be about recovering and moving on, with the minimum of stress. Here goes then. Arrive in Lewes around 6.30, book into the hotel, visit Sam and Fiona who moved to Lewes from Hove about four years ago spend the evening catching up, drinking wine and being cooked for. Back to hotel. Sleep. Saturday wander about in Lewes, weather permitting. Late lunch. Go to Bellowhead gig. Still don't know what to wear. Try to sleep afterwards! Sunday, find somewhere nice for lunch and then back to Brentford...possibly go to the Magpie for a quick catch up with Di and Paul and any others to round off the weekend. It will be brilliant and here it all comes, just two short days away.