LONDON - Wembley Arena, Nov 8th Wembley Arena... its a big old place and seeing as it was raining outside I spent the whole day trapped within its huge concrete walls. We woke up on the bus at midday in the bowels of the earth - a cavernous truck bay with no discernible daylight... amongst the veritable fleet of monstrous vehicles a juggernaut like Motörhead needs to keep its show on the road. Ive been loving the EBay sourced Gibson SG 60s Tribute Ive been using on these dates.... it suits the material perfectly and plays like a dream. But the posh new 2014 Anniversary SG Standard we carry as a spare just doesnt have the same vibe. The guitar is lacking in oomph and warmth so Ive been online with a view to changing the pickups for something different - which is how I found Tonerider, a manufacturer of the things based in Canterbury. And would you believe my luck.... Andrew, the boss was going to be passing thru London on his way to Heathrow so could drop some off at Wembley on his way. Bingo! And between him and Seano the guitar tech the stock 57s were ditched in favour of Tonerider Alnico 4 Classics. Once restrung we could hear the difference straight away... and itll be interesting to compare it to my current No1 SG when we get an opportunity. Apart from a brief missing in-ear monitors panic (mine somehow found their way into Mr Vanians doctors bag) I loved every minute of our 50 minute performance, because when the band is playing as well as this performing is just a joy. Sure, Wembley is a bit bigger than the usual venues we play but at the end of the day its just the same 5 blokes onstage giving it plenty, endeavouring to do justice to the material. The audience singing and moshing jollied things along though and all in all it was a wonderful day - only slightly marred by Palace losing 1-0 to Man Utd. Pinch found some gorgeous retro chairs in the VIP bar where we relocated later for a quick photo session with Dod Morrison, the amiable Scots photographer who is accompanying the tour. And that was that for the London show... now its on through the night to Europe via Eurostar. Train maniac Stu West has his camera ready to grab some snaps of that - at some ungodly hour no doubt. Did I mention that he had a photo published recently in Railways Illustrated? Raving mad... Oh... and loud ACDC being played downstairs on the bus would indicate Pinchs birthday bash is now in full swing. And with that - goodnight. I hope!
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 04:05:52 +0000
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