Debut Weekend
Last weekend saw the guys in Cornwall and Devon in St Austell and Tavistock - the big talking point after the gigs was our new frontman Tony Thurlow. Feedback has been tremendous and that came as no surprise. Not only does Tony have a powerful voice he has stage presence by the bag full. The thing I admired the most was how he interacts with the audience with absolute ease. For his first two gigs with only three rehearsals and back catalogue to learn from scratch you would have thought his nerves would be jangling but if that was the case they didn’t show which can only be down to his experience and professionalism.
Both gigs went really well – The St Austell Band Club crowd were up for it from the start and the gig was sold out thanks largely to the brilliant staff at the venue. Major kudos goes out to the sound engineering courtesy of Cabin Fever Audio and Hoby Allen who absolutely nailed it. The Wharf in Tavistock is a much bigger venue and ticket sales went fairly well so a big thank you again to all the staff involved at The Wharf. When playing The Wharf you can always rely on David Reese (Stage Manager) and Tom Barland (Lights and Sound Engineer) to get everything prepared before arrival and as always the sound was blistering. David and Tom never let you down and are always a delight to work with. The tracks “All Night Long” and “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” have been reintroduced into the setlist and scored a bit hit at both venues getting the crowds up singing along so chances are they are here to stay.
The best part about a weekend on the road is that everyone has time to spend together so the weekend was full of planning, swapping stories and banter. One term commonly used is “Family” and Rainbow Rising consider band mates, wives, partners, girlfriends, helpers and just as important the fans as family. Three great examples of this over the weekend were firstly the introduction of Tony’s partner Pauline and Andy’s girlfriend Jodi to everyone. Everyone took time out to get acquainted with them and ensure they felt at home and were a part of things as it’s paramount they feel comfortable and valued. The second example was the moving dedication of Catch The Rainbow in Tavistock to Paul Timpson who passed away recently. Andrew Timpson travelled quite a distance to see the guys with his son Sam the last time we played The Wharf and the guys came through big time for Sam to make sure his day was a memorable one. We were due to meet his wife Tracy this year but Andrew was hit by the devastating news of the loss of his brother recently. At times like this people do what they can in support of family and I know the Timpson Family greatly appreciated the thought.
The third example is in gratitude to Shirley Thompson (my wife’s sister) who kindly, housed, fed and watered (If you call Romanian Hooch water!!) some of us over the weekend. Rainbow Rising can't thank her enough !!
All in all the weekend was a huge success and with luck we will get to do it all again in 2019
