A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
I’ve been playing in a group in Swindon since September 2006. We play every Tuesday at the home of one of the group, although at one stage we played twice a week. The group works well: nobody is up their own a*se (important), we generally like the same sort of games, everyone is open to new games and we all win roughly the same percentage of games. How did I come to join the group? Via Boardgamegeek – I found a Swindon-based gamer and asked him if there was a group in Swindon.
Roll forward, and there are occasional enquiries on BGG about gaming in the area. I must admit that, as a natural miserable git, if I have spotted them, I usually just ignore them. However a forum post this year by James Mullard called ‘Swindon?’ seemed to generate some traction and it appeared a new group in Swindon was a distinct possibility. Several local-ish gamers chipped in and there seemed to be a genuine interest in getting something started. The two drivers of the forum post were Tony (fellonmyhead), long-standing Tuesday night gamer, and Jess (castaway). Somehow I volunteered (not like me!) to check out a couple of potential venues.
I ended up visiting a couple of local hostelries – the Sandgate (my pub of choice back in 1976, aged 16) and the Check Inn at Wroughton. To cut a long story short, the Sandgate is a sh*thole, and the Check Inn is the total opposite. As a Fullers pub, the Check Inn not only boasts a superb range of real ales (London Pride, Eldridge Pope etc), but also does excellent food as well. Tony the landlord lets us use the dining room for free each Monday and seems very happy with the arrangement. The extra food and drink sales on a quiet Monday means that it is a win-win all round.
We held our first meeting on Monday, March 21st, advertised entirely through the Geek and word of mouth (as it still is today), and 11 people turned up. We have now met 13 times including on 3 bank holiday Mondays. The highest turnout thus far is 14, the lowest 5 (on a bank holiday). We average around 9 a session, most weeks being 8-10. Already a nucleus of attendees has formed who tend to come along each week.
The group tends to play Euros, usually light-medium weight, although we have also played Power Grid and some Wallace titles. Games played recently include Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Fresco, Dixit, Keltis, Forbidden Island, Kingsburg, Ingenious, London, Power Grid, Seven Wonders, Braggart and Alien Frontiers, to name just a small selection.
but I know it will be well received by both gamers and family. Therefore a good buy – the 2 young ladies who demo’ed it also won me over with their enthusiasm for the game. I also purchased KingBrick – a 2-player flicking game. As a Subbuteo addict in my youth, this simple straight-forward game was a no-brainer and, at £10, also a bargain. I’m sure it won’t see much table-time, but I still couldn’t resist it. A couple of other small purchases completed the day.
Fortress of Spears by Anthony Riches
Odin's Wolves by Giles Kristian
Growing up in the seventies, I liked T-Rex and I liked Slade and, of course, I fancied Suzi Quattro and Linda Ronstadt, but the first group I was really into were Dr Feelgood in 1976. I still remember coming home clutching the seminal Stupidity album the week of it's release with it's classic cover picture of Lee Brilleaux and Wilko. That album remains my #1 favourite live album, and yes, even better than the Johnny Cash live prison albums.
I finally got to see Dr Feelgood live in Autumn 1978 at Brighton Top Rank. Of course by this time Wilko had left, but nevertheless they were still storming live. I saw Wilko live for the first time shortly afterwards at the Marquee. I’ve seen him since, of course, and also with Ian Dury (on the DIY tour). To my mind, Wilko is a national treasure that needs preserving and it's great that he's still strutting his stuff over 30 years later.
So to the Fleece on a Friday night. It is warm and packed, almost definitely sold-out. Just the sort of atmosphere you want for a slice of R&B. First band up were Billy Whizz: dire. Second up were 3-piece The Soulvents whose musical influences were given away by the singer's Fred Perry shirt and Mod-ish haircut. The guy was one excellent guitarist and his repertoire was impressive, unfortunately he had no stage presence whatsoever. Anyway Steve Marriott & Weller influences aplenty, he covered one Weller track and finished with a crowd pleasing All through the City. Definitely worth catching again.
And so to Mr Johnson, who as per usual was joined by Blockhead Norman Watt-Roy and Dylan Howe on drums. Wilko looks more and more like Alf Garnett every year and Norman is like the butler in a Hammer Horror film. Pretty they ain’t, but my God can they still brew up some R&B! Wilko is as energetic as the very first time I saw him and this is music as it should be – R&B in a small sweaty bar.
As usual the Dr Feelgood songs go down best – I remember Back in the Night, She Does It Right, Don’t Let Your Daddy Know, Sneakin’ Suspicion, Keep it Out of Sight, The More I Give, Paradise and Twenty Yards Behind. Wilko was joined by Jerry Tremaine (I think that was his name) on vocals and harp for a storming Woolly Bully and Roxette. Dr Dupree was also in the mix somewhere. A single encore – a rollicking Bye Bye Johnny – it is always good to see Mr B Goode, the patron saint of R&B, make an appearance!
I’m already looking forward to the next time Wilko and co. are in town!
Reading South Park, 5th May
I first saw John Otway live around 1981/82 on the same bill as UK Subs and Gary Glitter (go figure!). I need to point out that this was before Mr Glitter had been outed as a paedophile. On the night, the UK Subs were Sh1t, I was totally underwhelmed by the young-ish Otway and Gary Glitter (and the original Glitter Band with 2 drummers) were superb!
Rolling forward to about 2 years ago, on a whim my friend Jarrod and I caught a JO & WWB show at the Windsor Arts Centre. I remember saying at the interval that what we had witnessed was either total cobblers or absolute brilliance, but I didn’t know which. Anyway after the second half we decided it was the latter and are both now confirmed fans. We also saw him last autumn in Gloucester, with his ‘Big Band’, although I drank so much that night that frankly, memories of the show, and the afternoon rugby game, are somewhat hazy!
Anyway to Reading: instead of the usual tiered seating at the venue, there were just chairs on the floor. The audience was perhaps 200-250 people, mostly fat fifty-somethings (yes … like me!), but with a smattering of people outside that profile. As usual a fair number were diehard fans and, again as usual, both Otway & WWB mingled with the audience before the gig, in the interval and after the gig. Pretentious they are not.
Seeing Otway is an event rather than a gig. The songs don’t change much, the patter between songs is familiar, Otway’s boy-ish enthusiasm, honesty and showing off would be totally daft in other settings but just works. Add in WWB’s excellent musicianship and dead-pan humour and you have a winning formulae. As Otway says … Wild Willy is just a Musician, whereas I’m a star!
So what was new on the night? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a wheely-bin used in an act for a start. It housed Wild Willy’s amp for his electric guitar and was open and closed as appropriate. Totally idiotic, but it worked brilliantly. WWB also introduced a Pete Townshend guitar wrecking segment, although the damage was done DIY-style with a hammer and saw! After the show the guitar was flogged for £35! Musically, the highlight may well have been a touching(!!) rendition of Rolf Harris’ ‘Two Little Boys’.
An Otway concert is like a Jonathan Richman concert (another favourite of mine), in that you smile all the way through it and all the way home. It is that kind of experience.
