"Where are you?" asks John Wilson sitting with a pint in the Quaker House. "Not in Darlo" I reply.
Now I had originally planned to be there and even had (quite expensive) train tickets for the game against Cheltenham but I'd totally forgotten that I would be at an all-day happening the day before and subsequently too knackered to get up to King's Cross for the 7am departure.
An all-day what??
The 4oth Anniversary Hawkwind Happening, that's what. Most folk know they're one of my favourite bands and so this was a must.
In fact I've been a fan of the Hawks since about 1979 - even John had been to see them on the famous Space Ritual tour of 1973 but strangely hadn't been to see them again - and I've been following them ever since.
Following Hawkwind is like following Darlo - the fans are a close-knit community and we all get together for beers and stuff before we go and see them - the fans grow older and often lose their way for a few years - the band like Darlo have been known to have some a bad season - but they always return to the fold.
Hawkwind flirted briefly with the higher echelons of the charts in the 70s with Silver Machine - which seems to be the first thing people say to me when they hear I'm a fan. A bit like "Oh, you had that dodgy chairman, didn't you?" when I mention I'm a Darlo fan.
They've always been a peoples band - supporting all sorts of worthy causes with free performances - and generally not selling out. Today is a back to the beginning event - a slow build-up during the day to the main event of the night.(left) Mr Hawkwind - Dave Brock
The venue is the Porchester Hall in Notting Hill - where the band first got together - it's quite posh but not too large and the security are very laid back. Apparently the hall we're in is where Monty Python filmed the Mr Creosote sketch from "The Meaning Of Life".
And they'd got some decent cask beer on as well - Molecatcher from Moles Brewery - a decent drop at 5% which went down very nicely. Their Black Rat Cider is also available. A better choice than most venues I've been to.
Like Darlo, the day kicked off at 3pm with the equivalent of a warm-up game - the band supposedly in semi-acoustic mode playing some of the rarely-played numbers from their huge back catalogue such as Green Finned Demon.
This is then followed by a Question & Answer session hosted by TV geezer, Matthew Wright, who is a huge fan and who seems a decent enough bloke.
We then have a set from a group called Tarantism - a folky-dub-ska-protest type band who I've never seen but who are really quite good. They're very popular on the festival circuit and it's easy to see why judging by all the earnest-but-bad dancing going on around me. I would join in but there's my old war wound...
Following this there is a huge game of past the parcel with three large parcels being passed round the audience with keyboardist Tim Blake doing the honours on the keyboard. The MC for the day trying to keep order is Clive, the Doctor from Doctor and The Medics fame (remember their version of Spirit In The Sky?) who have appeared on many a Hawkwind bill. And a good job he's done all day too. I didn't win though.
One of my all-time favourites, Huw Lloyd-Langton, is up next - a guitarist with Hawkwind for many years - and he's performing a variety of old HW and solo material.(left) Huw and Marion L-L
I've known Huw on and off for years since I used to go and see his solo band playing all over London and he's a smashing fella.
He's a bit frail these days after recent illness but can still hammer out the tunes, assisted ably in the dancing stakes by his lovely wife, Marion.
And then it's time for the main event. A surprise guest to introduce the band - Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson does the honours as he's a big HW fan too and he dedicates the gig to Bob Calvert, former lyricist and singer with the band.
The set was a mixture of old and new - there's always something missing you'd like to hear but I think that everyone would have been happy with the selection on offer tonight. Even Silver Machine got a rare outing.
And then before you know it, it's over and we're out into the cool, west London air. Despite my very best efforts I fall asleep on the tube, miss my stop and wake up in time to get off at Barking. Luckily I catch the last eastbound train home with seconds to spare.
In a spirit of optimism, I set the alarm for 5am but that's just wishful thinking. I do hear the alarm but my body tells me to stay in bed. Thankfully Darlo manage to do without me and pick up the first point of the season. Let's hope there's many more to come...
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