Prog Rises Again!

Well according to this article, it does. And who am I to argue with the Guardian?

I do like a bit of prog now and again, especially the unfashionable ELP who did get a bit tedious towards the end and who the punks regarded as boring old-farts before they themselves then disappeared up their own fundaments instead of just concentrating on the music.

Dutch rockers Focus - known for their strange yodelling and slightly avant-garde albums, have recently re-entered the charts after Hocus Pocus was selected for their Nike World Cup ad.

And of the new breed, my pick of the bunch is the mighty Mastodon whose last album, Crack the Skye, was a breathe of fresh air to my old ears - just check this out.

However the main reason for linking to this article is for the wonderful caption by Jiro Bevis that accompanies it:

As you can see it features a bevvy of stereotypical prog fans (some of them doubling up as CAMRA stereotypes too it would appear).

Can you spot me, dear reader?

Conference Calling, Conference Calling...

And so the outcome we've been waiting for all season has finally come to pass - Darlo are heading back into the Conference despite a wonderful victory at Spotland - an impressive third away win on the trot.

Despite this win - which put the champagne on ice for Rochdale's promotion for just a little longer - results elsewhere meant that the fat lady can finally start singing.

It is difficult to say whether the recent upturn in form is due to the dismissal of Staunton - and presumably a feeling of relief from some of the players - or the fact the pressure is off or possibly the immediate impact of the new managerial team.

Regardless of the reason, it has at least brought back a bit of pride in the club for the fans and something for us all to cheer about. And perhaps we can now look forward to next season with a sense of optimism - plus enjoyment as we'll be revisiting a few old haunts as well as off to some new towns and grounds.

I thought it was appropriate to have a few beers to mark the occasion and decided to visit the Eleanor Arms in Bow.

The Eleanor Arms is a Shepherd Neame house which Steve and I popped into earlier in the season.

(left) Colclough's Landlady - a special brew

Liz was already at the bar when I got there - sat chatting with our Leyton Orient and cider festival chum, Mick Lewis.

This week they've had a special brew available - Colclough's Landlady - a beer brewed in Shep's pilot brewery.

Each year they brew a "Four Tenants" ale where the style and strength are prescribed by their tenants and this year this was to be four of their London-based landlords, one being Frankie Colclough who runs the Eleanor.

The Eleanor had four barrels of the beer, the first of which came and went earlier this week.

It's a very tasty drop with a pleasant hoppy edge to it - due to the inclusion of some Slovenian hops apparently - and it is devoid of the usual Sheps tang which I'm not a big fan of.

Also on offer was Solar Eclipse - also from their pilot brewery - as well as Canterbury Jack and the Double Stout from the main brewery. I stuck to the Landlady.

Frankie was not on duty tonight - his wife was doing the honours which I suppose was appropriate - but we bumped into him outside Mile End tube as we headed home.

He'd been for a bit of a crawl around some Sheps pubs and was rather the worse for wear as a result. Nice to see a landlord who enjoys beers and visiting pubs.

Whilst on the subject of special one-off beers, check out your local Wetherspoons as they have their annual international beer festival on.

Liz and I went to their flagship outlet, the Crosse Keys, in the City of London last week to check it out.

(right) Hawkwind - the beer for space rockers!

There are a lot of beers brewed especially for the festival including a number brews by foreign brewers, including one from Hawaii who had produced a coconut stout.  I left that for another day.

But what else did I find? A pint of Hawkwind!

Finally a brewery, Elgoods, has realised the worth of the band and brewed a very nice brew in their honour! Try it before it's too late...

Showing My (Spirit Of The) Age

Saturday morning, 11:30am. My mobile rings.

"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...