It's a really nice feeling when you catch up with an old friend you have only seen a few times after the last decade and yet it seems like you saw him only last week.
Phil was one of my best friends at Secondary School, and together we discovered Dungeons & Dragons and Hawkwind, amongst other things. So I was really happy when I was invited to a birthday surprise weekend by his daughter Megan. It was to be a weekend of gaming, chatting, drinking and Hawkwind. Phil and I saw Hawkwind back in, hmmmm, well let's just say it was a good while ago, and it seemed only appropriate that we should see them again. Had the years been kind to them ? Only time would tell.
I travelled down on Friday, around 11am and it was a pretty straightforward journey with no problems at all. Arriving in Royston I was soon sat in a cafe having a coffee with a very surprised Phil and his wife Sally.
Steve and Simon arrived later that night and the gaming started, well, once Phil's lovely dog Lulu had finished greeting everyone, of course.
We didn't play D&D in the end as they weekend was going to be a busy one with people coming and going, but I did get to play some board games, something I'd never really done, other than the usual Cluedo, Monopoly and the like. These were very different and very enjoyable. I think my favourite was probably Citadels
but I also enjoyed the others, with 7 Wonders being another favourite.
The weekend flew by and Sunday night Phil, Megan and I were ready for... HAWKWIND!!!
The funny thing that struck us almost immediately that Phil and I were amongst the youngest people in the audience and Megan was one of probably 5 people under the age of 30. We were also under-bearded and could have done with some kind of hat, but other than that we fitted in well enough.
I haven't really listened to any Hawkwind records (as they were called when I had them) for about 25 years, and yet as they belted out Masters Of The Universe I found myself singing along. You never forget the classics.
I was happily surprised that two thirds of the set featured the older classics and I could therefore sing along to most of them. It was magical hearing Damnation Alley again,
and one of my old favourites, Spirit Of The Age. Wonderful.
The band was older, as were we, but they still had it. The dancers did a great job as well coming on stage in various costumes that must have been a devil to breath, let alone dance, in,
but what impressed, and pleased, me the most was that these guys were still enjoying themselves. I've been to gigs where old bands just seem to be going through the motions but these guys loved performing and it came across in how they played and the response they got.
I'll leave this posting then with a 'Thank You' to Sally for being such a great host and a HUGE 'Thank You' to Megan for planning the whole weekend and for giving me the chance to spend some quality time with Phil, for seeing Hawkwind again after all these years and for letting me beat her in a few of the board games... ohh .. and for sending these photos through. Thanks Megan.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment