FISH - THE THUNDERBOLT, BRISTOL 10/06/11

Friday June 10th saw me head off to Bristol to see Fish play a blinding gig at The Thunderbolt in rainy Totterdown.  The venue is a 150 capacity, restored Grade 2 listed former 1830's tollhouse !  The gig was sold out and to be honest there was very little room to manoeuvre but I did manage to get a spot near the stage and enjoy  the set which sees  Fish, guitarist Frank Usher and keyboard extraordinaire Foss Paterson strip down the Fish and Marillion back catalogue into an acoustic format.  Highlights for me were Zoe 25,The Company, Vigil, Incubus and a brilliant Sugar Mice.  There were plenty more excellent songs aired into the low ceiling of The Thunderbolt but the real ales have blurred my memory ;-)))

Post show found me drinking with fellow Fish fans and a photo with Fish

Slainte Mhath !!

                                                     with Fish @ Thunderbolt
                                                 

Andrew Gold and Martin Rushent

Very sad news over the weekend to hear of Andrew Gold and Martin Rushent.

I can vividly remember being in a hotel disco in Norwich in 1987 drinking my "first" lagers as a 17 year old and first hearing Wax "Building A Bridge To Your Heart" booming from the speakers ; it was terrific, I didn't even know who Andrew Gold was until much later...  and then you discover he wrote the classic, timeless "Lonely Boy" and "Never Let Her Slip Away" which nail me every time I hear them.  Understated.  God bless Andrew Gold.

and then Martin Rushent who produced the first 3 Stranglers albums -  nuff' said - the guy was a genius.  a sad weekend indeed.