My First Ever Dance Out

Oh yes! I danced out for the first time ever on Thursday. I've managed to learn three dances in the two practises I have attended (of which I'm very proud) and I was looking forward to putting all this new knowledge into practise. We danced at the Malthouse pub in Chorley and when I arrived, most of the team were already there and ready to go. I don't have a hat or coat yet (actually, I do have a hat but it was untrimmed. I have since trimmed it and I love it!) so the team lent me a spare coat and I borrowed the hat of an absent member.

One of the ladies lent me some face paints and I blacked up and went out to join the rest of the team. The hat was a little bit small for my but I was ready to go.

First we danced Tinners and I insisted on going third (easiest for me). It's great dancing at practise but it's fabulous dancing in public. Then, while we were having a break, I went and got some money and bought myself a drink. I had, by then, been given some bells which I laced onto my boots. It was really strange walking up to the bar, jingling away, with my face blacked and a be-feathered (and studded) top hat on. Still, I got served and I walked outside with my half of Fosters in my hand.

Here's my first photo. I'm pretty sure the dance is Skirmish and it is brilliant. I have explained to the team that I need to learn this one. I can't explain why but I know that my life will be a sad and pitiful existence until I learn the dance.



Next, it was Ashpole. This is one I've learned and now danced twice in practise. I suppose that makes it "my" dance and I get the feeling I will always insist on dancing it (and I will stamp my feet if anybody tries to gainsay me) whenever we dance out. Somebody very kindly took my camera and took some snaps while I was dancing. Most are blurred (we dance very fast) but this one shows me quite clearly, waiting to start.

Ashpole went well and I managed to get it all right. I like Ashpole and I think it must look great to the audience because the figures (at last! I've remembered the word) will look so intricate but it is relatively easy for the dancers to remember (although one seasoned dancers took a wrong turn at one point!)

Next, I had to have my photo taken with Brent, our Father Christmas lookalike.

I love the way my fringe flops over my eyes in a totally emo (but in a totally gone wrong emo) way. I think I am going to have to pin it back somehow because it gets in my way when I'm dancing.

Well, we danced White Ladies and, although I'd only practised it once, I asked if I could dance and they said yes. I took a wrong turn once (not too bad) but my partner was very good and kept me on the straight and narrow for the rest of the dance. She was also very kind because I wanted to go on the left (which is the position I learnt it in) and she has a dicky left shoulder, which is awkward because there is a double hay in the dance (I'll let you imagine what a double hay is if you don't already know). She let me go on the left.

Well, there were more dances, including Crow's Nest and probably others, and it was getting dark. I took a few more pictures including this one:

We also danced Tinners twice more and dragged bar staff and audience members into the dance. That is something I love about this team - audience participation. They even got the landlady out of the pub and she danced too. I had to leave early (just gone 10.30) because I had work the next day.

I got home and uploaded the pictures onto the computer and went to bed. The next day, I put them on my MP3 player (the internet was down so I couldn't e-mail them) and took them into work and proudly showed them to anybody who would look at them. Somebody asked me who Big Foot is. I'm sure Brent won't mind!

Another Thursday, Another Practise

It has to be said, I love Morris Dancing. Stone the Crows very kindly held an extra practise for the beginners of the group yesterday, this time at the Railway Pub in Leyland - the school was being used as a polling station. When I got to the pub, I saw that the majority of the clientele were what I would refer to as Chavs. I have nothing against Chavs. Well, actually I have because they are rude to my emo/scene daughters. I saw them through the window and walked into the pub armed with only a bottle of water and my handbag. Inside were two of the Team and one, a true gentleman, bought me a drink. Morris is thirsty work after all. I was introduced to the other Team member and as the others drifted in, reducing the Chav:Border Morris ratio somewhat, we went to a room in the back and made room by pushing some of the chairs and tables out of the way.

After a warm up, we danced Tinners, which, fortunately, I had not completely forgotten. Then we went through a number of the "moves" that make up the dances. I'm sure there is a word other than "move" but I tend to be a bit excited at Morris practises and many of the words I hear go right out of my head afterwards. What I do know is, I learnt/practised the Hay in some of its various guises and others, whose names I have completely forgotten now, although I think I remember how to dance them.

I also learnt a new dance - White Ladies (quite complicated and great fun) and had another go at Ash Pole, also quite complicated but I'd done it once before. The amount of energy I expended is evidenced by the amount of water I drank - nearly a litre. Usually, I'm a bit of a camel and don't drink for days.

Afterwards, we repaired to the pub (this is getting a bit of a habit now), where I was starstruck by the presence of a well known northern comedian. I didn't have to go through the pickled egg ceremony, even though I had admitted to my deceit in my previous blog and then invited the whole group to read it!

Our Father Christmas lookalike told the same joke for the third week in a row (I remember it from last week):

A scouse is coming out of Asda with a piece of meat under his coat.
"What are you doing with that?" says the security guard.
"Oh, some potatoes, carrots, peas..."

I told this one:

Did you hear about the man who lived in a tyre?
He moved out when he got a flat.

BOOM BOOM!!!!!

Next week, I get the opportunity to dance in public. They are going to lend me a rag coat for the occasion. I'm really looking forward to it.

Argy Bargy in Manchester, Punk, Skins and Mosh Pits

I went to see Argy Bargy on Friday. The first person I have to thank is my LSH (long suffering husband) because he persuaded me to leave my poor, ill little girl (okay, she's 16 and taller than me but she's still poor and ill) at home with him and go out and enjoy myself. I suppose I also ought to thank my poor ill little girl (previously blogged about under the name of Bobbie) for allowing me to leave her in the capable hands of her Dad when she was feeling so ill.

So I got a return ticket to Manchester and got on the train to Piccadilly by myself. I don't usually go to gigs on my own. I think my taste in Oi Punk is quite specialist and I could not find anybody in my immediate family or circle of friends who wanted to go. Fortunately, I did know a couple of people who were going to be there so I was reassured that I wasn't going to be completely isolated.

So I got off the train at Piccadilly and went out to where the taxi rank is. I knew the pub was opposite the train station and my older daughter had given me quite specific instructions on how to leave the station so I wouldn't be wandering around for ages asking people how to get to the pub. I checked the buildings immediately opposite the station and realised that the pub I was heading for is not quite opposite. In the distance, I could see a building that looked like the picture on the Net and I walked towards it. It was the Star and Garter, so I walked in and paid my £6 and went straight to the bar.

I got my half a Fosters and while I was being served, I looked around for familiar faces. I didn't want to stand around on my own like a complete lemon - that would have made me miserable. Fortunately, I spotted a couple of friendly faces I've seen before and I went over to talk to them. Once they realised I'd come on my own, they became knights in shiny armour (not very punk, I know, the armour should be tarnished and held together with safety pins) and took me under their wing.

We went up to see the first band, the Bullet Kings. When the gig was over and I was walking back to the station, I chatted to one of them. I'm pretty sure he was the bassist but I know I was quite pissed by then so I'm not absolutely certain. He did wear a UK Subs t-shirt, I know that. I asked him twice what the name of his band was and told him I'd blog about the gig. To my shame, I forgot almost immediately and I had to look it up before writing this blog.

Well, the Bullet Kings played good, fast, loud punk and I enjoyed the set. My KISA (Knights in Shiny Armour) bought me drinks and we chatted. If I remember rightly, I think I told one of the KISA that I love it when punks get old and fat - sorry! I was having a great time. I also went and bought myself a t-shirt (an Argy Bargy one) which has the words:

Argy Bargy
HOOLIBIRD

on it. This appealed to my inebriated self a great deal and I showed it off to all and sundry before putting it on. I hasten to add that it has continued to appeal to me since I sobered up yesterday and I will wear it with pride at every opportunity.

The next band were The Great St Louis and I can't blog about them because I didn't see them. I was too busy chatting to people in the bar and admiring their tattoos (an annoying habit I have). It's amazing how much time I can waste talking to complete strangers and admiring their tattoos once I've had a few beers.

3CR were great. I've got a picture of Boggy on my phone. I didn't know who he was when I took it. I was just admiring his mohican and decided to take a picture of it. I think I asked him first, I'm a polite sort of a person. Now I know who he is, I proudly show it off to all and sundry, interested or completely uninterested. Don't ask me to name any of their songs, I can't but I enjoyed the set and will catch them at the next opportunity.

Finally, Argy Bargy, the band I'd come to see. I largely ignored the Oi bands when I was a teenager. I knew a couple of Sham 69 songs and I like the UK Subs but much of the movement passed me by. I think it was a bit too hardcore for my young ears. Now, I love Oi. My taste in music has moved more to the extreme and the louder and harder it is, the better. I don't own any CDs by Argy Bargy so I can't mention individual songs (although I picked up the set list from the stage at the end of the gig and I will get some stuff on CD now) but I can say that I enjoyed myself enough to dance in the rather weird way I do dance to punk and stand on the edge of the mosh pit. I love the violence of the mosh pit too (that's a word I've had to import). It's a friendly sort of violence, people get knocked down but everybody helps them back to their feet, and I got soaked by someone's drink when he was pushed into me. Something quite sweet but not cider. Not good because my hair goes wavy when it gets wet. I moved right to the front at the end of the gig and that's when I picked up the set list.

Oi is credited with bringing punks and skinheads together. I remember an incident many years ago when my sister, one of our friends (a lad whose name escapes me now) and I were walking through Churchill Park in Bromley. We were all punks. Some skinheads attacked our friend and were really putting the boot in. Me and my sister shouted at them and pulled some of them off him. I was very scared at the time and I was pretty shocked too. It was the first time I saw anybody beaten up.

Later, I became good friends with a few skinheads, very good friends with one in particular, who used to walk me home late at night after gigs. I've never really been scared of skinheads, well not since my friend was beaten up, and nowadays I find the look very attractive indeed! I texted my good friend from the gig. The message said and I think this is word for word:

"I'm a bisexual. I like punx and skins."

Now, because I like doing it, here's a nice video of Argy Bargy singing "Read all about it".