Saturday, May 25 - Ipswich, England
We
left Brighton midmorning for the last tour date in Ipswich, taking the
train to London Victoria Station and then taking a taxi to London Paddington.
It’s always enjoyable to taxi through London, seeing the spectacular and
historic sights which have over the month become friendly landmarks.
Paddington is one of the easier London stations; Euston is the absolute
worst for a traveler with a heavy bag. It was a pleasant train trip
to Ipswich for the now weary children of paradise following their rock
‘n roll Pied Pipers. Ipswich is a nice town with an easy train station
and friendly cabbies. As is our custom, we asked our driver to take
us past the venue so that we could give it a gander, and then on to the
Belstead Brook Swallow Hotel. He congenially complied, asking along
the way how long we had been in England and where in the States we were
from.  The
Swallow was quite a way from the center of town, but a nice change from
the hotel chains we’re used to back home, a cute old building, nicely decorated
with a friendly staff. We had arrived early in the afternoon, mindful
of the 5pm first show, and had a chance to get settled in and to put up
our feet briefly. It took a bit to find the lounge/bar, and I thought
I should leave a trail of breadcrumbs in order to find my way back to the
room! A taxi picked us up for the drive back into town; I had
noticed a cafe across from the venue on leaving the train station, and
thought it might be a good place to eat and relax before the concert.
It turned out to be a gem of a restaurant, and SueC was thrilled to see
on the menu a BLT with REAL BACON.
One of the peculiarities of England is the “bacon controversy”. I had become aware of it during my week in London in 2000 for the RAH concerts. It’s one of the little surprises that no one mentions to you before you travel abroad, preferring to delight in their secret knowledge and well aware of the confusion that awaits you! I repeatedly ordered bacon and eggs in London, and noticed every time a “confused” look on my waiter’s face. And every time they brought me HAM and eggs (and not crisp, either!) Speaking of “crisp”, “crisps” are what the folks here call potato chips. If you make the mistake of ordering potato chips with your sandwich, you will probably get FRENCH FRIES! LOL Crisps here come in some here to fore unknown varieties, including: Roast Chicken (yucky!), Smoky Bacon, Tomato and Prawn Cocktail. But back to the bacon...I had figured out that “bacon” in the UK meant a type of back bacon or Canadian Bacon, but never figured out what to ask for to get American style bacon. Sigh A fellow traveler tipped me that American style bacon was called “streaky bacon” in the UK. That it might be, but it is rare as hens’ teeth. SueC is a big breakfast fan, and might order breakfast morning, noon and night, and has been moaning for BACON, and warbling her dark fantasy about Denny’s. (Make that Denny’s Restaurant to get the “right” fantasy – lol!) I wasn’t in as bad a shape as SueC, but I will admit that Bob Evans flitted thru my mind once or twice. She squealed when she read thru the cafe menu in Ipswich, finding a BLT made with STREAKY bacon. She requested it crisp and it was a little odd, but suited her just fine. I’ve been wondering just what UK pig farmers DO with their bacon of a streaky nature! Do they ship it to the USA? I won’t even ask what they do with their pork rinds! People began to trickle in to the Regent Theatre  as
we watched from the cafe. A pair of English fans came in and joined
us. The tanned Englishman had had a backstage pass for Cardiff and
said it was very short, though Justin stayed for photos with everyone.
Feeling full and content, we wandered over to the theatre; it was odd to
do in broad daylight. Ipswich was the only venue to schedule two
concerts for a single evening. I was told the early show was added
because the first show had sold out so quickly. The Regent Theatre
in Ipswich is a small theatre with stalls (seats on the floor) and balcony,
seating perhaps a thousand. Front row was around 5 feet from the
rather high stage, perhaps 4 feet high. The theatre was very dark
even before the concert began. Another British fan commented that
the lights were intentionally dim so that you couldn’t see the peeling
paint! Let’s say the Regent was in need of some maintenance work.
The stage was wide, with big wings, the mikes were set far back from the
edge, pushing RT/JH/JL 8 feet out of reach. : (
The large curved speakers usually seen hung from the ceiling or the proscenium were placed on either side of the stage, two front fill speakers were positioned in front of Justin at an outward angle to the audience. Though the Regent was run down, it was not without charm, reminding me of a once glamorous, now faded movie star, careful to sit in the half-light to maintain the illusion of beauty. The interior of the venue was dark pink and had vertical lines of lights on the side walls. There was a slight incline to the theatre type seating. As stated before, the 8pm show was sold out, the 5pm show looked close. A great way to end the tour! In both concerts, the usual setlist was played without intermission with one HEARTBREAKING omission: Forever Autumn. The Fashion Report 5pm RT – Black long slved shirt, black slacks GE – Black short slved shirt, white design on the right chest. SueC has pointed out to me that the pink I am seeing on the design is the pink lights hitting Graeme’s chest. Well, Duh! JH – Tuxedo shirt, black slacks. Please note that the “waiter’s outfit” has not been seen in the last several concerts do to a change in Mr Hayward’s shoe selection. The patent leather policeman shoes have been A) thrown by other Band members from the bus and carried off by the sheep or B) contributed by JH to the Policeman’s Benevolent Charity or C) worn thin from the repeated spit polish shines they have endured. I have not seen the shoes worn at Ipswich and prior gigs, but another fan said they have been worn onstage before this tour. They’re black leather shoes, pretty nondescript. The only thing of note is that they look like they have black elastic gores on either side of the shoe tongue. Hey, they’re not boots, but they’re ok. I won’t complain! LOL JL – White long slvd shirt with a pleat on either side of the chest, giving a bib effect (where the heck do the Jays get these shirts? Is there a rock star concert catalog?), leathers, boots. No change in concert attire since there was no intermission. The Concert (5pm) SueC commented that the 5pm show was “lackluster”. One wonders if the fact that there was second performance looming was in the back of their minds. The sound system was very poor, tinny and echoey, worse for vocals than for instruments. Actually, the poor quality sound made LOAM sound more like the original freaky LP version. An interesting effect, and rather cool. The sound has been iffy at a majority of the venues (with the exception of the RAH), and I found it wildly amusing when before The Actor, a man shouted from the audience “We can’t hear properly!” GE answered him, but I couldn’t hear what he said. The last note must be on the continuing saga of Justin’s hair. Hmmmm It’s hard to describe! My preference is to sit between JH and RT for several reasons, but the 5pm concert caught me between the Jays, where I had the left view of JH. Frankly, if he would pass me on the left in McDonalds with his Big Mac and Diet Coke in hand, I doubt if I would recognize him. His hair was poofed up in front; from the left side, it looked like a duck tail. Kind of a Bill Haley thing! Not a bad look, but certainly a different one. The period between concerts was spent smoking on the Regent Theatre steps, looking like escapees from a tough teenage gang. I don’t know if The Band was tired, but I was! The Fashion Report 8pm RT – White long slvd banded collar shirt, black slacks GE – Darn! I didn’t notice. SueC brightly contributed that GE was wearing the Jimi Hendrix shirt. Thank you, SueC! JH – White long slvd ruffled shirt, cuffs rolled up, black slacks JL - White long slvd shirt, cuffs rolled up, leathers, boots JH’s ruffled shirt has become a fast favorite, not just because it’s a lovely shirt, gathered along the shoulders and worn loose and easy, but because an additional button “seems” to come undone for Seesaw. The shirt tends to catch on the Stratocaster guitar strap and pull. “Stunning” is probably the appropriate word here. I didn’t take any notes after those necessary for The Fashion Report, preferring to lose myself in the music and the moment, and refusing to waste time anticipating the music drought until October. Moody Luck had provided me with a group of front row seats for myself and my traveling companions and we had decided to enjoy the final concert in full American Fashion; it was to be our reward for our considerate and restrained behavior throughout the tour of the United Kingdom. (This comment might provoke some sarcastic comments from our past UK seatmates – lol) Good fortune had seated a pair of enthusiastic British fans (an oxymoron if ever there was one) behind us, and we relaxed, knowing that any thrown bottles or glasses would hit them before they hit us. JL has said they get energy from the audience, and for this concert, we threw every bit of energy we had at them. It was a fantastic concert! John sweetly thanked the fans who had done the entire tour (two come to mind in addition to the four stalwart Americans) as part of his speech, and Graeme came to the edge of the stage during the SeeSaw bows, shook my hand and SueC’s and congratulated us on our 40 plus shows. Ray was busy at the end, accepting flowers from an admirer, but gave a great show, cracking up during FML, and barely recovering in time to finish the song. John stopped before he left the stage, gave us a big smile, and put his hands together and bowed. What a great group of guys, and what an INCREDIBLE amount of fun. Final Reflections... I’m writing on the train from Penzance to Reading (then change to Gatwick), a long, almost five hour trip spent in first class comfort. We seem to have traveled the same stations over and over this month and have passed through Plymouth AGAIN. 
It’s a trip of countryside and water. And sheep! I’ve
been here a long time, and it is time to go home. We leave tomorrow.
Our 5 days in Cornwall have been a great way to ease down from the tour
high. Otherwise, the last concert of the tour feels like stepping
off the cliff at Hells Mouth (very beautiful, very steep and very deadly).
Cornwall was beautiful; as pretty a place on earth as I’ve ever seen, and
our travels with Guy will probably be written about, too. We’ve seen
more of the UK than many Britons, been to Edinburgh, and Bournemouth, from
Cardiff to Ipswich and most stations in between. You don’t
see much on tour – venues/hotels/hotel bars. Train Stations and trains.
The pace is too frantic! I don’t know JACK about English food (except
“tea”), the only thing they will give us after 23:00 is sandwiches.
I’ve been living a life of egg mayo (with cress). It’s been wonderful,
most everyone has been friendly and kind, but...
I’m DYING for a decent Margarita! It’s home for me and a hope to return, if for no other reason to remind myself how GREAT a Moodies concert is in America. Like Dorothy said “There’s no place like HOME!” (Of course, I’ll probably be “twitchy” in a couple of weeks! LOL!!!) I’m sorry to say there will be NO REVIEW for Justin’s solo gig in Cleveland. I’m spending the week in Ireland (yep – heading right back after I do some laundry and eat Mexican). He can safely wear the waiter’s outfit for that one! LOL!!! MaggieMay Because it Means so Much, to So Many People |
Cornwall