The Birdwell Venue, near Barnsley 19th March 2026

 

    Let's be honest: if we're going to drive 200 miles north on a Friday afternoon, there had better be a good reason for it. Thankfully, there was. 

    We were booked to play at the Birdwell Venue, an astonishing hall in the high street, opposite the village school. It's a venue with a long and distinguished history of major acts over the years, and has a capacity of several hundred. 

    Filling that enormous floor was never going to be a realistic proposition for us, but the numbers that did turn up to see us were enthusiastic and appreciative, with one or two telling us afterwards that they'd travelled some distance to see us. 

    A big shout out to Chris doing our sound and mix, and the nearby Premier Inn for having the best beds in Christendom.

    The drive home on Saturday was as challenging as the drive up, with multiple jams and crashes having to be negotiated - and all incidents seem to involve wrecked tyres and wheels.. But it was worth the trip.

The Avenue Theatre, Sittingbourne - March 7th 2026.

    It was 'noisy tyre' time as we made the hundred mile trip to Sittingbourne via the ghastly concrete runway known as the southern bit of the M25.

    As for the Avenue Theatre itself - well, from the outside it had sort of looks that only its mother or its architect could love. Another victim of heartless rebuilding in the 60s or 70s?

    However, the inside was a different story. A maze of cosy corridors and stairs - and a very handy lift - led to a lovely little auditorium and a very welcoming team. Alison on tea and Hoovers, and Graham and Jacob on sound. The decor was perhaps little on the red side....

    It wasn't a full house in the end, but they were appreciative and seemed to enjoy the show, with plenty of kind comments from those keen for a chat after we'd finished. You can just make them all out through the mist left by a somewhat overenthusiastic smoke machine.

    We'd hardly got all our stuff unpacked on the Sunday when news came though that they've kindly invited us back - twice - in 2027. Now that's forward planning. Let's hope they've found some Tarmac for the M27 by then, and that I didn't get too many point having been 'flashed' in the roadworks on the way home at J10.