We have been looking forward to this day since last year! Celebrating Jamaican Independence at the most friendly pub, The Fusilier, collaborating with Tallawah Sound to bring the best in Jamaican music to the crowd, accompanied by the sweet smells and tastes of Nally's Jamaican Jerk Grill. The sun was shining, the atmosphere was so relaxed and the vibe was just right.
We travelled in the Reggu-wagon to Kingsheath to pick up Angus and Owen. Sugar had travelled there as well for the pick up. It seemed an extremely short journey compared to Thursday, although Angus insisted it was because of the great company he provided!
When we arrived, Tallawah Sound were in full swing, and the beer garden and onto the canal side was full of happy customers enjoying the music. As we got inside, the bar staff were all working tirelessly, zipping back and forth and keeping everyone happy. I do just love to see a busy pub!
When we arrived, we met Dawn, James and Teeby Weeby. This is a cool gig for Teebs, as he works just down the road from the venue, and so it had become his work local. In fact, when I posted the set list for this one on the app the band uses to communicate, Teebs was just walking into The Fusilier on his lunch break! That's what I call fate. You know it's going to be good when the universe lines up for you like that!
Siobhan and The Fusilier family always look after us so well! We have a green (more blue) room upstairs to get away to, and there was rum! We all hung out a little bit upstairs before we got back downstairs to see what was happening, and we discovered a little bit of an issue!
The PA wasn't there! Unfortunately, the sound team that they'd booked hadn't shown up! It was all a big drama, but we phoned our guys at dB Acoustics to see what they were saying. Will answered the phone, already a little bit drunk, as he was enjoying a rather rare night off. He was also ironing a dress. Normal people would presume he was helping a friend get ready, but I needed to know what kind of night out he was trying to have... Anyway, luckily Brendon and Grandad were available! We discussed with Siobhan and everything was agreed, so we called back and said 'Yes please, GO GO GO!' Within 10 minutes, Will had sorted everything out, and everyone was on their way to The Fusilier to save our bacon.
A short while later, Grandad and Breb arrived, parked up, and we helped with the load in after saying many many thank you's. Breb described himself as not being 'unhappy', but also not overly happy! He loves us, otherwise he would have said No, I'm sure! And Grandad let us know that him and Nan had been intending to surprise us by coming for the gig later on, and we'd completely ruined the surprise and now Nan couldn't come! But they were there and they were their usual selves and got right on making the PA happen as fast as possible so that we could get the show on the road!
We helped as much as we could with things, but we don't really know which wire goes where! So mainly I just provided water and got out the road of the professionals. We're so grateful for our Sound Family. They always have our back, even with ten minutes notice! Incredible.
We had some food from Nally's, which was delicious and seasoned to perfection, by the way! And we hung out upstairs mainly and had a good laugh. It was great to have the amazing James Crosdale on the bass with us, and it was really lovely that we had some time to catch up properly in the green room with him. It was nice to spend some more time getting to know Owen as well. He's a lovely boy!
We got on the stage around 10pm in the end and went alllll the way through the 2 sets so that we still finished on time for the curfew. It was hard work, but the crowd is just so great at The Fusilier that we had a really enjoyable time playing. The thing about this event is that everyone really knows their reggae, so we fit right in, even with our more obscure options in the set.
We finished the set with Hotel California, and an absolutely face-melting guitar solo from Angus, who, like a pirate, is fuelled very well by rum! I just love that song so much!!
Everyone played really well and we had such a cool time at The Fusilier. We were very sorry to hear of Siobhan's recent bereavement, and we wanted to say how thankful we are and how incredibly strong she was to continue with the event in the wake of that. She's an epic landlady and the life and soul of The Fusilier, and you can really tell how much work and love she puts into the place, and how much the customers appreciate it.
After looking forward to being back at The Fusilier since this time last year, I can assure you we weren't in the slightest bit disappointed! If you ever get a chance, any time of day or night, to pop in for a drink, you'll be in for a warm welcome and a comfortable and relaxing visit.
Don't forget to check out Tallawah Sound, The Fusilier and Nally's Jamaican Jerk Grill!
We'll be hitting Northwich Pina Colada Festival next on 17th August!
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