I’m a bit behind with my blog entries these days but you know how it is, end of the year and soooooo much needs to be done.
Anyway, I had the pleasure of playing in Grolloo in Holland recently. For those of you who don’t know, Grolloo is a very small village up there in the North of Holland. It would be just another name on a map if it hadn’t been for a bunch of guys who decided to form a band way back in the ’60’s. The called themselves Cuby & the Blizzards and they became quite famous so they did! I don’t know if there is a website for them. Cuby (Harry Muskee) is still gigging and I had the pleasure of talking to him a few years ago at a festival. As you can imagine, he has lots of stories – of the time that John Mayall visited him in Groloo, of playing together on a bill with Fleetwood Mac [when Peter was still in the band].
So, with all that music history attached to the place, it made it all the more special to play there. Dick, the promoter from Roots on the Hill, had seen me play in Assen on the ‘War Child” tour. He wanted to arrange a gig between himself and myself and do something together for a charity again so this became the opportunity to do so.
The venue itself reminded me quite a lot of a typical Irish hotel ballroom. All the local crew were really friendly and helpful. I’ve played a good bit in this part of the country over the years so they knew what to expect I suppose. The gig itself went well, which is always nice of course because at the end of the day THAT’S what you’re there for. The audience was appreciative and a pleasure to play for and so before we knew it two hours had gone by in the blink of an eye.
That was our last gig on the European mainland for this year. I’m looking forward to getting back out on the road more in 2007 and playing the new songs live. OK, Virginia and Dublin next. It’s a hard life sometimes!