Chapter 9 : Getting Back
Together Again
Collectively, having done nothing musically since 1992,
617 would mostly still get together for their "Band Meal" every
Christmas. It was actually at the Christmas 2004 night out, that the idea of a
full reunion was seriously suggested : Paddy was going to be getting married in
October 2005 and between him and Miff, had come up with the idea to have
617 play at his wedding !
Well, Paddy had always been such an integral part of
617's history, that when this was suggested, all the original members
immediately agreed - that included original guitarist, Geoff, original Bass
player, Kev, along with "surviving members" Keri, Ady, Gary and Muz. This was
somehow very appropriate to the occasion, as these were the people that Paddy
had known longest. Plus, at that time, the band had lost touch with Rich
anyway, and it was known that Mark had moved out of the area and was playing
with another band called The Lizard Kings.
After the initial "agreement in principle", nothing really
happened (always a problem when such things are discussed when there's beer
involved.... !) The band needed to take this seriously and drive it along if it
was really going to work. It was obvious to everyone that after almost 14
years, there was no way that 617 were going to be able to just turn up
and play a set... some serious rehearsing was going to be needed - not to
mention getting the P.A. and some lighting equipment together again. So
eventually, in March 2005, the phones started ringing and the band began to
make it happen. The first thing was to have a meeting to discuss what the band
was going to do and how they were going to achieve it. That meeting took place
at the Victoria Hotel, in Beeston and there, a rudimentary set list was
thrashed out so that the band would know what they needed to rehearse. There
would be no "new material", it would just be fun - and appropriate for Paddy -
to play some of the "old favourites" again.
First thing to do was find somewhere to rehearse - after
all this time, all the places where 617 used to rehearse 15-20 years
ago, were no longer there. But Ady came to the rescue and arranged for the band
to rehearse at The Stute (Ilkeston Rugby Club) in April 2005. As quite a
centralised location (except for Kev !) this was quite handy... until the day
of the first rehearsal and everyone saw the two flights of Fire Escape steps
that all the gear had to go up and down !! The phrase "I'm getting too old for
this" was heard numerous times as flight cases and amps were being lugged up
those steps ! Another problem was that although all the members still had their
individual instruments and equipment, the band no longer had an amp or "small"
cabs to rehearse vocals through. But another "old friend" of the band, Tim
Saddler, a long time friend of Gary's, helped out by loaning a mixer amp and a
couple of 2x12" cabs - which Keri subsequently bought off him.
As well as being the first time the band had played
together since 1992, this was also the only time 617 had played as a
six-piece, except for one rehearsal way back in 1986, just before Muz left the
band. This meant that, as well as even trying to remember how the old songs
went, quite a few of the arrangements needed altering, to take into account
keyboards and two guitars ! But seeing as nobody could really remember
the songs anyway, it was probably not really too much of a problem !! Gary
always used to jot down the music whenever he learned songs and so it was a
great help that he still had all the old 617 music and setlists in his
files - everyone was soon asking Gary "what key was this in ?", "what were the
chords in that bit ?" and "did we really used to do that one ..!?!"
That first rehearsal was pretty messy, music-wise.... but
God, it was so much fun for everyone to be playing together again ! It
just went to show how songs that the band played almost in their sleep, week
in, week out, had been almost totally forgotten after 12-13 years. But the band
resolved to try and rehearse every 2 or 3 weeks (holidays permitting !) and
after each one, a handful of "new" songs were chosen from the set, to be
attempted at the next one. There were bits of paper all over the rehearsal room
containing music, lyrics, chord sequences - even effects settings and patch
numbers, as the band tried to remember "how we used to do it !" Steadily, it
all began to come together again !
With the music-side of things taking shape, the band then
had to address an equally important problem... the P.A.
Of course, the original P.A. had been kept all these
years, for just such an occasion as this.... but what state was it in... would
it work...? Gary had actually "loaned" the big Peavey cabs to some
friends of his, local metal band, Stone - so at least the band knew
they still worked. But nobody had used the microphones, leads,
multicore, nor been inside the flight case of the Yamaha mixing desk,
for some 12 years..... And what about lights ? To do things "properly",
617 would need lights again, and there simply weren't any, as Coop had
sold everything back in '92.
Then thankfully, with so much else going on with the
music, it turned out that the band didn't have to worry about P.A. and lights
after all : Once again, old friend Miff came to the rescue, by offering to
supply a P.A. and a lighting rig, as his contribution to the bands reunion -
and Paddy's "wedding present " !
So 617 were just left with sorting out the music,
rehearsing and trying to get a 1-hour show together, ready for Paddy &
Gail's big day.
On to Chapter 10
:
Page 9 of
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