NIK: Big Green Gathering

[the mikster]

HI there, just a quick report about what the BGG was like. I turned up at
the site on Friday night, and saw that I had missed ICU, who played on
Thursday, and saw that Nik's allstars weren't due to play until Sunday
evening, and rather than camp out on stony ground relying on sun warmed
showers and organic toilets I retired to Bath until Sunday.

The site was dead good, not crowded and with a relaxed ambiance. Plenty of
healing massage meditation crafts if you like that sort of thing, more
drumming workshops than you would believe. Anyway Nik was due to start at
10 pm, but they started setting up at this time. They actually started at
11. The band was Nik, captain baby face somebody or other on trumpet and
another brass instrument looking like a bit like a trumpet, a guitarist, a
drummer, a bassist and the guy who usually plays hammond organ. They
played for an hour and a half, the bass player broke a string early on and
while he was trying to replace it Nik played a flute piece called song to
a cuckoo (or something similar) with clapping accompaniment. The bass
player played the rest of the evening with 3 strings, which was quite an
accomplishment. The songs were all cool jazz instrumentals, nice. They did
a James Brown song, but I know not what.

After the first 90 mins they were joined by Judge Trev and Commander Jim
Hawkwman (wearing a cardiacs Tshirt). They played a ska number. Jim left
the stage and the rest of them reverted to jazz stuff. It was interesting
to hear Trev play in this set up, as his solos tended to be blues based
and therefore more interesting (to me) than the other stuff. After another
30 mins Jim rejoined them for Bones of Elvis (which Nik said they'd done
earlier, I guess with ICU on Thursday). After a total of 2 and a half
hours they stopped. They played one final 'There's a fungus amongst us'
and then stopped, planning to start playing elsewhere. As it was now so
late everywhere else was closed, and I'm unsure if they found anywhere to
set up, but I walked around the site and saw no sign of them.

Trev said that the gig on Thursday was the first they've played (?), but
they hope to go on tour with Poisoned Electric Head. He also said that
they'd be playing at the big festival at the end of August. I looked in
festival eye and didn't see an obvious festy, so does anyone know where he
means?

If any of my photos turn out I'll put them on the web.

Cheers

Mike w