Instead of being at work on a Friday I’m on a journey from Oxford to Evesham. We’re on the highway to, hang on, let me check…we’re on the A44, passing through pretty Cotswold villages. We’ve got Haribo Tangfastics, rooms booked at The Iron Road and an urge for more live music*.

Terminus are going to play a different set to the one they played last night in Witney but some of them are having trouble with the concept of set A and set B. The no stairs load in pleases everyone because it leaves more time for drinking. There’s a school’s out for summer feeling in the air. I spend a pleasant five minutes watching the Terminus backdrop getting bulldog clipped up. With all the “A bit higher on your side, a bit lower on your side, to me, to you” goings on it’s like an episode of The Chuckle Brothers in black T-shirts.

Speaking of T-shirts, some of Terminus have the conversation about whether it is or isn’t acceptable to wear your own T-shirt on stage. Terminus have got merch for the first time and are excited by it. You might think “Grind, wiggle wiggle” is an odd thing to print on a T-shirt, but it commemorates a dance done by sections of the audience when Terminus play Rose Tattoo’s “Sweetmeat”. You need to come to a gig to see it in all its glory and I’ll provide a tutorial if you want to join in but don’t know how. One audience member picks it up very fast, takes his shirt off and performs it with gusto. I’ve rarely seen such enthusiastic gyrations in public.

After Terminus have played set B (or was it set A?) we get the Sykko Dollz. I’m seeing them for the second time and I’m already hooked by them. It all gets a bit weird when they have clowns that hand out shots. It’s sweaty in the venue anyway and I’m impressed by the dedication of those willing to don clown suits and add to the already compelling spectacle of the Dollz in full force.

Headline act Stone Trigger go on when it’s as hot and sticky as a microwaved apple pie but they don’t get slowed down by it. Nor do they insist on having all the limelight. They get a multiple vocalists version of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” going which delights the crowd and also makes the crowd a bit less crowded because some of the crowd is now on the stage. Also, all the crowd is now singing so it’s hard to know where crowd ends and the band begins. There are a couple of rock celebs in the crowd, with Evesham being the birthplace of NWOBHM noise merchants Wrathchild (and Sykko Dollz singer Gaz Harris having done a big chunk of vocal duties in Wrathchild as Gaz Psychowrath).

It’s a very successful night and I’m relieved that there is no long journey home. The bar stays packed with chatting, dancing and drinking patrons until a rock and roll hour way past midnight. I notice when it’s approaching midnight and say, to Alan, while pointing at the clock, “It’s two minutes to midnight Alan”. Alan starts singing an Iron Maiden classic. I say “I knew I could rely on you” and smile thinking about the lovely chats I’ve had with people tonight, some of whom I only just met.

The gig in brief

Most disturbing sentence of the night: “He could have got it all cheaper in Thailand”.

Number of Motörhead T shirts in the venue: 2.

Number of clowns in the venue: 2.

Number of crisps flavours available behind bar: Dunno, because they do great burgers so I didn’t need any crisps. I chose the Lemmy burger. I got to say “I’m the Lemmy” when my food arrived. John had the B.B. King burger which arrived while he was sound checking so he had the slightly cold chips blues.

*This blog is mostly about the stuff that happens around the music. Plenty of people film bands onstage, or post set lists online, or review the music and that’s great. I however, will mainly be reviewing the dicking around between the music and facilitating a glimpse into the (probably) exciting life of a band on the road.