The music in the van on the way to the gig was Spinal Tap. Hearing St. Hubbins sing “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” always puts me in a good mood. Load in was easy with no stairs. The stage in The Bell has low beams and I hoped no-one would bang their head (or if they did it would be very gently but look funny and be caught on film so Terminus could make £250 on You’ve Been Framed). The Bell is a 17^th Century inn and is a proper job of a pub and Terminus are playing there for the first time. While setting up they were asked “Do you do Bon Jovi’s Summer Of ’69?”* which amused me.

Their first set opened with The Cult’s Lil’ Devil (which is currently used on an EasyJet advert. I wonder if this will make it more or less popular with audiences in future?) By song three, Gary Moore’s “Walking by Myself”, some great dancing had broken out. Local DJ Chris King spent some time on tambourine and by half way through the first set it was clear that the Bicestonians in The Bell are really keen for a good night out. I spoke to a friendly couple who had come in at lunch time for two drinks after shopping and then stayed. I hope they hadn’t bought any frozen food.

The Terminus signature tune of Rose Tattoo’s “Sweetmeat” with its grind, wiggle wiggle dance went well. I’m wearing in some new DMs, but due to all the other noise no one heard them creak while I was dancing. I can thank St. Hubbins (the patron saint of quality footwear) for this.

Set two opened with Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” and then it was classic rock and metal all the way. There was a spontaneous guitar off between Liam and John. As the crowd cheered for one and then the other I reflected that it was the time of  night when people will amiably cheer at the slightest provocation. Hurrah! Yay! Woo-hoo!

A girl standing next to me correctly guessed the last song would be Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name”. It got bouncy on the dance floor because everyone loves shouting “Flip you, I won’t do what you told me” on a Saturday night when they’ve had a few Honey JD and lemonades. After this there were shouts of “More!” and I thought don’t let The Bell end.

The gig in brief:

Number of Motörhead T-shirts in venue: 2

Number of crisps flavours available behind bar: Loads, there’s traditional potato plus Monster Munch, Quavers and Mini Cheddars.

Interesting design features: Textured wallpaper in ladies loo, fireplace and kettle on stage behind drummer.

Excitement causing sentence of the night: “Did you know Bicester has a Wimpy?”

*No, but we’ll have a go at Bryan Adams’ Livin’ On A Prayer 😉