Hmm. I dearly wish it were so but sadly my enthusiasm somewhat outweighed my ability and the hard bite of reality...

Still have that bass mind, electrics need sorting, but might try to breathe some life into it as a winter project.

Just learn from my experience and don't come back from the pub one night in a slightly over-refreshed state and knock out the frets of a perfectly serviceable bass guitar with a hammer and screwdriver after listening to the bass bit of Roni Size's Brown Paper Bag....

If I dared to prod ours whilst he was asleep, it would be me who ended up making the noise, believe me.

"Remember lads, always try to keep three points of contact..."

Actually thinking about it, there was a steep cliff immediately behind it so that sort of makes sense.

We used to scramble up it occasionally if we had time to kill - I remember some bloke coming out who I thought was going to tell us off, but instead he just critiqued our climbing style.

Wasn't the banking of the seats ridiculously steep for this reason too?

They've played quite a few local gigs and festivals. Their last gig was just before Christmas at Bomba in Exeter but nothing in the diary for 2026 yet - other than our local festival for young musicians here in Moreton in May.

That's brilliant.

Yeah - the jangle is down to him - he plays rhythm and loves a bit of 80s indie jangle! Their newer stuff is a bit more funky / soulful though. He loves Nile Rogers too.

He finds it hilarious (and faintly embarrassing) seeing me messing around with synths and fx pedals etc...

Ours likes most genres - everything from MBV to country, funk and soul but has a heavy guitar bias despite my best efforts. I freaked him out playing Aphex in the car the other week!

He's in a band - this is their debut single (working on EP currently).

juliettesband.bandcamp.com/track/too-far

The amp fiddling was a definite thing with him wasn't it? - saw him do it at several gigs. He was consistently erratic, but I guess that meant they were always memorable live for one reason or another!

I guess the real milestone is the first gig they go to on their own though... H had his first one just before Christmas - he went to see The Last Dinner Party in Plymouth with a mate. They both loved it and were buzzing about it when I collected them. So great to see their enthusiasm for live music.

See, this is why January is a really terrible time to have Dry January...

It's a great first gig - what did he think?

Our son's first big gig was I think Ash at Chagstock when he was 12 or 13. We then went to the 25th anniversary of Beautiful Days the year after where he got to see his hero Johnny Marr as well as loads of other good stuff. He's now my regular gig buddy.

At this point, other than a few tracks on John Peel, I didn't really know their music at all.

It was a definite rite of passage - they blew me away and glad to say I got to see them several times more over the years - the last time was at the final concert performed at Hammersmith Palais in 2007.

He just got home, drenched.

He has - to quote him directly - been "scarred by water".

Thanks. The event itself is at the start of May and last two times he's done it (35 mile and 45) it's been the heat which was more of an issue so fingers crossed...

Oh I'm not doing it... it's all down to him and his team. I'm currently laid up with a knee injury so hobbling down the shops is my current limit.

Hope you get positive news soon. Sending best wishes to you and your mum.

Slow... but getting there.