Greenbelt

Just back from a great weekend at Greenbelt. The weather was superb, punters lovely, atmosphere chilled and friendly - what more could one want from a festival? Oh, and my gig on Sunday in the Performance Cafe was great fun. Thanks to everyone who came and supported. It was also nice to see some unexpected faces there (you know who you are!), and new people too.

We did a lot of songs we'd played before, plus a couple of new ones - What a Woman Shouldn't Do, which is kind of a tango-inspired song, and then another song that I haven't actually thought of a title yet for, although I've been getting lots of suggestions. It all seemed to go down well. Hooray.

Gigs and more gigs

Did a storming gig at the National Theatre yesterday evening. I think it's one of the most enjoyable ones I've done there. It was actually nice to be behind the piano, for a change - all the other gigs I've done there, I've had an accompanist on the piano, but this time it was all my own songs or arrangements. It was a nice feeling, and the songs got a really good response.

There also seemed to be more people there than normal, including a lot of French and Spanish. So at the end I was able to brush off a little of my Spanish, talking with some members of the audience. I love that - it's so rare that I actually speak it these days, and the old language skills are getting a bit rusty! Sold a bumper load of CDs, too. All in all, a great evening.

I'm now looking forward to my gigs at the Betsey Trotwood on Thurs 23, and at Greenbelt on Sunday - I'll have the full band with me for both of those. I'm just praying the rain holds off for a few more days.

The pitfalls of buying gear

I'm revising my opinion of Turnkey, the music shop on Charing Cross Road. For the uninitiated, Turnkey says it has the cheapest prices in Europe, and I think it possibly does - not that I've really done the research. However, most times I've been there, I've either had really bad service (earlier in the year they told me they definitely had a certain item that wasn't actually in stock when I went to pick it up), or felt slightly alienated by the boys' club atmosphere.

However, when I went there the other day, I got a pleasant surprise. OK, so there was still the ubiquitous teenager playing the same three chords over and over again on a synth in the corner. And then another teenager in the guitars section playing the opening riff to Metallica's Enter Sandman ad nauseam.

But I got a blinder of a deal on an amp I've been intending to get for ages - years, in fact - that just happened to be in stock when I asked. Hooray! The nice man in the shop gave me a stonking discount and I can honestly say it probably is the cheapest I would find anywhere. And I didn't even go in there for the amp, I went to look at keyboards. Now that was a good salesman.

So, Turnkey, you are redeemed.