Red Guitars 2023 Through A Lens

September. Here at last and four weeks off to drive the van with Lou on the Red Guitars 2023 UK tour. It is an incredible experience, days dissolve and morph into journeys and cities. The tour, and every gig, is well documented on www.red-guitars.com  – so this is not about the gigs.

We started at Manchester’s Night and Day Café, central Manchester is a fast and heady mix of posh shopping and everyone rushing around with purpose but in a festival, circus type vibe and with a heavy scent in the air. A great gig and grerat to meet Charlie from Cape Town, but also great that Newcastle Cluny was next in a more familiar and homely east coast sort of setting – rivers, bridges, estuary. The Newcastle gig involved driving the minibus from Hull for logistical reasons, JR and Matt drove the van up the coast from Brid with Jerry. So me and Lou were accompanied by the constant stories, joking, and laughing of Jos, Hal and Doug including Doug finding an app on his phone which enabled Pavarotti to sing Good Technology, before a much needed pit-stop at Thirsk on the A19 for coffee and snacks. After the Cluny we’re back in the van and a wondrous drive up the centre of the country to Glasgow Attic followed, with a ‘Welcome to Scotland’ and great view into Alba from a lay-by on the A68. We met Andrew and Peter Holmes of Selkirk Glass on the way up and had a delicious next day breakfast at the Single-End, if you’re ever in Glasgow…

The way back down took us through Dumfries and Galloway on the M74 in Scotland that becomes the M6 (no ‘Welcome to England’ sign) before turning left and into the Dales, with coffee and scones on Church Street in Ilkley, negotiating a single track road in a long wheel base over the moors at rush hour and then down to the Old Woollen in Farsley, with old chum Choque at the helm. The next was a day off at home, spent downloading, processing and uploading and posting the photos of the gigs so far to keep a rolling record of the tour, and to promote the next part, by showing what a great time we were all having. Then on to the unique Dorothy Pax in Sheffield’s Victoria Quays and being introduced to a 2.5% Grapefruit Radler in unfathomably tall glasses with half a grapefruit in each (thanks to Richard), before a quick breather and then the long journey south, over the bridge and back on the road to Bristol.

Bristol Exchange kicked off the southern leg and it was great to catch up with our friend Nick Harper who came over for the show. We stayed in a converted coal shed in Bedlington, and spent the morning, exploring East Street, and discovering the Art Collective and Emporium on the corner of Church Road. Back in the van with Lou and the Southampton Joiners followed, steeped in musical history and one of the oldest and best grass roots venues on the circuit. The merch stand and gallery were generating lots of discussion, meeting people and sharing stories and good times, old and new.

Next up Brum and the Birmingham O2 via a compulsory stop at West Kennett long barrow for an informative and enlightening missive from JR and to soak up lots of whatever it is as we drove on through the beautiful megalithic landscape surrounding Avebury with the Ridgeway to the right, heading north towards the anthropocenic Bull Ring. Birmingham was great, getting the van from a side street in the small hours and a loud and close voice – “hey man, who are you, what are you doing, where are you from? …What you say? …Hull? …Hull? …Aah, (with a broad smile) welcome to Birmingham man, Birmingham’s beautiful!”

We woke early to head east, Norwich bound and looking forward to a day off and an all-in Air BnB. Strolling through Norwich, the Lanes and Market by day and in the evening Hal made an amazing smoked salmon cream cheese pasta for everyone. After the gig we breakfasted in the Lanes and I came away from Norwich with a neat haircut and me and Lou made off with a tub of complementary sweets (called Dexter’s) from the BnB, motoring south-west to Oxford Street’s famous 100 Club. The 100 Club was packed and it was great to meet up again with Michel Faber and my old mate Chris from the shop. We left Oxford Street late and headed to the next Travelodge along the Westway in the midst of an incessant lightning storm.

The next morning was a relatively short trip to Oxford along the A40, Western Avenue passing the famous Hoover Building before dropping down into the Colne Valley with skies full of red kites above. The Bullingdon, not the infamous Club, but an equally well known venue for another reason on the Cowley Road was the penultimate gig of the tour. The BnB turned out to be the most famous on tour, Christchurch College, with breakfast served in the Great Hall, home to Hogwarts and Harry Potter.

Finally, the last gig approached and we chose the scenic drive south and through the South Downs and on to Hove and Brighton Chalk. We had a day off to explore Brighton’s Lanes and in the evening Jerry and Jacqui took us on a night-time sea-front walk along Kemptown and Marine Parade to Brighton Marina and a regular haunt and delicious meal with a high tide and huge waves from the remnants of Storm Ciarán crashing on its West Arm. Every gig was a celebration, meeting so many people and filled with so much joy and friendship, starting 2023 live at O’Riley’s in Hull and with Brighton being the last and Jerry’s home town seemed a fitting end to the tour. A privilege to be a part of. Thanks guys. Here’s to more to come.

October followed that. Whilst Red Guitars were filming for the Good Technology video, I was able to photograph the alien landscapes of scrap metal waste and recycling. Some of the images led to a small exhibition at the anniversary show, two for the cover of the 12” (and t-shirt) and others made the individual gig posters for the tour.  These were put together to form an exhibition at the St Johns Hotel in Hull – as part of Humber Eco Fest – which has been running since October 11^th. We worked with Docks Beers in Grimsby to produce a vegan bitter called ‘Good Technology’ especially for the exhibition. The musical element of the exhibition was a QR code that led directly to the new video so you could watch the film at the exhibition whilst enjoying a pint of Good Technology. Hic.