(Strictly speaking, as I write this, the band was put back together, and has now been put back in the box of happy memories, tied up in ribbon, and lovingly chucked in the loft.)

I went to the Planet-X reunion last May, which was a lot of fun, going out and dancing to those old tunes with some of the old gang. Being a bit shy even now though, there were a lot of recognised faces, but of people I never talked to back then, and still didn’t at the reunion. The build up to this reunion sparked a thought amongst the memories though. All the nights at Planet-X back in the day, and the gigs we did in various places, including my own first ever gig at Planet-X itself. I’d just turned 39, so had a 40^th coming up, and thought I’d ask the guys if they fancied getting together for a gig again at my birthday party. I’ve never been one for organizing parties for myself, or at all, but I thought I’d do it just this once. I actually went and booked the venue on the afternoon of the Planet-X reunion. Crosby Comrade’s Club had been booked for me for my 21^st all those years ago, and was the second gig I’d ever done. I think the inspiration for that was a friend’s 21^st a few months earlier in the same place, which TV Smith played at. (Can’t say I remember all that much about mine…)

So I was now on a mission to put The Firecharmers back together and make a real night of it when the birthday bash came around. I saw Gary at Le Bateau, which is where the Planet-X reunion was held, the final home of the original club having been closed years ago, and recently demolished to make way for the massive new shopping centre. I asked him if he wanted to do it, and he wasn’t all that bothered really, saying maybe do three songs just for a laugh. Rod was there too, and he said he’d get up for a song or two, so not the return of the band I was hoping for, but we were still the best part of a year away from the event, so I was hoping the idea would grow on Gary, and we’d be doing a nice full set. I phoned Gareth the next day, and he was well up for it.

Part of the reason for never having organised parties for myself is probably that I’m not hugely fond of them. Adding the bonus of getting to play all the old Firecharmers songs again with the guys made the difference though. I’ve always been terrible at keeping in touch with people properly, but facebook and myspace helped a lot in finding some old friends and making it likely that there’d be a decent turn out.

So we may as well jump a few months, and as things were beginning to loom on the horizon, a bit more organising got done. I called Alastair, who used to manage the Firecharmers, and he’s still involved in doing lighting, and works a part of a group of guys with sound gear as well, so full on lights and good PA for the night all booked, lovely. And Gary got in touch about setting up rehearsals, and there was no mention of ‘just three songs’, so I didn’t remind him. With Gareth having moved away now, any rehearsals were going to have to be packed into the few days leading up to the party, but we were all getting on with individual practice. There were various comments on facebook, mainly about sore fingers.

With a week left, we got together for our first rehearsal, which was great fun. It was hard to believe it’d been 15 years since the last time we’d been together as the Firecharmers. Even the songs just fell into place. If we’d only got one crack at playing for everyone, I think we’d have been alright. It wasn’t perfect, but for a band getting back together after so long, the first run through of most of the songs would have been perfectly acceptable I think.

The first rehearsal was on a Sunday, and we were straight back in the next day for a second one. Unfortunately, I’d started to feel ill just before the second, but managed to get through it, and with one more due the day before the party, we were all confident that it was going to go well. Sadly, Rod was away working, so couldn’t join us for the rehearsals, and was also going to miss the night itself.

I’ve never had the ox-like constitution some are blessed with. In fact I’d say I’m right at the other end of the scale, and after two full rehearsals, and a third before it when I went into Vulcan to make sure all my gear was working I was a bit fucked up. Between the second proper rehearsal, and the final one on the day before the party I felt like shite. It was like being seasick for the best part of a week. That last rehearsal on the Friday went well enough, but I was getting a little light headed by the end of it having hardly eaten through the week, and stopped completely for about 24 hours by then.

So the day itself arrives! Hurrah! Much excitement! Many exclamation marks! And a nightmare trying to get out of bed. Loads still to do as well, with the first priority to get to Ormskirk and help with transporting the PA to the venue. After the struggle to get up, I had a bit of trouble getting in touch with Alastair, and was now at the point where I was going to be late already. When I did get hold of Al, I’d misunderstood, and he wasn’t involved in the PA move to the gig, so he gave me Matt’s number and I let him know I was going to be late. I was getting a lift over from Stu in his van, but he managed to get pulled over on the way to mine! Was starting to look like a good idea to cut my losses on the venue hire and PA, and go back to bed to get over my lurgy. Of course it wasn’t as simple as that, and there were loads of people I didn’t want to disappoint, but I still had the seasick feeling going on, happily starting to ease now and again, so the light was starting to appear at the end of the tunnel.

Once Stu arrived, the PA move went smoothly, and once in the venue, Stu and I went to Vulcan and got the band gear for the gig, dropped that off, and headed back to mine while the guys set up the sound and lighting rigs. I’d done one mix CD for the evening while I was trying to get hold of Al, so I got a second worked out and burned while we had a brew. Apart from not doing the CDs through the week due to illness, I hadn’t felt like doing anything, even making calls to check people were still coming. I was getting paranoid now though, worrying that hardly anyone would turn up.

We headed back to the Commies so I could hook up with the rest of the band and get our soundcheck done. We got quite a while, as The Whip Hand were held up, so we managed to sort out a bit of trouble with one of the mics causing feedback a lot of feedback. Paul Skinner was playing too, so a quick soundcheck for him, and then one for The Whip Hand when they arrived. After all the trouble with me being late going for the PA, we were finished up with the soundcheck by about ten past 7, so only just after what was supposed to be the start time for the party.

By this time, the food and balloons were all in their rightful places (thanks Mum), and that was that, time to see how many people would turn up. I had planned to wear various t-shirts on top of each other when we played, but everything was too much of a rush in the end, and rather than go home after the party had already started, I had to make do with the crappy supermarket polo shirt I had on from the morning. So the Mega City 4 to Doughboys to Firecharmers t-shirt reveals never got to happen.

Party !!!

It was so good to see so many people that I haven’t seen for years. Impossible to really spend enough time with them all I’m afraid, but the newly found keeping in touch tools now need to be used properly. It’ll be a challenge, but with facebook, myspace and whatever comes next, there’s no excuse for losing touch anymore. Until society collapses obviously, but that’s a story for next week (not literally I hope).

So with the bands getting finished part way into the party, I had to make a couple of changes to the timings of which band went on when, and to fit in a cake ceremony that was initially going to be up first, but we decided to do just before the Firecharmers played.

First up was Paul Skinner. A good friend from years ago, and a very talented singer songwriter. His song Romeo is right up there as one of my all time favourites. I got a mention when he did it too, but I did pressure him a bit. It was a new sound he had going on, making use of modern technology with a laptop running a backtrack for some of his songs. I really enjoyed seeing him up on stage again. I just wonder if he’ll carry on and do more now?

Next up were The Whip Hand. Not a lot to say about their set. They’re shit hot. Always. Check ‘em out:

http://www.myspace.com/thewhiphand

http://www.myspace.com/thewhiphandacoustic

…and they were shit hot.

Next we had the cakeathon. I had a smashing speech made for my by a young interloper that had snuck into our old timers get together. We had a few other surprise cake presentations as well. Gareth the Firecharmers drummer had had his birthday a couple of days before mine, and an old friend Graham, had his 40^th on the same day, though I’d never realised that was the case.

And finally, after many years of silence, The Firecharmers are resurrected, and take to the stage. The rehearsals had gone well enough that we extended the set list we’d semi-planned well in advance, and did a few extra songs that came together nicely in rehearsal too. So it was quite a long set, but it was over all too soon. I enjoyed every second of it though. Even the challenge of trying the play the first song when suddenly blinded by strobes (Al’s invested in bigger ones over the years, way back when you could fit his strobe in your pocket).

I even had a bit of a jump around, and it really did feel like the most natural thing in the world to be up there with the guys banging out the old tunes. What made it even better than it used to be though was a whole load of friends getting really into it. Back in the day they there were a lot of good friends who’d support us and come and see us, but with this being a one off, there was an extra buzz, and a lot more of them all there together, rather than spread across various gigs that they could get to. By the end of the gig the dance floor was full , and most of the guys were even singing along.

So, all in all, a fantastic day. I’m glad the rest of the band, and friends did a better job of inviting people than I did. I’m glad that I have family and friends that filled in the gaps I’d left in the planning. I’m glad the guys in the band wanted to play, and agreed to do it. And the one thing I’m glad I did was just having the idea in the first place.

A few people asked me on the night whether we’d be putting the band back together again, but I don’t think that’ll be happening. Even without the fact that Gareth has moved away, I don’t think doing ordinary gigs would be anywhere near as much fun as this was. We wouldn’t be able to get that many people together and all up for it each time either. Maybe someone else’s birthday in the future? Or maybe not. There were a few people who didn’t make it for various reasons, and it would have been great to have them there, but I don’t think I could have enjoyed the night anymore than I did.

I even had an eclair as we were packing up too.

Smashing.

mmmmm…….