And we are well and truly launched!
The Front Line launch shindig went ahead last Saturday night, 27th July, in suitably rousing fashion – many thanks to all who made it so!
The Front Line launch shindig went ahead last Saturday night, 27th July, in suitably rousing fashion – many thanks to all who made it so!
Curiouser & Curiouser with shinies! The warehouse setting in the Old Print Works at the back of the Ort café was an incredibly atmospheric setting, perfect for welcoming the machines of death. It looked a little spartan at first, but with the arrival of the traders (Curiouser & Curiouser, Belle Epic, The Oncoming Storm, DeVelvet Empire, Steampunk Workshops and of course, The Last Line publishing house) it was soon teeming with shinies and pretties – and it wasn’t long before the bands arrived to add even more colour.
First up was Crimson Clocks, who will (I hope) need no introduction to readers of this blog. Dressed in an understated little robot/borg/Tron number, I opened the event and we launched into Crimson Circus… it was great to see people dancing and singing along; and particularly pleasing that new tracks ‘Shadow’ and our cover of ‘Master of the Universe’ got a good response!
Next up was Dr Agamemnon When, dressed in an understated little khaki number, who proceeded to debut his stand up act (yes, that was his debut!) to loud guffaws (and some slightly disturbed expressions – Victorian porn? I say!). An actual Victorian joke book full of *hilarious* japes from yesteryear rounded off the act, ably assisted by Crimson Clocks’ Steve providing the ba-dum-tish! needed to cue people in to when they should actually laugh (yes it was that kind of joke book). Marvellous, I say, marvellous!
Then it was time to cut the hilarity as we officially launched The Front Line. The sound of mortar fire and gunshot echoed through the room as Reading4u.co.uk’s Steven C. Davis, dressed in an understated little officer-type number, read my poem, ‘We are not men’ – an extract from a fallen soldier’s pocket-book. I explained what The Home Front and The Front Line were all about; and we concluded the launch section with more readings from Steven and from Dr When, and a final passage read by myself, accompanied only by the beautifully haunting sound of Crimson Clocks’ Jo on the violin….
Birthrite! Then we cranked the volume back up! First up were Birthrite, with their own inimitable style, Erazamus Voss dressed in a veritable succession of understated little jacket-y numbers, bare-foot on the cold floor (risky!). A fantastic performance (as always) from the black country quartet was followed by yet anther superlative performance from the wonderful Gladstone. With Amy Teacake dressed in an understated little headdress-and-shorts number (yes, and a top), and the rest of the band equally understated, the warehouse rang with the sounds of Twisted Lip and even God Save the Queen. Sterling, chaps, simply sterling!
Gladstone As previously mentioned – many thanks to all who came, to all traders, to the bands, to Bike Man Dan who turned out to also be Sound Man Dan and did a great job for us all (including getting his girlfriend to fetch his laptop so I could play the launch sound effects!); to Josie and all at Ort Café. Special thanks go to those who made the book itself possible – Iain for military advice, Colin C, Colin H, Dave and Amanda for proofreading duties, Dave for photography and Colin C for filming, and especially to Jim and The Last Line publishing house…
Right, better get on with the next one!
(Thanks also to Angus Poiselamppe and Steve Joliffe for the photos used in this blog!)
Right, better get on with the next one!
(Thanks also to Angus Poiselamppe and Steve Joliffe for the photos used in this blog!)
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