March wasn’t such a great month for gigs – or my health, for that matter.
I only managed to do one gig. In fairness, I didn’t have many others booked. But the majority of March was taken up by a severe case of the flu. Over such a long period, I don’t think that I’ve ever coughed up as much green stuff or had had the sheer volume of yellow stuff coming out of my nose when I blew it. It was at least a colourful experience, albeit one that lasted almost three weeks.
It all started with a sore throat that mysteriously appeared, then quickly escalated to aches and pains, followed by an intense fever and a serious case of ill voice. For my solitary gig in March, I tried to push through the illness barrier. I managed to get through my set, which went okay. But my voice was about three octaves lower than normal.
I had tickets to go and see Creeper in Brighton in mid-March, and I wasn’t going to miss that. Fortunately, I felt quite a bit better and the ill voice had gone. So, I made a weekend of it, and it was great. I love Brighton and don’t think I’ve been there in at least ten years. I have had so much fun there over the years, mainly with Langton, Luke, and Moz. I had a chance to visit the old haunts, which is also an appropriate term when seeing Creeper. They are amazing live and are quickly becoming one of my favourite bands. I am so glad that I got off my sick bed and made it down there.
I made sure I got plenty of sea air, which my mum is always saying is good for you. But then that depends on where you are. I doubt air from the sea that’s full of sewage is going to be good for you. Luckily, there was none of that in Brighton. At least, not as far as my reduced sense of smell could detect.
I was feeling much better. Then a couple of days later, my flu returned with a vengeance. If anything, the second round was even more intense. The fever was causing me to sweat profusely and there was more multicoloured stuff coming out of my mouth and nose. I actually took some days off from the day job sick, which is very unusual. But I thought I needed time to rest.
It didn’t seem to shift into the weekend and made me miss another gig. I also had a ticket to see Justin Hawkins Rides Again (For the First Time), which is sort of a live version of his YouTube show. I couldn’t go as I was still feeling rotten. But the reports from the Bloomsbury show are rather surreal and didn’t even involve a fever dream. There was an email out to attendees, asking them to send songs that they’ve written for Justin to review as part of the show. So, I sent him the opening number for Ross Kemp: The Musical. I didn’t expect it to get selected. But it was not only played but done so last – which I am choosing to consider as the headline slot. Justin Hawkins called my name and asked me to take to the stage. If only my 19-year-old self knew this. However, I was not there. Where it gets weirder is that two people then got up on stage, both claiming they were me. Imposters, I tell thee.
Nevertheless, the song I wrote with my friend, Rich Shillitoe, was played to an audience of more than 500 people on stage at a theatre in London. When I had the idea for the show, that was almost exactly what I had in mind. And I can say that I achieved my goal for the song – technically. If that’s as close as the show ever gets to a London theatre, that isn’t a bad achievement. It’s not a full-scale performance, but it will do. Also, Rich had his way of me not playing the lead.