Mad Old Men

I took my son J (13) to his first real gig on Sunday. We went to see the Blockheads at the Stables in Milton Keynes. J isn't a big Blockheads fan (although he might be now), but he's a pretty good musician and singer, so I thought he'd enjoy it. After 3 songs, he turned to me a said with a big grin "they're just a bunch of mad old men". I guess they are, but after 30 years of playing together they are an unbelievably good band; with some absolutely classic old material as well as some surprisingly good new stuff it all adds up to a great night out.
I've seen them three times now in the last year or so, twice at Cox's Yard in Stratford upon Avon and this time at the Stables. The Stables is a nice venue, set up by John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, but Cox's suits the Blockheads better - something I think Johnny Turnbull had in mind when he asked the audience to give themselves a round of applause for staying sat down all night. On the other hand, if we'd been at Cox's J would have difficulty seeing anything - neither of us are particularly tall.
Anyway, overall we really enjoyed it, the nearly two hours of their set passed very quickly (certainly much more quickly than the 40 minutes of the support act, which was absolute torture). If you get the chance to go and see them, don't miss out!

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