THE AIREAN EXPERIENCE

So called

Because at one stage

All the band members

Were born in the sign of Aries!

And no other reason,

Despite what the Jewish Society protested!

But then the gorgeous blonde female keyboardist Jacqui,

Daughter of a Diplomat

So I won’t confide,

But did once come round to my house

And cook me a lovely stew,

Resigned as she was used

To sight reading,

Not improvising.

Enter the Cancer.

Except Dieter,

Was a fantastic keyboard player.

And a budding chef on the Hotel & Catering course,

His goal to open his own "Out Of House Catering" business.

He brought much more dynamic to the band.

He also explained to me

What "Out Of House Catering" was,

As I had no idea.

My mum

Had ALWAYS made the food for parties,

No matter how large or small

The celebration.

And while it gave her great stresses at time,

She enjoyed it.

And always put on

A spectacular edible show.

And taught me to cook an egg.

Traditionally I now always

Cook an egg as the first meal

In any new place

I move to.

If I am able to make

An egg sandwich

I have no excuse

To claim hunger.

Because I can also

Probably cook a stew

As well.

 They had a dynamic front man

In Wade from the Mathematics course,

He looked like a macho Freddy Mercury

And played guitar like Van Halen

And raring vocals, a mix of Slades Noddy Holder

And Rainbows Graham Bonnet, with a fine powerful range.

But I also knew Wade beforehand

Because the first thing we both did

Was attend the trails

For the College football team.

Both, as the solitary position

Of goal keeper.

Or if you like,

The Gate Keeper,

The final defender.

As the trials unfolded,

I had absolutely no doubts whatsoever

Which of us would end up as 1st Choice.

MY VOTE was undoubtedly not me.

But I had a 5% Chance.

My 5% chance was

That Wade would have a poor trial

And I had a completely blinder and save everything.

And that I’d get 1 chance to play as the first team goalkeeper.

Then at least I’d reached my goal. I could say I went for it and I achieved it.

After that I was pretty sure I’d be sussed.

That Wade would play continually well for the 2nd team,

And all my weaknesses would be sussed out.

It’s pretty scary being a goalkeeper.

It can easily be all your mistake.

And if you make the mistake,

Especially if it’s a complete blunder…

It’s very costly to your team.

They too could lose everything

After all their hard effort and skills.

And when the ball came to you…..

You weren’t concentrating

and you failed to grab the ball.

You then found you’d also forgotten

To crouch down and use your body.

You didn’t even close your legs.

It slowly dribbled through your fingers,

Rolled slowly through your legs….

And you, yourself,

Even had the time

To turn around….

And watch the ball trickle over the line.

And stop dead

Just as it’s full circumference

Had crossed the line.

Just as the referee

Had blown his whistle.

All had been lost

For all the team.

Because of

Your stupid mistake.

And as the referee runs over

To pick up the ball,

You beat the ground

With frustration and anger.

The humiliation,

the shame,

The explaining

To your team mates.

Some of whom

Might even consider

You had thrown the game

On purpose.

Because you’d secretly

Had a bet on it.

Either at the bookies

Or a mate down the pub.

Or even

Were bribed to do it.

What you know,

Was the real reason.

Yes,

You had been distracted

As the ball rolled to you.

You had every intention

And the capability

Of simply stopping the ball.

But then out of the blue,

At the very last second,

Something happened

You didn’t expect.

The guy

Standing

Next to the goalpost,

Was not,

Just idly watching the match,

As people had thought

Through by his outfit

And his apparent demeanour.

He’d

Spent the entire game

Trying

To put me off

And cause me

To make a vital mistake,

That I

Would be blamed for,

And he would run off

Laughing!

Having achieved

His aim.

And while not productive

For me and my team,

It would be

Very productive

For the other side.

Who of course would

Also claim

They were

Totally unaware.

But actually

All quietly

Knew the score.

And chose

To do or say

Nothing about it.

Because his presence

Gave them

An unfair advantage.

The simple fact

Also was

None of them

Really wanted

To win

By foul means.

They’d rather win

49-0.

With all of them

Screaming great goals.

And when the ball

Rolled just over the line

For the 50th,

In the very last second,

When the goalie

In everybody’s view,

Made a blinding error…

Nobody actually cared.

The team that had lost,

Had already lost.

As the score had piled up,

One by one,

At different stages of the game.

Players simply gave up

And put in little and less effort.

And it actually started

At 1-0 down.

With an unstoppable shot

In the first minute

Of the game.

Not for all,

But for some.

Some already believed

They knew

What was going

To happen next.

That whatever effort they applied,

They were going to end up

On the losing side.

And began to think

Of how to deal

With that future situation.

The team who’d won

Didn’t really care either.

They had won long ago.

But the one person

Who did care,

And had cared throughout,

Was the Gate keeper.

In fact both teams admitted afterwards

It could have been

100-0.

The time had been

Virtually target practice

For the other side.

And twenty penalties

Given away

By sloppy defending.

But the goalkeeper

Did save 5% of the penalties.

And 5% of the free kicks.

And 5% of the "unstoppable shots"

And 5% of the almost unstoppable shots.

And they’d all been great saves.

Unbelievable saves.

Both sides had applauded them.

Because no matter what the score,

They all respected

He was still trying his best,

Despite

The apparent odds.

On the rest

He’d actually achieved 100%.

Anything stoppable

Had been stopped.

Only the unstoppable

And the almost unstoppable

Had got through.

It’s just that it happened

49 times

Within the game.

Where those on my side

Gave up

And I

Still gave my best.

Because I

Cared the most.

Because

The previous week

We’d also lost 49-0

In the very same circumstances.

And my best friend

After the game had joked

It’ll be 50 next week!

Bet you a pint it’ll be 50!

In fact we’d lost all our games

By large scores.

We just enjoyed

Playing the game

And did our best

And appreciated the exercise.

And the dressing room

And drink after in the pub

When our friends

And family

Also showed up.

And the opposition

and theirs.

After all,

It’s not even proper football

Its only 5-a side

In the park.

With jumpers for goalposts.

You are only 10 years old.

But before I’d run out to play,

In my brand new football kit

That I’d got for my birthday

To play a friendly

On the community field

My father suddenly shouted

And called me back.

He had with him a comb.

I looked at him puzzled.

Only earlier in the day

He’d taken me for a haircut.

Short back and sides

Just like him.

At the RAF Barber.

The barber by surprise

Didn’t charge my dad

For the haircut.

Because it was my birthday.

He’d already also paid

For his own haircut.

For it was his birthday also

In two days time.

Which my dad had managed

To slip into the conversation.

While the barber

Cut my hair.

I’d already told him it was my birthday.

I told him because the ice cream van

Had earlier come to the compound.

It normally didn’t in April,

But this day was a glorious sunny day.

So with an opportunity of making money

The ice cream man decided rather then rest

To go out and earn some money.

He was self-employed

He didn’t really have to

If he didn’t want to.

And he gave me a free 99

In the days when

I honestly believed

From an uncle

That a 69

Was an ice cream

Without a flake!

And was then told

By him

To order a 69

And explain what it was

To the ice cream man

But that he should of course know.

Both of them

Then curled up with laughter.

Belly laughs.

I laughed along too.

But didn’t know why.

But something had happened

Everyone around me was laughing

They appeared to be laughing

At what I’d said

But it’s what I’d been told to say

From someone

I’d previously trusted

And merely acted

According to his instructions.

My intent

Had been to purchase

An ice cream

Without a flake.

But while they were laughing

The ice cream man

Still made me a large ice cream

He even popped in

Two flakes in a V shape

Then topped it by digging into the top

Two small red plastic forks.

He then proudly

And in fits of laugher

Held it up

And waved it up and down

And shouted

"And fork you two sir!"

And this time

To howls of laughter

Of all the adults

Standing around the ice cream van

And all the kids laughed too

Because it was funny

Just that all the mums and dads

Were all laughing?

Even though

We couldn’t work out why.

But some realised

He was pretending to say

A naughty swear word

Which I have seriously

NEVER heard my father say.

He normally adds an "e"

To another bad word

So it doesn’t sound

So bad.

But he’ll be liberal

With his bloodies, hells, and damn you’s.

But it’s the look on his face

And the bulging eyes

And bulging out

Of his 6ft 4inch frame

That intimidates everyone

When he’s shouting in anger.

Because when he gets worked up

He also can be unstoppable.

You simply wouldn’t argue with him

Or stand in his way.

Because there is a possibility

You might get hurt

And he’ll leave you

To access the risk for yourself

And it’s not a threat,

It’s promise.

OK Mister?

The ice cream man

Then handed me the double 99

My uncle offered up his money to pay

But the self employed businessman

Refused to take his money!

He simply laughed more

And waved it away.

And said

"Forget it mate,

This ones on me"

And everyone walked away

Laughing and happy.

And I knew

I’d unexpectedly been

The cause of it all.

I didn’t know quite

Why everyone was laughing

Especially because

My father had told me

Many times

That swearing is wrong,

Especially certain words

That he never wants to

Ever hear at home.

His home is his sanctuary

Where he gets away

Will even turns off the TV

If a show starts to use

Words disapproved

He hasn’t come home to hear

Profane language.

Yet he was willing

To resort to physical violence

If I had done anything

He perceived I’d done wrong.

Or told reliably

By my mother

It had happened

Especially if

BOTH the daughters

Had testified the same.

Both were in fact lying,

I’d earlier beaten them at a game

Which they thought they’d win

By teaming up against me.

The experience of my older sister

And youthful vigour of the younger.

But I still won.

They then tried to claim

That I’d cheated,

But found I hadn’t.

They just didn’t

Like losing.

So they decided

To try and get me into trouble

To wipe the smile off my face.

And the plan worked beautifully.

But did admit the following day

That when they’d heard my cries

As my Chief Tech Father

Promoted Corporal punishment

That they had felt a bit guilty.

The younger one actually said sorry.

The older believed

I’d had it coming anyway

For the things

I’d probably done wrong

In the past

And wasn’t caught

Or punished.

And she felt

She had felt

Her father’s hand

Unfairly also,

On occasions.

The punishment

Had far outweighed

The actual misdemeanours

Which all kids make?

But on this occasion

I had walked away

With far more

Then I’d asked!

I’d asked for an ice cream

And got a double 99

And it was free!

Because

It had been worth it

For all the goodwill

Of the occasion.

We’d actually all walked away

With a smile on our faces

And happy.

But each had

Different reasons

For feeling that way.

I’d told that story

To the barber

As he cut my hair

That’s why he knew

It was birthday

And my father added

That he always treated himself

To a haircut on his birthday

As short and tidy as possible.

Because it made him look presentable

And made him feel a fresh start to the next year!

But he’d come in early

Because he also wanted to bring me.

Because I apparently had an important football match

That afternoon, it was an emergency!

It was important

Because my best friend

Had bet me

That it’d be 50 this week!

Goals past me, that was.

And it was up to me

Whether it happened or not!!

So a fresh haircut

On my birthday

Might give me the fresh start

I needed for the year.

I did point out

That to get to me

We’d have lost possession

In our attacking forces

The midfield ranks

Been outwitted

The defences failed

And everyone on the pitch

Looking directly at me.

And me at them.

The only person

Who had that view

Who could legally

Stop that ball

Being a goal

For the other side.

Someone behind the line

Just behind the goal line

But leaning on the outside of a post

Watching the game

Had more or less the same view

But was unable

To legally do anything.

He could have helped

Shouted words of encouragement

Congratulated my successes

Tried to give me helpful advice or information

Or done the opposite.

He could do everything in his power

To try and put me off.

And the fact was,

That is what he had been doing

All the way along.

Right up to that last second.

Then watched the ball

Roll through my fingers

Through my legs

Trickle over the line

And stop.

Just over, just as the whistle blue

For the final judgement.

And he ran off laughing.

Just before I’d run onto the pitch

My father unexpectedly had called me back.

And brought out a comb.

He told me

That when we were leaving the barber

Just after they’d both had a good belly laugh

Over the fact that the barber

Had asked me

Before I left the chair

If there was anything

I wanted for the weekend?

And I’d said a comb

Which had caused more laughter

Then more when I said

There was something

I wanted to give the barber

But he had to bend down

Which he did

With a bit of caution but trust

And I had

Kissed him on the cheek

Much to his and my father’s surprise

And thanked him for the free hair cut.

Because we’d also all had a good time

On my birthday

And that was important

To me.

Well as we’d left

He actually did give my father

A free new comb

For me,

For my birthday.

He was giving it me now

For a reason.

Then he asked me a question

I’ll never forget.

And he knew

I knew the right answer.

"Who

Is the

Best

Goalkeeper

In the world?"

My reply was instantaneous.

Though he was rarely spectacular

He always seemed

To be there

Just at the right time.

But it was no accident

It was excellent reading of the game.

The rest was his abilities and practice.

But when called to be spectacular

Was unbelievingly spectacular.

So much so

His save against Pele

In the World Cup

Is quoted by some,

As the best ever.

They forget to mention

We still lost the game.

But some players

Didn’t care as much

We’d won it before

And already had the medals.

Could always say

"They’d Done it!"

But

Gordon Banks still cared

Enough to still make the effort

While already losing

To make

The worlds greatest save.

In, that era. Or was it the best ever?

But we all know the save.

Few remember

The fact

That we still lost.

Gordon Banks

Was the correct answer.

My father held up the comb.

He said to me

"You know those football cards you collect?"

"Yes I replied"

"Show me your favourite one again."

I had loads, but he knew the answer

And I held up the one of Gordon Banks.

"Look at him, and tell me what you notice."

I looked but had no idea

I guessed some "wrong" answers.

Then actually managed, by a fluke

To give the correct answer!

"He’s got tidy hair"

Already I knew a few things

My dad looked for

In meeting

Other people socially.

Whether they smoked or not

Because he was fervently anti it

Whether they wore a shirt and tie

And how they wore it

How they laced their shoes

And if they had tidy

Or scruffy hair.

Because appearances

Are of course everything.

It was the right answer

My father tidied my hair

Using the new comb

Then handed it to me.

Then he lied to me.

But I believed him

Because I didn’t know

Any different.

He said

"One of the reasons

Gordon Banks is the best

Is that every time he lets in a goal

He throws the ball back

And picks up his comb

And smartens himself up

Ready to stop the next one.

He doesn’t smoke

He drinks water… not Coca Cola

He, looks after himself, young man.

And people respect him for it.

In fact

When a striker sprints forward

Ready to score a goal

The last person

That they want to see

Is a smart looking

Gordon Banks

Combing his hair

Ready to do his business

To the best of his ability

And that fact alone

Puts most strikers off

To begin with!

And end up

Making a mistake

Which makes them

Accidentally

Pass the ball

Right into

Gordon Banks

Safe hands.

And then

He says thank you

And smiles at you.

And hugs the ball to his chest.

And decides

Who amongst his team

Best deserves

For it to be delivered

To their feet.

But for all the motivational talk

Keeping all the superstitions

All the great saves

Despite my team giving up

Despite my friend on the goal post

Doing his utmost to put me off

At 49-0 I’d still have achieved

My main goal of the game.

To make sure it wasn’t 50

Despite the rest.

And made more determined

By the unsporting antics

Of my best friend

Who was know just trying

To cause me to fail

Simply to win a bet?

And in the very last second.

The ball had come rolling to me

But I’d noticed my older sister

Being hit by someone

Who’d been antagonising her

For ages.

She had turned up

On my birthday

To give me some support

For once

In return also

For wrongly

Getting me

Into trouble.

And unfairly chastised

By my father

In the process.

I wanted to run over and help her

Or shout for someone near

To intervene

But also had the ball rolling

Towards me

The ball then hit a divot

And had deviated,

Jumping at last second

Over my hands and fingers

Through my open legs

Which were open because

My studs had caught

In the soggy mud

From the April showers

The goalmouth

That I was protecting

Was a quagmire

And I’d been diving round in it

For the whole game.

My track suit was drenched

And caked all over in mud

The ball itself

Was very wet

And very slippery.

Nothing at all

In fact

To do with

My friend

Trying

To put me off.

Instead

A bizarre act of God

As an Insurance Company

Might state.

And I beat the ground with frustration.

Cursing God

For allowing this to happen

Despite my faith in him

And my prayer

For him to look after me

In the absence

Of my own father.

And he’d known my prayer.

And other prayers throughout the match.

But in the last second

He had failed me miserably

And I now questioned

Why I’d even bothered

Putting my faith

And my trust

In him

If

In his great scheme of things

He did this to me,

Despite my prayer

Not to let my friend

Win his bet.

And the manner

In which

He’d tried to achieve it.

Which wasn’t by doing

Anything constructive

Just using his time and energy

Trying to make me fail.

Then as the referee

Came to collect the ball.

A bizarre thing happened.

A strong gust of wind blew.

It blew the ball

And it actually rolled back

A small amount

Quite insignificantly

But enough

To blow it back

Onto the line

And I had watched it happen

With my own eyes

Because I had been

Laying down in the mud

Staring very, very, very, very

Angrily at it.

As the Ref got there

He stopped and shouted

Actually it’s not gone over!

I corrected him.

It had gone over

And blown back.

It honestly had

I’d seen it happen

With my own eyes.

No, it’s stopped on the line,

Come and have a look

If you don’t believe me.

The referee said.

In fact they all came over

And had a good look.

Except my friend

He’d run off laughing

Believing

He’d contributed

To my error

And won his bet.

They all examined the ball

And all confirmed

It had stopped on the line.

They didn’t believe me

As much as I tried to tell them

That it’d blown back.

And the referees view is final.

It must have been my birthday.

In fact, it actually was.

And at The Hendon College Trials

I played a blinder

And Wade

Made spectacular blunders!

The 2nd team had a very weak defence

For several weeks he let in several goals.

The 1st team had a strong defence

And a strong midfield

And a strong attack.

I hardly got to see the ball.

And when I did

I ran out like Gordon Banks.

And even achieved

A bit of history

The teams first clean sheet

In seven years.

By the end of the season

The team won the league

And promotion

And the medal

Went quite duly to

Wade Lowther

The 1st team goalkeeper.

Because I got injured

And missed a game.

He played a blinder.

He commanded the defence

To play better.

He imposed himself.

They realised

What they had been missing.

I never won back my place

Instead I was drafted

To the second team

To give them

A morale boost.

They where glad to have me.

They disliked that Wade

He had kept shouting at them

When they had been trying their best

After all, it’s only a game

Of football in the park.

But they were glad to have

The first team goalkeeper

Now with him

To help stop the rot,

Anyone was better

Then Wade!

Except of course me,

I knew he

Was the better goalkeeper!

And they soon found out

When they began to lose

By even more goals then before.

And suddenly realised

Just how good

Wade had actually been.

But the first team soon noticed

The moment they gave him his chance.

A lot of them didn’t also know

What a fantastic guitarist Wade was

What a great rock voice he had

What great songs he wrote

And how well he performed them.

But give him the chance

To blow his own trumpet.

He’ll tell you himself

He’s actually got

His own full blown orchestra!

I learned a lot

From being a friend

Of Wade.

Including the fact

That he didn’t have many friends

In fact quite a few disliked him intently

And even told me!

But my judgment of them,

Was their judgment was tainted

Simply by their jealously

Of his skills and single mindedness.

And they’d also misjudged me.

They turned up to the gig

Even started as a group shouting

"Wade Is A Wanker!"

While he smiled back

And delivered to all

A breathtaking performance.

That changed the view of him

By quite a few people.

Including those

Who never known of him

Until then.

They went away

Knowing he can play great rock guitar

And sing with a huge powerful voice

Then switch to a gentle ballad voice.

And caress the strings lovingly

But still completely no idea

He is also a brilliant goal keeper

Who even played for the first team.

Despite his fingers being so valuable.

The simple fact also is

With such a stunning live performance

That in fact even if you did know

All this information

Of Wades talents and achievements

Few would have come away

With the impression or knowledge

That the guy on stage next to him

Dressed in white

Had the same skills,

The same achievements

And had even organised the gig.

Which allowed them to even begin

To form a proper opinion

About Wade.

But had also created

The Music Society

Who promoted the gig

Though the funding came

Out of his own pocket

To print the posters

Which he’d spent his time designing

And then ripped down

By The Jewish Society

Who wrongly thought

He must be Anti-Semitic.

The simple truth is

Even though I share my birthday

With Adolf Hitler

I had never actually heard

Of his Ariean Race Dream

Quite simply

In trying to find a band name

Someone suggested

Using a star sign.

And we asked around the room

For each others star sign

We were all Genesis fans too.

And The Jimmy Hendrix Experience

And found we were all Arieans.

Except in 1964

The Year I was born

While 20th April

Is normally the last day

In Aries

But In 1964

Due to the moons movement

I was born two days

Into Taurus!

I only found that fact out

A few years ago!

For years, I’d been reading

The wrong Horoscope!

Just as well

I’d always paid no attention

To its predictions

Though made me briefly think about

The different aspects of my life.

But that is the honest simple truth

Of what the Ariean Experience

Were and so named.

And no other reason!

In the same way,

I later formed a band

And we were looking for a name.

The bass player mentioned that ABBA

Which also means "Father"

Was the first initial of the band members.

Could we make a name from our initials?

We tried, we couldn’t.

Then I suggested

Just calling the band

By our first names.

Tim, Brian, Matt, Hossen, Jude, Rose and Grod

At least people

Knew who we were

"No"

Shouted the band members

In unison

"No Names Mentioned."

That’s it I shouted.

What? They replied.

"No Names Mentioned."

"What do you mean?"

The band name.

That’s the name then.

"What do you mean?" they asked

The band name should be then

"No Names Mentioned."

They smiled but said no again

Until I sold it to them.

Come on ,

It was your idea,

It was you

Who all suggested it

I’m just going along with it!

I like it said Jude

So do I smiled Rose

The guys

Had no chance!

We were now

"No Names Mentioned"

And did

Just one

But

Memorable

Concert.

After months of rehearsal

Then just left it there.

As did my other band

Jabberwocky

And my last band

Grod Groddler & The Grodlings.

Just One Night.

Which by sheer fluke

Also happens to be

The name of one my favourite

And most listened to records

In my late teens.

It’s by Eric Clapton.

Everyone else was into

The Sex Pistols

The Clash

Buzzcocks

Boomtown Rats

I liked the way Eric played

And improvised.

And while the blues

Felt unnatural for me

I did feel where he was coming from

In his playing.

And father would never play it

Or anything like it.

And Eric also provided me

With my favourite rock song

Layla.

And I got to pay homage

With the Ariean Experience

By including "Layla" in the set

Even though I had great difficulty

In playing the riff.

But I knew I could pull it off

If I practiced.

But even if I couldn’t

I knew

Wade could!

Eric

Or E.C.

Or Slowhand

Or even GOD!

As some knew him

Also penned my favourite ballad

"Wonderful Tonight"

And the Ariean Experience

On just one night

Sent everybody home saying

It was wonderful,

Tonight.

And I went home knowing

Without my initial idea

My effort and perspiration

My meager finances bailing it out

Would simply never have happened.

I’d also made a huge profit on the event

Despite what everybody thought would happen

Which I duly handed over to the Society

Even though the risks had been all my own.

Graeme on rhythm guitar from the Law course helped fill the sound, while the other Graham, me, did his Chris De Burgh impersonation while trying to be a rocker dressed in white! But added lead guitar, rhythm, backing vocals and two main vocals. My friend from H.Samuels, Brian, was the chap banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee. Except he was far more like Mitch Mitchell of "The Hendrix Experience then Mitch himself!

And while the only non-student in the band

Went onto to drum in lots of other bands

But has always been the drummer

In all of my bands since!

Thanks Brian…

But you’re still a nutter!

For the one off concert we also borrowed a bassist, Paul. He played with Haywire, another great student band at Hendon, and he was happy just to improvise on what we were doing live. He was unfortunately also very pissed.

He screwed up several times and after the gig confessed this apologizing to me.

He seemed to have forgotten how many times he’d dropped in and out just at the right time and added so much to the bands sound.

That outweighed any mistakes many times… and he’d never even played or practiced with us before!

He’d done us a favour and did it brilliantly.

My bands only ever do 1 gig normally.

Months of rehearsal, one big night…

Then strangely it’s goodbye.

So I always keep a record somehow.

Except one quick note

Nothing ever seems to go right for me.

Just before we went on,

Some people tried to ruin it

Which at the time

Was my biggest ever live gig.

The main hall packed

With 500 of my peers,

All waiting for us

To make great fools of ourselves.

We were nervous

But confident we’d surprise

The living daylights out of them.

By day we were actually all quite quiet people.

But we had something inside

That we can suddenly pull out,

When and where we decide to!

But before we even were given

A chance to do our best

People tried to ruin it for us.

The support band decided to throw water

Over each other and foam.

But also got it all over

The engineer’s sound equipment.

He’d done the gig

At a very low rate

As a favour to me

Instead now he was furious,

And flung his arm across the mixing controls.

Knocking all the sound check levels outs.

And refused to do any more mixing.

He wasn’t getting paid much,

His equipment had been abused.

Why should he?

We knew nothing about this.

We just went out

And started to play.

But it was obvious

The levels were out,

Including the stage monitor amps.

It’s difficult to play your best

If you can’t actually hear yourself!

What the audience hears

Is mainly what comes out

The main stage speakers.

Sometimes that can be different

From what you’re hearing on stage!

That power lies

Not with the musicians,

But the sound engineer/mixer.

And if he’s pissed off

And not going to play with you,

You’ve got problems.

We never knew

About the problem

Until afterwards

That in fact

After a short while

He was persuaded by his girlfriend

To do, what he was there for,

It wasn’t our band

Who’d abused his equipment.

NOW THEN……………………

Turn out the lights down,

Turn the stereo

And imagine you were at

"THE ARIEAN EXPERIENCE"

ALIVE AT THE MAIN HALL,

HENDON BUSINESS SCHOOL

AT "THE POSERS PARADISE PARTY"

28^th Feb 1986