The Sunday 2nd December gig...

Well, here we are again... Safe and sound after doing my bit for culture.
Seeing it was The Astronauts 30th Anniversary gig, Mr Astronaut packed the gig with the usual suspects from the past and the now, starting with just Rico from the Astronauts... just as a little taster of what was coming, and then it was the turn of Mark's current outfit...
The Otters opened up their bit of the proceedings in their usual Psychedelic Punk Folk Rock way and proceeded to get a little momentum going for three numbers. This band is so good and so different that they deserve to succeed big time, but will they get an opportunity ?
Your guess is as good as mine. Suffice it to say that Dennis is a phenominal drummer for his age, and Dom' plays a nifty lead guitar. Joe, the bass player on the other hand, keeps thinking about leaving the band. It would be a shame if he decided to do so but I'm sure Mark will carry on with them. They're too damn good to waste.
The Otters were followed by Steve Lake who used to be in Zoundz alongside Joseph Porta (now currently propping up the drumming chair in Blyth Power). Steve played acoustic guitar and his quirkily humorous cynicism hopefully won him a few more converts. He was followed by a solo set from Alan Clayson of Clayson and the Argonauts fame. Alan decided that since he was playing solo he'd play a load of old 1960's cover versions including Johnny Remember Me... Personally I think he'd have been better off doing his own stuff but then what do I know ?
Jon and Jo from Lika Sharpe followed Alan but without their bass player as his Mum had just passed away and he was therefore unavailable but even without they managed to keep people's interest. I like this lot. That having been said I've known Jon on and off since Chron Gen days and his stuff is always worth a looksee. Shame that Jo was going down with a cold and was losing her voice but she coped until the end when she managed to turn into Kermit's sister and just croak a soft 'thanks' to the audience.
Then it was yours truly's turn...
Last week when Mark had originally mentioned that he'd like me to introduce The Astronauts with one of my poems I couldn't really see the sense in it. Oh yeah, I was up for doing it but I didn't really know how I'd fit in ?
Leave it to Mark Astronaut to see the whole thing in his frame of vision.
The poem he wanted was 'Flashback, Big Business & Fastbuck' which is about as autobiographical as I have ever got and which actually talks about a time which predates The Astronauts by about five years which leaves it safely mired in the 'Hippie' ethic of which I am a dinosaur or relic whichever you will.
Doesn't matter though, it worked perfectly as an intro' and when Rico hit those first few chords over the ending I could see what Mark meant...
and The Astronauts were superb.
My mate Grant Meaby who took all the shots of me while I was up on stage, reckoned that on a good day The Astronauts could take on anyone in the world musically and show them how it's done...
Not a lot I can say about that apart from agreeing with him because this was definitely a good day.
Great gig, and a worthy 30th Anniversary for Welwyn Garden City's finest.
There are a few pictures on the blog and the rest are stuck away in the Chris Ripple myspace pics.

Ripple rocks on...strangely... again.

So, here we are again and blowing my own trumpet, but I had a blast as usual...
Joy T. opened up the proceedings as compere and did a nice little opening set
and she was followed by the 'Rock band' of the night, Letchworth's Hot Wet Dogs.
Bearing in mind the age of this bunch who are just about to start their GCSE's they do make a very nice noise. Even Bob Mardon and Mark Astronaut are quite impressed by them so I'm glad to have given them another go, as I did book them for 'Rhythms' this year and they impressed then,also. Definitely a good band.
Then it's me... A bit of relevant old stuff and a few newies of which the re-do of The Stranglers 'Gordon (golden) Brown' is probably the highlight until I managed to blot the old copybook with a bit of Sam Cooke's 'Twisting (Fisting) the night away'.
Whoops ! Ok, it is overtly sexual but it was past 9 o'clock so no apologies, and besides I did offer the crowd a choice but they all wanted a 'new' one...
To finish we had the guys from Welwyn Garden City, Noble Drowning Heroes.
I really like what they do but they are very experimental in their outlook and 'tunes' are not what they are into. I find them quite challenging and they will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea but they are mine...
I had a good night. What more can anyone ask ?

Saturday gigs and Sunday gigs...

Here's a couple of dates for your diary...

Brian Robert Neal is giving a reading at Royston Public Library on the afternoon of Saturday 29th September
and
Chris Ripple is playing Hitchin's Club 85 on the evening of Sunday 30th September as part of the 'Ripple rocks on...Strangely' gigs, along with Hot Wet Dogs and Noble Drowning Heroes. £3.00 entry and please, please, please bring I.D. if you are old enough to drink but don't look it. The bar shuts at 10.30pm but the music can go on until 11pm. Running order is as follows...
Your Compere is Joy T. Chance and she will open proceedings followed by Hot Wet Dogs, Chris Ripple and Noble Drowning Heroes.
At this time I would like to extend my thanks to the local rag for not mentioning a gig I'm performing in... again... It's a regular occurrence so check the gig guide in the 'Comet' because that's the only place it'll be mentioned... If I ever get famous they can kiss my black cat's arse before I talk to them... So watch this space !

Parnassus' own Brian Robert Neal on Stevenage Boro' F.C's win at Wembley...

One of the great things about Parnassus Performance is the effort and energy that the members put into their live performances... This is one of the items that Brian performed live at Stevenage Leisure Centre for Stevenage Arts Festival in June of this year after he'd gone to Wembley to see Stevenage Boro' F.C. win the final of football's F.A. Trophy cup, becoming the first football team to win a cup competition on the new hallowed turf which is a record that all of Stevenage should be proud of... even if they are not football fans, and... It was a damn fine game too, being exciting to watch and just as importantly, it was played in a sporting manner... which is more than can be said for some of the teams of overpaid prima-donnas who usually 'perform' at this particular venue.

Owing to the death of the C.D. drive we cannot currently download any live events and so in all its pride and glory... Here is Brian's football monologue in full.

It was taken from issue no. 16 of http://www.myspace.com/thebroadhallway... The Stevenage Boro' fanzine who were the first to print it in full, and when the C.D. drive is replaced and vista accepts some of the cleanup software without rejecting them out of hand, you should be able to download a complete live version from this site... And while we are on the subject...

If you go down Brighton way

Any home game Saturday...

You'll find a bloke by the name of Attilla The Stockbroker (a poet of some reknown in the circles we move in) doing all the match links at the game and throwing off the odd scurrilous rhyme for Brighton fans with some abandon... Now other teams have official poets too... So... ????

You can tell where this is going, can't you ?

How about it Stevenage Boro' ?

Come on... Join the real world and have a little fun and I promise not to mention all those bottles and glasses that the mindless fuckwits who spill out of the Executive suite and Broadhall suite

throw straight over the hedge into Roebuck Woods... (seven champagne bottles after Wembley... and the rest...) Any chance somebody could have a word with the offenders and ask them to cease and desist ? It is not just anti-social, it's bloody dangerous too...

Maybe I should write a poem... ?

Anyway... Enjoy Brian's poem... Note for any opposition fans... The bold type bits are for singing and chanting.

Me ? I know nothing about football... I'm a Man. City supporter.

Parnassus Performance Re-Issue Department...

Well... It seems to have taken forever but we've finally got our backsides in gear and done what (at least seventy people) have asked for. All the old cassette releases have been cleaned up by going back to the original two track masters and digitalising the tracks and we are finally making them available again to the cognoscenti of that sort of thing, but with as many extra tracks as we can find in the archives added.
They are all being re-issued by our own Peasant Poetry label in no particular order, so if you had a favourite from way back in the nineties then this is the place to come.

The first re-issue is in glorious lo-fi mono anyway because that is how it was recorded and that is...

EIGHT GO MAD... IN EDINBURGH.

Those of you who already had the cassette version will know that the edit of the gig ran for ninety minutes but the cd doesn't. Unfortunately, cd's are not quite as long as ninety minute cassettes and so the editor's scissors had to come into play for a little judicious cutting... Only fifteen minutes, but it had to be done and hopefully without ruining the flow of the event.

While I'm on the subject, those of you who are awaiting the 'Kocaine' album re-issue of 'What Attitude Problem ?' will have to wait a little longer as the four track master of one track has gone missing and when it finally turns up Andy has kindly said he'll re-mix the album totally to get rid of all the compression we used, and so, until I find the master...

Unless otherwise notified all Peasant Poetry Backtrack issues will be available for £3.00 each when available, and so far there are no plans to make them available for download although this might change in the future.

Certain other items will however be available, so keep watching this space for details...

Issue No. 2 will be Grant Meaby's 'From A Fragile Landscape.' Details of which will be posted as soon as...

And finally... Bass Relief go commercial... NOT.

I suppose being asked to be on the cd this year came as a bit of a shock, but I think we fit in with what the others are doing so I'm not too worried as to how we sound.
The particular track 'In Quiet Dignity' was picked by Adam out of three possible suggestions by me as Joy was away visiting her son in Japan and I knew he had the wherewithal to play with the minidisk recording that we had of the gig.
It was recorded on April 29th at Club 85 and there are some photo's further down the blog of the event if anybody wants a look.
The fact that it was our first gig with our new Bass player Ollie' Glaze, made it something even more special because it always takes a little while for a new member to fit into any band, but Ollie' just seemed to dive headlong into it, and so I wanted a track chosen for 'musical' reasons rather than any other and Adam chose this one.
I have to say that I had hoped he would pick this track rather than either of the other options as even though Joy isn't on it, we can do the shorter version of this one without necessarily changing the sound too much, and both of the other tracks would have sounded a little thin without her contribution... But it was Adam's choice and I think he made the right one, and so did Joy when she returned.
Are we all cool over it ?
Yeah... You betcha !
The track itself was written for a Tsunami benefit gig that Joy put together at Club 85, and I performed it there solo without any music. Now I'm glad I thought about it for Bass Relief because I think it suits Adam and Ollie' s style perfectly and when you add Joy to the mix it becomes a little showpiece of its own...
Yeah... I'm pleased... Who wouldn't be ?

Hey... All this talent in Parnassus Performance...

Bass Relief-Rhythms 2007.

Well, here are the first two photo's from Bass Relief's set at Hitchin's Rhythms of the World festival. Please notice Simran (alto sax) & Sukhmani (tablas) to Chris's right...
We asked them to jam on two numbers and they stayed for three... Hopefully somebody might supply us with a photo' of all six of us on stage ? Anybody ?
Brother and sister... and both consumate musicians, It was great playing with them.
Also, please check out my friend James (age 3) in the darker green t-shirt in front of the stage.
we go to festivals together... See you at Cropredy, mate...
James enjoyed our set... His mum (Hi, Liz) said if he doesn't dance then it's useless...
He danced...
Please try not to notice the homemade speaker coverings which we had to put on because it pissed down... and believe it or not, the whole Arcade was absolutely packed with people, but you get no idea when looking at any of the shots I took while it was on.
Never mind, those who stayed around know what it was like.
I'm going to do an absolute mammoth blog on Rhythms 2oo7 next, so...
Check out http://blog.myspace.com/chrisrippleparnassus for photo's and the lowdown,
You know it makes sense.

Dunno what happened there ????

A little bit of publicity before we send out the begging letters...

Some pictures of Bass Relief from April 29th at Club 85 (Ollie's first gig with us, and Joy was in Japan) and... It's 'Rhythms' time again...

So, here we are again, finding ourselves under a bit of pressure and getting a bit of a buffetting from outside forces who, it must be said, have left things a little late...
but no matter... That's their problem.
Right... What can I tell you that's not already in the rotw.org.uk programme ?
Not a lot actually... Oh yeah, programmes cost £2.00 each and will definitely be available on the Saturday... They tend to sell out on the Sunday... The CD's however tend to sell out early on Saturday so if you want one, get in early.
Seeing that the programme has all the artists music and net sites listed in it I will not be giving you a list of links as that would defeat the object of having you support the festival by buying a copy, nor am I going to recommend anybody particularly that is on The Arcadeclectic Stage as I'm happy with everybody that I booked, but here's a little glimpse into what is going to be on Saturday...
B.R.P. (experimental and avante garde jazz) Alex Holmes (Singer-Songwriter) Peter Amoah (Acoustic funky blues) Mazaika (Russian instrumental duo) Austin Kaluba (Poet) Ukabilly Big Band (A Ukelele and Double Bass rock out...) Eve Killip (Poet) Terry & Gavin McCann (Acoustic guitars, mandolins and songs) Graeme Lloyd (Poet) Jude Simpson (Performance Poet/Musician) The Montgomery Music Makers (Rockabilly) Joy T. Chance (Poet) and Spandex Ballet... (To know them is to love them...sometimes).
Whereas on Sunday...
Ed Barnes (Electro' Comedy) Hot Wet Dogs (Rock Band) Mark Hitchins (Singer-Songwriter) Simran & Sukhmani (Sax and Tabla) Lio Simelane & Austin Kaluba (Musician and Poet) Stanza (Rap) Bass Relief (Jazz and Poetry) Richard Stark (Opera) Grant Meaby (Poet) Alan Cowley (Singer-Songwriter) and The Dealers ( Funky Bluesy Folkie duo)...
and there you have it, the complete Arcadeclectic Stage lineup over the two days and I'm dead chuffed at getting the lot of them.
I'm particularly pleased in having three of the youngest acts at the festival proper... No, I'm not going to single them out for that would be unfair, but suffice it to say that they are there because they are bloody good at what they do and for no other reason, and they follow in the footsteps of Madadam (from whom Bass Relief got Adam), Device (That rock band from Milton Keynes who are playing Club 85 this year) and of course, the one we had to bring back for her second year by public demand... The amazing Robyn Johnson who is not listed above because we've listed her under her musical listing but all the fans will know the name she performs under.
So I think we have something for everybody, however eclectic their musical taste might be.
One thing I will say is that this year Bob was blagging acts off me for the main stages...
Mazaika, B.R.P., Montgomery Music Makers and Simran & Sukhmani are all working other stages as well as the Arcadeclectic over the two days, so maybe I'm finally getting the hang of this... The smallest official stage of the whole festival supplying four acts for some of the larger stages... No... It doesn't sound too bad if it's put like that... and yes, I'm pleased.
Ok... the trumpets sound a nice little flourish... Da dad dad daa...
Right, that's the generalities out of the way... Let's go and be specific and blow our own saxophone...(as opposed to trumpet) and let's talk a bit about Bass Relief.
We lost Bass player Mark this year when he quit two weeks before a gig at Club 85, so I started haunting the 'phone lines trying to get a replacement who was actually into what we were doing... It was easier said than done.
But...
It all came together when we found Ollie who is actually a guitarist in his usual outfits and then on the 29th April we did the gig...
Joy was missing, having gone to visit her son in Japan so it was yours truly, Adam and Ollie who turned up for the gig...
What nobody realised but Adam suspected, was just how funky Ollie's Bass playing is...
It took us from weird shit avant garde to the realms of pure funk in seconds...
Oh wow... This was not just weird it was totally different...
We'd never sounded like that before...
but it opened up even more ideas and not just sounds... This was just as cool as fuck as far as I was concerned, and I hoped Joy would like it, too... but if she didn't, too bad... she was away on holiday after all.
Thankfully I had the presence of mind to record our portion of the gig, which was just as well because Bob Mardon waited a couple of days and asked me if we had any recordings as they'd like to put us on the 'Rhythms of the World fundraiser CD' this year...
and when she'd returned from the land of the rising sun I played Joy the recordings...
Thankfully, she was as happy as I was with the new sound.
It's a strange thing... We've played 'Rhythms' for four years now and never with the same lineup or sound, and yet there has never been a deliberate change... It's only ever been a step forward.
so here's the map as to how we got where we are...
2002 Mark Bailey asks Chris Ripple if he ever fancies doing poetry to avant garde type Double Bass backing ? Chris says 'let's do it'.
2003 Chris records his first live CD at Club 85 and three Bass Relief tracks are released on it leaving one outtake.
2005 After a tequila fueled evening with Joy, I think we need a little more colour musically...
and I fancy an alto saxophone in the mix, so next time I see Roz Alwyn I consult the oracle...
Yes, she does know an alto sax player and he's excellent... but he's doing his school exams at the moment...
Yeah... I did a double take, too...
Well when he's done 'em could you... ?
And she did, and I pitched it to Adam and he said, and I quote "I've never studied improvisation... I've never done it..."
Nah, you'll be ok... You up for a gig in two weeks time ?
"Yeah... where is it ?"
Oh... Rhythms of the World festival... in front of a possible thirty thousand people...
"Ok..."
And that's how Adam Marsh joined us...
He was playing saxophone in Madadam at the time. A bunch of fifteen,sixteen and seventeen year olds who played Jazz, and who liked playing Jazz... Which actually flies in the face of the accepted teenage stereotype, and I'd loved their attitude to it all, so I'd booked them for 'Rhythms' that year as well.
2006 The following year Madadam were back through public demand... They'd stormed it...
and I knew now we needed more vocal colour and so I asked Joy to step in for a couple of numbers...
She did, but she decided she liked it and stayed.
And that's it really until the middle of April this year when Mark decided he didn't want to do it anymore...and that is the story of Bass Relief so far...
It's an ongoing thing and I don't think I'd have it any other way.
Bass Relief for 2007 are
Adam Marsh-Alto and Soprano Saxophones.
Chris Ripple- Words.
Joy T. Chance-Words.
Ollie' Glaze-Bass Guitars.
and hopefully... If everything runs to plan, we'll get a few items to download on this site in the not too distant future.

What Parnassus Performance did next...

Well, here we are again... Safely home after our night of high jinks in Stevenage Leisure Centre...
Now you all want to know how it went, don't you ?
Ok... It went alright, and when it had finished we all thought it one of our better events...
Will that do ?
See, the thing is... I can talk about this event from a performer's perspective, but not as an organiser because Parnassus own Grant Meaby did all of the organising...
I just brought along the P.A. and hung around until it was time for my set, and I recorded or should I say I attempted to record the whole night on minidisk, so that those who want to put things out on their websites have something to work with at some point in the future.
I'm not kidding... The ability to record and instantly put on site is one that Parnassus members have been waiting for a little while to come to fruition.
It should have started last year, but the old computer decided to freeze and not boot up whatever we did to it (I was talked out of drop kicking it) and so I've had to start all over again from scratch with some of the older recordings... and a new computer (Vista'd, so half the old programmes don't work yet).
Eventually however, the plan is to link up all the members and as they slowly come on board and let everybody know where they can be found, rather than have a specific Parnassus Performance site, and the simple reason for this is that Parnassus Performance has always been a loose knit bunch of individuals who perform (individually and collectively) under the Parnassus banner, rather than an organisation that has a membership.
If we did it as a separate site then somebody would have to be responsible for keeping it all up to date...
Don't look at me... I've got enough going on without doing that as well.
It's bad enough being responsible for the newsletter without having to remember what everybody else is doing too...

But here's the latest up to date stuff as of July 2007...
Some of Parnassus Performance will be appearing at the Rhythms of the World festival, see www.rotw.org.uk for details... But those appearing are Grant Meaby, Joy T. Chance and Graeme Lloyd if you can't be bothered...
Eve Killup will also be appearing, and as some of you know, Eve used to be a member in the 1990's until she moved out of the area, but now she has returned to the fold to appear when she can... Good for her, I say.
We shall be welcoming two non Parnassian Poets to the Stage of 'Nuke 'em, now...' as somebody called it last year, after hearing one of my more political diatribes... Whooops !
(But I have to say that his wit has lasted as it's not a bad way to think of it...
No compromise, no retreat and no surrender... The Arcadeclectic Stage... Vive La Difference) and they are Austin Kaluba and Jude Simpson, and we wish them both good gigs on the day.
I myself shall be compering the Arcadeclectic Stage for two days and appearing in Bass Relief with Joy, Adam and Ollie on Sunday 15th July and that is all...
No overdoing it this year.

As for the other Parnassians... Sylv has a new Puppy, name of 'Whisper' and she's a pretty little
King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, and Ann Copeland has just got her book, 'Indeed A Freeman' accepted for publication, for which congratulations (before we all put in begging letters) are in order I believe...
Chris

Parnassus Performance-Stevenage Arts Festival 2007.

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