Iain Cameron's Diary
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2010-09-13 - 2:25 p.m.

I spent most of yesterday on a project - I left home at 10am only to discover the tube had been replaced by a bus. I eventually found myself stranded at Crystal Palace not aware that the Overground has a separate platform. My XXpatriot friend drove down to pick me up and we set off for the Goose Fair down the M20. He had an open top left hand drive Saab so it was quite good fun in the sunshine.

We got to Challock only to discover that the fair was enormous. It took us a while to find our old school chums playing 60s revival music. They were conveniently placed outside the beer tent. We gradually identified four of the six musicians as being from our class. The bass player was obviously a younger generation and the drummer looked right the age but sounded very competent - it transpired he was an ex-pro.

The line up was drums bass keys gtr, a vocalist who sometimes played gtr and a lead singer. The keys player doubled harmonica which added an authentic tang to the sound. I remembered how tricky playing around marquees can be - they simply soak up the sound and don't reflect anything back. The repertoire was classic 60s covers. The fare was crowded with people but very little interest was taken with band. I suppose these days this era of music is a minority interest. The afternoon drifted past as we mixed reminiscence with sipping beer. Apparently the band plays about three times a year - always for some charity or other. The best gigs are evening affairs when the beer flows and the audience relives their youth. I have done the odd gig like this myself and agree these findings totally.

We sloped off after the last number for a meal in a local pub and then drove back to Forest Hill still with the top off watching the sunset. I hadn't seen my friend's flat and I was well impressed - on the fourth floor of what looked to me like a 60s block with views to the South and East. He showed some vids of life in the UAE - trips out into the desert in 4x4s - the concert by the choral society. I looked at his Epiphone 2pu - the bridge pu had a much better sound than the neck.

The flat is conveniently situated near Sainsbury's and the station - the only problem is that it's up a hill. I got a train to London Bridge (very quick) and a District Line to Hammersmith - the final bit of the journey was on the rail replacement bus. There was a call this morning about the big MoD project which meant I had to rush out a CV. It seems that this will be in Bristol - if the business is won.

I was so engrossed that I didn�t get the bear up until nearly 1pm. It was SV1 Radio again which kicked off with a great Prince track. I managed to fit in a bit of development on the piece based on the Dhorn line for the lute. It's now parallel major sevenths. Bear played some Clifford Gilberto - whose parents are Astrud and S Getz.

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