"Kev, the gig at Staveley has been cancelled, can you think of anywehre else that has bands on Saturday nights?, I've tried Brampton Manor, The Oak, The County ad they're all booked..."
"Er, how about The Grouse?"
"They don't have bands on Saturdays do they?"
"No but we did let them down the other Thursday and it is a Bank Holiday Weekend so... and the worse they can say is "No" and we'd be in no worse position would we"
"Ok, I'll give Nige a bell, see what he thinks"
(10 mins later)
"Grouse 5/5/07 booked"

And that, boys and girls, is how Rio 5 landed a Saturday night gig in The Grouse Inn, Chatsworth Road.

Now I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit apprehensive about it cos it was a BH Weekend, they don't normally have bands on Saturday nights and the weather had been gorgeous so surely everyone would have been having a BBQ, wouldn't they?

So when we got there at 1915hrs and it was busy, I still wasn't happy cos Brampton is one of those walk-around places where no-one really stays in one pub all night so I'm thinking, what if they all take a walk up to the "golden triangle?", I shouldn't have worried.

It was a cosy set up but we crammed it all in and by 9.00pm we were ready to go, I think we might have even maybe been loked at for a Wedding (come on James Youle) and so 9.15pm off we went, and we had a great great night, and by the time we'd got to Mustang Sally, Gimme Some Loving we'd got them eating out of our hands so when we cranked it up for Delilah they were close to ecstatic singing along at the top of their voices,

So then we tried to leave them with Stick Together and they wouldn't let us leave the stage so we came back for an encore of Town Called Malice and the Rock n' Roll medley and thought that would be enough... surely to goodness but no,

So we did Wishing Well (by Free) again for Nigel and then they let us finish.. a fantastic night... maybe there might be more bands on Saturday nights, who knows?

Thanks to everyone that came, Draper, Mark Webster, Martin Webster (no relation), Kev Walton, Matt, Simon, Kelly from The Shambles (coming soon as a 4-piece) James Youle (go on, book us) Jamie-Lee, Mrs Stone, and last but by no means least, Debbie with those tights... mmminx

Next outing is Inky Club, Dade Avenue, would be great to see some familiar faces there too

Love & Kisses
Rio 5