Until We Go To Gigs Again In Stroud
By Crispin Thomas
until we go to gigs again
I'm trawling way down mem'ry lane
the posters and the tickets too
the things we put on here for you
'cause Covid's got me looking back
at things I miss and things we lack
the times we tried with heart and head
to turn an empty old Goods Shed*
into a place for you and me
back when we set up SMRT*
at Roxburgh House* they turned the place
one New Year's Eve to Outer Space
and ev'ry time they came to gig
K Passa made us twirl and jig
and Afterhours on Paddy's Night
or Ted and Blurt with flags and lights
so if you're from a certain time
you might recall and even find
you also felt we'd always be
that way at gigs eternally
the wild Lets and Greenpeace shows
that went on til whoever knows
the nights we met and laughed and cried
to dance or watch and feel the vibe
the setting up each afternoon
for Baka and Kangaroo Moon
the parachutes* the home-made bar
when hippies came near and far
to smoke whatever they could find
back in those special crazy times
the Sub Rooms nights when we would be
still sweeping joints til two or three
when music from around the Earth
would make us groove for all we're worth
the Afro beat that shook the age
the speakers swaying on the stage
the bouncing floor the mighty noise
Four Brothers to the Bhundu Boys
so til we go to gigs again
I'm trawling back down mem'ry lane
the posters and the tickets too
the things we put on here for you
I first got involved in on putting on gigs here in Stroud in '89 for SMRT. Stroud Music Recreation Trust was set up (naively) to raise a million pounds through benefit gigs (!) to turn the then derelict Brunel Goods Shed into a music resource centre for people of all abilities. My first foray into the actual nuts and bolts of setting up an event was not great .With the clock already on 9.30pm, and over 300 waiting to party but with no band in sight, I discovered, to my horror, that the trustee responsible for 'booking' Zoot & The Roots from Leeds, had done so without a contract and the dates had been muddled. At incredibly short notice local faves Spies In The Sugar with sax maestro Patsy Gamble were somehow setting up while the enigmatic Alan Burke of popular locally based Irish Band Afterhours was tasked with the un-evious job of wooing over an impatient dance-driven crowd, which he did impeccably.
In a serendipitous chance meeting and moment, it led ,with the help of Hazel Kayes to my managing Afterhours for 7 years, to quitting my local paper job to set up a music agency for touring acts from the UK, Ireland ,Zimbabwe and Senegal…something I still do today with Hazel O'Connor , Murray Lachlan Young and Johnny Coppin at Christmas. It also resulted in my putting gigs on here for the past 30 years, of which the selection of posters above are just a few. Bless.