Just got back to France/Switzerland after an excellent weekend in the UK. Friday was wonderful. Drove up to Kings Lynn from Stansted (well, my brother did) and was a bit panicky as we looked set to arrive after 8pm - but managed to get there by 7:30. Met sister-in-law in Kings Lynn and after a bit of screaming in the street (my sister went a bit wild when told that she was gonna be an auntie!) went to the Arts Centre. The place got about 2/3 full (around 200 people I guess) with a large contingent of "old-ish" people above the age of 50. I guess a lot of people go to the arts centre for more sedate offerings. Met-up with John L. (cheers for the I&SS#2 - which I haven't looked at yet!), Howard, Derek (cheers for the advice to buy a UC tee-shirt - its great!) and Matt. Saw a few other familiar faces too, though don't know the names. Had a great seat, about 1/3 back, in the centre.

The band came on, to subdued applause, and started "comme d'habitude" with Scarlet. The sound was very clear but the balance was a bit odd at times - even though I was in the centre the sound seemed very one-sided (to the right). Also, through the first half, it got a bit too loud at times (funny sort of criticism I know!). Andy was very quiet, and wouldn't rise to the bait from Marty and Julianne. Until someone mentioned KY Jelly - and Julianne seemed ignorant of its uses! Can't recall how they got onto that subject. The 1st half flew by, the audience remaining tight-lipped, and the band a bit subdued between songs too. But they couldn't be faulted at all for their performance. Marty wasn't in one of his "flamboyant" modes - just played wonderfully. And Julianne was on top form. During the break the sound crew adjusted some things, to great effect. Except for some hum from Andy's bass. The vocals were clearer, the sound better balanced. The crowd became a little more enthusiastic and the band responded (though I can't remember much of the banter (does anyone?)). The Marty/Julianne duet wasn't as stated in a previous mail, but was (of course) "You bring your love to me" and was superb. Best I've heard it. (the only other unplugged gigs I've been to were the 3 at the Borderline). Marty and Andy had several beers, and at one point, to the embarrassment of Julianne and Andy, Marty just walked off stage to get some more (and a new bottle of wine for Julianne). At one point Andy and Marty had a "jamming" session (for a couple of minutes), much to the delight of the fans, and Julianne promised to "get her arse into gear and write some new songs" (maybe I paraphrased that!).

The 10-15 minute version of Every Angel as the climax was amazing. Marty made some very odd noises (with his guitar!) with the help of some feedback. Dunno how he does that. Sad to see the evening come to a close, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Heard some very positive comments from some "older" members of the audience, and my brother/sis-in-law had a great time - to the extent that they said they would definitely go to see them again. Shame that they missed the Chelmsford and Cambridge gigs as they live very close to those places.

Personally I loved the evening. It was pretty emotional coming back to Kings Lynn. The previous times (just before xmas) were for much more depressing reasons. I noticed that the gig was being recorded on minidisc (at the soundboard) so it looks like the band are preparing to compile another FLN. (do they really master on minidisc and not DAT?). I also took some photos at the gig but they didn't come out too well (theres a hideous one of Julianne!) - but the ones that did may well appear on a website in the Netherlands shortly :-)

Didn't get to Spalding - would like to hear what that was like.

Cheers, Dave