Oh! A Life On The Ocean Wave
- Jon Wheeler
- Jun 21, 2024
- 3 min read
So, Thursday this week was another first...
When I met Kate originally, in the lead up to her single release, one of her brilliant / hair brained promo ideas was to play on the ferry to the crowds attending the Isle Of Wight Festival. It was a long way off, we agreed in principle, but as usual dates have a way of arriving sooner than you imagine.
A week ago, we were still trying to work out the practicalities. For every member of the band or partner we wanted to take with us, one fare paying passenger would have to be left behind. Ferry companies don't like this. And then there’s gear, power. Power sockets are in surprisingly short supply on older ferries, and obviously none exist out on the deck, where we hoped to play, assuming the weather would even partially cooperate.
The final arbiter of these decisions proved, in true Star Trek form, to be the Captain. The decree of ‘Duo Only’ and the promise of an extension lead dangled out of the window on the deck beneath us meant it was time for what equated to a rather spectacular busk, rather than the beautifully attired country band on the deck of the Queen Mary I think Kate might have had in her mind.
One of my pupils (thank you, Paul) lent me his rather expensive busking amp, and I worked out the minimum amount of gear I could get away with. So armed with little more than the quantity of gear I might take to somebody else’s open mic night to play a few songs for ten minutes, we set off to play two, forty minute sets on the outward leg of two crossings between Lymington and Yarmouth.
Like true rock stars we got priority boarding ahead of the crowd, picked our spot at the front of the top deck and set up. The sixty or so seats that are facing us fill up quickly with a mixture of obvious festival professionals, (silly hat, flag and no baggage), mountaineers, (we’re going camping, we’ve brought EVERYTHING), daytrippers, and bemused old ladies who have no clue why the ferry is so busy.
The ship sets off. The weather is glorious, bakingly hot with no appreciable wind. As a tragically terrible passenger who gets motion sick in a bathtub, I was personally pretty grateful for the smooth sailing. Kate introduces us, and we crash through a set of songs based around her recent rehearsals with the band, including her single ‘Wallflower’. There is applause, singing, and the vibe is pretty chilled. It’s too hot to make a fuss.
This we did twice. The return sailings in both cases were far quieter affairs, with barely a handful of passengers, so we just hung out near the cafe or out on the deck. Kate saw a dolphin and then spent ten minutes trying to convince herself she didn’t. I'm not sure why ;-) she probably did!
All in all it was a pretty lovely day out, it’s a shame more of you couldn’t have shared it with us. Maybe just catch us at the next big gig? We’re doing a free shindig on Saturday August 10th in the garden at The Crown in Selsey. The whole band’s going to be there, plus some special guests, and there’s a band on before us too, stay tuned for details!
More photos to be found on this little adventure on Instagram!
I think this was the dream....
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