The first was at the enchanting Kew Bridge Steam Museum, who were having night time opening hours for "Museums at night" and we were the entertainment. It's beautiful in there. We played amongst some very large steam pumping engines from the 1800s. A strange setting for rock n roll, but it worked!
Immediately afterwards, Jaz had to get to Black Velvet in West Kensington to play a solo set. There just so happened to be a number of enthusiastic fans at Kew (who we are always happy and humbled to talk to) who wanted their CDs written on, so obliging these friends meant that the only way for Jaz to get the next gig was to gratefully jump in the car of someone he used to work on the fairground with, who accelerated up the dual carriageway in the wrong direction. Jaz apparently managed to discuss the new Daft Punk release before before a wonderfully executed U-turn in the road and he was deposited outside the tube station to go to Black Velvet.
Meanwhile, back at the steam museum, the rest of the band are working out how to transport the instruments and equipment, Jaz's bicycle (which he left behind) and two girls to the final performance of the night. They managed, and subsequently drove to Volupté lounge on the other side of the city with the girls in the back, under the bike performing what would be described as a circus trick if it didn't happen to be in the back of a transit van.
So Jaz played his set at the beautiful Black Velvet and probably made them all miserable with his melancholic mumblings, before jumping in the car with Mike, the Tankus the Henge manager and zipping over to Volupté like Speedy Gonzalez.
Dan, Tim, Louis and Will had all arrived at Volupté by this point and had loaded in the gear for a midnight performance.
Thankfully there wasn't that much to do as Jaz had decided he'd rather put the Volupté grand piano out of tune than carry his own ludicrous contraption down the stairs of London's finest most decadent cabaret supper club.
As with most Tankus the Henge shows, it was utter chaos and the band and audience had a great time.
The grand piano survived, and everyone got to bed as the sun was coming up, before heading to Bearded Theory festival for the first festival show of the year.
A charming little festival this one, where confusingly all the men, women and children appeared to be sporting magnificent beards. Never did work that one out...
