Bumps On The Road May 4, 2004 by Roger Young

Roger, Laura & the Bump Band Swindon Arts Centre

I hope you won't mind too much if I'm slightly indulgent for a moment and dedicate this demented fan's amateurish meanderings to my wonderful traveling companion, my 14 year old daughter Laura.

Plans were hatched when Mac's UK tour dates were first announced. London and Sheffield looked good ones to me. Straight away --- a problem! Laura had tickets to see Britney Spears at Manchester Arena on May 1st. Yeah same night as Mac's London gig. When I realised I asked "What'cha gonna do about it?" and without a seconds hesitation she replied, "Britney's gotta go" Can you imagine my emotions, my sense of pride for a young teenage girl to come out with that. You're my girl I thought. Soon after I hit upon the idea of bridging London and Sheffield with the Art Centre gig at Swindon. We were going on the road.

Anticipation built as the dates got ever nearer. That final week seemed to go on forever. Thursday and Friday at work I thought about things might be going in Wavendon and Southampton.

Saturday duly did arrive. We stuck the cases in the car, loaded the CDs, and was bid a cheery "Best of British" as we departed. Keeping us company and getting us in the mood were Mac's CDs / Small Faces Ultimate Collection / Black Eyed-Peas / Nods As Good As A Wink / Atlantic Soul / The Who / Little Walter / Never A Dull Moment / Ain't No One Like Ronnie Lane.

After checking in at our hotel (just around the corner from Westmoreland Terrace), we didn't have too much hanging around to do before it was gig time.

The Mean Fiddler is my kind of venue. A rock 'n' roll venue, dark, compact and frayed at the edges. We headed straight to the stage and took up our positions Mac side. Apparently, we'd missed the first support band but the one we caught was good, delivering a hard-drivin' rhythm and blues set. I didn't get their name but later somebody said they may have been "The Outcasts". As their slot ended the place was nicely filling up. There were a couple of Rod Stewarts and a Mick Jagger lookalike in the gathering throng. I guessed several of the folks left of stage might be regulars to the site but never did ask. The funnels on the Leslie speaker fascinated me, not having seen anything like it before.

Without undue delay Mac and the Bump Band came on stage, the audience clapped and cheered wildly as Mac, attired in a white shirt with black polka dots, gave the broadest of grins. Mac took hold of the mike and proudly declared he was "high as a kite" and tonight we were gonna party. Kicking straight into Booker T, taking us through much of the new album. Everybody was there with the Bumps, we were as one. Audience and band in perfect harmony. I've read Mac's thoughts on the loss of Ronnie Lane and heard the songs he has written about his buddy, but this been the first time of seeing the Bump Band live, I was very much taken with how frequently Mac shows reverence and regard for Plonk. An admiration and love that was matched by the crowd and it was very touching to see the respect that Ronnie Lane still holds for many, many people and its a big pat on the back to Mac for keeping his music very much alive.

About three-quarters of the way through, what must have been a 2 hour set, Mac introduced "Little Girl" as been co-written by Ron Wood and said they'd play it and then Ronnie would come out. Scrappy took the band into the song and really tore it up with the dirtiest sounding rock 'n' roll electric guitar this side of Keith Richards. With that song over Ronnie came onstage and the place just lifted again. "Cindy Incidentally", "Mystifies Me" then "Ooh La La" with the band cutting out for us all to join in with a raucous but emotional rendering of the chorus over and over and over again. Moments that cannot be adequately described with simple words but that stay with you for life are few and far between; this was most definitely one. Laura said at one point Woody looked down at her with a quizzical look as if to say how come somebody so young was there and knew all the words. As the set came to a close Mac and Ronnie were obviously enjoying themselves so much they announced they were gonna stay on stage and do the encore there and then instead of going off. You know I wasn't there to review the gig, just to have a real good time, so I can't be 100% certain what they played, but very possibly it was "What'cha gonna do about it". We sang, we jumped, we punched the air with delight.

If Mac thought he'd done his encore then the audience had a different opinion. Cheering, stomping and clapping we made the Bumps come back! Yet still there was one more surprise: Kenney Jones!! I never did get to see the Faces live (too young), though I bought the albums and singles at the time, there I was at a Faces reunion. Because they'd already done the planned encore there was a lot of discussion between Woody and Kenney on what to play. Mac made us laugh as he mimicked them both trying to decide. After about a minute it was settled: "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller. Mac was on vocals when this geezer came out (who I later discovered was Kenney's lead singer) and took over. He didn't add anything to it and in my opinion should have stayed off and left it to Mac --- it was his show. Just my gripe, but it didn't hamper the band ripping through the Chuck Berry classic.

Mac was last to leave the stage, but not before we both got to shake his hand. Ronnie Lane honoured, a Faces reunion (and Rod wasn't even missed), but most of all, a wonderful, wonderful Bump Band concert. Everything that I'd wished, hoped and dreamt it would be.

As the stage was dismantled and the crowd filtered away to the bar or the door Laura and I went to the barriers leading backstage. Along with about 6 others we gathered in the hope Mac would come say hello. He didn't disappoint. Laura introduced herself, Mac remembered, then said "and you must be Roger Dodger" Pretty quickly as Mac headed upstairs for somewhere more convenient he was swamped by dozens of well-wishers. We waited our turn and Mac kindly signed our tickets. We said "thanks for a great show and we'll be seeing you in Swindon".

There was just one regret that night as cloud nine carried us back to the hotel; we didn't take the camera, though Laura got a some pics on her cellular phone.

How do you come down from a night like that? We were still "up" on Sunday as we headed west out of London towards Swindon. I must admit I had my worries when I saw the venue was an Arts Centre, and it was seated!! I had visions, rightly or wrongly, of intellectualism been a barrier to the emotion of the rock 'n' roll / rhythm & blues that was to follow.

With our best McLagan t-shirts on; Laura wearing "Troublemaker" and me in my Bill Graham Special (read the book), we had time for to get one drink in before the scheduled off. Luckily I'd had a few earlier from my stash that had been smuggled into the hotel in the guise of luggage. Sure enough my suspicions were realised. This was not a rock 'n' roll hall. I felt as if I were in a public library theatre. The tiered seating was full but somehow there was not the atmosphere of expectation that filled the Mean Fiddler.

We had great front row seats right next to Mac and laughed when he came onstage and asked the audience "What film are you here to see?"
The band stormed through the set with the same enthusiasm as the previous night. I got the impression that they really do get off playing in this band. The problem was the punters didn't meet that enthusiasm. They were too damn polite. I'm not saying they didn't enjoy it, but this was live music with true grit, not a Sunday evening recital. It was nice for us to get an acknowledgement from Scrappy and Mac, they could see we were lapping it up. We couldn't dance but we least we clapped, whistled and cheered them home.

Set List - Swindon Arts Centre, May 2nd 2004

Can't Keep Still
Your Secret
Get Yourself Together
So Lucky
Wrong Direction
Cindy Incidentally
You're My Girl
She Ain't My Girl
Hello Old Friend
Been A Long Time
You're So Rude
Date With An Angel
Little Girl
Glad and Sorry
Mystifies Me
Little Troublemaker

encore: All Or Nothing

When the gig finished was finished it was back to the bar --- or so I thought. It was only 10pm but it was closed. What can you say to that? We pulled up chairs and waited for Mac to come along. I chatted with a real character, Patrick on merchandise and had a great rapport going, laughter all the way. Sure enough Mac came down and spent a good while speaking to all who wanted CDs/books signing. Meanwhile Laura and I had the pleasure of meeting Don and Scrappy. They very kindly signed the set list the tour manager gave us. Don said that the London gig had been the best of his life, right there with Springsteen in Dublin. It had been the first time he had ever played alongside Ronnie Wood. He told us about the Austin music scene, some of the other musicians he's worked with, we talked about Joe Ely and Dale Watson who I was familiar with. Scrappy was a gentleman too, answering my many questions with patience. He was interested to hear that Jerry Lee Lewis was doing some UK dates with Chuck Berry shortly and asked if James Burton was playing with Jerry Lee.

The big question was will the Bump Band be back here soon. Don said it all depends on how well the album does. Scrappy kind of intimated that while Mac can always do London, anywhere else is often more difficult.

I asked if I could take a photograph of Don and Scrappy with Laura and they suggested getting somebody else to take the pic so we could all be in the shot. We got one photo off and guess who should come flying across the room and crouch down in front of us ? Yeah, none other than the great man himself. I just hope the photos come out ok because that one will be going up on the wall. We'd gotten about three photos during the show too so we were well happy. After the picture Mac stuck around and we talked for 20 minutes or more. All about his wishes for a Faces reunion. I just hope he isn't hurt and let down if it doesn't work out as he is quite rightly up for it. He mentioned efforts and deals that had been waiting on previous attempted get-togethers. I expressed the desire that that it wouldn't just be a one-off concert or tour but that they could put another original album out. The work that Rod and Ronnie have put into their planned "You sing, I'll Strum" collaboration would be a great starting point. I always felt that "Ooh La La" was so close to being the definitive Faces album, and the next record would be it; alas it never came to be.

An old school friend of Mac's had been in the audience and he was obviously thrilled with the old black and white class photograph from 1958 he had been given. He was pointing out which particular girls he used to have a crushes on. Laura gave Mac a Small Faces fridge magnet for him to take back home to Austin. We chatted about our kids, about Woody. I also got to ask Mac something that's been bugging me ever since I got the CD. On "She Stole It" who is Mavis? I got my answer, Mavis Staple of course. I felt such a wally, but never mind.

Mac had finished his pint and said he had to get another from backstage. I called out "get me one" and as he bounded upstairs he shouted "I will, I will". He was as good as his word. Back he came with a full glass and a bottle of Becks for me. What a fantastic way to finish the night off. We bid farewell and said "see you in Sheffield". Mac was great, he replied "you coming tomorrow as well? - wow!!"

Before we knew, it was time to rise and shine and get started up the M1 towards Yorkshire; but not without a fright. The car started shaking and I had a terrible thought that we'd be towed home and miss the gig. Anyways, after a pit stop we set off again, taking it easy and we made Sheffield. Unfortunately, it wasn't the end of our ordeals. We were discussing how we were going to go photo-crazy and use up all the film on the Bumps when I asked Laura where she had put the camera. She said I'd had it, and I said no you had it. Worry set in. We checked and double-checked our suitcases, the car, our coats --- still no camera. Now we did panic! It wasn't the camera, it wasn't the pictures we'd miss taking that evening, it was those precious undeveloped Bump photos from Sunday night. I rang the Swindon hotel and the manager told us nothing had been handed in. Then he suggested give him an hour and he would go search the room himself. Thankfully he came back with positive news. He'd found the camera under one of the beds and would keep it safe for us. A huge sigh swept over the Yorkshire city.

Now that was all out of way we could get ready. The venue was ideal. The Boardwalk has the stage at one end of long dark wooden floored room. The bar runs down one side and there was a small scattering of tables and chairs in front of the stage. I likened it to a Western saloon. It's a venue totally dedicated to live music 7 days a week so I knew the Bumps would feel at home. The few tables in front of the stage worried me slightly, but the majority of the audience would be standing. We took a table front and centre. Laura and I agreed though we weren't gonna sit through the show like at Swindon.

After the support had finished I got talking with this gypsy lad who told some wonderful stories of Ronnie Lane and his family and how he had met Ronnie at Appleby Horse Fair. I do hope he got to speak with Mac 'cos I'm sure he'd have enjoyed the tales too.

The Bump Band came out to a rapturous welcome and we just knew it was going to be a fantastic night. Laura and I got up and stood right against the sound system stack at Scrappy's side. We danced and sang our way through the last gig and made sure we finished our tour in style. Mac and the Bumps played as if their very lives depended on it. It's such a joy to watch Mac hitting that keyboard, watch his feet working the pedals and I kept thinking back to the Johnnie Walker radio show when he described it as like driving a train. Well that train picked everybody up, left nobody behind and took them on a journey they'll never forget. It was steamin'

The crowd were superb, even those sat at the tables had heaps of life about them. We were so lucky to be there. The Bumps finished off with a rousing encore of "All Or Nothing". Mac and the boys had given their all.

The house lights came up, Laura and I just stood there for a few minutes stunned and speechless. We were both having the same thoughts. We couldn't believe that was the last gig, we couldn't believe that we wouldn't be doing it again the following night. We didn't want to leave. Don came out and said how much he had enjoyed each show they had done. After seeing Scrappy play live I promised that I'd be giving his CD a try. Mac keep the momentum going and build on the album / interviews / tour and come back to these shores real soon, cos I want to do it all over again!

As we left The Boardwalk we called over "See you Mac --- hope its not too long" and he came back with "See you; thanks for coming Laura". Don't that tell you lots, Mac not only remembered her name but thanked her too.

What a man, what a band and what a tour!

VODKA, GIN & RUM ANYONE?

©May 4, 2004, Roger Young - Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Reproduced with permission.