Foxwood Steel Plays Leeds Pride

Last year we were three steel pans, two snare drums and assorted shakers. This year we have more than doubled our pannage and kept the percussion much the same. 

Pannistes were me, Vicky, Katie ("Percussion or pan, Katie?" "If I'm playing Pride  I'm playing pan!" Lol), Sophie' and FoxRisers: Wanda and Chloe, and Foxcub, Lola. On wood block was Daisy ("a pan would spoil my outfit". Lol) and on various shakers, Vic and Katie's friends.

Probably ought to give a man of the match to Geoge who played snare drum properly and throughout. I had spent some hrs  shrinking our 2 and 3 chord Songsheets to a manageable A6 in the middle of our pans, but wrongly decided to link them with a single top hole. Tangled within seconds of moving off.

Wanda came round at 11.30, and helped with sorting songsheets; Sophie at 1.  We all adjusted the harnesses and bumbags for maximum marching comfort, and Sophie recalled the boot camp that was Notting Hill as we marched for hours dressed in sheets like Greeks with two painful guitar straps across our backs.

Time was running, I decided we should take the bus. We came out of the house and I  said let's look and see when the next bus is (from the electronic bus stop info display).  Sophie opined, in a matter of fact way that there was a bus.




A bus!

A bus!

As in waiting to cross Hyde Park Road! Run!

Weighted down by our harnesses and pans we sped across the road, dodging the roadworks.

When we finally connected up with Gareth, we assembled on Thingy Street, then on Cookridge Street  where we finally met Diz and Mole, then back to Thingy Street, where static we played every song we had brought. Marching was another matter as the parade set off at a fair lick and we were almost running, tripping over the two year-old in front of us.

Suffice it say that, apart from aforementioned George (and that really is the end of the shout outs!) musically, well let's say, visually was a lot better than musically. All played in good spirit. Got a few thoughts for next year, one is either to be in time always with the samba band that was following us, or possibly not to be so close to the samba band!

We stopped in the crush that was Boar Lane meets Briggate. Just needed to get out. But in Blayds Yard a lull, and a little space which obviously had our name on it, sadly Chloe had to go, the rest of us stayed for "a drink".

Lola loved the crac, and the "ladies" dancing. One drink became two then we really did go our separate ways. Rick collected me Sophie and Wanda from outside the Art Gallery, and I spent a few hours on the sofa in a state of disrepair.