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Ian's blog

2nd January 2011 - New Year Blog

Happy New Year to you all. Thanks for visiting the site once again.

So, how's your Christmas belly then? Mine's nicely cultivated - so now presumably it's time to turn masochistic and retrieve some dignity to my appearance by going for 2 bowls of Special K a day. After all, there is one last Dressed To Kill gig to stay trim for...

Yes, you heard me right. I now have one last night in the lycra and the slap next month - FRIDAY 4th FEBRUARY to be precise, at the Robin RnB club in Bilston which is pretty much the closest venue to home for me as it goes.

Dec 12th - Final gigs & victory jigs

“Ain’t it funny how the time slips away…’cos now I’m leaving and I wish I could stay…”

Paul Stanley definitely wrote that song for me. It’s 5 years on from my first show as a full Dressed To Kill member at the Nottingham KISS Expo, and now my time in the world’s longest-running (and best) tribute to the Hottest Band In The World is at an end. I’ve already bored you witless with the reasons why in a previous blog, so let’s just get on with the story of my last 4 gigs shall we?

Rock and Roll Stories Part 3 - Lyxz De Luxe

I’ve often been referred to as ‘band slag’ ‘have sticks will travel’ ‘he’s after everybody’s job’ and other choice summaries of my career behind the kit. Most of the time, my band choices have been based almost entirely on the enjoyment I expected to derive from it. And so, whether it’s been Shotgun Wedding, Dressed To Kill or The Three Amoebas, it’s been a laugh a minute for the right reasons.

Leaving Dressed To Kill - sad but true

And so it goes. Come the 4th December, I will extrapolate myself from my Peter Criss wig one last time, scrape the white, black, green, silver & red from my fizzog and prepare to hand over the DRESSED TO KILL drumstool to another poor undeserving sap.

Do I want to leave DTK? No, absolutely NOT! Since I joined in 2005, I have played my favourite songs from my favourite band to some of my favourite people – the UK KISS Army…and beyond! However, sometimes in life you have to stop doing things you love no matter how much you want to continue.

1/11/10 Oak floorboards and mahogany fretboards...

It’s constantly drummed into us (excuse the pun) that moving house is the most stressful day of your life and nothing ever comes close to matching the levels of irritation and blind panic that come with such upheaval. Last year, for example, it took Natalie and myself over 12 hours to move just 400yds up the road to our new place, with removal men who clearly thought that a vehicle equivalent to one of those Daihatsu mini-vans was sufficient to carry the worldly goods of a married couple with 4 children all under the age of 10.

Rock and Roll War Stories #2 - The majesty of Reider

REIDER.

Unfortunately, it’s not a name that will conjure many hedonistic rock and roll images up in anyone’s minds, save for the lucky lucky few that got to witness their punishing half-hour set in the auspicious surroundings of the now-legendary Heart of England School Assembly Hall…I’ve barely started writing this and you’re already seriously pissed off you missed it aren’t you?

7/10/10 - talkSPORT fans and transit vans

It's amazing how your pre-conceptions about a person or a situation can be so wide of the mark as to be laughable, and shows you up for how narrow-minded you can be at times.

I met David Watkins at his house near Leamington the other day. David is just like hundreds of thousands of 11-year-old boys...he eats, sleeps and breathes football (Cardiff City being his 1st love), will talk with anyone about the beautiful game until it's way past his bedtime and harbours a desire to become a sports journalist/broadcaster when he's older.

27/9/10 - Extra layers at games before the clocks have gone back??

It’s September 26th 2010 and I’m forced to dig out the thermal vest for a football match – the game’s gone.

To be fair, the old Damart faithfuls can come in handy for a pre-season friendly in late July at Stoke’s Brittania Stadium, such is the way the wind whips through the Potteries, but whilst the wife and I have so far resisted in putting the heating on at home, I couldn’t risk a trip to Bolton without a bit more insulation.

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