August 2006

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SOUND ENGINEERS

To keep them out of trouble when not gigging, Mike and Tony provide light and sound systems for local bands, theatre groups, etc.  Each summer they provide the sound and light for an open air production of a Shakespeare play by an offshoot of the Haverhill Theatre Company, Outspoken Theatre.  They were invited to do so again for this year’s production, The Merchant of Venice, and things went as they have in all the previous years: it rained!

However, there was one change in that there was a new member of the team.  A local boy, Lewis Clark, intends to become a sound engineer and he asked if he could come along.  Much to everyone’s surprise, he proved to be a real asset and from the very first performance worked the sound desk with a maturity and confidence that belied his 14 years.  He has since been to a couple of Jurassic Rock rehearsals and has shown that he not only has an understanding and aptitude for the work, but has a real feel for it too.  We don’t doubt that Lewis will engineer a few gigs – look out Mike, there’s someone after your job!

July 2006

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SELFISH NEIGHBOURS & STUPID COUNCILS

We played a gig this month at Wickham Bishops, which is near Braintree, Essex.  It was in the village hall, an absolutely superb building, which is better appointed and has more facilities than many town halls and it was built quite recently with funds raised by the villagers.  Some of the funding came from selling part of the playing fields for development – so far, so good.

New houses were built and they were bought by people who were perfectly well aware at the time of purchase that their new houses were situated near to the building where all the village’s social events would take place and I don’t doubt that this was reflected in the price paid.  Not content with this, the householders decided to complain about the noise and, instead of dismissing them as sour-faced kill-joys that should have known what to expect when they bought the houses, the local council upheld their complaint.

A noise limiter has now been installed and this is set at a level that makes it very difficult to play any sort of live music other than totally acoustic folk.  Even this would not be so bad, but these noise limiters (which shut off the power to the stage if the pre-set limit is exceeded for about three seconds) are not perfect as they (like hearing aids) are more sensitive to certain frequencies than others and also respond to resonances within the building.  As a consequence, they may well exceed the limit during what everyone would consider to be a quiet song, but not when things actually get louder.  The upshot of this is that we spend all our time looking at the visual indicator (a series of bulbs that light progressively as the sound increases, turning from green to red as the limit is approached) and not on playing and singing.  This spoils the evening for us and the people who are there to enjoy themselves.

Not content with having had a limiter installed, one of the neighbours kept coming across and complaining, which just adds insult to injury.  How can they possibly complain further when we are already working within the limits they have set?  Furthermore, the hall is in the middle of the building and is flanked on all sides by other rooms, so it is totally insulated from the outside.  We sent someone outside whilst we were playing and they said that the sound was barely audible.

I can understand that loud music night after night would be intolerable, but, as we discovered, the hall is well sound-proofed.  It is also multi-purpose and only used occasionally for functions involving loud music.  Setting a reasonable time for the music to stop would be perfectly acceptable, but people who move into the village and then go out of their way to prevent the original members of the community from using properly a facility they have spent many hours planning, raising funds for and building, are sour-faced kill-joys.

A GIG FOR ALL COMERS

As many of you will know, most of our gigs are private functions, so there is no point in providing details here on the site.  However, on 25th November we are playing at the British Sugar Social Club in Bury St Edmunds and I understand that all are welcome.  Further details will be posted nearer the time.  In the meantime, please make a note in your diaries.

June 2006

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STEWART SAMPLE

It is with great sadness that we report the death of our friend, Stewart Sample.  Although he had suffered illness for the past few years, Stewart’s death was, nevertheless, sudden and tragic and a great shock to all of us that knew him.

Stewart was one of the fathers that played at the famous gig at Stoke College (see here).  Although he was never a member of Jurassic Rock, Stewart made an important contribution in the formative years as he played in a number of the band’s early incarnations.  A naturally talented guitarist, Stewart had a superb sense of rhythm and, although his rather bizarre musical experiments were a source of exasperation at some rehearsals, he was always rock solid and dependable during performances.

Intelligent, articulate and occasionally controversial, Stewart had lived in East Anglia for many years, but remained proud of his roots and retained much of his North East accent.  An accomplished and highly qualified builder, part of his legacy will be the alterations, extensions and new houses that were built by his company, Sample Construction Ltd.  Faced with a number of business setbacks, Stewart earned the respect of his friends and colleagues alike for his resilience in the face of adversity and his capacity for hard work as he strived successfully to maintain his family’s standard of living by working long hours when many would have found the going too tough and just given up.  It is, therefore, especially sad that illness prevented him from maintaining quite the same high standards in recent years.

One of life’s characters that will be greatly missed, Stewart leaves behind a wife and two children, both young adults.  A close family, there is no doubt that they will support one another during this distressing and difficult time and our thoughts and good wishes are with them.

ROCKING ON

On a much happier note, we are pleased to report that Jurassic Rock is an international phenomenon!  Far from being extinct, or even an endangered species, recent discoveries in Germany and Texas, U.S.A. suggest that this particular dinosaur is making a comeback.  There is an indication that there may be a sub-species in France, but our lack of success in establishing communication suggests that this branch may have died out.

Adaptation to local conditions has brought about the inevitable regional variation (it seems that some even have keyboard players!), but similarities in repertoires, line-ups and, in particular, age prove beyond doubt that Jurassic Rockers contacted so far are the same species as the English variant.  The search for more examples continues in the far reaches of the planet and we will let you know if this meets with any success.  In the meantime, links to the presently known varieties can be found here.

May 2006

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The big news this month must be the appearance (finally) of the web site.  We’ve been discussing it for a number of years  and have owned the domain names for so long that they have had to be renewed several times.  A basic design was agreed a few months ago and the final product is very close to the plan.

So, here it is and although there are some band members who still haven’t produced their profiles, we have managed to complete phase 1 (the basic site without frills) and phase 2 (additional material and enhanced presentation) in pretty quick time; which is the stage it’s at as this is being written.  The site will continue to develop with further enhancements to the presentation, increasing the links and adding more features.

The most interesting gig this month was on 10th May at the Man on the Moon in Cambridge.  A stripped-down version of Jurassic Rock  (affectionately known as Jurassic Pebble), comprising Bob, Paul E. and Tony, had an unusual, if not unique, experience in a number of ways.  Firstly, the venue had its own P.A. and so for the first time, as far any of us can remember, we were able to turn up with just our guitars, amps and drums.  This not only meant that the setting up time was reduced from 2 hours to about 20 minutes, but the gear fitted into the backs of our cars, so we didn’t need the trailer.  Secondly, we were just part of the evening’s entertainment as there were two other bands, Lock Up Cycling Club and Delphi, both of which play their own, original numbers.  Finally, we were given a 45 minute slot and deciding what to leave out proved to be quite difficult, given that the normal gig is 3 or 4 hours!  Although the crowd was smaller than anticipated by the organizer, they were very lively and appreciative.  A great time was had by all and the evening raised valuable funds for Crohn’s disease sufferers.

Gigs for the coming months are largely parties and weddings, but we are booked to play at the British Sugar Club in Bury St Edmunds on the 25th November and there again on 10th March next year in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Both these events are open to the general public and we’ll let you have details in plenty of time.