nanbanjin

Eoin, Malcom, and David wonder if the OAP home was the best choice of venue
Maybe six-forty, on a rainswept Wednesday evening in August, wasn't the ideal time for a gig, but nanbanjin (meaning: southern barbarians) still played their hearts out.

It's just a shame the audience didn't respond to the energy on the stage. I think I was the most involved audience member with my slight head-banging and hands in pockets.

Anyway, the occasion was more about catching up with Eoin, who was a fellow student on the Celta teacher-training course in Budapest in 2004. And as a big bonus, it just so happened that Greg -- another Celtee -- was acting as manager for the band's tour of England. Apparently, the tour hasn't been so rock-and-roll -- Greg's been supplying fitness lessons rather than hard drugs...

Sarah tries to ignore Greg's fitness instructions. Well, look at the state of him!
Other bands followed Nanbanjin, but none could live up to the quality of the first act. Why they weren't put later in the bill, was a mystery. By nine, there were at least fifty people in the audience.

The next day they played in Bude, Devon -- about a five hour drive away -- after a stopover in Reading for sleep. Seems being in a band means getting well acquainted with roads...

There's no accounting for popular taste