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12/30/2007

Comments

BroadgateGnome

There isn't enough money in the world for anyone to admit membership of this band ( and i still dont believe anything i read in the gnome).
Sphincta productions had a process for the gigs that bands couldnt do for reasons of breaking up. (There were a lot of them)
First of all they would substitute Ra Ho Tep ( Tim James and co), changing the name if necessary.
If the booker got wind of this, it was explained as a mistake and a brand new band offered, especially if the booker was daft enough or frantic. ( or didnt want to pay a cancellation fee that the contract small print required)
If all else failed a roll call of mates, wther they could play or not, and of whoever anyones sister was going out with at the time, were cobbled together, bribed , cajoled, lysistrataed into performing. It often worked and they got away with it knowing that the truth wouldnt get out for forty years.
Sometimes it was quite entertaining. there was one Rogue gig that was really a Hawkwind/piblokto/fleetwood lineup and only 20 in the audence ( either malvern or some such place.)
The ELF writeup above was very cruel. The check shirted person was the vocalist, whose mic wasnt working and who was reading avant garde poetry to the jazz backing
The story of the Uni gig ( tribal rock Coop) is a tale of major shenanigans, waiting to be told. ( I darent though).

ELF, isnt there a bit of a clue in the title.
...anyone up for a reunion gig, especially now that some of the members can now actually play their instruments?
Anonymous

A and R

There was nothing untoward with the TRC UNI  gig. It was difficult to organise because the system at Warwick had fallen apart following a lock out of administrative staff and the loss of the advance booking paperwork.
 Technically the gigs were run by the University Socialist Society,

I believe the process that Sphincta followed was fairly Norman , er normal .


 

CoventryKid

There was a lot of substition and renaming went on at gigs ,at least Sphincta had a backup plan. The tradition followed us to London.
I think I played in ELF/Rogue/Whatever on four occasions. Once on bass guitar, that I played for trhe first time in the van on the way to the gig. 
The best gig we had , we never even got on stage. The Greasy Truckers,  There was a blackout and the fire brigade  made everybody go and wait outside. When they came back in there were twice as many. Cant remember what year it was.
Typical Digger corruption though,  the whole thing was ripped off and later appeared as a supposed bootleg.
I think the biggest Scam was the Red Bus thing at Hollywood mear Stoke. Tribal Rock at the Uni was fairly corruption free, apart from the usual hoho argh about the door money. Not as bad as some of the earlier Swan or Carlton gigs, when no one was really sure who was running the night. This was often decided on if it made a profit or not..
Its funny I can remember one big row , about door takings off £30 that went missing. Not even enough for a taxi fare from the airport these days.. 
But the Uni gigs were usually free.
 Its all a bit hazy now though.

BroadgateGnome

I have some tapes of Elf/Rogue and some 8mm film of them at the Roundhouse  pretending to be another band..

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