On the road with the band

For the very early unamplified gigs at the Old Crown in Digbeth, Jazz and Lips were able to transport the instruments, including the bass drum, on the Midland Red bus from Castle Bromwich, whilst Bean and Gilbert would catch the train from Coventry.
Jazz was the first member of the Band to have use of a car and this precipitated his lifelong joy of packing vehicles to overflowing and his delight in parking as close to the stage as possible, even if this meant mounting steps in the process.
Lips' first car was a Reliant three-wheeler with inoperable heater. Bone still shudders to remember freezing winter journeys to Kingston Bagpuize when the only method of heating the car was to draw in warm air from the engine by having the windows fully open. Bone later perfected a more pleasurable mode of travel by sleeping soundly on all journeys, especially after a heavy gig and eight pints of Old Peculiar. Often he would rouse from his slumbers as Wedge was dropped off, light a ciggie and promptly fall back to sleep. On more than one occasion the hot ash fell and caused upholstery bonfires.
Cold as it was, the Reliant was never as uncomfortable as the hard ride of Tubs Truman's Land Rover, particularly on long nights to the Lincoln Imp and beyond. It was however, an indestructible vehicle, as witnessed when Tubs reversed into the organiser's car at the Council Social Club in Aylesbury. As expected it was the Band's only appearance at this venue.

Socially, it was always more pleasant to hire a van for the longer distance bookings, such gigs becoming known as 'outings'. GY Rental in Coventry was convenient, especially when heading North, as Bean could pick up the rest of the Band en route. When, as part of a cost cutting exercise, the Band rented from Shirley U Drive for a double header at Holmfirth in Yorkshire and Poynton in Cheshire in 1979, it proved false economy. The howling rear axle was not only thirsty for oil but also kept awake Bone, who was in one of the garden chairs always thoughtfully provided by Jazz. These chairs were marginally less comfortable than sitting on the piles of equipment and their appearance caused much vying for seats in the cab at the start of an outing.

Doubtful of Wedge's eyesight, Bean's navigation and Lips' heavy right foot, Jazz always preferred to drive the van, for then he was able to partake of his true passion in the Band, watching the needle of the fuel gauge as it dropped into the red and below. Only when all needle movement had ceased would Jazz deem it necessary to look for fuel. The inevitable of course happened, one bitter January night in 1989, on the M6 when returning from an unlikely gig on the seafront at Southport. In fairness to Jazz, the van was almost within sight of the next services when all forward motion stopped, but this was of little solace to Wedge who, already in mood at having missed a party at The Beehive, was now incandescent with rage. It was to be the last of his outings [or 'routings' as they were affectionately known.]
Mindful of this incident, Jazz was consigned to the garden chair when returning on the next van trip, from Scunthorpe. Fortunately it was a 'cab' van and his wails of disappointment, as the van made an early dash for the pumps, were inaudible to Lips, Bean and Bone in the front.

With Dr. Groove joining in 1995 and with the Band increasingly spread through the Midlands, outings largely became a thing of the past, a special cause of sorrow to Bone, who though he considered anything beyond the confines of Shard End to be 'in Arbroath', nevertheless always looked forward to getting his head down for a lengthy slumber.