Weekend of 3rd/4th July

I know I've been a "bad boy" in Pari's terminology, and haven't updated the blog in a while. But, I hope to pen in a few words on a weekly basis for a short while at least. Why, you ask? I've resigned from JPMC and am serving out my notice period. So, hopefully, the next couple of weeks won't be as stressful as usual.

Last weekend turned out great with fantastic weather right through. I was still a bit sore from my op on Wed, so, opted to take things easy. After the usual morning chores & runs, Saturday evening was spent having fun.

How, I hear ye ask! Welll, Rekha had a show at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford. As usual, I was the Sound Technician and Pari - the lucky mascot! The other members of the band were Fiazji (male lead), Tony Singh (Tablla/dholak), Deepak (octapad & percussions), Rameshji (Keyboard/synthesizers). By the time we reached the hotel, Fiazji had already setup the rig knowing that I would still be sore (bless the man - he's a kind hearted soul!). Now, all that was left for me was to get all the members connected to the mixer and get the mix right. Usually the worst part, this time it was pretty easy - thanks to the wonderful layout of the banquet hall. We were up and running in less than 30 min! All that was now left was to get the practise session underway to bed in the band and get the sound right. By about 6:30pm we were all ready to perform!

The sound was spot on, the singers were loving the feel, the band was happy with the mix... we were rocking it! Not to say the least, so were the organizers! We actually started getting compliments whilst the sound was being bed in ! And they didn't stop either... for the first time in the past 6-9 months, we were all very happy with the outcome.

We kicked off the show with Fiazji welcoming the crowd and belting out a couple of solos. Rekha then joined him for 2 duets and took over the stage for a couple of solo numbers. 2 more duets and a couple of solos from both again ensured there was a heady mix to the first session.

We broke for dinner - which I simply have to mentione - was absolutely fantastic!

The second session started about 15min later than anticipated - which meant about 4 songs less! Anyway, the same format as the first session was adopted and we had the crowd going crazy again. The people were loving it... ! We were now getting close to 11:30 and the "farmayish" round hadn't started! We did a few requests and were forced to wrap up as the hotel had permission till midnight.

Wrap up completed by 1, and we all bid our goodbyes to each other and left for home. Snuck into bed by about 3am! Ohh, the bones hurt... but it was a great night!

Sunday was a bit more relaxed... bought myself a suit for the new job. The evening was spent with Virenbhai and family. He had invited a couple of friends from Pratik/Keval's cricket team. Met Dil - the top scorer in the Sri Lankan under-19 World Cup team. Pari loved taking his autograph! Poor chap... was embarassed to bits! Lovely dinner, great drinks... and oh, Happy Birthday Virenbhai! He's turned 50 today.

Great weather, even greater weekend! Best to close on a high... so that's how we spent our weekend. More next weekend!