Hartlepool Tall Ships

[rajkid]

Just as a heads up, who's going?

[Delly]

Me and my other half! :)

[Joy84]

I will be there, Jan knows who I am - I have not got blue in my hair though now Jan :( I'll be there with my 21/2 year old niece, she's having a late night :) She has been wanting to wear her pirate costume for the last week so think she is rather looking forward to it and me too :)

[Dawn]

Me and hubby and Jan are all travelling together. I met you briefly at the Cluny, Joy, but I might not recognise you if you're not in the Matador jacket ;)

[jan]

I will be there, Jan knows who I am - I have not got blue in my hair though now Jan :( I'll be there with my 21/2 year old niece, she's having a late night :) She has been wanting to wear her pirate costume for the last week so think she is rather looking forward to it and me too :)

Aw bless:)
She'll have lots of extra aunties and uncles too! It's going to be lovely cos you can go on the ships or so I'm told.
Durn it! We used to have a parrot toy but I can't find it. Might have something else nautical though. Prepare to be surprised:D And a hug too this time:D
xx
PS We just found a pirate glove puppet.......pirates arrrr cool!

[Joy84]

Sounds good Jan :) I have a green matador jacket this time :)
I'll get to the point where I'll have a wardrobe full of matador jackets. :D

When I was at Belfast last year and the tall ships fest was on the heavens opened and you couldn't go on any ships due to health and safety. Fingers crossed for fine weather :)

See you there. Looking forward to it. :)

[jodieaitken]

She has been wanting to wear her pirate costume for the last week so think she is rather looking forward to it and me too :)

Dukester tweeted that he's sporting a pirate eye patch, so they'll match! :D

[teddy10]

Hope all you "pirates" have fun.
Was in a similar get-up for Athlete at Old Royal Naval College (London) a few weeks back, when we sang on stage with the band :-)

Love tall ships, too, but just couldn't factor this in.
Look forward to your reports and pics

[rajkid]

Just got back, will post full set-list tomorrow.

Duke started with Everybody Wants a Little Something, sporting the eye-patch. And finished on Last Night I Nearly Died, and stage dived at the end onto the bloke standing next to me, who proceeded to pour the majority of his bear over my shoulder. So after an hour's drive the car now smells like the Black Sheep Baa...r.

Had fun though.

EWALS
Brixton Leaves
Sweet Sweet Kisses
Jockey Club
Soldier's Song
Tango Tangle
Diggin'
Prop Mann
Apple Jack
OLGD
Last Night I Nearly Died

[Delly]

Just got back, will post full set-list tomorrow.

Duke started with Everybody Wants a Little Something, sporting the eye-patch. And finished on Last Night I Nearly Died, and stage dived at the end onto the bloke standing next to me, who proceeded to pour the majority of his bear over my shoulder. So after an hour's drive the car now smells like the Black Sheep Baa...r.

Had fun though.

Not such a bad thing rajkid ;-)
I think our man made a lot of new fans tonight don't you? Kept seeing hundreds of smiling faces on the big screens and he was doing a roaring trade from his Hector Mann suitcase afterwards :D

[jodieaitken]

Sounds like it was a fantastic gig :D Making me more excited for the next gig :D Can't wait for more reports from boardies now!!

[jan]

Just got back, will post full set-list tomorrow.

Duke started with Everybody Wants a Little Something, sporting the eye-patch. And finished on Last Night I Nearly Died, and stage dived at the end onto the bloke standing next to me, who proceeded to pour the majority of his bear over my shoulder. So after an hour's drive the car now smells like the Black Sheep Baa...r.

Had fun though.

You must have been standing very close to Joy and we were about 5 yards away to your right. We really MUST organise some sign of recognition between boardies! It's not right for people to chat away in cyberspace like old friends but have no way of identifying each other at gigs.....especially at a gig as unusual as Hartlepool! Well it WAS different!
The crowd waiting for Ocean Colour Scene......erm....sorry, didn't stay to hear them but we were surrounded by their unmoving and (some) drunken followers who thought it SO witty to make moronic comments about Duke and the band but hadn't the intelligence to just go away (polite version).
The big screens were really good quality weren't they but there's always that tiny delay which puts them out of synch. which modern technology cannot resolve?
Our man did a fantastic set and won over many new fans as Delly has mentioned. I didn't look at the crowd much on the big screens as too intent on seeing the action on stage but the gathering for photo-ops at the side of the stage afterwards was live and kicking!
Revelations were a group of youths who would be last on the list of people most likely to become Duke Special fans requesting a group photo and bless them for that (curse me for judging a book by its cover) and another group of lads who bought t-shirts and CDs like they were becoming extinct....love you guys!
Thanks (not said enough) to Duke and the band, Phil and Ben doing a fantastic job as always, Cian for a brilliant job on stage and coming out to give support with the merchandise, and well....we don't really know who was the suave gentleman who played bass and did backing vocals and we apologise profusely if it's someone we've previously known and failed to recognise...but we salute you also sir!
xx

[Geordie]

That'll be Simon Little, Jan:

http://www.simonlittlebass.com/home/

Ocean Colour Scene? Blimey.

[rajkid]

I may have talked to you Jan I'm really not sure, there was a group of three stood next to me who knew the Mother Courage stuff and had been at the Cluny, Unfortunately we never introduced ourselves and I just joined in their conversation saying the name of the song that the bloke was talking about Ben's mad dancing. I also chatted to another guy who had been at the Cluny and Cumberland Arms gigs, and is doing a Music in the Community degree at Sunderland, there was a group of very small children directly in front of us. If anyone I talked to last night is on here, Hello.:o

Where the hell was the Merch desk? I waited around at the right-hand side of the audience bit at the front walking to that tent and back and saw absolutely no sign of the man afterwards. I was going to get my friend a Hector Mann t-shirt, all of which are sold out on here.:(

The bassist was the Divine Comedy's Simon Little, and has accompanied Duke for the second-half of this year's tour.

The delay is probably due to the editing bit as all the camera info goes to one desk, and is then sent to the screens.

EDIT: this all sounds like a rant; it's really not, I had a great time, I just can't seem to convey that in prose though.=$

[Dublinram]

Not such a bad thing rajkid ;-)
I think our man made a lot of new fans tonight don't you? Kept seeing hundreds of smiling faces on the big screens and he was doing a roaring trade from his Hector Mann suitcase afterwards :D

I can assure you that suitcase is heavy!

[jan]

Sorry it was not us you spoke to Rajkid :( I recognised lots of faces from previous gigs but it's quite possible they don't read our ravings on here and wouldn't know we exist!
No merch desk as such but Peter said he'd be 'Over there....' later so we hung about 'Over there' and he emerged from behind the barriers surrounded by security, who looked like they were checking the contents of his suitcase;( Looking back, it was all quite bizarre with Peter selling stuff from a suitcase on the ground in the dark.
He was right next to a huge wheelie bin too. All he needed was a tip off about the cops.... sling the case in the bin and leg it round the corner....which would have been a Hector Mann moment:D
Ah thanks for the info about Simon Little. Thought he looked vaguely familiar but couldn't recall how.
xx

[Joy84]

Looking back, it was all quite bizarre with Peter selling stuff from a suitcase on the ground in the dark.

Jan you missed out while a firework display was going on :)

[Joy84]

Dukester tweeted that he's sporting a pirate eye patch, so they'll match! :D

She had her photo taken with Duke it got a bit cold on the evening so she had her pink fifi coat over the top of pirate costume, so were not matching. She had a Jack sparrow hat with the dreadlocks attached...so they were matching in that sense :) Was brill night hope you enjoy the fringe festival. :)

[Mrfizzy]

Unfortunately, we couldn't make the Tall Ships so it's a real pleasure to read the reports (and to look forward to a few piccies especially after reading the last few posts) - must see the patch and pirate outfit!

Jan's point about the difficulty of fan recognition is a good one - I may be hard to spot unless dressed as a puffin (mugshot thread or photo avatar?) We're always delighted to meet any DS fan - surely we're all a bit curious about how others got bitten by the Duke bug? DS pin buttons are an idea for random meet up but the original badges are a bit small - perhaps we should come up with a larger "meetup" version? It's probably a good idea at bigger venues to prearrange meetings by post or PM. The main thing is ask - don't be shy!

Apart from sharing a Duke yarn or two it can be very useful to meet and pool gig intel although finding a "merch desk" on the move in this case sounds like a bit of a challenge. Many thanks for providing both Duke and Duke merch transport Dublinram!

[monsenb1]

..there was a group of three stood next to me who knew the Mother Courage stuff and had been at the Cluny, Unfortunately we never introduced ourselves and I just joined in their conversation saying the name of the song that the bloke was talking about Ben's mad dancing. $

Hey Rajkid, that was me who you talked to! I was with my wife and her colleague (who has seen Duke everywhere). Thanks for reminding me with your video on your mobile. Last night I nearly died is quite reminscent of the Song of the Great Capitulation in places, but Ben didnt let himself go that much :)

Im actually not a huge follower of Duke Special, but (really) enjoy his shows whenever I see him (3rd time now).

[teddy10]

Re the point about fan/boardie recognition ~over on another band's forum we came up with the idea of tee shirts. ******** Forum, then our user names......

Could be used for Duke????

[Joy84]

must see the patch and pirate outfit!

Jan's point about the difficulty of fan recognition is a good one

We should all just wear matador Jackets..I did that at newcastle - I wore a red matador jacket and Jan had no bother spotting me. :)

As for the picture I'll try to put it on but I'm not too good at IT - Ive tried to put a photo on here before and failed miserably. I will try again tho... I captured majority of gig on video too, that might be a little ambitious for me.:D

[wonky_eggs]

Irregular lurker, but regular concert-goer here!

And finished on Last Night I Nearly Died, and stage dived at the end onto the bloke standing next to me,

Oh, you were a few people to my right - I was slap bang in the middle of the front row, with friends to my right and a very, very, very drunk lady to my left whose skin must have been oozing alcohol. Either that or she'd been swimming in a brewery - she stunk! She did have a go at making up lyrics though, ha ha!


The crowd waiting for Ocean Colour Scene......erm....sorry, didn't stay to hear them but we were surrounded by their unmoving and (some) drunken followers who thought it SO witty to make moronic comments about Duke and the band but hadn't the intelligence to just go away (polite version).

Thankfully we didn't hear any of the OCS comments, but I did get the impression that most of the crowd LOVED the Duke, so all is well :o)

Revelations were a group of youths who would be last on the list of people most likely to become Duke Special fans requesting a group photo and bless them for that (curse me for judging a book by its cover)

Oh yes, they interrupted my conversation with Duke for that! Thankfully they went straight after and Duke came back to me for a chat and a photo. But they were just the complete opposite of who you would expect would listen to Duke.

She had her photo taken with Duke it got a bit cold on the evening so she had her pink fifi coat over the top of pirate costume, so were not matching. She had a Jack sparrow hat with the dreadlocks attached

We were queuing at the meet 'n' greet behind that lady.

there was a group of very small children directly in front of us.

That might have been us. Two blokes, a lady and two small children? Two of us were at the Cluny too, and we talked with two ladies then, so apologies if we didn't recognise and speak with you again if it was you.

What a great show though, very lively and fingers crossed has won over a large number of new fans! :o)

Edit: Me and my friends also got a good bit of screen time for dancing during 'Diggin'

Barry.

[Joy84]

Sorry Mr. Fizzy just seen your explanation of how to put pictures on forum...nice one..will give it ago when I get pic off bro-in-law camera.

Jan...ladies medium mother courage t-shirt sold out :( that's why we couldn't find one in the suitcase. Do we think the small mens one would fit :)

[Mrfizzy]

Sorry Mr. Fizzy just seen your explanation of how to put pictures on forum...nice one..will give it ago when I get pic off bro-in-law camera.

Jan...ladies medium mother courage t-shirt sold out :( that's why we couldn't find one in the suitcase. Do we think the small mens one would fit :)

Can't answer the T-shirt question Joy84 but there are several tips on how to post photos on th forum - from facebook albums, from a free photobucket account (bottom of this page http://www.dukespecial.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3526&page=2) and other ways here http://www.dukespecial.com/forums/showthread.php?p=53159#post53159

PM me if you get stuck! :)

[rajkid]

@wonky_eggs
Were you the tall bloke with blondish curly hair carrying a small child with two 7-ish year olds in-front of you, who were just shorter than the barrier?

I was in the green and grey checked shirt hoodey thing, with a navy ringer neck T underneath.

And hello to monsenb1 :) *waves*

Also, I am in one of Ian's pictures from the Cumberland Arms, in the wide-angle pic.

[wonky_eggs]

@wonky_eggs
Were you the tall bloke with blondish curly hair carrying a small child with two 7-ish year olds in-front of you, who were just shorter than the barrier?

No, I'm brown close-shaven haired, wearing glasses and was in a striped light blue hoodie with blue t-shirt underneath. I was with a brown haired lady and brown haired bloke (also in glasses) with a 7-year old girl and 3-year old boy.

[helen]

A little video from Duke's set at Tall Ships is on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcpVviXj3-M

Jan - I'm disappointed I couldn't see your face on the big screen!

[jan]

I'd be the one behind the big blonde woman who pushed in halfway through and ignored all our frantic clapping and singing along as well as the whole performance.........what happened to etiquette at gigs? If you're not there to appreciate it why be there in the first place?
Love the Youtube vid! Who took it? You must have been standing right next to us with equally tall people in front!
Joy, we didn't miss Duke at all after the set but were luckily in the right place when he came out from behind the stage. Didn't miss any of the fireworks either! They gave the seagulls a fright.
As for recognising people....well, it was dark! The bunny ears would be perfect but a lot of random people were wearing the flashing kind so that wouldn't have worked!
The tee shirt idea is good but what about a Hector Mann one for anyone who wants to be known/outed? Distinctive and supportive?
xx

[rajkid]

The tee shirt idea is good but what about a Hector Mann one for anyone who wants to be known/outed? Distinctive and supportive?

How about with the Duke Special Forums logo on and your User-name as-well, to help introductions.

Also these are the pictures me dad took from the Pimms Bus, he didn't think to give me the camera,
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j76/rajwacko/Duke%20Special/DSC04263.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j76/rajwacko/Duke%20Special/DSC04262.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j76/rajwacko/Duke%20Special/DSC04261.jpg
All were taken during Last Night I Nearly Died

[Dublinram]

A few photos, please remember Duke had an eye infection and wasn't posing in the sun-glasses. The last one is a little childish but did make me smile.

[sarahg]

Nice pics Ian!

[Joy84]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=14174756&id=519495243http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=14174756&id=519495243
Don't know if this will work...prob not

[rajkid]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=14174756&id=519495243http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=14174756&id=519495243
Don't know if this will work...prob not

The link doesn't seem to work, is it in a private folder on Facebook?
This is what it links to
This content is currently unavailable
The page you requested cannot be displayed at the moment. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may have expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.

[jan]

Don't keep us in suspenders Joy....what is it?
xx

[jodieaitken]

It's a photo, on Facebook :P

...I'll just... go over there...

[jan]

Dur....silly me.....not on facebook!
xx

[Joy84]

Jodie can see it because I have her as a friend on facebook, Mr. Fizzy has given me details of how to try again...I did warn you I'm not very good with technology. :( It's the videos I wanted to try to put on here. I captured the crowd surfing quite well :) Or would I have to set up you tube account and do it through there. Sorry peeps. :)

[Joy84]

This is the public link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=470365&id=519495243&l=6d591f8fd6

See if this works.. I only took 1 pic all the rest was video. She was wearing a pirate costume under the fifi coat... and am I right in thinking Delly and Dawn are in background???

[rajkid]

That link works to that photo. :)
But if you'd allow us lot to see the videos as well, you'll either had to add everyone on the forum as friends or individually link to each video.

I hope that makes sense

[Mrfizzy]

The public photo album link works fine Joy - very cute little pirate (not the one with the eye-patch) thanks for sharing :)

Since there is only the one picture in the album the right-clicky "copy image location" would also work well - just remember the "Preview Post" button is your friend! - You can always check to try things out before finally posting :)

[Delly]

and am I right in thinking Delly and Dawn are in background???

Mercifully Joy84 I am not in this picture :) In fact I was probably stood behind the photographer if anything. It's a lovely pic though :)

[jan]

That's Dawn on the right in the blue jacket. That's such a lovely pic:)
xx

[Delly]

Just realised I never actually posted anything about this gig!
First of all I'd like to say the whole Tall Ships thing was fab. Heaven only knows how much organisation and money it must have taken. The ships at night looked like something from a fairytale. And we somehow spotted Lolly and Mrs Lolly in the crowds!
Anyway, the fabulous Dukester - Talk about grabbing a crowd by the throat and shaking them into submission! As has been previously commented, the majority of the crowd were there for Ocean Colour Scene and having seen them several times I know they always pull a rowdy (and drunk) crowd in.
Yer Man and the band made a very quiet stage entrance and lots of people around me were still talking to each other and weren't even looking at the weird band onstage.....
....however by about the third song in it was completely different. (Of course by this time he'd already jumped off the stage and climbed the security barrier to 'encourage' the audience) People were singing along, clapping and cheering loudly at the end of the songs and generally being enchanted like the rest of us! Ben was hilarious and when he and Dukester were Tango Tangling I could hear gales of laughter from behind us. :D
They did no ballads and lots of singalong ones (She said no, NO! :)) which I think was a brilliant ploy, he totally turned the crowd on to his performance. OCS fans like to join in haha!
Only one tiny fly in the ointment - it was only 43 minutes long :( All the bands had been coming on late and I wondered if they'd been asked to cut a song or two.
And then the big bonus of Dukester's crowd surfing at the end, the poor man even lost his pirate patch at one point :O
As they left the stage and the 2 presenters came back on they had to wait several minutes for the tumultuous applause and cheering to die down before they could speak.
Which says everything about Duke Special's talent really - to walk on stage to (largely) barely concealed disdain and 43 minutes later to leave the stage to overwhelming cheering and approval is an incredible achievement!
My little heart was nearly bursting with pride :)

[jan]

How I wish I'd had the intelligence to wander a few yards to my left and get the picture you did too Delly. I couldn't possibly repeat the heckling round where I was and the big blonde woman who deliberately pushed into the tiny space in front of me halfway through.......won't say more........bad karma!!!!
Hindsight is a wonderful gift!
It was a great gig for Duke and, to give credit, when he exhorted the crowd to enjoy OCS the hecklers around us gave no hint of understanding at all never mind enthusiasm so maybe they were just plain drunk and moronic with no knowledge of where they were, who they wanted to see or what day it was anyway.
One of these days I will go to a gig and NOT have to refrain from alcohol due to driving. I might see things in a rosier light!
xx

[Joy84]

yeyy finally got the hang of you tube and posting a video on the forum, with some help from Mr Fizzy :) sorry it's took a while. Here is a video from Tall ships....more to follow when I figure out editing..lol.
http://wyntIkjHOhM

[Joy84]

The you tube video is not as good as my original recording...(the clicking and image quality) Does anyone know why this might be?

[Mrfizzy]

The you tube video is not as good as my original recording...(the clicking and image quality) Does anyone know why this might be?

We've been spoiled by more seated gigs (from a video point of view) lately, but it's a treat to see a bit of the vibrancy and mild chaos of a festival captured. This is a super first movie - Simon on bass guitar and Duke in an eye-patch is definitely worth seeing! :)

I wish there was an easy answer to why youtube is sometime OK and sometimes not - You re relying on YouTube to convert and compress your movie I upload the original, full quality camera file (.MOV format with Panasonic) and hope it won't get compressed and mangled too much but it does take ages!

[Joy84]

I can not seem to change the format of the video so I apologise for the poor quality again.

Duke does some crowd surfing at the end of this one which I managed to capture with out breaking my camera...not that I would of minded a broken camera if it resulted in Duke not falling to the floor. :)

http://wTzfgaHWKvo

(If you do watch it to the end ignore the drunks that were behind me - I think Jan mentioned they were out in force on that night)

[Fizzy]

Fabulous video Joy84!:D:D
Thanks so much for sharing!

[jan]

Excellent videos Joy:)
We were just saying last night that it was a day to remember.
xx

[Joy84]

More vids to follow Jan.. :) The best video I had Tango Tangle for some reason won't save on to laptop but I can play it fine from the disc that was in the camcorder??. I'll never get the hang of technology but Mr. Fizzy is getting me there gradually :) He is my official IT advisor now :)

[jan]

^^^
Give thanks for MrFizzy as I'd be as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike........I just enjoy watching them:D You had a much better view than me.....enough said:(
xx

[rajkid]

Thank you very much Joy,
If only I had known at the time, you were 1 person forwards and about 3 to my right, we could have had a conversation.

[Joy84]

There are more to come :)

http://oUbfMRkVvto

[Dublinram]

A great reminder of a wonderful weekend - thanks.

[Joy84]

http://5_tFhXBvoJI

It's hard to dance and record video...might need a tripod at next one :)

[Delly]

Oh Joy84 thanks so much for these! They're fab! See! I said loads of people were singing along and generally joining Dukeworld :D

[Dawn]

Great videos, Joy, thanks for posting :D

[Joy84]

http://tuPyrBG0k2U

[jan]

Loving the videos Joy and OK I give in! From where I was standing (surrounded by chavs, drunks and nitwits) the Duke-appreciation was thin on the ground. But having seen all the evidence I agree that he went down an absolute storm in Hartlepool!
I'm just too maternal and protective sometimes and should just grow up and realise that once people are over 21 they should really be able to look after themselves and don't need my help.
:(:(

[Joy84]

http://2diOpZR9XnQ

Bless you Jan... I stopped for ocean colour scene and I seemed to be a little outnumbered by what you said (surrounding chavs, drunks, nitwits). So I was graced with their presence during the night.

I can't remember if it was me or my friend that recorded this...whoever it was must of been dying for a drink as the camera seems to follow the Heineken bottle more so than any of the band.

[Joy84]

http://XK8Q6tguKyQ

http://99wNxSURzXw

[Mrfizzy]

Every post is a reminder of what a great gig we missed (family wedding) but all the vids, photos and reports are the next best thing - thanks all