And it came to pass...

...that twenty years after Decompsition, of which I was a member thanks to my good friend Jim, won Keele University Battle of the Bands (beating the excellent Peacenik the Leaf), some bright spark we think was oneoldhorse reminded us all of this fact.

And so it came to pass that a couple of months after that, I packed Fleetfoot Mike's PA, several guitars (including the infamous 6/12 doubleneck) and a change of clothes into the 'bus and headed for Keele, to meet up with former members of Decomposition and Peacenik, and other related bands, for an evening of... well, trying to remember how the hell a load of songs used to go. :)

I was only ever peripheral to the Keele Rock scene, having commuted from Cambridge about once a fortnight for a goodly part of 1987, but it remained a great fun time, playing in a band that had a pretty serious following - I have a vivid memory during the Rock Competition semi-final of glancing up after the intro to "Before The Dawn" to find the front row SINGING ALONG!

I had an absolute blast all weekend - got to make new friends, renew old ones, talk to people I never properly got the chance to (in a whirlwind of weekends being picked up from Hanley Coach Station, rehearsing and then gigging, before crashing on Jim's floor, I never really got to know my bandmates!), and make and listen to lots of music. There's a few pics on various myspace pages, and no doubt there'll be more :)