October 2020 – Groundhog Day!
So how’s everyone doing? Nick here…
Firstly a warm welcome to all our new members. Lockdown certainly brought out the creative spirit in many people and we have had a nice upturn in memberships which is hugely appreciated especially in these hard times.
It’s now been 7 months since London’s West End Theatres got shut down, ending my involvement in the 5 shows I was depping on (subbing if you’re American!). I’d only just finished learning the Bryan Adams penned ‘Pretty Woman’ show and was due to make my debut 2 days later. All the shows delayed reopening until Nov 2020 until it was recently announced that the earliest for any show will be February 2021. Though to be honest, that’s looking fairly unlikely!
Still, I always had my 3 month tour with Roger Taylor’s Queen Extravaganza to look forward to. Starting in the UK and taking us right around Europe in the first months of next year. Well that was cancelled last week and put back until 2022!
Apart from the musicians, it’s heartbreaking seeing all the incredible crew and all the others in the creative industries suffering and unable to work as our industry remains almost completely shut down and with no real plan as to when and how it will restart. Nearly all these people are self-employed and highly skilled and have no income for the foreseeable future.
On the plus side I guess is that when things get back to normal there is going to be the most incredible boom in live music as everybody will want to get out and tour again. I know I’m itching to get back on stage and strut my rock pants!
Well as there’s nothing more to report other than FretHub is undergoing a bit of an Autumn spring clean and if I manage to find some space and time to do it, I hope to start making a series of Queen tutorials using the Kemper profile I recorded in Brian May’s home using his gear. Watch this space…
I wish everybody well and hope this nightmare is over for you all soon!
Cheers
Nick
p.s. RIP Eddie Van Halen. I was lucky to have seen Van Halen on the ‘Right Here, Right Now’ Tour back in ’93. Truly gutted