Fwd: The butler - tiny venue, loads of character!

Well, here I am at the butler in Reading - a pub saved by the locals, I'm told - where they've decided to take a backroom which still has BSH calendars on the walls, about the size of a normal living room, and put live music on, including us. Mad! I just moved about 10 chairs off what looks like an old railway cart to put my bass amp somewhere!

It's 4 acoustic acts and then us and the venue feels really nice, actually - small enough to feel like a gig in your living room. This could be a great "underground" venue.

The pic is of the first acoustic act: they're pretty good, like the waterboys actually, nice sounds with guitar, bass and mandolin/banjo. case Hardened, they're called.

On my front - I bought a powerball for exercising and warming up and it ROCKS! i can seriously recommend these if you're a musician: I did about 5 minutes 20 mins before our soundcheck, and when I started playing it was like I'd been playing for hours-totally warmed up!

If you're a muso, get one now. Low impact, high strength, and no loss of dexterity. Sweet!