Sudden roadworks

OK, so we've got the prospect of another two months on the road. I can't say I'm happy at the prospect, but I have a couple of philosophies in life, defined by movies quotes.

"Whereever you go, there you are."
"Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'"

Basically, shit happens. I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday being pissed off, before moving on. Nothing I can do about the delays on the Ice Dome, nothing I can do to fix it. So do the job at hand, and wait.

Thankfully we were at Deeside this weekend for the visit of the Stingrays. Despite being a less salubrious facility than Ice Sheffield, everyone on the match night crew prefers to work at Deeside. Its a better atmosphere, we have less problems, we work well with the Deeside staff. All in all, it is simply a happier place to be.

Of course, the best thing is that we in the announce box can see everything perfectly. As Fishcake said before we started "It doesn't feel right. I should turn to ninety degrees and cover one eye to recreate the Ice Sheffield experience." It makes things one hell of a lot more relaxed, because an IS game ends up with us barking at each other, just to try and keep an eye on the ice.

However, IS has taught us how to do equipment swaps and setup in ten minutes flat. Which came in handy yesterday. At doors, we were running off the internal Deeside PA system. This is the system that in place for the first home game, vs Sheffield, which was inadequate for what we were trying to pump through it. After that first game, Steve from Comtec installed additional speakers above the seats and wired them through the roof and down to our announce box.

Think about it - sending an engineer out to fit and fix a rink that isn't ours, simply so the folks can hear the music better. No-one can tell me that we're less committed to providing a proper night out with decent sound just because we don't have our own place.

I digress. The key to this auxilary setup is the "Big Red Box". I'm no techie, but I do know the Big Red Box is an amp for those additional speakers, capable of giving us the additional oomph required. Problem was, the Big Red Box was stuck in traffic, and arrived after doors opened. So, if you noticed the sound dipping in and out, it was because we were hooking it up and rechecking levels. We didn't quite nail it until some way into the game.

Such are the little obstacles that we face.

We tried a couple of new things. First was the interview with Neil. For me, it wasn't so much about what he said, but to actually get the guy out in front of the fans, so that the Faithful could show their appreciation for what he is doing. The guy lives the team as much as any fan in the first place, but when you factor in the financial commitment involved, its been a tough few months, and especially the last week. Too many clubs pay lipservice to their fans, but without the people in the stands, Neil would have given up a long time ago.

And without Neil, the people in the stands would have given up a long time ago as well.

The second was our tribute to the builders - the idea was that if the rink wasn't supposed to be ready until the end of September, and it still isn't ready now, then September hasn't ended. And Richard suggested playing Green Days "Wake Me When September Ends". I'm not sure it worked, possibly too maudlin a song (although less so than my suggestion, "Better Be Home Soon" by Crowded House) but you learn by trying.

As I've probably said before, we're trying to inject a little quirkiness and fun into the music. Its easy to get cliched - pull out YMCA, We Will Rock You and a few current hits and you've got your playlist. Richard, Fishcake and I love our music, so we'd rather play things that we like and we feel would work. So why not reach for stuff people haven't heard a million times? Why not change the playlist around? It got to the point that I could predict the next track the Storm would play. And as long as you do it with thought and respect, then people notice.

Which is why I was disappointed to hear that Coventry played "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". Oh, Phoenix. Its a bird. Aha aha aha ha. I see what you did there. Thing is, what have we done to deserve it? We don;t have a rivalry with the Blaze, so simply having a pop for the sake of it is a bit gratuitous.

We won't have a pop back. Because we're better than that.

(Someone spotted we played "Resurrection Joe" and liked it. All the thanks we ever need!)

Should we bung "We Are The Road Crew" on next week? We should soundcheck to it!

Finally, the other great thing about Deeside. After packing up, the match night crew meets up has a coffee or tea at a set location. Its absolute vital as unwinding time, just to shoot the breeze and generally take the piss out of each other. Well, I say each other. Usually Richard. Or Neil if he shows up. It might only lasts half an hour, but it always gets us through the drive home with a smile on our faces.

Because at the end of the day, this is supposed to be fun.