Match Report
May 11th vs WIGGINTON II Home
Battle of the Bands
It was old school soul meets flash, brash rock for the boy band that is Bish I. We were due to cut heads with old rivals Wigginton. Both bands looking for their first win in head to head battles this season. But as is often thecase, musical differences had threatened to spoil the carefully constructed chemistry that was showing signs of promise in Bish's debut.
Upfront we had the dulcet tones of lead vocalist Greg, complete with sly winks and that knowing look that all good frontmen have, with Jase taking over from Richardo on lead duties. On keys was the groove master himself Sam 'Keys' Watson with a promotion to support duties for John A-minor Craggs on rhythm guitar, backing vocals and cheeky wiggles for our adoring fans, all underpinned by the rock solid rhythm section of Cap'n Fingers Jase on bass and Dave "Sticks" Moore on the drums, the grooves would be juicy you could bet on that when this pair got together. After a quick jamming session to get up to speed with the set list we charged on stage to melt some faces with our high octane rock!
The playing was tight and mean in the first leg as both bands weaved their magic. Our new front pair of Greg and Jase teased the fans with their cutting edge licks and high C's over A vocal improvos to end the first leg all square with their equally as hot Wig counterparts. In the background Fingers & Sticks were laying down a solid groove themselves, sticking rigidly to four on the floor beats with the occasional jazz flurry to match their more glamorous front-men.
But it would be in that often overlooked support pair of keys and rhythm guitar that the deal would be sealed. It was looking like this could be a very tight dual as a combination of Sam's classic two handed mastery on the ebony and ivory and John's solid as a rock chordal vamps on the strings were met note for note by the equally tight pair from Wigginton & then it happened! At 2-2 the duel would turn on the fickle finger of fate as Wig's strings (ham) literally twanged throwing their arrangements into anarchy.
Suddenly the match was effectively over as any band needs this platform to build a set on. It was impossible for the Wig second pair to continue and they had to forfeit the rest of that leg and their role in the next two songs. So after leg one it was to all intents and purposes 46-14. Meaning that Bish 1st only need to secure 9 more pts in the next two songs to take the plaudits and move on to round 3 with a victory under their belt.
After some quick rearrangements the battle commenced. By now though most of the excitement generated by the tight first round had left the crowd and some of the spectators started looking at their watches wondering if they should leave early so as to miss the last train. Those that did stay were treated to some quality fretwork with the occasional free-form jazz fusion to take the final scores to 68-40. A great performance by Wigginton considering the sound and technical problems that had dogged their set.
Particular note goes to our re-vamped supporting pair Sam & John who were the only Bish pair to actually win a legitimate rubber with a final score of 7-5,10-2,7-5. The Keith & Mick partnership of Jase & Greg strutted their way to a 6-6,12-0,6-6. The victory was compounded by a 2-10,12-0,6-6 drum and bass fill from Jase & Dave.
Only the musical gods know what the true score would have been and so both bands look forward to the return later in the season when both bands hope to be back to full strength. Next week the Bish residency at the mecca of Bishopthorpe LTC continues as we entertain York 2 in what's sure to be another thrilling encounter on the rock and road to success. Until then "Keep on Rockin!"
(Someone obviously bought the Observer today, for the free 'Playing the Guitar' guide...wonder who?)
May 4th vs RUFFORTH Away
Div IV: A New Hope.
May the 4th was with us as the first day of the 2008 season dawned. A dire forecast of light rain had hung over our intrepid bunch of rebels all week. However, whilst certainly not being as warm as the twin suns of Tatooine, it was also not the icy winds of Hoth that had marked many of our winter practices & it was with an eager bound that we all got into our fight-gear to begin battle. First team to engage us in our season long struggle for galactic dominance were the canny warriors from the not-so distant moon of Rufforth. Would the 4th be with our elite strike force of cunning warrior and wielder of a humming blade, Obi-Greg Preston & dashing Captain Rich Crab-Solo, ably supported by apprentices Ali Double-S & Jase Backhander with the rear gunners of Rocky John Cragg & utility droid J.A.S.E bringing up the rear as we attempted our first dash along the canyon of the death star that is Div IV tennis?
Well targeting whomp rats in beggar's canyon it wasn't. Racquets hummed & sizzled as battle was joined in earnest on three simultaneous fronts. The wily duo of Obi-Greg & Rich CrabSolo pulled out all the stops with a mixture of shoot-first, ask questions later hitting that would have left the clientele of many a bar in York with smoking heads & a few carefully aimed mind tricks: "This isn't the top spin you think it is!" was heard more than once as Obi-Greg waved his hand in that way he does when you inexplicably find yourself going in the direction of a ball that you could have sworn was there a minute go. Winning their two-an-a-half rubbers 9-3, 9-3 & 6-6.
Details of the scores from thrusting young apprentices Ali Double-S (suffering yet another of those Sunday injuries that plagued him early doors this season) & Jase Backhander are sketchy, currently information is winging its way across of hyperspace (due in about 12 parsecs) as communication broke down slightly between the team's record keeper J.A.S.E. But we understand that both the gallant warriors returned to base safely & we hope that details will find their way to us in due course.
Pedawan learners Rocky John-C & J.A.S.E playing together for the first time at this level (or indeed any level) had a tough introduction to Div IV but as CrabSolo might prone to say "Div IV tennis ain't like dusting crops kid!". At times the play was akin to focusing on a laser remote whilst hampered with a blast-shielded helmet! The lessons can sometimes be painful & the pair were rubbing bacta in to one or two wounds after scrambling, dodging and sometimes thrusting their way to a 3-4-3 sequence in their 3 rubbers. The control of the blades was clumsy at times, but signs of more lethal strokes to come were definitely in evidence & both players were hopeful that later sorties would produce more
So, after counting casualties and paying our respects to the victors we returned to base the navi-computer showed a 42-66 reversal for BTC 1st. But the season, like the patience of a Sith is long & we look forward to next week at home base against Wigginton as BTC Strikes Back! |
