A Diary by by John E .

The scene was set when I walked out of Food for Thought yesterday evening, and bumped straight into John Peel (looking fit and ageless), who was walking down Neal Street. It was JP who probably turned me onto Love in the first place, so it was good to shake his hand. I then met up with Caryne and Dukie close to the (“frozen”) Borderline, and we had a coffee in Starbucks. A queque was already forming outside the venue around 6.30pm so we joined it. And guess who was in the queque?….”Jesus”!!! Jesus is infamous for appearing at every hippie gig/festival in the late Sixties/early Seventies (either playing flute or tambourine, and sometimes dancing naked – apparently he doesn’t do this anymore!). It was like meeting a long lost friend, and great to chat with him. He assured us that the good weather in Britain for the past two years has been due to him sending out the vibes! He looked much the same as ever, though his hair has receded at the front. He was wearing a solar-powered hat outside. Inside the club it was virtually empty for the next two hours, due to a certain “f” word. The first hour (or rather 49 minutes) were “happy hour”. Some good soul, psychedelic and mod sounds were played including The Creation and The Misunderstood. There was no support, and The Andmoreagains came on about 10pm, as promised. The played a great set to a seemingly full house. All of FC was played, with the exclusion of Good Humour Man and Live and Let Live. Also included were Your Mind and We, Orange Skies, Seven and Seven Is, My Flash on You, Signed DC, My Little Red Book, Rainbow in the Storm and (encore) Singing Cowboy. We also heard the debut of All I Want is You. The new five track EP “Love on Earth Must Be” was on sale, and I naturally purchased one (it was my copy that Arthur showed to the audience). Arthur was in a great mood and signed CDs afterwards at the merchandise stand. As ever it was nice to meet so many friends old and new…so here we go – Mike and Hannah, Rusty, Gill and her friend (the nice Aries lady with Sagg rising!), Caryne’s two young male friends, Mike Dimarco, Hilary, Jackie, Johnny Rogan and Colin Staplehurst, and anyone else I’ve forgotten. After the show they played some ghastly death metal (?) music at deafening volume, but it was worth sticking around for half an hour to catch a last drink, when the bar re-opened for the night club that followed.

Love on Earth Must Be! John E

Mike Randle