the story so far...

Monday 10th July 2006

8:13 p.m. Currently I’m sat on a boat bumbling down the Humber Estuary heading for the sea and on to Zeebrugge. Needless to say after seven years I am finally venturing out to do piano/vocal work again, on the North Sea Ferries. Shortly after being dropped off I and negotiating the thick-accented Security staff in the terminal, I boarded the ship, found my cabin, dropped off my stuff, then made my way to the crew mess in search of tea and toast. After negotiating the labyrinthine crew accommodation deck I found said mess, ate my toast then sat drinking my tea contemplating. It was strange coming back onboard the Pride of York (formerly known as the Norsea, the previous incarnation of this vessel) as it has hardly changed at all, and felt strangely familiar and homely. In a weird kind of way it almost feels like I haven’t been away.

I’m not in the same cabin as I was in last time, which is a shame as it was really nice, but the cabin I am in this time is almost as nice (if a little delapidated). The ship is large but the cabins seem smaller than I remember. This may be due, in part, to the fact that I have grown up since last time.

It’s cloudy and we’re only at half-capacity tonight.

I did my first set from seven until half-past. The so-called Moonlight Lounge was quiet, although there was a group of rather boisterous middle-aged people sat right next to the piano, which was a bit annoying. Still they were friendly enough, and recognised a couple of the tunes which I played, and I had a bit of a laugh and a joke with them. I forgot to take my set-list down with me, so I just played whatever came to mind, and it went down well enough.

The entertainments manager seems like a decent guy. His name is James, and I think he’s slightly younger than me – about 25. I met the band and the children’s entertainer as well, and the guy from the band Alex seemed very familiar. Not sure where from though. He knows Julian and Robert.

Today’s been a bit rushed but I’ve enjoyed it. Scarcely had a moment to stop and think, or to unpack, but I have managed to throw on a shirt and a suit and my new leather shoes, and although I say so myself, I am looking rather dapper.

I’m sure there’s plenty more I could say but I can’t think now, and I’d better go and get my song sheets ready. Will say more tomorrow when in Zeebrugge. Am looking forward to having the opportunity to speak French again.

I’m also looking forward to tucking into Sophie’s World, the second time round…

Tuesday 11th July 2006

9:55 a.m. CET Knackered. Hardly slept last night, which was a bit strange as I seem to remember sleeping like a log last time I was on here. Still it was my first night…

I realised where I recognised Alex from. He was part of the band that was on here when I was on last time - seven years ago!! And he remembered me from before!

Got boat drill this morning…

Wednesday 12th July 2006

1:09 a.m. Second night tonight. Went OK but had a load of German people on and they’re a difficult crowd to entertain. Asking them for requests was like trying to draw blood out of a stone.

Was reading through my journal from when I was last on the ship. Made me realise how much I’ve grown up since then!

Got the sense to go out on deck after my final set tonight. When I got to the aft I realised why, the full moon shining on the trail the boat left in the sea. Was an amazing sight.

Managed to receive a text message from Ida in the middle of the sea! I wondered whether there may be mobile phone transmitters on some of the oil rigs, or whether we were close enough to the coast to pick up a signal. Either way it still freaked me out when my phone went off!

I think it’s going pretty well so far. I’m waiting to see if I get any feedback from James or Peter when we’re back in Hull. James did say that he thought I played well tonight, plus a couple of officers walked through the bar during one of my earlier sets, and smiled when they saw me which I also took to being quite positive. There’s a different atmosphere on this boat than there was before. It’s more relaxed and friendly. I let the bar staff have a look at my repertoire earlier on so that they could choose some numbers, and later James said that they had commented on how that had never happened with anybody before!

Looking forward to being back in Hull and being able to check my e-mail, and get hold of some more material hopefully…

Thursday 13th July 2006

5:14 p.m. CET Didn’t go into town yesterday in the end, as it turns out that the Seafarer’s Mission just outside the Hull terminal has got an unsecured wireless network, which was very handy!

Had the best night yet so far. Had a few attentive groups in, got quite a bit of applause for several numbers including a couple of Keane songs, and Unchained Melody, which is always a safe bet. Even got a couple of thank-yous which made it seem all worthwhile.

Boat drill was rescheduled to this morning and it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. Still, it’s all part of the job I suppose!

The weather is gorgeous today. No cloud and a strong breeze. Got the tram into Blankenberge with James this afternoon, which was good. We wandered around a bit, went for a short trip on a small amphibious boat, then sat in a bar for an hour and had a couple of drinks. Lipton’s Iced Tea is proving to be an excellent substitute for the hard stuff.

I decided not to do any practice today. Probably wouldn’t have had the time anyway.

Friday 14th July 2006

10:06 a.m. Last night was even better than the night before! There were mostly Scots and French people in the piano lounge, I had a group of French people sat at the table next to me for most of the evening, and they were very enthusiastic, and as the night drew on they had me playing some more up-tempo numbers, like Crocodile Rock and I’m A Believer, and some Beatles numbers, to which they were singing along (in harmony!) I got chatting to them afterwards and it turns out they are in a choir. I got applause after all of the vocal numbers I played last night, and one of the guys sat on another table close by bought me a (non-alcoholic) drink.

Had some requests for some stuff I don’t know as well, so I think it’s time to get cracking on some new material…

So far I’ve managed to go my first four nights only repeating about four or five numbers from the night before. Quite an achievement really considering I play somewhere between twenty-five and thirty vocal numbers per night!

Generally things are going well. Going to go in to Hull later on this morning with the whole Ent’s crew. Need to go to the bank, and I need to hunt-down somewhere that has a wireless access point…

Saturday 15th July 2006

2:45 a.m. CET It’s late yes but I am not feeling very tired at all. Had a fairly good evening this evening, was a bit quiet but there was a couple who sat nearby who were very appreciative. At the end of my first vocal set, one chap gave me a tip! A lady who had been sat near the piano for a time thanked me for playing one particular song. The most well received song of the night was probably Walking in Memphis. I do play that one particularly well, even if I say so myself! Tried out a few new songs tonight, such as Elton John’s Are You Ready For Love, and also played Mrs Robinson for the first time in a while, which went down really well.

I forgot to say that last night there was someone from work on the boat on the way back from a motorbike trip around Europe. Chatted to her and her partner for a short while in the red deck lounge. It’s a small world!

James spoke to Peter (the guy from the agency) earlier on and apparently gave me a glowing report! :-)

I’m sure that there was a bunch of other stuff that I was going to say but once again I’ve left it too late and I’ve forgotten. I’ll do an entry later on today probably.

9:54 p.m. We just went past the QE2!!!

Sunday 16th July 2006

9:28 a.m. Had another good night last night. Did some more new stuff, plus some golden oldies, and they all went down well. There was a couple on from the night before who had asked me to play Scarborough Fair but I told them I didn’t know it so I learnt it for them and played it last night and that went really well too. Unfortunately I didn’t have the lyrics but I did an instrumental version and really enjoyed playing it. Felt more like a gig rather than just playing background music. I prefer it that way!

Didn’t do much at all yesterday, despite the weather in Belgium being excellent. I was really tired as I hadn’t slept well the night before, so I spent some of the afternoon catching up…

Fast approaching the end of my first week on-board. Generally things have been going very smoothly and I have had plenty of positive feedback, both from the Ent’s manager and passengers. Am still getting applause during almost all of my vocal sets, which is a good sign.

After I had finished last night the disco was still going on in the red deck bar, and I even had a go at DJ-ing for a bit to help James out while he did some other stuff. The band who are on at the moment, True Nature, have got one more round trip, then they make way for a duo called Top Secret. It’ll be a shame to see the guys go but apparently they’ll be back on at the end of August, which could work out very well if I get invited back onto this ship around the same time.

Here’s the link for the pictures I’ve taken over the last week. I will be updating this site fairly often, at the moment it’s just a web folder but I will add an index with thumbnails when I have time!

www.eclipse.co.uk/michelmas/Pics/Hull-Zeebrugge

Julian’s coming up today ahead of his next contract which starts tomorrow. Will be good to see him.