Pixie Lady

Flew back to blighty on Friday for the long awaited Bad Thing gig in Devon. I flew in to Exeter airport and I can't help liking small airports. There is less to buy and do but I would happily swop that for the friendly staff and speed you get through security. Like Blackpool (International) it was 5 mins from landing to being in the car with Firehands, of on our way to Ottery St Mary. The Bad Thing were booked to play at Pixie Day. We were to play twice. A couple of songs during the ceremony itself and later at the fair before the fireworks. 


First job though was to build the pixie cave.......

Firehands, Jem (Si's mate) and I set about building it.Despite it being made of wood, cardboard and bubblewrap in the end it looked fairly respectable.


The rest of the band arrived the Saturday lunchtime. In true Bad Thing style with only hours till we played we had no idea what we were going to play let alone in what order. 4 hours of graft and a lovely lamb meal later we were loading our kit into a van and off to the town square. 


The main Pixie Day event worked like this; 

• The roads were closed to the main square by the police
• The Legend of the Pixies was read out...(this time by Firehands dressed as a Monk)
• The Head Pixie (a local child in full pixie outfit) read a short piece and then asked where the other pixies were
• what seemed like a 1000 Pixies (probably only 50 local Cubs and Brownies dressed as pixies) came screaming into the square and ran around the square....screaming
• They then headed,screaming, up to the church to capture the bell ringers
• The crowd left behind was entertained by Elfic the Jester (very good) 
• The Pixies came, still screaming, back to the square  with the bell ringers
• They disappeared through the Pixie Cave (ignoring the fact that it was a meter too small in all dimensions....) 
• Elfic did a bit more
• Firehands read the Pixie Blessing
• The Pxies and the Bell Ringers squeeze through the tiny cave
• The Bad Thing Started to play
• The Police immediately opened the road
• The Bad Thing continued to play with cars whizzing past them. 

We then packed up and headed down to the park to get set up for the evening set. On the way I tried to by beer for the boys but failed as the shop keeper wouldn't accept Northern Ireland Sterling. I argued my case calmly and eloquently but he couldn't care less and H had to come and bail me out. 

The evening gig went well and despite our lack of practice in the preceding months we were on fire. Particular highlights were;

• BF's mandolin solo in our version of Spinal Tap's Stonehenge
• H's Drum solo. He lost his stool early on and it gave it added intensity.
• BF changing Foxey Lady to Pixie Lady (Even if the lyrics sounded a bit odd considering the age of the Pixies)