Some blokes from work, escaping the day job

A few of my friends are musical and take part in the sort of band-based incest which made Pete Frame a millionaire.

Dave and Stuart (both gtr/vox) are both 60s nuts and fancy themselves as Huddersfield's Lennon and McCartney but have become rather reclusive of late. Phil (drums) normally plays with D&S and just likes hitting things. He looks about half of his 38 years when he's got sticks in his hands. Pat (bass) takes himself way too seriously but is more talented than I'd ever tell him.

Pat plays in 3 different bands - a swing outfit (which he started about a year before Robbie had the idea but which has got a lot of bookings in the back of Mr Williams' popularity), an Irish band (he really is a "Pat") and a rock/blues band.

It was the last of these which played at the weekend, with Phil sitting in for their usual drummer. The two guitarists wouldn't look out of place in the Queen Vic - very Mitchell bruvvers.

Opening with "Dancing In The Moonlight" was a bit of a miss-step, I thought. The pub wasn't overly full and a fair few of the younger ones looked blankly at each other before heading for the trivia machine. Can't fault the sound balance, though; the twin guitars were excellent and Phil's "rat-a-tat-tat-a-tat-tat" fills were wonderfully authentic!

The set was a really good selection of songs with the usual pub band standards mixed with a few unexpected tracks I hadn't heard in years. For every "All Right Now" there was a "Can't Fool The Blues" (a song by Bruce-Baker-Moore), for every "Black Magic Woman" a "Renegade" (yep, a Styx cover version. What would HMHB make of that?)

Highlight of the night - "Shooting Star". The old Bad Company track which was a staple at our students' union rock discos back in the day. Great song, great memories.

Lowlight of the night - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Urgh! Better than the original but still fucking shite. Ufucking2 didn't write a decent song after their second album. I am right about this. In years to come, I will be lauded as the person who showed the world that Ufucking2, The Office and Chris Morris were the turn-of-the-millennium emperor's new clothes.

We don't get out much these days, but I think we're going to have to make the effort to take in some of the other bands playing locally. There seems to be quite a thriving scene going on largely built, it would appear, by ageing rockers whose kids have finally flown the nest. It might only be nostalgia, but at least it's good nostalgia because, as we all know, rock achieved perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.