Next up is Tim, whose enthusiasm for the project is on a par with inserting live ferrets up his rectum, (something I suspect he also does on a regular basis), so no changes there from the first time around. Mind you, this is not a bar to his involvement, as long as he can change everything that he played the last time around and doesn't have to interact with any of the customers.
It's just like it used to be in fact. Personally, I think it's just an excuse to get out of the house, as he only spends his time there watching daytime television and touching himself inappropriately.
Dave is easy, as it's sort of his idea in the first place, and he's more or less driving the whole effort to play other gigs as well as the Rebellion Festival, which is a good idea really, because if we're going to implode, we'd like to do it in front of as few people as possible. He's still living in Northampton where we shall be rehearsing using his Pink Floyd tribute band's space and PA. We'll probably end up breaking something. Probably Dave's will to live.
Lastly, but of course, not leastly, there's Seymour, without whose presence, it wouldn't really be The Shapes. He's living in Hastings on the south coast of Britain, which is notable for two things. First off, it's where King Harold got an arrow in the eye at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. This was where the Norman invasion of Britain was essentially won. For those of you in other countries with sub par educational systems (read:USA) reading this, I'd like to point out that this wasn't a horde of people called Norman invading Britain, although there very well may have been some people called Norman involved in it. The Normans were the early French, and so it's notable also for the fact that this was the first and last time the French won anything militarily.
The other notable thing about Hastings is that the next interesting thing that happened there was that Aleister Crowley, the most wicked man in the world, died there. Aleister Crowley was also born in (gasp) Leamington Spa. Coincidence? Actually, yes. Also, my car broke down there in 1975, but as yet they have yet to erect a plaque commemorating this event. Now where was I?
Despite these vague similarities between The Beast and The Seymour, The Seymour is in fact alive and if not kicking, then at least twitching vigorously. I contact him, and I am requested to fuck off.
Ah, the old magic is back. It's nothing personal really, but he's got other stuff to attend to at the time. Once the shock of being asked to repeat something that you did 28 years ago wears off, he'll come around, and so it comes to pass, and after a spell locked in a darkened room, scourging himself with old copies of Newsweek, he agrees to rejoin for our resurrection.
Right, that's the hard part done. Luckily for us, we've all been playing continually since that time, so it's not as if we have to go out and re-learn any instruments, and I presume that Seymour has been talking in the intervening years, so his voice still works. I am so excited at this whole proposition that I have one of my Rickenbacker basses refinished in the same colors as I used with The Shapes back in the day. Of course no one would notice this but me, and anyone else who did wouldn't care, but it was a nice of way of spending money I didn't have on something I didn't really need.
So you'd think that with not having seen each other for the best part of a quarter of a century, that we'd be committed to a rigorous rehearsal regimen to make sure that we had the old set down, and to knock off any rust that had accumulated. Well, you might think that wouldn't you, but you'd be wrong, as this is The Shapes. Between my location and the real world commitments of the other members, we will have less than one day to get reacquainted and get a set of thirteen songs together that we haven't played live since 1980. What could possibly go wrong? We decide to get together in little sub groups, whilst I rehearse my bass parts solo in California. Just to prove that I'm not shirking my responsibilities, I video them and post them on Youtube for people to laugh at. Thus do the Shapes prefabricate large chunks of the set to be put together at a later date. It's rather like Ikea flat pack furniture in fact, and just like that furniture, there will probably be vital parts missing when we put it all together, causing it to fall over.
Steve goes to visit Dave, but is involved in a car crash and doesn't get there, so the mojo is still working it seems, though he does get together with Tim and Ben without breaking anything else. We're all taking it on faith that we're all doing the work. Just to make things more interesting, Dave books us a super secret warm up gig the day we start to rehearse, and 24 hours after I arrive in the UK. Apparently we are to be paid in soup, but more of that later.