23 September 2006
Some last-minute practicing calmed everyone’s nerves, and Peter plastered words all over the stage - which he didn’t look at in the end. And it went very well indeed.

22 September 2006
Down to earth with a bump at the sound check. Ken had trouble hearing himself sing and play, but things could be improved by adding a small bass amp as a monitor. (This worked well, in the end). And “The River” was a shambles with Ken singing out of tune and Neil playing the wrong chords. Acted as a bit of a wake-up call.

21 September 2006
Final rehearsal, and a storming one! Some of the numbers only needed a single run through, and the others only needed minor tweaking. After the guitarists’ session on Sunday, even Pretty Woman was reckoned to be do-able. Bring it on.

13 September 2006
The penultimate rehearsal - or is it? We went through the set in reverse order, since we were constantly not getting to the end. It was a very good session, mystery feedback and odd quirks notwithstanding. At last we got to try out our  encore number, too. The first attempt was absolutely dreadful, but thankfully we got it a bit more together when we ran through it again. But we had to kill off the medley idea - we just couldn’t get a slick change between Folsom and That’s All Right Mama. Still, we were very buoyant down the pub afterwards - even Peter, despite the demise of the medley.

10 September 2006
Don’t usually put a note of the acoustic guitar/vocal sessions at Cotgrave between Ken, Peter and Neil (and occasionally Colin), but this one is worth noting for the hail of stones sent in our direction mid-solo from Neil!

7 September 2006
We more or less settled on the set, which you can find here. Peter, Graham, and Ken had got together on the previous Sunday  to sort out song structures, so this was a good opportunity to test them out. Unfortunately, Graham hadn’t been able to distribute them beforehand, and Neil was blissfully unaware of anything having gone on, having taken a week’s holiday with his wife between rehearsals! But not bad, regardless.

31 August 2006
The first proper practice as a five piece, and we were very encouraged. Graham wants us to sort out beginnings and endings more thoroughly; the rest of us are happy just to get through the songs. The set is still getting changed. A Town Called Malice and To Love Somebody are in; Bad Moon Rising is out, as may be Have You Ever Seen The Rain,

24 August 2006
We’re joined by Colin’s friend Graham to see if we can all get along. Graham brings a keyboard the size of the Ark Royal, and plays along to some tracks, even ones he’s never heard before in his life. He’s a good bloke, too. He’s in.

17 August 2006
Ken was still on holiday, but the other three met at the rehearsal studios for the first time since the abortive effort immediately after the Free Tour gig. Neil tweaked his Les Paul to produce a cracking backing guitar to Promised Land.

June and July 2006
We decided to carry on at the rehearsal studios, but after a single session where we wasted our time trying to play songs we didn’t know as we looked at them for the first time, we decided we needed a different strategy.
Peter, Ken and Neil gradually took to going to Cotgrave Leisure Centre on a Sunday evening while Peter’s son played roller hockey. We would hire a room and set about putting together a few new songs in the hope that something would come up. And it did, in the form of a gig with the original Weekend Warrior bands as a fundraising exercise to buy a shared-access PA system that would actually do what we might want if we were to go gigging. Magic!