Last night I went to another gig, this time to see The Trouser Trumpets , a friend of mine, Kate, plays saxophone for them and this was the first time I’d seen them play. I drove down to Dover to the Louis Armstrong pub – a fairly unique pub by today’s standards – as it is a “real” pub, a bit like the Queen Vic in Eastenders – piano in the corner, elderly locals, a fug of smoke, no stripped pine and no bottled beers that I could see either. It’s the first time in many, many months, maybe even years, that I’ve come home stinking of cigarette smoke – I don’t smoke, never have done, but I’ve always accepted it as a part of going out, until fairly recently where smoking is banned more and more and fewer people bother to smoke now, so this was a quite unique evening all round.

I met up with Jo there although she had to go home early, leaving me all alone. Not at any point did I feel uncomfortable sitting there all by myself, people chatted to me and the band were funny and entertaining – Comedy Jazz is how they describe themselves. I have a fairly eclectic taste in music and will give most things a fair hearing, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the gig. Their opening number was the theme tune to Take Hart – bringing back many childhood memories. They also did a cover version of the Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” but with a slight reworking of the lyrics, renaming it “Nunnery Fields for Supper” – Nunnery Fields is a road in Canterbury up near the hospital and was the site of the old workhouse and more recently the geriatric department. All in all they’re an entertaining band and I’d definitely go see them again.