Hot in Hartlepool

I hurtled up the A1 to Hartlepool yesterday, arriving at the Marina in record time. Where could the MV Ella be? I wondered, as I drew up alongside the Ella Bar. Yes, I was right there and what I wanted most was a cup of tea. I wandered along to the shops. They were almost all bars. It was deafeningly noisy, as a funfair was in full swing beside the boats. Everyone was dressed up to the nines, tanned to soreness and holding pints of lager and trays of chips. I looked in a shop, where the smell of scented candles blended uncomfortably with the smell of chips. A huge pale blue square plate said 'Welcome Little Prince' as it tilted on the floor. The smell was unbearably weird and I bought a mag and sat in a quiet caff to rest.
A while later I wandered amongst the rides, and saw a very strange one where kids got into gigantic polythene bubbles which were blown full of air and floated on the water so they could roll about all over the place.
Daintees80 were due to rehearse at 5 and I went over to the boat- Shane and Chris and Martin were there, setting up a tiny drum kit and a tiny PA. The boat was amazing, looking like a set from Jonathan Creek. There were wooden tables held up partly by ropes, and a miniature ship dangling from the ceiling. A bar stretched along part of one side and there was a small stage area. I brought the red rope light in from the car to make it look more 'L.A.' and settled down to listen to some of the songs. They are almost like Chefs songs in a way, especially Roll on Summertime, and I could really relate to the way Chris plays bass. Very strange-there must have been something in the air post-punk!
The audience started to arrive, some of them looking quite big and tough with tattoos and singlets, but actually they were as sweet as anything. I got up to play my set and they listened and clapped, and Martin joined me for the end part before his solo set; then the guys got up and launched into a bouncy, poppy set of early eighties Daintees songs, all lasting under three minutes, I would guess. Apples and Down was particularly good but there was a version of Colleen with a different bassline, which I found intriguing.
Martin left the planned set list route, and Chris and Shane found themselves playing Charlie Poole songs, which they did with aplomb. The audience was singing along in unison with Martin (especially to Rain, whch got everybody going), sinking more than a few pints, and one member, after standing at the bar in his shorts and wiggling his bum in time to the music for a while, meandered on to the stage, making sure he was inside the rope-lighted area with the band, and danced like mad, waving is arms in the air and getting the crowd to join him. It was a bit like being at a miniature version of a stadium rock concert, only the music was pop and it was on a boat. The barman added percussion unintentionally, clutching handfuls of forks and putting away clinking bottles and glasses, blissfully unaware of Martin's praise of his percussive talents from the stage. In the distance, the scary fairground rides pumped out their music with the caller booming instructions and pleas over his P.A.

Strange? It was perfect, and the boiling heat only enhanced the experience. Mike and June were there, smart and smiling and looking after the CDs (and us at times).

At the end, they all tumbled happily off the boat; one guy hung around afterwards, wanting to photograph my green Gretsch guitar (!) which he seemed to have fallen in love with.
It was a mad little gig, like no other, and a perfect introduction to the peculiar delights of Hartlepool!