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My good friend and erstwhile gig-pimp Pete Ashton is currently on Day 4 of his mammoth Going Deaf For a Fortnight extravaganza. To those unfamiliar with GDFAF, the concept is simple: over a two-week period you go out and visit as many local music venues as possible. Preferably while a band is playing, and preferably one a night

[although a night off is permitted].

It’s Pete’s brain-child. He first did it in 2005 as some sort of masochistic-social-breaching -experiment-type thing and over 14 consecutive nights he went 13 gigs. I met him shortly afterwards and it wasn’t a pretty sight. He was a shivering wreck – part Rock & Roll casuality and part Vietnam Vet – and it was like looking at a cross between Keith Richards and Ron Kovic. Needless to say, I was jealous. It definitely made him a better man.

Anyhow, his friend Russ took up the mantle in 2006, and this time around it’s open to everyone [Pete’s a public-spirited chap]. That includes me [I’ll be joining in later in the week], and that includes you.

Yes, you. Don’t try looking the other way. That won’t work.