It's all in the wrists
28 Nov 1999

As every good musician knows, there are certain fundamentals involved in preparing for a gig. Spare guitar strings; amplifiers; tuning up; having a bastard clue which songs you're going to play - all these are basic requirements which any half-decent muso approaches with the utmost diligence and organisation.

True to their slack-arse image, of course, The Regulars pay little heed to any of the above - and the means by which our last-minute setlist squabbles are resolved recently took a novel twist.

Seeing the band's last Flapper & Firkin gig - our last of the year - as an opportunity for a little frivolity, Pete suggested to the rest of the band that they reprise their old cover version of the theme from TV's Channel 4 News. In true Regulars tradition, the band greeted the proposal with burning, passionate apathy.

Except, that is, for staunch opposition from Chris, who had refused to join in with the humorous all-band vocal added to the tune when we recorded it as a 'bonus track' with the 1997 demo No Lights For Miles, and has never, if truth be told, been all that keen on it.

As the familiar brother-on-brother conflict showed no signs of resolving itself, the idea arose - in jest - of settling the setlist by arm-wrestling. Somehow the jest became serious; the idea of best-of-three was suggested and rejected; and Paul, Stu and Chopper gathered round as the siblings locked wrists over a table in the middle of the Flapper.

The contest lasted 2.7 seconds, and Channel 4 News did not feature in the set.

Pete commented: "It was all in the wrists. Three years of hardcore indie tambourine playing have taken their toll on mine, and they just crumpled.

"Sometimes Chris can't unscrew them peg things on the drums and he has to get me to help. Honest."

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