Thursday 25th June 2009, 23:37

Doing Pen(z)ance

The last time I played Penzance, I wrote my car off, or more correctly, some other bloke write it off for me by pulling out of a junction too soon. Either way, no car, and some chest injuries. Fun.

This time, this week, my car broke down. So the message is this: play Penzance at your peril. You can do the gig, but at what cost...

On this occasion I was driving with my good lady from Cornwall to Nottingham, and around about halfway the temperature light flashed a lot. Now I don't know much about cars, but i do know that flashy things are not to be ignored. So we got a second opinion from a bloke at a Peugeot garage, who walked over to my Audi, took a long look at the problem, and then concluded, "That's not a Peugeot." The RAC man confirmed the same, but was a little more helpful, telling us the car should not be driven, and that we needed to be towed home. Gah.

Thus ensued an hour wait for the tow truck, but thankfully it was a nice day, there was a Sainsbury's opposite, I had a couple of tressle tables in my car (thanks to the Penzance show being the iPaul Edinburgh show) plus a board game, so Zoe and I set up Rummikub and sandwiches by the side of the road while we waited for the tow-truck to arrive. I like to think we confused a few locals. But why wouldn't you be playing Rummikub on a foldable table alongside the A416 in Stroud?

I kissed goodbye to my Nottingham gig - Zoe's education in the way of Notts kebabs will have to wait for another day. Instead we arrived home at midnight-ish, thanks to the lovely tow-truck driver called Terry. He was having a barbecue and a siesta when the RAC called and asked if he wanted a job to Surrey, but bless him, he took it, and a gent he was too.

The lesson: beware your automobile trouble if you play Penzance, but always pack Rummikub.

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