Incognito at Ollies, Ascot
After I went to see Incognito play during a decadent dinner at The Jazz Cafe (where unfortunately it was not allowed to take any pictures) with two close friends on Monday April 21 2003, five days later it was time again for a trip to the UK. This time Incognito performed in an apparently famous club called Ollies, in Ascot. Yes, that Ascot of the horse races and the silly hats.
This trip was arranged by my American friend Alison, who doesn't live far from Ascot, so she spotted the announcements and in turn she informed me. Of course it was no problem for me to fly into to Heathrow twice in 8 days to see this talented band at work. And it was done.
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Well in time the three of us drove to Ascot because we first would have something to eat and drink in the pub. That's also where we would meet up with four other friends of Craig and Alison's. The front part is just a pub slash restaurant and we wondered how Incognito would ever be able to perform here, but in the back across from their parking lot is the affiliated club Ollies. |
Upon entering I noticed it was still pretty quiet, but we were quite early. The posters that were hung all around the pub announced that the concert was completely sold out. This surprised me, because Ascot is not the kind of place I would associate with Incognito's music. On the other hand it didn't really surprise me, because they have a large, loyal fan-base that will travel anywhere to see their favorites. |
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So we, Craig, Alison, Scott, Colleen and me, drank a couple of drinks in preparation of what was to come. After two other friends, Mark and Linda, joined us we had a little bite and in the meantime the pub was slowly filling up with Incognito fans. At 21.00 hours the club would open its doors, but before a queue was formed we decided to create it. Since we were in England it began to rain at that point in time, but the security personnel refused to open earlier. In the end the doors opened a little earlier anyway, so the race to the front of the stage could commence. It was a good thing we were up front ... |
... because that meant that I could manoeuvre myself close to the stage without any problems. The stage wasn't really big, but then again, the stage at The Jazz Cafe wasn't much bigger, if it was bigger at all. Near Matt Cooper's keyboards the setlist was taped to the ground. There were a lot of similarities with the Jazz Cafe gig. |
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© René Wirtz 2003