Modrapheniacs Rally, 15th - 17th April 2005

Friday had been a lovely sunny day until I started up the scooter.   As I kicked it over, raindrops started falling, and as we started the ride to Dorset it got harder and harder.   A brief fork of lightening appeared over Chichester and by the time we got to Havant it was bucketing down.   My waterproofs were not proving very effective so luckily the rain stopped after Portsmouth.   We had a brief break at Rownhams, and I thought I fully deserved the hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream, which went down very nicely!    Back into the soggy clothes for the last half of the journey and we rolled up at Sandford at about half four, to find most of the club in the bar already.   We stayed for a quick pint and then went to the caravan, which was very handily located about two minutes walk from the main building.   By now Rich and Sacha had also arrived.   We sat and watched them pull up, then Rich (accidentally, apparantly) pulled a massive wheelie on his Primavera.   His hand slipped and he came off, luckily not hurting himself or the scooter too much!   We had a quick shower and change and then headed back out, starting in the Northern Room.   In previous years there was a pub located between the two main rooms where it was nice to have a quiet chat without having to compete with the loud music, but this had been removed and converted into a long bar for the main room.   So we found a quiet(er) corner instead to have a gossip, mainly with Sarah and Colin.  They played some really good Northern sounds and I couldn't help having a few dances, but I was too sober to really go for it!   When we went to the main room we'd missed the first band, but got there in time to see Dan's People, who played a good set of 60's covers.   After the band it was the turn of Coxy and Kev Lock, who kept the dancefloor busy until around 2am, when it finished.   We nipped back into the Northern room but didn't last long and decided it was bedtime.   The lady Modrapheniacs had all been wearing cryptic t-shirts, Emma Cox was 'Cover Girl' and Sharon was 'Miss June'.    All would be revealed (literally!) the next day.....

Saturday dawned and the weather was much brighter.   I went next door into Gary's caravan for breakfast, where he was making his weekend horse selections.   My luxury muesli came in for a bit of stick, but Barry was so impressed he helped himself to some, and I finished off my breakfast with one of Steve's spare sausages!  We went over to the custom show and the first stall was run by the Modrapheniacs, so I stopped for a patch.   They were also selling calendars, for their 30th Anniversary next year, featuring the wives and girlfriends in various states of undress, all adorning different scooters!   All proceeds were going to a cancer charity so I bought one for Lee - it'll make a change from this year's Johnny Depp one in my bathroom...   What a brilliant idea!!    They should have done a male one as well though, for the discerning female scooterist!  One of the stalls outside caught my eye - selling puncture prevention liquid stuff, that you put in your inner tube.   The man on the stall would put it in both of your wheels for £15, saving the hassle of doing it yourself.  It seemed a small price to pay for peace of mind so I nipped back to the caravan and brought back my scooter.   Anything that will reduce the blowout-paranoia is a great idea in my book!   When I got back to the caravan there was a crowd of people around Champs' scooter.   It turned out he had a puncture!   And he'd bought some of the magic liquid a week before, but didn't put it in....  

We then chilled out back in the caravan for a bit before getting a taxi into Wareham.  Pompey were playing Birmingham so we went to the Horse & Groom which seemed to be the only pub showing it.   Barry, Steve and Lofty were already in there, having a few drinks with the Salisbury lads.  There were a few Pompey fans there, and we played a great game where you put 10p in a pint glass each time the ball goes out of play.   Then pass it to the next person.  Whoever has the glass at the end of the match wins all the money.   With 10 seconds to go it was in front of me, but the final move in the match resulted in a throw-in, so the pot went to Lee, lucky git!  The match ended goalless, which was a good point for us, so I was happy, especially as all the other results had gone our way.  

In the evening we spent most of the night in the main room.   I was looking forward to seeing Basket Case for the first time and they didn't disappoint.   They were absolutely brilliant, playing a great mixture of punk classics, including My Way, Teenage Kicks, Pretty Vacant and Blitzkrieg Bop, to name but a few.   My highlight was a fab version of Antmusic, and for their encore they played a great version of Basket Case.    Although they'd been on relatively early, the crowd loved them and I can't wait to see them again.    The next band had a very hard act to follow, and I don't think they pulled it off.   They were Big Boss Man and their 60's hammond organ inspired tunes didn't go down that well, so we went to the Northern Room for a change of scene.  Most of our lot went back quite early, so it was just me and Lee that went back into the main room when the band finished.   There was a guy with a big afro wig and he had a couple of bongos - which was quite surreal really.   We took turns having a go and Lee got really into it, fancying himself as ???? for the evening.    Emma Cox was playing an eclectic mix of tunes, including Amarillo (3 times!!), Stand & Deliver, an Elvis medley and finishing up with Save All Your Kisses For Me, for which I did the proper dance and embarrassed Lee totally. 

I took some video of Basketcase - a short snipped of the lead singer dancing - if you'd like me to send it to you then drop me an email - it's 4mb.    

Luckily the sunny weather held and our ride home was nice and dry.   Back in Bognor, we saw a few scooters outside the White Horse so popped in for a quick one to find Gary, Lin, Steve, Lofty and Barry recovering from their ride home.   After a quick drink we headed home, I couldn't wait for a bath any longer.

It had been a fantastic weekend, probably the best one they've had there in recent years.   The only slight criticism was that Basket Case should have headlined on Saturday night, but other than that it had been a superbly friendly, well-run rally, and I can't wait for the big one next year, for the 30th anniversary!