Well I must be getting old! Sat while Taste are soundchecking for the gig thinking ‘ooh this is a bit loud!’ But its great and once the venue is full of young people it will be fine! We’re in Herne working with the Fishermans Office who we’ve worked with before, being very well looked after!

Yesterday was a fairly relaxed day. We visited a school to view their facilities for an event later on in the year which Taste have been invited to play in. A really nice school, quite different to most schools in Germany-the kids have a lot of freedom and the chance decorate their own ‘learning space’-this seems to create a much greater sense of respect and want to look after things than we often see in England! One of the venues at the school is a drained swimming pool which has been converted into a cafe and where La Roche will be djing at the weekend in November. In the picture you can see the team having a practice! We had lunch out and then a meeting about ‘Konficamp’ – an event in October which Taste are taking part in. The meeting was half German and half English-a chance for me to see how much I can remember and understand from my GCSE days! Andy and I then headed into town for a trip to our favourite shops in Herne- ‘Woolworth’ (similar but definitely not the same!), ‘New Yorker’ (sort of a cheap H&M) and the Euro Shop (i.e. a pound shop!). There was also some live music and entertainment in the centre of the high street…we had to stop while Andy drooled over the digital sound desk! The evening consisted of a trip the the Bavarian Inn which we have been to before-the infamous litres of Bavarian beer. I upped my game from last years 0.3l to 0.5l this year, while the boys went for the whole 1l! We had lots of fun and laughs as a team and a late night McFlurry trip!

Today we had a lie in and then headed to the Lighthouse to set up and then a gig tonight.

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We’re mid way through the gig and its very very hot! About 40people all jumping around and enjoying the music and our attempts at speaking German! Jonny does a bit of singing in the next couple of songs so i’ll be let loose on the lights!

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Second break is for sausages! Then La Roche is doing a dj set, while my wonderful Andy is on lights, having just drummed very well!

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Back at the hotel after a great gig. Tomorrow we’re off to church in the morning and then Taste are doing some acoustic songs in a service at The Lighthouse in the evening. It’s now definitely time for sleep!

Friday morning started off leisurely and with me cooking bacon and egg muffins for Andy (my boss for the day so had to keep him sweet!) as he arrived at 10.30 after picking up some equipment we were borrowing from Sawyer’s Church. We then headed off to the office to load up more equipment before driving to Chelmsford Cathedral, arriving at 1.20pm to wait for a concert to finish so we could get in and start setting up!

My main memories of Chelmsford Cathedral involve long traditional Anglican services at the end of a school term with hymns and our headteacher dressing up in a gown (still not sure why!); or the prize-giving and results presentations with endless amounts of clapping and a long speech from someday with some vague connection to the school, now heavily involved in business/politics/economics…not memories that particularly fill me with excitement! (see This Page for details on how these particular services play a part in what I’m doing now)

However for this night, Chelmsford Cathedral in transformed! The chairs were cleared and in came the staging, lights, visuals, PA, gazebo, laptops, sweets, crisps, bouncy castle, crafts, performers, speakers and many more activities. This year there were four different zones, each with a theme looking at different encounters with Jesus and involved fun activities, food and spiritual thought/input. The young people were put into groups and each group visited each zone for 30mins. There was also a time of acoustic worship led by Claire Parry from a 360° stage, a short talk from Andy Poultney, a time of communion and over 350 sausages in baguettes served!  Doors opened at 6.30pm and the event finished at 10pm.

My role was to help set up the visual equipment and then to operate visuals on the night. There was a great buzz in the place – great to hear laughter and excitement in such an amazing building, where perhaps it’s normally more traditional. It was lovely to see some familiar faces on team and in the young people that came.

Andy did a really good job of organising and leading a technical team of 6 (despite leaving me at one point and in my stubbornness to get the screen up by myself pinching my finger and giving me a blood blister which looks like a slug and which Claire and Karen named Neil…?!) and was a very nice and relaxed boss!

The best thing about Solid Remix is seeing so many young people all in one place, worshipping God through many different activities – the potential for over 350 young people’s lives to be touched by God – who knows where that could lead!

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I now don’t have any events booked in until April, so writing lists of things to do and sort out to keep me busy! I’ve booked a trip to Norwich to see my best friend Lois for 26th-28th Feb which I’m very excited about!

I’m very thankful to God for his provision and answer to prayer in the form of a financial gift from 2 very lovely people. God does keep His promises, He never fails, even when it all seems like too much – hang in there!

‘The LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him’ Psalm 32:10

(Started yesterday on site!)

Tonight is a mental party night on the third floor of a multistorey car park. All the technical equipment has been hired in and they’ve been setting up since half 8. We arrived at 11 but not much for us to do yet, just watch. They hired a van simply to drive from the bottom of the car park to the third floor. There’s various areas being set up: graffiti area with car bonnets in it, life size inflatable table football, a course set out for little cars and some crazy bike things, the stage is at a diagonal in the middle with four towers at the back with moving head lights on top and plasma screens mounted on them, there are LED par cans everywhere, strip lights across the pillars and various other T-bars and uplights. A smoke machine will be set up too. The evening starts at 5 where the kids have the opportunity to climb a climbing wall to get into the 3rd floor. Then there will be workshops, presentations, the next installment of the daily drama (which is in German so I don’t have a clue what the storyline is!!), Taste are doing 4 acoustic songs and then at 9pm is the ‘Disco’ with La Roche djing for an hour or so. Keel is very excited to be doing lights, i’ll be running visuals and lights when Keel isn’t around and Joy will be doing sound. They’re just putting the climbing wall in…it’s basically a big sheet with climbing rock things attached to it that they’ve dropped over the edge! Back in the base they’ve been filling a couple of hundred helium balloons on strings to bring over. I’m sat in the tech area writing this on my iPod and then I’ll post it later tonight. It’s so exciting to be part of this, it’s gonna be awesome!

Well add a few barrels of fire, some hot dogs and about 300young people and you might begin to imagine what happened last night! The event was fantastic, the set up looked perfect and people seemed to be having a really good time! It all ended with an hour dj set from La Roche with Keel and Ben doing amazing things with lights and smoke. It was all hands on deck to pack everything down and several loads into the van and out again at The Lighthouse but it was all done in an hour and a half. Means we have resetting to do this afternoon to be ready for tonights session and Taste gig!

We have been having lots of fun in Germany!

Friday we were in a school taking some lessons; Saturday was setting up the venue, The Lighthouse; Sunday was church, pancakes for lunch, soundchecks at The Lighthouse and then out for a Bavarian Beer! The boys had litre glasses, I had 0.3l glass! It wasn’t that bad!

Yesterday the week began. Every night this week there is a programme from 7-9 then Friday night La Roche is djing a set on the third floor of a multistorey car park next door that the kids can climb up to! Its all really well done, the venue looks amazing! It was packed last night and got very hot and sticky! I’m running visuals and also doing a bit on the lights whch is good fun!

Heading into Herne town centre now, will try and write some more soon!

We have just come back from a weekend in Becca’s home town of Crowthorne (near Wokingham)! We travelled across over lunchtime on Friday and arrived at St John The Baptist Churchat 2pm to be met by the Ceaser family. We cleared out some of the pews, unloaded in the rain and set up in the beautiful but rather cold church! Excited to have the space to rear project so suspended the screen, with black either side…it looked really nice when all done! Battered sausage and chips for dinner followed by a meeting where everyone was in a slightly silly mood! Gig was 7.30pm-9.30pm and 100+ people came which we and the local churches were delighted with! We changed the plan slightly to accomodate the higher numbers of non-church young people than had been expected…what a great problem to have! Packed down and loaded the van and dispersed to our hosts. I was staying with a couple called Ian and Sue who looked after me very well! In bed just after half 11!

Saturday we went to Crowthorne Baptist Church, Becca’s home church where her Dad is the minister. They had shifted the orientation of the chairs to give us maximum space to set up in. We worked out logistics and started unloading whilst Andy and I blacked out the back. We started a relaxed set up and then had to leave to go to Finchampstead for a meeting at 1pm about Spring Harvest(we are part of the Distinctive 11-14s venue at Minehead Week 2). We met at a gorgeous house and had lunch and then spent the afternoon discussing ideas! Then back to the church to finish setting up, then round to Becca’s for dinner and relax in front of the Wii! Back to hosts for a fairly early night.

Sunday we were at church for 9.30 to soundcheck and prepare for the service…we were told we could do what we liked so had to warn everyone it might be a little different to their normal Sunday service! We had some worship songs, performed ‘What’s It Worth’, Becca shared her testimony and Joy took the congregation through the story of Zaccheus…literally everyone involved acting the story out and being given Chewits by Zaccheus! Tea and coffee after the service, pack down and then dinner in the back hall: Chicken Stew and Profiteroles! Everyone helped us load and we left just after 2pm, leaving Ben, Jack and Becca behind, they are staying for the next couple of days and coming back to Essex on Tuesday. So we had lots of room in the back of the van and travelled almost comfortably!

Got 2 days off now and need to recharge the batteries a bit! Have been feeling quite tired this weekend so need to take it a bit easy. Will be going to see Billy though!!