Our Saturday night out

I have to confess we don’t often go up to La Pedrera. Last night was an exception.

The evening was organised in aid of animal welfare charity. Sorry folks but, since we have lived here, I am no longer a fan of cats and dogs; the barking dogs keep us awake at nights and the cats leave their muck in our garden. Still, even though I am not fond of them, I admit that animals deserve a decent life so I don’t mind contributing to a charity that helps them achieve that.

Having got that off my chest,  back to our night of entertainment. Pam and I  generally prefer live bands to discos and singers who perform to a backing track. Last night Darren had booked the Rolling Rocks who clearly from their name were a tribute band to the Rolling Stones. I am glad to say they were both live and lively with guys playing guitar, bass, drums and a singer.   

When we arrived at about 9:30pm, the band were well into their set of Rolling Stone numbers, belting out some of our favourites. To be fair, it is almost impossible for any local band to recreate the magic of the Stones which has been honed over years of alcohol and sometimes drug abuse. In my opinion, the Rolling Rocks did a good job but they weren’t the Stones. However, at the end of their first set, the Rocks went off to a well deserved rousing applause because they had worked hard. 

After an hour at the bar, the Rocks came back on and things were very different. Like Ronnie Woods and Keith Richards, the Rolling Rocks obviously needed a little “fuel” to get them going. Suddenly they were more animated, more lively and a lot more rock‘n’ roll. They belted out some great rock classics from just about everyone but the Stones. I have to say that any group that plays  numbers like ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” is good in my book.

Sadly that second set didn’t last too long because it was time for “Play Your Cards Right”, a game loosely based on the Bruce Forsysth TV show that ran from 1980 to 1987.

In the TV game, couples competed and had to answer a question based on a survey of 100 people. One couple guessed the answer and the other had to say whether they thought it was higher or lower. The winning couple were then first to play the main game which is the bit that Darren has based his version on.

Bruces’s game was slightly complicated with couples freezing and passing over the game to the others. Darrens version is much simpler with one person attempting to guess a sequence of ten cards correctly.

Last night, out of ten games, I don’t think anyone got past the third card. I don’t know what the odds would be for you getting to card ten but I imagine they are quite low. Still it was good fun and the audience seemed to lap it up.

Then we had a raffle, which on this occasion was for some very good prizes ranging from a meal out to a portable colour TV. Finally, the Rocks came back on to finish the night off. The time was after midnight when good children and pensioners should be in bed so we retired gracefully leaving the young and the still young at heart to rock the night away.

So, all in all,a good night  which we thoroughly enjoyed – thank you Darren. It is not something we would want to do every week but now and again it is great fun. Like Arnie, “we will be back”.