Bring the Popcorn" to the top of the charts is a case in point. "It was all very silly and very entertaining," he says, "with the sort of songs that I had heard for years. My sister-in-law went out to see it in the cinema and said 'they're awful'. I could see what she meant, but when she came back I asked her 'do you like Stevie Wonder?'. She said 'why yes' and he had gone up a few notches for her. It makes life so much easier when you get an unexpected thumbs up on an old favourite." The 'unexpected' comes with any review of a live gig that I conduct. The first question usually is 'so how did it go tonight?' The second is 'was there a particular highlight?'. I'm a great believer in live music, and the fact that we go out live each and every week (even though two of our shows on Tuesdays are recorded) shows that we really like what we do. In my eyes, there aren't any 'shameful' experiences – the audience is a wonderful mix, the artists do their best, we get a great reaction, and we'll keep on going. To be honest, a lot of the time I don't take in what people write about the shows – I may read it for a laugh or two, but most of it I dismiss and move on. I don't know how much influence this has had on the fact that for our 100th show, there were over one million hits from blogs and social media on a google search of 'Dolphin Centre', and it was no surprise to me that it was one of the most popular websites for a while afterwards. It feels as if we've finally taken a few years off. It's been three-and-a-bit years since we last saw the Fray, a band whose debut album is possibly one of my favourite albums of all time. We've been fans since _How to Save a Life_ , and it's so great to see that the band are still on top form. It's been a treat to spend the day with the guys who first asked us to 'make it a great night', as they are such great guys who make the whole show run so smoothly, in front and behind the scenes. It's great to be invited in to sing on their classic track 'Over My Head (Cable Car)', and to be playing with them a mere nine months after our last gig with them – what a fabulous band. After an hour on stage at the end of which we still had quite a few people in our seats, it was a case of 'home time' and a trip up the M1 to Leicester, on the way home. The first thing we did upon arriving back at the Dolphin Centre was to watch the live transmission of our show that had been live streamed online from Northampton the previous night. We wanted to share the moment with those who could not attend, as well as those who were delighted to have attended themselves. After a few hours of sleep, I was off to the Dolphin Centre again, with Chris and Jamie, on one of their most enjoyable trips to date. The lovely people at the Dolphin Centre took us through a whole new experience, which was to give us an insight into an art exhibition in progress, with an opportunity for us to choose some paintings for our Dolphin Centre store, which we then enjoyed with a few glasses of wine. As a result of this unique tour, we discovered an amazing selection of artists from the North of England, as well as from other parts of the country. What a night – what a really wonderful day we've been having. I've just sat down at the computer and started to type this, when I see that another tour has been announced. The Dolphin Centre is now planning for its 160th birthday celebration, which will take place during the second weekend of October, 2017. To be honest, we're not totally sure who is coming yet, but we can all feel that we're in a good place and with the right people to enjoy a great day and night out in Leicester. I'm not sure that I can ever say enough about the Dolphin Centre itself, and how much we all appreciate all the wonderful people who run it. The Dolphin Centre has provided many wonderful memories for our band over the years, and I'm sure that there will be many more to come. A tour with the Fray feels like 'the beginning of the rest of your life'. I wonder if they'll be able to give us another surprise invite to add to their 'special' gigs? ## 19 JULY 2015 ### 'I am delighted to make this announcement' It's a big deal for me to say that when I started working at the Dolphin Centre back in the early 1990s, I had absolutely no plans at all to go into management myself. It was my ambition to open a bookshop, which for some time had been a dream of mine. If this is what I wanted to do in the future, it would be a way of giving back to the community, something that has been such an important part of my life over the past few years. There are so many people who deserve credit for the help they've given us over the years, and this is one way in which I can try and give them back some of the help that we get as a band on a daily basis. As a member of the Dolphin Centre management team for a number of years, and then as a manager for another six, I have worked in an environment which has been so exciting. When we first started the Dolphin Centre we were in competition with other music venues in London, which is fair enough, but what happened was that we were quickly overtaken by bigger venues, which in turn were overtaken by 'superclubs' and venues that didn't feature music at all. As a result, the Dolphin Centre became a much sought-after facility which is only too well known. It has been a great source of support to so many artists over the years and now I'm so proud to be a part of it. The management team is, as ever, on the lookout for new acts to help promote, which is not easy considering how many people are chasing after a gig at the Dolphin Centre and the rest of the gig circuit. However, it doesn't mean that we don't know about anyone who could be worth taking a chance on. If they are good enough, and they get booked at another venue, the Dolphin Centre management team will try and help make that happen. It's all part of the service that we provide. This leads me back to my decision to work with an agent, as I wanted a new perspective. The fact that my own son is joining a band at the end of September means that this will also be of great interest to him. What I know for certain is that he won't get any further than having this new experience without the help of some sort of talent agency. I didn't know how important the band would become to him, but one thing's for certain, I'm absolutely delighted for him to be joining the band as a guitarist and singer. When I first brought the band to the attention of Dave McHugh, who was working as a promotions manager at Virgin, he asked me to join him for a cup of tea, to try and explain my vision for the band, which I think came across very well and with great passion. Not long after I'd gone back to the Dolphin Centre, and had gone through every single piece of kit in the studio and worked out how I wanted it done, there was a knock on the door. When I opened the door, and there was David again. "Aren't you coming in?" he said. I realised that he was just leaving, and I said "just a moment" and followed him out of the studio. I really couldn't tell him much. I hadn't been to university and hadn't read the books, and in the circumstances, nothing prepared me for the impact of having my own agent. Before I went back into the studio, we had a chat about the industry and this was my first taste of life on the other side of the desk. The Dolphin Centre is a great community, and people need to be managed in different ways, so at times he and I do have to be firm. I wouldn't have been able to go through the period of time that we've just had without him. He got me a gig at Nottingham Playhouse for a charity performance and we worked together to get me the gig at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool for the Christmas Week, where I was on the first night of the play _Sorrell and Son_ in my own solo show. From the outset, I've said I'd like to help the band. They are my friends as well as my employees, and as time has gone on, I have had a bit of a reputation for being an 'enfant terrible', or, 'that wacky bloke who can't stop fiddling with his glasses'! The first time I heard one of the band members speak, I was slightly confused – I couldn't tell if it was him or John Lennon. But I knew immediately that the band members were all people that I could get on with, that they would understand my vision for them, and as we got to know each other better, it became apparent that we shared so many interests and so much common ground.