I’m a jinx.
Last year I had to leave Rail Freight Rocks early because of tube strikes. This year there were no tube strikes. Excellent. Surely nothing could possibly go wrong.
A deer got hit by a train.
The result? About three quarters of the trains heading east out of London appeared to be cancelled.
Of course they were.
I’m starting to think Rail Freight Rocks might be easier if they held it in Felixstowe.
Anyway, before the railway inevitably ruined my evening, there was the small matter of a gig.
I don’t get out of the office as much as I used to these days, so it was also a good chance to catch up with people I don’t see nearly enough. Jack, Jonathon, Dicko and Liz, Claire and Jo M, former boss Tim and, of course, it’s always a pleasure to see Ian L.
Good to see the Port of Felixstowe represented by Jo too. Got to keep the Felixstowe end up in amongst all those railway people.
Back at The Water Rats
Back at The Water Rats for year two and the band remained unchanged:
- Liam Day – Lead vocals
- Carl Kent – Lead guitar
- Vittorio Licata – Keyboards
- Chris Duffield – Bass, guitar and vocals
- Andy Rutherford – Guitar
- Will Lane, Dean Godwin and Ewan Duffy – Drums
Same three drummers as last year, although they’d shuffled the pack this time around. Presumably there was a complicated selection process. Or somebody just said, “You go first.”
DJ Duties
And I was back on DJ duties.
I use the term DJ fairly loosely. There were no decks, no mixing and absolutely no chance of me shouting “MAKE SOME NOISE!” at anybody. Basically, I had a laptop and access to the volume control.
Carl had curated the first two playlists, one before the gig and another for the first interval. He then showed an alarming amount of trust by allowing me to put together the third.
Primal Scream, Reef, Elastica, Blur, The Fratellis, Franz Ferdinand and Stereophonics.
Nobody complained.
More importantly, Carl didn’t tell me off for any of my song choices this year.
Progress.
I’ll take that as another bonus.
Then it was time for the people who could actually play instruments.
Set 1
Set 1 didn’t exactly ease us in: The Boys Are Back in Town, Stay With Me, Hard to Handle, All the Young Dudes, The Jean Genie, Cum On Feel the Noize, Get Back, Sunshine of Your Love and Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
Subtle it wasn’t.
It was, however, bloody good fun.
Set 2 and the Cowbell
Set 2 turned things up another notch with Fire, Black Night, Ace of Spades, All Right Now, Bring It On Home, Enter Sandman, Don’t Fear the Reaper, Roadhouse Blues and Layla.
Liam sat most of this one out, with Chris Duffield stepping forward and taking most of the vocals.
Then came one of my highlights of the night.
Don’t Fear the Reaper.
And a cowbell appeared.
Just the one.
Exactly the correct number of cowbells.
There are certain things in life you simply don’t mess with. Fish needs chips. Ant needs Dec. And if you’re going to play Don’t Fear the Reaper, someone needs to hit a cowbell.
My Turn, Then Set 3
After Set 2 it was finally time for my contribution. Twenty-five minutes of carefully selected indie music designed to create a seamless musical transition into the indie-heavy final set.
That’s what I’m telling people anyway.
In reality, I picked seven songs I like and put them in an order.
Then Set 3 started.
And this one was VERY much my cup of tea.
I Wanna Be Adored. Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before. The Changingman. Sun Hits the Sky.
Four songs in.
Then I checked my phone.
Oh, bollocks.
Cancelled. Cancelled. Cancelled. And, for a bit of variety, another one cancelled.
If I wanted any realistic chance of getting back to Felixstowe, I had to go.
So, for the second year running, Rail Freight Rocks and I were parting company early.
Last year: tube strikes.
This year: deer.
I’m genuinely intrigued to see what nature, infrastructure or industrial relations comes up with for 2027.
Volcano?
Locusts?
Leaves on the line?
Actually, scrap the last one. That’s far too believable.
Off I went towards Liverpool Street, missing Hey Dude, Dreaming of You, Just, Australia, Slide Away, Love Is the Law and the planned encore of Evil Woman and Money for Nothing.
Missing Australia particularly annoyed me.
Except…
I’d heard them play it during the warm-up.
HA!
Take that, deer.
Another Cracking Night
So, another cracking night at The Water Rats. Great music, singers swapping around, drummers shuffling the pack, plenty of guitars and one perfectly deployed cowbell.
There’s something else rather brilliant about Rail Freight Rocks. Eight people brought together by the railway, two practice sessions, and the small matter of a roster clerk somehow managing to get them all off work at the same time.
And, most importantly, it’s all put on to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. A cracking night of live music for a cause that makes the whole thing even more worthwhile.
Support Great Ormond Street Hospital
If you enjoyed reading about Rail Freight Rocks, you can help make the night count for even more by adding a donation to the fundraising total.
And out of that comes some mighty fine music.
I go to a lot of gigs, but Rail Freight Rocks has very quickly become one of my must-see events.
And if I’m not invited back in 2027 to press some buttons on my laptop, I’d even pay for a ticket.
That’s how good it is.
Maybe next year I’ll finally see the end.
Or maybe I’ll just book a hotel.
Previously: Rail Freight Rocks 2025