1990 was upon us and Rig were an expanding outfit. Simeon Davies, one half of the Might Force came on board as the new keyboard player. Pete Smith, aka DJ Blue was becoming ever present at recordings following on from his work on the flip-side of the soon to be released debut single. DJ Blue would also soon join the band onstage armed with his decks and vast array of samples.
The new decade arrived with an incredible storm that infamously ripped through the UK.
That same night Rig played the Sugarhouse in Lancaster, quite oblivious to the havoc being wreaked outside and across the country by the freak weather.
They were possibly distracted due to the arrival on the scene of 'Q'.
Q was a purveyor of soft exotic herbs and hallucinogens and the driver-owner of the grey pig, a cold drafty transit van in which the band would spend many hours over the coming months.
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Sugarhouse, Lancaster. Flyer. January 1990
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"How fast are we going Q?" The band would shout on another road trip.
"MPH" Q would reply, meaning the speedometer was off the numeric scale, although there were serious doubts the van had a top speed of beyond 65mph.
NME. 9th December 1989
Q was the catalyst for making sure the cramped and rusting interior of the grey pig enjoyed a party atmosphere, which was all well and good as long as there wasn't anything important to do at the end of the journey, like a gig. On the return leg, once the post-gig euphoria had worn off the band would usually designate a person to stay awake with Q, but despite the best intentions they often woke to find themselves taking naps on major arterial roads. It was also during this period that the band were banned (for life apparently) from Keele motorway service station. No mean feat.
Rig. Surrey University 28th February 1990
Q drove the band to London for their first pivotal show in the capital. They were debuting at the famous Camden Falcon where it's eclectic crowd gathered regularly, hoping to discover the next big sound in the back of a murky London pub.
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Rig. Manchester Boardwalk. 24th March 1990
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At the Falcon they played to a packed house and went down a storm. Guitarist's Darren's only journal notes from the gig were 'hippies on stage'. And the celebratory party atmosphere continued post gig until the large and rather aggressive landlord switched off all the lights, plunging the post-gig crowd into darkness kindly giving everyone five minutes to vacate the premises or he would "facking kill everyone".
He seemed like a man who would stick to his word, so in the pitch black the band swiftly packed their gear away and beat a hasty retreat.
There was a great review of the night from Paul Lester in Sounds.
"Down at the Falcon front-line, the assembled revellers are saying Rig piss on every new band save Ride. They may be right. Rig it up."
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Melody Maker review. 24th March 1990
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The next gig was a return to London which didn't quite go quite so well.
The band were playing the Rock Garden in London, the venue where one of the band's heroes, Talking Heads' made their debut in the UK back in 1977.
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Rock Garden gig listing March 1990
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After the unloading the gear and sound checking at the Rock Garden, Q and a couple of the band found a quiet back street just behind the nearby London Opera House to park the grey pig. It seemed like a discrete place for a pre-gig medicinal cigarette. Unbeknownst to Q and band members at exactly the same time the Queen Mother was arriving at the front of the building to watch a performance by opera legend Pavarotti. So there was a significantly increased police presence in the area and the old battered transit van did look a little out of place.
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Backstage pass, Rock Garden 21st March 1990
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After a tap on the driver's window, Q wound it down to be greeted by a very polite police woman who commented that her granny could roll better ones than that. Sensing peril and the possible need for a sharp exit, the band pair in the rear of the van peered through the smoky haze and saw two police helmets appear in silhouette at the van's back windows. The game was up.
The Manchester new wave. The Face magazine, March 1990
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Q was arrested and decamped to nearby Bow Street police station (everything in London is so handy) whilst the band were unceremoniously searched with arms and legs splayed in front of a curious Covent Garden crowd who may have mistook the drama as an avant-garde street performance. The youngsters were released when it was obvious that they had an important gig to play that night. But spirits were subdued following the bust and the gig in the dark cellar of the Rock Garden venue wasn't the best.
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Homemade flyer for Boardwalk gig. 1990
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But the next show, returning home to Manchester and the safety of the Boardwalk was a triumph. The same night the Happy Mondays played at the nearby G-Mex centre in Manchester and there was a celebratory mood in the Mancunian air. The band also performed their first encore that night.
 Rig. Rig. Manchester Boardwalk. 24th March 1990
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NME review. 7th April 1990
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Shortly after there was the band's only trip north of the border, and if you are going to Scotland, why not go the whole hog and head to St.Andrews.
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Flyer. St. Andrews University. 1990
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Rig played to an enthusiastic University audience and with the student crowd baying for more Q decided the band would be rewarded for returning to the stage for another encore with more hallucinogens.
So it wasn't much of a surprise a few hours later that one of the band was found perched on a garage roof at a students party, while another two actually made it onto the 18th hole at the most famous golf course in the world. The photo for the local student paper, taken indeed the morning sums up what an excellent night had been had by all. "Groovy. Yeh, yeh"
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St. Andrews University student paper 1990
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The great run of shows continued at York University with the actual power being pulled as the band played on after midnight curfew after demands from the crowd. There was a headlining return to the Hacienda and a trip across the Pennines to the Leadmill in Sheffield supporting the New Fast Automatic Daffodils.
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Hacienda flyer. March 1990
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The prestigious support slots kept coming with Rig supporting the Wedding Present at Loughborough University. Straight after the midlands gig the band headed to London to stay with friends ahead of a London show the following night. Despite arriving in the middle of the night, somewhat under the influence, a few of the band decided to wander around London and take in a few of the sights and watch the sun rise by the Cutty Sark. Returning to their digs a little worse for wear the boys found Q pinned up against the large sash window at the front of the house in just his underpants. "I'm so glad you made it back!"
The gig later the same day at the Town and Country Club 2 wasn't quite the energetic display the band were used to delivering.
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Rig supporting the Wedding Present. Loughborough University 16th May 1990
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Rig. Manchester Boardwalk. 24th March 1990
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Amongst all this gig madness and slight excess, the bands long delayed debut single had finally been released.....
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| NME 17th March 1990 |
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Sounds 17th March 1990
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