The Poco Loco story: 2001

10 and 24 March.
Two Saturdays recruiting in the town centre.

28 April - A bit of a coup!
We play at Blackpool FC's final home game of the 2000/2001 season against Barnet. Reaction from the 5,000 or so crowd as we parade in front of the East Paddock and South Stand before the game is excellent.
At half time we stand in the centre circle to play but the howling gale makes for really hard work. Our music obviously had some effect because Blackpool win the game 3-2 and go on to beat Leyton Orient in the Play Off Final to gain promotion to Division Two.

19 and 20 May - Blackpool Puppet Up Festival.
We lead the procession around town and do sets at various places, getting good responses from all who see us. The Chorley and Manchester Schools of Samba are also performing, along with the superb Boneshaker, so the place fairly crackles.

28 May - Darwen Music Live!
Bank Holiday Monday and we perform on a slope of grass facing the main road through town, then lead what must be the shortest town centre parade ever.

2 June - First Step Centre Fun Day.
A short set outside our HQ on Dickson Road, to launch their 1st Birthday Party.

10 June - Brunswick and Talbot Community Fun Day.
Part of Blackpool's inner wards regeneration programme. We lead a procession of local school kids and youth groups from Devonshire Road School to Seed Street car park, which has been closed for the day to allow the setting up of stalls and children's rides.

16 June - Preston Town Centre.
We busk at the Flag Market, in front of the Harris Museum, and at the undercover open market nearby.

30 June - Philippino Festival, Norcalympia, Blackpool.
Another first, playing in the cavernous exhibition venue at North Shore. For a laugh, Baz and Dougie wander on at the start of our second set on their own, jamming the Baion groove. Baz waves the rest of us on, and we follow in ones and twos, meandering around the big open dance area. At a whistle from Stan, we unite in a thumping break before launching in to a brilliant Timbalada.
Appalling acoustics, sparse crowd, dodgy hot food stalls, but that Baion feels like the start of something big.

14 July - Town Criers Competition, Blackpool.
Errrr…..I missed this one! Sorry!

16 and 17 July - Midsummer Night's Dream, Hodgson High School, Poulton-le-Fylde.
A collaboration with the school, whose youth theatre group were putting on this play. Stan builds a new rhythm, based on an advert he's seen on TV, and which we name Dreamcatcher.

28 July - Arts in the Park, Blackburn.
Corporation Park on a hot, hot Saturday. Only about nine of us could make this gig, but what we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality, playing really tight rhythms. Also notable as the gig where I discovered I'd been passed a dud £10 note and where Member Jackie nearly passed out due to heat exhaustion.

29 July - Morecambe Street Bands Festival.
Wow! And wow! again. As highs go, this was an Everest. Two storming sets played at the base of the Eric Morecambe statue on the seafront, in bright sunshine. The meandering Baion has become a fixed part of our repertoire and goes down a treat with audiences. Stan clearly enjoys the near anarchy of it!

5 August - Lions Carnival Procession, Blackpool.
A successful rerun of last year's event, and it's just as hot and sunny. We process to the accompanying whiff of suntan cream.

12 August - Parklive!, Stanley Park, Blackpool.
What we did was play to the ducks and geese in pouring rain. Not the best gig in our short history, but we did do our best like the troupers we are. What is it about Stanley Park, us and rain?

26 August - Parklive!, Stanley Park, Blackpool.
This was more like it. A warm sunny day, a park full of people and Poco Loco on top form. We do a percussion workshop when we get children - of all ages! - to have a go at playing along with us. What could have been a bit of a mess turns in to three separate and equally impressive versions of Samba Reggae, with people queuing up to have a go next.

27 August - Blackburn Family Fiesta.
August Bank Holiday Monday so it must be Blackburn! This was a re-run of last year's Mardi Gras but the big step forward for us was we were up on the main stage. Audience reaction was superb, including from members of Zambura, Bury's samba school who had done an impressive set a short while before us. Later we were in a town centre procession. A few of us got chatting to the Boneshaker gang - we keep meeting up at these events - and I wonder about performing on stilts….er, perhaps not!

14 September - Kendal Torchlight Procession.
We all had in mind a warm late summer evening stroll round this Lakeland town. What we got was a strong cold wind accompanied by persistent rain, which drenched us long before the procession started! But there were loads of umbrellas lining the route, and the people holding them seemed oblivious to the weather. Good atmosphere.

16 September - Gynn Gardens, Blackpool.
Ever keen to do our bit for Blackpool, we performed to about four passers by and a dog on this Sunday morning.

10 November - Christ the King School workshop, Blackpool.
This was the first of a series of schools workshops sessions we were to do, two hour taster sessions to introduce the kids to samba percussion. It always helps if someone has a key to get in though, and when said instrument arrived (attached to a teacher) Stan led a really successful event - a mixture of games (I'm a class act as an octopus), performance and joining in for all concerned. Great fun.

12 November - Stanley School workshop, Blackpool.
You know, I reckon we'll get really good at playing games in school halls with dreadful acoustics!

22 November, 8 and 13 December - Blackpool town centre.
In the run up to Christmas, we do sessions around the centre.

19 December - our Christmas social!
No instruments, just us at Premier Bowl getting a bit competitive (the adults) and full of junk food (the juniors).

2001 had been a busy and eventful year for the band. We awarded ourselves a few months of semi-hibernation, before launching in to 2002.

Ian Ward, 01.09.01 (revised 05.09.02)

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