A evening of rock n roll anecdotes by one of the few female tour managers
Encountering Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilminster in his Y-Fronts at the back of a bus might be enough to put most people off their midnight feast, but for seasoned tour manager Kim Hawes, it was just another story to be told at a later date.
And as it happened, that date was last night at the Pound Arts in Corsham, with the the hugely likeable Kim telling tales from her new book Lipstick and Leather about her 40 years on the road with major rock stars from Motorhead to Elvis Costello, and Black Sabbath to Rush.
Along the way we learned how she’s started by blagging her way backstage at an Elvis Costello show to selling T-shirts for Rush and spending 10 years sleeping underneath Lemmy – on a tour bus that is. And all these tales came from this very likeable lady who wouldn’t have looked out of place at a Vicar of Dibley lookalike competition, in between stories of drugs, rock n roll and yes, Lemmy’s Y-fronts.
Along the way there was the time that she asked Madonna to get off the stage during a sound check to make way for her band, as well as refusing entrance to Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath to their own gig because she wasn’t sure who they were and denying rumours of romantic trysts with Thin Lizzy’s own rocker supreme Phil Lynott.
Throughout Kim was effortlessly engaging, clearly enjoying the trips back to those mad days and encouraging the audience at Pound Arts to ask any questions that they might have.
She’s also keen to explain that while it was all huge fun, there was also the other side, with the drugs and depression that comes from living a life outside of any type of regular norm. In fact, this has led her to dedicate her recent years to studying to help those who struggle to cope with the life of a touring celeb.
This hugely enjoyable event is typical of the wonderful range of concerts, talks and other events that Pound Arts excels in, ranging from comedy and dance, to family events, cinema, art exhibitions and talks. For a full list of upcoming shows, go to https://poundarts.org.uk/
