Talk Audio Winter Meet
Four momentous things happened on Sunday December 9th last. It was pop throb teeny star Donny Osmond’s birthday. It was the birthday of popular soap Coronation Street. It was the day of the London Meet for Talk Audio and it was also my birthday, too.
MC_Bob started a thread on the meets forum and placed a Google Earth map link as well as the postcode for the inevitable navigation users (E4 7QL Chingford!) and one by one a slew of forum users placed their names on the end of the list of those planning to go along. I myself asked if I could tag along and then went through my loft for swag to take with to unload and tidy up a bit!
The dust-gathering goody bags from Formula One corporate days with West McLaren Mercedes and Panasonic Toyota were packed with hats, pens, lapel badges and tat like packs of mints as well as some real gems like watches and crystal paperweights. There were things that have been in my loft for literally years and were sent by companies long since passed away or passed on. I ended up handing out tweeters, sound deadening (both a roll and a door kit) as well as shirts from PowerBass, Rockford and Xtant and baseball caps in all directions. A couple of bags, a Gumball annual. Gosh it was just like being a fat store Santa but with marginally more worthwhile gifts. And no beard.
It was a frankly horrible grey wet day, yet they all showed up (Ian Pinder was fashionably late git) and it was just really cool. The one thing that was really in abundance was that it didn’t matter if you were an SQ Sound Off God, an ex-RAF engineer now teaching who likes ‘Ghetto’ installs with no paint in the boot and ugly but utterly sound power systems, or perhaps a mad low-kit-volume enthusiast with a six inch woofer in a box in the boot, the level of sheer enthusiasm for mobile electronics bound them all together. Whether it be hifi or drum and bass powerful enough to rock you, yet set so you don’t get hearing damage from over-powered tweeters, the love of music on the move was something that was a huge part of all their lives.
I got some pictures of a bunch of nutters in a grubby wet muddy car park of a golf course and yet for me it was bathed in a golden glow. I was made welcome and invited also to join them at the pub afterwards for TA Meeting Phase II over a shandy, when the world was put to rights.
Being involved and accepted was brilliant. To find oneself amongst the real hardcore enthusiasts doesn’t happen at mainstream shows in the same way. They may all be there but they’ll be outnumbered big time by those keener on the paint and with a system simply ‘cos it goes and without really having any passion for the kit itself. These guys made me feel I was amongst similar nutter lifers.
It was like coming home and the best birthday present I got this year, for certain!
And here’s where to click to see a funky cool slideshow in the newly imported gallery system. We LOVE this! If you go to the gallery itself from the menus above you can get at the fuller size versions of you want to nick any….
link
The stalwarts who showed up were:
MC_Bob – Nathan – A Big TA ‘ta!’ for being the organiser
Chris C
Orca John
Flamez Trushan
Harry redchow – Simon
Baz W
Bass Wagon Dean
DEVICES Jamie
Big_Mike
Bibby Karl
Blade (Mr. Bladon, who’s cool nickname went all to hell with that ex-Bros Goss bloke)
Tej
Nick_R
DKH Dilip
V Chohan
HGT Craig
Rolly 24 Garjan
AndyBGSi
Ed
MicB
Neeley Neil
VoiceCoil Chris
Original Iceman Ian Pinder (LATE!)
(With an apology to anyone I have missed off let me know if you were there but didn’t get listed and we can add you in oh the joy of non-print media