Our gig on the 19th of February was in a quirky hall in Barby - a quaint German town never before visited by Wishbone Ash. The poster in the lobby informed us that the town is over a thousand years old ("1040 Jahre Barby" - Yeah Baby!) Celebrating his 60th Birthday in Barby, Andy still has a long way to go before he reaches even a single century; Whether he'll still be doing gigs when he's a thousand and forty I don't know, though it wouldn't surprise me.

I used to associate 60 with grandparents, bus passes and sitting in a comfy chair watching countdown (perhaps wearing one big slipper). It's great to witness Andy shunning all of these things in favour of travelling the world rocking out every night, skiing and surfing. And there's no sign of him slowing down. In fact, as our gig in Berlin didn't kick off until 23:45, he did the better part of TWO whole gigs on his 60th Birthday! That's pretty impressive if you ask me.

In the dressing room after the Barby gig we were tucking into some cake (yummmm) and discussing getting older. Andy said 40 and 50 had passed him by without a thought but 60 had been on his mind for some time. He was feeling that it was a bigger deal for some reason. On hearing this Jimmy Bowskill (our 19 year old guitar-slinging support act) felt a connection and offered his support - "yeah, I remember what it was like turning 10, double figures and all that." I suppose with only one decade under his belt that's all he had to go off. I'd like to say we all pondered this and felt a warm connection and an appreciation of the fact that music can bond people of all generations. In fact, we all burst out laughing.

So, I guess 60 is the new 10. Happy Birthday Andy. Here's to another 60....

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