Ten Years of “T” Shirts


A Celebration of a Decade of Touring
("Been there ... done that ... sold the T-shirts!")


1996 - A to B Tour (White)

An understated little number featuring the first appearance of the van logo (designed by our own Linda).. Well, it went a bit like this...Kate got a call from Declan, the organiser of a Celtic Festival in County Roscommon, asking if she knew of any bands from Wales who might be “up for it”. Swiftly volunteering to go there herself with a bunch of friends, she then had to come up with a name for inclusion in the festival programme. “Allan yn y Fan” (“going out in a van” in Welsh) was the uninspired (and unconsulted) response...thinking that it could always change to a better name later. The rest is history! And the A to B bit? Aberbeeg to Brideswell, of course (this being one of the few occasions that Aberbeeg gets a mention in print outside reports from the law courts).This first tour is also commemorated in a couple of tunes: “Piper’s Procrastination” and “A Small Hospital” for which we are indebted to Ciaran O’Driscoll for providing the inspiration.

Neeps & Haggis (White)

Picture the scene – Burns Night in deepest Ayrshire - and a Welsh band. Another offer that most of us found too good to refuse, despite the long journey, thick fog and the Dumfries Double Breakdown (a great title for tune still to be written). This T shirt is a collector’s item with only 4 in existence - one of which went to our brilliant hostess, Catriona.

Brideswell Revisted (Black)

Another rare item - particularly if the stick-on picture of a van hasn’t fallen off.

This was our first (and last) experiment with iron-on patches...but and least it was black rather than white and the tour was great fun. Sad individuals who are genuinely interested in T shirt memorabilia will have noted the first appearance of polo shirts for the guys. This tour also provided the inspiration for more tunes, notably “Air Miles on the Irish Ferry” commemorating the unexpected discounts available on this form of transport.

1998 - Oh No...Not Them Again! (Black)

Introducing the first T-shirt that we dared to put on sale. This tasteful creation in black with ochre lettering is STILL a band favourite, demonstrating excellent value for money as they are still wearable. We were over the moon to be invited back to Brideswell - and, of course, our annual pilgrimage to Minnie Sullivan’s Bar in Ballinasloe.

1999 - Czech it Out (Navy)

This was a most unusual tour. Firstly, it was our first forray eastwards and secondly, because as none of us fancied the long drive there, we bizarrely decided to organise our own coach tour that just happened to have an itinerary that exactly matched our tour dates! We didn’t really intend the coach trip to make a profit, so we had to keep offering our fellow travellers perks such as free hot drinks and, you’ve guessed it...complimentary T Shirts. Kate and Linda certainly enjoyed acting as “trolley dollies” on the bus. Highlights of this tour must include the surreal outdoor gig one evening when we were visited by a group of young people dressed in native American Indian costume who executed perfect ballroom dancing routines to our tunes. We have the videos to prove that it really happened! Members of the Platan Band from Pisek proved to be fantastic hosts - even getting up at 4am in the morning to catch and smoke carp for us to eat later in the evening. We also thoroughly enjoyed the company of two guest performers - Scottish singer Catriona Haston and accordionist Luke Goss who stood in for Chris and amused us all with his “unique” style of disco dance. This is where we discovered that Becorovka really is “the Devil’s drink” and were seriously grateful for the help and (literal) support from Michelle (“Mummy to the Stars”).

2000 - The Next Minnellium (Black)

This is the year when we were presented with a certificate authenticating our position as official performers at the Millennium Dome, hence the extra dome feature in our T-Shirt logo. Nuff said - we had a brilliant time there feeling well at home (Geoff said it was “just like Garden Festival Wales with a roof”). And we made it back to Ireland to see Declan and the gang, with Kate delivering a tune to Minnie in Ballinasloe en route (Hoffed Minnie Sullivan). Chris demonstrated a composing frenzy, coming up with some terrific tunes such as “O’Connell’s Extension”, “The Roscrea Triangle” and, one of our favourites, “Declan’s Dilemma”.

2001 - Wotno Festival (Bottle Green)

Remember this year? This was when most festivals were cancelled because of the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease and when Linda seemed to be constantly on call as Press Officer for the Welsh Assembly’s Minister for Agriculture. There was a steady request for our T shirt from disgruntled festival organisers across the country and we still made it to Ireland. This time we got to play in a fine assortment of Declan‘s favourite bars.

2002 - Annusaurus Rex (Maroon)

The slogan on this T shirt was a tribute to our beloved Leader who celebrated a rather big birthday. The spoof Latin is supposed to reflect our King’s golden year, rather than that other gold jubilee coinciding with our festivities. That’s why we opted for the closest colour to royal purple. This was also the year when Declan reinvented the Dysart Harvest Festival as the excuse for our visit. This momentous event included an all-Ireland drystone wall building championship, an agricultural fair featuring vintage farm machinery and guest rats in the hay baler, a celebrity concert (headed by accordionist Joe Burke) and our personal favourite - the “Novelty Hunt”. We were intrigued as to what this was going to be - but it turned out to be a misprint and should have read “Novice Hunt”. Still, those handsome farmers on horseback inspired Kate’s tune “Rural Assets” and Dysart village was delighted to experience its first traffic jam. This was also Emma’s first visit to Ireland with the band and there was a memorable night getting lost in the mists of Rahara (cue: a song from Kate).

2003 - Off The Map (Black)

It was entirely fitting that this year’s T shirt should commemorate Allan yn y Fan’s first CD, so dozens were distributed. Cunningly, the T shirt also advertised the zippy website designed for us by Chris. To top it all, we got to be the Resident Band at Jimmy Murray’s bar for the Knockcroughery Fair. We got to hear him sing “The West’s Awake” and in return we gave him his own tune(“Famous Jimmy Murray”). Happy days...even the accommodation was so good it was immortalised by Chris (“Lacken House”).

2004 - Eine Kleine Celtmusik (Black)

Our good friend Thomas Roth from the Geyers helped to organise this first trip to Germany, and Caerphilly’s twin town of Ludwigsburg. No doubt the highlight of this tour was the unforgettable Mediaeval Fair in Nordlingen. It was slightly disconcerting performing next to the axe throwing sideshow but at least we didn’t set fire to our stage. Our host’s hospitality was the inspiration for Chris’ tune “Castell Thomas” and lunch at a local inn resulted in Kate’s composition “Amazing Grapes” for Ria and Bernt. The T shirts looked great, but owing to a production defect went scabby after the first wash...sorry!

2005 - Gland Slam (French Navy)

Well, who could resist this opportunity to flaunt our Welsh rugby victory to the defeated French supporters? This year’s tour was to the spectacular Interceltique Festival in Lorient in Brittany. Thanks to David Peterson, we had a brilliant time performing on a stage next to the harbour. Not to mention the excellent gig in the best old people’s home in the world (we’ve already put our names on the waiting list). We even got to play on an old fashioned fishing boat (it was worth the sunburn in return for the ambience, wine and prawns). This was also had an extraordinarily productive time musically, with Kate’s al fresco breakfasts providing the inspiration for two tunes from Chris, plus some lovely pieces co-written with Geoff. C’est la vie.

2006 - Taith Ewrop / Belonging (Sky Blue)

Allan yn y Fan celebrated the launch of the second CD with a trip to Germany and Luxembourg one week, followed by a weekend in France a fortnight later. This in itself deserved a T shirt. Once again, Thomas organised a fantastic tour for us and this time we got to share a stage with the Geyers in Moglingen performing their tune entitled “Allan yn y Fan” (which we also recorded on the “Belonging” CD). How we actually ended up representing Devon at the Fete de l’Europe in Benouville is a bit of a long story but that weekend was an unexpected bonus enjoyed by all. Don’t worry if you weren’t able to support us on this tour – we still have some of the T shirts available!

 

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