Lloyd dwells at Boz and Gaz's side of the stage, and as you might guess, the lads keep him very busy. On the recent tour, Boz changed guitar for every song. Lloyd was on his feet as each song drew to a close, guitar in hand, ready to leap with heroic vivacity to Boz's aid - one guitar off, another on, is it plugged in?, will Morrissey's blathering in-between-song patter last long enough?... and - a surprisingly energetic sprint back into the wings, surplus guitar swinging at his side.
But, ah, no! This is not all that Mr Tripp gets up to. Once the support band leaves the stage, on bound the techs, fiddling with knobs (ooh matron), valiantly taping down cables and leads, Lloyd manfully tearing gaffer tape with his teeth (it's all too much for a girl to take), to secure the lads... ahem... equipment.
In the wings, Lloyd is checking the instruments, making sure they're still in tune (well, you know what Boz is like - those poor guitars can't get life insurance), replacing broken strings, keeping one eye all the time on Boz and Gaz, primed to leap to the rescue should - heaven forfend - anything happen mid-song.
And at Cardiff, it did. By this point I was already convinced of Lloyd's marvellousness, having seen his concern about the fight that broke out in the audience at Grimsby, but my god, he did some very impressive on-stage bass mending which made me realise he didn't get the job just because he's got nice hair. Lord knows what that cheeky ruffian Mr Day had been up to, but his bass got into a bit of bother in the middle of a song. Like a slightly more exciting version of a Kwik Fit fitter, Lloyd was on the scene in seconds, with another tech holding a torch so he could see. Ladies and gentleblokes, what occurred then was like an emergency pit-stop at Le Mans - but with quiffs. Gary continued to play while Lloyd fiddled about (that being the technical term, obv.), and within seconds Gaz's bass was restored to life - without the performance of the rest of the band being affected in the least. Now that's medal-winning guitar techerie in action.
But if you think Lloyd's talents end there, then, my dears, you are most sorely mistaken. At the gig in Birmingham, a somewhat over-excited fan hopped onto the stage. Limbs flailing with the sheer excitement of it, two of the crowd control police couldn't get him off the stage. Then he made a mistake. A terrible, terrible error - a heinous crime that Lloyd could not ignore. He kicked Boz's pedals! Like Giant Haystacks with Brylcreem, Lloyd was in action. Stage Invader Man was pinned to the floor by Lloyd (lucky chap) and then manoeuvred from the stage as if he weighed little more than a gnat.
Maybe some of you are sat there thinking, "What's all the fuss about? I could do that!" Don't be so sure. Could your hair look so beautifully coiffured? Could you tear gaffer tape with your teeth? Could you stand in the darkened wings next to Gary Day without feeling scared? And it's not as if Lloyd does this because last year he went to Smethwick College of the Performing Arts: he's a bit of a music maestro himself, and has known Boz since the early 1980s. He played bass in psychobilly/garage/trash/'garagebilly' band The Stingrays (and so too did Jonny Bridgewood at one point), The Vibes (which sprang out of The Stingrays), The Blubbery Hellbellies (produced by Boz), The Ramblers - and these days he can be found slapping his bass (oooh matron) in Rockin' Lloyd Tripp & The Zipguns. They're a really fab rockabilly band, so if you don't go and visit his website where you can hear his songs, I'll be very disappointed with you and a spanking will be in the offing.
So there you are - multi-talented, with fabulous hair, a dashing demeanour, hailing from Essex (that's where all the cool people are from: like Sandie Shaw, Levi Dexter, Boz's mate Steve Hooker and... erm... me - Lloyd even did a gig in the crappy little town I grew up in), and a lorry-load of grrrrr. Lloyd, we salute you.
Visit Rockin' LLoyd Tripp & The Zipguns' website by clicking here.
