Morecambe group's back garden gig delights dad and son

Morecambe group The Thyme Machine felt bad after Darren Fox and his teenage son Theo were forced to leave their gig because Theo was underage.

So the next day, the four-piece turned up out of the blue at Darren’s house in their tour bus. They ended up playing a full one-hour set on the Fox family decking to an audience of Darren, his wife Anna, mother-in-law Sandy, Theo and dog Charlie.

“It was absolutely 
brilliant...my son didn’t know what to say and I had to tell him this doesn’t happen every time you miss a gig!” said Darren.

Darren and Theo had gone to watch The Thyme Machine – lead vocallist Kriss Foster, keyboards and bass player Jeremy Procter, drummer Owen Brindle and Caolan Montague on lead guitar – on Monday night at a venue in Liverpool. But just moments before the band were due on stage, a venue staff member told the dad and son they would have to leave because Theo is 15.

“I was upset about it and I spoke to Kriss, who was about to go on stage,” said Darren.

“He tried to give me money for a refund even though it wasn’t his decision.”

When the group finished the gig, they wondered how to make it up to Darren and Theo.

“I thought I might send them a T-shirt or a CD but then I thought I would go round and play a few songs,” said Kriss.

“But Jeremy said ‘let’s do it properly’.”

So Kriss messaged Darren in the early hours of Tuesday asking “what are you doing tomorrow?”

“I was expecting just Kriss and an acoustic guitar,” said Darren.

“But the whole band turned up at around noon on Tuesday, including the support act!

“Kriss is a lovely man. I can’t imagine any other band doing this.”

After the show, The Thyme Machine stopped for a cup of tea. Then they got back in the van to continue their UK tour with gigs in Leeds, London and Bristol.