Shortly after the 1992 Convention, while lying in bed, Davy received a telephone call from Stephanie Freeman, asking if he would be interested in organising and co-ordinating the security at the next Transylvania Convention in London. Slightly stunned, but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he jumped at the chance. It was only after he set the telephone down again did the enormity of what he had agreed to start to set in! What if it went wrong? It’d be his fault! Eeekkk! There was only one way to ensure the success of such a venture and that was to ensure you were surrounded from the outset by tried, trusted and reliable people..... "Lip Service"! (And it must be said "Dr Scott’s Extra Forks", Glasgow, "Franks Angels", Edinburgh. There also emerged a small but dedicated group of English fans without whom it couldn’t have been done either..... thanks!)
How much persuading do you think it takes to convince Rocky fans to attend an International Convention, at which the likes of Richard O’Brien, Pat Quinn, Sal Piro and cast members from various stage productions....... not a lot! Finances permitting of course.
In the end the group was represented by Davy, Barbara, Roisin, Iain and Davy S.
As time went on and ‘Transylvania ‘94 - The Second Coming’ approached it was suggested that other UK RHPS performance groups might want to perform a Pre-Show at the Convention instead of just "Charming Underclothes", London.
Lip Service immediately seized the chance and began to ‘construct’ a Pre-Show which would be fun, catchy, memorable and more importantly ....... in your face!
October 1994 arrived. Davy and Barbara travelled to London a few days before the rest to help set up the Convention, Roisin, Davy S and Iain arrived over the day before.
Ill omens hovered around. Roisin was not at all well travelling over on the plane and had to lie down for most of the day. David Freeman had dropped a staging block on his foot the night before and had broken bones in his foot, Stephanie Freeman was seriously unwell as the Convention opened.
As Stewards throughout the day Lip Service, escorted the VIP guests and ‘guarded’ doorways, least fans might find their way to that ultimate prize ..... the Green Room. It was a chance for the Belfast fans to again meet, albeit briefly, as she was performing that night on stage with the 21st Anniversary Tour, Miss Patricia Quinn, Belfast’s own daughter of Rocky Horror. One of the more pleasant duties of the day, fell to Barbara and Roisin, guarding Richard O’Brien during an autograph session. Hearts stopped on a few occasions when during Richard and Pat’s separate interview sessions, it appeared that fan’s may make a move on the stage area, but strategically posted members of Lip Service, and Franks Angels had the matter well in hand.
During the Convention, Davy S had found one of the Glasgow fans willing to have a few drinks! Numerous pints of Guinness later, Davy O was starting to get worried that Davy S would not be well enough to perform the pre-show .......... all was ruined!! The well rehearsed Pre-Show would be a disaster. Roisin and Barbara came to the rescue and with the promise to take him away and rehearse ...... just to make sure everything was OK. A short time later they returned to say he was perfect. Davy was still not convinced, but time was not on their side, and there was no contingency plan.
Lip Service took their places at the side of the performance area ..... it was a similar routine to all those pre-shows performed in Belfast before ......... except this one had only been rehearsed in Barbara and Davy’s living room and never in front of 600 fans from around the world!
The ‘Addams Family’ intro. started ........ Lip Service gradually moved to the front of the audience. ‘Sew on a Sequin’ started, Roisin as the lead, singing with the rest of the group holding up ‘gold’ words in sequence, would the fans listen to the words .... would they get the joke ...... YES! So far so good. Now the main number ........ the cords of the original "Shoop Shoop" rang out. Davy threw off the cape, to reveal a pink Tony Head costume ...... and tarted it up with the audience to the main vocals. Barbara provided the main backing vocals, while Davy, Iain and Roisin provided the remaining backing vocals. Everyone back into a line for ‘The Shadows’ ........ then off to the ‘Addams Family’. The audience went wild, well to the five of us it definitely seemed to be VERY well received ........ Belfast had made a lasting impression and all our timings were perfect!
What a way to end the day.
