| October
13th 2008 |
I
really must write more often here - it is a BLOG after
all!
We
have entered our "new season" starting with
a public gig at Ryan's Bar in Stoke Newington in September.
Over
the summer, I updated our PA equipment which was frankly
just too bulky AND heavy! We now have
a new Behringer SL2442FX-PRO mixer, a new KAM 2000Watt
power amp, a Behringer ULTRAGRAPH PRO FBQ3102 31 band
Graphic Equaliser for 'out front' and a Behringer ULTRAGRAPH
PRO FBQ1502 15 band Graphic Equaliser for the monitor
systems, plus a 30m multicore. Amp and EQs are
permanently housed in a new rack case. I am now
putting my guitar and keyboard straight into the PA
system via DI boxes and using my old Peavey Bandit65
for a monitor. We had our First
Time Out with the new equipment at a private
party last weekend and it went VERY WELL INDEED in terms
of our on-stage sound - for the first time we could
ALL hear EVERYTHING! I look forward to things
getting even better as we get to know the new set-up.
Our next public gig is at Ryan's again and they
have their own PA (very odd set-up), so we won't be
using ours, then we're at the Royal Sovereign who apparently
now have a PA system - have to check that out.. |
| June
17th 2008 |
The
band has been really busy with gigs these last few weeks,
and last Saturday we played at a party for the Re-Launch
of The Royal Sovereign pub. It was a STONKING
NIGHT and everybody had a fantastic
time. The management loved us (having previously
merely known us) and wants us to play there again. Kofi
was playing drums in place of Kevin who had a prior engagement
& KOFI WAS BRILLIANT!
Thanx Kofi.
We had all decided that we would leave the Carpenters
Arms for more desperate times as it's a Friday gig, not
exactly on our doorstep, nor indeed on the doorstep of
most of our following, and find a more suitable residency
- well I think we may have found it! We just have
to sort it out with Simon at The Royal Sovereign.
The Royal Sovereign is also right on my doorstep - closest
pub to me in fact, very close for most of the band and
close to most of our fans as well, so this all looks excellent.
I suspect we shall also be looking for other venues
to play regularly as well.
Now we have a fundraiser this coming weekend and then
some private gigs to see us into "Summer Recess".
|
| March
27th 2008 |
We
now have a new gig which we shall be playing regularly,
though not every month. It is the CARPENTERS
ARMS, 135 Cambridge Heath
Road, London E1 5RN
and they have their band night on FRIDAYS,
so we'll be there for the first time on
FRIDAY APRIL 25th, starting around 9:30pm and finishing
around midnight.
The reason we won't be doing the CARPENTERS every month,
though we have been invited to do so, is that it's always
a Friday and us folks with jobs find it hard to do Friday
night gigs, preferring Saturdays. So, there you go...
We are also planning a party
in the summer - sometime in July.
We'll be 18 yrs old on June 6th, so this
is our COMING OF AGE PARTY!
Will let you know when exactly asap. |
| February
5th 2008 |
Hey,
I was checking this out yesterday & I haven't written
for ages AGAIN! Sorry...
Since Christmas, we haven't done a lot in terms of gigs
at all, but are working at it. We are trying out
a NEW MANAGER, well our first
manager really, and she is hopefully going to bring us
lots of work. She should also be looking for a
NEW RESIDENCY for us, as the Z Bar is no longer
happening for us. As yet, no definite dates, but
we are hoping to have some kind of public gig set up for
March 8th. For the
time being the manager remains incognito.
I have also been updating the site for better Search Engine
Optimisation, and this should mean that we get more bookings
via the web. |
| May
23rd 2007 |
The
gig for 23rd June at the
Z Bar has been changed to June
30th. We will possibly have another gig
at the Z Bar in July (yet to be finalised) before our
'summer recess'. Meanwhile we have a few private
gigs to be getting along with. |
| April
27th 2007 |
Two
more dates now booked at the Z Bar. We nearly stopped
playing there 'coz of the SMELL! However, after
promising to do something about it, they did and things
are much improved now. They also promised to stock
some English beer, which they also did (just John Smiths
unfortunately!) and perhaps we can move them onto a decent
draught beer soon. The new dates are May 19th and
June 23rd.
The Crooked Billet has expressed an interest in hiring
us again, but they haven't got sufficient license as yet.
Apparently they're working on it. |
| January
30th 2007 |
We've
finally stopped being skin-flints & invested in
paid hosting of our site! This will mean that
we can now put up some sample music files and, in time,
sell tracks on-line. Lots more to come... |
| January
25th 2007 |
Many
apologies for the fact that our last scheduled gig at
The Z Bar was cancelled at the last minute due to a double
booking - the other one was a wedding party that had been
booked some months before, so they took precedent. However,
some of our number did an impromtu unplugged session in
the upstairs bar - allowed by the man as it was their
mistake - to keep anyone who turned up to see us happy.
We have confirmed new dates at the Z Bar up to April,
so check out GIGS PAGE. The
Z Bar now has a Web
Site - links here
and on Gigs page. |
| January
10th 2007 |
We
swing into the New Year without looking back and have
a gig at the "Z BAR" Saturday
20th January. Doors open 8:30pm, we play
from about 9:30pm, there's a bar of course and we finish
around midnight. The Z BAR is at 58 Stoke Newington
High Street, N16. |
| December
13th 2006 |
Thought
I'd better write something else before the end of the
year! We've had a good last part of the year playing mostly
private gigs. Our last gig was a very strange party in
which hardly any of the guests were interested in us at
all, bar one or two who left early (couldn't abide the
others?!) We had Derek Gale standing in on drums as Kevin
had a previous family committment. Derek played with us
for a while some years ago and aquitted himself most excellently
on this occasion as always - he is ROCK SOLID.
Nothing else to do for the rest of the year 'cept PARTY!
We wish all our fans and friends a
RAUCOUS CHRISTMAS and a FANTASTIC
NEW YEAR. |
| September
15th 2006 |
This
year has obviously been a bit limp on the gigs front,
due largely to me buying a boat - sorry (boat's great
though). However, we hopefully now have a NEW
RESIDENCY at last in
The Z BAR, where we played
once before during the summer - hot or wot. We start
Saturday October 7th and are charging a measly £3
entry. I say "hopefully" above coz you
never know what's going to happen! Some unlikely
venues have lasted for years in the past, this one is
not in the least "unlikely", but you just can't
assume anything. Fingers crossed all will be fine! |
| June
23rd 2006 |
Many
apologies for not writing here for so long. Also
for the fact that we
haven't played in public since March. This
is largely (though not completely) my fault, as I've had
other committments. However, we have now
arranged a gig at the "Z Bar", 58 Stoke Newington
High Street for next Saturday July 1st. We
shall be playing from about 9pm and will finish around
midnight. |
| November
21st 2005 |
Well,
a bit of an upset over the weekend! Late on friday
afternoon, I learned that all gigs were cancelled at
The Crooked Billet, due apparently to a new area manager
stopping all music.
As there were lots of people planning to
come, I wasn't going to take this lying down,
just roll over and accept that we had no gig that weekend,
but it was obvious that we couldn't play the "Billet",
so I set about trying to get a new venue for the following
day.
With the
help of friends and contacts (power to Vince) I finally
managed to secure (at 1am Saturday) a new venue at The
Cricketers pub just off Stoke Newington Common.
It is a
very small pub for London, and the landlord was still
iffy about us playing, as he thought we might bring
a rough-house crowd from the Billet.
However,
at the end of the night he was very happy and wants
us to play there permanently! We will work something
out for a few gigs there in the new year before we find
somewhere bigger. John, the landlord, did say
something about expanding the pub, but that would take
time whilst no gigs would be possible.
Anyway,
for the time being we will not be playing as planned
on December 10th, but have a new residency sorted out
for the new year.
|
| September
8th 2005 |
Into
our new season with the gig at Springfield Park last Saturday.
"Best
Band" we were told - of course, but there wasn't
much competition! We're
raring to go with our residency at The Crooked Billet
in Upper Clapton Road E5, starting next Saturday 17th
Sept. It's
been good to have a short break, but I've missed it. |
| July
13th 2005 |
We
played the Crooked Billet again last Saturday July 9th
and it went extremely well with loads of people there.
It will now (at last) become our new residency.
We
will be booking the Third Saturday in every month starting
in September - that would be Sept. 17th, but this is
NOT YET CONFIRMED - please wait for confirmation before
putting into your diary.
Also,
we are due to play for the Springlfield Park Centenary
Festival which will probably be on Saturday September
3rd, but may be Sunday 4th - will let all know asap.
This
is a do with a number of bands playing through the afternoon
into the evening and should be a cracking day!
For
now we take our customary "Summer Recess"
and wish you all the best and don't do anything we wouldn't
enjoy.
|
| June
3rd 2005 |
We
will have limited edition copies of our new CD available
at the Red Rose Club gig tomorrow, price TBA on the night!
They are "limited edition"
because we don't have the proper sized boxes yet, so they
have no back cover. |
| May
24th 2005 |
I've
not been updating this page lately, so here's a new entry.
Next gig Saturday June 4th at The Red Rose Club,
129 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 - just west of Finsbury
Park Station. Doors open 8pm, entry is £4
before 9:30pm and £5 after 9:30pm, so get there
in good time. There is a late bar, so we'll probably
be playing until midnight-ish or beyond. It's a
great venue, so try and make it.
Hopefully we'll have our new CD ready very soon, there
has been a delay in printing the covers. As you
probably know, The Lion in Stokey lost its music license,
so we're now hoping to play regularly at The Crooked Billet,
Upper Clapton Road, London E5. We played there on
May 14th and it went very well, especially as there's
a Spanish clientèle who are local regulars.
|
| March
4th 2005 |
New
idea, we now have a Message Board
which I have just set up. It's hosted (as our site now
is) in the USA and you have to put up with ads - still
it works and looks good. Will look better in time
as I customise it more. CLICK
HERE to go to it, or use the button still marked
"Chat Room" at this time on the homepage main
menu. |
| February
4th 2005 |
We
have a new regular "residency" at The Lion
pub in Stoke Newington Church Street N16. First
date is scheduled for Saturday April 16th - I will get
back with times as soon as I can. Look
at our Gigs page for other dates
booked. |
|
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