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The MP3 playing is Looking
Out For Number One by Millsyeck Frock Calendar
Think-Tech The Biker Guide Updated 3rd February 2012 Rock of the North Supports
A Few Gigs Cancelled Tonight One or two gigs are off tonight (Saturday) around the area due to the bad weather. If you're travelling, ring the venue beforehand to save yourself a journey because you never know. Sonnet Kick Off New band Sonnet put all those rehearsals to good use when they play a full gig at The Golden Lion in Pudsey on Saturday the 4th February. Check 'em out if you like 1990's style music such as Seahorses, Oasis, and many others from the era. A change does you good, so get along to see 'em. Looking Forward To Summer Blues Solid Entertainments have informed us of another blues weekend in two different towns. The first gig is on the 23rd June at Durham University. Robin Trower, Del Bromham, Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash, Connie Lush and Blues Shouter, Oli Brown, Henrik Frieschlader and our North Eastern young friend Mitch Laddie will open proceedings...and blow you away with some incredible guitar work. The same gig will be held on the Sunday at Cleethorpes Pleasure Island. I went last year and it was excellent. Tickets are £25, quite a bargain really and available from www.solidentertainments.com Good Month For Yardbirds One of the best rock clubs in the North is tucked away near the harbour at Grimsby. It's Yardbirds and they bring some of the best acts going to the east coast. This month sees Gilby Clarke, the ex Guns and Roses player is there with his band and X-UFO are also at the venue this month. This band comprises of past members of UFO and Michael Schenker band. They play all the classic UFO stuff and it can only be good. Brother of Pete Townshend, Simon also plays at Yardbirds this month. It's a top club, very popular, and we always list all their gigs on our guide. Get over there some time, it's a good night out. Another Great Weekend Looming The first weekend in February sees some good shows on the local stages. The Lion in Castleford has a brilliant three night weekend of music and all of a different genre each night. Fun and laughter from The Interiorz with Brian Spencer dishing out the humour starts the weekend off, the Saturday has 60's specialists Flashback playing for a special lady's birthday. Sunday has the fabulous Chicago Joe, and this is a great band , a really big band with brass and divas. Highly recommended. On Sunday at the other side of Pontefract, the new Top Gun do their first pub gig of the year at The Boot and Shoe at Ackworth. This is a short notice job at the pub so not many will know about it. Look at the gig guide and you'll see a boat load of top bands performing through the weekend, Jagged Edge, The Carnival, Mahogany Newt, Rory Holl and the Men, Phoenix Rising, Gavin Coulson Group, Empress...the list goes on! What a weekend, you're spoilt for choice! Top Gun Back And Locked On The sights are locked on to hit the rock scene for six in February as Yorkshire favourites Top Gun are refreshed and with new members after their January break. Ace guitar player Jack Rowe joins to give a youthful boost on the six string and keyboard maestro Lee Varley rejoins the band after a spell with Arena. Jack has been mostly just below the radar but was always a tip for the top. Jack played in his first band from the Rotherham area, Meltdown, before the super-trouper Steve Johnson, (Guns and Oatcakes) recognised Jack's huge talent and he promptly recruited him for the two man Leftfield project. Jack also had a spell with Warrior and a girl/boy duo. Now we are very pleased to see Jack as part of Top Gun. Jack's in the Shane Haigh/Jonny Crossland/John Hardman league of guitar players and I think he brings a great quality to an already superb band on the Yorkshire rock covers scene. The band have wished past members Marl Birdsall and Fez Ferry all the best in the future. Classic Rock Magazine I read a good article about Joe Bonamassa in Classic Rock Magazine last week. I like Joe's music very much, it suits my taste. The meaty interview was interesting and gave an insight to Joe's psyque regarding the music business. I liked one part where Joe cites Free as being where he wanted to be after hearing "I'm a Mover" I think it was! Free are my all time favourite band so I naturally thought well of that. Joe loved Paul Kossoff as I did but Joe doesn't play like him obviously. A bonus with the magazine is a compilation CD of Joe's music and it's really good. Magazines are expensive but the CD makes up for the cost and is well worth it. Empress Auditions I'm pleased to report that Empress have been approached by bass players to replace founder member Tony Keogh. We believe Tony's life has become complicated due to a number of influences beyond the band and he needs to retire from playing for the moment. It happens! We at RotN like Tony very much and he's been a great supporter of the live music scene. It's a shame to lose him. Meanwhile Empress need to consolidate their phenomenal reputation and auditions will be held for a bass player. Empress have been one of those success stories in the style of The Rakkiteers for instance. Sometimes a band is just right and both The Rakks and latterly Empress have been right in the groove from the start. Broken Angel were another band like that but that finished. From the ashes, Midas have arisen and no doubt will enjoy legendary status within months. Ainsley Stones Combo Just before my little sojourn to Hotel Pinderfields, Ainsley Stones sent me his CD "About Time" to listen to. I've just got around to listening to it and I am impressed. He said it was eclectic and it certainly is with many different styles of song. Most impressive though is the musicianship. There's some excellent guitar playing on this CD. Some of the songs feel familiar but they're all original except for a cracking version of Baker Street. Ainsley is a guitar tutor in the Chesterfield/Sheffield area and you can tell there is a degree of excellence about him. Ainsley also gigs around the Sheffield area quite regularly. Keep an eye out for Ainsley. Look on www.facebook.com/ainsleystonescombo Great Saturday Night The social networking sites were buzzing this morning after what seems like a great Saturday night. From Doncaster Dome where our cuteypie guitar hero Chantel McGregor rocked the place to it's foundations, to great pub gigs by 80's rock specialists Rockweiler at The Cross Keys and soon to disband The Flatliners, who played at Wakefield's The Hop. I learned of a good gig by Infinity the well loved club band from the North East, playing in Doncaster. We've since learned that Midas did a great job at The Lion in Castleford where the pub was packed! Live music is here to stay and long may that be! Good Rocking This Weekend The month has gone quickly but I suppose it will have done for me laid in hospital! However the pubs have some great bands on offer like Rockweiler tonight at The Cross Keys and Miss Chief at The Lion Castleford tomorrow night! We hear The Blades had a good time last night too and all the best to them for entertaining the brave punters who went out on a horrible winter night! Keeping Competition Open We're keeping the Frock calendar competition open for a couple of weeks longer, say until the middle of February to make sure the recent buyers have a chance to return their entries. There are a few correct entries and we will have to draw a winner from a hat. A Vintage V6 guitar is the prize.
Bass
Player and Drummer Needed
We
know of two bands who need replacements in the
rhythm sections. I’ll be uploading the classifieds soon. Down
But Still Not Out Well it’s over two
weeks since I updated this page and it does seem like the gods are against us at the moment! Top and bottom of it is the emergency
operation I found myself having in “Hotel Pinderfields”...you can check in
any time you like ...but you can never leave! Anyway I managed to escape for
a while. It seems during my stay that you’ve been having a good time as
always so good luck to you all with that.
Fundraising Been The Best Ever Due to the phenomenal success of the calendar which is still selling,
plus the generosity of many in the bike and music world, 2011 has actually
worked out as being a great year for us. I expected it to be disastrous but
it’s been massively uplifting from my point of view so thank you for that.
Back Street Heroes Magazine gave us some unexpected publicity in their
February 2012 edition, which also features the 2011 Yorkshire Rock and Bike
Show from August. A small feature on the Frock calendar shows “Miss January”
aka Top Gun’s Angie Dodds wearing little else than a smile and a Vintage
guitar! Music and biking have always been close bedfellows and long may that
reign. Before Christmas I did a rough calculation and since starting charity
fundraising about 5 years ago, we have been party to raising approximately
£63,000 for numerous charities including Marie Curie Hospice, Barnsley Hospice,
Prince of Wales Hospice, Wakefield Hospice, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Everyman
Cancer, Cancer Research UK and we also support
Ben Manning Foundation when
possible, especially with logistics and this support has been reciprocal.
Remember it’s not me, or my son Joe who raised this money, it’s the bands and
punters who are the heroes of the piece so take a well earned bow everyone. Miss
Chief Wow Ward Green An unplanned visit to Ward Green Club in
Worsborough was well rewarded by two great sets by Miss Chief. I’ve always
liked Mr Chief as they always were a
quality outfit in every way, musicianship, sound and quality gear was always
a hallmark of the band. To do a potted history, they were a spin off from the
original Miss Chief who were a successful club band. Lisa Bentley then joined the
Mr Chief band under the old Miss Chief name. What a success this has been as
they are a band who please virtually everyone. The
first set was a mixture of rockers, classic blues, and classic chick rock.
From Janis Joplin to Kim Wilde and from Rock and Roll to In The Still of the
Night, Lisa and the band nailed every one. In the second set I was astounded
by Jonny Crossland’s solo on Beat It....it was phenomenal and every bit as
good as the recording. It was a fabulous repertoire with Prince’s Purple
Rain, James Brown’s It’s A Man’s World, Etta James’
I Just Wanna Make Love To You, and so many more played to such a high
standard and with a well balanced sound. Lisa has a really versatile voice
and she never struggles with pitch or phrasing. The new Miss Chief are fairly new to the scene in this format of Lisa
Bentley, Marcus Ward, Jonny Crossland, Daz Maynard and Paul Mackey, and it’s
a great line up. Our recommendation is to see this band ,
or book them if you’re a promoter/landlord/agent. I feel sure the band met
the approval of two musicians who are highly rated on the local scene, as
they were sat with us enjoying the set, just as we are supposed to do. It was
a very good evening! Go
Kommando Mission Accomplished Nice
to receive a very favourable review of Go Kommando's gig at The Cross Keys
from the 7th January. As expected the band rocked the place like they always
do! This is why they are popular at all the top venues in the North. From
Acklam Steelies to Rotherham's SNAFU, they are a much loved band. Looking at
the Cross Keys website's photos, it shows a healthy crowd enjoying themselves
during GoKo's performance. This is just what the clientele want, good music
played well by a friendly band. Excellent! Nice
Start To The First Weekend Nice
to see the first Friday of the first weekend of the new year has been a good
one. I've been picking up vibes from around the district and Phoenix
Rising were complimented for a good gig at
The New Roscoe in Leeds last night! Not unexpected at all. Down in Sheffield
the brilliant Piston Broke kicked off the Bar Abbey year in style
even though RotN favourite fellow Tony Parkin was battling a cold. Well done
Tony, you're a star! At The Cross Keys The Sinners
gave a impressive and eclectic couple of sets and
you can read about them on the comments page courtesy of Mav! Tonight the 7th
has great entertainment all over from Middlesborough to Rotherham. Check out
the gig guide but if I was omnipresent, I'd be at The Cross Keys for Go
Kommando, Snafu for Miss Chief,
and The Yorkshire Vic for Empress! Gig
Going and Band Needed On
Friday there was a vacancy in Dewsbury but it's been filled so thanks to
those who responded. Quiet
January January
is traditionally quiet on the live music scene every year but if you look at
the gig guide there are quite a few good gigs to see. Friday sees Phoenix
Rising play another colourful gig at the New Roscoe on Friday
and I was very impressed with The Cross Key's list, and one of our
favourite bands Go Kommando are there on Saturday. The
Blueflies play The Duck and Drake in Leeds on Sunday whilst Scooby
rock The Lion in Castleford the same evening. I'll remind you again to send
me your gigs for inclusion on the guide. Best
Wishes For 2012 I'd
just like to wish all you bands and fans out there a Happy New Year. Here's
hoping the local music scene can sustain it's
position in the entertainment industry during precarious times for the
economy. Considering the past few years of recession, I think the local scene
has done well as there is still plenty of enthusiasm for live music. This
past year has been good with some new bands on the scene, both cover bands
and original bands. The scene keeps refreshing and that can only be good for
it. So may 2012 continue in the same way. Keep on
supporting the pubs who put on music, support the
various charities through music, and have a great time whilst you're doing
it! Happy New Year. Suggestion
Appreciated It
was nice to hear Jon Rhodes of Delirium
ventured with his lovely missus to The Early Bath in Castleford on Thursday
night to see Scooby at our suggestion on this page. He wasn't disappointed, as I
knew he wouldn't be. Jon's band is highly rated and he will appreciate a good
band when he sees one. His comment shows that he did! Here's another
suggestion for you, also in Castleford. This is at Aire Street's legendary
pub The Lion, and the highly recommended band is none other than Angabart!
With man and wife team Ian and Pauline Miles, and with Castleford mega-legend
Tony Marchant on bass and Steve Todd on drums, this band will entertain you
on a grand level. Think
Electro Stock Frock Leeds
PA and lighting store Think Electro
are stocking the Frock of the North Calendar amongst their fantastic stock in
their new premises just off the M621 in Leeds. We visited the store and it
has some fantastic lighting effects, and is an agent for Yamaha and HK PA. So
if you need a line array or a digital desk, or the latest in lighting and lasers,
get yourselves to Think Electro. Buy a calendar to add to the £15,000 of fund
raising Frock of the North has raised so far! The
Blueflies Keep On York's
fabulous funky fellows The Blueflies
are back in their hometown on Monday the 2nd, when they play The Victoria
Vaults at 4pm. With Gibson hall of fame guitarist Miles Gilderdale giving it
large, it's gonna be another enjoyable afternoon. Limehouse
Lizzy Rocked The
top Lizzy tribute band Limehouse
Lizzy were in the area this week when they rocked Birdwell
Venue. I've seen numerous Facebook comments about the performance and they
never seem to disappoint. Millsyeck I
was well impressed with this Scottish band and so we've uploaded the MP3 to
the site. Formed in 2009, Alex Mills , Franko Dee,
Steve 'Caveman' Alexander and Chris Melvin have set the pace with their
storming live shows full of uplifting vocals and addictive guitar riffs. A
founding member of The Scottish Rock Collective, Millsyeck
have supported artist such as Logan at Fat Sams Live, Dundee and LaFaro at
Stereo, Glasgow. Recent successes include making the finals of Kerrang,Tay Fm and Hard Rock Calling Battle of The Bands, and
played Tattoo Jam, The UK's Biggest Tattoo Convention for the 2nd year in a
row. The band's success continues to grow through their hard working ethic,
love of music and their energetic live performances. Having been been
nominated for Best Rock Recording 2011 for Looking Out For Number One at The
Scottish New Music Awards, the band are pro-actively working to cement their
place in the future of rock music. Me
and Phil Prince
Phillip and myself have been having stents fitted
over the past week so I feel in good company! The joys of getting older eh?We had 'em fitted in different places but I wouldn't swap
him. Worst bit of being in hospital for me is the boredom. I took my mp3
player, nothing fancy, with me and it had a good range of rock and blues
songs to listen to....which would have been OK if the battery hadn't have
leaked and ruined it! The only thing I heard over the three days was four
blokes farting in turn around the ward, and the occasional sounds of throwing
up...never mind! At least there was a minimum of Christmas songs to endure,
and some humorous nurses to keep us all in order! Diabolical
Outage Well
we're back after the longest outage of our history! Our host server had three
huge catastrophic problems over Christmas and this kept us and many more
sites offline for a very long time. So what's been happening? Well Christmas
has been and gone but all the usual suspects have been entertaining in the
pubs and apparently doing a great job of it. So well done to them. There are
plenty of gigs to see this week and New Years Eve will see some top flight
bands bring in the New Year. Leeds will see another legendary Styckleback
performance at The New Roscoe so go early to get a prime spot! The band have
stabilised as far as personnel are concerned and will be firing on all
cylinders. To repeat a bit of news from a lower paragraph, don't forget Scooby
are playing at The Early Bath in Castleford on Thursday the 29th. Out
Of It Again I
must apologise but I'm out of action again from the 22nd December till
Christmas Eve as I've been called into hospital at short notice for an urgent
operation. Joe will sort it while I'm away. If I don't get back before
Christmas, hope you all have a good 'un. Thanks for the support again this
year. I'll try harder next year! Blues
Donate Generously I've
had word that the Leeds Chapter of Blue Angels MC
are to donate £500 to Cancer Research UK
via our RotN to the Core campaign. Over the past year the club have donated
£1000 to the charity and we gratefully accept their generous donation. Many
thanks to the bands who played at the Leeds Custom and Classic Weekend at
Tong in September and to Dave Taylor for his hard work and considerable sound
engineering skills during that weekend. Lisa
and Razorbach Record
Miss
Chief's Lisa Bentley and Rog of
Razorbach have a
bit of side project going on at the minute . First single is now available on
iTunes called "What Tomorrow Brings" search rcproject
or Lisa Bentley. An album is planned for early 2012. Both Miss
Chief and Razorbach are massive favourites of The Polish Club, Barnsley, and it's patrons. I've not heard the music yet as I'm an old
technophobe without an i-wotsit of any kind, but for
79p I should be able to put it on the pc maybe! Remember Lisa and Miss Chief
play at The Polish Club on Boxing Day. Black
Sheep Roving Betty
Boob has let us know that new highly rated band Black
Sheep (four fifths of Midas) will do two sets at Featherstone
Rovers for their New Years Eve party, and the contact for tickets is this
number 01977 702386. Scooby
To Play Over Christmas Just
a bit of advance notice that local superstars Scooby
are to play at The Early Bath, Castleford, between Christmas and the New
Year. The date is Thursday the 29th December. Big favourites in Castleford, Bradford,
Leeds and everywhere in the North basically, the band are another of those
who can nail anything from Iron Maiden to The Police, and I mean nail, cos
there's very few vocalists who have the versatility of Matt Duggan! Should be
a top gig over the Christmas period and with good cheap beer, it will be a
treat. Impressed
with Black Flag Warehouse I've
just delivered to Black Flag Warehouse in Wakefield this evening before a
club night there. Although I am a bit biased cos our Joe works there, I couldn't
fail to be impressed with improvements to the venue. I did a bit of
decorating in the dressing rooms area in the summer but having seen it as the
V.I.P. suite, it blew me away! It had a huge PA system and state of the art
lights! In the main venue alterations such as a raised viewing area have
transformed the room. The raised area doubles as a smaller stage where
smaller gigs are held. Even the entrance foyer is a chill out area now with
mood lighting. Superb. All I'd like to see is some bands I like at the venue!
Almost 800 people watched Sunshine Underground on Saturday but us old farts
would love to see such as Walter Trout, Robin Trower and the like, or maybe
Rival Sons and The Answer. How about it Terry???? Don't
Forget Your Gigs Don't
forget to send in your January gigs for the gig guide! Don't think Facebook
invites are enough as I just regard that as spam and ignore it. Pubs
Enjoying The Season It's good to read that Empress
and The Rakkiteers had excellent and
enjoyable gigs in two famous rock pubs last night the 17th December. These
bands have been instant successes from their birth, and they continue to do
the business. The Rakkiteers have their original line up some 4 years after
they started, which is a measure of their success, and Empress have had a
couple of changes to strengthen the line up, so becoming a top band in 2011.
You can see Empress at The Lion, Castleford, tonight
and if I'm not mistaken, The Rakks are playing at Barnsley's premier venue,
The Polish Club this afternoon. Good
News For A Change I
received a heart warming call from Aarren Mowle, the guitarist with Angel
of Sin/Splash Alley/Break Out yesterday. It was the very
welcome news about his niece Stacey who 18 months ago was diagnosed
with a rare form of child’s cancer called Neuroblastoma. This
condition is the most common type of embryonal tumour. It is a cancer of
specialised nerve cells, called neural crest cells. These cells are involved
in the development of the nervous system and other tissues. Neuroblastoma can
occur anywhere in the body, but it most often occurs in one of the adrenal
glands, in the abdomen. In some children, the Neuroblastoma occurs in nerve
tissue alongside the spinal cord in the neck, chest, abdomen or pelvis.
Children with this type of cancer only have a 30% chance of survival due to
how aggressive it is. What is so very pleasing is that on Monday 12th
December Stacey, after months of treatment involving chemotherapy,
radiotherapy and some further treatment such as immunotherapy she has finally
been given the news everyone was waiting for… She has finally been declared
as in remission. This is double good news for Aarren as his mother has also
successfully battled against cancer of the womb. Maybe this is some kind of
payback for Aarren because he was one of the leaders of the Frontier Rocks
festival in 2010 which was that years biggest single
fund raising gig for our RotN to the Core campaign in aid of Cancer Research UK.
Our campaign, which is linked to the recent ongoing Frock of the North
calendar fund raiser, is approaching the £40,000 mark when all funds are
collected. Not bad going in just over two and a half years in a recession. It
proves that musicians and music fans are some of the most generous and
prolific fund raisers in the country. Summer
Blues Fests
I've
just been informed by Solid Entertainments that a repeat of the Durham and
Cleethorpes festivals will go ahead on the 23rd and 24th of June 2012 and the
headline act will be Robin Trower!
Oh yes! You can book online at www.solidentertainments.com and take a look at the
websites www.durhambluesfestival.co.uk
and www.cleethorpesbluesfestival.co.uk
. Wakefield
College Party Black
Flag Warehouse in Wakefield hosted an evening of Wakefield College bands on
Tuesday night. These were bands assembled by the college, and the event was a
Christmas party showcase. Our webmaster Joe was on the faders and he came home
full of praise for the bands. He said the last band on the big stage were a
covers band, which didn't appear to have an official name. He said they were
fantastic and the singer simply hit every note spot on. Good to see the
further education system is having a positive effect and well done to the
tutors at Wakefield College for nurturing the talent. Soul
Circus Single The
Leeds Indie band Soul Circus
have released a Christmas single and proceeds go to the homeless
shelter St Georges Crypt. The band have agreed to a
performance at The Cross Keys, Morley on Christmas Eve, and it's an early
start. The video of the single is available at this link. Chantel
To Headline Festival Nice
to see Chantel's announcement that she has been asked to headline the main
stage of the Skegness Rock and Blues festival in January. This is one of the
most prestigious festivals on the British blues calendar. Anyone, like myself, who have experienced the festival will tell you
what a brilliant weekend this is at Butlins holiday camp. It's probably one
of the biggest bargains too! So good luck to Chantel, it's another good one
for her CV, and you watch the 2000 people in the theatre react to her
playing! Supermodels
and Superbands Super
York band The Supermodels play a Christmas gig at the Ainsty on Boroughbridge
Road, York on the 23rd December. I've just rang the pub for confirmation of
the date and it brought some happy memories flooding back! York has a great
tradition of pop and rock bands, and I'll be honest, I've never seen a bad
band from York. From the sixties with Tony Adams and the Viceroys through the
present day with bands like Aynt Skynyrd, The Blueflies, Aldo's Heroes,
Flashback and the fabulous Supermodels, York's bands have a reputation second
to none. Calendar
Competition If
you've bought a Frock calendar, don't forget to send in your competition
entries in to win Vintage guitar. Entries close on February 1st and we will
contact the winner soon after. The calendars continue to sell and the
fund-raising has been huge. The ladies will be presenting Cancer Research UK
with a pretty big cheque in January, and when I say say pretty big, I mean
huge! Every penny raised goes to the charity. There's no overheads, costs etc
to come out of it, so whatever you give goes directly to the charity. Sunshine
Underground And The Cribs Massive
Leeds band Sunshine
Underground are set to return to Black Flag Warehouse,
Wakefield this week, the 17th December. Last year, a few days before
Christmas they packed the place. Tickets are available at the usual outlets.
Support is by New Vinyl and Dirty Twister. Wakefield favourites The
Cribs are doing a DJ set too and this will be at the end of the
night and into the morning. Hubert
Sumlin R.I.P. I'm
saddened to report the death of Hubert Sumlin,
one of this life's true gentlemen and a legendary guitarist. Hubert was the
lead guitarist for Howling Wolf and later for Muddy Waters. The world of rock
and blues held Hubert in the highest esteem. From Keith Richards and the
Stones to Stevie Ray Vaughan, they all loved him both as a guitarist and a
true human being. I had the very great honour of interviewing Hubert in Leeds
and I walked away from the interview knowing I'd met the nicest human being
in the world. I could write a book on what Hubert told me, he was a man with
the most interesting life. Shortly after meeting Hubert, I'd heard he'd had a
lung removed, which was true, but my hopes were resurrected when I heard that
he'd recovered and gone on to jam with The Rolling Stones at Madison Square
Garden in New York. After that Hubert kept busy for just about 10 years on
the concert scene, jamming with everyone imaginable, Eric Clapton, BB King,
Johnny Winter et al, but his compromised respiratory system made him poorly
in his latter years. Rest In Peace Hubert. Midas
Successful Debut Nice
to hear of the successful debut of Midas at
the Railway Hotel at Knottingley on Sunday the 4th December. Regular
contributor Tony of Cas commented very favourably on our comments page
regarding the gig. Further down this page you will find a short biog of the
band, and my opinion is the band will become firm favourites on the local
live music scene, and the working mens club scene too. Dylan's
New EP Dylan
Brierley has made a name for himself as the young lad who you see at
all the best local gigs, particularly in Morley, supporting all the bands
with his home brewed material. A sort of modern day twist of perhaps Billy
Bragg, and Bob Dylan, our young hero has found much favour. Dylan's new EP
has the title Come Back
to Me (this
Christmas Eve), a song dedicated to his late
uncle, and also has My
Hero and Morley
Song included. Dylan has also been invited to Bill Horncastle's
show on Vixen 101 FM on December 30th. Have a look at this website
for details. Nice
To See Success Over Adversity It's
been nice to receive the comment from regular contributor The Old Git Mav
today. It regards the comeback of Phoenix Rising at
The Cross Keys in Morley last night. The band had a couple of upheavals, such
as Steve Nunns retiring from the band, and Steve is a great guitarist so he
will have been quite a loss. No matter a worthy replacement has been found as
last night's performance showed. The band's bass player Stevie "Lil
Fingers" Horsfall had to have major surgery on his leg in the Autumn and
although he is still having some gip, the ever enthusiastic Stevie pulled the
low notes out of the bag last night and Phoenix Rising rose once more ! Good to hear. Castleford
Busy We
rarely hear from Castleford pubs these days but we know Powerage
made it's debut at The Lion on Saturday and good on
'em for that. AC/DC music always seems to fit well with The
Lion. Memorable performances from both the late lamented Riff
Raff and the power trio Optic Nerve
are burned into my brain for posterity, so I have a feeling Powerage will
have been well received at Aire Street's legendary pub. Down Wheldon Road Resurgence
played at The Early Bath on Saturday night. There's
quite a connection there too as Jimmy Duggan of Crimea Tavern fame is
organising the live music there, and has installed the old Crimea Tavern PA
in the concert room. As I look at the gig guide, I see the incredible Egypt are playing at The Early Bath soon. The Norfolk based
rock/blues band are a cut above the rest so don't miss 'em. Big
Up For John Hornby Skewes Just
a few words to thank JHS the Leeds based
musical instrument importers for their incredible support for the Frock
of the North Calendar endeavour. JHS gave first of all, a guitar to win in
the competition. They also had their own photographer Gary Barlow...no not
that Gary Barlow, to take all the shots and do the pre print Photoshop work
at no cost, and they used their warehousing to store the calendars after
printing. On top of that, they bought a massive quantity to send to their
dealers, so boosting the fund substantially. This means the girls will be
able to present Cancer Research UK with a really meaty cheque
in the New Year. JHS are the wholesalers for Fret
King, Vintage, and Encore
guitars, as well as other accessories. Although there are other sponsors, I
think thanks must also go to Auto Trader
who sponsored the raw materials for the calendar, and Briggs
Brothers who printed the calendar with no charge for their labour. Ashleigh
Signs did the design work. A great effort all round! This
is the latest press release: PRESS
RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION FRock Of The North nude calendar girls
raise more than £10,000 for Cancer Research UK – and there's more to come!
The FRock Of The North charity calendar is gaining pace, having now sold more
than 2000 copies and raised a massive £10,000 for a good cause. The calendar,
organised by a group of rock 'n' roll ladies form the north of England, and
supported by UK musical instrument distributor John Hornby Skewes & Co.
Ltd., is giving all the money it raises to Cancer Research UK. The girls
ambitiously made 6000 copies of the calendar, and now, after just a few
weeks, have already sold more than a third of them at gigs, online and at a
number of public appearances. The cause has also been supported by a number
of high profile celebrities. Stars from TV shows Hollyoaks and Coronation
Street have actively promoted the cause on Twitter, and Larry and Paul from
Radio Aire have also given it a mention. There is more to come, too. The
girls are selling copies of the calendar – priced at just £5 each – at the
Grassington Dickensian Christmas market this Saturday (December 3rd), and
there are more top celebrity appearances planned, detail of which can only be
revealed next week. Calendar girl and project organiser Rachel Claughton
said: “Everyone involved in the creation of the FRock of the North calendar
has been overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who has bought one so far.
Raising £10,000 for Cancer Research UK in the current economic climate is a
special achievement and testament to the hard work
the models, supporters and businesses who have donated their time and
resources. I can only say a huge and humble thank you.” The calendar is for
sale in Live Music venues and shops across South and West Yorkshire, and
copies have so far been sent as far afield as Australia, Italy, Lithuania and
the USA – as well as all over the UK. For more information, and to grab yourself a calendar, head over to the Frock Of The North's
official calendar page at: www.rockofthenorth.com/RotN%20Merch%20htm..htm
Soberfest
Success Sunday
the 27th November was a success by the accounts I've seen this Monday morning
on Facebook! Drunkenness and music resulted in a good time for all. I would
like to thank Team Sober, the bands, and Dave Taylor and his team for a great
day. I'm hoping a review might come in too. I feel sure Cancer Research UK
and Yorkshire Air Ambulance will be pleased with the fund raising. Here's
what Marilyn Smith thought to the day. Thanks M ;
Inform
Your Audience This
may seem like asking the obvious but when I post your gigs on the gig guide,
do your audiences know where to look at them? When you're up on stage TELL
THE AUDIENCE where to check out where you are performing next! The same with venues, put a poster up saying where your gigs can be
easily viewed from home....that's this website. WWW DOT ROCK OF THE NORTH
DOT COM !!!!
It's no advantage to me obviously, but it is to you, and that's why I go to
the trouble of running this website! For you lot! Keep up the interest in the
live music scene. Dont rely on Facebook posts, many consider the invites as
spam and ignore it. Anyone in the world can see this website if they want to,
so tell 'em about it.
Walter
Trout Is Back Walter
Trout samples the last of the summer wine when he and the infamous Popa
Chubby visit Holmfirth Picturedrome on Saturday. New York's Popa
Chubby and Los Angeles Walter Trout offer the best in rock blues and it will
be like Thunderdome in Holmfirth's unlikely super-venue with people hanging
off the walls to see these modern day blues legends. Highly recommended! Tony
Fitton Blues In The Night I've
been listening to the Phoenix FM programme Blues In The Night. This is
Calderdale's local station but it can also be streamed online. The music Tony
Fitton plays is superb, and he likes to feature local bands. Hooson
and Bonnie Mac Blues Band have been featured this
year and I really enjoy late Sunday nights with a DJ who knows his stuff and
has a great taste in music. Ben
Manning Foundation News A
few words from Lee Manning regarding the charity's next move forward: The
foundation is about to take ownership of its 1st space in Wakefield. We are
to open a charity shop, with an education hub and foundation office. It is in
the centre of Wakefield, on Northgate opposite the main the post office with
great access to all the city. This is a huge step
for the charity, and we hope that it becomes huge success in keeping us on
the charity ladder. A part of the build is to have an education hub on our
1st floor. This will be a space for kids to come and learn how to play
instruments. With group tuition available to those who cannot afford to join
the classes. Spaces will be limited, but we feel we should be able to give
kids the chance to learn with a professional tutor on a regular basis. Plus
it will host some of our partner schools for tuition too. So a great move for
us, and I hope the whole community will remain behind us in the effort to get
music in our ears and hearts of the kids. On another note, we are hosting on
the 10th December a 'Busk for Ben' we are hoping to host artists all around
the City of Wakefield for one day in the aid of collecting funds for the
charity. So I need some help. If any artist wishes to come along and do some
busking with us for the day then we would love to have you with us. It will
be followed by all the media, and will be a fantastic day for everyone. If
anyone can help then please get in touch 07708248770 I am available night and
day. Gavin
Coulson Group
We
had a comment and a private mail about the Gavin Coulson Group
gig at the Boot and Shoe, Ackworth on Friday night. I've seen the band so wasn't
surprised to receive a glowing report. I did receive this montage from last
night, a trio of superb images from Baz Ex Skella,
one of our regular correspondents. The pictures are brilliant and a testimony
to the very quickly gained photographic skills of Baz who only started
serious photography quite recently. It's not just the equipment,
it's the eye for a good shot. Full size they are stunningly good quality. Live
Wire Live
Wire played at Halifax Victoria Hall Friday the 18th November. Here's what Karon
Lewis had to say: LIVEWIRE - Halifax, fantastic gig! I saw them
for the third time last night and they never fail to impress. Awesome sound (
well done to the lads on the desk), brilliant lighting show, Bon and Brian
both in fine voice with mannerism's down to a tee, solid back line and rhythm
guitar made a truly great wall of noise. However the biggest surprise of the
night has to be their new Angus. In all honesty he looked very young, 17
apparently, but good God could he play. It was jaw dropping that someone of
that age ( he honestly couldn't have been more than
20) could play, note perfect, with that amount of energy, for that length of
time, without possibly being a lifelong fan of AC/DC. There was a few of us
went, two first timers, and we all agreed they had put on a brilliant show.
Looking forward to next time. Black
Flag Warehouse The
Wakefield venue's name is morphing slightly it seems and we know there are
alterations within the venue to accommodate smaller gigs. Another stage and
slightly smaller PA and an additional lighting rig will serve the venue well
and retain atmosphere. This will act like the 02 set ups or be similar to
Sheffield Corporation in effect. Black Flag Warehouse is one of the best
venues in West Yorkshire and it certainly is well linked to the rail, bus and
road networks being in Wakefield, just off Westgate. The venue is situated
between The Bull and Fairhouse and The Hop. Bar prices make other venues look
silly, as the venue are very reasonable with their drinks tariff. No
Quarter Delay Sad
to report the comeback of No Quarter
will be delayed due to illness. The band were to be
returning to the venue of past glories, the Boot and Shoe, with new guitarist
Geoff Waddington. Unfortunately, shingles has hit a member of the band and
that's ruined the plan for now. The band will be back, and they are a very
special band, so just be patient. Midas
and Black Sheep
Nice
to see new bands coming on the scene and I have been awaiting news of this
particular band for some time. The band comprise of the following members:
Lead Vocals - Mick Norbury, Guitar - Mark Abrahams, Bass & Backing Vocals
- Kevin Brierley, Drums - Mike Truscott, Lee Kershaw & Backing Vocals -
Keyboard The band will morph between a five piece and a four piece depending
on Lee's commitments. The five piece band are to be
called Midas and the four piece will be known as Black
Sheep. This band will add some quality to the scene and are no
doubt set to enthral many a fan of late lamented band Broken Angel. They have
two gigs booked and they are on the gig guide. The 10th December sees Black
Sheep at Featherstone WMC and on the 4th December, Midas will make their
debut at The Railway Hotel in Knottingley. Yes
News Is In Dirty/DC Are Awesome Now
our webmaster is out of bed I can tell you that the Dirty/DC
gig was brilliant. A full two hour set dished up in the "Brian"
style. Classic Rock Magazine it's claimed regard these as the best tribute
band there is, although this is on the Dirty/DC website! No matter, the proof
of it is in the performance and our webmaster says they were awesome. Joe
rarely goes into raptures about bands but he was very gushing by his
standards. He brought home the setlist and all the usual ones are there, and
the occasional rare one, but all were played 100% professionally. I'm awaiting a time when I can use my guest-list invite to see
Live Wire, for they have also a reputation that
is second to none. You can't beat a bit of DC, it's
great in pubs, but especially good when it's played at this level in
theatres. Postscript from Col of the band : Awaiting
News A
few special gigs were about the area last night and I'm awaiting news of them
Two I was interested in were the Top Gun/The Rakkiteers
special gig for the birthday of Brian Featherstone whose 50th birthday was
celebrated at The Klondyke at Royston.Brian is the man behind the Barnstock
festivals. I'm awaiting some news about the Dirty/ DC
gig too which was in town. Our webmaster was working with top PA company Main
Street Music at the gig so more news on that later. The
Blades also had a good gig at The Cross Keys, Morley too, which is
good to hear. Wakefield's The Welsh T Band were wowing them in Wales last night and took Rory
Holl and The Men with them in support. That will have given Llandudno
something to talk about! Calendar
Doing Well The
Cancer Research UK fundraising calendar is still selling steadily and making
pot loads of money for the charity but a special mention for Top Gun bassist Angie
Dodds (Miss January) must be made for her tenacious sales drive. At
the Top Gun gig at The bar Abbey in Sheffield on Friday, Angie shifted 30
calendars on the night! What a saleswoman! You can see her naked by
purchasing a calendar by ordering from us by Paypal if you wish. I've sent
calendars all over the country and one to Norway and one to the U.S.A. so
don't miss out. Ligging
About Friday Just
a note to say I'll be out of circulation for hopefully a short time from the
11th November. I'm having some surgery to try to find out what's going on.
I've had a lot of investigations this year
involving various uncomfortable procedures and they still haven't pinpointed
the problem. One consultant said "Nothing adds up". I once heard
the saying "Either up your ar*e or down your throat" and that's
about the top and bottom of it, but now a sharp knife and another bendy
telescope will be in use! So Joe will be at the helm for whatever time
I'm in hospital. Tracey will post calendar orders so keep sending 'em....I'll
be back.... Tributes
Big In November Lest
we forget the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of this century is
Friday and we pay tribute and remember our fallen troops so wear your poppy
with pride. On a lighter note but on a tribute theme we see AC/DC tribute
band Bon/DC at The New Roscoe tonight the 10th.Also tonight at The
Diamond Club in Sutton there's the fairly new Tom Petty tribute, The
Petty Heartbreakers which has one of our friends Col Challinor taking care of the
low notes. On Saturday there is the big hitters Dirty
DC on a UK tour, and they're in this area, at Barnsley's Parkway
Cinema on Saturday. Apparently Classic Rock magazine rate them as THE best
tribute band! That's on Eldon Street. On Monday one of my favourite tribute
bands The Stones are on the TV Chantel
Euro Bound Pride
of Yorkshire Chantel McGregor has
just taken off from Leeds and Bradford airport to Amsterdam and she will go
on to Warsaw, Poland for a number of concerts. Nice to see Chantel, Martin
and Richie doing well in Europe. I think this is just the beginning of a rise
to fame in Europe and beyond so watch this space! Arithmia
On CD Baby If
you read the comments you will have seen that Knottingley band Arithmia have
had their album made available for download on CD Baby. Jordan of the band is
keen to let people know about this and so are we, because we like local bands
to do well. The link on the comments page hasn't worked unfortunately but
this one will. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/arithmia
They sound great so download the album and support another good local band! Scream
Arena York's
metallurgists Scream Arena support The Quireboys at The Duchess, one of
York's premier concert venues on November 24th. Tickets are available from
Dave Tedder at dave@headfirstentertainment.com)
On
The Radio Vikki
and Aarren from Angel of Sin were on Vixen 101 on Friday night the 4th
November and they sang live and plugged the Frock of the North Calendar. They
were superb and played acoustic versions of some rock and pop
staples. The programme is The Foxes Den with Bill
Horncastle, and this goes out from 9pm
till midnight. Vikki has been particularly pro-active regarding the promotion
of the calendar as have all the girls. Leesa Mae
has been busy on the set of Coronation Street too, and actress
Michelle Keegan and others have been tweeting on Twitter about the calendar.
The calendar is selling well but needs to shift more so order yours asap and
I'll send it off to you immediately. I spend many a day in the post office
queue! Amelia
Has Arrived
I've
had word this Tuesday afternoon regarding the demise of the Jonny Seven Band.
Band member and RotN correspondent Robert Scott has mailed me to tell me not
only of this news, but of the band he has joined. That band is Amelia
Carter Band. Described as a Jazz/Blues/Rock in style, the band sound
good, and if you go to http://ameliacarterband.co.uk/default.aspx you can listen
to some sound bites. Nice to see another girl with a guitar at the front of
the stage! Sir
Jimmy Saville I
was saddened by the news of Jimmy Saville's death on Saturday. Jimmy
Saville was always a big character in my home town of Leeds whilst I was
growing up and we as schoolboys would often see him
and wave and shout to him as he drove his E-Type Jaguar up the Headrow! He
always waved back. He lived near my cousin and in his later years would often
stop and chat whilst he was out jogging near Roundhay Park. He was a genuine
man and one who did a lot of good generous work for bands in the North during
the Sixties. His generous work at the beginning of pop and rock era is why
there is this tribute to him on this page. He "fixed It" for
struggling bands long before the programme that brought him so much fame.
Rest In Peace Jimmy. Rockin
Good Times Ive
been scanning the internet and I'm pleased to report that Rockin' The Polish
V at The Polish Club in Barnsley and the Ben
Manning Foundation shindig at The Cross Keys, Morley were great occasions. At
Barnsley we heard that Cactus Jack were fabulous and
we had a comment/review from Mav of the Cross Keys show which starred No
Mercy For Percy and The Erics. All good fundraising for the two different
charities. Buskers
R Us It was
nice to receive news that Vikki Lea and Aarren Mowle of Angel of Sin and
Karon Lewis of Broadband did a stint at busking in the Merrion Centre, Leeds
on Friday afternoon. Apart from the busking they managed to sell a number of
Frock Calendars and their "haul" was £150 for the charity. The
people involved in the Frock endeavour never cease to amaze me with their
enthusiasm, and the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and I can assure
you the fund raising for Cancer Research UK is looking very healthy right
now. Next week Vikki and Aarren will be singing live on Vixen 101 radio and
I'll post a link later so you can listen to it live. KT's
Rhythm and Blues Festival KT's
Wakefield City Rhythm and Blues Festival starts next week and includes The
Hamsters in a brilliant line up. Please read the following: KT’s 5th
Wakefield City Rhythm and Blues Festival – Wed 2nd to Sun 6th November 2011.(12 Bands, 8 Venues over 5 Days). Kicks off on Wed 2nd @
Trad Music on Lower Kirkgate with Guitar Demo by Chris
Hanks (free entry, wine and snacks)6pm to
8pm - free entry then at Harry’s Bar, off Westgate with Tony
Foster Band 9pm start – free entry Classifieds Do
you ever look at the classifieds page. If you don't
you should do. Soon it will be updated into a proper database but there will
be a two months automatic deletion feature because not everyone tells me if
their ad is still needed. I will be encouraging it's
use and it will continue to be free. At the moment there is a superb Kustom
amp half stack for sale for £250. It's a proper bargain! Check it out . AOR
Website If
you like the kind of music that's featured at Firefest, or you just like
melodic rock, then Rock
Forces might be just your kind of thing. It's a good website with reviews
and news so check it out Rock
Night In Royston Success The
charity rock night for the Stickler Syndrome Support Group was a success with
over £600 raised. Feral Circus, Lockin
and ROK Inc played great sets for the charity.
Well done to the bands for raising such a good amount for a fairly unknown
charity. The gig was arranged by Steve Roberts, a heavy rock fan from Royston
who has a son who unfortunately suffers with the syndrome. Steve's
involvement with RotN is through web hosting for our site, so our webmaster
Joe was happy to provide sound engineering for the gig. Matt
Enjoying Firefest Matt
Black the Barnsley vocalist with original music band Serpentine,
played the opening set at Firefest, hosted at Rock City in Nottingham last
night. He said they had a great reception at their first Firefest, the
festival organised by Fireworks
magazine. If you're not in the know about such things, Fireworks in a
magazine which covers original music bands in the Adult Orientated Rock genre
(AOR). It's a much bigger movement than many might think. Suicide
Blonde Hit The Spot In
the Cross Keys, Morley on Friday night, Suicide Blonde
did the business as expected. Although our regular correspondent hasn't sent
a review yet, Big Col of Morley, more usually seen in The Sportsman, said the
band were at their very best. Nice to see younger musicians grasping the
older covers stuff, and more importantly, doing a great job of it. Big
Artists Next Month The
next few weeks have some heavy hitters coming to our general area. Motorhead
are on the road but there's nowhere in our part of the world to see them, so
you'd have to go to Nottingham Royal Concert Hall on November 17th or
Manchester Apollo on the 18th. Again Alter Bridge
with Black Stone Cherry tour in late November but
Manchester is the only "near" venue at the MEN Arena. Walter
Trout and Popa Chubby are at The Picturedrome in Holmfirth
on the 26th November and a few days before on the 19th at the venue there's Barclay
James Harvest with John Lees. A real blast from the past as is Peter
Frampton,
one of the most underrated artists of all time is in Manchester at The
Bridgewater Hall on the 11th November. He's doing the "Comes Alive
35" tour in recognition of his Frampton Comes Alive album of 35 years
ago. That should be fantastic. The superb Rival Sons are
also on a short tour in November but as usual there are no gigs near to us
unless you count Nottingham Rock City on the 4th November,
and Manchester Academy on the 6th November. There's another Smokehead
Rocks tour starting at Yardbirds, Grimsby, on November 16. Airrace
are headlining this tour which also has Classic Rock Magazine favourites Houston
and four other bands. Smokehead, the Islay single malt whisky manufacturer,
are putting a lot of sponsorship into rock and the product tastes great too! The
Flyz Writing Although
we only have sketchy details, we are under the impression that Jono Hudson is
laying down some words over some tracks already recorded by Flyz,
the band with their roots in Rothwell, South Leeds. Jono lives in Scotland now,
but he was down in Yorkshire this weekend to support Powerage at the Polish
Club in Pogmoor. Two members of Flyz are members of excellent AC/DC band Powerage.
We cant wait for the completed Flyz tracks and we
hope the band will have a re-union to perform them live. Miss
Chief On The Move Barnsley
based Lisa Bentley is getting revved up and ready for a few gigs leading Miss
Chief into more Barnsley clubs. Next Sunday the band will appear at
Ward Green at 5pm, so prepare to be rocked by the awesome vocals of the
lovely Ms Bentley! Barnsley Trades Club will host the band soon too. Watch
the gig guide. Lisa is a big favourite, as is the band, basically Mr Chief,
at the Polish Club, where they've had some great reactions lately. Sandi
Thom Poorly Now Not
sure if many know that Joe Bonamassa's lady is Sandi Thom, the Scottish
singer/songwriter/guitarist. Well Joe was diagnosed with Sinusitis, a severe
case of it, so he spent some days off gigging with Sandi...and guess what, Sandi is now poorly! Live
Wire Touring We
all like a bit of AC/DC and the leading tribute band Live
Wire do a great job of emulating our Australian heroes. There's two opportunities to see them in the North on this
tour and these are at Derby Assembly Rooms on October 22nd and at Halifax Victoria
Theatre on November 18th. Also on the tour is ZZ
Tops who will need no introduction as to their act! Local
Gigs Live Up To Expectations Nice
to hear that both the Go Kommando
gig at the Cross Keys, Morley, and the Powerage
gig at the Polish Club Barnsley are having good reactions on the internet. I
like both these bands very much and rate them highly, so it's good to hear
comments from respected members of other bands giving them praise. Happy
Birthday To The Original Frockette I
made a special motorcycle courier style delivery of a "Rock Star"
birthday card today 15th October, to Mrs Helen Taylor of Resurgence
and The Interiorz. Helen was the original
Frockette and Frock of the North was an idea by Helen in 2007. Anyway Miss
October celebrates her birthday today, so many happy returns Helen! A
Disappointment For Bonamassa Fans Brilliant
guitarist Joe Bonamassa has had to cancel his next gig and perhaps more as he
is suffering from a bad dose of flu. It's a wonder more stars don't have illnesses
as it's not an easy job being on tour. You get run down and aeroplane travel
doesn't help with bugs being harboured in the air conditioning. I feel down
for the fans who will have to wait many months to
see him again. Bummer. Calendar
Doing Well
Have
you bought your calendar yet? Sales are doing well but there are plenty to
shift to reach the 30,000 quid potential fund raising
for Cancer Research UK. Order yours now! Coast
Win Award I'm
delighted to be able to report that Coast have won the prestigious 2011 Mercury Clubland
Award for being Best Live Band.
I'm really pleased to bring this news to you as I know the personnel and they
thoroughly deserve it after a number of years investing in good gear and
generally going the extra mile to be good at what they do. It just proves
that hard work pays off. Well done lads! It couldn't have happened to a nicer
band. Swedish
Delight
The
head cook and myself found ourselves on the guest list for the Electric
Boys tour at Sheffield 02 on Tuesday night. We really enjoyed the
five bands on offer but Electric Boys were fabulous. They are a great band
and they played all their well known songs in great style. Singer Conny
Bloom (pictured above left) is as rock and roll as they come and on
the whole he's very underrated, and for my money they deserve to be up with
the greats of classic rock. When I say
"for my money" I didn't have much left with a pint of lager and
lime at over £4 a pint. It was £9:90 to park the car for four hours too.
Little wonder the crowds are dwindling at venues. Mind you, I enjoyed my
evening of rock and was well impressed with Dynazty
who had an absolutely fantastic singer and the whole band
were excellent too. The first band Sencelled were also excellent, and
their harmonies were superb. They're a good lively band as were Miss
Behaviour, the only band with keyboards. The only British band were Tainted Nation
and I thought their heavier delivery was slightly out of place. The crowd
liked them and they were good at what they did. The DJ for the tour has been Simon
Cruz (pictured above right with Joe Lally) the singer with top
Swedish band Crash Diet who I would have liked to have seen on
the tour. Simon is a nice bloke and he was telling me the tour has been a
good one. As I've said earlier, our webmaster Joe has been the tour sound
engineer and he certainly seemed comfortable with 60grands worth of
Soundcraft digital desk. He told me that at Glasgow on Sunday he played an
Electric Boys track that was covered by the fabulous club band Gun and
Oatcakes, to Conny Bloom, and Conny said it gave him a great feeling to hear
the cover of Lips and Hips done so well. That's Steve Johnson for you though,
he was a master. Good to see Cor Amor's Craig Robinson doing the backline
tech work. He's been a great asset to the tour
apparently, and that makes me feel good because Joe asked me who to ask to do
that work, and Joe and myself mentioned Craig immediately! Another amusing
snippet from the tour was when Conny Bloom was listening to the band
soundcheck and Joe was asking Electric Boys through the monitors where their
singer was. Conny later told Joe that he was listening to his band's
soundcheck and it sounded quote: "F******g Great"
!!! Nice to be appreciated I suppose! Radio
Ga Ga Local
radio has been worthy of note these past few days and on Sunday night Bonnie
Mac Blues Band will be featured on Phoenix Radio
Calderdale on the programme Blues in the Night.
We've already mentioned Dylan Brierley is
on Radio Poplar, and Vikki Lea
and Aarren Mowle of Angel
of Sin will be on The Foxes Den Show on
Vixen 101 . This came about by
interest in the Frock of the North endeavour, and I feel sure Vikki will be
speaking eloquently about that during the show which should be on November
the 4th. Our
Lads Doing It As Well The
Smokehead Rocks Tour with Electric
Boys, Miss Behaviour, and even Crash Diet's Simon
Cruz is going well and the revue tour with Tainted
Nation, Dynazty, and Sencelled
has reached Glasgow. I've been following the progress of the tour as two of
RotN's favourite sons are an essential part of proceedings. Joe
Lally is already experienced as a tour sound engineer and very well
liked and respected by the the promoters. Craig Robinson,
the local superstar guitarist from Cor Amor,
the Castleford band, was recommended by Joe as a backline tech and he's
fitted in very well. He certainly looks as rock and roll as anyone else on
the tour! The Glasgow 02 also has Black Veil Brides a
big Californian band. The funny thing is when the BVB lads saw Crash Diet's
Simon Cruz, they were starstruck! The Electric Boys hit our region on Tuesday
when they play at Sheffield 02 Academy, before a final gig at Islington 02 on
Wednesday. Sisters
Doing It The
sisters are still doing it, that's selling Frock of the North calendars as
they go from gig to gig. Last night Rachel Claughton was giving the Snafu,
Rotherham crowd some stick and blackmailing them into buying
calendars..."or no Bon Jovi!". Anyway Bon
Jovi was heard and calendars were sold. The ladies are doing a great job and
money is rolling in for Cancer Research UK
through calendar sales. The ladies hard work has brought in a huge amount
already, I'm of the opinion that around £7000 has been raised already! Music
is a great thing and when it can be linked to charity fund raising, it makes
it all worthwhile. These calendars are an ideal stocking filler at Christmas
so I don't need to prompt you more than this, you know what to do! The merch
page is on the side bar. Order it and I'll be at the post office with yours
straight away. Ben
Manning Music Foundation Request Ever
since the tragic loss of Ben Manning we have been keen to help the music
foundation founded in his memory. Basically it is a charity to help
underprivileged youngsters get into music. To help the now registered charity
receive more funding I'd like to ask you to go to this Benfield Facebook page and vote for the
charity. Tygers
of Pan Tang Tonight
in Wakefield's Black Flag Venue, Tygers of Pan Tang
played for the Ben Manning Music Foundation Charity. What an enjoyable night
it was too. Apologies for no pictures as I was on the light desk which I
enjoyed doing for the three bands. It was a bit of a nostalgia trip for me as
the evening took me back to 30 years ago and the enjoyable rock scene as it
was in Leeds at that time when the likes of Tygers of Pan Tang would visit
the city. The whole atmosphere at Black Flag was fantastic, and as much as I
love the pub-rock scene, I enjoy the rock club atmosphere of Black Flag in
Wakefield, and the Tygers lads were impressed too, saying they'd love to come
back. It was a good and very strong set with musicianship of a standard you'd
expect of a band of this stature. Also stepping up to the plate yesterday
evening were two of my favourite young original bands Lockin
and Black Water who lived up to my expectations in
every way. Three great original bands in a great rock venue is some
people's idea of paradise, and it was a rare treat for me, even though I was
working and totally sober. It was like concerts used to be, the kind that got
me hooked on live music. The event was organised by the Ben Manning Music
Foundation and hat's off to Lee Manning for a great
gig. Marcus Ward was on sound last night and there wasn't a pop or a squeak,
or the slightest hint of feedback. It was rock solid quality sound both on
stage and in front of it. A great night, I'm still buzzing!
Electric
Boys In
the East of Lincolnshire on Friday night, the Swedish superband Electric
Boys played at Yardbirds in Grimsby. Yardbirds is a superb club
with a great atmosphere and they really push the boat out with their
promotions. We always list Yardbirds gigs on our gig list. Keep an eye on the
events there and you might get a pleasant surprise. Dylan
on The Radio Local
guitarist/vocalist /songwriter Dylan Brierley of
Morley near Leeds is continuing his rise to fame despite his tender years of
only 13! Dylan features on Radio
Poplar on October 12th between 7 and 9 pm. Margherita
and Gail
Just
to show that small events can raise lots of money, here's a picture of Margherita
de Cruz and Gail Branch who played at a rock night at Farnley
Club in West Leeds. On drums is Cancer Research Rep Simon
Moran, who is hidden behind Gail! The Sundogs
headlined and the event raised £670 for Cancer Research UK.
Gail and Margherita are on the August page of the calendar...without any
clothes on. Studio
Frock Outlet Well
known Bradford Studios, Factory Street Studios
have a stock of Frock of the North Calendars. If you're a regular at the
establishment or if you're not, it's somewhere interesting to have a look at.
Check
this link. Chantel
Back In Yorkshire Chantel
McGregor plays in Yorkshire again on Saturday when she returns to Birdwell
Venue at Birdwell, near Barnsley. Riding on the crest of a wave
recently, Chantel will no doubt win over many more fans on Saturday as she
always does. Electric
Boys On Tour Swedish
rockers Electric Boys are on a "Revue"
tour and play Liverpool 02 on Thursday, Yardbirds in
Grimsby on Friday, Nottingham Rock City on Saturday, and Sheffield
02 on Tuesday. The band are supported
by some great bands including Miss Behaviour.
RotN webmaster Joe is the tour sound engineer and Cor
Amor's Craig Robinson is the back line tech on the tour. Nice to
see our local lads getting their deserved breaks. Smokehead
Rocks are the promoter and it's endorsed by Planet
Rock and Classic Rock Magazine. NWOBHM
Charity Event On
Friday of this week, October 7th, it's the Ben Manning Foundation
rock event with Tygers of Pan Tang, Lockin
and Black Water at Black Flag Venue in
Wakefield. This should be a great event and full of atmosphere at the
Wakefield venue. With the two up and coming bands in support and the
legendary Tygers, it promises to be a very special evening! What
a Show
Frock
of the North certainly lived up to the hype and with the help of many the
show at The Cross Keys on Sunday afternoon and evening! As I left The Keys at
about 10:30, I was under the impression that the fund-raising record at the
pub had been smashed to smithereens! I'll get details of that later. The show
itself was brilliant with five female fronted bands entertaining a full pub
all day! Part concert and part Frock of the North Calendar
launch, the event was everything it could have been, a very memorable day
from start to finish. The Sugar Mamas
had just got into the swing of things as I arrived and what
an enjoyable band they are. Sheila Mac on
lead vocals looked lovely in her frock and was ably backed by the lovely Gail
Branch on guitar/backing vocals! Gail's guitar tone was superb and
some of the jangly chords she put in really hit the spot. A special mention
for their lead guitarist would be criminal to omit...the feel for those
strings was erm, shall we say special??? It was, and I was massively
impressed. Then when Sheila said, "Here's a song by Big Mama
Thornton", I was thrilled to hear the band sing "You Aint Nothing
But a Houndog!". Brilliant! A short break
whilst the Splash Alley crew assisted with the changeover and
Karon Lewis brought her Broadband
troops to the stage. Karon is a cracking singer and ripped through a great
repertoire of old and newer songs. With a superb band behind her, it's no
surprise how popular they are on the pub-rock scene. Like all our Frockers on
the day, Karon looked great under the Splash Alley light show and was
resplendent in a black V-necked shirt with the "Frock"
pink-ribboned skull and plaits logo on the front. Attention to detail? I
think so! Frock calendar mastermind Rachel Claughton brought her classic 80's
rockers Rockweiler to the stage, re-christened "Frockweiler"
especially the occasion. With the excellent and massively popular Col
Challinor depping on bass, and their superb lead guitarist sporting breasts
and a wig, they ripped through a very enjoyable set which really hit the
spot. Rachel's vocals were powerful and well controlled, which is no mean
feat when giving it your all, but most importantly, were very pleasing to the
ear! A medley of Def Leppard songs and some Thunder songs impressed me most I
think. Superb! Another changeover and a change of genre brought the
incomparable Hooson to the stage. Starting out with Susan Tedeshi's "Rock me
Right", the mood was set for a high quality interlude of rocking blues.
Fresh from their Newark Castle appearance recently (that's the festival not a
pub!), the band belted out some fabulous songs from the likes of Janis Joplin
for instance gives you some idea of the quality of vocals from Jenna Hooson.
Rich Kershaw also has a guitar tone to die for and fills the songs with sound
over a superb rhythm section. The band certainly held the attention of a
swaying audience and once again the Splash Alley lights reflected from
Jenna's red haired aura. The Cross Keys could
have been mistaken to be Wembley Arena almost with this kind of a show! Again
another superb set and the show wasn't over yet!
Throughout the day we'd had the pleasure of "Little Sexy
Dave" Wilkinson being a very capable and comical Master of Ceremonies,
and was totally suited to the job. Let's face it, no
event connected to us would be the same without an element of The
Erics in the mix and Dave's character shone through in the MC role!
So to conclude the days entertainment, Dave introduced Angel
of Sin, the band who have the distinction
of playing at both Frock of the North gigs that have ever been organised!
Vikki Lea...or shall I call her "Miss
September" due to her stunning calendar shot, shone once again with the
brilliant and massively enjoyable Angel of Sin. The repertoire has morphed
since the early days of the band and it was of no detriment at all, in fact
it was an excellent mix, with the pink basque adorned Vikki equally at home
belting out AC/DC or Skunk Annansie! Vikki never fails to dress for the
occasion and this time she looked like a cross between a saucy Snow White and Dita Von Teese! The band are
excellent and consist of Aarren (King Midas) Mowle, and the rhythm section of
Jon Rhodes and Ian Barnes (who I confidently called "Bri" all
day...a "Trig" moment maybe? Must be, I've
known Ian for a number of years and never called him that before...I felt a
right fool). No matter, the band played to the finale which saw Karon,
Rachel, Sheila, Kerrie (Resurgence) join Vikki, and Keith Gater on bass,
for a fine rendition of Weather Girls "It's Raining Men" and
ultimately a superb "Don't Stop Believing" the Journey anthem which
took us to the end of the day. What a day, and one that saw a presentation by
the girls of a cheque for £2000 to Cancer Research UK
Leeds rep Simon Moran, who is becoming a regular at our gigs I'm pleased to
say. This takes our donations to the charity to a round figure of £25,000
said Simon. It's always nice to hand over those cheques and I normally do it,
but on this occasion I wanted the ladies to do it, and so they did. Why do
you think I wanted the girls to do it? Easy really, they have worked so hard
to arrange the whole Frock shebang, I want those ladies to have the full
mashing of deserved glory, and glory is what it is. Well done girls! The
chaps I'd also like to thank are the Splash Alley Crew for sound and lights
(and what a fantastic light show), totally free of charge, the ladies
partners too, and Keys stalwart The Old Git Mav and bassist Keith Gater!
Peter Malarkey, and Jill Brierley, Zoe Exton (Bluestones) plus Lynn and
Howard at The Keys too, so many good people working for charity. It was a
great day! As a footnote it was nice to see the kids at the event. Jon Rhodes
lads are regulars and it's great to see, but Vikki and Peter brought Grace
with them, and Kerrie and Graeme brought Prince Alfie of RotN too. It's been
a good family day and a fruitful one at that. I'd also like to thank Lee
Manning and his mum for attending. Lee is the prime mover of the Ben
Manning Foundation who have generously split their fund
raising with us in these past few months. This in turn allowed us to give the
presentation to CR UK. Press
Interest High I'm
very pleased to report that press interest regarding the Frock of the North endeavour.
This Friday morning I've been busy in aid of our ladies of Frock. South
Yorkshire Times, Barnsley Chronicle, Rothwell
Advertiser, Telegraph and Argus, Pontefract
and Castleford Express, Inn Scene,
and We Are Barnsley have all shown interest or
published already. The name of the game is to sell calendars and make funds
for Cancer Research UK. Our campaign is just
about on the £25,000 mark and the calendar is expected to make a significant
addition to this figure as the ladies have been selling like mad women this
week. You can help by attending on Sunday at The
Cross Keys, Morley from around 2 pm. If you're in Leeds on Saturday
lunchtime/early afternoon you can see a presentation/launch in The Lights on
the Headrow around 1pm. Calendars will be available. Frock
Calendar Available This Week Just
a word to inform you that the calendar is available this week. Rachel of Rockweiler took custody some advance copies
Tuesday and the rest will be at JHS by Friday. The availability for us mere
mortals here. The PAYPAL button is now active from the homepage
or the Merchandise page. Only
One Week To Frocktober Time
to get busy regarding the Frock of the North
business. Starting with the gig which is on Sunday the 2nd October at the
Cross Keys, Morley, and with five female fronted bands performing for Cancer
Research UK. The theme is the Pink Ribbon movement
specifically and this of course is a campaign against breast cancer. The
bands are excellent and there's a lot of fun and good music to be heard. A
food van will be on the car park so you wont have to go home for you tea!
There's a raffle too and plenty of chances to win a prize. Moving on within
the Frock theme and next week will see the delivery from the printers of the Frock
of the North 2012 Calendar. The brainchild of Rachel
Claughton of Rockweiler, it's a tongue in cheek publication with well
known erm...faces of female musicians with only musical instruments to save
their modesty! The calendar has been sponsored by John
Hornby Skewes and Auto Trader, Hermes Parcelnet, Pace,
and Roco Truck Bodies so far. The calendar also
serves as the basis of a competition to win a guitar. An entry form is
included. It's only a fiver which means it averages out at 10 pence a
week for a year of tittilation! BARGAIN! It will be available from this site,
and the bands and other outlets. ALL money raised goes to Cancer Research UK
as always. "Together we will beat cancer" is the CR UK motto, and
the RotN Campaign has a similar one, "Together we will find the
way". Keep an eye on this website for further details as they emerge. Trans-Atlantic
Punk Feast Leeds
and Wakefield have two consecutive punk fests starting at the end of the month . The Ramones tribute band Rawmones
from the North East team up with Leeds punk sensations The
Guttersluts at Henry Boons,Wakefield on
September 30th, and a hop up to Leeds well known venue The New Roscoe on
October 1st. Rawmones, described as 1 drummer, 2 guitars,3
chords, and 4 leather jackets, will keep the American punk to the fore and The Guttersluts
will prove you can sing Johnny Rotten in a pink tutu. Renowned
punksters Last Gang In Town's leader Tony Brown loves
this band and they've been described as one of the most entertaining bands to
come out of 2011. More
Punk Before
the month is out, this Sunday at Paddy McGinns in Barnsley, Total
Confusion headline another punkfest with Hospital
Food and Brainbomb. That's commencing at 5pm. Party
In The Park Success This
Sunday the 18th September was the mega Party in the Park at Byram
Park Club. As I was full of pink tablets and with a hot water bottle
strapped to my back, I asked Tony Easton to do a review for us, and here it
is: Yesterday the 18th September 2011 saw the birth of a new venue/gig,
to be added to any discerning rock fans list/diary for future events. It was
the inaugural “Party at the Park” held at the Byram Park Club
in Brotherton, and was held in aid of the CRUK Charity Fund, under the Topgun
Promotions/Rock of the North banner. We arrived at the
club at about 12.45, to find the car park reasonably full and the patio area
of the club packed with regulars (eager to claim the best seats no doubt!!).
The curtain sided trailer (complete with generator) that was to be the stage
for the event, was nicely situated at the bottom of the car park with the
sound desk situated under a gazebo some 30 yds away towards the clubhouse. I
think this was in anticipation of a larger crowd than actually attended,
however the time of year/weather forecast had a large bearing on the actual
turnout, but it must be said, that had it been held inside the club (and at
one point, this was a possibility), the place would have been bursting at the
seams with the amount of people that did in fact support the occasion. The
event kicked off with the excellent MONKEY DUST,
who performed with their usual gusto and had the locals cheering and
applauding from the onset, the sun even came out for their entire set which
was full of the usual favourites and a particularly good rendition of Amy
Winehouse’s, “Told You I Was No Good.” Wormy is a brilliant vocalist and the
band are becoming increasingly popular (having played to a packed house at
the Boot n Shoe in Ackworth the night before). Second up were, the mighty EMPRESS
with Louise belting out what can only be described as “phenomenal” vocals,
especially on the Janis Joplin classic “Take Another Piece Of My Heart”.
These (she) were (was) the showstoppers for me (what a magnificent pair
of......lungs) and a special plaudit must go to their stand in lead
guitarist, who put in a splendid performance! One of the many showers
occurred during Empress’s performance but it did not deter people from coming
through the gate and by the time DAZE took
to the stage there was a healthy crowd gathering. These 4 young rockers, with
a total age of 68 have, come a long way since forming 3 years ago (when the
lead guitarist was only 12!!!!!) and continue to improve with every gig.
Their choice of material leaves “Classic Rock” in very safe hands and their
offering of the Cream classic “White Room” was outstanding, to say the least.
Next up were those ever present “old hands” at charity events, The
ERICS. Their antics and banter on stage are legendary and this was
no exception, BSD had the crowd in stitches (especially when he laid flat on
his back playing his bass with LSD stood on his chest) however, the very
moving introduction of Pink Floyd's “Wish You Were Here” which Paul dedicated
to the 4 Welsh Miners who were lost recently, brought things back into
perspective somewhat, and Sam’s guitar and vocals were presented with genuine
feeling. They are the ideal choice for this type of event. The
RAKKITEERS then took to the stage and brought everyone back on their
feet, with their punk/indie/metal offerings a particular favourite of mine is
the “Ace of Spades” (and Jimjam, of course) but their repertoire is littered
with gems of all the afore mentioned genre’s and are a very popular and busy
band, they are definite crowd pullers and Mark's vocals improve with every
gig. The band are well established now and a sell out wherever they go! Last
but not least were, SUICIDE BLONDE, a band I had been very
much looking forward to seeing/hearing. The last time I saw them was at the
Frontier Club last year (another RotN/CRUK event), they were tremendous then and
absolutely brilliant last night! Like DAZE, “Classic Rock” is 100% safe in
the hands (and feet) of bands like SUICIDE BLONDE, their vocalist was truly
outstanding and the raw power generated by the band is something comparative
to LED ZEP/DEEP PURPLE/METALLICA all rolled into one! Their “For whom the
Bell Tolls” cover was truly amazing and capped a fantastic day for me, and
I'm sure, the large amount of fans that stayed till the end of a truly
memorable first “Party at the Park” Rory
Holl and The Men Step In The
vacant spot at the Tarn RotN to the Core fest for Cancer Research UK was
filled by one of Leeds' favourite bands, Rory Holl and the Men.
I've just heard that the band were tremendous last
night and the day raised £190 for Cancer Research UK. Well done to Dave
"Muzzi" and all the crew for their great efforts. Class
Act Back At The Polish Ben
Poole did indeed show his class with a masterful show at The Polish Club in
Barnsley on Friday night. It’s nice to get feedback from more than one
source, and the overall opinion was the same. Ben just missed out on the
awards at the Newark Blues Festival but was rational about the situation when
asked! Ben’s standing in the world of blues/rock is so high that he played at
Glastonbury this year on the Bourbon Street Stage. The Polish Club should be
applauded for their promotions because not only do they put on local covers
and tribute acts, they also put on bigger nationally and internationally
famous acts too. Hadouken!
Get The Ticket
Hadouken! started their tour at Black Flag Venue in
Wakefield last night to a healthy crowd of revellers and crowd surfers. I don't
have any reviews of the performance but we heard their rider was huge and the
fridge wasn't big enough for their beer needs! The band arrived on a huge
tour bus but unfortunately the police took exception and gave them a parking
ticket! Oh dear! Their set started 30 minutes late as the band were pogged
following a recommended visit to the excellent Mantra
Indian restaurant opposite the venue! That's rock and roll for you! The
picture above shows part of the light show at Black Flag last night. No Quarter
Appoint New Guitarist I've
just been informed by veteran and highly respected vocalist Mo Pickles that
the band have appointed Geoff Waddington as their
new guitarist. Mo said that Geoff sailed through the audition, as I fully
expected him to do, and the band will be "road ready" by November. No
Quarter is a band who have always had great
guitar players and Geoff will carry on that high standard and fit in
perfectly with Ian, Big Rodders and Mo. Geoff's appointment will not be of
any detriment to his other bands Meanstreak
and Bonnie Mac blues band, as he will work around the
schedule. I've always found Geoff to be one of the most enthusiastic of
players and I wish him well. Broadfield
Dead - Bar Abbey Alive We
have just had notice of the cease of bands at The
Broadfield in Sheffield, the most lively rock venue in Steel City. With
immediate effect those gigs at that venue are gone. However, Bar
Abbey at 387 Abbeydale Road is to promote bands, with many of the
Broadfield bookings to be held there. There are two immediate casualties and
that is on the 16th September, and the 23rd September. That's Wild McBride
and Blackout's gigs. Please note this is notice by e-mail from Julie Cole. On
the 30th September, Vamp will play at the Launch Night of Bar Abbey.The
following week Sheffield faves Phil Brodie band play at the venue. I have a
list which will add to our gig guide but here
it is anyway, but it also shows the cancellations:07.10.11 - Phil Brodie Band
/14.10.11 - Mag 7/21.10.11 - Stykleback - cancelled. /28.10.11
- The Carnival /04.11.11 - Suite Zero - cancelled./11.11.11 -
Top Gun /18.11.11 - Mahogany Newt - cancelled. /25.11.11 -
Mahogany Newt /02.12.11 - Sour Mash /09.12.11 - Rodger /16.12.11 - 3 Way
Split - cancelled./23.12.11 - Charlie Don't Surf! Julie
apologises for the inconvenience. Chantel
Picks Up Award I'm
really pleased to have just picked up news that our very good friend Chantel
McGregor has been awarded British Young Artist at
Festivals
Have Great Feedback The
Ben Manning Foundation Bullfest received
a lot of good feedback even though the weather wasn't great,
the show went on in the open air and well done to all concerned. No
Mercy For Percy and The Guttersluts received some great
compliments. Although, the Percys' Full Monty act probably had everyone in
stitches so good on 'em for that! Also good on 'em for raising an extra £180
with a text vote for what they were to wear. Superb idea! The Leeds
Custom and Classic Show went on to great things as Steve
Saville's comment shows the event had a high quality
content with a Saturday night with great bands. Here's a quote from
Steve's comment from Saturday : "first band up were LEDZEP/DC
who kicked the bands off in style, around tea time, evening comes and onto
stage the fab vocals of MISS JENNA HOOSON of the HOOSON
BAND, the cant be a more powerful female vocalist than JEN, and
they put in a super set. Next up the very popular RAKKITEERS, I
always enjoy these, never let the night down, seen them more than a dozen
time and they just get better and better. Up next our sound man DAVE and RESURGENCE,
top set from the band, KERRIE on top form and a masterful set, DAVE was
really up for it even though he has worked and set up the sound and lighting
and been working all weekend, TOP TOP MAN is DAVE. Then on to the final band
of Saturday with the mighty ERICS,
wearing some strange head gear, what can I say about the ERICs thats not
already been said, they topped the bill for 1 reason, and that's they don't
come any better anywhere than the MIGHTY ONES, they really were terrific,
there cover of WISH YOU WERE HERE always blows me away, and being that the
weekend was about ROTN TO THE CORE, and Cancer Research UK, a
really fitting song, as most of us wish someone struck be this terrible
blight were here with us now, so on behalf of myself, the BLUE
ANGELS, the COBRAS, and everyone
attending the show, THANK YOU ALL for your support of this weekend, 2 bands
to go this evening for end of show party, one new young band followed by HARRY
COFFEY, so THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, last thing after the superb bands
this year, I have no idea whatever how the HELL TO TOP IT NEXT YEAR, as this
years line up ROCKED THE FOUNDATIONS." Leeds
Custom and Classic Bike Show I've
just put my bike away after a great ride out on a warm September Friday
evening. I went to the Blue Angels run Leeds Custom and Classic Show
which is a regular rally these days. The bands tonight were excellent and the
PA was run by Dave Taylor of Resurgence, one of the better
soundmen on the scene. Without a huge desk and fancy PA, Dave had his Peavey
based rig singing very nicely. It's amazing what this rig achieves. First
band Delirium were fabulous playing some cracking
heavier weighted classics but with some modern rock from Foo Fighters and
Alter Bridge. Attempting Blackbird deserves merit, but the band played a
superb version. Fantastic, a must-see band. Again I was hugely impressed and
I cant stress enough just how much I was!. After a
turn around one of our favourite bands Motus
stepped up to the plate and ripped through another classic rock masterclass.
Graham had his guitar sustaining like a good 'un as Liz, famed first lady of
rock, sang in her unique style and anything from The Surfaris Boys of Summer
to their great version of Wont Get Fooled Again! Tonight the rhythm section
was tight and solid-sounding as always with Mike and Steve providing that
essential cushion of chunky groove. I chuckled when I saw Graham at a
"hot sauce" stall at the rally site sampling spicy sauces before
their set, but not many will know that he can claim to be a TV chef of some
repute! I saw Three Chord Wonder
perform for the first time after a bit of tittle tattle beforehand. The band are making a lot of progress by slipping into
numerous charity gigs and gigging relentlessly. Tonight was a good gig with a
wide ranging repertoire from the band. Tracy looked great with her massive
Ricky 4001 bass in Fireglow and she seemed to be playing so easily, it was a
breeze for her! Nathan is a very good singer, I didn't realise just how good
he was, although I do know he's quite a veteran
really on the Wakefield scene. Good solid drums too, what else do you need. Good band and one I predict will become
popular on the scene with that well mixed repertoire. I had to dash off
before Optic Nerve ended the night but I know they will
have provided a fantastic closing set. AC/DC from a three piece doing a five
piece bands job... Optic Nerve, what could you could add to the compliments
that follow their performance? Frock
of the North Calendar Although
I was well aware of the ladies arranging the Frock
of the North Festival for Cancer Research UK, I was unaware
of an idea that Rachel Claughton of Rockweiler
was hatching. Rachel got the girls together and enlisted John
Hornby Skewes to help out with a calendar featuring ladies who sing and
play in bands around the scene that RotN cover. The calendar is about to go
to print and I have seen proofs of the calendar pages. They are impressive
indeed and I take my hat off for the courage of these ladies for posing
naked with just an instrument to save their modesty! Each page is
in the theme of a best selling rock album and a competition form is included
to guess the actual albums. Some are easy but there's some that even I am
struggling with! You can win a Vintage
guitar from JHS if you guess correctly. The calendar will be just £5 and is a
quality item printed on 170gsm gloss paper. All proceeds go to Cancer
Research UK. I don't think I'll be giving anything away if I tell you
that the ladies involved in this nudey-fest are, in no particular order, Rachel
(Rockweiler), Liz Charman (Motus), Vikki Lea
(Angel of Sin), Jamie Whittaker (The Rakkiteers), Angie
Dodds (Top Gun), Louise Stalker
(Empress), Margherita De Cruz, Gail
Branch and Sheila MacFarlane (Sugar Mamas), Helen
Taylor and Kerrie Davies (Resurgence), Leesa
Mae (Leesa Mae Band) and the lovely Karon
Lewis (Broadband). Many thanks go to the companies Hermes
Parcelnet, Pace Electronics, and the very generous Auto
Trader for brilliant sponsorship. More thanks go to understanding husbands
and partners of the girls, and to John Hornby Skewes no doubt co-ordinated by
Gav Coulson, for use of their publishing
facilities, musical instruments and photographer Gary
Barlow. There are some details on our Merchandise page. Big
Ones This Weekend Two
big fests this week are the Leeds Custom and Classic Bike
Show at Drighlington/Tong, and the Ben Manning Foundation Bullfest at
The Black Bull, Hightown, Castleford. Too many bands
to mention at both these events but there are some firm favourites if you go
to our Events page. Our good friend Lee Manning, brother of Ben, has teamed
up with Terry at the Bull to bring another worthy rockfest to Castleford. To
the South West of Leeds, Blue Angels MC are hosts to
the rockfest/bikeshow and the recipient of the fund raising is Cancer
Research UK via our RotN to the Core Campaign. This is the second year
running that the Blue Angels MC have contributed to
our campaign and we thank them very much indeed. It's run on the lines of a
rally with a marquee to keep the elements out. Much respected RotN stalwart
Dave Taylor and his lovely wife Helen are providing the PA and stage
management. Top bands from the RotN scene will provide the entertainment due
to the sterling work of Steve Saville organising! Big
Month For RotN to the Core The
RotN to the Core Campaign has been largely dormant this year but for a few
smaller events. Compared to previous years you could say it's been poor.
Cancer does not go away during any lapse by anyone and over the year I've
been told of victims young and old who have been diagnosed with this dreadful
blight on humanity. However this month is another push forward and we will
have a boost to the funds with festivals intended to swell our fund-raising
pot. The Leeds Custom and Classic Show, the RotN
to the Core gig at The Tarn, The
Party in the Park in Knottingley, The Rock Night at
Farnley Social Club, and of course the Frock of the North
fest is less than four weeks away. A little bit later is Soberfest at
The Anglers Club in Leeds which I know will do well for us. I hope you can
support these and pass the word on, then we can aim
towards getting past that £25,000 milestone, which I think will be easily
achievable. I have to thank the bands and organisers for some brilliant and
enthusiastic work, without which, the fund raising
would falter badly. Thank you. Cancer Research UK call us The Rock of the North Group of Friends and that's
how I like it. Receipts for fund raising are always addressed to Rock of the
North Group of Friends and if anyone would like to view the books, you're
very welcome. In November I am hoping to have a tour of the Cancer Research
UK laboratories in Leeds, and I think the invite is a mark of respect for our
campaign, which is nothing without our supporters. Frock
of the North Only
four weeks until the Frock of the North
gig on the 2nd October but the ladies have been involved with a special
project which should soon be announced. I know what it is, and it's a
surprising endeavour that was wholly conceived and carried out by the girls
themselves with no prompts from us. It has caused some of the girls a lot of
stress and hard work but the hard work will pay off when you see the result.
The gig itself is on the 2nd October at The Cross Keys, Morley. The charity
involved is Cancer Research UK, it's a "Pink
Ribbon" event in honour of ladies who have fought breast cancer. Cancer
Research UK allocated £44.8 million specifically for breast cancer research
and that is on top of £123.4 million into research that underpins advances in
all types of cancer. I hope you'll be able to support us on that day. The
Reasoning Soldier On It
was a definite case of a band having bad fortune in Wakefield on Friday night
when The Reasoning came to Black Flag Venue. This well established prog rock
band have played at some of the country's big festivals but a little while
before the band were ready for the stage, the drummer became violently ill.
The band could have thrown in the towel but they didn't, and went on to do an
acoustic set without drums which our webmaster said was
excellent. He was very impressed with the band. He also said they were a
friendly bunch of people, and they were happy to be asked back. Yardbirds
Host Metaloke Friday
the 2nd sees Yardbirds own slant on singing to backing tracks as they host
Metaloke! If your band needs a rock singer, wouldn't it be good to get along
and suss out a potential leader of your band! Yardbirds is a superb club in
Grimsby. We always have Yardbirds gigs on our gig guide, and it's always
worth the trip. SDDB
Shirts Daz
at the Foresters, Crossland Moor, has had some Supermarkets
Dont Do Bands T shirts printed in all sizes. You'll have to contact Daz for
these. Not sure if the design is like our stickers or not, but I don't care,
I've ordered one anyway. I bet Yeadon MP Greg Mullholland will want one! Only
five quid...bargain! Matt
Black Leaves Vacancy We've
just heard Six of the Best are looking for a new
singer as Matt Black has given notice of his exit from the band. He will
perform with the band until the end of the year then they will certainly need
someone. Not sure of the intentions of Matt right now but the band Serpentine
are making gains in Germany and Spain and shortly our webmaster will be
joining them on the faders for the Germany concert in September. Invisible
Idols enjoyed their Rock and Bike Show outing, supposedly their
last ever, but you never know they might eventually do something else!!!
There is talk of a Matt Black Band too so watch out for that. If you know a very
talented singer who is looking for a well paid position , then mail Festivals
Make Massive Funds I'm
really pleased to report that both Lionfest and Barnstock raised more than £3000
each at the weekend. Bullfest raised £500, and the Keyz Kneez fest raised
£1000. Good reports have been seen on the internet for all of these festivals
where some excellent local bands and some great tribute bands entertained
some very well attended concerts. Just as an observation, the fests where
there is a nominal charge tend to make the most funds. A word of
congratulation for all who performed at, organised and attended the gigs is
in order. Well done. Various charities are the winners. Hooson
Appreciated I
saw a complimentary post on Facebook for Hooson
who played at Clowne Blues Club on Sunday night. They have also picked up a
gig at the Newark Blues Festival held at the castle there. That's a good
showcase and I'm sure they will make the most of their exposure there. Don't
forget the band will be appearing at The Cross Keys Morley as part of the
Frock of the North festival on October 2nd. Don't
Forget September Gigs Bands
and boozers, don't forget your gigs for September. Festivals
Still Going Strong You
might think you're all festivalled out by today Monday but there are still a
few going on notably Barnstock in Barnsley and the mini Bullfest in Hightown,
Castleford. The Rodley music fest is still on too. Plus the big blues fest at
Colne doesn't finish until tonight. Great
British Rhythm and Blues Festival Well
bluesers, it's the big one starting on Friday at Colne. It's been going some
time and boy there's been some massive artists visit Colne's main street.
Well it's still going strong and at least one of our local bands, The Welsh T
Band, are playing in the fringe pubs. Well done to Terry and the lads keeping
as popular as ever at the festival! The British stage is disappointing this
year, although the great Tommy Allen is there, but the Municipal Hall has
some awesome names such as Steve Cropper, Robin
Trower, Sherman Robertson, Mavis
Staples, Jack Bruce, Buddy Whittington,
and Mud Morganfield. That's not everyone
either! Ben
Manning Foundation Download The
Ben Manning Foundation has a charity single
available for download. Its been in the works about
3 months, but finally it is here. "Forever Seventeen"
The track brought to you by The Foundation to promote and inspire other
musicians out there has been written, developed and now recorded! Tom Jepson,
a close friend of the foundation and Ben, has been in the recording studio
with the Foundation to record a track dedicated to the love of Ben.It was
written by Adam Miller, and the song was donated to the foundation to be put
together into a track that symbolises the strengths of what it is to be
17. Go to the website for details. Nice
to hear that Lockin's radio interview was aired tonight (Wednesday) on Bolton FM.
As the band start playing further afield I think they will gain many fans. We
like this kind of thing! SoundHouse
In Need An
easy going vocalist is required for SoundHouse,
and the classifieds have the ad on with the details. The band will not be
cancelling gigs at any stage as Scurge is honouring all gigs until a
replacement is found. Scurge has decided to call it a day and wishes to enjoy
more time with his family. Enjoyable
Weekends Last
weekend was a perfect weekend and I've had one of two this year. I was
thinking back at my trip to Cleethorpes spending time with some great
musicians and listening to their music, I often feel privileged to be able to
spend time with them. Last weekend was no different and at three different
festivals I enjoyed the company of some great people and talented musicians.
The year isn't over yet however and the promise of much more great music is
not far away. Next week there are some big local festivals including Barnstock,
Keyz Kneez, Ourdoorfest, Rodley Music Festival,
and Bullfest. Moving on, in September there
is the Leeds Custom and Classic Bike Show at the rear of The
Six Acres pub at Drighlington/Tong. Some great bands too.Then there is the Party
in the Park and Byram WMC, Byram, Knottingley.North,South, East or West we're
well blessed don't you think? Just keep an eye on the gig guide for info, or
check out the Events page. More
Sponsorship From Think-Tech Leeds You'll
soon be seeing ads and banners of Think-Tech
a.k.a. Think Electro the Leeds company who
specialise in band lighting and sound systems. It's not a sponsorship where
money changes hands but one where the company help us out with various things
such as for charity events. The company HQ is a very impressive retail outlet
on North Street, Leeds. There is a dark room where there is a working
showroom of incredible lighting effects perfect for pub bands and club bands
too. Smoke fluid and other consumables are readily available. This company
sell cutting edge lighting effects so if you want to stand out from the next
band, get yourself down to Think-Tech. We'll soon have a news page of their
latest offers added to RotN. Check this link for now. Generous
Sponsors For Frock I
have just been to Rothwell to pay two cheques totalling £450 into the RotN
to the Core Campaign. These have been generated by
sponsorship for the October Frock of the North
event. This is to be held at the Cross Keys in Morley and feature well
respected female fronted bands Angel of Sin, Broadband,
Hooson, Rockweiler and Sugar Mamas. Female members of other
bands have also been helping out and there will be a couple of interesting
offshoots from the festival on October 2nd. That's all classified but I can
assure you the offshoots will cause some delight, a lot of delight actually!
So the gist of this passage is to thank sponsors Hermes
Parcelnet of Morley and Pace Electronics of
Shipley for their generous support. I have a feeling that even though 2011
has been a very poor year for fund raising for our charity, I fully expect
our total donations to Cancer Research UK to
hit £25,000 plus before the year is out. Perfect
Weekend What
a weekend! The Friday/Saturday of the weekend was a brilliant time as
reported below, but Sunday was a huge bonus!
After a morning of Facebook posts regarding the Rock and Bike Show, I made my
way to Swillington to the Ben Manning Foundation Summer Fete. I saw Black
Rainbow play the latter end of their set and then Versatonic
play a full hour of modern and classic rock through the Showtec PA rig much
to the pleasure of myself and many others.
What a band Versatonic are! I was massively impressed with them. With some
great on-stage banter and some superb musicianship,
they impressed the hell out of me and I was really pleased they did,
because my mate and RotN supporter, and ex British forces Paratrooper Joe
Corrigan is the bassist in the band. Soon after we moved on to The Tarn at
Yeadon on the opposite side of Leeds where there was the annual beer
festival. We missed the first band but the superb Suicide
Blonde played two fantastic sets in the car park. PA was provided by
the much respected Aarren Mowle and what a subtle and unobtrusive job he made
of it! Without over-egging the sound he provided a perfect level as Suicide
Blonde provided two superb sets of classic and modern rock. These young lads
are a brilliant band and no strangers to praise from this website. From an
excellent rhythm section of Chris Chambers/Ian Cunningham, to the exuberant
Jim Adsetts (guitar and man as one) and Chris Morley and vocalist Richard
Powell, they remain one of the most promising young bands on the rock covers
circuit! Nice to see many friends and rock enthusiasts (including Lynn and
Howard of the Cross Keys Morley) enjoying Mike and Lisa's beer festival. The
upshot is the fund raising for our RotN to the Core
Campaign which is in the region of about 400 quid! You cant
knock it! What a great weekend! Champion
Day Out
The
Yorkshire Rock and Bike Show continued to make itself legendary with a
fantastic day of bands and good natured fun, which included a very
interesting array of bands and well presented motorbikes. My two main
interests in life were more than satisfied with a Saturday of music and
biking gluttony. An early start at 11:30 am saw the young and truly fantastic
Black Water open the days
proceedings with a set of original songs that could have been from the
classic era. If these lads had been born 40 years earlier they'd have been
superstars alongside Led Zeppelin and the like. Quite a statement I know, but
wait till you see them and you'll know what I mean. They are quite simply
superb and were just that at Squires on Saturday. Keeping youth at the
forefront, the excellent Castleford band Cor Amor
followed and once more, they lit up the stage with energetic modern original
material rock. I really hope these lads stick at it because they've got what
it takes and they're as tight as a drum musically. Moving swiftly on, youth
continued to being a great custodian of rock as Sharp
Sand followed with some superb covers and included a brilliant rendition
of Pearl Jam's Jeremy. Jamie Ward is proving to be a force to be reckoned
with for his vocal prowess. Nice to see in a young fellow. Daz Maynard depped
on bass and the band functioned well with two members out because of
holidays. Well done lads! This brought us nicely to the bike prize-giving
which saw a great collection of machines which any mortal could see were very
special. I was in my element again , my love of
powered two-wheelers has no bounds! Then on with the show and the long time
favourites Scooby came to the stage and knocked out everything from Journey to
Queen with Matt Duggan's chameleon-like vocals hitting the target time and
time again. One of the Northern scene's legendary bands, they didn't but a
foot wrong and were really well received. Then after another change round, a
band I've been busting to see, who are Boneyard. With Sam Hirst and Col
Challinor in the band it was always going to be a winner, but with great
percussion and the addition of a keyboard, this band make
all the right sounds, totally in my own back yard. I loved it, and with the
likes of Superstition, Badge and a really tasteful Comfortably Numb, Boneyard
impressed a lot of people. Comments such as," I really like this kind of
music you know." proved to me that there
are many more blues-rock fans out there than we know! A total change and one
of the best tribute bands on the circuit took to the stage. This band are Ozzbest
and I don't really need to tell you that their music is in the Black
Sabbath/Ozzy vein! They were fabulous too, knocking out some top classics
from the Prince of Darkness. Tributes are tongue in cheek affairs but they're
really good fun and so Ozzbest were on Saturday night. I wondered how Invisible
Idols might follow that but they did, and it was their swansong
gig, a farewell gig to their numerous fans. I expected them to be rusty but
they weren't really and the set warmed up and the fans sang along, and it
made me realise that it would be quite a loss if the band never play again.
However as the set continued two rather attractive young ladies joined them
on stage and a planned wardrobe malfunction saw them without many clothes on
by the end of the songs. It was a nice ending to the short but musically
productive career of Invisible Idols who are now too busy with side projects
to give full attention to the band. A good set though! Sadly all good things
come to an end and the 2011 Yorkshire Rock and Bike Show was brought to a
superb and fitting finale as The Erics
came to the stage and delivered a typically funny, yet musically perfect
performance that we have come to be used to from the lads from Leeds. From
Pink Floyd to Levellers, great musicianship and cheeky banter epitomise this
band's legendary status. Bands like this don't grow on trees, yet they are
readily available to entertain you and so they did last night. The Erics
provided on-stage fireworks till the night ended with Satan Slaves MC's final
statement of appreciation with a real fireworks display behind the stage. A
top weekend without a doubt and all the hard work from the club and the stage
crew/PA guys is worth it as this well attended event is gaining a huge
reputation. A great, great event! Don't miss it next year. Big
Weekend Has Started
I've
just returned from Squires Cafe Bar where the Yorkshire Rock and Bike Show
has just about finished it's first day. It has been the
most well attended Friday that I've ever known. It all got underway at 4:30
with a new AC/DC tribute band Powerage.
The band were excellent and played a great selection
of the Oz rocker's songs much to the appreciation of everyone. They even
asked three members of the late lamented (and some say best) AC/DC band, Riff
Raff. Aitch Lockwood, Tony Marchant and Ian (Agnes) Miles got up and did the business. It was a great moment
in local history. Next up were The B*stard Son of Toranaga,
who weren't exactly my cup of tea, being a metal band, but they did a great
job of entertaining the crowd, and myself, with all original songs and with a
great front man. It was a bit loud on the whole but they were well received.
Within half an hour the show was still on schedule as The
Rakkiteers played a lively and highly enjoyable set of covers which
really hit the spot. Thank you for the dedication of the superb The Real Me
(The Who), not many bands hit the spot like that with such a song. Excellent.
The Rakkiteers always please with a wide ranging repertoire of punky
material...Pistols, Sham 69 etc, but their cover of Motorhead/Girlschool's
Please Don't Touch pleased me no end! No wonder they are so popular! Another
changeover and the mighty Top Gun returned to the
famous Rock and Bike Show stage. Classic rock covers is their speciality and
by heck they played us some beauties from UFO to Deep Purple and Bowie to
Pink Floyd. Keyboards in the band by Fez really sets
the band off and Marcus Ward on sound duties had the level suitably high. I
hate it when some sound engineers don't have enough keys but Marcus had it
spot on. I was on lighting duties so unfortunately I got no pictures of The
Rakks and Top Gun. Me and the smoke machine were
having a tussle with the breeze but I thought the full darkness of the
evening made Top Gun look great under the lights. A burlesque troupe had come
to the stage afterwards and my time had run out so I missed The
Dookies who were the final Friday band. If anyone could send a
comment about the band as a review, I'd appreciate it. Saturday starts at
11:30 am and what a fantastic line up it is. You ought to get yourselves
there. Big
Weekend Starts Friday Next
week has some big festivals on what with the Yorkshire
Rock and Bike Show at Squires on Friday afternoon 12/8/2011 from 4:30pm till
Saturday at midnight. Also that weekend it's the Tarn
Beer Festival at Yeadon. This has bands from Friday till Sunday and there
will be a big selection of superb real ales, lagers and ciders available.
This is a RotN to the Core Event so please support it if you can. On Sunday
there is the Summer Fete at Swillington Miners Welfare Club
(on the playing field behind the club) and again it has many bands booked.
This is for Ben Manning Foundation and RotN to the Core. Please support these
events if you can. Live
Wire News Live/Wire
- The AC/DC show The UK's best loved AC/DC tribute band require a Lead
Guitarist. Three
Chord Wonder Step In The
five o'clock spot at Georgefest has been filled by Three Chord Wonder. Well
done to Tracy and the lads for filling this spot. Good luck to all the bands
performing at Georgefest this afternoon. John
Parr Resurgent and Coming Home Yorkshire's
own arena superstar John Parr is
currently on a sell-out tour of America once again after a long layoff.
John's layoff was not through lack of popularity in the States but we
understand it was though corporate giant's legal reasons. No matter, John is
now back in the big time and just as an example, a
2500 seat theatre had 15,000 applications so the gig was moved to a bigger
venue! Much like the days of old when John would fill arenas all over the
United States. We Yorkies have been lucky enough to see John at charity
festivals and I recently saw him at Rogerthorpe Manor near Pontefract with
John Waite. John Parr is returning to Rogerthorpe
Manor Hotel on September 30th. Tickets are available
from the hotel and I have to say a gig at Rogerthorpe is a very pleasant
experience. John has a new album available on download and CD and it's entitled "Letter to America".
We have downloaded the album which was recorded at John's own studio. It's a
two CD album in hard copy, and 50% is electric and 50% acoustic. It's
excellent in both modes! It's available from Amazon. M
Fest This Weekend There
is a huge festival going on in Darton, at the Darton Cricket Club in
Barnsley. There's a few different stages with all
kinds of bands on but Sunday the main stage has bands on who are linked to
us. Among the bands are Angel of Sin, Jagged, Optic
Nerve, Harry Coffey Band, Twin
Lizzy, and Fiery Biscuits. Rock
Blues Drummer Required A
pro drummer is required for a band in the area who
are well known but wish to have anonymity just for now. The band have many gigs booked but need a drummer who can
virtually drop everything to gig near and far away. It's not worth applying
if you have to clock in at work on Monday morning. It's a career band not a
hobby band and Euro gigs are already booked for next year. The drummer
required will be able to follow improvisation and be able to do the same, so
a listener is preferred, somebody who is really on the ball. A tall order maybe, but please contact this webmaster if
you can do it or know someone who can. We will then pass on your details in
total confidence. Dylan
Brierley Doing So Well Nice
to hear of local young talent Dylan Brierley doing well and being adopted by
the folksy set. It's not rock i hear you say but it is live music played by a
talented member of our community. Dylan puts a lot into the charity festivals
in the North and well done to him. Read a bit of news about Dylan on this link. Georgefest
On Sunday There
is the popular outdoor festival at the George the Fifth Club at Glasshoughton
on Sunday, near Xscape at Junction 32 on the M62. We haven't been supplied
with the list of bands but The Rakkiteers
and Top Gun are definitely there and that's good
enough for anyone to make the effort to make funds for charity. Party
In The Park It's
been a good year for gigs and festivals and there are a few more to come! The
one I'm going to promote in this paragraph is at Byram Park Club just North
of Knottingley. The postcode is WF11 9DX and Cancer Research UK via the RotN
to the Core Campaign are the recipients. The line up
is a very strong one with Monkey Dust, Empress, The
Erics, The Rakkiteers and a top band to be
announced. It's a fiver entrance fee which for this quality of line up is
cheap at the price! Well done to Top Gun
vocalist Paul for his great efforts in getting this festival organised in
double quick time. This will be similar to the Georgefest which incidentally
is this Sunday. Rock
Dogz Require a Singer Pronto Further
to the comment from Carl of Rockdogz
last night, we want to remind people out there of this need for a singer as
the band have a lot of gigs booked. http://www.rockdogz.webs.com Super
Swedes Back On Tour A
five band rock revue headed by Electric
Boys sees great music in four Northern venues this October. Liverpool
02 on the 6th October kicks off the tour, then on
the 7th the crew reach Yardbirds in Grimsby. The 8th sees them in
Nottingham's Rock City, then after a blast up to Scotland they are back at
Sheffield's 02 on the 11th. We're pleased to say the tour manager chose our
Webmaster Joe Lally as tour sound engineer, who is taking Cor Amor's Craig
Robinson as backline tech. Can't keep these Yorkshire lads down can you!
Media partners are Classic Rock Magazine and Planet Rock radio, and the tour
is sponsored by Smokehead.com. Sparky's
Bad News Last
night I was really gutted for a friend of ours. Sparky, Go Kommando's
drummer and all round good guy, has been told by his
doctor that due to his back injury, he will not be able to play drums again.
It's been a bad year for Sparky but I know that he can also play other
instruments, and I hope we will be able to see him again on the rock scene.
Sparky was well known for having a super-loud snare drum and I think it was
our webmaster's decibel meter that recorded something like 130db!...that was
acoustically measured, not amplified! We wish Sparky and partner Emma all the
best in the future and we know we will be seeing them again soon. Off
The Wall
Baz
Ex Skella sent these pictures of super-blusers Phillip
Sayce and Joanne Shaw Taylor from Thursday night's
Picturedrome gig. Cheers Baz, great as usual. Baz commented that it was a
superb gig and that the venue was excellent with great sound and lighting. We
agree totally with that and have experienced some great gigs at the venue. Crush
and the Mighty Rhythm For Festival Sunday The
Cross Keys will see Crush and the Mighty Rhythm step up and fill the
vacancy at the Ben Manning Fest on the 31st July. This is good to hear! Delirium
Get the Bouquets It
was nice to receive a comment from The Nightingale's manager Katy regarding
the band Delirium on Saturday night. Katy said that it was an awesome
night despite someone blowing the power by spilling beer on a socket! Great
review for the band too. Victoria
Has Three Chord Wonder Good Night The
Victoria at Saltaire had Three Chord Wonder at
the pub on Saturday night, and the band were delighted with their reception
and welcome and wish to play there again says Tracy, the band's bassist!
Three Chord Wonder are a recently formed band who have
"clicked" straight away. Band
Sorted For Gary's 50th Gary
Brown needed a band for his birthday and with the help of Rob at The Tank
South Elmsall, this has been sorted. Cheers Rob. Top
Weekend On Stage It's
a full weekend with 3 festivals on Sunday the 31st. The Cross keys, Morley,
The Royal, Pudsey, and Havana Bar in Wakefield all have multitudes of really
good bands making funds for different charities. Check the gig guide to see a
full weekend of great gigs. Tonight Friday,Black
Flag Venue hosts another Dissent night and the very impressive Arithmia
will be performing. This is the original material band based on She's
A Fire with the tremendous Jenn on vocals. Top
AC/DC Band Require Angus Widely
acknowledged as the leading AC/DC band in the UK, Live
Wire need a new Angus as their long serving guitarist is retiring
from playing. This band play at top venues all over
the country and play to packed houses. If you know anyone who walks the walk
etc, please let us know and we'll pass on your details. Inkubus
Sukkubus At Black Flag The
excellent Inkubus Sukkubus play at Black Flag Venue
on August the 27th. You should check out Youtube where they play a superb
version of Paint it Black. This great band, billed as a
Goth band, are playing as part of the Lee Lawrence campaign for cancer
charities. As well as the headline band there are two supports, Scary Bitches
+ Idle Creep. Entrance is just £7. Two excellent tribute bands are also
booked at the venue, A Foreigners Journey, and The Doors Alive. Other bands
are Attack Attack, Kids Don't Fly, The Reasoning, Hadouken.
So basically, there is something for everyone. Metal, Goth, Prog, Tributes,
and even burlesque if you check their website. Don't miss out! Click the
centre of the banner above to go to their website. Where
Angels Suffer from Wasps We've
recieved a mail from the management of the band Where
Angels Suffer,as
there are two members of W.A.S.P. performing with them. Guitarist Chris
Holmes and drummer Stet Howland are the two and ex Metal Church bassist Steve
Unger is also in the band. There are three dates in the UK: August 30th Underworld , London; August 31st The Diamond, Sutton in
Ashfield; September 1st Yardbirds Grimsby. Penguin
Win BoB Black
Flag Venue hosted a battle of the bands grand final on Saturday night
23/4/2011, where the band Penguin came out victorious to win a prize of £500.
This competition was run by Vincent Vega from Castleford, with heats being
held at the Black Bull at Hightown. Congratulations to Penguin. Jenna
and Paddy Nice
to be able to report on the Engagement of Jenna Hooson and Paddy McGuire on
the 23rd July. These two leading lights of the rocking blues scene with their
respective bands Hooson, and Paddy McGuire Band
are prime movers on the Blues Festivals scene and I wish them all the best
from Rock of the North. I hear that Jenna ran one of the Race
For Life events today 24/7/11 too. Ladies
Not Shy Today
is the 250th Resurgence gig at the Bridge at Huddersfield.
Helen, Kerrie and the boys kick off their special gig at 2pm onwards. Later
in the afternoon, at 6pm, Empress play
Bar Stanley in North Wakefield. No
Surprises Weekend It
was no surprise where the bouquets landed this weekend. One was firmly at the
feet of Top Gun who performed another of their
legendary sets in The Cross Keys, Morley. Another was awarded to Rory
Holl and The Men who performed at the recently re-furbed Tut and Shive in
Yeadon on Saturday night. Nice thing about top bands like these and such as The
Erics, Styckleback The Rakkiteers etc is that they are not
full of self importance and willingly give their services for charity
festivals. These bands are just off the top of my head, and there are many
brilliant bands who do the same. The local Northern
rock scene is a very special thing and long may it reign. Not
Long To The Yorkshire Rock and Bike Show In
about four weeks time it will be that time of year again when the massively
popular Rock and Bike Show is at Squires Cafe Bar at Newthorpe, just east of
Leeds. The Yorkshire Chapter of Satans Slaves MC run
this event and it gets better every year. It has many bands
from late afternoon Friday, till around midnight on Saturday. Camping
is included in the entrance fee, and there is a cafe there, toilets and all
facilities. Highlights for me this year will be Boneyard on
Saturday afternoon, and Leeds band Black Water.
There are many favourites there too like The Dookies
doing their Green Day tribute so many tastes will be catered for. Ben
Lockwood also runs a late night disco...actually an all night disco, in the
bar in the main building. The past two years have had a fireworks display to
close the event too, so there is no shortage of entertainment
. Saturday afternoon also has the custom bike show and presentation
between the bands. Tickets are available from The Lion pub in Castleford, and
I think these are £10 in advance. Shaun
Promoting At Two Venues It
was good to receive a gig list for two different new venues this morning. The
Brooklands on Bradford Road Batley is having Thursday live music nights and
The Blue Light at Alverthorpe, Wakefield, is now putting on Friday live music
nights. Both nights are being promoted by Shaun Whelan, who is not letting
live music die in the Wakefield/Dewsbury area. All gigs are uploaded if you
want to take a look on the guide. Boneyard
Rock Again Nice
to pick up the vibes that Boneyard rocked
the Cross Keys, Morley on Sunday night. Well done lads,
and I hear the support was good too. Nice to keep rocking blues alive and
kicking. Sweden
Rocks....In Barnsley As
I mentioned on Saturday, it was Shelly B's birthday and members of Swedish
band Houston attended the party in Cudworth!
Acoustic jams were apparent, as posted on Facebook, and it was nice to see a
Yorkshire/Sweden scratch band doing their
thing. Our webmaster was on bass and acoustic guitar and Matt Black sang
along with Hank Erix. It's a few miles up the road from Download where Joe
did sound for the band, but it's nice to see friendships like this develop
and musical interludes come out of it, but I suppose this has always been the
way since popular music began. Good
Gigs On Saturday Nice
to hear that True Brit, Twist of Fate
and girl fronted bands Rockweiler
and Miss Chief had good gigs on Saturday night, as
reported on the comments page. What is good , is
that there is a diversity in live music on the pub-rock scene and long may it
reign. The Guttersluts and The
Drastics were treating Queensbury to some punk entertainment too, so
you have Brit Pop/Rock, Classic Rock, Pomp Rock, and Punk too. That's pretty
good really. Saturday
Morning Round Up Well
it seems like Rory Holl and The Men are doing great things and
getting a great reputation. This is after our correspondent Mav sent in a
great review of the band's performance at The Cross Keys in Morley. There was
a reference to them on Facebook too. Good luck to the band, I think their time
has come to take their place amongst the top rank of pub bands. Also last
night Black Water had their EP launch at The New Roscoe,
a pub who now have Sam Smiths beer in their pumps at a very reasonable price.
The launch also had a special significance for Harry who was celebrating his
21st birthday, (actually on Thursday) but his mum arranged a celebration at
the EP launch. Birthdays are prominent today as it's
model Shelly B's birthday today. Shelly is the fiancé of Matt Black and is
the model on our merchandise page. Our webmaster Joe has been setting up some
equipment at their house for a big musical and boozical day today. Last night
Joe picked up Hank Erix, vocalist of Swedish AOR band Houston,
who has flown in for the party. Six of the Best
awesome guitarist John "Lightning Boy" Hardman is attending so the
jam will be rather special I would have thought! Some Invisible
Idols acoustic stuff is to be played with Matt and Joe and I wish
the party goers a great day. On the local scene tonight there's some great
bands playing in some great venues. As the weather is pretty horrible and not
suited to BBQ's, why not get along to your local venue for a good time. Have
a look at the gig guide. A
Foreigners Journey The
very highly acclaimed Foreigner and Journey tribute, A
Foreigners Journey return to Wakefield in October. Stars of the recent Planet
Rock sponsored Rhodes Rock tribute festival, the band do very authentic
renditions of the AOR favourites such as Juke Box Hero, Cold As Ice, Who's
Crying Now and of course, Don't Stop Believing. I personally enjoy this band
very much and I recommend them with confidence. They're playing at the Black
Flag Venue on Smyth Street, a venue becoming renowned for a big sound and
reasonable bar prices. No night club prices here. The date is October 14th, a
Friday, and tickets are £10 in advance. There will also be a support band.
I'll soon have details of where tickets are available online, but the venue have them, and Wakefield Tourist Office in The
Ridings have them now. The venue have a very wide
range of acts passing through and if you click on the middle of banner
above, you'll be able to check who is on. Loss
of A Great Landlord Last
night we learned of the death of Richard Kata, the landlord of the Drop Kick ,at Low Moor, Bradford. It has saddened many of us as
he was a nice bloke, and a generous one. Fridays would see bands on at The
Drop Kick and it was always a good night there. Richard was generous when it
came to charity events too, and at a RotN to the Core event, Richard chucked
200 quid in the pot. Naturally I was very impressed and grateful. The pub
will be closed for a few days as a mark of respect, then
it's believed Richard's son and daughter will carry on the good work. I would
ask bands not to ring or contact the pub as the family are understandably
upset, but Richard's son Alex has asked Brian Glover to help out. So if you
have an enquiry about a booking, please contact Brian on 07963 162008. Hellraisers
Red Hot Just
had a short report to tell me that The Hellraisers, which is Go Kommando's
glam alter ego, played out of their skins at the Sewer Rats "Get
Ratted" Rally on Rombolds Moor on Saturday night. The band were so well
received that the crowd kept them on stage and wouldn't let them off, so the
band had to morph into Go Kommando and rock the crowd well into the night! On
Sunday our webmaster was complaining of a sore throat after singing along to
previous band Delirium's repertoire! RotN
to the Core Still Active I've
just received another £170 for the RotN to the Core Campaign for Cancer
Research UK from Stevie Fingers Horsfall and wife Sue following a collection
at the Aspenbury Festival, Steve and Sue's annual super rock garden party.
Steve and Sue visited us at Windy Corner this afternoon to deliver the cash.
This year we have been struggling to make funds at the same rate as the
previous two years, so we are always grateful for anything to help the fight
against cancer. We have two fund raisers to come this year, Frock of the
North featuring ladies of RotN, and a fund raiser by Blue Angels MC at their
Leeds Custom Bike Rally in September. On November 27th there is the Soberfest
event at the Anglers Club with lots of the areas favourite bands on. Hope you
can attend any for the cause. I would also like to resurrect the RotN
Convention all dayer ,like the ones we had before I
was ill. This should be an easy task in reality. I don't know why I
procrastinate so much to be honest. Any thoughts?
The
Polish Club at Barnsley hosted Kobra and the Lotus from Canada last night and
it has been said that this band performed the best ever concert the club has
ever seen. The band do get good reviews and I'm please The Polish Club have
had the chance to put top bands like this on. The club is well worth
supporting. Quality bands from abroad and it's cheap, and so are the drinks.
A top club without question. Photograph courtesy and copyright of Baz
Ex-Skella. Secret
Affair At Black Flag Venue The
mod veterans Secret Affair came to the Wakefield venue for the first time on
Friday night and we have it on good authority that they were a really good
professional band. Also on the bill were the highly entertaining Guttersluts
who were both comical and good musically too. Our webmaster was impressed
with both bands, and hopes they appreciated their discount at the local
Indian restaurant that he negotiated for them! Busy
Weekend My
weekend has been busy away from the PC but I have seen some good music and
seen some good friends.Saturday saw me visiting the Dewsbury home of Phoenix
Rising's Steve Horsfall and wife Sue. It was the time of year once again
where Steve celebrate's surviving a trauma that
almost cost him his life. The rocking garden party is called Aspenbury which
I was happy to attend. Invited guests were high in number this year and
charity donations were over £500 this time! I saw three bands, The Blueniks,
Bonnie Mac Blues Band, and The Remedy before my legs gave out and they were
all brilliant, I was very impressed as it was the first time I'd seen all of
them. The event was a very friendly, but a bit boozy kind of atmosphere and
it was a rare pleasure seeing many musicians chewing the fat and having good laugh. The charity recipients were Ben Manning
Foundation, and Cancer Research UK via RotN to the Core. Saturday
Morning Saturday
mornings are a waiting game to see if anyone comments on Friday's gigs. Well
the comments have come in for Silverthorn and Hard Shoulder's gigs last night
but we patiently await news of the Royal Hotel gig with Supercell in charge
of the music. As I type I'm listening to Lockin, the Mp3 playing on
RotN at the moment. This song Nightworker reminds me of my
working life on nightshifts, which I liked to be honest! However it's the
song I like so much and it's loaded with atmosphere. Dave Battle's vocals are
superb in this genre of music, but this song is one he excels in. I've said
for a number of years that Dave can actually sing !
Good solid bass thickens the mix and great drums from Martin Hills too. Don't
laugh but I was playing the song as I was getting ready this morning, and as
I put my hearing aids in the snare suddenly sounded fantastic! I'm a deaf old
bugger without them, so look after your lugs, it makes sense. I hope this
song suits you too. The song is part of the new Lockin EP. Bone
Yard Rattling Well The
new local blues/rock band Bone Yard recorded some live songs at The New
Roscoe and I've just had the pleasure of listening to them. With Sam Hirst
and Col Challinor in the band the quality was always going to be there, but
the band have a very good keys player with them now (and drummer too of
course) and I have to say the music is right up my street, and really good
quality. I was particularly impressed with BB King's The Thrill Has
Gone, well done lads, it's excellent. Watch out for this band on the
circuit. I have a feeling they are local legends in the making. Experiencing
Security Problems I
have to apologise for a lack of updating this week as we're having problems
with security being uprated on the server, which has caught us out with
passwords etc. Steve
Morris Joins The Senators Leeds
band The Senators have suddenly gained the vocal talents of Steve Morris. The
band have been off the scene for a while but we know
their band is complete once more with a very good line up of musicians. Steve
is ex Southbound, and had a spell with Project 552 where his vocals were
notable. Young
Guns Going For It Two
of my favourite young original bands have both released EP's this week. Both
Lockin and Black Water have published to Facebook for most people to sample
their new songs. I listened to Lockin's Nightworker this
Tuesday afternoon and it made me have cold shivers go up my back! Well done
to both bands for just being good and showing talent is still coming out the
North. Cleethorpes
Rockin' Blues
Walter
Trout gave the Cleethorpes Blues Fest a heck of a finale on Sunday night
after an afternoon and evening of very high quality music from a number of
quite different bands. The sun was blazing down as we arrived at Pleasure
Island, where two stages greeted us. One was the acoustic stage, and the
other was my preferred electric stage. The brilliant Larry Miller got things
off in fine style with a blues/rock extravaganza from his band. Les Paul's
don't seem to find as much favour in this genre of music but you could hear
the typically sustained Gibson sound in Larry's playing. What playing it was too. Larry is a fantastic player and I recommend you see
him some time. The lovely Kyla Brox was next up with just two flutes, her
acoustic guitarist, and her incredible voice gave us an hour of jazzy styled
blues. I've liked Kyla for many a year yet she's still a young woman. I'd
have liked her to have had her full band with her though. RotN favourite
Chantel McGregor attracted many fans to the front of the stage as she tore
though some fantastic guitar fuelled rock/blues, her own excellent songs too,
and some post baby boomer blues era rock such as Robin Trower's Daydream. The
fans were loving it and so was I. Afterwards I was
with Chantel and her parents, and I saw first hand how popular she is with
her adoring fans, she's certainly going places with this fanbase. A complete
change of style saw Mostly Autumn go through their prog paces and very
impressive they were too. Slightly misplaced at a festival labelled as a bluesfest,
they mentioned the fact but said "good music is good music" and I
agree, they were very good. I saw a short amount of Wilko Johnson's set but I
needed food, so I missed most of it. I dare say it will have been excellent
as Wilko is a very popular figure. While I had my food with Chantel, The Head
Cook and Chantel's dad and roadie, Alan, The Walter Trout band meandered into
the food hall at some pace! Walter's three sons were in tow and it was nice
to see them all for the first time even though I sent them DVD's of Mr
Methane and Thunderpants to their California home in the past, much to the
distaste of Walter's wife Marie, and much to the amusement of Walter, I'd
never actually met them before! Soon afterwards the band rushed off to start
their set and what a rip-roaring set it was! With many favourites such as
Life In The Jungle included and I Need A Helping Hand with Sleez Beez singer
Andrew Elt helping out on vocals, the band had the audience eating out of
their hands. Walter's guitar playing was red hot as always and he must play a
million (melodic) notes a gig, and he's 60 years old, I don't know how he
does it. So, all good things come to an end and after an overnight stay in
our executive b&b hotel (cost a bloomin' fortune) the old bluesmobile has
whisked us back to Sweet Home Windy Corner to bring you this report. The
organiser told me he intends to have more of these so watch
our events page. It was one of the best Sunday's I've had in a very long
time. All
Is Quiet Little
to report from the weekend at all really! The Shoulder of Mutton pub will be
receiving my apologies forthwith and unreservedly as I mistakenly named them
this morning as the pub involved with the One Fat Spider shortfall in
payment. It was the Duke William. Black
Water Fared Well We're
sad to report that Black Water didn't win the battle of the bands competition
on Sunday night but did fare well and were complimented for a great set. No
matter, the band are mixing a new EP this week and
we fully recommend seeing this band as soon as you can. Quality
Bands With Youth On Their Side RotN
is a site that is about cover bands and tribute bands on the whole but we
like to keep our ears and eyes open for good young original bands. Over the
past six months there have been three bands who have "come of age"
to me. They are, in no particular order, Lockin, Cor Amor, and Black Water.
Black Water are today competing in a battle of the
bands final at the Hyde Park pub at Woodhouse Moor. If you're in the area,
give 'em a cheer. They certainly get the thumbs up from us, we think they
fabulous. Cor Amor are a band we've featured before and three core members
stand out to us. Craig Robinson on guitar is a Youtube superstar with a huge
amount of hits. Jake "The Snake" Brooksbank on drums has impressed
us for a few years now, and was taught by his uncle, the well respected Lance
Brooksbank of Arena . Brad Dobson on vocals has a
brilliant voice and a great stage presence. Brad is a very intelligent young
man too. Now Lockin, they're recording an EP as we speak and their live work
supporting big bands has found them getting respect from those very bands
they've supported, which includes Skindred, Hayseed Dixie, and many others.
This area is not short of talent and I'm so pleased we are privy to the business
of these excellent young bands. Good music is safe in young hands! Download
Experience As
we reported earlier, our webmaster Joe went to the Saturday of Download to
engineer for the Swedish darlings of Classic Rock Magazine, Houston. This was
on the Pepsi Max Stage around lunchtime. Joe said he was a bit nervous as he
saw the Midas Heritage 3000 desk but soon had Houston sounding good. The band
received a great reception and they thanked our webmaster, wishing he could
have engineered for their gig with Cheap Trick later in the month. It clashes
with Glastonbury where Joe's engineering on the Bourbon Street Stage. Back at
Download, Joe did his thing and enjoyed a full day watching Alice Cooper, Mr
Big, Avenged Sevenfold, Cheap Trick, Skunk Anasie and
Skindred! Lucky boy. He also met Billy Sheehan and others and reacquainted
himself with Benji from Skindred, who he befriended at Black Flag when they
played there. What a great day for our webmaster. One to save in the old
memory banks. Supercell
At Royal RotN Gig July
1st, the Friday evening will see a RotN to the Core event at The Royal,
Pudsey. Providing quality music will be the Daze derivative trio, Supercell.
We know what these lads can do, they're young lads. all
teenagers if I'm not mistaken, and they crack out some incredibly well played
classic rock. All proceeds go to Cancer Research UK. Hope you can get there
to make the event worthwhile. Fillmore
North Debut Saturday
sees the debut of new band Fillmore North. This debut is part of a 3 band
evening at Red Square in Dewsbury. Support this if you can, I reckon this new
band will be excellent and with a very full sound! Webmaster
Engineering At Download Our
resident web mechanic and creator of this website is taking some time to go
to Download on Saturday to engineer for Swedish AOR band Houston. It's a nice
addition to his CV, having already picked up a second
year engineering at Glastonbury. Joe engineered for Houston on the four band
UK tour recently and impressed the Spine Farm Records tour manager. He
impressed me too last week by buying me a chip sandwich on his day off. PA
for Bands The
comments over the weekend have been interesting especially regarding
Meanstreak who are a fairly new band who like many others, don't own a PA
themselves. This could often be a problem as you can imagine. There are
companies who run PA hires and the cost is often twice as much as the band
are getting as a fee. For pub bands, this is a non-starter obviously. Stevie
Fingers of Phoenix Rising on his days off has hired himself out and a company
called TankTrax, who are in our classifieds section, hire themselves out at a
very reasonable price. Well done to people like that, because they are
offering a good service to the RotN community. Frock
of the North Festival Just
a reminder that the 2011 Frock of the North festival will be held on the
Sunday afternoon and evening of October 2nd at The Cross Keys Morley, with
all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. It's a great line up of bands with
Sugar Mamas, Broadband, Hooson, Rockweiler, and "Frock" veterans
Angel of Sin. There might be another Frock veteran band joining the fray as
well. Today I went to the Cross Keys for a photoshoot with these wonderful
ladies of rock who had a giggle and some fun with the Frock banner, (courtesy
of Jill Brierley), in the shots. I'd just like to thank these ladies for
their efforts. This gig is especially aimed at bringing the "Pink
Ribbon" to the forefront of our charity fundraising. Cancer Research UK plough millions of pounds into research to fight breast
cancer, a strain of the disease I hate with a vengeance. I hope you will come
and support the event in October. Tygers
of Pan Tang Black
Flag venue in Wakefield are hosting an event with
legendary band Tygers of Pan Tang in October. Not only that,
two of this areas most promising up and coming rock bands are
supporting the legends. Lockin from Castleford, and
Black Water from Leeds are going to be fattening out what will be one of the
best rock concerts in Wakefield for a long time. This isn't my usual hype either, this will be a fantastic concert. Tygers of Pan
Tang agreed to do this gig to support the Ben Manning Foundation after being
contacted by Ben's brother Lee, who runs the charity. This event is on the
7th October. It's a 14+ show so younger rockers can enjoy the full production
show. Few
Reviews Not
too many reports from Friday except P-A-U-L were excellent at The Polish Club
in Barnsley on Friday night our webmaster said when he returned home. A comment
this morning regarding Rockweiler at the Tarn pub at Yeadon was very
complimentary about Rachel's voice and the band in general but the downer was
a noisy audience, i.e. the hubbub of noise from talking. You do sometimes
find that so turn the PA up next time Rachel! Behind
Every Note The
initials of Behind Every Note are BEN, and it's all to do with Ben Manning
and the music foundation in his memory. The campaign rolls on to Featherstone
this Friday night the 3rd June. Featherstone WMC are
hosting another function and proceeds go to the charity.
P-A-U-L
Returns To the Polish Club The
brilliant Detroit band P-A-U-L return to the Polish Club at Barnsley on
Friday night the 3rd June. We thoroughly recommend anyone at all to see them
because they are a great band. Don't expect blues dirges from this band. You
might get the odd minor key song but you'll also get a huge lashing of funky
rocky offerings. We've seen 'em a few times and we like 'em a lot. You really
need to see their drummer Layla Hall, but if you're a drummer you might want
to sell your drums when you get home! She's awesome. The band as side
musicians have been touring in the USA and Europe with Joanne Shaw Taylor and
recently supported Glenn Hughes. Young
Dylan Wins Dylan
Brierley has been on the scene for a little while now as a singer/songwriter.
The Morley youngster is still only 13 but he's been supporting bands who are well known on the local scene for some time. He is
also forging some strong links on the acoustic folk scene and is finding
favour with some of the bigger names on that scene. Here is a passage about
Dylan's win at the recent Rising Stars competition: We Won Rising Stars!
Dylan has scooped first place at the Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival !!! Lockin
EP On The Way Young
Castleford band and RotN faves Lockin are planning an EP and this will be
available soon. This band have been tipped for
higher things by us in the past and I've had a healthy interest in their
progress for a while now. They have been noticed by more influential people
than us and even have Hayseed Dixie amongst their fans. That can't be a bad
thing! Mini
Bullfest The
Ben Manning weekend continued at The Black Bull in Castleford on Monday the
30th May with a festival showcasing many local bands including Orion. The
fest was held outside after all as the weather cleared, and quite a decent
crowd came to support the charity. I'm not sure if people are aware of what
this charity is all about but Ben Manning was the young 17 year old who came
to Wakefield to see a band he knew. That night he went missing. He had walked
the wrong way in a town he wasn't familiar with, and he fell in the river.
Ben wasn't a strong swimmer and he drowned. Ben's family have set up the Ben
Manning Music Foundation in his memory. The aim of the charity is to help
underprivileged youngsters to learn to play music. Black Flag Venue, The
Black Bull at Castleford, and many local bands have supported the series of
concerts. Rock of the North have provided backline, and our webmaster Joe has
been helping out with PA and sound engineering duties, and Carl Wragg has
helped with arrangements. Ben's family are very grateful to all helpers.
Featherstone WMC have a gig soon for the charity and
we'll keep you posted on that. Developments Spring
Bank Holiday has brought up three newsworthy items but I can't give details
as yet. Northern Rokk are about to announce a new drummer, Empress are about
to announce "developments", and The Senators have enlisted a new
guitar player who they are very proud of. The Senators are on the lookout for
a quality vocalist though. So if you fancy a shot with a good band, that's a
good opportunity. Actually Northern Rokk have already announced that Ian
Barnes is to be their new drummer, which is good news as Ian currently does
the business with Angel of Sin. AoS retain Ian's services and Ian will play
in both bands. Ben
Manning Weekend The
Ben Manning Music Foundation wound up it's Black
Flag weekend yesterday with some great performances by Martin Altilar,
Lockin, Below Zero, and Road to Horizon and a few others. Musically it was a
very successful day on Sunday. Blue
On Black One
of my muso friends from the South West of England gave me a link to listen to
some soundbites of his band Blue On Black. Take a listen
A
Lot Going On A
lot going on, haha, that's what my GP keeps telling me about my health! Well
to echo his words, "you've a lot going on!" This weekend is what I
mean. I looked at the gig guide and there is a lot to see, so my advice to
you music fans is to study the guide, and have a good time! Batley
Gets One Back Although
we've lost Abbey Road in Batley as a music venue, there has been a development
and The Brooklands Bar is to become a music venue. Wakefield promoter Shaun
Whelan is busy and the Brooklands will boast a
stage and lights worthy of calling the pub a venue. Good news for you
Dewsbury music fans once more. A flyer for June is on our events page. Hebden
Bridge Blues Festival
Oh
Flippin Eck Apologies
for the loss of the comments page and gig guide on the evening of the 24th,
but the server for those pages, which is a different one from the other RotN
pages, had a catastrophic error! Anyway that's sorted but I've just crashed
the gig guide. No worries, this will be back to normal service by teatime!
I've been catching up with the classifieds and adding gigs too this morning!
On the classified there are some interesting wanted and available additions.
Seems like a young drummer called Joe, who's just passed his grade 8 exam,
wants to join a band doing Blink and Bullet for my Valentine stuff. A mature
(over 50) singer is also required so take a look. I won't be applying because
I'll never be a sing while ever I've got a hole in my ...er... woolly jumper.
There must be people out there who can sing though, so if you're the star of
the karaoke bar, apply, you've nothing to lose! Black
Flag Diversity As
you know, we're big supporters of Black Flag Venue because it's our home town
"Big Venue". After many years in the mist, bigger acts are being
brought to Wakefield. The venue is having to
diversify somewhat, but I do know a quite famous NWOBHM band have been booked
for later in the year. I can't tell you who just yet due to agency etiquette,
but one of our up and coming metal bands have won support for the gig. Now
this is not rock by any stretch of the imagination but the venue has booked
an American female singer called Dev. She's coming to Black Flag immediately
after her appearance at Glastonbury and she has a single called "Bass
Down Low" so ask your sons, daughters, nephews or nieces as they will no
doubt want a ticket because she is really a big deal artist on the world
stage! She's asked for two bottles of champagne on the rider, which is a bit
of a difference from Hayseed Dixie who asked for 40 bottles of real ale! The
Dev tickets are going on sale this Friday and they'll fly out as they're only
8 quid. They're expecting her single to be number one in the charts in the
next couple of weeks. Simon
Joins Fillmore North New
band Fillmore North have added a keyboard player to
the mix after an enlightening rehearsal yesterday the 22nd May. It's none
other than ex Broken Angel member Simon Atack. I personally am of the opinion
that Simon would enhance any band but I think Fillmore North will hit the
stage running with a great repertoire and very full sound. Can't wait to see
them. The band play their first gig at Red Square,
Dewsbury on June 11th. Punk
Fills The Polish We're
always pleased when the Polish Club has success but May 22nd was another
triumph for the club when Total Confusion , King Crows and Brainbomb got
together to attract a big crowd for a late afternoon start of punk mayhem.
Well done to all concerned! Supermodels
Review Regular
correspondent Baz (Ex Skella) sent in a review via the comments page and it
was a shame not to use it on here, so here it is: If
proof were needed that the Boot & Shoe was not some dyed in the wool
haven for worshippers of all things Sabbath & AC/DC and nothing else,
then that proof was in evidence Sunday afternoon> In front of an audience
of hardened rock fans this band proved their mettle (geddit!). But if you're
gonna go about converting the so-called War Piggers then you'd better be good.
And if you're not, well prepare yourself to be sacrificed at the alter of the Boot's stage. So just how do you get away
with your head still intact when you don't include Rosie & All Right Now
in your set? You do it by being quite possibly one of the best bands that
Yorkshire has to offer. Don't just take my word for it, ask the packed house
that was there to witness York based band The Supermodels. Word had obviously
spread since their last visit back in February. This was apparent as the pub
was already packed before they'd even struck a note. Trust me there's not
many bands that command that kind of attention, especially relative newcomers
to the area. So what makes them so special? Well of course you'd have to be
there to appreciate it. But just to hear not only the applause but also the
genuine shouts, whoops and cheers that greeted the band after the first 2
songs should be evidence enough. The Supermodels are a six piece band,
fronted by a vocalist, who to put it in perspective on these pages is in the
same league as Matt Scooby. The guy's almost like an impressionist. His take
on Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty & Roger Daltrey were
uncanny. More so Daltrey. But this is no one man show. The rest of the band,
consisting of drums, bass, 2 guitarists, keyboards and quite possibly the
best backing vocals and harmonies I've heard in over 30 years of visiting
pubs & clubs. Their take on The Who's Who Are
You ELO's Mr Blue Sky & Wings Band On The Run was just something else. An
audio equivalent of Madame Tussauds is one way of looking at it as their
renditions were that close. So what else do you get for your money. Well songs from U2, Cold Play, The Feeling, ZZTop,
Toto, Genesis, Fleetwood Mac and Green Day to name but a few. Certainly an
eclectic mix, but the songs in both sets gelled together really well no
matter what era they came from. If this review seems a little over the top.
Well that's simple. It's deserved. Easily the best band I've seen in a long
long time. Quiet
Times Sunday
the 22nd and I'm quietly typing away on RotN but haven't really much to tell
you at the moment. I'm listening to Chantel McGregor's CD "Like No
Other" which I am finding hard to remove from the player these days! It
was a tale of two halves last night according to our comments page. Top Gun
saw a steaming Boot and Shoe cheer them on last night yet the Cross Keys was
comparatively quiet. It seems to be like this lately. Today has a few good
gigs on offer so check the gig guide. The Blueflies at Huddersfield is a
highlight in West Yorkshire. Derbyshire has the superb Steve French Band at Clowne too, but that's later in the day. Me?
I'll be watching my Buddy Guy DVD today, a befitting piece of music for
someone of my advance years. Enjoy your day of rest! Abbey
Road Closed We've
just received news from Shaun Whelan, the Wakefield promoter, regarding the
loss of the Abbey Road venue in Batley. I've put this news on in case anyone
hasn't been notified. The
Stones Play Swillington No,
not the real Stones, but Chesterfield's tribute to the Rolling Stones, and
they're amazing, and they'll definitely make you chuckle, and they play the
music so well. Saturday night, the 21st May, sees the tour call in at
Swillington Miners Welfare Club, on the A642.A nice club, and a great band. If
you like Stones music, you'll love these, and it's the real Mick Jagger you know.....well he told me he was! I almost believed him! Hayseed
Dixie Reign
Black
Flag Venue hosted the superb Hayseed Dixie on Tuesday night and what a
fantastic night of entertainment it was! The venue was well attended and the
crowd were in a great mood after being entertained by three really excellent
bands. The Howard Bros kicked off the nights
entertainment much in the same vein as Hayseed Dixie in that they played rock
standards with a bluegrass twist! Unfortunately one of the guys stood on a DI
box on stage and it sounded like the roof was falling in through the powerful
PA in the venue! Good band though, I loved The Who in the bluegrass style,
and they paved the way for a change of style .
Hayseed Dixie asked for a metal band support specifically and you can do no
better than Castleford's Lockin. Lockin were absolutely spot on, the
crowd loved them, and so did Hayseed Dixie, as they were peeping out of the
stage side door and rocking along with the rest of us. Lockin certainly are
riding on the crest of a wave these days Tuesday night's performance proved
to me that they are ready to step up to a bigger stage. So can a bluegrass
band follow a metal band? Well if it's Hayseed Dixie, the answer is yes. The
band came to the stage to a great cheer, as there is a large fan base for
these unusually styled musicians. Musicians they are too, and this is soon
evident as they play nearly two hours of rock music with a bluegrass twist.
It's great fun, the band just want to have a good time, and hillbilly
charisma flows off the stage like dry ice! The crowd were lapping it up. The
normal mix of AC/DC songs, plus selected metal classics such as Ace of
Spades, War Pigs and even Bohemian Rhapsody was performed and the quality
was...just
like this video! Then especially for the proprietor of the venue, lead
singer "Barley Scotch" sang a bluegrass version of Eton Rifles!
Fantastic entertainment which lasted for two hours on this excellent venues'
stage. Later the band did a meet and greet with their fans and Facebook this
morning is a testament to the band's friendliness and good nature. Nice to
see members of our rock community in the crowd too. A top night,
and you don't get those every week! Especially midweek. Well done to Black
Flag for bringing this level of entertainment to this West Yorkshire
town. Chantel
Is Omnipresent I
had a nice conversation with Chantel McGregor on Tuesday afternoon and it's
seems that our young guitar slinging heroine is almost omnipresent at the
moment! She certainly is in this house as I can't stop playing her debut CD
"Like No Other"! It's a brilliant CD and there is a review on this site. On
the strength of this quality offering from our Princess of the Silver
Strings, surely it cant be long before more fame is
bestowed upon her. I strongly recommend you purchase her CD,
it's exceptionally good and available from her website and at gigs. On the
live scene Chantel is here, there and everywhere! The Hebden Bridge Blues
Festival will see Chantel perform, and there is a two-centre pair of
festivals with Walter Trout, Wilco Johnson, Mostly Autumn, Kyla Brox, Larry
Garner, and of course our own Chantel. This is in June and locations are
Durham and Cleethorpes. See our events page for details. Connections I
was sat quietly reading an interview with Reb Beach, the Whitesnake guitarist
yesterday, and it was a really interesting read. One of the things that
amazed me is the connections, do they call it
"six degrees of separation"? Well Reb, apart from being a good
player in one of my fave bands, sold a Suhr guitar to Rich Dunstan, a regular
RotN contributor and guitarist, and Reb was also in Fiona Flanaghan's band.
I've loved Fiona's "Talk to me" song for 25 years and wondered who
the guitarist was....and it was Reb. Reb's also in Winger and Winger were
produced by Beau Hill. Beau has connections to Fiona, and also wrote songs
for Stevie Nicks. Beau also did the re-mix of "David" the song
contributed by RotN fave band Motus, on our RotN to the Core CD (which is
still available for five quid). Not sure how many degrees of separation that
is, but it thrilled me well enough! Good
Weekend To Come At The Polish In Barnsley If
you haven't seen the comment from Mr Chief's Marcus Ward, I'll remind you all
of a full weekend of music at The Polish Club. On Friday the 20th there is a
two band delight with signed band Sub Nova and Barnsley's own RokInk. That's
the big band of the weekend. On Saturday the club favourites Mr Chief support
up and coming band Sharp Sand. Expect some gems being played that night from
both bands. Sunday from 5pm has a punk extravaganza with Barnsley legends
Total Confusion, plus King Crows and Brainbomb! What a great weekend, and
it's all free entry and cheap beer. Hebden
Bridge Blues It's
not long to the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival at the end of May. The town will
be taken over by music enthusiasts and the weekend will be a mini Colne kind
of atmosphere. Running from the 27th to the 30th of May 2011,
and in a variety of venues across Hebden Bridge, the Hebden Bridge Blues
Festival will showcase some of the very best new Blues musicians, responsible
for taking the music into the next decade. For tickets, call 01422 84 55
22.Email jason@hebdenblues.co.uk.
Website http://hebdenblues.co.uk
Eden
Sadly Not Happening I
am very, very disappointed to hear today officially that the new
"supergroup" Eden will not get off the ground. The members pedigree should have ensured great success but
unfortunately it is not to be. I won't go into reasons for this, but I'd just
like to wish the members much success in their future. Mahogany
Newt Impress The
Lion in Castleford hosted yet another awesome performance from South
Yorkshire band Mahogany Newt on Friday night! We knew the band
were of great quality but it was nice to hear our webmaster tell me
they were brilliant as he witnessed the performance. Mahogany Newt regularly wow the South Yorks rock bars and clubs. Nice to see them make their debut at The Lion with such success. Black
Flag Future Is Rosie The
venue has been catching the interest of outside promoters and one in
particular looks likely to put some superb bands in there. Next year there is
a chance of a real coup but I just cannot tell you who! It couldn't be done
this year unfortunately and I've only found out due to a "mole" in
the camp! There is a chance of very big hitters on the blues circuit
too. Unscrupulous agents have restricted the venue's success since
opening and licensing restrictions have not helped. Wakefield is a very
strict town in that way. The venue is brilliant and has had some major
successes like the promotion of Sunshine Underground and Funeral for a
Friend. Local young bands clamour for support slots so the venue must be
doing something right. The Blockheads appear on the 21st May and scooter
clubs and mod types will be well suited with mod icons Secret Affair on the
8th July. I'm not too well versed on that band but apparently they are mod
heroes and very good too! Sisters
Are Doing It The
Cross Keys Morley will hold a Frock of the North festival on the 2nd October
in aid of Cancer Research UK with a special emphasis on the "Pink
Ribbon"....no need to explain is there? Five Female fronted bands are confirmed :- The Sugar Mama's, BroadBand, Hooson,
Rockweiller and Angel Of Sin, and the day will end at 10pm as it's a Sunday.
The event starts at 2pm. Organiser Karon Lewis of Broadband sent us the info
yesterday and I can assure you the day will be awesome with a very special
finale! It's on a Sunday as some bands are booked on the
Saturdays, but it's a good family day so do bring the kids for an
entertaining afternoon and evening. Check
the Events Pages Don't
forget to check the Events pages as I've just uploaded a few special posters
that might interest punk fans or blues fans, or indeed rock fans. There's
something for everyone and some of the events are very special. Check
the Classifieds I've
been altering the classified pages and there are some interesting things such
as a Blackstar 30w head for sale, and some vacancies to be filled. If you
want to be in a band there's your opportunity. Stolen
Guitars To Watch Out For A
chap in Cambridge has had three guitars stolen. They all very good ones and
cherished. These include a 1966 FENDER TELECASTER custom standard,
natural wood finish with a humbucker pickup with Gibson stamped on it... A
1982 LES PAUL DELUXE in Cherry Red and.... A GIBSON 335 88 DOT reissue
finished in tobacco sunburst (on which the upper horn of the cutaway has a
cigarette burn on the binding). If you see anyone trying to sell them, please
contact us. Charity
Money Still Trickling In We
received a cheque for £200 from Woodbottom WMC today from the Woodystock
festival in August and the Drakfest 2011 gig at The Polish Club made £142 on
Monday. In these cash strapped times any funds are welcome and at Barnsley,
Drakfest was the third festival of the weekend and the people still donated!
Always remember though that in affluent times or austere times, cancer will
still strike indiscriminately, and I should know, I've been fighting it for 3
years, and I lost my mother to it last year. When possible please do support
the Cancer Research UK fund raising gigs. I estimate our campaign is down by
80% on last year. Tribute
Band or Covers Band Needed You
may remember the young fellow Ben Manning. Sadly 17 year old Ben went missing
after a night out in Wakefield. He unfortunately fell into the River Calder
and drowned. His disappearance caused an outpouring of grief and anxiety
among the local music world and a Foundation was set up, The Ben Manning
Foundation. There is to be a concert on the 27th May at Black Flag Venue,
Wakefield, and a band have dropped out of the
tribute band night. Are there any bands who might want to contribute their
show to the charity foundation on this night? I would imagine it will be a
one hour set or maybe less. Buddy
Whittington At Selby I
was treated to an evening of blues grooves at short notice as an invite to
see the brilliant Buddy Whittington was taken up. Selby Town Hall is a
fantastic and intimate venue where you're up close with the action and it's a
great view from all around the venue. The music was fantastic and Buddy is a
superb singer as well as a fluent and accurate guitarist. Well you'd have to
be if you were in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for 15 years. The gig was a two
set affair and Buddy and the fantastic rhythm section and keys player were
tight as anything. Buddy talks with a Texan accent and he would have as
that's where he was brought up. He can play in the Texas style too, or
Chicago, or Mississippi, or classical style too. For £12 it was well worth it
to groove with Buddy. The venue was a sell out, and it's little wonder as
this guitarist/singer really turns it on. Highly recommended. I spoke with
Buddy afterwards about his guitars and although busy, he was a complete
gentleman and didn't rush away. Nice bloke. Webmaster
at Rock City Our
webmaster Joe has been busy on a UK tour with headliners Houston and three
other bands including Matt Black's new band Serpentine as the tours sound
engineer. Saturday night was the Rock City gig in Nottingham and all was
going well we heard earlier in the evening! Houston are
a Swedish AOR band who've had rave reviews in Classic Rock Magazine. The band
and supports play Glasgow/Wigan/Bristol/London in the next few days. Heck
Of A Weekend Ahead We
all know what the 29th April was, the Royal Wedding. It kicked off a party
weekend for many as quite a few were gifted a day off. Mine was spent
travelling to Yardbirds in Grimsby, a really nice rock club. Time moves on
and Saturday has a area full of good bands in the
pubs, and Townville Club is holding a festival with 5 bands on and with
Piston Broke headlining. Sunday has three big festivals so check out the
events page and gig guide. On top of that there's plenty to see in the pubs
too. Monday is another bank holiday and The Polish Club, Barnsley offer
Drakfest with plenty of great bands to entertain you. Check the events page,
and have a great weekend. Live
Music Makes You Feel Good: John Waite Gig I've
been saving my pennies and my energy to see John Waite at Rogerthorpe Manor
on the 26th April. It was my friend of 40 odd years
birthday. So after a burger at Frankie and Benny's, we made it to Rogerthorpe
to find out Jon Amor had just finished his set. I was just a bit miffed
about that as I like Jon and he was a member of the legendary 90's British
band The Hoax. Ah well...but soon after John Parr did a short set with his
acoustic and this went down well, especially St Elmo's Fire. Not too long
after the headline act came on. This was John
Waite and his excellent American band which included Kyle Cook of Matchbox 20
on guitar. The sound was brilliant from CNics Audio, one of the best PA and
lights companies I've ever experience. Some engineers have it loaded one way
or the other and some just put too much of everything in all at once. This
was superb, perfect in every way. John Waite is quite a legend, and his
vocals are really nice. I only knew two songs but I enjoyed every one. Some
of the songs were from the new Rough and Tumble CD and includes the new
single for the American market "If You Ever Get Lonely". The song
is typical John Waite, so quality and listen-ability is assured. The Head
Cook and I were saying how much we had sickened ourselves off with the local
music scene, (too much of a good thing), but seeing a band of this quality
enhanced by great sound and lights in a nice building, made us realise what
we'd been missing. Lighting engineers, chuck your par cans, Martin Roboscans
and the like in the skip. Take a look at CNics subtle lighting and see the
future! This was an excellent gig, a top quality rock
music experience. The biggest puzzle to me is how the hell did Ricky Metcalfe
put three "names" on, and hire quality sound and lights for £17:50
a ticket ???? Still
Not 100% I'd
like to thank people for asking about my health. I'm improving from how I was
a month ago but I have a very serious illness that isn't causing me serious
problems at the moment, yet I have a problem that is now found to be not as
serious as first thought, but is causing serious problems for me! Both things
are treatable but it will take six months or more to sort out, and maybe an
operation too. This is why you rarely see me out and about as I'm in some
degree of discomfort most of the time. I've had over three years of fighting
cancer and it's taken it's toll on me obviously, and
my family, and it's affected this website quite a lot. Hopefully 2012 will be
a turning point. Catching
Up This Morning I've
been catching up with RotN a bit this morning. There's a couple of guitarists
needed on the Musicians Wanted section, and I've been adding gigs you sent me
last week, and some this morning. It can get a bit hectic at the end of the
month as far as gigs are concerned. I unfortunately lost a file with some
gigs on so I know Lancashire band Retrospect, I'll need yours sending, and
maybe the June onwards Charlie Dont Surf gigs. Applejacks
Are Well Received A
proper blast from the past, The Applejacks, who had chart success in the
Sixties, were very well received at Hopetown Club in
Normanton on Friday night. Their drummer, Steve Lloyd of Galaxy Music in
Castleford, will probably be very well known to you and he's a top drummer
and vocalist. We like Steve, he's a real character and good luck to him
keeping the Applejacks on the scene. Easter
Weekend Has Been Awesome You
people lucky enough to get out there will agree that there's
been some fantastic happenings over the weekend. The Lions Rally was a massive
success as a music festival with great bands throughout. Off the rally scene
and in the pubs Rockweiler and Boneyard have had fabulous reviews for their
performances. Remember these are new bands really so it's great to hear fresh
acts are available to see on the pub rock scene. We hear Meanstreak were more
than happy with their appearance at the Lions Rally too. Another new band
making all the right impressions. Bez
In Wakefield This Saturday For
all you indie 90's music loving people, Black Flag Venue have
secured the services of Bez of Happy Mondays fame. It's a proper 90's kind of
"Madchester" happening with tribute band Total Stone Roses, The
Ridings, and Penguin. It's just 6 quid for all night. Events
Coming Thick and Fast Check
the Events page now and again as there's always more
posters going on there! I've just uploaded the Help For Heroes poster for
Sundays big gig at the Early Bath, and the May 2nd Polish Club DrakFest for
Cancer Research UK. Also on May 15th there is the North West Guitar Show in
Lancashire with Bernie Marsden, Mitch Laddie and Snakewater playing for free
(after the meagre entrance fee for the show). Chantel's
CD Arrived Today The
post was very late today but it was worth the wait as I received the new CD , actually the debut CD from West Yorkshire's guitar
slinging heroine, Chantel McGregor. It's good, it's
very very good actually. It shows that Chantel can cut it as a pop
singer/songwriter in the style and quality of Taylor Swift, or can rive out
the most face-contorting string bends of the same quality of Steve Vai or
Robin Trower. Not since Bill Nelson (Be Bop Deluxe) has a local hero caused
such interest. This CD, which I will make a special and rare effort in
reviewing, is available at www.chantelmcgregor.com
and it comes HIGHLY recommended. Read a RotN review of the CD now. Help
For Heroes The
Early Bath in Castleford is holding a charity event on Sunday and the line up
of bands is exceptionally good. Lockin, Cor Amor, Black Water, Powerage,
Guttersluts, Angabart, She's A Fire and Piston Broke all play for the
charity. It's a great line up, not to be missed really. It's rare to get a
great cross section of bands playing on one gig. East
Leeds Lions Rally Just
a reminder of the big rally this coming weekend. That's as much a rock
festival as a bike rally and it's held at Arthington near Leeds. As usual
there is a fantastic array of bands and a biker village under canvas and it's great fun. Take a good look at our events page poster
for the rally and you'll see why we always rate it highly. Nice
To Hear Bands Successes We
are hearing that new bands Rockweiler and Meanstreak, purveyors of quality
rock from a brilliant era, had some appreciation last night. I'll do ladies
first and Rockweiler, sporting a new bass player in the guise of Lincoln D
Roth (Blind Evolution/Twist of Fate), had a great reception at the Brown Cow
at Keighley. Their success culminated in being asked to play at the pub's
beer fest later in the year. Nice one. In Castleford, Meanstreak lived up to
their reputation at the Lion, where they not only enjoyed themselves,
their performance was reflected in a healthy bucket collection. I really love
to hear about bands being appreciated. Over at the Cross Keys Morley, The
Vibe gave another quality performance. Our correspondent Mav sent in a
meaningful comment regarding the band. This isn't the first time I've heard
of this band giving a quality performance so if you see their name outside a
pub, check 'em out. The Polish Club sees another Rakkiteers gig at around
5pm, speaking of quality performances! So Barnsley people you know where to
go. In Wakefield check out The Graziers for Arena, in Leeds Resurgence play
The Duck and Drake, and in Harrogate the excellent
Vintage play at The Blues Bar. Hayseed
Dixie In Wakefield In A Month's Time I
believe May 17th is the date when Hayseed Dixie, those Appalachian rockers
grace the stage of the Black Flag Venue on Smythe Street, Wakefield. The band cover all your favourite heavy rockers with a
bluegrass twist and you should see them at least once in your life. Tickets
are available from Jumbo Records and Crash Records in Leeds, and at The Black
Bull pub in Castleford, and at Black Flag. It's really good stuff and a
pleasant change. Meanstreak
Come Alive There's
two chances to see the new but highly rated band Meanstreak in the second
half of April and tonight is the first chance when the band play the famous
Lion venue in Castleford around 9:30. There songs come from a great era and
some are familiar but certainly not overplayed. It's not often you hear songs
by Y&T! Your second chance of seeing the band is at the East Leeds Lions
Rally at Arthington on Easter Sunday. Probably the first time the band have
been on a big stage, they'll fill the marquee with quality sound and quality
music. Rory
Holl And The Men Great
to hear more praise being heaped upon no nonsense Leeds band Rory Holl and
the Men. The band impressed again at The Cross Keys at Morley last night so
watch out for these lads and get along to be entertained, cos that's what
it's all about. Frock
of the North I'm
not privy to details yet but there will be a Frock of the North fest at The
Cross Keys Morley in the latter quarter of the year. The bands were chosen by
our organiser and you will not be disappointed as those bands are amongst the
best female fronted bands on the scene. It looks like there might only be one
this year and I wanted more to be honest, so 2012 will see another and
feature bands who were not included in this 2011
gig. New
Band Detected Again
through the medium of Facebook have I gleaned the knowledge of the advent of
a new and very promising band! The band's name is Eden and it has some
quality members in the line up. From the late lamented Broken Angel are Simon
Atack (keys), Graham Hollings (drums) and the irrepressible Mick Norbury
(vocals). From Top Gun is the excellent Rich Dunstan (guitar) and from a long
line of bands comes the superb and highly experienced bassist/guitarist Colin
Maughn. There's no denying that this line up has the makings of a top flight
band, and I can't wait to see them in action! Good luck lads, not that you'll
need it! Black
Water In Full Flood I received
the following "Press Release" from young Leeds band Black Water. It
made me chuckle so I thought I'd share it with you....."After a couple
of weeks of searching far and wide, from every mountain top to every
bottomless pit, we are glad to announce that we have found our guy!! Gig
Stopping At Hopetown After
the 29th April all gigs have been stopped at Hopetown Liberal Club,
Normanton. This is because the committee aren't totally enamoured with the band
nights. Yorkshire
Blues Festival Cancelled I'm
really saddened to announce that the Yorkshire Blues Festival, to have been
held at Magna near Rotherham over the Mayday weekend, has been cancelled. This
is from the festival's website. The reason is because of low advance ticket
sales. This is such a shame as the line up was so good, like nothing else
really. Thanks to Dave at Rosewell Amps for making us aware of this. This is
a massive disappointment all round when the organisers have put so much
effort in to bring so many top acts to the area. It must be heartbreaking to
see so much work go down the drain. Weekend
Success Although
uninformed officially, it looks like a good time was had at a number of
venues yesterday. Spirefest was a good day, and new band Boneyard appear to
have had a good time at their debut held at The Duck and Drake, Leeds. I'm
privately chuffed about both bits that I gathered from Facebook and I look
forward to some details being sent in soon. Chantel
McGregor CD Available Very Soon I've
been privvy to two beautiful songs from Chantel McGregor's debut album,
"Like No Other". The CD's are being manufactured as I type and a
pre-order system exists on Chantel's website www.chantelmcgregor.com
. I predict this CD will be a cracker and be pure Chantel McGregor. I
know the mastering was an epic job to make it just right and many famous
musicians were drafted in for the recording that was done in Surrey last
month. Gary
Strain Memorial Collection Today
the post came and it made me smile but made me sad too. Our friend,
Resurgence and Interiorz bassist Helen Taylor sent me a nice get well card, and a cheque for £100 for the RotN to the Core
Campaign. This money was collected in memory of Gary Strain who lost his life
to cancer in December last. Gary was a member of Leeds band Tantrum. Helen
also sent me a memorial Tantrum CD which features Gary. I'll listen to this
at leisure. Many thanks to the kind people who contributed to this
collection. Polish
Extravaganza The
Polish Club had an epic evening on Saturday as the music fans were treated to
a one and a half hour set by Mr Chief and another hour and half of Miss Chief
featuring the voice of Lisa Bentley. The Polish club was nicely full and it
was also the birthday of "Jeff the 'Kin Barman" a big Chief fan!
It's nice to see Chief doing more gigs again as they have a good repertoire
and they play the songs well. Concert
For Japan May
1st sees the big concert at Birdwell Club in aid of the disaster in
Japan. All proceeds will go to the Save The Children and Unicef
Appeals. This is the timetable and line up: 2.00 – 2.30pm Echoline,
2.40- 3.15pm Radmar Kandy's Cosmic Duck, Phoenix
Rising 100 Gig Phoenix
Rising perform their 100th gig tonight since forming
and they'll do that tonight at Snafu in Rotherham where they will no doubt be
well appreciated. Most
Professional Performance Our
webmaster Joe was very impressed with From the Jam who played at Black
Flag last night. This week has seen thousands of music fans go through the
door of Black Flag with three main bands performing. Joe witnessed some good
performances but he said Friday's performance was the most impressive with
Bruce Foxton's band being totally professional on stage. He said they were a
class apart and easily the most pro band that have ever performed at the
venue. Not a Jam fan at all, Joe was amazed by the amount of numbers he knew! Soberfest
2011 Team
Sober MCC, Leeds are delighted to announce SoberFest - a day long charity
music-fest to be held on Sunday 27th November 2011 at The Anglers Club,
Stoney Rock Lane, Leeds (12pm-12am). Tickets will be £6 Adults and £4 Kids
and will be on sale very soon.All proceeds will be shared equally between
Team Sober's nominated charity - the Yorkshire Air Ambulance - and the
RotN to the Core campaign to raise money for Cancer Research UK in
recognition of the loss of friends of the club over the past year to the
disease and of their love of and contribution to live music (and beer!) Funeral
For A Friend Welsh
band Funeral For A Friend hit Wakefield last night and the venue was
steaming! We have reports that the band were superb
but the singer was up his own derriere off stage. The venue was having to hand out water as there was a danger of
fainting as the temperature rose! Nice to hear the venue had some success and
Wakefield must have wondered what all the fuss was about as the queues
stretched on to George Street. On Friday From The Jam with Bruce
Foxton is at the venue. Carl
Wragg Plays With Marillion Sunday
night saw Carl Wragg, of Helvis and the Dead Famous, go to Holland and play
Kayleigh with Marillion . As a competition winner he
won the right to take the place of a band member and of course Carl's a very
tasteful guitarist. I've just listened to an MP3 and my god,
Carl did a wonderful job which had the audience responding with huge cheers.
I feel proud because I've known Carl quite a few years. Brilliant! The
Larger Vision Guitars Shop The
bigger Vision Guitars shop just a few steps down the street from the old,
opens Monday! Nice to see shops expanding in this economic climate and well
done to Mark for his courage to do it. There's a raffle on the day but the
main prize is a Blackstar amp which is a desirable prize. The shop is near
Castleford bus and train station. Donna's
Latest Blog Donna
Rockbabe's latest blog is now available for an alternative slant,
and an interesting one too. Click on the button to check it out! There's some
informative stuff on a world and local level. Thanks Donna! Moving
On Some
important festivals starting with SPIREFEST on
April 9th. This is a guitar show and has Chantel McGregor starring but with
bands during the day. This is at The Winding Wheel Theatre, Chesterfield. The
huge Magna based Yorkshire Blues Festival over the Mayday Weekend has an
incredible line up and with the likes of Maggie Bell, Jack Bruce, Chris
Farlowe, Spencer Davies, Andy Fairweather Lowe, Dr Feelgood, Geoff Whitehorn,
Nine Below Zero, Aynsley Lister, King King, Danny Bryant, and even The
Hamsters. I'll put the latest poster on the events page soon. At the end of
May is the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival. Not on the same scale as Magna but
packed with quality and talent. With the likes of Larry Miller, Jon Amor
Band, Chantel McGregor, Lance Lopez, and our friends from Detroit, P-A-U-L,
plus Clare Free, Hooson and many more, the festival will be fantastic. No
Dirty Laundry Just
a note to tell you that we have resisted putting comments and news about a one
time Boot and Shoe favourite who was jailed for eight years on Friday last
for sex offences. Rock of the North is the wrong place for the airing of
dirty laundry. End of. Emerald
Need Rhythm/Lead Player One
of the pub rock scene's most powerful bands Emerald need
a guitarist preferably over 30. Playing Lizzy/Priest/Saxon etc you can
imagine what is required. benedgerton89@googlemail.com Jack
Bruce At The Picturedrome Jonny
7 bass player Robert Scott sent in the following
from Thursday's gig in Holmfirth. Robert's band play
for the first time in six months at Trippets S1 4EL on Saturday. This Jack
Bruce gig was probably all there was to fire him up for the occasion : Last
night the Holmfirth Picturedrome put on one of those gigs which nobody should
have missed. Jack Bruce, the 'legendary' bass player from Cream, backed by
Ronnie Scott's Blues Experience. This new band features seven excellent
musicians who were well up to the job of backing and enhancing Jack's
phenomenal playing. They are described as specialising in all the forms of
blues from Delta to British but the strong jazz basis of the band gave Jack's
material a fresh and contemporary feel. They played the songs you would have
expected to hear - Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, Spoonful - but the
arrangements made them sound new. The jazz format of the band took Jack right
back to the 1960s when he was famous for bringing improvisation into power
pop and blues to develop something that was to have an enormous effect on
contemporary music. The jazz element also meant the music had an edge and
uncertainty to it which made it exiting and involving. It made you realise
that although jazz and blues are not the same thing, they are close cousins.
Put it all together, as we saw last night and you can understand why
contemporary music sounds the way it does. The band was led by guitarist Tony
Remy who was well up to the role of playing Eric Clapton - no pressure. Being
a bass player I felt sorry for the band's resident bass player, Nick Cohen,
who was also an excellent musician, but only got to play on three opening
numbers before Jack came on.If you can, make a point of getting to see this
tour. Musically excellent and a piece of history. Black
Water Need Drummer Anyone
who has ever seen or heard the Leeds band Black Water couldn't be anything
but impressed. Sadly out of the blue their drummer has left so a GOOD
replacement is needed. Go to the classified page to get details. This could
be a defining carreer move for somebody. Sorry
About Reduced Service You
must get fed up of hearing about my woes so I apologise. Apologies can't
resolve the current problems unfortunately but I'll try to keep a small flow
in the service. Japan I
know the catastrophe in Japan has touched many of you this weekend.
It's hard to believe the devastation that's unfolded. I've always had an
admiration for the post war Japanese generations and their non aggression
constitution. I feel sure there will be some benefit concerts in the coming
months so good luck to anyone organising them. Potted
History Of The Weekend Seems
like yet another fabulous musical weekend in the Northern reaches of the
Island we are so lucky to live upon. I'll backtrack to Saturday and no
doubt some will have enjoyed the fab Rakkitteers in The Lion Castleford.
Suicide Blonde the young guns of the greater Bredford area must've been on
fire by Sunday at The Vulcan as they'd had a full weekend of gigs. Last night
the Erics will have packed The Duck and Drake in Leeds as always although
unusually I've seen no blogs so far. Saturday in Bingley's Old White Horse did Rockwieler keep up the female rock end.
The band have just announced Lincoln J Roth as their
new bass player too. More female rock last night at the Lion in the form of
Mr Chief/Miss Chief and our webmaster Joe thought they went down well
considering they'd only ever done two gigs. Break Out received a deserved pat
on the back too. Just remembered too that my brother enjoyed another fine show
by Phoenix Rising at The New Roscoe. Thanks for the dedication lads! More
From The Polish Club
The
Polish Club again excelled themselves with an
awesome show by Ben Poole on Friday night. We've had two comments to
substantiate this and I had a text last night after the sound check to tell
me! Above shows a picture by Baz of Skella of Ben giving it large on the
Polish stage, a stage that is becoming accustomed to seeing brilliant artists
upon it! Miss
Chief At Lion Sunday There's
another opportunity to see Miss Chief have another outing with Mr Chief at
the Lion in Castleford. Lisa has a really nice voice and the show is a good
mix with the two singers. I think the band will eventually become club
favourites and good luck to 'em. Hayseed
Dixie In Wakefield The
brilliant Hayseed Dixie return to Yorkshire in early May. They are appearing
at Black Flag Venue on Smyth Street. This band are
very popular and great people too. You'd be amazed to hear heavy rock covers
with a banjo and mandolin and I thoroughly endorse them. Everyone should see
them at least once! Out
of It Sorry
about normal service not been up to scratch. I've had a bit of a hiccup with
my treatment. I shouldn't have had the treatment as I've had a viral
infection. I'm knackered to be honest. Thanks to Steve Cowan of Drakkn for
coming to buy a RotN CD though. Classy
Blast From The Past I
sometimes have a moan about how overdone Thin Lizzy material is but have a
look at this You Tube channel of Bizzy Lizzy, one of the pub rock scene's
jewels in the crown. This was an excellent band and here's the link to some
quality videos posted by ex Optic Nerve drummer, Mick Hoyle. Bizzy Lizzy Quick
Fix Through RotN I
laughed to myself on Saturday late lunchtime after two phone calls. One was
from Coz McCossins of Go Kommando, "Steve I might need RotN help, Ben is
ill and we can't do a biker gig at Keighley!" Me..."I've got a band
for you Coz!"..."Ring Pete Goodfellow!".
Pete had rang half an hour earlier, "Steve, there's a double booking
with a Charity gig tonight so if you hear of anything, can you let me know
cos we're available?" ....Me, "Will do Pete!" Haha. I love it
when we can help! Both bands had great gigs the night before, GoKo at Snafu,
and Black Rising (or Black Rainbow) at The Broadfield. Coz was telling me of
the great crowd and the hospitality from Snoopy, and Pete told me of the
awesome Broadfield crowd. More
On A Good Weekend The
comments page on this Sunday evening has been swelled by good reports from a
great debut from MissChief at The Polish Club to Saturday's JD Band fund
raiser at The Golden Lion Pudsey. Friday's charity gig for Childline that The
Senators played at The Queens Hotel in Leeds raised an incredible £61,000.
With tickets at £50 I suppose you have a good chance but it shows what is
achievable. Makes me feel like giving up to be
honest. Well done to The Senators who are no strangers to high prestige gigs
like the one at Leeds. Two comments from different venues were good to
receive regarding Roadkill. Also The Erics will no doubt have rattled the
Duck and Drake windows, and Top Gun and Resurgence gave the Lion something to
cheer about! Good
Weekend So Far Great
news coming out from this weekend is firstly the Jack's Bash at The Klondyke
Club on Friday. I've received notice that the event raised almost £3000 at
the packed club. Rattle a bucket in front of a Barnsley lad and they'll
always chuck something in it!!! Very well done to all involved. Another thing
was the Meanstreak outing with Limehouse Lizzy in Masham last night which was
a complete success. With great vocals and musicianship the band deserve to
succeed. Rockdogz also had a great debut at The Cross Keys. Our correspondent
Mav has posted a very favourable review on the comments page. All is not over
though and there's plenty to see this afternoon if you scan the gig guide. The
Branch Safe The
Branch at Shipley did have some questions hanging over it regarding
continuation of bands but Brian Glover sent the following: "new landlord
(Rob) and he told us that he had experienced some problems initially when he
took over at the pub, he will be honouring all gigs but as he has no contact
details for the bands he has asked if all bands who have gigs booked by the
previous landlord would please contact him to confirm their bookings and
contact details......Robs number is 07815 426072." Melodic
Rock Lives On Melodic
rock seems to have an alternative circuit in Europe. Fireworks magazine and
the Firefest movement have a big following but it's certainly alive and
kicking. It's a very popular culture in the Northern countries of Europe and
some huge festivals go on throughout the year. Our only contact with it is
through Invisible Idols' Matt Black who played his first gig with Serpentine
at London's Borderline venue last night after five interviews for magazine
and radio. Our webmaster was drafted in on sound engineering duties for
Serpentine and I have now spoken to him from his hotel near Denmark Street
this Saturday morning. Not as free with compliments as I am, Joe said
Serpentine were very, very good and the way he said it means they must have
been brilliant. Good to hear the gig was a success with other band Vega
and headliners Houston, who are Euro megastars, and have been compared to
Boston. It's an interesting subject and there are a few RotN contributors who
are into this scene. SpireFest
April 9th It's
not too long before the Spirefest is upon us. This is a Cancer Research UK
benefit and it's a gig and a guitar show all rolled into one. Top of the bill
is Chantel McGregor who plays on the main theatre stage in the evening. More
details this coming week. Hebden
Bridge Warm Up To
get music lovers in the mood for Hebden Bridge's four day Blues Festival at
the end of May, the Trades Club in Holme Street are hosting a
“curtain-raiser” gig with four great blues bands on Saturday March 5th.With
an early 8pm start to fit everything in, the proceedings are kicked off by the
harmonica-driven Blues Jukes, a rocking five piece band from Keighley. Next
up are local favourites Hooson, whose powerfully energetic live performances
of soulful blues stand them out from many of their contemporaries. Following
Hooson, Marcus Bonfanti, who the Guardian say “deserves to become the next
British blues-guitar hero” will be taking a break
from touring to perform his gritty guitar based tunes. With a style rooted
somewhere between Louisiana and Lewisham, Marcus gives a nod to the past
while kicking down the door of the future of blues music. The night will be
rounded off by the Paddy Maguire Band who, after playing a short set of their
own, will be inviting members of the other bands to join them on stage in an
almighty blues jam. As well as the various musicians performing, the night
will also see a short film showcasing snippets of the 50 or so bands who will
be playing at the main Hebden Bridge Blues Festival in May, Paul Brannigan
will be spinning some classic blues tunes between acts and there'll be a
raffle where an electric guitar, supplied by locally-based Guitarzone, can be
won. No
Probs! After
a bit of a misunderstanding as I awaited artwork for the East Leeds Lions
Easter Rally, I've copied and pasted the flyer to the Events page! It's a 3
day rally with nine bands, 3 per evening. With an AC/DC tribute band complete
with cannons on Friday to a top flight seasoned rally band called Little Rock
on Sunday, the entertainment will be great. With RotN regulars Full Tilt, One
Fat Spider, Meanstreak, Lockin and the mighty Empress headlining on the
Saturday night, there's lot's of variety, plus the Sunday tea time hypnotist
who will have you amazed and in stitches with laughter. Adele
Does Me Head In There's
a lot of hype about regarding the young singer Adele. This isn't rock and
it's maybe not really suited to this page but the amount of rockers who love
her music is amazing. I've blogged that Adele has quality in her song
writing, and her voice is wonderful. Her number one status in the singles and
album charts speaks volumes too. For me, it's her vocal quality and a primal
emotion in her voice that does my head in, and in a good way. Every time I
hear her she sends cold shivers up and down my spine. It's a rare treat and
I'm enjoying it. Spirit
of Pink Floyd Cancelled We've
heard a rumour that the Spirit of Pink Floyd gig at Batley Frontier has been
cancelled due to poor ticket sales. This is just a rumour but if you have
tickets, please contact the venue. East
Leeds Lions Easter Rally We
had an unusual comment from Graham Hollings asking why this rally wasn't on
our events page. We haven't had any notification or poster so there was
nothing we could act upon. Remember this when organising events, we need to
be notified! In Graham's comment he said there had been rumours that the
Easter weekend rally wasn't going ahead. I'd not heard anything of the sort,
but I'd not heard anything positive either which is rare as we always give
the event good coverage. In these days of Facebook, we are often kept out of
the loop and are expected to know. RotN is a central resource that anyone on
Earth with an internet connection can view so we still have a valid use.
Anyway the rally is going ahead and if the past two years are anything to go
by it should be brilliant. Great
Support Slot I
was really pleased to hear that Meanstreak had picked up the support slot
with Limehouse Lizzy at Masham Town Hall on Saturday. The band
deserve to get the recognition, and with the Lizzy tribute band
acknowledged to be the very best. It's a bit of a trek up the A1 but not that
far and sound quality is guaranteed by Mainstreet Music another of our local
companies. Vision
Guitars Expanding The
Albion Street, Castleford guitar emporium, Vision Guitars is
expanding and moving into a new shop just a few metres down the road,
slightly nearer town. Proprietor Mark Abrahams asked us to view the shop
before the opening which in the next two weeks. We'll keep you informed. Matt
Black Busy You
may think Invisible Idols news has quietened off in the past three months.
That's because Matt Black is very busy with melodic rock band Serpentine who
are well known on the Fireworks/Firefest bands circuit. Matt also sings with
Six of the Best, a band big on the tribute circuit due to being a tribute to
six bands including Journey. Back to Serpentine and they play at The
Borderline in London on Friday with Idols bass player,our
webmaster Joe, joining as sound engineer/instrument tech. Weekend
Highlights This
past weekend had some notable highlights including Monkey Dust's Wormy
enjoying his 50th Birthday. The party had some notable guests including Top
Gun, and No Mercy For Percy, and a good time was had by all. Chantel McGregor
took a break from recording her album to play a gig at Howden Shire Hall on
Saturday. Friends who were there said she looked great and sounded great
which is what we love to see from our home-grown guitar heroine. The Blades
continue to impress and they had an enjoyable gig at The Cross Keys Morley on
Friday. Sunday saw Piston Broke receive the accolades they deserve at The
Boot and Shoe . Delirium went to
two new venues this past weekend and were rebooked after impressive
performances. This is good to hear of course. Gatecrasher
Head North Pudsey
Cobras are having a special night on the 19th March with Gatecrasher, the
brilliant band from out of the district. This is at The Crown in Stanningley,
Leeds. Use
It Or Lose It Well
another day in the life starts today and the first two comments infer at low
attendances and urge support. The Polish Club had a great band on Sunday
night and I have a feeling the support wasn't very good. I've found that
venues are in two categories. You get the Lion, Boot and Shoe, Broadfield,
Snafu venues who always do quite well for attendance, and you get some who
never do too well. Some weeks are quite well attended and others weeks
aren't. Not sure what the answer to that is. John
Waite Coming- 100 Tickets Left Just
a reminder regarding the AOR star John Waite who is coming to Yorkshire's
Rogerthorpe Manor and today there was only 100 tickets left so get yours
asap.. John has played in the late lamented Bad English and before that The
Babys. http://www.bw-rogerthorpemanor.co.uk
All you South Yorkshire ladies who frequent the rocking clubs will want
tickets, so get in there quick. The date is the 26th April. Quiet
Times But Plenty Ahead There's
very little going on worth speaking about right now, well things that I can
publish right now, but I will be bringing you some news in March that will
make your toes curl. In the meantime check out the gig guide and events pages
to plan your entertainment. A few of our troops are suffering with illness so
some cancellations are afoot, notably Empress. Louise is suffering with
Sciatica, as is Go Kommando drummer, Sparky. It's a horrible affliction to
have and I can empathise. A number of pubs are having management changes too,
The Admiral Duncan, and The Branch at Shipley. I noticed the Tut and Shive
has reopened in Yeadon and we have one band booking there on the gig guide.
There are many festivals in the offing this year and Eccleshill Sports and Social
Club are running the second Frankfest in
September, a festival my friend Deborah Kelly organises for the Prostate
Cancer Charity. The Lion Castleford is also resurrecting the Lionfest again
at the end of August in aid of The Yorkshire Air Ambulance. It will be a
closed car park and an entry fee will be charged. The Leeds Classic and
Custom Bike Show is also being run in September and
the RotN to the Core Campaign will be part recipients of fundraising like
last year. It looks like the Keys to the Core gig is a no go at The Cross
Keys Morley in 2011 as another charity organiser has booked the pub for that
Saturday in August. Never mind, The Polish Club, Barnsley might wish to host
a gig for us that weekend . There will be no
shortage of bands willing to play. This seems like a top idea as I think on,
and it will bring some trade into the club after losing Barnstock due to that
fest moving to bigger premises by necessity of it's
popularity. It would have to be a different day to Barnstock obviously as we support
that fundraiser 100%. Remember we already have the May 2nd fest at The Polish
Club for RotN to the Core. Blackstar
HT5 Test As
I said earlier this week we were to test the Blackstar HT5 through an
extension cab and I'd tell you the results. Well on Thursday we set it all up
and my god what a volume of sound 5 watts can make! I was astonished. Without
the extension cab the HT5 was so loud I was gobsmacked! We connected the 4x10
cab and it was slightly louder, but the spread of the sound was better. So
Simon was well satisfied that his HT5 was man enough for the job on the
backline and he is thinking of picking up an extension cab, maybe a Blackstar
1x10. I personally think that will be excellent. I'm
always ready to sing the praises of any product that has impressed me.
This brand certainly has. It's as much the tone as the volume that is
impressive. Simon was also impressed with my Tele with Dave Thorp P90's and
he bought from me! I'm trying to thin down my collection so away it went and
to an appreciative new owner. It sounded superb through the HT5. Simon plays
in the band Round Window. October
Frock Due
to my frail health I've been procrastinating lately but yesterday I had a
visit from Simon Moran of Cancer Research UK. He was asking about what we had
planned, which isn't much this year to be honest. In order to keep up the
fundraising to fight cancer, we need to do as many gigs as possible. In
October CRUK are highlighting Breast Cancer. This scourge of mankind is
rampant and we need to keep up research into treatments and cures. Therefore
I want to run a series of Frock of the North gigs plus a big one in
October to coincide with Cancer Research UK's other events regarding this
breast cancer campaign. So I need helpers for all gigs this year. Because I'm
not in the best of health myself, it is more important than ever that we can
run autonomous gigs with proceeds going into the RotN to the Core Campaign.
There is a gig of this kind on May Bank Holiday at The Polish Club in
Barnsley thanks to Tony of Drakkn. Do we have more willing participants? Black
Rainbow We'd
just like to bring to your attention that Pete Goodfellow has launched a new
band for the tribute circuit. It is a Ronnie James Dio styled band with some
excellent members on the mix of musicians on stage. Check them out on www.blackrainbow.info
. Pete has had a lot of attention from the tribute band circuit about this
band so good luck to the lads with this project. Not
A Lot To Report Facebook
tends to see a lot of tittle-tattle these days. I noticed that most of my FB
friends are connected to the music and entertainments business and much of
local and international news goes on via the Facebook network. I find it
generally very useful for picking up bits of information about mainly new
music that's going on. Eventually I think RotN will become redundant and old
fashioned, and as I intend to retire from the music business within the next
couple of years and retire to my "villa" in the back garden, it may
coincide with the last passage I write on these pages. In the meantime I will
be doing as I've always done since the beginning of the site, helping those
who deserve it, and hopefully making a few quid for Cancer Research UK. In
the fullness of time somebody might want to carry on with the site in some
capacity as we still get the hits as normal. Comments are less frequent now
except for Viagra ads and dog flea medications. The gig guide still keeps me
busy so it's still a worthy pursuit for me. Since the addition of Donna
Rockbabe's page I think there might be a new audience as word gets around. In
the first three years of RotN, we had 60,000 hits total. Since then it's
averaged 150,000 genuine hits per annum. I say genuine hits
because some sites have guestbooks where you get people posting
"Morning" and 10 people reply with the same. Ours is a serious
website for bands and music followers. Blackstar
and The Hand Wound P90's My
involvement with Cancer Research UK brought me into contact with Simon Moran
who is the Volunteers Manager in Leeds. Simon is a big music fan, a drummer,
and also a guitarist. He loves what we do for the music community and is also
interested in everything that goes with it. Simon bought a Blackstar HT5 and
he loves it, as I love my little HT1. Simon was wondering if his HT5 would be
good enough in the backline of his band and I asked The Erics guitarist Sam
Hirst, the Northern rep for Blackstar if this would be OK. Sam feels sure it
would be. So do I. As a test, Simon is coming to
Windy Corner to test his HT5 through one of my 4x12 cabs. I have already done
this with the HT1 and a 4x12 and the difference in volume output is amazing.
I did this on the stage at Black Flag Venue and soundman Joe said that the 1
watt Blackstar configured like this would have been enough to mic up for a
live performance. I'll keep you posted. The HT5 might loosen the plaster! As
I have at long last purchased an amp for home use with great tone, I wondered
what my Telecaster copy with hand wound P90 pick ups might sound like.
Through the HT1 it sounds fantastic. It is such a pleasing tone, I am going
to inquire about the possibility of having my favourite Michael Kelly guitar
changed over to P90s. Humbuckers sound thick and muddy by comparison and in
one way I wished I'd not used the P90 equipped guitar as it's sure to cost me
a lot of money chasing the same sound as the Telecaster with my other
guitars. These P90's are made by Dave Thorp in Penistone. They're hand-wound
and they cut through like nothing I've ever heard previously. Tone either
pleases or it doesn't and guitarist for years have kept musical instrument
retailers going by swapping and changing, looking for that perfect tone. I've
had the Telecaster 3 years using a variety of amps but it wasn't until I used
it through the Blackstar that I realised the true worth of these special
pick-ups. We'll try them with the Blackstar HT5 on Thursday! The
Rhythm Bar Barnsley's
new Rhythm Bar has again proved to be band friendly as members of The
Rakkiteers have proved by their comments this Saturday morning. The bar
owner, Dank , is no stranger to us all as he used to
manage the Sturdy Lads in Monk Bretton. I can see this venue being featured
quite a lot on this page. Great to hear of another good venue with a very
hospitable host. Dank, if you're reading, can you send me your gigs please! Bellhouse
Road Club Treat Friday
night at Bellhouse Road Club there was no bingo, but the club was packed out
we have heard, standing room only! That's great as Coyote drummer Christian
Hayes was enjoying his birthday, a special number, plus the fact that
Rockweiler were also playing on the night as guests. Hope it was a great
night! We also heard that The Cross Keys were rocking to some great music
with Rory Holl and the Men, a well respected Leeds band. No doubt we will
have a report from there. Hebden
Bridge Blues Festival We
are well blessed with blues festivals this year and the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival
is going to live up to expectations. Here is a page to look at the
provisional line up and timings at two of the main venues. There is an
interview with Paddy McGuire on Phoenix FM from Halifax on Monday. I'll find
out more about this. Rock
Till You Drop Accommodation Simon
Colgan who has the Blues Bar at Harrogate and the The Duck and Drake at Leeds
mailed me to let music fans know that when you visit the Blues Bar in
Harrogate, you can sample as much beer as you want then stay at The West Park
Hotel overnight and benefit from a 10% reduction on the normal hotel tariff.
Postcode and telephone numbers are: HG1 1BJ and 01423 524471. The Blues Bar's
entertainment list can be seen on this hyperlink. The
Erics New Website The
Erics have a new website where you'll be able to follow the exploits of the
Morley foursome. It's http://www.theerics.webs.com/ Sundays
At Boot And Shoe Marie
at the Boot and Shoe Ackworth wishes to let people know that the start times
on Sundays are at 5pm. Donna
Rockbabes Exciting Local News Click
on to Rockbabe's page to get some
exciting local news. There's two main points involving The Welsh T Band, and
a big fest in Wakefield. Gary
Moore R.I.P. News
is all over the internet that guitar legend Gary Moore has passed away during
Saturday night whilst he was on holiday in Spain. we
are naturally saddened by the news. His guitar playing was incredible and his
career spanned four decades. It's a loss to the rock and rock blues world.
Rest In Peace Gary. Magnum
Tickets The
fantastic Magnum are coming to The Corporation,
Sheffield on the 20th April. Tickets are £18:50 advance and the number is
01142 760 262 . These were on sale at Black
Flag,Wakefield last night for £15 as a special offer
. Magnum are not scheduled to play at Wakefield however as the tour had
already been organised for this year and Bullet Promotion no doubt will be
looking at getting the band to Black Flag in the future. These tickets are
for The Corporation remember. If I hear that the
tickets are on special offer again I will let you know. This is The
Visitation 2011 Tour. Black
Flag Quiet For Great Rock Night
I
nipped into Wakefield for a couple of hours on Saturday to watch three bands
at Black Flag. The bands were very good but despite all the advertising,
there were very few people watching a good show. Havana Rocks topped the bill
and all the bands deserve some toffee for the effort they put in. A rainy
night in Wakefield failed to attract the rock fraternity. The picture above
is Psuedo Nympho the opening band who were very good
indeed. Poor lads. This was a three guitar band, very unusual! Two of the
band sound-checked with their Carlsboro combos, then both the amps died
simultaneously! Luckily RotN came to the rescue with a couple of Peavey
VK100's and a couple of my 4x10 cabs! The band's drummer, who is from
Chicago, thanked us for the use of the Head Cook's Sonor kit as the headline
band were reluctant to share their drums with the support bands. It's not
unusual though, and once again RotN gear was used. Cross
Keys Shindig A Total Success Nice
to hear that the Cystic Fibrosis Trust will be better off by a substantial
amount after Saturday nights very successful and well attended event at the
Cross Keys, Morley. Well done to all concerned. Razorbach
Have A Good Night Nice
to hear from our correspondent The Old Git Mav about the debut of Razorbach
at The Cross Keys on Friday night. Next time they play there I expect the
place to be packed. They're a band with a great reputation for playing
something a little bit different so good luck to them for that. Dissent
Success The
Dissent night in Wakefield's Black Flag is going from strength to strength
with some excellent and varied bands. Last night had four excellent acts on
from a modern acoustic blues duo to a band with many influences to end the
night with a bang. One band, Idle Maestro had a Hammond going through the
rhythm guitarist's Marshall. Good on these lads for innovation. Donna
Rockbabe's Blog Number Three I'm
very pleased to be able to remind you that Rockbabe's third blog is now
published on her page. Yet more informative and well written modern band news
has been sent in by our valued correspondent. Take a look and please do comment
on the content of Donna's page, I am delighted with this inclusion to our
website. Black
Flag Indie Event Black
Flag have just announced a gig with Bez with The Total Stone Roses and two
more support bands. It will suit all you Madchester lot! Good on the venue
for keeping a wide variety of acts. I think it's only a measly 6 quid for a
ticket. This is on the 23rd April. The Dissent night on Friday is supposed to
be to best yet but we have no details. Heck
Of A Year In Prospect This
year there are some great things to look forward to. My love of rocking blues
will be well catered for as there are a number of blues festivals coming up.
These are not the regular ones, these are in
addition to those. Two I can speak of but one is still a bit of a hush hush
thing. What I can tell you is that the "secret" festival is a
two-centre one. Some big hitters will be appearing. The Hebden Bridge Blues
fest is coming in the Spring, so watch out on these page.
The big one, possibly the biggest in Britain, possibly Europe, is the one at
Magna at the end of April, The Yorkshire Blues Festival. Keep checking the
Events page for the posters. Dont forget on April 9th there is the Spirefest
event with Chantel McGregor which combines a guitar show. Check the events
page. Frock
of the North Things
will start moving a bit with this old favourite of RotN. This series of
events will feature bands with female singers and we have plenty of choice so
we will have to have a series of gigs though the year to enable all the bands
to get a crack at it. These are charity gigs and the recipient will be Cancer
Research UK through the RotN to the Core Campaign. Black
Water The
local young band Black Water play at the Riverside in Selby tonight the 29th,
supporting Twin Lizzy. That will be a hell of a show! I've been listening to
their 4 track CD entitled Killer. It is a Killer too,
I've had it on repeat all afternoon. Not sure who they remind me of, there's
some great riffery that reminds me of my youth watching Diamondhead. I know
this band have been booked for a prestigious event this year and can
recommend Black Water to anyone wanting a sensational band for their
festival. Check www.facebook.com/blackwateruk
I'll try to rip the CD to mp3 and we'll have a track on RotN soon. Friday
News The
news from Mark of True Brit was encouraging about Hopetown Club. Mark was
happy with how things panned out and the encouraging news was the committee let
the organiser get on with it unimpeded. Down in Wakefield there was another
Dissent night which threw up heroes and villains once again. Again with these
multi band gigs, the worst performing band had the biggest ego, least
professionalism, and worst attitude. We heard the band are
barred from The Cockpit in Leeds, but that's hearsay. There was a very big
gig list for the pubs and clubs last night so that's good to see. Awesome
Yorkshire Rock and Bike Line Up The
fantastic line up of bands for the YR7B Show has just been wafted in front of
my gaze. It is the provisional line up and some bands have yet to confirm,
but I can't wait to be able to give you the full SP on this years event. It will be brilliant. Just
Been Interviewed I've
just returned from being the subject of an interview for a presentation by
Cancer Research UK. The film will be aired at a Cancer Research UK conference
at The Bexley Wing of St James's Hospital in march. I think I did OK but my
equity card might take a while to come. What I need to do is get some shows
on the road to make funds for the charity. So I need some willing helpers and
hosts. Live
Music Diversity I
was looking at the local scene with critical eyes as I've started doing
recently, and I was quite impressed with the diversity of styles in the pubs
this weekend. The Lion, Cas, undeniably a great music pub, had a band called
Chicago Joe and the Soul Divas on Sunday night, and
an old style rock and roll band on Saturday. That's brilliant! The Cross Keys
Morley, another highly rated rock pub, had Indie music with The Flatliners on
Saturday and modern original young rockers Tytania on Sunday. In Wakefield
there were two nights of original and unsigned bands at Black Flag, and
around the corner on Saturday, The Bull and Fairhouse hosted G.L.A.M. whilst
on Friday they had classic rock with Justice Rising. Considering the
obvious austerity measures the government is pushing on us all, we're not
doing bad on the live scene and the beauty of it is,
it's varied and by no means boring. Battle
of the Bands Heat I
thought I'd see what the fuss is all about regarding the Funeral For A Friend
Battle of the Bands competition. I missed the first two bands but watched two
good bands and one not so good. A Day For Heroes won the heat and they
deserved it. They were head and shoulders above anyone else. I also enjoyed
The Gillian Keys who were very lively. One band though, Athens, a band full
of cocky attitude and little talent, amazed me with the worst sounding guitar
I've EVER heard. Telecasters can sound thin but this was terrible. Vocals
were fine in all fairness. Bands like this will go nowhere, and their
material was lacking in dynamics, totally flat and devoid of melody. I rarely
criticise bands but these lot deserve it. Worst band I've seen in years. Great
Bands At Black Flag On Friday The
Dissent night at Black Flag threw up a couple of superb bands last night . Lockin were
excellent last night and our webmaster says Dave Battle's voice was on top form.
I'm hoping Lockin are on the brink of making it much bigger. I've had my eye
on Dave for three or four years and I'd love to see him get the recognition.
I'd also heard about band called Black
Water. Our webmaster was on sound duties at the venue and he said Black
Water were fantastic. He brought me their CD and I'm just listening to it.
This music and the band are classic rock in style yet they are young. This
original music would sit side by side with the greats of the classic era.
Black Water remind me of a band called Argon who
were in their teens in the early eighties. I hope Black Water don't do what
Argon did...ie split without becoming great first! Both guitarists are
brilliant too. I got the recommendation about this band from Chris Andrews the
Early Bath landlord. Bull
and Fairhouse Open Just
had a text telling me that gigs are on still at the Bull and Fairhouse
Wakefield. It seems the ex landlady posted on Facebook that the pub was
closed. It isn't, it's open for business as normal. Good
Camera For Sale
I'm
selling my trusty Nikon D40 DSLR with two Nikon zoom lenses. All the better
RotN pictures were taken with this camera and a few have been published in
newspapers. I want 300 quid or a near offer and it's worth every penny cos I
look after my gear. The pictures above were taken with this camera. Contact
me if you want it. Rockbabe's
Second Blog Available Now I'm
pleased to remind you all that Donna Rockbabe's second blog is now uploaded
to her page. Another in depth review of local and international bands,
Donna's interesting contributions help make this
website the best in the North. Sorry to be so immodest but we think it is. Hope
For Hopetown Well
after a debate over the past few days it seems Hopetown Liberal Club will
soon become a regular on the live music circuit. After our dread at hearing
of a bad start, things have quickly turned around and Jimmy Duggan has taken
over running the Friday music night. Jimmy has installed his ex Crimea PA
system which will be a permanent fixture, with "Sid" on the faders. No bingo will be played on the live
music night and it will be a traditional two sets rather than three. Lockin
On The Ray-Dee-Oh Castleford
band Lockin are riding on the crest of a wave at the moment I'm pleased to
say. They will be heard on Total Rock Radio next Monday between 6pm and 9pm
when Sarah Harding and Tina Saul host their "Noise Letter" show.
The band have a few irons in the fire and their EP
release is imminent. We are big fans of band leader Dave Battle, and have
been for a year or three. The band have appeared at
some prestige gigs like Yorkshire Rock and Bike Show and East Leeds Lions
Easter Rally. I'm pleased to have witnessed both events. The link for the
radio station is www.totalrock.com.
Radio
Links Although
we are big fans of Planet Rock, the DAB station, I have been thinking about
getting some help in to compile an internet rock radio links directory on
RotN. There's some good stations out there. Phoenix
Rising Second Birthday
Two
reviews came in to the comments page about Phoenix Rising who celebrated two
years on the pub and club scene last night. The band have
had a recent change of guitarist, who is now Steve Nunns. Steve's kept up the
quality in the band and they are going from strength to strength. It's good
to see. Their repertoire is the usual classic rock staple of songs which
pleases many punters around the reason, hence their popularity. They put on a
nice lighting show too. Am
I Getting Too Old For This Is
it me, or are there others who dislike modern thrash metal with "satanic
stomach upset" vocals. It might be me who is "getting on a
bit" and not grasping the new stuff but vocals that sound like retching
down the toilet do nothing for me. I watched the Snooty Fox internet live
feed after the live band had gone off (live band were good) and there was
some recorded bands on there afterwards. It was awful. Black Sabbath and
Metallica seem positively operatic by comparison. Another
Talking Point The
comments page has been busy with talk of Hopetown Liberal Club in Normanton.
The Rakkiteers played there on Friday but their experience of the place was a
bad one. The band haven't complained to us at all
but there has been feedback. The main point is the committee there appear to
be less than professional when dealing with their entertainment side of
running the club. They should take a leaf out of Sheffield's Bellhouse Road
Club's promoting style, or that of Middlesbrough's Acklam Steel and Ironworks
Club. Both have bingo but playing at these clubs is a pleasure. We would much
prefer to compliment than criticise them, but Hopetown Club need to rethink . That's a shame when we are looking at the
shrinking of the live music circuit. Dissent
and Waltz It Up Following
an eventful two nights at Black Flag Venue came Dissent night which was a
success with The Treehouse from Lincoln, who were
very good, Martyn Altilar who was excellent, and Penguin who our webmaster
said were an outstandingly good band. IR Hero and Aim a Little Higher were
also on the bill. Tonight has a number of very good local bands that
Trashtown Records are promoting at Black Flag Venue. This event is called
Waltz It Up. The venue has had a run of live music events since Wednesday.
It's good to see a local big venue do well. Good
Night On Thursday Details
are sketchy from Black Flag last night except for Lockin doing a great job
opening the event. Well done lads! I gather InMe were superb. The big jam
night extravaganza at The Cross Keys, Morley was a big success. It was well
advertised and it paid off with a great turnout. Band
Wanted For Saturday Break
Out have had to cancel their gig at the Rose &
Crown in Cleckheaton this Saturday due to chronic illness. If there are any
bands out there that play a bit of everything and are not all out metal/rock
please can they contact Phil on 07973 641104. Introducing
Donna RotN
is very pleased to welcome Donna Rockbabe to
the site. We will be publishing Donna's blogs as part of our expansion of the
website. I know that Donna is on first name terms with some very big
rock-stars on this Earth, but she also loves the local scene and has a good
knowledge of the alternative local scene that we haven't yet explored. To
call our website Rock of the North has been quite bold and this is a new
chapter in the site's history which will justify our grand and respected
name. So welcome onboard Donna! Donna's page can be accessed by the menu
buttons to the left or by the hyperlink below the head of this page. Enjoy! Lockin
Chasing Glory ‘LOCKIN’
from Castleford have wowed the judging panel of the UK’s biggest original
music competition and sailed through the audition stage of Live and Unsigned.
‘LOCKIN’ will be competing against the most talented bandsand artists in the
country at the Regional Final showcase of Live and Unsigned 2011 – all in a
bid to be signed! LOCKIN battled against hundreds of auditionees to secure a
spot in the live shows and now have the opportunity to prove that they are
the best in the region. Acts that made it through the auditions will now take
part in a live Regional Final Showcase at Dewsbury Town Hall, on Sunday 27th
March in front of thousands of spectators and a professional judging panel,
including judges from Kerrang, NME Radio and Radio One. The best auditionees
from their Regional Final Showcase also get the opportunity to play support
slots with a Yorkshire Guitar Clu |
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