Well hello!
Not a lot to report at the moment, as we're in a "down" period between gigs - had to cancel the one at the Ship last weekend, as Paul had a family commitment, that he'd forgotten about!
Next gig is a private party at AstraZeneca on Friday 26 June, followed by Congleton Beer Festival the following day (i.e Saturday 27 June for those not familiar with calendars!) - we're doing a bit of practising in between, mainly to fine tune Matt's choirboy tones on "Chasing Cars"!
In the meantime, to keep you interested, here's a link to a Flickr album containing some short video clips from the gig at the Windmill - many thanks to Pete Robinson (drummer with that fine band The Injectors) for taking the photos - Chrissie was a bit miffed that her fella took more photos of Paul and Matt than he did of her - but we all know why that is don't we?!
Friday, 12 June 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
ANOTHER TURN AT THE WINDMILL!
Cast your minds back to the cold dark nights of January - our first gig of 2009 saw us pitch up at The Windmill in Whiteley Green for what turned out to be a mega night of fun and entertainment! Well, we've been trying to sort out a return date for some time, and now it's happening - this Friday (22 May)!We've just about come down from our Beer Festival high, and Andy, Matt and Paul went out for a de-brief (ie several pints!) last Thursday, while Hugh & Dave were drowning themselves off the coast of Scotland, and Chrissie was "working" (well, that's what she calls it - nudge, nudge!). The consensus was that we did pretty well - some moans about sound quality on Saturday, but judging from the audience reaction, and subsequent feedback, we were well chuffed (and we had another pint to celebrate!).
As ever though, it's onward and upward, and we're looking forward to exerting ourselves again this weekend. We'll probably pick and choose from the Beer Fest sets for Friday night but, starting tomorrow night, we'll be trying yet more new numbers so that, by the time we reach the Congleton Beer Fest at the end of June, we've got them polished.
So, get yourselves down to the Windmill on Friday; the light nights are fast approaching, and it's supposed to be a warm evening. Never mind the bright lights of Wilmslow WAG-land, Adlington is the place to be - good food, good beer and great music - what more could you ask for??
Here's the link to the Windmill website, which gives you some more information (although I notice we're not on there - obviously don't need the publicity!), and here's a map of how to get there!
Sunday, 10 May 2009
A TRULY AWESOME EVENING!!
Well, there it was - gone! Loads of build up, plenty of butterflies and, before you know it, the whole thing's over! But let me tell you, it was a fantastic experience for us - Friday night was good, but last night was even better!
The Beavers did a great job of warming the crowd up and, by the time the clock ticked round to 10:00pm, we were also raring to go! Choice of first number is always tricky, and we elected to go with "Say You love Me" which has a Blues Brothers feel, and allows us to do some introductory waffle - got the crowd jumping up and down at least, and when we went straight into "Johnny B Goode" everything kicked off big style!
We changed the set round a bit from Friday, so that it was all high energy numbers, and we made sure we had enough in to last us the full hour and a half - the only problem with high energy numbers is that you have to have the energy to do them - that gets to be more of a problem each year!
Anyway, high spots were the singalongs for "Brown Eyed Girl", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Come up And See Me" for which Hugh, our drummer got a standing ovation (obviously, as there were no seats!). The final thrash of "Teenage Kicks", "My Generation" and, particularly "Somebody Told Me" nearly ripped the roof off the marquee - and when we did "Delilah" as our encore there was just a wall of sound coming back from the audience - ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!
A big thank you to the crowds on both nights - you were tremendous, and a special thanks to Dan the sound man for getting the mix just right - and for the help when Andy's guitar sound decided to pack up just as Chrissie was about to launch into "Sweet Child of Mine" - that was a bit of a sphincter twitching moment!
We're booked in for the Congleton Beer Festival on 27 June, and the gauntlet is well and truly thrown down in the direction of the Congolians (including sweaty groupies!) to match the passion of the Macc Beer Festival crowds - can you do it??
So, we might be back next year - who knows? If they want us back, I'm pretty sure we'd be happy to go for our 5th year but, if not, this one will certainly live on in our memories! Lucy took some photos again, and I've put them onto a Flickr album - just click on the link, and then click on the slideshow button on the top right hand side.
Next gig is back at the Windmill in Whiteley Green on Friday 22 May -more about that is due course.
Saturday, 9 May 2009
HALF TIME REPORT!
As we did last year, I thought I would give everyone an update on how the first night's Beer Festival festivities went - and that is after just returning from the Saturday lunchtime session - purely business obviously!
As reported elsewhere, we kicked the proceedings off last night and, although an 8:15pm start is pretty daunting, we were pleased to see there was a stiff, cold breeze blowing which meant that, although folks were tempted outside by the evening sunshine, they pretty soon cam back inside before their bits froze off! Bonus for us, because it meant we had an audience!
Being the "warm up" act is always tricky, because you want to do your best stuff, but have to recognise that the crowd needs time to get into the swing of things - anyway, we did what we do and, in truth, it seemed to go down a storm - old and new numbers e.g. Teenage Kicks (our "joke" number when you weigh up the average age of the band!) and My Generation being particularly well received! There was a bit of a panic when we realised we were down to our last 3 numbers and still had 25 minutes left to do! No matter, out came the old audience favourites "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Come Up and See Me" and we were back on track - we'd saved "Delilah" until last in the belief that it was the right song to take us out and, sure enough, the crowd nearly brought the marquee down with the chorus! Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we couldn't accede to the roars for an encore, much as we would have loved to stay on all night! Once we were off, there was time to chill out with a few beers (b-rewed not to!) and we were overwhelmed with the number of people that came up to thank us and congratulate us on what we'd done - nobody has to do that, and it really gives us a lift when it happens - eat your heart out Enrique! We've even had an enquiry about playing a gig in Durham on the back of last night! Here are some photos from Lucy's camera to give you a flavour of the fun!:
So, one down and one to go - tonight we're finishing the whole festival off, and will be on stage at 10:00pm - we're really looking forward to the headline spot, and we know the Beavers will be whipping everyone into a frenzy beforehand - if you're going down there, make sure you pack round the stage and sing your hearts out - we will do our best to give you a good time!
Log back in here in the next few days for an update on how tonight's proceedings go - can't guarantee to post tomorrow though!
As reported elsewhere, we kicked the proceedings off last night and, although an 8:15pm start is pretty daunting, we were pleased to see there was a stiff, cold breeze blowing which meant that, although folks were tempted outside by the evening sunshine, they pretty soon cam back inside before their bits froze off! Bonus for us, because it meant we had an audience!
Being the "warm up" act is always tricky, because you want to do your best stuff, but have to recognise that the crowd needs time to get into the swing of things - anyway, we did what we do and, in truth, it seemed to go down a storm - old and new numbers e.g. Teenage Kicks (our "joke" number when you weigh up the average age of the band!) and My Generation being particularly well received! There was a bit of a panic when we realised we were down to our last 3 numbers and still had 25 minutes left to do! No matter, out came the old audience favourites "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Come Up and See Me" and we were back on track - we'd saved "Delilah" until last in the belief that it was the right song to take us out and, sure enough, the crowd nearly brought the marquee down with the chorus! Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we couldn't accede to the roars for an encore, much as we would have loved to stay on all night! Once we were off, there was time to chill out with a few beers (b-rewed not to!) and we were overwhelmed with the number of people that came up to thank us and congratulate us on what we'd done - nobody has to do that, and it really gives us a lift when it happens - eat your heart out Enrique! We've even had an enquiry about playing a gig in Durham on the back of last night! Here are some photos from Lucy's camera to give you a flavour of the fun!:
So, one down and one to go - tonight we're finishing the whole festival off, and will be on stage at 10:00pm - we're really looking forward to the headline spot, and we know the Beavers will be whipping everyone into a frenzy beforehand - if you're going down there, make sure you pack round the stage and sing your hearts out - we will do our best to give you a good time!
Log back in here in the next few days for an update on how tonight's proceedings go - can't guarantee to post tomorrow though!
Monday, 4 May 2009
GETTING CLOSE NOW!!
Well, only 4 days to go before the big day(s)! The extravaganza that is the Macclesfield Beer Festival kicks off this Friday (8 May) and carries on, almost without stopping (well it will seem like that to us!) until midnight on Saturday!
Knowing how demanding our public is we have, of course, been practising like mad to hone our set so that it is sharper than a very sharp thing! Only last Thursday, we were at the Brewery until gone midnight - admittedly most of the time was spent drinking beer, rolling around the floor laughing at childish jokes, and telling each other how bad we were at the respective things we do in the band - but we try to think of that as bonding!
In all seriousness, and without giving too much away, I can say that at least half the set on each night will contain songs that we didn't do at last year's Beer Fest - however, in line with our stated mission (very corporate eh what?!) most, if not all of them will be familiar and, even if they aren't, you'll still be able to dance to them (or whatever it is you are capable of doing by the time we come on!).
As ever, the event is expected to be sold out on both nights, so that will mean about 1300 punters in the tent (sorry marquee!) on each night. So, if you haven't got your ticket yet, and love good music and good beer get one quick - apparently, Enrique Iglesias is "performing" somewhere on Friday night - but would you really want to pass up Dazed & Confused to see him - no, I thought not! Details on where last minute tickets might be available from, are on the Beer Festival website.
Look forward to seeing everyone there - come up and say hello, if you dare!
Knowing how demanding our public is we have, of course, been practising like mad to hone our set so that it is sharper than a very sharp thing! Only last Thursday, we were at the Brewery until gone midnight - admittedly most of the time was spent drinking beer, rolling around the floor laughing at childish jokes, and telling each other how bad we were at the respective things we do in the band - but we try to think of that as bonding!
In all seriousness, and without giving too much away, I can say that at least half the set on each night will contain songs that we didn't do at last year's Beer Fest - however, in line with our stated mission (very corporate eh what?!) most, if not all of them will be familiar and, even if they aren't, you'll still be able to dance to them (or whatever it is you are capable of doing by the time we come on!).
As ever, the event is expected to be sold out on both nights, so that will mean about 1300 punters in the tent (sorry marquee!) on each night. So, if you haven't got your ticket yet, and love good music and good beer get one quick - apparently, Enrique Iglesias is "performing" somewhere on Friday night - but would you really want to pass up Dazed & Confused to see him - no, I thought not! Details on where last minute tickets might be available from, are on the Beer Festival website.
Look forward to seeing everyone there - come up and say hello, if you dare!
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
LONG DISTANCE BLOGGING!
Wonderful thing this t'interwebbynet thing - sitting here in Sweden whiling away a long dark evening (actually they are not that dark in April!) and I thought - nothing better to do, so might as well write to the Dazed & Confused fans!
No gig news to report - down time before the Macc Beer Festival; however, new songs are being polished - in fact, now that Dave is back from the Caribbean (have to keep him away from the brown walls, or we won't find him!) the band is actually practising this week without me - hope I've still got a job when I get back, they are a fickle bunch!
As for the Beer Fest, we have agreed with the Beavers that, as they will be a man down late on Saturday evening (will only leave them with 25 members!) , so we will bring the whole weekend to a fantastic climax!! The running order for the 2 evenings will be as follows:
No gig news to report - down time before the Macc Beer Festival; however, new songs are being polished - in fact, now that Dave is back from the Caribbean (have to keep him away from the brown walls, or we won't find him!) the band is actually practising this week without me - hope I've still got a job when I get back, they are a fickle bunch!
As for the Beer Fest, we have agreed with the Beavers that, as they will be a man down late on Saturday evening (will only leave them with 25 members!) , so we will bring the whole weekend to a fantastic climax!! The running order for the 2 evenings will be as follows:
- Friday 8 May: Dazed & Confused 8:15-9:45 and Screaming Beavers 10:00-11:30
- Saturday 9 May: Screaming Beavers 8:15-9:45 and Dazed & Confused 10:00-11:30
As ever, tickets for both evenings will be like gold dust, so get them soon - details of outlets selling tickets are available on the Beer Festival website and you can even buy your tickets online this year!
Well, I'd better go and tend to the smorgasbord, and take the sauna for a walk - take pity on me won't you - these business trips may sound exotic and enjoyable, but they're not all they are cracked up to be!
Sunday, 5 April 2009
TIME OUT EVERYBODY!
Saturday saw us at The Belfry Hotel in Handforth playing for the Spring Ball of the Time Out Group, and I'm guessing, like us, you are wondering what the devil the Time Out Group is about? Well, let me take a few minutes to explain before I regale you with the details of the evening because, believe me, it was a remarkable experience for us!
The Time Out Group is a charity (and, therefore, relies purely on public donations, Lottery grants and such like) and aims to provide support for people of all ages with learning disabilites, so that these people can feel they are part of the "normal" population. The charity has only 2 paid employees, and relies on volunteers for the rest of the work that needs to be done. The patron of the Charity is Annabel Tiffin, who many people may recognise from NorthWest Tonight or the Politics Show on BBC1 - her photo is attached as well, just in case you don't recognise the name ;-))! Annabel was guest of honour for the evening, with her husband (more of which later!)
The evening was an absolute delight for us - the atmosphere was brilliant - there were about 160 folks there, with a mix of volunteers, guests and the people that benefit from the work of the Charity, with no feeling that anybody was "disadvantaged" or being treated any differently - this is difficult to describe in words, but I hope you get the picture! If ever you see anybody collecting for the Time Out Group - don't hesitate to give them some money - believe me it's worth it!
As for the gig -well, it's difficult to see how it could have been better! Firstly, the band was fed!! In itself, this is a rarity at "posh" events, but on Saturday, there was an added bonus (for Matt anyway!), because he got extra helpings of roast potatoes (because Andy had stuffed himself before arriving) and an extra chocolate "tear drop" pudding!
We went on for the first set at 10:15, and it's always with a bit of trepidation that we approach the "late" gigs, because it can go one of 2 ways - either everyone is ready for a good dance, or they have just had too much "fun" already and think that throwing stuff at the band is the next instalment! However, on Saturday, it was the first option that prevailed and, from the moment that the starting chords of "The One I Love" rang out at 10:15 (right on time!) the crowd were off and running! Every song was met with almost rabid approval (even the Happy Birthday to Peter's Dad - more of him later as well!)
The first set lasted until 11:00pm and we planned to take a 20 minute breather (so that Matt, Chrissie and Andy could do their bit for the tobacco industry workers!), but we were hauled back on at 11:15 to start again! The challenge for us was to get everyone up and dancing - even the Tiffin table! This actually proved easier than it might sound, and Annabel's husband even joined us on stage for a couple of numbers with a tambourine! His parting shot (before Annabel dragged him outside for a beating!) was "I want to be in a band.........!" He's welcome back anytime - providing he doesn't want a cut of the fee!
Being on stage with the mighty D&C became a theme for the night because Peter - our MC for the night - also decided to join us on several occasions! His piece de resistance was Johnny B Goode (which he thought was coming a number of times before it actually did, so he made a few false starts!) when he eventually took centre stage, he gave it many decibels and many different words! It was certainly the most eventful rendition of the song we've ever done!
We finally called it a day (Sunday, actually!) at 12:40am - there were lots of things that we wanted to do that we couldn't (but we hope people understand!), but it was a great night, we felt that we played really well - even though Dave wasn't there (he was on holiday - yes really!) - and it was for a truly worthwhile cause.
We now have a "rest" before the Macc Beer Festival - still not clear whether we are headlining on the Friday or the Saturday - but we'll let you know (we are on both nights though!). There will definitely be some new numbers being launched but, of course, we're not going to tell you what they are! Tickets are already on sale, so get them while you can!
There will be more postings on here before then - obviously!!
The Time Out Group is a charity (and, therefore, relies purely on public donations, Lottery grants and such like) and aims to provide support for people of all ages with learning disabilites, so that these people can feel they are part of the "normal" population. The charity has only 2 paid employees, and relies on volunteers for the rest of the work that needs to be done. The patron of the Charity is Annabel Tiffin, who many people may recognise from NorthWest Tonight or the Politics Show on BBC1 - her photo is attached as well, just in case you don't recognise the name ;-))! Annabel was guest of honour for the evening, with her husband (more of which later!)
The evening was an absolute delight for us - the atmosphere was brilliant - there were about 160 folks there, with a mix of volunteers, guests and the people that benefit from the work of the Charity, with no feeling that anybody was "disadvantaged" or being treated any differently - this is difficult to describe in words, but I hope you get the picture! If ever you see anybody collecting for the Time Out Group - don't hesitate to give them some money - believe me it's worth it!
As for the gig -well, it's difficult to see how it could have been better! Firstly, the band was fed!! In itself, this is a rarity at "posh" events, but on Saturday, there was an added bonus (for Matt anyway!), because he got extra helpings of roast potatoes (because Andy had stuffed himself before arriving) and an extra chocolate "tear drop" pudding!
We went on for the first set at 10:15, and it's always with a bit of trepidation that we approach the "late" gigs, because it can go one of 2 ways - either everyone is ready for a good dance, or they have just had too much "fun" already and think that throwing stuff at the band is the next instalment! However, on Saturday, it was the first option that prevailed and, from the moment that the starting chords of "The One I Love" rang out at 10:15 (right on time!) the crowd were off and running! Every song was met with almost rabid approval (even the Happy Birthday to Peter's Dad - more of him later as well!)
The first set lasted until 11:00pm and we planned to take a 20 minute breather (so that Matt, Chrissie and Andy could do their bit for the tobacco industry workers!), but we were hauled back on at 11:15 to start again! The challenge for us was to get everyone up and dancing - even the Tiffin table! This actually proved easier than it might sound, and Annabel's husband even joined us on stage for a couple of numbers with a tambourine! His parting shot (before Annabel dragged him outside for a beating!) was "I want to be in a band.........!" He's welcome back anytime - providing he doesn't want a cut of the fee!
Being on stage with the mighty D&C became a theme for the night because Peter - our MC for the night - also decided to join us on several occasions! His piece de resistance was Johnny B Goode (which he thought was coming a number of times before it actually did, so he made a few false starts!) when he eventually took centre stage, he gave it many decibels and many different words! It was certainly the most eventful rendition of the song we've ever done!
We finally called it a day (Sunday, actually!) at 12:40am - there were lots of things that we wanted to do that we couldn't (but we hope people understand!), but it was a great night, we felt that we played really well - even though Dave wasn't there (he was on holiday - yes really!) - and it was for a truly worthwhile cause.
We now have a "rest" before the Macc Beer Festival - still not clear whether we are headlining on the Friday or the Saturday - but we'll let you know (we are on both nights though!). There will definitely be some new numbers being launched but, of course, we're not going to tell you what they are! Tickets are already on sale, so get them while you can!
There will be more postings on here before then - obviously!!
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The Voice!
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