G.L.A.M! Girls-Love-Alpha-Males!

The opinions expressed on this page are those of Trey Patterson and do not necessarily represent the views of other band members.

I hate it when you read a review of a gig by a band that you know is not true, so if it was good I'll say it was and more to the point, if it was a poor gig, you'll read that too! I firmly believe that it is important that you read an honest and accurate review. 
                                                                                          Trey Patterson.

There we were at the famous Boot & Shoe at  Ackworth on a Friday night! We had played on a Sunday early evening a few months back and I'd played there in a different band previously too so I knew what kind of a crowd to expect! Punters here love, demand, expect heavy rock/blues. The gaffer was heard talking to someone about us saying that we were a "Sunday" band and he didn't expect the usual rockers to stay in.
As I said I've played and visited here before so I know the type of crowd they get in and looking out from the stage it was clear from the start that whatever anyone may have expected, our brand of entertainment was definitely working. Turned into a great night with a full house and dancing and singing even to the cheesiest stuff! Nah nah nannah nah!!!!!!

Once again lots of Mott fans in. Where do they all come from? And why aren't they at Ian Hunter gigs when I go to see him play?

What had started as a quiet weekend with just Friday booked had changed into a triple header over the preceding fortnight so a busy one it turned out to be!
Friday was our first time at O'Donoghues in Wakefield. It's actually a really nice little place to play, a decent stage area and very friendly staff and management. A good busy night and so many people wanting to talk to us afterwards including other venues and members of other bands, so as I've said before, job done!!!!
Saturday back at Charisma in Hoyland near Barnsley. Our second visit this year and a much bigger crowd this time! The same issues with noise polution from downstairs as last time but it doesn't really affect while you're playing just thumpy and noisy between songs and sets! Got a request for "Billy Porter", a virtually unknown song by Mick Ronson! How strange! Both "The Dude" and I know of the song but we have never played it. Had a little sing-song anyway. It's becoming clear that as we get around new places there are far more Mott THe Hoople / Mick Ronson fans outthere than you would expect.
Sunday was a very last minute gig at Charlie Roberts in Scunthorpe. We've only played there once before and to be honest it was almost empty. This time was much better with a decent number in enjoying our act. The young manageress really seemed to like us! We were all pretty tired by the end of the weekend but we all felt like we had made a big success and the intensity of 3 in a row will always make us tighter as a unit!

It's been a week since the gigs and we've had a weekend off so I've had time to reflect and give a measured review.
On Saturday we played at The Ashby Star in Scunthorpe. It's a big pub with a good sized playing area where they tend to like their rock music so we could turn up a bit! A good crowd in, probably more than we've had in there on previous occasions. Quite responsive so a decent gig all round. There seemed to be a bit of tension on stage, Dude had some issues off stage that made him seem a little less excited than usual but I doubt the audience would have noticed as the rest of us jumped about and played up to compensate! Our first night with our new roadie/soundman, Slick, in tow so no worries about sound balance! That's a weight off anyway!
Sunday had us out in Retford again at The Sherwood Ranger. A smaller venue that, in some ways, we struggle to fit into but we manage. We seemed to be well liked here with many of the same faces there each time we play. Even more in than usual this time so hopefully our fan base is growing there! With Slick with us again we could move the mixing desk out of the playing area creating a little more  space and we utilised it well. Anotehr gig well played! It's good after our period of flux to get the band line up stable and interactive as it should be. Dude's off on his jollies leading to our weekend off so we'll be well rested before our next rehearsal to get at least 2 new songs in the set list and a double headed weekend again on 13-14 August!

As Monday afternoon approaches my memories of a great weekend flood back!
Friday saw us at The Mint in Scunthorpe, as nice venue and though not overly busy, an appreciative audience who sang and joined in at the appropriate times. Checking our past gigs I find that its been just over 2 years since we played here so a welcome, if delayed, return!
Saturday took us to one of our favourite venues; The Horse & Groom in Doncaster. An excellent place with a small but utilisable stage area. As always an excellent crowd, very full and noisy pretty much from the start. Plenty of enquiries about private bookings and info given out along with our merchandise! Another excellent evening, Thanx Francis!!
Sunday found us in Sheffield at The Bellhouse Road WMC. This is an excellent place, for all the best reasons like a step back in time to the great days of the club circuit! A great sized stage to pose and strut about on and a wonderful room to play to! Could have done with a few more in bit the decent sized and appreciative crowd enjoyed us and we recipricated! More enquiries about return gigs to be completed so a return should be imminent! Fingers crossed!!!

Quite a trek out on a Friday for the full line up of the band. It's been tough over the past few weeks with a line up change and Cherry playing out her notice with Time Machine but here we were back with our new line up in place and rehearsed. It was great to feel comfortable on stage with the band confident that everyone knew what to do and what was expected of them!
As to the gig itself; The Villager is a good sized seaside pub near Fantasy Island and BJ's Big Top with a small stage designed for solos and duo so it was a bit of a crush but actually nowhere near as bad as I had expected!. It's one of those venues that punters come and go from so we were never sure how many would be in at any one time so not from my perspective a convincing performance but the management were more than pleased so I guess we should just accept that and move on! Didn't get home til 4am so a bit weary today. Next weekend is busy with Doncaster and Sheffield to play so a couple of evenings' rehearsals will see us on top form!

Saturday saw us back at my local and one of our favourite venues. There has been a new stage extension since our last visit and this meant we could bring John further forward to be part of the "front line". The first time I had really seen him at work as he's normally behind me and he's an energetic bugger I have to say!
With a strange line-up it could have been a disasterous gig! Cherry is away on holiday so we got our original bass player Jim to step in and help us out and with The Dude on only his second gig with us I was expecting the worst but was pleasantly surprised! Yes we weren't as tight as we normally are but all in all a good evening. Jim played very well in the circumstances and Dude is really finding his feet with arrangements and different sounds in the songs! Audience reaction was very positive and it was great to see Storm and Gladys our no.1 fans out there again after some time away.
Thanx to everyone who came down to make it a successful evening for the club and an enjoyable one for us!

It's Sunday evening, I've spent a wonderful day at Ingoldmells avoiding the football with Jules! Home again and nothing but crap on the TV so it's diary time. Last night was our first gig at this venue and after 2 days of intensive rehearsing for Mark, our first gig with "The Dude" on lead guitar. Mark is a perfectionist to a ridiculous degree and this makes him work very hard when he has a new challenge and his endeavours certainly paid off! While not a note perfect performance (when it is for anyone!), it was impressive to see him work. With loads of new sounds and takes on songs that we have done week in week out for some time, it was great to see and hear how hard he had worked and the obvious care and attention he had put in!
It's fair to say he is not and Andy and Andy is not him, 2 very different players in many ways so we all need to get used to the changes!
Cherry was a little upset, thinking she had had a bad night, but hey it's live, mistakes are made and usually (and in this case) the audience doesn't notice! I too made some bloopers mainly in Delilah as I was doing extra keyboard stuff for the first time.
Anyway to the venue etc. There was a wedding party in the main room so we played in an bay window in the bar to an excellent crowd considering how many of the regulars were next door! They all seemed to enjoy us and lots of people wanted to talk to us afterwards! The gaffer was well impressed and is looking at our availability for a return soon so as we always say "Job Done!"

I am very sad this morning as last night Andy Thomas resigned from the band. Andy had been with the band pretty much from the start and will therefore be missed.
On the plus side we are lucky that, at the start of the year, Mark "The Dude" Cockerill started helping out on sound and depping on bass when Cherry was not available as she worked out her notice from her other band. This means that he already "knows" the songs and will work hard to get his head around the guitar parts!
I am hoping that the loss of Andy's talents will not interfer with the upward trend of the band over the course of this year.

Another new venue for us and another great gig! Since Cherry joined we have found ourselves travelling further afield as her base is Doncaster while ours is Scunthorpe. This has given us a whole new audience who haven't seen us before so we get all the benefits of the surprise and interest that people have when they first see us along with the fact that there are few if any bands like us on the pub circuit!
The New Wheel is a smallish place but has a good sized playing area with just some minor issues with speaker placement. Fairly quiet for the first set but pretty much packed for the second one! Had a problem with a monitor which seems to be dying so more expense in the future I guess. Hey Ho!!!!! Got another booking straight away so obviously the land lady was impressed!
Great to see the staff and some punters had dressed up for us and joined in the fun!!!!

On Friday 4 June I performed a solo gig at Crowle Liberal Club to a disappointingly small audience. All the usual excuses about "it was very hot today, everyone's at home having a BBQ", "its been quiet on Fridays for a while" etc mean nothing to me. Having said that I enjoyed myself and played 3 original songs; "Election Time", "There's no soul in the city" and "St. Peter's Gate". All were well received and it also gave me the opportunity to give the new bass bins a run out!

Saturday 5 June saw G.L.A.M! at Charisma in Hoyland nr Barnsley. Our first time at this interesting venue. Its a 3 floored nightclub so you get noise (and I do mean noise!) from below between sets and between songs. The pounding of the "dance" music also affects the "stage" sound as it becomes part of the monitor mix and definitely provides a case for investing in "in-ear" monitoring sytems! Still a very good evening once we got used to the strange sound and we were well received by a good sized crowd. Lots of dancing and singing along and Cherry off into the audience to join in with the girls!!!

Friday 11 June saw G.L.A.M! doing a last minute (well 24 hours notice!) at The Lion, Castleford. We had played a Sunday a few weeks ago and since then there have been some changes in the area. The pub up the road was also a live venue and on Sundays a band played there in the afternoon then when they finished, the crowd came down to The Lion and watched the band in the evening. Since our gig, the other pub has closed so the area has lost a venue that brought people in to visit the different venues. There is some disquiet at The Lion about the effect this will have and is already having in the number of punters.
But anyway to the gig itself! This venue has its own PA so Mark has a different desk to get his head around and put his trust in. Sound checks were excellent but when we started up it was clear from the stage sound that there were some problems. My main mike didn't seem to work and the monitors seemed to kick in and out! Mark assured us that the front of house sound was fine to excellent so we shouldn't worry. I switched mikes and used the keyboard mike for the second set taking to the front stand when I needed it there and we had no further problems.
I love this venue, it's small and sweaty with a decent stage especially for a band that doesn't use back-line amps anymore, and a very appreciative crowd who satnd in front and to the left peering thru' the bar and around corners. It's all very close and confined and gives really good audience reaction directly rather than trying to see thru lights and open spaces.

So up to date and 2 new venues to play on the next 2 weekends. Cherry's announcement that she is leaving her other band to concentrate on G.L.A.M! is great news and bodes well for a busy and productive future!

Not a lot to say really. A decent gig at a decent venue. We all enjoyed ourselves and so did the small but responsive crowd. We'll be back later in the year!

What started off as a weekend off turned into a double header because our new bassist seems to spend most of her spare time trawling the internet for last minute cancelled gigs for us to fill!

Saturday saw us an excellent little pub venue in Pudsey called The Golden Lion. A bit cramped on the "stage" but a good responsive crowd and lots of enquiries for future work! As we spread our wings and play in different towns and cities we seem to get the same comments from so many different people: "We've never had a band like you in here before!". I guess with working regularly in Scunny etc we do not surprise the regulars anymore so it's fun and nice to hear postive comments about our show and image from new punters! Hoping for a return gig at The Golden Lion soon!

Sunday saw us a The Boot & Shoe in Ackworth near Pontefract. I've played here in a band some years ago and it is notorious as a heavy rock / blues place so I have to admit to a certain amount of trepidation before hitting the stage! There were, of course, some titters and comments as we got up and I definitely got the impression that some of the crowd, at least, were determined to NOT like us! Which made it all the more gratifying when even in  the first song but definitely by the second and third songs, we'd got them! A very good gig and a great crowd in an excellent venue.
Nice one Cherry!

Another double headed weekend for us with Saturday at The Warren Lodge, Scunthorpe, a venue we've played a few times to good crowds and the same was true this time! I really like this venue, it's a good sized stage area although it is awkward with the big speakers as there is a lot of fixed seating where we would like to place them. Mark stepped into his bassman duties again for this gig as Cherry was away with Time Machine.

Sunday saw us at The Sherwood Ranger in Retford for the first time this year. As always a decent crowd, very responsive and appreciative. We'll be back in the summer for another turn and we look forward to it!

We've played the Polish Club before but always as part of private do's, this time we were booked direct by the club for a "Hog Roast" evening so a long break between sets for which we had supplied incidental music to keep the evening in the same musical vein. I don't like it when DJs play very different music styles inbetween sets but even that's better than the places that even though you give them a set list they still play songs that you either have done or will be doing.

Anyway mini rant over and back to the gig!
Counldn't get my bloody voice working for the first couple of songs but it cleared up after that and a good gig was had by all, a couple of lyrical errors and the odd bum note, (sorry I'm listening to a playback of the night for cd production while I'm writing!), great crowd participation and a lot of enquiries about bookings from other clubs and pubs whose gaffers were present on the night, good job I'd had those business cards printed up in time!
We'll be back later in the year so thanx to everyone who came along and enjoyed us.

What started out as a potentially great weekend had deteriorated into a real disappointment with cancelations and misunderstandings. We started with having SNAFU on Friday, the Royal on Saturday and the Ferry Boat on Sunday. Unfortunately first the Ferry cancelled because the gaffers left at short notice and the Royal thought they had booked us for Friday not Saturday, a real shame because they had advertised in the local press, so we ended up with only one gig instead of three! As we set up at SNAFU we got the chance of a last minute gig in Castleford on Sunday so jumped at the chance to make a foray into a town we hadn't played before at a place I had played at on a previous band some 4-5 years ago so figured it might be a good one!
SNAFU proved to be a good gig as always but with Rotherham in general a bit quiet not the usual packed to the rafters but still a pretty good crowd and a happy "Snoopy"! SNAFU is a very late start and finish so it was nice to have a lie in on Saturday.
Sunday brought us to our Castleford debut at The Lion, a smallish pub with a good stage and their own pa so with Mark in tow sorting the sound it was another easy set up once he got his head around an different pa! Thought we were starting at 7pm so got changed and hit the first chord before being told "No you're on at 8!" A bit of a bummer but very few in a the time anyway. Apparently there is a pub just down the road with a band on a 5ish so when they finish everyone piles on over for the band at the Lion. The first set was played to a busy and appreciative crowd but there seemed to be an "air" of violence in the place as if it was going to kick off at any moment. Nonetheless a good set. The second set started with even more people in, pretty much packed and the extra booze drunk seemed to have calmed the atmosphere so an even better set with everyone joining in a appropriate times. 2 encores because they wouldn't let us go!!! Lots of enquiries from other landlords/ladies so hopefully a foothold in Castleford has been well and truly laid.
Once again thanx to our new bassist who goes by the name of "Cherry B". She has fitted into the previously "all-male" set up of the band extremely well and is obviously going to be a real asset to the band!
Looking forward to our private booking next week!

Because Ged is still ill we have decided to get in a depping bassist to help cover the gigs. After some consideration of various people we decided on Tracy from a band called Time Machine. Managed to get a "run-through" rehearsal on Monday and were happy enough on that performance to have her join us on Saturday giving her the rest of the week to work on the songs she had been unsure of. I'm not normally the most gracious and appreciative person around but I have to say she did a fantastic job, almost note perfect with Mark back on the desk monitoring any sound problems, the night went brilliantly. Turned out it was the landlady's birthday so Happy Birthday Pol! Hope she enjoyed it as much as we did, I know I had one of the best evening's work of my career so far so let's hope for a return gig soon. Lots of enquiries about bookings from other landlords etc so looks good for future business too.

What can I say about this weekend, had plans for Saturday with my beloved but had a late call from my local club begging for the band to fill in for a cancelation but as a band we were not available so it turned into a solo gig for me! I've dobe it before here so it was just a matter of collecting the gear together and the backing tracks and crack on with it. Normally solo gigs are on Fridays with a limited crowd but Saturday was much busier and so much more fun!

Sunday saw the band at The Anchor in Lincoln for our debut gig there and what an eye-opener it was too! You expect Sundays to be quiet but this pub, while not packed to the rafters, was busy nonetheless. We had a great time with a very responsive crowd and a very happy gaffer! Job Done!!!!

Our bass player Ged has had a nasty accident that has debilitated him pretty much completely so we have had to get our new soundman, Mark, to jump in and help out on bass at 4 hours notice!
Obviously not being a natural bass player, rather a guitarist, this was always going to be tough but he threw himself into the task with his usual commitment.
Friday saw us at Ye Olde Crowne in Lincoln, always a great gig in the past but this time the crowb were very thin on the ground for no good reason so I guess we'll just have to put that one down to experience and hope for better on our next visit.
Saturday brought us back to Doncaster for the first time this year and a fantastic night at the Horse & Groom. We had great gigs there last year and this was certainly no different. A great crowd, up for it, singing and dancing from the start. A happy gaffer and a happy band! Job done!!!

Our 2nd gig with the soundman in tow and it continues to get even better. As Mark gets to know the sets and song arrangements better he is able to use the sliders to much greater effect and achieve the dynamics and expressive nature of our music.
An excellent gig at a much improved venue.

After a few weeks off to recover from our December stresses we were back at my local venue for a fantastic start to the year. We now have a sound man helping to ensure we get the besrt possible sound to enhance our performances. Money well spent!!!

As I find myself in the new year, I find that I am behind on here so it's catch up time!

Since my last post we did Xmas Eve at Ashby Mill Road Club in Scunthorpe, always a great gig there and this was no exception. Set up in the afternoon as is usual here and got a great sound as always. 3 sets meant that we were guarenteed to see Christmas in with the medley.
The only worry was the first signs of my impending chect and throat infection that was just around the corner!

On Boxing Day evening we found ourselves at Keadby WMC for a decent gig, not as busy as Xmas Eve but still an enjoyable night except for my health which was by now becoming a real worry. I had taken to spend any time I was actually setting up or playing, in bed trying to sweat out a very bad chest! Also found myself unable to reach the usual high notes so had to octave down, something I hate doing! After collapsing in the dressing room between sets it was decided to cancel the following night's gig at Retford to give me chance to get something like better for Monday 28th.

Monday 28 saw us on home ground at Crowle Lib Club celebrating our roadie, Ben's birthday. A fantastic night with all records broken for the club even beating Xmas Eve which had in itself been a new record for bar take! I was a little better but still very ill so a good gig but not a great one form my point of view.

After a visit to the doc's and 3 days on antibiotics we saw out the old year at Redbourn Club, Scunthorpe. A completed sold out gig ( with rumours of fake tickets flying round too!!!). An excellent night all round though my voice was rather put to the test when I should have been more careful, resulting in a rather unpleasant coughing fit behind the back drop while Jet held it together for me at the front!

Anyway with 2009 0ver and a few weeks off for auditions, recovery and rehearsal of new material, we'll see you all in February!!!

Another double header saw us at a private function at The Polish Club in Scunny on Saturday playing to an enthusiatic and appreciative audience, all "up for it" and dancing and singing along pretty much from the start and right through both sets. An excellent evening that we all enjoyed immensely.

Sunday saw us at The Charlie Roberts. We had our first gig exactly 2 years ago at Charlie's place so it seemed appropriate somehow that our anniversary was here. Unfortunately the weather and the time of year seemed to conspire against us and only a small crowd attended. It was a shame as we played well and enjoyed the set up there with a smallish stage but a drum riser and a small extension at the front. We'll all rest now up for our 4 in 5 days stint! Christmas eve, boxing day, 27th and 28th all ahead of us before a couple of days rest before New Years Eve. It's great to be busy but it can be very tiring!!!!!

A double header for us to get us ready and fit for the Christmas busy period!

Friday at The Acorn, Armthorpe.
Our first time here and a strange set up with a good sized playing area but visually difficult with large pillars in the audience areas but nonetheless a good gig with a good crowd appreciating us. Could a place to play in the new year, certainly wouldn't mind a return visit after an appropriate interval.

Saturday at The Mallard, Scunthorpe.
A decent crowd for this one too, probably more than we've had in the past here!
Had a fantastic sound check that seemed to be for nothing as we got an appalling howling as we started up. We struggled to get it right but in the end I made the decision to stop and start again. Not a popular decision and not something done lightly. We still had some stage feedback during the gig but it certainly went quite well and our christmas medley flowed through nicely. All in all a good gig!

It's so good to be able to write something positive after a couple of disappointing posts over the past few weeks.
Everyone is back to full health after our mini break but that did leave us maybe a little rusty having had 2 weekends off for the first time ever!
An excellent evening at WL, our third visit this year and the first one since Jim left and Jet joined us. A number of comments about the change, all positive.
Really good to see friendly faces included Storm & Gladys, Mark, Julie's son, his partner, Julie's mum and friends along with a respectable crowd especially for the time of the year and the weather!
Good to get back with the boys and thrash out the sets and for me to try my new back-up guitar. Played it all night to see how it performs over a full evening and check the tone and "stay-in-tune" capability. Both excellent but must keep it as a back-up in future!
A busy December looms for us so it's a rehearsal this week for Christmas songs etc.

We've had some time off because of illness in the band and a well needed break to build up our strength for a tough December. We played some gigs on the weekend of 30 Oct- 1 Nov but had to cancel the Saturday gig and give it to our good friend Mark's ZD. As it happened the sickness passed and we picked up a cancellation so we were not the worse off financiallty and the private gig we gave up got an excellent new rock trio to entertain them instead. All went very well by all accounts and we wish him all the best with this new venture. In the end it remained a busy weekend and we suffered as individuals because of it with relapses to flu etc just when we thought we were getting better. So Friday at Ashby Con Club for a kid's halloween party went as well as could be expected for a mixed audience, Saturday at Crowle Lib Club for another enjoyable gig then Sunday down in Retford again at The Sherwood Ranger. Then Monday with me off work and Jet at the doc's both of us feeling like death!
All better now though and looking forward to the run up to the year end!

What an awful weekend!!! Sometimes it just doesn't work!

Friday saw me at a return gig at Crowle Liberal Club doing the solo stuff and I have to say I died on my arse!  It's lonely old place when there's no-one around to laugh it off with and it's just you in the spotlight!

Probably tried to be a bit too clever finding vocally stretching songs that in the end were not "up-beat" enough. Had equipment problems too with some very loud crackling and buzzing at the end of the second set that I managed to sort as I started the last set. Really threw everything into the third set and got some decent participation but no encore asked for or done. Huge appologies to anyone who came to see a less than on form Trey struggling through the evening.

Saturday saw the band travelling to Chesterfield to find another band setting up. Apparently we had been contacted to cancel months ago because they had booked a private party and wanted their own band but considering my numbers are the ones we use, I can only question any "contact" they had made. Turned into a good band discussion concerning how to confirm gigs and what our future should hold for us along with a preview of our DVD recorded at SNAFU in Rotherham which sounds fantastic through headphones (you know how tinny laptops are!). When its finished we will be putting some tracks on YouTube asap.

A busy weekend next weekend beckons with Friday, Saturday and Sunday all booked. (All or nuthin'??!!)

Another gig at the Victory Club and I would like to say the same old story of a packed house and a great night. Unfortunately I can't! Yes there was a decent crowd both in the main room and looking at us thru' the raised bar area but we just didn't seem to catch them alight. We certainly didn't play badly; I recorded the show and the balance and playing is excellent. Did we just not have the spark ourselves? Maybe so. We did have plenty of positive comments and played games with the crowd especially at the end but it all seemed a long time coming 'til they liked us! Maybe I'm being overcritical as always, who knows?
I really like the set up here with a great stage and a decent sized dance floor in front, I hope we get asked back and really show what we can do. BTW Tried Ballroom Blitz after fevered rehearsal during the week and it went really well! It's one of those stop start pieces and very stretching vocally but it all just fell into place. So one positive for us at least.
Another BTW the DJ (DJs) were excellent, didn't play any of our sets and finished the night with some motown, and why not!!!!!!!!

Another Sunday and another good feeling about the Saturday Gig! Our second visit to this "Irish" pub in the centre of Doncaster and another great evening. Started poorly with a pretty small crowd before we went to get changed into our regalia but as we came out something had happened and the place had filled nicely and would continue to do so  even more so throughout the evening. Jet had been ill during the week and we were set to use our stand-in again but his health returned enough for him to do the gig so we were at full strength with the full set list available to us so he sang his heart out on "Crazy Horses" and "Whiskey in the jar"; particularly appropriate for an Irsh joint!
Only bad memory was the drunk guy dancing at the front who must have over balanced when my back was turned and crashed into me and my mike stand, causing me in turn to crash into the drums. Must have looked quite comical from the audience's viewpoint but a bit distressing for us, people don't realise just how much replacing broken equipment can cost. Fortunately no damage done so we just picked ourselves up without missing a beat and

It's Sunday afternoon, I've had a lie in and I'm thinking about what a great weekend it's been. On Friday Andy, Jules my brother and I went down to London to see one of the 40th Anniversary concerts by Mott The Hoople at Hammersmith Apollo. Absolutely amazing to see my favourite band of all time at retirement age putting on a show that would compare with anything I've ever seen. Truly brilliant. Got home very late in the early hours of Saturday morning for a short sleep then preparation for our first gig with Jet back from his hols at one of my favourite venues!

And did it match up to my expectations or what! A wonderful evening with a great crowd all up for us! A new guitar and a new sparkly jacket for me and a DVD filmed! Let's see what the results are when it comes back to us next week. High hopes for something usable for youtube and for a demo dvd for fans and agents. A big thanx to Snoopy as always for his efforts with the sound and the filming.

Life's got a bit easier too since Slick Ben has decided to come along to help with the gear and to learn about the set up and sound so a big thanx to him too!

Yet another debut gig and yet another that was somewhat dissappointing. The venue is primarily a food based pub but the area set aside for us had a stage built in it in about 15 minutes flat. Very impressive!!! A decent sized stage and of a sensible height; about a foot or so.
Not a huge crowd by any means but they seemed to enjoy us, singing and banging on tables at appropriate times!
We were the first band to play here for 3 years apparently and they are trying to build up the Saturday live entertainment so we wish them the best of luck doing that. We would welcome a return gig because everyone is so friendly and the bar staff had glammed themslves up especially for the night. I just hope the crowd awareness builds in the meantime! You really have to advertise well to break into the Scunny scene with so many places already doing live music and so well known for it.

Can't say we played badly and with no disrepect to our stand-in bass player but its just not the same without Jet! He drives the sound and adds his own brand of humour to the proceedings. He's back from his jollies on Wednesday so after a rehearsal on Thursday we'll be back out there with new songs in the set maybe even with him taking lead vocals on one of them. So a big thanx to Keith for helping us out for the last 2 gigs.

October is one of those months when we seem to be everywhere except home! Rotherham, Doncaster, Barton-upon-Humber, Chesterfield, Ashby, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Retford. The fuel bill's going to be tough to swallow! And another solo gig for me at Crowle Lib Club on Friday 23rd!

Our first time at this rather unusual venue. A room upstairs at the Community Centre and only the 4th time they had tried putting bands on. Apparently it's not really worked so far so hopes were not high tonight either. And with good reason. We played our first set to 2 people and the second to about 20! All hugely appreciative of us and complaining about poor or none existent advertising. Still it was a paid rehearsal for our stand-in bass player, Keith (Psycho)Mullard, ready for a new local venue next week at The Old Farmhouse, Scunthorpe.
I really feel for people who really try to put on live music but don't see the return and I wish SCC all the best for the future.

Was it a one-off or the start of an interesting side project? Only time will tell.
Well outside of my comfort zone all alone up there with no band to banter with and backing tracks that give no chance for mistakes, coming in at the wrong time etc.
Having said all that, a very enjoyable evening of different music so a huge thanx to everyone who came down to support me especially Storm and Gladys, John and Leanne, Ben Slick and of course Jules and Sammi! Thanx also to Christine who pushed me into doing this gig and even paid me for it!!!

Might just do this again!

Another double header for the boys this time Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday at The Mallard, Scunthorpe.
Our first time back with the new line up and the new PA gear. Last time here we had some issues or rather the gaffer had issues with the amount of things we had plugged into the mains and we tripped a fuse! Now we don't have powered speakers anymore we use 4 less sockets and a lot less electricity! Having said that my top keyboard refused point blank to work and so was in pieces the next day to find the fault. It did mean we had to re-jig the sets to miss out the keyboard songs!
Not a huge crowd in but those their definitely enjoyed themselves. We had our usual fan club in attendance for a Scunny gig and others who have started to come frequently. We recognised some from past gigs at the Pied Piper which has now either closed or at least does not have live music on. It is good to know that we are building something of a following in a town with so many good bands and venues to choose from.
So all in all a good night for us and them and a return visit due early December.

Sunday at the Sherwood Ranger, Retford.
This is a funny little place that we are again building a good following at. Maybe not quite so many in as last time but the landlady was ringing round to get more again a very appreciative crowd and lots of questions about when we are coming back and that they'd like to dress up too! So a return visit in November for us and we hope to see some wild and wacky costumes in the audience too for that one!

Well it's Sunday morning after a late night in Lincoln and I have a wonderful warm feeling of gig well done! I'm listening to last night's recording as I transfer it real time from mini disc to PC for archiving and a new possible live CD. Yes there's bum notes but it sounds a great live performance in front of a great audience who can actually be heard singing, screaming and cheering. The balance is excellent and bearing in mind this is taken direct from the stage mixer, I guess this is exactly what the audience heard. There's no way of re-mixing these recordings as they go directly to mini disc not via a multi-track recorder so we always have to accept that this is it! Having some problems with the 2nd set disc as it seems to be sticking so I'll have to cut out the spaces and edit it together afterwards.
But enough of all that, suffice to say what a great night, a big thanx to all the Lincoln contingent of fans who made it 2 weeks running and helped to make a excellent night for us. One more Lincoln gig in December so we'll all look forward to that!
Cheers.

Another good gig at one of our favourite out of town venues! Never been sure why we like it here, it's not a great place to play as far as the playing area is concerned with the big pillars and being on floor level but we are always made very welcome by Debbie, Steve and the gang. New stuff in the set for this gig, some went well some not quite so and some technical problems with Jet's bass amp but all in all a very enjoyable evening. Good to see Dave from the Hunter-Mott forum again and we actually got a chance to chat this time about all things Ian Hunter / Mott The Hoople. Lots of very positive comments from people who had seen us before saying how much better the sound was and how much tighter we are now with the new line-up so a big thanx to everyone who made the effort to compliment us after the gig.

Hope to see some of the same people next week in Lincoln town centre ( city centre!?) at Ye Olde Crown as promised!!!

A return visit to an excellent venue that we have used for recording live performances with a number of different bands. A slightly smaller crowd this time,only about 2/3rd full! Apparently they had decided to charge, even members, for the gig, something they hadn't done before. It's sometimes false economy if you charge and only get 100 people or don't charge and get 300 in spending more money on beer etc! Having said that, those there again were very "up for it" and we all had a great time. Unfortunately our attempt to record this gig failed due to problems with the lap-top that we have to resolve.
We were asked to return before Christmas but we are there on Christmas Eve so it seemed inappropriate to get another gig in between then and now as it would make gigs 2 months apart instead of our ususal 3 month gap.

Another new venue for us this year. The H&G is an "Irish" pub and so is themed appropriately but with surprisingly few actual Irish punters though the bar team / management all seemed to be! It's a decent sized place with a smallish but usable "stage". Everyone was very friendly and accommodating to our needs even unlocking a side door to get the gear in easier and offering off street parking to save us getting a ticket from plod!
To the gig, a surprise request for 3 sets meant scribbling furiously and rearranging the song order to get the usual build up to 3 finales instead of the usual 2! But what a night, a very full room with more than its fair share of singers and dancers. Can't really say any more than that! A very enjoyable evening and really looking forward to a return gig in the Autumn. Loads of takers of our free merchandise so we'll have to stock up again.
A special mention to Chris, my guitarist in a previous band, who came down to check us out. It's been a few years and it was a real pleasure to meet up again.

Another welcome return to a very special little venue. LSB is a smallish pub but has a great clientelle who always enjoy the music, Always a pleasure to be there.
The usual stage invasion for dudes ended a very enjoyable evening's work.
thanx to Storm & Gladys, Pam and Slick for coming down to see us and of course everyone who stayed the course!

A return visit for the bigwigs!!
We were here early in the year and decided to use the floor area instead of the stage as it is a bit small. This time we used the stage, extending it to accommodate the keyboards by stacking the keyboard cases to one side and putting the stand on top of them. We've done this before at other venues with smaller stages and again it worked here!

These gigs are always a bit strange because you start the night with loads of young kids sitting on the floor in front of the stage staring up at you completely mystified then by the time you start the second set they've all been taken to bed and you've lost half your audience. The second set is just to adults though so you can have much more fun!!!

An excellent nite anyway, a long trip but well worth it. Lots of compliments and enquiries about possible bookings so job well and truly done.  Just waiting for the cheque now!!

Private bookings are sometimes a bit strange to assess because often the person who has booked you, likes you, but the other guests don't necessarily have the same musical tastes. We have done private bookings where the clients have loved us but the gig for us was not enjoyable because the we didn't get the audience reaction we like!

I have to say this was not one of those occasions. A very full concert room at a great club to play in (we play it a couple of times a year as a direct booking). The stage is nice and big and we had just had some peavey hisys 4s serviced and repaired by our new bassman Jet, so the sound was excellent, full and meaty with plenty of mid range that we have been missing since we stopped using our other PA system.
A really fantastic night, really enjoyable for us and with our new bassman and the new speakers the sound out front and atmosphere on stage were both like never before.

Thanx very much to the lady who booked us, (Yes I do know her name but we never put private details on here), we hope she and all of her guests enjoyed the night as much as we did!!

Another busy weekend for me and the boys!

Saturday saw us at a Charity do in support of Lyndsey Hospice at the Brumby Hall. Good ticket sales of around 200 gave us a good room full of people to perform for. After 18 months of using the same gear we are finding the different sizes of venues sometimes difficult to adapt to with our new more compact system. We have some big peaveys in for service/repair so we are using some smaller speakers that in bigger places don't really do the job with enough punch. Having said that we did a good job in the circumstances and after a first set with a rather subdued audience, a plateful of pie and peas and a few drinkies seemed to do the trick and the second set proved much more enjoyable for all concerned! Money raised and a good night so "job done!"

Sunday saw us at a smallish pub in Retford via our new agent. First impressions as always were very wrong, we should know better by now! A decent sized playing area if on floor level meant we could have a natural barrier with bass bins and monitors making us feel a little safer but what were we worried about? What a fantastic little gig. A full pub of singers and dancers with at least one who seemed to have been drinking all day, maybe all weekend. Great compliments from a bunch of guys who had seen us at the bike nite at Barton and said we were much better tonite! Lots of packs and cards asked for and given for future bookings elsewhere so a real "up" night to finish the weekend.

Just a quick note about Jet. This guy is a player and a half in every way! That's a cheap shot but he can take it! He's a big lad and costuming him has had its challenges but his playing is probably the best I've experienced for many a year and that's no disrespect to anyone else I've played with! The Americans have a reputation of "why send in 10 men when 100 will do"!!!; Jet seems to have the same feelings about his bass playing or maybe the old adage "less is more but more is better"!!! He fills our sound superbly with additional runs and a driving bass pounding away. He is a breath of fresh air to the band and we all hope his time with us continues to be productive and enjoyable for all!!!

We've been working with Jim in bands for the past nearly four years so it was going to be a bit strange going out with a different bass player on Jet's debut gig with us. We'd had only limited time to rehearse but felt that Jet knew the arrangements well enough so it was just a matter of us getting used to each other on stage.

And what a night it turned into! We've played here before and there is rarely a full house but we got close tonite! We'd brought a good few with us anyway but, in spite of the fact that lots of the regulars were attending another event, there was a good crowd all eager to enjoy  themselves.

Jet fitted in superbly well and many compliments came his way especially from people who had seen us before so no worries for our future. A big thanx to everyone who supported us both family and friends and thanx to John the gaffer for helping us with an excellent new idea for the backdrop.

It's good bye to Jim as this was Jim's last gig with us. He will be missed in many ways but this was definitely the way to go out! A great gig in front of big crowd all singing and dancing to our music. Loads of authorised and unauthorised photos but who cares!! Also John's birthday along with a few others so far too many "happy birthdays" sung!

A huge thanx to Jim for his dedication to the cause especially our the past few weeks as we got his replacement rehearsed and costumed for this weekend's gig at The Woolie!

I don't normally write about private do's but on this occasion I feel I really have to.

A huge thanx to Storm & Gladys who made us feel so welcome and wanted. A fantastic evening and a real pleasure to be there. Thanx to everyone there who joined in with the fun and another mega thanx to Jules and Donna who got Storm ready for his stage debut!

Cheers have a great honeymoon and see you soon.

A double header this weekend!
On Friday we played our first gig at the Beckwood in Scunthorpe. A nice sized room with a small but usable stage area. Not a huge turnout by any means but reasonably responsive and those there seemed to enjoy th show.

On Saturday we played our first gig this year at SNAFU in Rotherham. What can I say but WOW!!!!!
A truly fantastic evening! Our last gig, last year was less than great with poor audience response that could have been out fault, who knows, but tonite we were on top of our game with the audience completely on our side! And a big audience it was too! At SNAFU, being a town centre venue, you generally get lots of the crowd moving on between sets to see what else is on elsewhere but if any left, they were replaced tenfold by others. An incredible gig, probably our best of the year so far. Thanx to the resident sound man who in spite of not liking the music we play did a great job and a huge thanx to everyone who supported us and cheered us on!!

Another excellent gig at one of our favourite little venues. We had rehearsed with some new gear on Thursday so the gear was still set up making for a very simple set up on the evening. As usual a bit quiet to start with and then busier as the night went on ending in a crashing encore!
A big thanx to everyone who came down to support us especially Storm and Gladys yet again, Have you really got no-one better to go to see.

I think we were all a bit edgy about what tonite might bring, I certainly was, as we had had an excellent gig here last time and, with the well publicised issues within the band, I wasn't sure how well we'd bond and play together.
As it happened, no worries on either score. Another great crowd, singing and dancing, a lot of friendly faces in attendance including Storm and Gladys, some family members, Trev the rocker and our old mate "The Dude"! A huge thanx and well done to Jim who, even though he is working his notice, played a blinder on bass. A true professional to the end!!
In spite of our differences, we are all good, close mates and I know we will get thru' this period of unrest with friendships intact and best wishes for any future projects that any of us are involved in.
Thanx Guys!!!

One of our favourite places in the world! We all love it up in Middleton. It's in the countryside in County Durham and when the weather's great like it was for this one, it's an absolute oasis in this mad world. So laid back and pretty! We haven't played this venue before but have played other places in town for the same charity.
A much bigger crowd for this one than the one we did last year and though they were a little shy at coming forward and singing loudly nonetheless they were appreciative. Most of us went up early for cream tea and football then got set up quietly and without incident, a real pleasure!
All in all a good night and a very pleasant drive home again. Thanx to everyone who came to see us and especially those who bought our cds that we had donated to the cause!
Hope we'll be back at least this year, sooner the better!

It's been about a year since we played here last and it's been too long! We like playing here because we get a lot of room to set up in and space to perform in unlike some of the smaller places we play where we are all too close together!
A decent crowd, not full but a reasonable turn out including many friendly faces and local musos. Good to see Psycho, Noah, some Jeeps, some Crazy Daze and of course The Dude who joined us a little worse for the pop for Comfortably Numb at the end of the night.
We played well with no major cock-ups except for Comfortably Numb where we seemed to forget how the middle bit went. Went round in circles a few times then got back on track for a steaming solo from Mark!
A big thanx to everyone who came down to support us, a big "see ya soon" to the lady who came down especially to check us out before booking us for her birthday bash and a special hi to the couple who had booked us in their diary after seeing us at Mill Road Club and made a special effort to come out to see us again.

A debut gig on a Saturday to allow the landlord to check us out to see if we are "good" enough to play on a Wednesday! A very successful evening especially as we hadn't seen each other for nearly 3 weeks due to my house move and relocation to Crowle which should make gigging around the Scunthorpe area easier at least. Slight changes to our normal stage set-up made the "stage" area playable for us with a 1-2-1 line up instead of the usual 3-1 set up.
A decent sized crowd obviously enjoyed us but were a little shy in singing along at times.
We were paid the ultimate compliment by a guy who asked me if we play to backing tracks or if it's all live! If you can't tell the difference then we must be doing it right!!
Nice early finish at just after 11pm so early to bed after a hard week shifting furniture!

A busy weekend and in a lot of ways a very successful one!

Friday 17.04.09 at The Royal Hotel, Scunthorpe
This is always a great place to play for us. We can guarentee that our hard core fans will be there to make a lot of noise and generally perk up the audience and so it was this time. Great to see Brian and Sue again.
Not a lot to say really, we all played well and the audience did us proud with their participation in the evening's entertainment. A big thanx to the new gaffer(ess), sorry can't remember your name but a real pleasure to meet you and we look forward to negotiations for a speedy return!

Saturday 18.04.09 at The Black Horse, Blyton
I don't want this bit to seem like I am slagging off a venue, but I guess this one doesn't really work for us. A great audience singing and dancing but unfortunately because of the layout of the venue, we didn't see them! We are a very visual band and our on stage antics are all part of our show, when we are walled in on 3 sides and only have 6 foot in front of us, there is little chance of the audience seeing us or us them. Lots of great comments about the evening from the audience but for us, not a great night because we enjoy seeing the audience enjoying us!

Sunday 19.04.09
Oh Charlie, you are a one!
Another great night at our favourite little venue. It's so small it's impossible to believe we'd manage in there but the atmosphere is so great and Charlie is such a good friend to the band that we wouldn't miss it for the world. A party of rather drunk, female rugby players helped to boost numbers and participation! Thanx to everyone for a most enjoyable evening.

And thanx to everyone who attended gigs over the weekend for making a busy weekend and enjoyable one!

Sometimes a gig report is very hard to write. I've left it 2 days to get my head around what happenned!
Was it a good gig from an audience perspective? Well it would seem so yes! Lots of happy faces, lots of participation, lots of good comments afterwards!
Was it a good gig from the band's perspective? Probably not! I don't know why but we seemed to be missing that spark that we normally have. I don't think the crowd noticed but our friends and familiy who came with us did! Maybe we didn't play as well as we could, I know I didn't! But the odd bum note here and there is all part of live music. Maybe the sound wasn't as good as it could have been? Certainly the recording of the show was a huge disappopintment with the vocals too low in the mix but apparently we had sorted that after the first couple of songs! The recording is done direct from the stage mixer so should give some kind of idea what came out of the pa speakers! The stage monitor sound was awesome with everything balanced perfectly!
Never mind we have 3 gigs this weekend to get it all back together again so we'll put this one behind us and onwards and upwards as always!!

Went to see Trey's GLAM on Friday night complete with the Maltese cross guitar and Morgan Fisher jacket.

Great fun, with all those glam rock numbers from the early seventies which I'm sure we all love.

ATWFM finished the second set with Dudes being the last song of the encore.
Excellent! It's nice to here a couple of MTH numbers when you're out on a Friday night for a beer. Having said that my favourite was actually Brownsville Station's Smoking in the Boy's Room which I hadn't heard for years.

So I vote that we start a campaign to get G.L.A.M. on the bill with MTH in October.
David

This is becoming a regular haunt for us and vain as it may seem, we seem to do quite well here. We've seen other bands struggle with very small crowds and heard comments from the landlord and lady that bands are not pulling in the punters but that we always do them proud.
A pretty busy night right through both sets but the second set was spoiled by some young "female" reaching across the side of the stage and stealing Jim's wig! She then ran off and jumped into a taxi before any of our crew could get to her. Left a really bitter taste to an otherwise good evening.

The first one of the year at one of our favourite venues. Yes it is "just a pub" but the stage area is big enough to feel relaxed in and the crowd (at least for us) is always up for it and very responsive! On at 9:30 to give some of the theatre crowd time to arrive and by half way through the first set the place was jumping! We've swapped some songs around to make both sets a bit more poppy and audience participation friendly. It certainly seemed to work with a great singalong early in the evening. The second set was even better! What a fantastic evening for all!
A big thanx to Dave from the "hunter-mott" forum for coming down to see us.

I have been to a pub with no beer in my dark and distant past but today was the first time I've been to a pub with no power! Yes there was a power cut when we arrived at 1:30 for our 3 o'clock gig so we set up in the half light hoping that power would be restored soon! Just as we finished setting up the power came back on so the sound check could proceed as planned.
An excellent little venue and a good crowd especially for a Sunday afternoon after a short night (the clocks went forward!). We played our tired little hearts out and got a great reaction from the punters!
As an "extra" gig, an excellent place to play with a good area to set up and a very friendly and accomodating gaffer!

This is probably our favourite part of the country! We have friends not far from here and the countryside is amazingly beautiful. This booking came via a new website called booktheband.co.uk.
The lodge is the "pub" on a good sized caravan park and is a lovely big building with lots of new pine on the walls and ceilings. Lots of room to set up next to the small stage but not enough room actually on the stage itself as it really designed for solos and duos and has a dj booth built on to it too.
An excellent night's entertainment for them and us! A full house all up for singing and dancing and no complaints either way!
I hope we get a return gig here later in the year when it's not quite so cold.

As below, why is it that whenever you think it's going to be a great gig it turns into a nightmare?!!!
We haven't played at the D&R with this band but have played in various different bands and always had a good night. The D&R is a small pub with a strange "alleyway" playing area not condusive to a great sound or visual display but the audiences have always been respective and involved.
What the 'ell happened? There was a very full house but it was like we weren't there. Should have stuck the live cd on and got drunk! Not a ripple of applause other than from our contingent, so difficult to get them to sing although there were a couple of dancers here and there.
I don't think we played badly but maybe lacked a little spark that we normally have.
The good thing about our stage costumes is that when you come off and get changed you can almost be unrecognisable. I was sat outside having a cig after the gig and a few blokes were chatting about the evening and how much they had enjoyed it and were reminising about the songs we had played from the GlamRock era. Why couldn't you show your appreciation while we were playing?!!!
Anyway onwards and upwards, a long trip to County Durham next weekend, followed by a first gig at a little Sunday afternoon place in Wath-on-Dearne.

Why is it that almost every time you expect a bummer of a gig, you get a really good one?!!!
Our first visit to the Comet and a good sized place it is too! A bit of an awkward right angled set up but very roomy and open plan.
A slightly more difficult set up as I'd had a new 24 channel mixing desk delivered and having read the booklet from cover to cover was reasonably confident that I could get it working well. As it happened all went to plan but a lot of thinking involved as everything was going in different places and knobs instead of sliders for the monitors! A good few of our regular fans, friends and family had turned up boosting the crowd. Totally lost control and got the giggles when one of Andy's family started dancing around like a lunatic just out of eyeline!
A Great night with lots of singing, dancing and encores galore.
Hope we'll get back in there later in the year if we've got a free Saturday!

It's been a good while since our last visit to this great venue. The "stage" area is wonderful as it's roomy and deep! We.ve got pretty smart at setting up over the past year or so, so all set up and sound-checked efficiiently and quickly.
Not a full house but a good crowd nonetheless. We played our hearts out and did our best to get people singing. Maybe they were a little reserved and held back a bit but we got there in the end with Delilah!
I understand that the venue is closing soon for a quick refurb so we will look forward to maybe coming back later in the year, we'll see!

No we haven't been lazy, we were out last weekend but at a private do so no comments on here about it!

Our first time at the Warren Lodge and one of their first Saturday gigs, they'd always done Fridays before. What a great night! An excellent crowd singing and dancing, well the ladies anyway. The first time I've ever played the "now the ladies, now the men" game and got a great noise from the girls and not a peep out of the guys! But anyway besides that a most enjoyable experience soon to be repeated with a return gig June 6th.

Thanx to everyone who made a special effort to come down and see us including Andy and Donna's family and friends, John's guests and of course Brian and Sue, our "no 1 fans??!!"
A special thanx to everyone who came up and spoke to us after the gig too. Always appreciated.

See you in June if not before.

It's Sunday evening and I've just finished sorting out the recording we did last night. I have to say I'm very pleased with it although if there's anything to learn then maybe we should turn a mike towards to audience 'cos the audience participation isn't that obvious! Considering it was taken direct from the mixing desk straight to a laptop without any chance of remixing etc., I have to say it's pretty good!
Copies are available free of charge see our MERCHANDISE page for details.

To the gig itself then!
What a great night! A full house enjoyed us and we enjoyed them. Great participation throughout and immense appreciation from both sides! Rebooked for later in the year so job done!
Split my trousers messing around with the audience then climbing back on stage but what the hell it's all part and parcel!!! Thank God Jules was there to fix them for me in the break!
Looking forward to our return in August and December!

As always yet another fantastic night at one of, if not, our favourite venues. Christine and the team are always so welcoming and friendly towards us and the audiences have been growing quickly for our performances. There was a time that we needed a coachload from somewhere else to fill it but these days we just about fill the place on our own backs. The stage that seemed so small when we first played there has become very playable just because we are now used to it and place our gear appropriately to give the maximun playing area. A wonderfully responsive audience obviously enjoying us and singing at the tops of their voices!
Really good to see our great friend and ex-colleague Mark Cockerill and Denise who we haven't seen for a while with Mark being busy with his new project. A real treat for all of us, when the audience wouldn't let us go home, to get Mark up and play Comfortably Numb with us, a real blast from the past from our ZD days together, I think we'd all forgotten how much we love that track!! Anyway a big thanx to Mark and Denise and everyone else who came to see us. See you in June!

What a weekend! 3 gigs; Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

All began pretty badly at a new venue for us; Disraeli's in Rotherham. We are used to playing SNAFU which is a bigger venue and better set up for live music. While Disraeli's is a nice little venue and we got all of our relevant gear in the area allocated, there was an extremely small audience and though they obviously enjoyed what we did, it was deeply diappointing to have such a low turn out at a debut gig. Will we be back? Who knows!!

Saturday at the Mallard, Scunthorpe; This was also the first time we had played this venue with this band. As usual the footie was on so set up was a little delayed. The Mallard is a great place to play with a big as playing area as you want and hard wood floors so a decent sound! A reasonable sized crowd watched and enjoyed us doing our thing and we left happy and content that we had done a good job.

Sunday at the Wicked Bar, Scunthorpe; Another debut gig!! Major worries about this venue because it is a small place with the playing area right in the middle facing the wall! We struggled with what equipment to do without and in the end did without almost everything. We ended up setting up with back line, drums unmiked except for bass drum and just the vocals thru' the tops via the powered mixer! What a great clean sound and a great evening for us and everyone there. Hugely appreciative audience and a real pleasure to once again play in "Charlie's" place after his recent troubles at The Crosby/Hanger/Baths Hall. Charlie has always been a close friend to the band, giving us our first gigs and providing us with rehearsal space when we needed it.
Big thanx to Charlie and to everyone who made our Sunday evening a great end to the weekend!

The Brumby has kind of become our home territory 'cos we use it for a rehearsal room! We really like the gaffer and gaffette so it's always a pleasure to play here. Not the biggest crowd I've ever seen but a good turn out for this venue. We played well and it was great to see Brian and Sue (our biggest fans???) along with Keith the Psycho!! Thanx to some of the ladies in the crowd, we were covered with bras at the end of the gig, still if it makes them happy!!
As always thanx to everyone who came to see us!

Its been quite some time since I last saw you guys play and I have to say i truly enjoyed the evening's entertainment. A lot of new stuff in the set. The sound was spot on and as always those costumes are great!

Really enjoy the Hunter tunes. Ian Hunter set list maybe??

On the whole, you guys have got yourselves a setlist to be proud of. Some cracking tunes delivered well by great musicians and what I really like to hear is the journey Trey takes us all on filling our minds with stories about all the songs.

A unique band with a unique style

What more can i say.

Top drawer stuff guys!

The first gig of the new year for us because of cancellations and closures. The Lockstock is a great little venue with a fantastic atmosphere. We've played here before in different bands but never as G.L.A.M! Seemed very quiet before we went to get changed but nice and full when we hit the "stage"! Great to see some friends from other bands in to watch us, I won't name anyone 'cos I'll end up forgetting someone and then they'll be offended. Suffice to say thanx for making the effort to come out to see us and help the venue make some money before payday in January!!
Have to be honest and say we were a little rusty in places having had 3 weeks off and spending that time rehearsing new stuff that isn't ready for the public yet but all in all a great night with a great crowd singing a dancing for us.
Thanx to everyone who came down, see you in August!

What a nightmare that turned into a dream!!
A very small venue with a very difficult set up and a very big fireplace just in front of the playing area. Very difficult for the audience to see what we were doing and with a visual band like us, not ideal!
Our first set went down like a lead balloon. Not even polite applause after songs and it felt like we were going to have a very long and unpleasant evening. The second set was much better though, people up dancing and singing, almost like a different crowd! As the New Year came and went, and a birthday cake for Andy, we went back on for an extended encore bit (3rd set!) and everything felt great, a real turnaround from our early evening worries.
Thanx to everyone who came down and stayed to make it an enjoyable evening after all.

Happy new year to our readers!!!!!

What A FANTASTIC way to end the year! CLC is becoming one our favourite venues, it's compact and friendly, Christine is always very welcoming and happy to see us and we always get a good crowd in even when it's dead to start with like this time. Another great night, we played well and the audience were brilliant, dancing and singing!!!
Thanx for some great gigs this year, looking forward to February and a return visit again.

As I always say, private do's are private so no comments from me other than a long trip there and back in filthy weather but an excellent Christmas party gig for us.
Love our agent!!!!!

Is there really anything I can say? A fantastic new stage set up had been built since our last visit, a packed house in spite of tales of woe about low crowd numbers over the past weeks, a wonderful audience, up for it from the start, no howling errors by anyone. A fantastic night, possibly one of our best gigs ever. Thanx to everyone who came down and supported us at a very special venue! Nuf Sed!

Our first visit to this club and so nearly didn't happen. The post code on our contract didn't exist and there are 4 different clubs in the vicinity. Eventually found the place with some time to spare so started unloading! What an incredible drag, the distance between front door and stage was/is immense. Fortunately the club has a sack trolley so we weren't all dead before we even started. Besides all that, a great place to play! A really good sized stage and great acoustics. Not a huge crowd but very responsive nonetheless. 3 sets, 2 encores and a good chat with the concert secretary left us tired but happy with a good evening's work!

It's been a while since we played this venue although we have done other venues run by Ian Mclane over the past months.I can't say often enough how grateful we are to Ian for helping us so much in the early days, giving us free rehearsal space and putting up with some dreadful noises as we struggled to get our sound and tightness! So always a pleasure to play his venues! Once again not a huge crowd but in a small pub that's not always a problem because audience reaction is quick and audible. We played a lot better than we have done recently and threw in some new songs that we had just rehearsed the previous Thursday. All went swimmingly and a happy warm feeling at the end of reasonably busy month.
Thanx Ian, you're a pal!!!!

A first gig at this venue and so late in the year!!! The Woolpack's diary seems to be full all of the time so for a new band, as we were back at the start of the year, there were no spaces free 'til now. This a strange place to play with a very small room that opens out into the main bar so you can have loads of people listening but from a band perspective behind lights, there seems to be very few people actually in!
Nonetheless another good gig for us, lots of participation etc and healthy cheers for more!!! We actually overran by 20 minutes but the gaffer didn't seem to mind.
Hoping to get back in next year if we can find a mutually free date!

It's been a good long while since we've played here for one reason or another. It's been a great pub venue in the past, had some hard times, but seems to be on the mend again now! The audience here is always very hard to please or so it seems. Not much applause after songs etc but they do seem to get going later! Maybe it's just as the beer flows!!?? So by the end of the night a great sing-a-long and a good night all round. We all played a hell of a lot better than the night before too!

A welcome return to an excellent little venue. A good sized "stage" area and always an excellent appreciative crowd.
As always a later start (9:30) as the Theatre Royal kicks out about then so the crowd doubles!!
Not great from our point of view, didn't play particularly well, but another great audience, really into what we do! 2 gigs booked for next year so again job done!!

Sometimes it's better to wait a few days before writing a gig report so that the joys and annoyances don't seem so intense! I guess this is one of those. In a different band I played this venue a couple of years ago and had a huge falling out with the DJ, something that rarely happens to me because I don't usually let things or people get to me. When I arrived and noticed that the same DJ was working that feeling of impending doom kicked in! We got set up quickly and sound checked all without issue, we handed the DJ our proposed set list and he immediately played 2 songs from the list followed by a 3rd before we went one. Absolutely unbelievable!!! Was he doing it deliberately??? I certainly know what I think!
Anyway, we struggled through the first set as even though we'd soundchecked, the sound on stage was poor and apparently the vocals weren't loud enough in the room. A couple of tweeks and we were ok again. The second set was so much better, hit the ground running and had great participation from a huge crowd. We were told that the club had had to close the doors as they had reached their maximum so I don't know how many people could have been there! A great night and apart from the door to the dressing room being too low and both Andy and me banging our heads twice each, a most enjoyable evening for all concerned.
Looking forward to our next gig there early next year.

Our first trip across the border to the land of mountains, men in skirts and rain that comes in sideways! 2 gigs booked for Friday and Saturday at the Haven Holiday Parks. Where shall I start?
We arranged to meet at Jim's at 8:45 on Friday morning so we all turned up at 9:15 (just to pee him off!!). Off we trundled in the van heading south first down the M180 to meet up with the M62, then up the A1. Missed our turn at Scotch Corner and so began the joys of the Scottish country roads. Your friend and mine Mr Peters had his satnav set for the shortest journey not the fastest!! We spent what seemed like hours being thrown around as we crossed the mountain passes up to Ayr. Got there safe and sound, though how, I will never know! Arrived at the Venue and got set up. Criag Tara is a big venue (an old Butlins, I think!) and I had had some reservations that we might not have enough volume to fill it but no worries as it happened! I had been telling the boys how some of the accommodation provided is not always great so this was a real eye-opener. What a fantastic chalet/appartment. Very clean and roomy and warm.
The gig went very well with good audience participation when appropriate. Very bright stage lights made it very difficult to see the crowd except those right at the front but all in all, very happy with our performance.
Left the gear til the next morning, a mistake? Maybe!
Having packed all the gear away we opened the side door to find the rain pounding down and blowing in so hard  it was horrizontal! By the time we had packed it all in the van we were all soaked and cold. Jumping in the van to set off to Seton Sands on the other coast and finding that the heater wasn't working did not improve the mood! Off we trundled again this time using the fastest route on the satnav!! A brief trip into Glasgow to find some fuel proved just how many petrol stations have closed down but are still on the satnav! Arrived at Seton Sands in good time and set up quickly before struggling to find the Ents Manager! Eventually got to our accommodation to find no shower unit and the water turned off! Had a word with reception and were told "what do you expect for the entertainment". We persuaded them that it would be a good idea to give us a different caravan so relative comfort was restored.
Another good gig in the evening but the DJ seemed to struggle to get our intro to start so we came on, then it started! Kind of spoilt the effect.
A few drinks, an extra hour's sleep, more dreadful rain as we packed up the van the next morning and a pleasant drive down home again using the fastest route this time!
All in all a very enjoyable weekend interspersed with periods of depression caused by the cold and wet but we were in Scotland after all!
Hope we get to back next year, maybe in the summer!!!!

Sometimes there's bad omens when you get to a place but they turn out to be unfounded. This was definitely the case!! Got there at our contracted time to find the England game on so we couldn't set up! Heard that 60 of the members were going out to "the Dogs"! Not great news for a first gig at a venue!
But what do you know? The footie finished at a sensible time, we'd been able to work around the big screen so no issues there and still a pretty full house even with 60 MIA!!! By 11:15 the wanderers had returned and the end of the second set was triumphant!!
A great night all round and thanx for having us!!
Looking forward to a return gig next year.

It's been a while since we played in Grimsby for one reason or another and this was a welcome return to a very nice venue. The Jubilee is a food-led unit but has a good little room at the back that is used for entertainment after the diners have finished. Was a pleasant surprise to find the playing area cleared of tables when we got there, I'm sure last time we have to help move stuff before we set up.
An extraordinarily good crowd in. Very full and very responsive. Vanity aside we played very well and I'm sure were very entertaining but a big thanx to everyone who sang and danced amd cheered and wouldn't let us go home!!
2 bookings for next year so more of the same I hope!!

As always the title says it all, it's a private function so no details on here. Just to say a great night was had by all in an excellent venue with a good stage. Thanx to Grace and Martin (Noah Kaminsky) for their contributions to the evening.
It's not always good to do weddings as the audience tends to be a mixed age and not really there to see the entertainment but last night was different. Really enjoyed it! Thanx to A and J for inviting us

A second gig of the year at what is fast becoming one of our favourite venues. Firstly it's a Friday gig so less competition from other venues makes for a bigger audience, secondly it's a bit out of town so you get less of the transient crowd only staying for one set, thirdly cos it's a hotel too there is often contractors etc who are up for a good night.
It sounds quite vain but we now have a growing "fan base". We are seeing a lot of the same faces in different venues who obviously make an effort to come out to see us. This time it was "80s bloke", his wife and some of their friends. It's wonderful when people make themselves known, ask for fliers etc. and take home memorabilia to inerest their friends.
So from what used to be a bit of a depressing place to play, The Royal has become a great gig for us. We played well tonite and left feeling elated and with 2 gigs in the bag for next year.
Thanx to Chris and the team for making us so welcome!

A very sad "goodbye" to Charlie and Di who after 8 years have left the Crosby. A huge turn out for an all day session featuring "Defined", "RoadRunner", "Adrenalin" and ourselves! A fantasic party atmosphere with the place packed all day!
What shame this number of people couldn't have turned up a few more times over the past years, maybe then Scunthorpe wouldn't have lost this great venue and this great supporter of the local music scene!
Anyway, fond farewells to Chalie and Di and I hope to see them finding another venue that they can develop and find success with. Good luck!

Our first time at this wonderful little venue. A decent "stage" area and a very helpful and accomodating couple running the place. This venue is close to the Theatre Royal (where a Blues Brothers Tribute were playing til about 9:30) and is quite famous for its live music. We were told that about 9:45 the place would fill up with people coming from the theatre and this is exactly what happened! A decent crowd when we went on on 9:30 but very full by the time we had finished our first set!
A very enjoyable evening but one of those when you know you haven't played as well as you could but "got away with it" because the crowd was so into what we were playing.

This is a difficult one to write about and be honest about. We had had a disappointing time the night before having turned up at a gig to find that confusion reigned and they thought we were playing next week so a band had already set up, so I guess we were on a bit of a down! We were set to play at The Jolly Sailor tonite but had been asked a couple of days before to switch to this venue. We'd seen another band there struggling with very few people in and poor sound so were expecting the worse!
COULDN'T HAVE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!! A decent number of people in and a huge thanx to Harley for making us so welcome! Turned into an excellent night all round. We played well, the crowd sang and danced their hearts out. Poured out all the old favourites and a few new one too and finished the night very happy and satisfied! Played with the back line and just the vocals and drums going thru' the PA so really controllable and preety loud!
How many times does this happen, you expect the worst and get the best!!

Our second visit of the year to this excellent little venue. A very worrying early evening as we set up and the only people in were our own friends and families but as kick-off time approached a few more arrived.
As we started, as if by magic, the place filled up, they were all in the other bar waiting for us to come on!!
Wonderful to see the couple who always came to see Zero Damage, a band that we have all been associated with in the past. They'd seen us a couple of times at our early gigs and I guess, understandably comparing us to ZD, had not been overly impressed! Tonite was different though, they felt we were now excellent, having tightened up the sound and the playing! It all comes with time and gig practice. Thanx very much to them for their comments!
Threw in a few new ones tonite too, all went to plan.
All in all a great night, thanx to everyone who turned up!

Our first "agency" gig via Dings Ltd and hopefully not our last!
I think above all this gig showed the guys what a different life doing the clubs and holiday camps is!
We had a contract stating that we would be doing 2 x 45 minute sets or 3 x 30 minute sets and using our own PA! When we got there at the time specified on the contract we found that the "sound engineer" would not be there until an hour later and we would using the "in-house" PA. Set up was easy and excellent as all we had to do was bring amps and instruments, all mikes and cabling was supplied by the soundman. We were set up by 6.45 and on checking the order of play found that we would be playing at 10:15 til 11:15, only one set for one hour! No problems with that, as I explained to the boys, you stick to your contract if it's to your advantage, if the venue wants you to do less then you happily do what they want as you get paid the same, if they want you to do more then you stick to what your contract states!!! Guess the biggest difference with this type of gig is that you are part of an evening's entertainment, not THE evening's entertainment!! Guess the other main difference is that most "pub" bands do it for a paid hobby, for their own fun and entertainment whereas most "agency" bands do it for their main job. It's tough sometimes because pride forces you to want to put on your best show all of the time but time constraints stop you from doing it especially when you are only 2nd on the bill not headlining!! We were late going on, because the 1st act and the games overran, so ended up only doing 50 minutes for our full contracted fee!
Anyway briefly, a good sized crowd (about 600 apparently), we played well and got them up and singing at all of the right times!
Job done and a long drive home!!

I think the best thing about last night was the sheer amount of money raised! We weren't given a final total but it must have been around £10,000 from the auction alone! Incredible prices paid for signed shirts and things, with 30 lots and £660 paid for a signed snooker cue and £500+ paid for Rooney's shirt! We donated lighters and keyrings to help out and added about £50 to the total and the Burger Van outside also gave half of their profits so everyone pitched in!
A decent night musically for us. We played well and though, as at all of these types of do's, the audience weren't there particularly to see us, there was good response to our efforts and more potential gigs via the hotel and individuals in future.
We do not do charity events for the PR value but it's good to know there may be some work coming from it!

HOW DO CREW.

BEEN TO THE BLACK BEAUTY TONIGHT, WHAT A SUPER SMASHIN NIGHT.

DIGGIN THE TUNES MY FAVE IS......... T.REX

GOOD TO SEE PLENTY OF DANCING GOING ON ASWELL, U HAD EM ALL GOING.

ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO SEE YOU GUYS.

KEEP ON ROCKIN AND SEE YA ALL AGAIN SOON.

THE LADYVOX

It's the morning after the night before and another great gig at The Beauty. I remember playing here with other bands and at times playing for just a couple of people but this venue has really turned around. Another fullish house which is always a bonus for a Sunday night!
I felt like we struggled thru' the first set, we tried a new a new opening piece of classical music that didn't really work and a different order of songs that threw us a bit but we were definitely back on track for the second set!
We always set up the amps behind the drummer for this venue and it makes it difficult sometimes to hear what you're doing cos you don't want it too loud or you will 1/ deafen the drummer and 2/ bleed too much backline sound into the room and spoil the PA mix!
Tried a couple of new songs too that went quite well.
A great responsive crowd though, lots of dancing and singing. Delilah always makes me smile 'cos it doesn't seem to matter where we play, it always goes down really well with everyone joining in!
Thanx to everyone who came down to see us, a lot of faces that we know!! As always no names just in case but thanx anyway!

http://www.flatrabbitmusic.co.uk/flatrabbitmusic_website_2007_049.co

Thanx to Dave and Lesley who wrote this review and posted it along with pictures on the flatrabbitmusic website.

That was too bloody hot by far! A last minute addtion to our gig schedule but a very worthwhile one nonetheless! I've played this venue a number of times in diferent bands and it always was a very hot gig but last night really took the biscuit! In full costume with wigs etc it was incredibly hot and almost unbearable! Felt really faint and wobbling by the end of the second set but carried on like the trooper that I am. Had a visit from a prospective agent so we had to be at our best but to be honest I don't think we were. Felt we were a bit slack particularly in the first set perhaps because the intense heat makes concentration difficult?
Having said that a reasonable crowd were very responsive, singing and dancing in the appropriate places! Drank 2 pints of water when we finished and felt better!!
We'll be back later in the year, looking forward to it!!

Fantastic evening with the Glam "boys", 2 superb sets of great music. Spot on sound, great costumes, great atmosphere and people dancing, what more could we ask. Cheers lads.

Another return to our most regular gig. Charlie offered us our first gig back in December 07 and had immense and completely unjustified faith in us without even hearing or seeing us! We owe him a huge debt of thanx for that.
A much better than usual sized crowd enjoyed our performance and we enjoyed being there. Lots of Scunny Forum faces hanging out to tease and some more faces to names for me which is always a pleasure. Thanx to the guys from "RoadRunner", "Adrenalin", "Northern Exchange", "Defined" (and some others that have slipped my mind so any missing have my apologies) for their valued support!!
Will return the favour when the opportunity arises!!

What can I say! A full house, a great audience up for singing and dancing. Faces put to names and an all round great night! Thanx to Christine for 'avin' us!

This has become one of our favourite venues and though it's a bit of a trek, it always ends up being a great gig!
Our "fan club"were on their hols for this one so we were depending on impressing a whole new group of people and job done I guess! Lots of singing, dancing and applause so another good one under our belts. No sound issues like last night but I guess after 4 gigs in 8 days we were a bit tired and tetchy with each other, especially me!!!
Oh well a week off then out again next weekend for a double header!

Got our first "dose" of GLAM on friday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Was nice to see something different.
Shame you couldn't get Suzi Quattro to guest....

Top night guys!!!!!

Hey up guys, good sounds last night, and two REO Speedwagon tracks back to back, yey!

Sorry forgot to post last weekend, thoroughly enjoyed the night at the Solway club.

Halfway thru' the year and still playing "new" venues! Our first time at this ex bank in Scunthorpe town centre. A long narrow venue as you expect from an old bank but a decent sized playing area nonetheless. Not in the best position though 'cos you are right by the front door and any potential ejections of drunks etc. could cause damage to expensive equipment. Fortunately this was not an issue!
How did we do? Well we started pretty badly; the sound was awful even though we had sound checked! My guitar went badly out of tune very quickly and there were very few people in at 9:15 when we went on! Thought it was going to be our first real disaster but then then came the 2nd set!! I tweaked the pa during the break and got a much better sound for the 2nd set, much clearer and punchier and the people had arrived!!! A much better set with loads of audience participation and yells for more!!!! Thank God we turned that one around!!!
We can look forward to a return visit towards the end of the year.
Thanx to all of the faces who came to support us, you know who you are!!

Who needs Glastonbury!!!!
A few months ago we played the George inside and had a good gig. Tonite was always going to be at the whim of the weather and even though it rained pretty much constantly after we had set up, a good night was had by all! It's very strange to see the British public putting up with appalling weather conditions and still hanging on til the end to watch and hear us play! More than a bit worrying to see rainwater literally running off the roof of the stage area into a powered monitor at the front and all over the virtually unprotected speakers. Always wanted to die on stage just not yet!!!!
It's a real shame when the weather's against you but a huge thanx and appreciation for everyone who put up with it and gave a great evening to remember.
Thanx to Freaky and Dave for their comments too!

a better bike night than i had hoped. quite a few bikes there even with the wet weather.
must have just missed you,phil. it was the first time i'd seen GLAM .very good. sound quality spot on.

The Black Beauty, a pub in a residential area on the outskirts of Scunthorpe, sets the scene for this review of local band G.L.A.M.  My first impression was a full pub, with an attentive audience on a Sunday night, waiting for four grown men to begin and entertain them in their typical 70’s Glam costumes… Impressive Costumes, Impressive Set, Strange concept.

The band consists of 4 members Trey Patterson, Andy Thomas, Johnny Vee and Jim Peters, and although Andy Thomas was sometimes hidden behind Lead Vocalist, Trey Patterson, due partly to the size of the stage, each member of the band left their unique mark with the audience.

The audience was hit with an excellent light show, and superb vocals from the beginning, with Trey showing a vocal emphasis mainly towards rock as opposed to glam. This was accepted by the audience who are heavily influenced by the common genre of the Scunthorpe scene…Rock Music.

To the untrained eye this band are a polished and professional act, with some strange song choices such as "I Love Rock and Roll" adding to the bands uniqueness.  Although the element of surprise, for me, was taken away by leaflets on the tables showing the bands set list, personally for somebody who didn’t grow up in the Glam era I would have preferred to hear the wow factor for myself instead of reading it.  However, I do have to say the use of them for showing up and coming gigs is a fantastic idea.

The first set came to an end with an excellent song choice of "The Darkness: I believe in a thing called love", showing Trey’s real vocal ability and impressive range. A fantastic contrast for the band and a fantastic crowd keeper too.

Set 2 brought back the band, still role-playing their very own 70’s characters, with "Devil Gate Drive" giving the band the chance to interact with the audience properly, something that had been slightly lacking in Set 1.  It also gave Trey the chance to show his fantastic keyboard skills and the bands togetherness as a whole shone through.  "I love to Boogie" finally gave the audience the push they were waiting for and the Black Beauty turned into what looked like a closing scene from Dirty Dancing.

I do have to say that this band is definitely what Scunthorpe has been waiting for…Change.  The quality of the outfits maintained by Julie Goddard, showed the audience that not only are G.L.A.M a well established band, they also took their musical career very seriously, something which is nice to see on a local circuit.  It was refreshing to see that a band whose background was predominantly rock could stand on stage taking on a very different persona and almost develop different characters from their every day selves.  I would love to see these guys in a bigger venue, with a disco ball going and plenty of room to dance around your handbags.  I think this is when G.L.A.M will really shine.

Another first gig at another new venue! The Solway Club is an old building with a new owner/manager. The concert room is a reasonable size but not huge by any means. There's a decent sized stage in a corner setting so we were able to set up in our lop-sided manner without any hassle. Not a huge turnout but enough to make the evening entertaining and enjoyable for eeryone there. We played 3 ses as requested but I personnally don't like doing this ecause we have a nice balance of upbeat and ballads in our 2 set format that doesn't work without a major change around for 3 sets. Having said that it all went well and plenty of compliments at the end and isn't that what counts. Hope to be back there in the near future if we have a free date. Thanx Lee!

Is the Barge making a comeback?
Remembering back a few years, The Barge was THE place to play but the years have been rather unkind! We've played for 4 or 5 different landlords over the years and the decline has been obvious and regretable but maybe things are changing.
Still not a great crowd in there, there seems to be this strange habit of some people coming into the room and some staying in the other bar and listening from in there. Thanx God we bring our friends and families with us to boost the numbers a bit! Those in certainly seemed to enjoy us and a healthy call for encores came at the end!
I really hope that this is the way back for this venue and that our next gig (New Years Eve) there will be better attended.

Oh what a night!
I've played The Royal with a few bands now and seen a few more there and because of it's location (and pricey beer!!) it's never been a great gig. Usually the crowd is made up of friends and family and a few others but this time it was a completely different story. Maybe the change of management, maybe the fact that there are not that many gig nights there anymore, maybe it was just us, I don't know but we had a great night! A decent number of people in, singing and dancing, even the guys watching the boxing around the corner joined in especially for "Shangalang"!! (always makes me laugh that a song so cheesey and aimed at the ladies remembering what they did in the 70s always gets the guys singing too!!!) A number of people afterwards came to thank us for a great evening and said they had only actually come in for their dinner but had stayed all night!!
Praise indeed!
This may become a good place again as it has a good sized raised playing area and, while acoustics are not great because of the shape, a good sound can be produced with some effort! If a decent sized crowd can be enticed in it could be good gig!

We always enjoy playing at The Crosby. Charlie is a cool guy and obviously really appreciates the bands who play for him. A rather quiet night though. All the usual excuses: it was just before payday, the footie was on, it was bike nite, the smoking ban.
I really feel for some of the venues that we play when the audience isn't there and it's obvious that we have cost more than they took over the bar. As an ex publican myself I know that sometimes it's important to bite the bullet and continue with a series of gig nights even if some of them lose money so the punters know that there will be a band on that night at the venue. Stopping the gigs or doing them less frequently only causes a spiral downwards as it becomes unclear when there is entertainment on! I suppose I could bang on again about the feasibility of door take v set fees!
Charlie doesn't need me to tell him his business!!! I wish him all the best and hope for a better turn out next time!

Here we are back at the Beauty after only about 6 weeks! Had a great time last time and while we didn't quite hava a full house this time, it was a good gig all in all. Struggled thru a couple of numbers including "glass of champagne" and "Saturday night's alright for fighting" but some good comments on the night anyway. A new wig and a new jacket for me. Loved the jacket, not at all sure about the wig!!! Good to see a few friends from the music scene again, you know who you are and don't need me dropping you in it with your wives and girlfriends!

Set up the stage a bit differently tonite with all the amps behind Johnny. Gave us a bit more room at the front but must have deafened J.V.! Looks like the best set up for this unusally shaped stage!

Well, what a great show! I only had time to see the first set but I really enjoyed it. Excellent stuff!

Well I have just got to add my comments on here today.

GLAM started out in the back room of the Jolly so I was there at the beginning.

There have been many changes and many dead (drummers) bodies buried in the garden on the way.

I have not had chance to see the final finished product properly until last night, other than sneak previews at rehearsal.

I was extremely impressed.

I have worked with Showaddywaddy and the Sweet on a couple of occasions in the dim and distant past and GLAM were equally as entertaining. The band performed beyond my expectations and entertained the Jolly keeping everybody singing along and swinging in their seats all night.

Sound was spot on and apart from the disintegrating microphone clip all went without a hitch.

NICE ONE GUYS.

You even impressed the Dragon.

Hello, hello, it's good to be back, good to be back!!!
After 4 weeks off for holidays we are back out gigging, this time a debut gig at Ian McLane's "Jolly Sailor". Ian's been a rock for us over the past year so it was a pleasure to play for him. The Sailor is a small venue and to be honest when we arrived and filled the room with gear it was worrying if we were going to get set up on the small stage or not. As it happens with the simple addition of some beer cates and a piece of hard board at one side for the keyboards, it was not the crush we thought it would be!

A decent crowd especially considering we were competing with a local farmer's party (apparently), good participation and some friendly faces. I won't name names 'cos you never know if they shouldn't have been there! Wouldn't want to drop anyone in i!
Thanx to everyone who showed up.

Jacket production is back on track after my recent house move so keep watching for more flash!!! (Flash not flesh!!)

A private party so what happened in Scunny stays in Scunny!!

Our first time at this excellent little venue. A decent sized stage area and a very "nicely" decorated room. The management had advertised the evening as a "Glam Rock Night" with prizes for the best dressed so there were a good number of the audience dressed in platforms and plastic, all adding to the overall party atmosphere! We played well enough, barely getting thru a couple of new ones by the skin of our teeth and the crowd sang and danced and yelled for more! What more can you want from a gig!
Thanx to Psycho for his comments on the night!

A quick return visit to this excellent little venue. A very supportive landlord/lady and an upbeat happy crowd who were up for some gentle banter back and forth! Really mustn't show off in my high boots, ended up flat on my back at the end of the very first song. Was it all part of the act? No and it bloody hurt too!
Slightly different sets tonite as it's only been 3 weeks since our last visit tried some "new" stuff and completely screwed up on Glass of Champagne!!!
Set up in front of the infamous pillar this t ime to much better effect!!

All in all another good night and looking forward to 12th July!

A triumphant return to one of my favourite venues. I would recommend to anyone to try to get a gig here. It's a late one so probably not for the guys who like an early night! but with an in house PA and sound man it's an easy night and a quick breakdown afterwards!
I would be the first to admit we weren't that good last time we were here, it was early days for the band and we really weren't that tight but last night really showed us at our best. A great crowd singing and dancing to every song and a fantastic rendition of Delilah!
A big thanx to Snoopy and Steve or 'aving us!! See you in August!

Sometimes you have a duty to the landlord to do your best whatever! With virtually no audience at 6pm Jim got on his phone and phoned everyone he knew it seemed and by 6.30 we had a decent crowd. A reasonable night for us and the audience seemed to have fun too! It was excellent to see some old friends from "Monarchy" there with their new "Freddie". They were playing the Black Beauty later as their alter ego "BBC" (not sure what it stands for sorry!) Also a mention for Tony Juggins who seemed to spend most of the night filming us on his new toy so we'll look forward or not to the results of that! Was Crystal out there too and Psycho!?
A big thanx to everyone who made the effort to make the evening a success.

Another first for the Big Wigs! Another new venue, another different set up, trying to get the best sound possible in a less than perfect playing area but that's rock'n'roll! Look at the photos to see the enormous pillar in the centre of playing area splittingthe band in half and stopping any on stage contact beween Trey and Andy! Turned into a great night for us, technical problems seemed to mare some of the performance, no volume in my top keyboard at an important part of a newly added song caused problems and Jim's amp seemed to be intermitent a one point too but overall a decent performance and return bookings so job done!!!

It's strange isn't it, we've had a series of excellent gigs and then when we come back to a favourite haunt, it just doesn't feel right! I don't know what it was! I'm trying to shake of a throat infection! I forgot my white wig so had to wear Jim's spare so I wasn't me! The stage sound wasn't right even though it was in the sound check! We didn't have a huge crowd like we did the last time we were there! Just didn't feel right for me. The crowd we had were appreciative and joined in, Tim and Pat from Cold GIn were there and seemed to have a good time. Clearly it was ok from an audience point of view but I don't know. Better next time I guess!

What a fantastic end to a brilliant month for us! To be honest, I've never had a good gig at The Beauty so after the PP on Saturday, this was set to be a bit of a anti-climax. Usual problems with how and where to set up as the playing area is small and has fixed seating all around it but as 8 o'clock arrived so did the crowd! Apparently there had been a large number of phone calls during the day, people checking if we were on, so by 9pm it was standing room only. Good to see a contingent of the local musos there from Cracker2 and others. Did I see some guys from Flatrabbit music at the back? Will there be a review coming soon?
What a night! As we hit the first chord of Once bitten twice shy it was clear what kind of a night this was going to be. The place rocked!!!! With a new landlord in place it's clear that music is back on the menu!!!! The crowd was really up for it on a Sunday night and so were we. We were a bit ragged in places but it was one of those nights when it doesn't seem to really matter. What a great gig! Maybe our best this year so far. Re-booked for 4 more this year and some next year too! A big thanx to everyone who came along and helped to restore my faith in this venue!

Our first gig at this refurbished venue and to be absolutely honest I wasn't sure it was going to work. There are some places that you go to and look around before you set up and you think "where are we going to set up, this is going to look and sound crap!". But no, quite the opposite! Once we had decided how to set up; everything a mirror image of our normal set up; and put the backdrop up along a side wall we were set for a very enjoyable night. The people at the PP really know how to enjoy themselves. Thanx a lot for a great crowd and a great night. Looking forward to a return soon.

The third in 3 days and possibly the best for the tired alpha males!!! A good place to play with a decent area set aside for us! Nice to see some faces we knew again; Carl from Jackhammer ( who guested with us for a laugh!) and "GoodSingerInTheBath" with her friend. 3 sets makes the order of play a little different so maybe a little more interesting for us but also means we have to think and the boys have to listen to my drivel in between songs so they know what they are playing next.
All in all a very enjoyable and interesting weekend. Thanx to everyone who came out to see us!!

It's a real downer when you know a venue should be buzzing but it's not! The Barge used to be a great place to play, a good stage, a decent sized room, audience areas on 2 levels. A great location next to the Canal! Everything a great live venue needs except punters!!! I'm sure we can all remember nights in the past maybe 3 years ago when the place was full to the rafters, but it seems not any more! A real shame! I feel for Angie and Gary, and Ian , of course, and wish them every success in turning this place around.

Another good gig at The Trawl. A few faces that we knew but lots that we didn't. The band played reasonably well and we threw in some new stuff. One of those strange crowds that don't seem to respond particularly until it's time to go then they shout and shout and won't let you go home!!! Very odd!! A pretty full house to the end and a long drive home for me. A big thanx to my brother and my first real band's guitarist (back in 1980), Dave and Bob, for driving over from Crewe and Manchester respectively to see us. Always appreciate the support, fanx bruv!!

Our first time at this interesting venue. Used to be called the Tavern but has had something of a facelift and is now one of those open, clean, minimalist town centre pubs, I like it!!! An excellent playing area already cleared when we got there!!! Always a bonus not to have to ask for the tables and the pool table etc to be moved! A small but appreciative crowd for the first set and then a different small but appreciative crowd for the second set!! It was good to see so many faces that we knew from them coming to see past bands that we have been in and this was John's Margaret's first time to see the band too!
The guy behind tha bar was wonderul, had his Bay City Rollers gear on so I gave him pair of silver platforms and a wig!!
All in all another good evening and a pleasure to try this new venue!
Thanx Will. interesting

A private booking so what happened in Gainsborough, stays in Gainsborough. Suffice to say we had a very entertaining night and probably picked up some more bookings from this one.
The club is a nice venue with a small changing room built into the back of the stage. The stage looks a decent size when you get there but with all of the gear on it there was little room for jumping about. I guess it's more set up for solos and duos so from their point of view it would be brilliant!

Had trouble with the stage sound but were assured that the sound out the front was good. Will have to look again at the monitor set up next time we have some time for a lengthy sound check!

Thanx for having us Peter!!!

As I wake up this morning after the night before, there's a warm feeling inside telling me "we've got it!!" Another great night even though I didn't play as well as I could have and forgot some lyrics!! A nice little room with a fantastic audience all singing and dancing. I suppose the only issue with this venue is that you have to wait to set up because its a foodie place and so its a bit of a rush to be ready in time! Shame really because the other room (the bar) is probably better suited as it has a large area in the window with a pool table in it that would easily move to one side for the band to set up. None the less, thanx to everyone who turned up and made another Grimsby night memorable.

P.S. Jim fell over and scared everyone to death thinking that he might have had a heart attack but he had just tripped over his platforms. Bloody stop it Jim, I've got enough to think about without worrying about you!!!!!

Another good night for the boys! A different stage set up because of the narrow stage; Trey on one side, John in the middle, Andy and Jim on the other. Worked a treat with Trey's keyboards at right angles to John's kit. Will have to see if this set up will work even on bigger stages.
Anyway we all played pretty well untill I screwed up "All the young dudes" at the end! Wouldn't have minded but we'd been talking about how Andy always gets it wrong (and he didn't tonite!) and how I'd seen Ian Hunter in concert the night before and his band screwed up the start and had to go again!.
Having said that a great audience, very appreciatitive. Looking forward to our next time!!! Thanx Christine.

This was always going to be a strange one!! This was a charity gig in aid of the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender helpline. The venue is fantastic, a small theatre, purpose built, big stage, all you could want! Just a pretty poor turnout!! We played our part and put on our usual show and everyone there enjoyed themselves immensely. Some money was raised (about £200 I think) so job done I guess.

The strangest thing from our point of view was that we are used to being the ones wearing wigs!! There were some very good looking people out there!!!!!!

Very GLAM indeed. A great night at the Trawl for these guys . I have to say Jimbo the wig suits you dude. A good reaction from the audience and management , i'm sure a return is on the cards. Some nostalgic material performed , but you must learn SHANGALANG guys.

You held it together really well , but i felt a couple of songs weren't suited to your sets.

A good night though , the costumes did you proud.

It's the morning after the night before, my head hurts and my poorly foot, from stepping on a plug in bare feet a couple of days ago is giving me jip!!!!! Wish I'd remembered about that when I pulled on the platform heels and started jumping about last night!!!
It must be true, things are really starting to gel! Another good gig with a fine audience and lots of positive comments on the night. A big thanx to Dennis for having us, thanx to Vocalist Trev for being the middleman and to Acko for giving up his evening to pop down and see us. Also a big s'up to Church from Monarchy for his support. Our first gig in Grimsby and we're off to a flying start.
Thanx again to everyone who sang along and made it a night to remember!

I've got to agree as well, the sound was spot on ! I couldn't believe it when I heard you say "And for the last one.............", it just flew past, TOP GIG !

Well as promised Jim. Sober. A very very very VERY fantastic evening guys! Like i said to Jim, any band willing and able to perform Ian Hunter / Mott songs is ok in my book! The costumes are just great. Love to see bands getting in there and having a giggle. I must say it was commented that the drummer, with his wig on and bouncing about looked just like animal from the muppets!!!!

Top stuff guys! Definately get to see you again fellas!

ROCK ROCKS!!!!

Well what a night!!!! A good result for England and followed by a great gig for us. I really felt like we played with real conviction, like we meant it! This is the night when it all starts to fall into place. Everything was just so much better, the timings, the understanding between us all, the sound both on stage and out front! Feeling a lot more confident about the future. The more different places we play the more I realise that what we are offering is what people want to hear. It's different from the usual classic rock stuff that so many bands play (no disrespect meant to any of them) and the public are interested in how we present ourselves and why we are so different.
Great tonite to meet another Ian Hunter fan!!! Cheers mate I'll not embarrass you!!!
Thanx to Charlie for having us back! Soundchecked in 7 minutes tonite!!!!!

well done to the G.L.A.M boys. Caught their first set last night at the Queens and i enjoyed what i heard and saw from the lads and for me it was a good old dose of nostalgia. It was by no means packed to the rafters but the few who grabbed a chair were treated to some classic tunes of yester-year that were delivered with punch and true conviction. As many on this site will testify, it is still silly season as regards busy venues as most of the paying public/audiences are still licking the wounds inflicted by the Xmas spend -fest. For me at least it was a cracking display of Glamrock at its best. Keep up the good work fellas

This could turn into the venue to play over the next few months. There is a decent sized stage area that, with the subtle addition of bass bins at the front for a monitor and a mike stand, is deep enough for the frontman to be in front of the drums, no small feat considering the size of John's kit and my ass! It's quite easy to get a decent sound but there is a limiter that cuts the power to the stage if you play too loud so you'll need to keep those kick and snare drums maybe a little further down in the mix than you would like. We tripped it out during the first song even though we carefully soundchecked but a quick readjustment of the offending items sorted everything out and we had no further trouble all night.

Not sure how well we played, I guess I'm more than a bit of a perfectionist and so I get annoyed and dismayed at the smallest of mistakes. I know it's all about whether the audience enjoyed it or not and hey it's live music but there you go. We do get tighter and better each time we gig so one night soon we'll have a pretty much perfect gig and I'll go home happy!!!!

Our first order of GLAM plectrums has arrived but, unfortunately for the company supplying them, they have an incorrect web addess on the reverse side. This means we have a bag of free plectrums to give away before their replacements arrive!!!
Come and get a few at our next gig!!!

Reasons to be nervous!!!
I've played SNAFU with 4 different bands now so you'd think I'd have nothing to worry about! However, this is a venue where they like their music loud and heavy!!! Not really us now is it!!? Still all in all a good night, we didn't play particularly well but had a lot of the ladies dancing and singing along to what we played. I think we may be more popular with the female audiences than the male dominated ones just as a very broad generalisation. We'll see as the months go by! Thanx as always to Snoopy for his efforts with the sound and lighting. Really does make for a much easier night all round!!!

GirlsLove will be playing the Grand Opening of The Queens in Scunthorpe on 2nd February 2008.

Gig lists updated with gigs at McLane Taverns; The Barge Keadby and The Jolly Sailor, Gunness.

6 new songs added to our set lists with another 5 on the way soon!

Should be a good one and and easy one for our backs as Snoopy provides all the PA equipment so it's just back line for us. (Except me of course with 3 or 4 guitars, 2 keyboards, 2 amps etc etc etc!!!!)

John has helped us out in the past but has finally decided to join full-time, great news for us as we've all played together before in other bands so we have that ESP that you get from playing together for long periods already!

Our first gig of the year and what a place to open at!! The Rose & Crown is one of those places that you long for as a pub band. A great playing area with a natural barrier and , if you are liked, a responsive and appreciative audience. I've been here with a number of different bands and always had a good time, tonite was no exception. A very good crowd and considering it was the first Saturday after New Year absolutely amazing. We were expecting to be playing to an almost empty house but no!!
Our first gig after John decided to join so this is it from now on, no more misunderstandings and unclear starts and finishes! We now hit the rehearsal rooms for a couple of weeks before our next foray in Rotherham at SNAFU!

Very much a last minute booking to help out a good friend of ours who has been such a great help to us over the past 6 months; Ian McLane.
As expected with little advertising and with most people having already decided where and what they were doing on NYE, a very small crowd of regulars along with our friends and families. Nevertheless in full costume and with an excellent "stand-in" drummer (Harley) we played for 2 hours and got some positive comments from those there!
The Barge used to be the place to play but has sadly been allowed to die by previous landlords. Now part of "McLane Taverns", the future looks bright again and we are looking forward to playing to better and better audiences as the months go by. Good luck to Ian and the crew there, see ya soon.

Our debut gig went as well as could be hoped for!
Lots of nerves and a few technical hitches but all in all an enjoyable night and some good comments from some good people.
A huge thanx to Charlie for warming up the crowd as DJ and helping out when the pa wouldn't work!!!
A big thanx to everyone who came down to see the birth of this project, we hope to see you all again soon.