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The MP3 playing is "Problem Child" by AC/DC

Updated 24th July 2008

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Maryport Blues Festival This Weekend

Check this link for information regarding Maryport Blues Festival which begins Friday night until Sunday night. www.maryportblues.com This festival is renowned for it's famous artists who come from all around the world.

Vote For Bring Me The Horizon

If you'd like to vote for Yorkshire metal superstars Bring Me The Horizon, for the Kerrang! Best British Band, then here's the link http://www.kerrangawards.com/kerrangawards/
 

Clarence 18th Birthday This Weekend

The brilliant Clarence Park, Wakefield shindig is celebrating 18 years of success this weekend with some excellent bands from all over the country. Our friends Piston Broke play on Saturday evening at 6:20 pm. To finish the Saturday night, the London bluesrock star Steven Dale Petit showcases his incredible talents. On Sunday, blast from the past Hank Muldoon opens proceedings then more local names from the past The Deal, and in vogue local rockers Inamba will entertain you ,then later the lovely Jess Gardham closes the show.We understand she has a full band around her. It's a few years since I last saw Jess, but she's like a modern day Joan Armatrading, good songwriting and a lovely voice. Take your picnic chairs, settle down, have a pint and a burger, and have a good time. I have some great memories of Clarence over the years from the fantastic Blueflies rocking funk, Jed Thomas walking through the crowds in the rain playing his Strat, and The Solicitors playing their soul music with the blazing sunshine glinting off their saxophones...memories are made of this. Check our events page for a full line up. The event is held at The Bandstand on Denby Dale Road, Wakefield.

Band Required- Club Date Available

 I need to secure a band for the 23rd August, a club gig with decent pay for the right band. Mail us at RotN. Don't worry I won't take any of your fee, I'm doing someone a favour...but don't I always do that?

Gunlaw and Rocktangle

Popular rockers Gunlaw play the Crimea Tavern this week (26th) after the tanned and curly Boggy Marsh returns from his holiday in Turkey. The band will be supported by Rocktangle. This is Gunlaw's first gig after their Farmyard Party headlining appearance in front of 6000 fans! See some quality in Cas Vegas, get along there. Dave Marsh actually deserves his holiday, as he's been grafting all year opening his second Speedstyle motorcycle clothing and accessory shop at "The George roundabout" on the A63 Garforth. If you're into bikes, take a look at Dave's shop for a warm welcome and friendly service. The shop compliments the sister shop at Squires complex Newthorpe.  http://www.squires-cafe.co.uk/html/speedstyle.html

Tommy's Beer Fest

Just over a week till it's Tommy Turtle's Beer festival at The New Inn Walton. On the 1st August Friday will open The First Thirst Festival where Tommy will debut his own recipe "Turtle First Thirst Beer". There's no music on the Friday but Wakefield's mega famous Solicitors play the Saturday night and Wild Hogs play the Sunday. This will be held in "Tommy's Tent" a 66x33 feet marquee! We are now in receipt of Tommy's Tuesday gigs and I'll upload those to our gig guide. Tommy has live music on Tuesdays featuring the areas great bands and his beers are fantastic. The New Inn is situated at Walton on the South side of Wakefield. Treat yourself to a visit there, but take a taxi, don't drive because you'll want more and more beer when you get there, it's delicious and Tommy does nice meals so take your mum for some nice grub.

Morley Venues Visited

I thought I'd have a trip to Morley today primarily to see the improvements to The Cross Keys. As I arrived I saw Jay of the JD Band and Kev of Styckleback wielding hammers and saws and being instructed by Bev (Wifey) on how to construct the new spacious stage in the Cross Keys music room which will include a drum riser. The room was like a timber yard but well done to Howard and Lynne for investing in the project which will see the Keys transformed into a proper venue with stage ,lights and a black moulton backdrop and a sympathetic paint job. The venue puts excellent bands on there and the alterations will enhance the atmosphere. First band to test the new stage is Tytania on Friday. I then called to The Arkle to see Suzy to ask her if things were going OK. The Arkle is a really nice pub, beautifully decorated and in a nice area. Bands play in the lounge on a raised area and Suzy and John are happy having music nights at their comfortable house. The pub also hosts acoustic open mic nights on a Tuesday and all musicians are invited. It's been a nice afternoon out, it's good to "network" around the area.

Admiral Duncan Lost

We are sad to hear that the Admiral Duncan in Thornes Wakefield has closed. A regular venue in Wakefield and host to the Thursday jam night, it's a major loss to the Wakefield live music scene. Those musicians who attended the open mic night will be welcome to jam at Lion on Aire Street, Castleford at their Thursday jam night.

Emerald Rock Huddersfield

One of our motorcycling correspondents went over to The Bridge at Huddersfield to see an afternoon of quality rock from Emerald on Sunday. The South Leeds band continue to make an impression on the rock scene with the hard work they put in, not to mention a great light show and brilliant musicianship.

Stagefright Outstanding

Had a mail from South Yorks this (Monday) morning commending club rock band Stagefright. The band played the huge Eastwood View Club and were outstanding according to our correspondent "Buddy Holly" whose judgement we trust implicitly. Good to hear that one of the newer club bands are doing so well. The club rock scene has been dominated for years by bands from one agency in the North East, good though they are, but it's nice to hear that a South Yorks band are "doing the business". We've also been hearing great things about new band Here's Jonny who are introducing a more modern set to clubland.  The band open the Barnstock fund-raising gig at The Polish Club, Barnsley in late August so it would be advisable to get there early.

Thornhill Arms Custom and Classic Bike Show

Steve Saville of The Thornhill Arms and Pudsey Cobras Motorcycle Club has informed us that they need one more band for their all day bike show. Howard Ellis and the King Bz are two confirmed acts and one band is required, The reward is a booking at the Thornhill Arms in Jan/Feb 2009.The charity is The Yorkshire Air Ambulance, the life-saving helicopter run by donations.

Flyz in The Gardeners Saturday

 FLYZ played a rare gig at The Gardeners Arms on the A61 Lofthouse/Robin Hood border on Saturday night and regardless of a less than perfect PA and a pint of lager being spilt over the desk, the band were well received by quite a full pub .The Gardeners is a really nice pub, not normally a music venue and the band did well to squeeze their gear in and more so to entertain a crowd of mainly young drinkers, not the normal rock-hardy music fans. Their original music and well chosen covers are a joy to listen to. I was particularly impressed with their song Dirty Mama, it has a heavy rock feel, with a hook. I certainly can't wait to see them again in a rock venue environment because they're excellent.

 Thornhill Quickly Filled By RotN Bands

 Steve Saville informs us that the Thornhill Arms Friday nights gigs have been filled quickly into early 2009 and all the bands are from RotN as Steve says! There's one date to fill and that's the 12th September so bands, if you want a gig please contact Steve. 07729305171

Calm Before The Storm

It's been quite a slow pace on RotN today from around the region but it's been hard work for The Head Cook and myself preparing the gig guide for the month ahead. The month of August has slightly less gigs on Saturdays or so it seems but the amount of festivals is up on last year. We already knew about Barnstock, Lionfest, and the Yorkshire Rock and Bike Show, but there's the Beat It Festival in Farsley, The Guiseley Festival, The Party in Carlton Park, Barnsley, The Cross Keys Fest, Morley, and one or two others. They're all for Charity and that's what we like.

Free Guitar Lessons at Reverb Stores

The new chain of Reverb musical instrument stores are giving free guitar lessons by booking online at this link This is venture in conjunction with Yamaha who in our humble opinion, make some of the very best instruments in the world today, especially for the price.

Virus Watch - Brian Glovers Gigs Check

Brian Glover has warned us about a Trojan 32 Virus that got into his computer last week. The source of the virus came from Myspace adverts apparently. Apart from the inconvenience of the loss of his computer last week, he has lost important info appertaining to the gigs booked at the venues he helps out with bookings. So could bands with gigs booked with him send a list of those by e-mail . If you don't have his mail address it's info@splashalley.co.uk

Brill Sunday To Round Off the Weekend

After a hectic Saturday, a hectic Sunday followed with doing my mothers lawn, then watching the Brno Moto GP, then going to the Barnsley Custom Show at Shaw Lane to watch the York band Slash Vegas, an original music band...a very very good band too. Webmaster Joe and Girl Kills Boy bass/vocalist Johnno did the PA for the event which was held in blazing sunshine. Some fabulous bikes too, which put us all in the mood for the forthcoming Rock and Bike Show next month. Coming home to catch up with RotN business, I added a few comments to the Back of The Bog Door, then rushed to Castleford for the second set of Scooby. What an awesome band they are! I'll not cite any particular member as they are a unit but Matt Duggan was as versatile as any vocalist could be. From Foo Fighters to Whitesnake to...wow The Police....to Soundgarden. I was amazed by the band's eclectic songlist and great musicianship. Top marks for bringing Mick Norbury (Broken Angel) to the stage  to guest and Jimmy Shameless for a Green Day interlude! The name Scooby is synonymous with quality music and after all these years, the band can still hold their heads up high and slug it out with the very top bands in the region. What a fantastic end to the weekend!

4 Play to Tour

Whilst in Cas Vegas I saw many musicians but Jake the Snake from the 4 Kicks told me that 4 Play were to reform for a "memory lane" tour of all their old haunts. They were a great young band as I remember them. Talking of young bands, I saw Ryan from No Mercy for Percy who had done another good gig at The Crimea Tavern. Julie and Joanne of Travsfest fame saw them and told me later they'd enjoyed NMFP very much. Nice to meet Sheena from the Travellers Sth Kirkby too. She was in Castleford checking out the venues and bands. To misquote the Ramones..."Sheena is NOT a punk rocker!"

Saturday Festivities 

A quick look at the comments page soon gives an indication of the excellent Saturday festivities around the region. Although the head cook and I were at a wedding till after nine, we still managed to catch the last song at the Aspenbury party in Stevie Lil Fingers garden. Essentially to celebrate Stevie's survival after a very bad accident, Aspenbury has become a yearly event with local bands performing and the raffle and collection benefiting St James' Hospital. A fast ride in my bluesmobile from Dewsbury to Castleford saw us in the Lion as Mr Chief were about to start their second set. Marcus unfortunately had to sit on a bar stool and showed a lot of courage in his pain to produce another typically high quality Mr Chief set which included some seriously good rock classics. What a great band. Over at The Cross Keys in Morley the old git Mav and Bev caught Motus doing their last set and producing their superb high quality set of original and covers at this famous venue on the A650. Further West, and Nij, landlord of the Wellington, Bradford, sends thanks to the brilliant Emerald for yet another great rock show. Top stuff! So as I type this on Sunday morning, it's been a great weekend so far and another day of gigs to come!  

Friday a Blast in Morley

The Old Git Mav reports on a good night out in Morley on Friday: Managed to cram in two venues in the short space of time I have these fridays, firstly caught their usually high standard set by Angel of Sin down at The Arkle, with Vikki at her best well supported by the rest of the guys. Unfortunately was unable to stop for second set but the audience that were there inc members of Emerald & One Fat Spider (SUE) seemed well impressed by this band which is gaining great recognition in certain quarters of ROTN land. Still feel when the few times I've been in The Arkle on these nights the locals still need to give the pub just a bit more support but that's my only observation on the first sets ,must try take a second set in sometime,  but as long as there willing to support live music in the area lets hope it benefits all musicians & punters alike & the owners. Up to the Keys where Rooster were making a long awaited return & boy with what myself & wifey (Bev) saw of the second set it was well worth the wait. The bands set was a great mixture of music from the present to bygone days of the 50'60's 70's with the likes of the Beach Boys, Shadows & Cliff, the Stones, Bay City Rollers, ( yes them ) had the floor full all of the second set and  all through umpteen (lost count) encores . Rooster brought a refreshing change of music to the Keys this Friday although not regarded as my cup of tea what they did, they did exceptionally well & must admit thoroughly enjoyed the band, looking at the response they received I don't think it will a long time before Rooster make a welcome return.

Barnstock Bri Has Ad Space

Flyers for the Barnstock event are going out very soon. These will be A5 size. Brian is asking businesses if they want to rent a quarter A5 space for 20 quid per thousand on the back of these flyers. Brian's e-mail address is here. The flyers will be going all around Barnsley from next week. Proceeds go to Barnsley Hospice.

Impressive Jam Night at The Lion

The Lion jam night was very impressive with a lady called Lisa, and her brother, and Dale and Andy from Girl Kills Boy with our webmaster Joe. A very different mix including two rude Tenacious D songs, and Mustang Sally, and Sweet Dreams are Made of This impressed me very much. Lisa and her brother are fantastic with harmony. A funny interlude was when I came to the front door of the Lion, an inebriated woman passed her phone to me with her daughter on the other end....The conversation went  thus, "When is my mum coming home?"...so I asked the inebriated lady when she was going home...."I cant love, I've pi**ed miself!".....er right, "er your mum cant come home, she's peed herself."...Viva Cas Vegas!

Roscoe Fun and Games

 Sunday sees Essex style R&B with ex Feelgood member Wilco Johnson at the New Roscoe, Sheepscar, Leeds venue. Entrance is 9 quid and sees Angelo Paladino and the Skeleton Crew in support.

Helvis and the Dead Famous Ready

New comedy/rock act Helvis and the Dead Famous are ready to hit the road to the North's working mens clubs and will be gigging within a month. Red Mosquito's Steve Pickles and Carl Wragg are two members you will be familiar with! This will not affect Red Mosquito in any way.

Top Notch Require New Singer

Top teenage band Top Notch require a teenage vocalist / rythmn guitarist as the current member of the band will be leaving shortly to work in Nottinghamshire. Please contact Brian Glover by e-mail info@splashalley.co.uk or phone on 07963 162 008.

Flyz and Gardeners Arms

The Gardeners Arms at Robin Hood on the A61 Leeds-Wakefield is having a rare band night and Flyz are playing on the 19th July, a Saturday night. Get along to see this great band, they are also rare on the live music scene but once you see them you'll want to see them again. Their excellent CD Aphrodisia will be available on the night.

Marcus Chief Injured

The Mr Chief gig at Bellhouse Rd Club on Friday has had to be cancelled due to Marcus sustaining an injury in Canada. Rumours that he tripped up whist running away from a grizzly bear with a toilet roll in his hand and trousers around his knees are unsubstantiated. Crashing a speedboat did happen, but it was a JCB that got him in the end. The things people will do to get upgraded on the aircraft eh? Obviously he will now have to let me ride his Yamaha till he gets better.

Discount for Party In The Park

As a concession and special offer to Rock of the North readers, Craig Savage is offering a discounted ticket price but only if bought in advance. The price will be £10 rather than the full price of £15.The beer tokens are not included in this price it should be noted.  Email Craig on md@craigsavagegroup.co.uk or fone 0844 800 1215 and mention Rock of the North.

Rosse Closed

Brian Glover informs us that The Rosse pub at Saltaire is closed from Tuesday so bands with bookings there...well best look for another gig. I suspect there will be a lot more pubs go the same way due to the economy going udders up. Modern pub companies are only interested in a profit, and unlike big old style breweries, they don't have the size or interest to keep poor performing pubs open.  I've spoken to a number of retailers in the past week and they all say the same, trade is very quiet. Sorry about the doom and gloom. People need to get back into the pubs and clubs...as the saying goes.... "use it or lose it."

Help Clarence Festival

Wakefield Music Collective are again having their brilliant Clarence Festival in the park off Denby Dale Road, a mere 10 minutes walk from the city centre. With  a selection of superb bands from both the local area and further afield it promises to be another excellent "Clarence". Please look at our Events page for details. The Collective do very well indeed to put on this festival but this year have fallen short of their break-even figure. Therefore the organisation still need sponsorship to the tune of £1500. Companies out there, can you help? The festival also needs more volunteers to marshall the event. If you can help with either request, please ring Kate Honeyman on 01924 298721. Rock of the North are big supporters of this festival and we wish the Wakefield Music Collective well with this great concert. The date for this festival is the weekend of the 26th and 27th July. Parking, food, drink etc is all available.

Venue Grievances

Bands who've not liked playing at The Village at Normanton, or customers who may have complaints for that matter, can mail the owners with their grievances by using this e-mail address

Nice Compliments

We had a very nice comment from Nij of The Wellington at Bradford saying how well True Brit entertained  at the venue but we also were mentioned saying in a PS that RotN was the best music site on the net...that Nij, makes us feel humble.  Dave of Coast mailed us complimenting us on our gig guide with it's new features. Thanks to Nij and Dave for this support. Thanks also go to Sam Eric for his contribution to RotN over the weekend. Cheers Sam! Much appreciated!

 Hayseed Dixie Sell Out The Picturedrome

Holmfirth's Picturedrome saw the American band Hayseed Dixie who play AC/DC and Metallica songs with a blue grass flavour on Sunday. We  can report that the band played yet another great set of rock in the bluegrass style including a finale of Duelling Banjos from the film Deliverence. It's all a bit tongue in cheek with the Ace of Spades played in their own inimitable style, but the Picturedrome was packed out and the crowd loved them! Webmaster Joe was helping out on lights and sound and a bit of stage work and he thanks Dave Bamforth (Showtec owner and Jagged Edge frontman) and Phil "Monty" Munt for their hospitality.

Another Party In The Park

Barnsley hosts another open air gig on August the 2nd. This is at Carlton Park. Please check out our Events page for details. It's a tribute bands theme and a percentage of the £15 ticket price goes to Weston Park Men's Cancer's Unit. Reduced prices apply to kids between 10 and 16 (£5) and under 10's are free.

Adam Bomb Thanks RotN

If you ever doubted the power of RotN, then consider this....Adam Bomb the New York guitarist asked us to advertise for a rhythm section for his Euro tours commencing next month. That was Wednesday. Today he sent this mail from the States:" Hi ya, I'd like to inform you that both positions have been filled. You were the only ad, I put out. ROTN came through with flying colors. Cheers for everything & Happy Independence Day." Adam Bomb. Adam as we said earlier is a fan of Yorkshire people and endorses Shane Haigh the String Surgeon from Wakefield who has tweaked Adam's axes.
                                                       

Rock'n'Roots Festival Ledbury

We've been informed by the organisers of this festival on August Bank Holiday of a fantastic international line up of artists including Jefferson Starship, Steve Cropper, Curved Air, Walter Trout and headlining on the Monday is Bad Company...with original members Mick Ralphs and we think Paul Rodgers too!!!! The huge event is at Much Marcle ,near Ledbury. Check this out www.rocknroots.co.uk

Maryport Blues Festival Alterations

Alvin Youngblood Hart replaces Shemekia Copeland at the Cumbrian festival on the weekend of July 25th. Chuck Berry is also appearing at the festival www.maryportblues.com

Rock and Bike Show Changes

A change in the line up has been made as Riff Raff and Optic Nerve have swapped days unavoidably! Riff Raff now play the Friday night and what a line up for Friday...Flyz, Top Gun, Export, Mr Chief and Riff Raff...wow, then Saturday, an incredibly good line up - Unjust Cause, No Mercy For Percy, Mojo, Styckleback, Optic Nerve, Do$ch, Girl Kills Boy, and the Mighty Rakkiteers close 2008's top fest. If you like bikes you'll be well impressed with the custom show. Fancy a tattoo.. get one done there. It's free camping as well. I shouldn't be biased but this is my favourite gig of the year. Take our advice and be there for a great time . Get tickets in the Lion Castleford.

Fakes Get Destroyed

We are pleased to announce that our complaints to Ebay and Pay Pal have come to fruition regarding six fake Shure microphones. When a consignment of mics assembled in Mexico is despatched from CHINA...well alarm bells started ringing straight away. Testing the mics back to back with known genuine items soon confirmed they weren't of the same quality as the industry standard mics that Shure are renowned for. Pay Pal asked us to firstly to have the mics examined by an expert and thank you to Sam Hirst of Reverb in Sheffield for his report. Following this Pay Pal asked Joe to destroy them , which he did, then send a photo to confirm this, and he was refunded in full. Moral of the story is...go to a reputable dealer like Reverb and ask for a good deal. If you do buy from Ebay have a look at the sellers location.

Hayseed Dixie Back in the Area

Those bluegrass heavy metal boys Hayseed Dixie are in the area again this week. They have a gig at Mansfield Intake on Saturday, then The Picturdrome Holmfirth plays host to the fiddle playing rockers on Sunday!

Skadrats DVD Sunday

The Punk/Ska band Skadrats play the Snooty Fox in Wakefield on Sunday to record a DVD. Fans of this genre are welcome during the afternoon says lead singer Lenny S. Should be good, and a change from the norm.

Travellers Stanley

Further to speculation that Sam at the Travellers is stopping bands, I've just been in contact to assure bands that a blanket stoppage of bands IS NOT THE CASE. We know this pub is the busiest in Stanley for functions, weddings and special birthday celebrations and we think it's the only one to have the facilities to do this so there are times where a special function is booked on the same date as a band. Sometimes business needs mean a band is asked to postpone  and this is what has happened to ABC and Grumpy Old Men where the people booking the function have expressed a preference to not have a band on the night. We know Sam and Scott pay good money to bands and the only way this can happen is if the business as a whole is robust. Sam was very apologetic and in no way arrogant when I rang, but she explained it was a business need to work this way. Too many pubs are going down the drain these days and sometimes in this climate I think we may have to accept some disruption, bad though it seems. Better to have the odd casualty than a major catastrophe of a venue being lost. However bands who are booked there, or are chasing bookings there should be aware of the venue's policy. Then it's up to you if you want to take on the booking. We are totally impartial on this, we want both bands and venues to  prosper.

Flippin' Eck!

We've had a bit of bovver....cos a virus got past our defences and wouldn't let us start up the main RotN PC! Anyway it's back running again and I thought I'd let you know in case any e-mails were slow getting back to you. Main activity for me today was uploading comments about Travfest which has quite obviously been a total success. Our comments and gig guide is run from another on-line storage system that I can access from our laptop, so I've had a steady flow all day complimenting Joe and all involved. It's great to see activity like this being enjoyed by so many...superb!

Travsfest a Success

First reports are coming in of a great festival at the Travellers at South Kirkby. Steve Pickles of Red Mosquito sent the above picture showing a healthy crowd lapping up the sun and watching a great selection of the regions bands. We're really pleased the weather changed and the sun came out to reward the fundraisers. Well done to everyone involved!

Gig Guide Being Upgraded Again

Our webmaster is busy again upgrading our gig guide. We are not only having directions, we are providing postcodes for Sat Nav users. Another worthy feature is a link to bands websites. This is a big job so please bear with us as we slowly upgrade. This will provide a very comprehensive service to RotN readers, a better one than any other gig guide in the North. All this hard work , and believe me it is hard work, is to provide a quality service for our valued friends.

Gratuitous Competition To Nuts Magazine

Here's a shot of Resurgence sirens Kerrie and Helen at The Farmyard Party. They had been backing singers for Gunlaw to headline the 2008 event on the Friday night. Why didn't I have Gunlaw pictured here?...are you joking? Also check the Bev and Mav RotN T shirt cruise here!

Bring Me The Horizon Need Your Votes

"Pixie Lee" Malia from Thorpe Haddersley near Rotherham is the driving force behind metal band Bring Me the Horizon and many will know the band are signed and have toured America and Europe. The band have been very successful over the past year and have been nominated for best band and best live band at the Kerrang awards 2008. It would be great if any one would like to cast a vote for them http://www.kerrangawards.com/kerrangawards/vote-bestbritishband.shtml  AND ALSO FOR BEST LIVE BAND!! http://www.kerrangawards.com/kerrangawards/vote-liveband.shtml

Walter On My Mind

Just down the page I was raving about Walter Trout's latest album but 18 years ago he released his first, a live CD titled "Life in the Jungle". Recorded at Skandersborg Festival in Denmark, it was Walter's debut and one that captured the hearts and minds of many a guitar fan. It took me a long time to find this CD....it was actually the Head Cook who got it for me in 1992. I'm listening to it as I type....it's fantastic, the playing is brilliant and the CD is still available for those who don't have it. We've been close friends of this American star for nigh on 15 years and he's visited us at home and shared many a joke with us regarding his old bosses who include John Lee Hooker and John Mayall. He has some great tales to tell. Walter is appearing at Colne in August at the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival and coming back to England in October on his world tour. The venues in Yorkshire are The Boardwalk in Sheffield and The Picturedrome in Holmfirth.

Guns Back Soon

The mighty Guns and Oatcakes are to return to the stage very soon. After Fasker Johnson returns from playing bass with John Parr supporting Journey, he will re-unite with brother Steve and Jack Rowe to recapture the glory days of Guns and Oatcakes!Watch this space!  Steve Johnson, described to us by a Rotherham agent as the man who has everything going for him, has nothing to prove and with the pressure off, will really show his credentials. Steve informed us that he wants to put the fun back into playing. This is a good bit of news, which has pleased us no end and will see the band re-establish their reputation as all-time greats on the club scene. Now Alkatraz have finished, it's good to see high quality being replenished in the tired club scene. Guns will fit nicely alongside Stagefright, Mr Chief, Black Pearl, Top Gun and Jagged Edge.

Whitesnake Legends

One of my all time favourite bands Whitesnake were fantastic at Sheffield's Hallam Arena on Monday night. David Coverdale is a great frontman and after a break from watching the brilliant Black Stone Cherry, he popped up right in front of us like the genie of the lamp! I have to say, after a lifetime of seeing big names, I was never quite as thrilled as I was tonight. Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King and Bon Scott gave me similar feelings of awe but "DC" was fantastic to see. He's a friendly host, and humorous with it. The band were of great quality as always and the set rocked with songs old and new. We didn't stop for Def Leppard as we had seen who we came to see, and the performance was wonderful in my eyes. Nice to see RotNers in the audience and to meet Steve from the GDI Band and his lovely daughter. Nice to see Shane Haigh, Carl of Red Mosquito, Jake the Snake from the 4 Kicks and Mick from Broken Angel and Joe saw Angie and Daz Dodds the ginger bass family of Darfield. Pictures below courtesy of "Baz of Skellow".

 ...and Carl Wragg's  Review

WOW! What a mega night! BLACK STONE CHERRY were good I thought, nothing exceptional (unlike THE ANSWER who supported WHITESNAKE at the City Hall), but maybe with a few more listens ill get into them more. Although the sound didn't do them any favours - shocking is the only word that springs to mind about their sound.
Now on to WHITESNAKE and what can I say! Mega performance! Coverdale was awesome although his vocal chords weren't what they were on the couple of last live DVD/CD’s but still... he rocked! And the band... what a great line up! Doug Aldridge has it all for me as a guitarist - bags of skill and a great tone. Loved the inclusion of Best Years and Can You Hear The Wind Blow from the new album (there were more but they were my faves) and of course all the crowd favourites like Fool For Your Lovin, Is This Love, Aint No Love In The Heart Of The City and Here I Go Again, as well as a cracking couple of acoustic versions which made a good change i thought, but the highlight of the set (and of the night, for me) was the final song, Still Of The Night. That song sends shivers down mi spine every time I hear it and to see it live is just fantastic.
Now on to DEF LEPPARD... my first time seeing them and I was well impressed!! WHITESNAKE put on such a good show that DEF LEPPARD, in my opinion, couldn't ’cut it’ as much as them, however, DEF LEP still rocked to the fullest! Their biggest drawback was the vocals. A lot of their music features high vocals parts which he couldn't reach tonight. But the crowd made loads of noise which made up for it. Their stage show was excellent though and very much the typical 80’s hair-rock outfit. Was chuffed that I knew all the songs too as they played much off the Vault album (greatest hits)... such as Hysteria, Animal, Pour Some Sugar On Me, When Love n Hate Collide etc etc and was also good to hear Bad Actress, C’mon C’mon and in particular Nine Lives from their newest album. Highlight of their set for me was probably the first song... Rocket. Coz they came out and did just that... rocked it!
Overall an incredible night. Both bands were excellent but WHITESNAKE had a slight edge over the LEP. Well worth seeing and can’t wait for the next time of seeing both bands!

Walter Trout New CD

I'm listening to The Outsider, Walter Trout's new CD as I upload RotN and I can confidently report that it's brilliant. Walter was a Ruf Records star but he has returned to the Dutch label, Provogue. Musically it's all Walter Trout, well written songs straight from the heart, guitar playing that many find to be "the best" and very mellow vocals. This is a highly recommended CD which seems to be in the style of a superb CD he released about 13 years ago called Breaking the Rules, one of my favourites of maybe 16 Walter Trout CD's we own.

Broken Angel

Webmaster Joe reports on a typically brilliant set at the Lion for the popular band in the Lion on Sunday evening. We've heard very little else about Sunday's gig as many of our reporters are in sunnier climes right now.

Riff Raff Awesome in Feth

Cas/Ponty Riff Raff the AC/DC tribute band played a truly awesome gig at the B&S Club in Featherstone on Saturday night. The band don't play as often as they should and it's nice to hear and see this band on a slightly bigger stage than in pubs. The material is Bon Scott era AC/DC which they perform to perfection.  The room was booked for a 50th Birthday party, Happy Birthday Gail, and the cheers were full from the people in the room, not normal rock fans, recognising a quality band when they saw one! Joe and I were there in a working capacity and how pleasant it was to work with decent lads who appreciated our efforts and complimented our webmaster on his command of sound engineering. Nepatism apart, it was bloody good, and Tony of Cas and Pauline of Angabart were impressed and said so.

Friday's Pleasure

The first night of the weekend went down well around the region seeing the head Cook and friends at Wakefield Opera House to see Ledd Zepp, one of the many tributes in the UK to Plant Page and Co. The most notable thing was the drummer...wow, he was a worthy tribute to John Bonham, he really was special. "Robert" was quite convincing as his vocals warmed up and the guitarist was a good player capturing some quite accurate Page moments most of the time. The bands bassist/keys/mandolin player was a real musician and he was a major asset. to this band, especially on the fantastic encore of Kashmir...meanwhile over in Dunscombe Park near Helmsley, the Farmyard Party was in full swing and a text to Ziggy Marsh at 1:30 this morning yielded a brilliant reply which was too naughty to publish. Basically the Gunlaw plus two Resurgence ladies was orgasmic! Another text to Bri Featherstone over in Crete prompted a phone call back to us with him holding up his phone to the band. Basically I was receiving live Limehouse Lizzy direct from Lindos! Local time will have been about 2 am! Webmaster Joe arrived back from The Lion during the texts and phone calls and reported a brilliant set once again from Flyz supported by Tytania the young Morley band. Joe did the sound but says the bands were brilliant and it was another great night at the venue. These bands are part of the ever increasing circus and without being derogatory to some bands, the quality now is tremendous and the professional attitude of these gilt edged bands makes a number of bands look positively amateurish and some look incredibly cheesy with tired songlists. Luckily our gilt edged bands are keeping live music fresh.

Lion's Share of Pleasure...In The Name Of Shame

Thursday night at the Lion in Castleford was amazing! Belfast band In the Name Of....not to be confused with the Yorkshire band of the same name, played a great set of original songs and a couple of classic covers to thrill a decent crowd for a Thursday night. Following Shameless, who also did a great set, ITNO simply rocked! I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with them! After their rock solid set, the Belfast lads got down but resurfaced as the jam night got away somewhere around 11 o'clock. Basically Shameless with Joe Lally on drums, the combined band of Shameless and elements of ITNO just about blew the windows out of the Lion. Carl, a regular music fan in Cas said he felt privileged to watch such a brilliant night of entertainment. It has to be said when the jamband rocked out an impromptu rendition of Johnny B Goode, it was 24 karat entertainment! Picture below show the "In the Name of Shame" Jam Band! Catch ITNO at The Primrose in Meanwood, Leeds  TONIGHT. Take a look at the band at myspace.com/SEEINTHENAMEOFNOW

Yngwie Thrilled To Meet Gav

Here's a picture of Shield of Steel guitarist Gav Coulson just before he gave Yngwie Malmsteen another guitar lesson at the London Guitar Show last week. It was another Baroque and Roll moment. Yngwie last week, Windy Corner this week...he moves in high circles that Gav doesn't he?

Gail at Golden Lion Happy

We're pleased to report that Rock of the North is functioning well, doing what it was intended to do, keeping live music going. We achieve this by helping others for no gain to ourselves. Be it bands or venues or agents or promoters,we do our best to help. I've just come off the phone after speaking to Gail from The Golden Lion, Halifax. She was pleased we have helped fill the spare dates this month and managed to help fill her September dates. This week also helped an agent friend of RotN to put music into a venue in West Rotherham on Sunday nights. We do try hard, at great effort and cost, for no monetary gain. Most of our supporters appreciate that fact.

Gunlaw Headline Farmyard Party

Helen and Kerrie of Resurgence join fellow RotNers Gunlaw headlining the Farmyard Party, MAG Rally this weekend. This is a motorcycle only rally so get your bike and tent out and see Gunlaw headline with Alkatraz and Rock Solid supporting. Helen and Kerrie have joined the band as backing singers and the band as a whole will be true superstars with this line up. See the events page for the flyer.

Walter Trout New CD

Walter Trout has released a new CD, his first since rejoining the Dutch Provogue label. The title is The Outsider and the cheapest we've seen it online is at HMV at £8.99. The songs are completely new but with that comfortable Walter Trout feel to them. An unusual addition is a track dedicated to Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dut, a huge Walter Trout fan.

Rudis Blues Cafe

Rotherham's town centre venue has a great line up of rock/blues bands in July and August. West Yorkshire's Mojo grace the venue soon, and The Steve Milton Band, Steve French Band and The Hamsters are all booked. Wakefield's Doctor Blue and the fabulous Blueflies from York are also booked in. The cafe has a late licence and a selection of good food available and Rudi and Joe are very proud of their real chips! Check out the venue here. http://www.rudiblues.com/

Triathlon Saturday

What an evening for us RotN lot! We had three invites on Saturday evening and managed to fulfil all our commitments. A wedding in Gomersal was first off and I'm sure you don't want to hear about the disco...but then it was off to  Wifey and The Old Git Mav's Silver wedding celebration at The Cross Keys where the fantastic Rakkiteers were making their debut. The band were just starting their 1st set at about 9:15 as we caught the Erics rushing back to the Carriers in Morley for their set! They'd been to wish the happy couple all the best. Joe of Hard Shoulder arrived and stood with us as we watched the liveliest of sets by The Rakkiteers. What a brilliant band these are and the packed house were well satisfied after huge anticipation at the venue. Jay of Styckleback and Rik from Twist of Fate were in the room, Jay to sit in in the second set. I also met "Edge" Emeralds powerhouse drummer! I'd have loved to have stayed but commitments are commitments. A blast down the motorway to pick up Ziggy Marsh and onto Squires for the Satans Slaves Yorkshire 30th Anniversary gig saw One Fat Spider finishing off their 2nd set successfully. The room we use for our convention was filled with Satans Slaves and selected guests. Many recognisable and friendly faces greeted us from both the Slaves and their guests. It proved to be another interesting encounter  with  Yorkshire Slaves hierarchy educating me once again on the bike clubs history and laughing about recent events. It was a great way to end our busy evening and I thank the club for their hospitality. It's now 1:30 in the morning and I'm off to bed, I'm weary!

Top Gun Awesome at the Lion

Very little feedback has come to us after Fridays gigs but while we are featuring Top Gun on their run down to retirement in the current line up, webmaster Joe reports that the band were truly awesome at The Lion. I dare say we will hear from Tony of Cas and possibly Howard Gibson, but the venue was very healthily filled, one of the best turnouts on a Friday for a long time. Joe says the band played really well, as tight as a drum. Good stuff!

Well it's Friday Again

Well another week flies by and and it's the weekend again. Check our gig guide and chose your gigs...and as usual it will be a difficult decision. Following our news item about Top Gun, The Lion in Castleford might be full for what might be the last time the band play there, so that's a good target for tonight! Roxyrama and the Flyz play The Gasworks Bradford, Resurgence play The Duck and Drake Leeds and Vamp play The Sturdy Lads in Monk Bretton. Gilt edged entertainment as usual all around the region.

Limehouse Lizzy in Wakefield Soon

Jonny 7 promotions are bringing the top Lizzy tribute to the Strafford Arms in July. Quote:The Strafford presents one of the worlds finest tribute shows - LIMEHOUSE LIZZY on Thursday 17th July.

Top Gun To Disband

Sad news for most of us in the rock community is that South Yorks rockers Top Gun are to disband. Rich Dunstan the band's guitarist broke the news today on our comments page. I saw this band's first gig at The Crimea Tavern about two years ago and I've seen them quite a few times since. They got better and better and better and became one of my absolute favourites on the rock scene. I liked everything about the band, they're one of the few to have keys in the mix -which I like. Their last gig will be on August 25th at Barnstock,at The Polish Club, Barnsley. I'd like to personally thank the band for their charitable endeavours in the past two years and for the enjoyment I have derived from their performances. Rich, Paul, Angie, Lee, Damien...my personal thanks go to each of you. My favourite TG song...Empty Rooms...fantastic!

Chantel Does It Again

The RotN contingent went to Saltaire last night to see another performance by the phenomenon by the name of Chantel McGregor. The Tramshed was the venue, full of old fellows like myself, just allowing a young lass to transport us back through time by the medium of a guitar. What a band, what great songs. At one point I had my eyes closed listening to the bending strings producing  fabulous tones. It made me realise that I was actually enjoying the music again. I remarked to the Head Cook that Chantel reminded me of the days when we'd travel miles to see quality music. It was like the old days again, wonderful quality music played by quality musicians with a professional edge, -sober, committed, and value for money. 

Broken Angel on the Rails

News from Knottingley is that Broken Angel did another storming gig at the Railway Hotel on Sunday early evening and even had Mick Norbury's son Brandon on the mic emulating his distinguished father's fine vocals! Good stuff! Why are this band top ranking? Easy to explain, the excellent musicianship, great vocals and a superb repertoire. The five bands below this paragraph are just the same....but all with good but different song lists.

Time Machine Play to 200

Tracy of Time Machine informs us of a great gig and the the biggest audience they've played to at Askern Spa Central Club on Saturday night. A birthday party was in progress. Tracy said it was scary...but fab, and the band secured another booking for later in the year.

Coast Clubs and Nudity

I received a report of a successful gig for Coast at Acklam and new bass player Lincoln was reported to do a naked encore with only a bass and a pair of black socks (on his feet) to save his blushes! Well I've always applauded showmanship but this will pay dividends for the band's reputation without question. I can imagine a Bamforths style rude postcard here with Acklam's ladies with their cheeks flushed red. It will be a full club next time!

Mr Chief Rock The Ship

Mr Chief were "on fire" at The Ship in Royston on Saturday night according to our sources. The pub had it's biggest audience of the year and many rock fans from the Barnsley area were in attendance. Drummer Phil was using his electronic kit last night and the band used the RotN PA for experimental purposes. The band were reported to be as tight as a drum considering they hadn't played together for a month! Bass player Joe came home last night in a very upbeat mood saying Marcus and Johnny were "incredible guitar players, especially on Gary Moore's Still Got The Blues". Makes a change from taking the mickey out of each other all night I suppose!

Contraband Rattle The Keys

News just in at 2:45 on Sunday morning is from the old git Mav reporting on a fantastic gig by Contraband in the Cross Keys on Saturday night. No surprise to us at RotN as we've seen 'em, this band are class. Mav's comment will be going on in a few minutes. In fact here it is: Hi Steve shame you were unable to make it a flying visit to the keys this sat evening, a near to packed Keys saw what I must rate as one of the most outstanding gigs ever to go down @ the keys putting it up there with the local heavy weights of The Erics/Twist of Fate/Emerald & Styckleback. The band in question was CONTRABAND what an awesome gig these guys gave the Keys this evening & will be remembered for week no months to come. From a faultless War Pigs to a superb segue of Queen numbers which had the Keys movers & shakers in awe, from Killers to AC/DC this band has it all. Been a long time since I've seen such a tight three piece group of musicians sounding like a five piece & the guys living & loving every minute of there two sets. For all you connoisseurs of the highest quality rock & classics check out CONTRABAND & if its your first time taking in a live band this is one of the band to see & convert you to what we all love the live music scene.

Go Kommando

Bridlington band Go Kommando played a storming couple of sets in the Lion on Friday night according to our webmaster Joe. Joe said they were funny, tight as a drum, and brilliant. Joe rarely compliments pub bands with such enthusiasm but he was waxing lyrically as the saying goes. Complimenting every member for different aspects of the performance, Coz and Sparky's wit, Ben's excellent keys and bass playing, and some great lead guitar work in the superb and eclectic repertoire, Joe was more than impressed. The bucket was a very healthy amount considering only a medium turnout due to the rainy weather. Well done lads!

Looking Good For Saturday

Our gig guide has almost 50 gigs listed for tonight, Saturday. From stars of 40 years ago Peter Tork of the Monkees in Otley, to top tribute band Limehouse Lizzy in The Boardwalk Sheffield and on to "rock through the ages " with Splash Alley and Top Notch, Chantel McGregor quality guitar playing, Mr Chief solid rock show, Top Gun at Cas Tigers, Vamp, Resurgence, Shield of Steel, Gun Law, Contraband, Rakkiteers...they're all listed so take a look, make your (difficult) choice, and enjoy the music! As a post script to this paragraph, there's some refreshing bands from out of the area in Castleford tonight. Trip Manhatten from Hull play The Lion and The Sharpees from London play at The Crimea Tavern. This boosts the already huge reputation of "Sunset Strip" and hats off to the promoters.

Vacancy For Rock God Rhythm Section

This news is the worst I've had for a long time. Optic Nerve have finally split. Lack of interest has been mooted but the top and bottom of it is that Steve "Motormouth" Wilson is keen to keep the  band going, as Steve is the "face" of Optic Nerve. So a tight rhythm section is needed pdq or sooner. An ad is on our classifieds section but most will know that this band were a tribute to AC/DC, more so the Bon Scott era. For all we're p*ssed off about it all, we'd like to give Steve Tony and Mick our grateful thanks for supporting our charity gigs and for at least six years of pleasure when you were entertaining us in the pubs. You'll always remain legends of rock in the North of England.

Don Hotel a Goner

Tracy the bass/keys player with Time Machine informs us of a fatality on the venues list. The Don Hotel at Swinton 'tween Mexboro'/Rotherham has gone udders up. Rumour has it the landlord has done a moonlight flit. Whatever, check the gig if you're booked in there.

Reverb!

Just received a message from Sam Erics/Mojo manager of the new Sheffield Reverb store, which is good news for musos in the North:  Hi everyone, just to let you know that Sound Control Sheffield has been bought out, along with another five stores, by Arbiter, and we will now be called Reverb. Things should get back to some order soon, stock will arrive in a couple of weeks or so, and there should be a whole lot of marketing for the relaunch, though Sound Control is now gone as a company :(. The other stores bought are Bristol, Birmingham, Leicester, Glasgow City and Stockton. The Leeds City store is still in administration, but hopefully will be part of a different buy out shortly, which is great news too for the area. Unfortunately my old store stays shut, but who knows, maybe someone will buy it as it was a good profitable store. If anyone needs anything then feel free to ring us on 0114 2640000!

Coast Mk 2 Triumph

 Coast played O'Donahues last night with a 50% new band and wowed the crowd according to our sources. With new personnel as the rhythm section, Paul and Lincoln, the band seamlessly morphed into the MK 2 version of Coast! The band head North East on Saturday to our favourite club up there, Acklam Iron and Steelworks, "The Steelies".

When Slash Met Charlie

Just recieved this picture from Charlie Meehan of Top Notch. Slash was interested in Charlie's miliner! Slash did actually ask Charlie where he got the hat from. The photo was titled "Me Dad and Slash" and comes from the Velvet Revolver gig at Leeds University.

Planet Rock Saved

RotN supporter Howard Gibson and a Planet Rock newsletter have informed us of the radio stations survival. It's good to hear, it's a great radio station for rock fans on the DAB network. DAB radios are really cheap nowadays and there's loads of stations but Arrow Rock and Planet Rock are my favourites. The loss of Planet Rock would have been bad, nobody plays as much classic rock as that station.

Mick Hucknall on RotN?

I bet you wouldn't expect to see Mick Hucknall's name on this page but after hearing a CD this week dedicated to Bobby (Blue) Bland I felt it would be rude not to. The CD has some great blues standards on it from Stormy Monday Blues to Pity the Fool . Mick sings them in his own style but they really are good songs and the disc was recorded in Memphis and scrutinised favourably by Bobby Bland himself. We have the Raising Sand CD by Robert Plant and Allison Krauss but I've not managed to listen to it yet. Jeff Healey's Mess O Blues CD is one that stayed on the player for a while but the Steve Winwood CD Nine Lives didn't even get a full listen before I was bored with it. Local band Flyz CD Aphrodisia has been wearing the laser out though. It's a great CD, so fresh and lively.

Coopers Arms Bands Take Note

Dave of Coast mailed to say that Julie, the landlady of the Coopers Arms, Birstall (crossroads), has been given notice by the brewery that she will be taking over another pub as yet unknown. So bands booked at The Coopers Arms are now cancelled. However, Julie wishes to promote live music at her new pub and would like bands booked at The Coopers Arms to ring her to maintain a contact with her for the future. This is maybe not the brightest thing I wanted to report on this rainy Sunday morning but at least Julie is looking at the future with live music in mind. Thanks to Dave for this information.

Daz's Swansong with Coast

We understand the Coopers Arms gig last night was interesting with a lady coming onto the stage and slightly disrupting things. Sadly it was also Daz's very last gig with this excellent band. The excellent Lincoln from Emerald is depping for the forseeable future as his commitments allow. Coast made a big impression with many last Monday at our festival at the Polish. I've had compliments coming in all week and they have come from people who know the business down to ordinary punters who love good music. It's nice to see a decent family run band with no swelled egos do well on the live scene.

Styckleback Impressive at The Lion

Leeds band Styckleback played a nice eclectic set of songs at the Lion on Friday night backed by a very impressive light show which even included lasers. From Arctic Monkeys to Thin Lizzy and T Rex into Steppenwolf, the chosen songs kept you on your toes wondering which era of rock was coming next! All nicely played and well sang, you can tell why they have a big following due to their complete show. Kev works hard to keep up this level of entertainment, finishing the set up only five minutes before they went on to play.

Web Albums

We received some pictures from the Polish gig and these can be seen on my Picassa web albums: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rockofthenorthmeister  Thanks to Jon Rhodes, Jean Cooper, and Tony of Cas.

Polish Club Burgled

We had news this afternoon that the Polish Club was broken into and the bandit was robbed. It's thought the burglars were after the bar takings from the big gig on Monday. The Polish is under pressure financially as a business and somebody does this....

So Who Are Flyz?

Sensations of the Sheik Rattle and Roll extravaganza were Flyz...not THE Flyz, just Flyz. I already knew two of the band, my good mate Ady Thewliss, ex Tourettes pots'n'pan man, and Si Boardman, the guitarist in the picture (right). Simon was in the teenage band of the eighties, Argon from Rothwell. Me and the head cook used to follow the band just before we got married because they were so good. They had their original songs played on Radio Aire's Mike Alexander Rock Show, a programme I used to contribute to, and they also had interviews on the programme. Their arch rivals from Rothwell were Python featuring Jono Hudson on bass/vocals and brother Joolz on lead guitar. The bands were rivals and fought (metaphorically speaking) for the same bookings and audience. Twenty four years on and the old rivals are linked up in Flyz with Ady on drums and what a great band they proved to be. They told me they weren't totally ready for gigging...but could do an hours spot at the Polish Club....well tell us when you are ready and I'll warn the Kaiser Chiefs to keep out of your way! 

Golden Lion Halifax

Little Stevie Fingers of Bad Penny reports on gigs in jeopardy due to management changes. If you have a gig booked at The Golden Lion, ring this number to comfirm it: 0776 8514206. It also means the landlady is looking for bands to play at the pub, an established music venue in Halifax.

The Polish Club Rocked

Monday at The Polish Club in Barnsley was a resounding success with Vikki Lea virtually reaching her target (£1000 was raised). Concert wise it was a great day out with plenty of music, some sensations...Flyz were just that, sensational, and plenty of rock classics were the order of the day starting with Militia who did a good set and supped all the free beer...naughty naughty! Shield of Steel did a customary heavy metal set with their own material and a finale , a brilliant version of War Pigs. Good stuff! Flyz followed and good god what a set! None of us expected such a brilliant showcase as this...and it was brilliant. Coast had the unenviable task of following them, but follow they did and made a great job of it playing more unusual rock covers such as Schools Out for instance, excellent stuff, and My Sharona is always well received. The whole set was well played and well received which meant Angel of Sin then had the "unenviable task". They've had that task on a few gigs they've played for RotN and they always come through well. Vikki Lea was resplendent in a very nice outfit, she always pulls the stops out for RotN gigs, and had a Cleopatra pseudo belly dancer number on for the gig! The band played some good covers such as Sanctuary and Thunder's When Love Walked In, some Led Zep and some AC/DC before being followed by the three piece AC/DC stalwarts Optic Nerve. What a powerful band. Just a three piece but with rock gods Steve "Motormouth" Wilson, Tony Parkin, and Mr Michael Hoyle, they truly are legends of the local rock scene! After a great set, and two encores they retired from the stage with their legendary status reinforced. They really are a great band. The final song, Highway to Hell was sang by Vikki and it was brilliant to see the interaction between members of two bands who had never seen each other before! Special dedications must go to Marcus Ward, especially as he was being complimented for his sound on the desk, son Jamie, Mr Chief colleagues Joe and Phil for stage duties, Helen and Dave of Resurgence for saving the day with a transport solution, Dave and Richard of Coast for helping the set up and Bri Featherstone for sorting the VIP lounge. Without these people we couldn't do these gigs so thanks everyone for help and support. Nice to see members of The Rakkiteers and Top Gun supporting us from two hours before the gig. Also good to see band members and friends from around the RotN area giving us support by their presence. Almost forgot that Deano of the Rakkiteers was celebrating his birthday so belated Birthday Greetings Deano!!!

Styckleback Favourites at The Boot

Jay, former guitarist with the band, now a correspondent for RotN, sends the following:

Just thought I'd give a quick review of the new Styckleback line up last night. What is widely regarded as a poor turn out right across Leeds by the punters saving their cash was the opposite at the Boot and Shoe in Ackworth. The pub was at least three quarters full. Les has installed 8 new par cans to go with his existing lighting rig but the Styckleback boys managed to squeeze in another rack of lights including a new laser. This was up there with any lighting show you will see and I was expecting Jean Michel Jarre to appear on stage at any moment. The band revived some of our old tunes to gave the new line up a fresher set list. These included Buck Rogers by Feeder and ever fallen in love by the Buzzcocks, and Summer of 69 by Mr Adams. Brand new additions were a fantastic song 2 by Blur and the middle by Jimmy Eat World. (OR JAKE EATS EARTH AS HOWARD MISTAKENLY THOUGHT). They blazed through two long sets and the second set certainly had the dance floor full. After being called on for six encores, they even added a couple more. A few of the folk in the crowd commented to me that it seemed odd me not being there on stage (after 5 years) but complimented Andy on his voice, guitar playing and eagerness to get involved. He was on the dance floor more than the punters lol! He is certainly not a shrinking violet, and Kev is right when he says that Andy has slotted straight in and you would have thought he had been in the band all along.

Great Friday Night Out

Friday was again a great night out, and I spent it in good company. Julie and Marcus of the Chiefies (Mr Chief) let us tag along to the Wakefield Opera House to see a superb  Elvis show, which was really enjoyable, really professional and a special treat. I've liked Elvis material for most of my life and to see it being performed so well was really special. We had time to shoot over to Castleford as I wanted to see Resurgence with a now settled and confident singer Kerrie. When Jo left the band I thought it might be the beginning of the end but how pleased I am to be completely wrong. The band as a whole were superb on Friday night and Kerrie has all the talent and attitude that Jo had, plus a bit more. I think Resurgence are better than ever and with new songs in the repertoire, this band really rocks! I thought Nickleback's "Rockstar" was excellent, and "Pretty Vacant" with female vocals was brilliant. Top marks to the band as a unit, the sound was spot on and the musicianship faultless.

What Talent!!!

I got up early today and as usual checked my mail, uploaded a couple of comments, then checked my personal myspace.I looked at my pictures that I'd uploaded to the my pics page and looked at them again. I came to one of Girl Kills Boy and of course I thought of last night in the Lion where Dale was doing his thing. It made me realise just how much talent there is on the scene. Bands like Do$ch, Iron On Maiden, Motorheadache, Gun Law and many others...the area is awash with talent, and there is such a wide diversity of genre encapsulated by the category of rock! We really are lucky! Tonight I'm off to Wakefield to see Elvis...and hopefully to see Resurgence in the Lion for the last set!

Lion Charity Gig

Nipped to the Lion for the Prince of Wales Hospice special charity night on Thursday. The pub was quite busy with younger patrons to see equally young bands. Highlights for me were a fine set from No Mercy For Percy, with Ryan in fine voice, and a solo acoustic set from Dale of Girl Kills Boy. Dale's a classy performer and played some excellent numbers including a great version of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes". Well done to all the other performers on the night.

Birthday Blues

Well I was trying to keep it quiet but it's got out and I'm another year older...ah well....but Tracey's had yet another excuse to spend money and she's bought me Steve Winwood's new CD Nine Lives. Not played it yet but I'll let you know what it's like. Being a bit of a blues boy myself  and she knows this, she also gave me a seven DVD collection from Martin Scorsese (the film producer) called "The Blues...a musical journey" and I'm looking forward to watching these feature long films that include archive material from the likes of John Lee Hooker ,Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf.

A Good Souvenir From the Sheik Gig

Here's the latest fashion accessory for the T shirt collector modelled by Vikki and Bri. The ladies ones feature a camel on the front and the gents have the Sphynx/devils fingers. The rear design is a common one. Naturally Angel of Sin's Vikki Lea had a hand in the design of the ladies and the slogan is a little risqué!

Motus Stake Their Claim

Reports have come through from The Boot and Shoe regarding the great style that Motus stood in ,at short notice, for The Brew. RotN correspondent Baz (ex Skella) commented on a great gig from the Leeds band citing a well mixed repertoire and well mixed sound at the famous venue. Baz says if there is a premier league of bands then Motus would be in it. We agree! Picture below sees the band amazing the Frock of the North audience in March.

Viva Cas Vegas...Yet Again

Saturday night was yet another great night of rock in the classic style as both Coast and Mr Chief did their thing on the famous Sunset Strip. Most people know I love Mr Chief as a band so I won't pretend I'm not biased. I liked this band way before our webmaster joined them and I like the band just as much now. There's nothing like seeing your son on stage  playing the music you loved when you were young. On the same theme, I'll go one further than that as I popped over to the Lion to see the last few numbers by Coast, a band with father and son guitarists playing an equal part in the show. I enjoyed my interlude at the Lion, Coast have a good set up, play tightly, melodically, and with variety and great musicianship. Richard's solo in Paranoid was superb as he walked around the Lions interior. Great band and so friendly, really nice people playing a very slightly different repertoire, refreshingly so. At the Crimea we watched some great playing by Mr Chief, with the band laid back, joking and not taking anything too seriously. That said, the music they played was tremendous, with great virtuosity at the right times. The band impressed many of the Crimea's music fans and they weren't shy in telling me how they rated the band. Nice to see a newly coloured Ginger Girlie...Top Gun's Angie Dodds in the room enjoying a night off. Back to Mr Chief and what impressive arrangements of rock standards they do. By altering the arrangements it certainly makes the older covers sound fresh so good luck.....and more re-workings are welcome. Another good night out, two brilliant bands and they both come highly recommended.

Jay's Last Stand

Our Morley correspondent The Old Git Mav sends the following review of Jay's last gig with Styckleback:

 "The Mother of all send off's ! The Miners Arms in down town Morley had the honour of wishing Jay a fond farewell has he made his last stand with his retirement from top local outfit STYCKLEBACK .The Miners was near to capacity with well wishers from regular peeps who have followed the band & Jay over the last 5 years or so & other local band celebs coming out to give Jay a good old send off .Two great sets from the boys & encores unlimited till the Mine Host had to call it a time into the early hours, also it was a good to see Jay stand back for a couple of numbers to let new guitarist Andy be introduced to the punters (first full gig this evening) then Jay returned to finish off the evening with Howard Kev & Dameon to close what Jay says has been a memorable last five years."

Friday Night On The Strip

I called down to see Angel of Sin in the Crimea on Friday night and watched most of their first set which was very good consisting of some strong numbers and some of my favourites like Love Walked In and Rain by the Cult, with a solid bass and drums from Jon and Bryan, Russ on guitar, a little down in the mix from where I was standing, although not at the back where I stood later and Vikki Lea pitching perfectly again. A comment to me after Love Walked In would certainly please the band. I wandered over to the Lion to see a band I'd not seen before...wow why hasn't anyone let me in on the secret? Shrine of the Monkey were superb, playing covers and originals. The composition Queen of the Night was the end of the first set and what a great song it is. The band continued to impress me, and not just a bit either, with great bass and drums and real showmanship from the lead guitarist/ singer....I love all that posing and pulling faces but the guitar playing was so smooth, so fluent....it was just great. So all those who asked, "Haven't you seen them before?"....No I bloody haven't, why didn't you tell me about them before!!!!

Motiv Impress

We had a mail from Jack Womersley on Thursday who is a member of young band Motiv. The band are very good indeed so go to our links and check out this band's original music. Jack was in 90cc who played at our Bagstock Festival in 2007.

B.F.T.P Edited

A new picture has made its way onto the Blast From The Past. One of the Capn' himself. My dad does not know however that I have placed this pic on..... mwhahahahahahahaha.

RotN People...like Evo Stik!

RotN HQ was visited by husband and wife members of Resurgence, that's Helen of Bass and Dave of Rhythm! Always pleased to help the website and be pro active for a good cause, Helen and Dave have solved a logistics problem for us. The visit was a two pronged affair as they arrived in a beautiful Opel Manta that Dave had been doing up, and he knew I was into old General Motors cars so he brought it round to Windy Corner. It's a beauty and a credit to him! Push bike enthusiasts might be interested to know Dave was the skilled welder of Bob Jackson and Merlin bike frames...highly desirable bikes from Leeds. Talk of Resurgence was that lead singer Kerrie is settling in well and as Dave of Gun Law says they're an awesome band. Helen and Kerrie are joining Gun Law as backing singers for The Farmyard Rally where Gun Law are headlining the famous MAG Rally. Top and bottom of all this is that Helen and Dave have helped us out of a big problem with logistics for the Sheik Rattle and Roll Festival so our thanks go ,not for the first time, to them, and welcome aboard the Pequod once again mateys!

Opportunity Knocks Skynyrd Style

We had word today that top Lynyrd Skynyrd band Aynt Skynyrd require a top flight guitarist for their brilliant tribute band. Check out our classifieds section. It's a great opportunity for a guitarist/Skynyrd enthusiast to join a band of their dreams...well apart from playing for the real band!!! This is a highly recommended band with good personnel who live breathe and play Skynyrd so total commitment is required.

Red Mosquito Acklam Debut

 South Yorks band Red Mosquito played a some great songs at Acklam Steelies Club on Saturday night which had the members calling for two encores. The musicianship and virtuosity was really special and although my unavoidable journey there prevented me from seeing The Rakkiteers in Stanley's Travellers, I enjoyed seeing Carl Wragg and Steve Pickles great guitar work between them. Songs like Emerald, Enter Sandman and a superb Purple Haze made the patrons sit up and listen. As I sit here typing at 3:00am on Sunday morning having had an unlucky Friday and Saturday due to transport incidents, I do feel happy after a very tiring day helping friends do their thing. Johnny B Goode in the encore was fabulous too. Spot on!

Adam Bomb Video

Adam has made a DVD in Paris called Je T'Aime and it's pretty good as well. New York, Paris, Castleford, Adam's a proper jet setter and you have to look up to him for his hard touring schedule. Check this one: http://www.stagestorm.com/

Database Working Well

Just had a call from Pete Goodfellow of Shield of Steel regarding a change of band at The Bridge in Huddersfield tonight. We haven't heard from Coz of Go Kommando but it seems Coz must not be fully recovered from his throat infection because Go Ko were doing that gig, but they must have cancelled. Luckily the landlady of the Bridge looked on our Bands Available database and contacted Pete of Shield of Steel. Pete was delighted that he had picked up another gig from the database. Brian Glover the "Mr Fixit" of the Bradford music scene also complimented us on our service. So it's in place, it works, so please use it.

Ebay Bargains...Not

Watch out when purchasing from Ebay regarding anything really but our latest tale of woe is about some Shure SM57 microphones. A bargain they seemed but when they arrived from China, suspicions were raised. Genuine mics are assembled in Mexico. Upon a back to back comparison with mics that were known to be genuine, the build quality was much less, but the performance soon indicated that these mics were bogus. Fakes are the scourge of the commercial world so make sure you're not stung by unscrupulous dealers. Ebay and Pay Pal have been informed.

Albert Lee Coming Soon

Leeds City Varieties will see country rock star Albert Lee this month. I've seen him before and he's quite a player with the old bottleneck slide. The City Varieties puts on quite a lot of good musicians and it's a nice theatre.

The Deans at Duck and Drake

 The Deans. Described as being the nearest thing to Rory Gallagher without being a tribute band, they played the Duck and Drake on Wednesday night. They are coming back in July . The lads are still in their teens and have been featured at the Ballyshannon Rory Gallagher Festival.  Watch this.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E50THAXUExI

Utopia Music

Sad to hear of the closure of Utopia Music in Barnsley. What with Soundcontrol's problems and Utopia it looks like a matter of baton down the hatches and hang on for many shops. Try to support your local music shop or you'll find it hard to get those essentials at short notice. This "credit crunch" is real and it's not finished yet.

Four Fighters Fright

If being redundant at Soundcontrol wasn't bad enough, guitarist Tom Allen played a gig with the Four Fighters at Scarborough's Barracuda Bar, a good gig too, and travelled back to RotN HQ to drop Joe and the PA off. Members of the band used the Windy Corner loo after their 75 mile drive and this was about 2am in the morning. In between band members use of the loo, the Head Cook also went to the smallest room in her silk negligee. Just as she came out Tom arrived at the top of the stairs and was startled by the image of Tracey in her best negligee. In true rock and roll style, Tom shouted out a startled  "WHOA!" I'm tired this morning as I type as I couldn't sleep last night for chuckling at the thoughts of the scene! I'm still at it!

Adam Bomb's Premature Detonation

Mega gigger and pyromaniac Adam Bomb was injured when a firework blew up in his hand and severely burned his hand. Good to see he can still give the finger though! Check his blog here: http://blog.myspace.com:80/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=61907463&blogID=389843770

 Anything But Cute

Comments have been coming in favouring  Anything But Cute. The band, although fairly new to the scene are taking their opportunities well. Sunday was a depping job at the Crimea but they made the most of it and have received the accolades they deserve. Well done lads!

Girl on a Motorcycle

Vikki Lea of Angel of Sin picked up her Kawasaki Elliminator today and I believe she is highly delighted with her purchase. In a couple of texts she told us of passing her CBT on Saturday and bringing her new baby home this Sunday afternoon! Vikki's a proper action girl, and has a go at anything. "Barnstock Bri" and RotN have been helping  organise Vikki's Sheik Rattle and Roll gig at the Polish Club and she might be a cheeky girl but she's not a typical blonde by any means. Vikki has secured some great raffle prizes for the Sheik gig including holidays, gig tickets at Sheffield Arena, Superleague tickets...all sorts!Vikki will be performing with her band Angel of Sin, with Coast,The Flyz, Militia, Shield of Steel and Optic Nerve on the Monday Bank Holiday.

The Weekend Doing OK

Webmaster Joe was in the Lion in Castleford on Friday and Saturday and he reported on a good gig by New Vision on Friday and packed house for Shameless on Saturday. Shameless are three parts Tourettes and two new members. New Vision impressed Joe on Friday with some rarer songs in the repertoire which seemed to be eighties inspired and well played. Morley had plenty of action reports the Old Git Mav. Mojo played another fine set at The Cross Keys and at the new venue The Arkle, two young metal bands were doing their thing. Metalworks at the Polish we are pleased to hear were their superb selves according to our spy in the camp Marcus Ward of Mr Chief. The club was not as full as it could have been but Metalworks turned it on using a new Alto PA amp to great effect. Sadly the bass amp expired on the encore...oh dear but it was the best place to go I suppose! Barnstock Bri reported a similar tale. Coast at Askern Spa Central had a good reception and a good gig. The band impressed the club so much they have been offered August Bank Holiday afternoon at there. Joe of Hard Shoulder has informed us of a good gig at the Fox and Hounds in Batley on Friday, their modern stuff such as Razorlight going down well alongside Sultans of Swing...good stuff! The Four Fighters (Foo Fighters Tribute pictured below) are playing in Scarborough this evening so if there's any Mr Grohl fans out there, go see 'em. The band play The Barracuda Bar on Nicolas Street .Joe of RotN is doing their sound with the RotN PA hire. Just a little plug there! (3pin 13amp). Have a nice Sunday!

Eddie Inducted

Eddie Wah the revered bass player with The Flying Seamen, Shame the Devil and other good bands has been inducted to the RotN Hall of Fame posthumously. I know many people would want to commend him to the HoF but our webmaster Joe has nominated Eddie. As a measure of Eddie's charismatic nature, Joe only met him the one time but was so impressed by the amiable Eddie that when Eddie passed away Joe was saddened in almost the same way as if a close relative had been lost.There will be a tribute concert to Eddie in September.

The Weekend Ahead

In case you've not checked the gig guide, I suggest you do! Tonight Friday to the West there's Top Gun quality at The Tut and Shive in Yeadon, back East there's the fantastic Vamp at The Crimea Tavern, Castleford. With Resurgence in Leeds' New Roscoe and Blitz at Bellhouse Road in Sheffield, well wherever you are there's plenty of entertainment for you. Saturday has the brilliant Metalworks at The Polish Club, Barnsley, and Mojo at The Cross Keys, Morley. The whole weekend is a dilema...where shall we go, because it's good everywhere. One major highlight is Flashback at The Lion in Castleford on Sunday.

News in Brief

Maryport Blues Festival tickets go on sale on Friday the 2nd May. www.ticketline.co.uk This year Buddy Guy, Chuck Berry and Shemekia Copeland (love her) play there amongst many other brilliant international stars www.maryportblues.com . On the North West scene a surprising talent has emerged and brought to our attention by Zen Music. His name is Will Tang and check this out www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB1XvL3cUho. Great musician he is too and will be touring the North very soon. More locally the Thornhill Arms raised £300 for charity last week when Go Kommando played there. Another fund raiser will be held on the weekend of the 9th and 10th May with The King Bz and The Carnival appearing on consecutive nights. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance is the recipient of the charity funds. Sad news for us is that the Leeds East Soundcontrol shop, our sponsors in fact, have closed as part of the groups survival plans. The sponsorship isn't what we're sad about, but those lads down there who lost their jobs today,  well we're  sickened about that and our sympathies are with them. We'll miss that shop, we liked the atmosphere and the staff. One last thing, Tracy of Time Machine needs a swap for their gig at O'Donahues on June 28th so please call Tracy on 07804 787653 or email dunringill99@hotmail.com

Chantel McGregor at The Tramshed

Ace guitarist Chantel McGregor played a fantastic show at the Tramshed in Saltaire last night proving Monday nights are not dead on the live music scene. The very nice venue was packed out with people from all over the place including Lancashire (nice to see you Graham). Backed by a truly superb rhythm section Chantel played one marathon length set of songs nobody else does. Tea for One by Led Zeppelin, Had to Cry Today by Blind Faith, For the Love of God by Steve Vai, and many other classic songs from artists like Cream, Jimmy Hendrix, Robin Trower, Jethro Tull and Sonny Boy Williamson.  They are played with such quality that some are improvements on the originals. There must be many who stare in disbelief as the girl in the pretty frock bends strings, plays harmonics, and uses the wah pedal with petite bare feet, changing from girly charm to raw aggressive attack whilst singing masterfully with phrasing not unlike the wonderful Erikah Badu. I make no apologies for my self indulgent repetition of my respect for Chantel week in week out, she's a superstar in our midst and she just oozes quality. 

Tremeloes Storm Squires Live

The legendary Tremeloes played a brilliant...actually more than brilliant set at Squires on Saturday night supported by the Bradford band Numb Nutz. Numb Nutz delivered a nice set of unusual covers including those from David Bowie, Be Bop Deluxe and Wishbone Ash. The Tremeloes were pure class with a professionalism rarely seen in a small venue. The harmonies and vocals were second to none, and the musicianship was just the same. Classics from the sixties had the dance floor full for most of their set. "Do You Love Me" and "Twist and Shout" were very well received as was "Silence is Golden" amongst others. What an enjoyable night! It's great to see the old bands now and again. Top marks also to the Splash Alley Crew on sound and lights.It was nice to see Squires Live as full as this and the crowd were loving it.Click here for Squires Live.

RotN "Affilliated" Band Go Kommando

The East Coast band Go Kommando played a charity night at the Thornhill Arms, home of the Cobras MCC. Seeing if there was any news of the fund raising for The Yorkshire Air Ambulance I clicked onto the Go Kommando site to add my own personal donation and found that I was the only person to to do so. This was a bit disappointing but what was very heart warming was the fact that the GK website states that  the band are a RotN affiliated band and proud to be so. If you feel the same please say so on your website. It costs nothing to be affiliated to us and if you like us, maybe because we list your gigs for free, then that's all it takes to be affiliated!

Old Favourites and the New Era

Sad to report this morning that our highly respected friend Mo Pickles of No Quarter was ill last Saturday night during their gig at The Cross Keys. Morley. Mo did one set and had to stop due to the illness that he's had recurring for a few weeks. I phoned Mo recently and he thought he was coming out of the worst of it, but the virus must be a stubborn one. Back at The Keys, a mid set crisis was averted as Tom of Emerald stepped into the breach. Now  some will know that Tom is a class apart vocally and how nice of him to offer his services. Nice one Tom! A new era of RotN is dawning as we welcome newer bands into the fold. Emerald, fronted by Tom are jewels of the new era. Onwards and Upwards eh?

Saturday Night Viva Cas Vegas...and Stairfoot

Saturday night in Castleford was a little quiet...well as far as patrons on "Sunset Strip" were concerned!  The bands I saw were absolutely brilliant and far from quiet! Accompanied by Gun Law vocalist Dave "Ziggy" Marsh we watched a fantastic set by Piston Broke in the Lion, filled with classic rock from start to finish and played so well. Notable inclusions of Nazareth's Razzamanaz, and Diamondhead's Am I Evil were a pleasure to hear, then over the road we went to The Crimea to see some great music from Free Spirit. Fresh from the Free Convention in Tynemouth on Friday night, the band rocked out some brilliant Free and Bad Company tracks much to my pleasure. What a great band playing some of the best music ever ! Yes I like 'em! Down in Barnsley's Ashfield Club Mr Chief rocked to a full house which included three of the regions more famous bass players, husband and wife bassists Daz Dodds and Angie Dodds, and sister Jamie, bassist of the Rakkiteers.

Sheik Rattle and Roll Prizes

Our resident "Cheeky Girl" Vikki of Angel of Sin has mailed me to tell us of some of the raffle prizes for the "Shieks" gig at the Polish Club Barnsley on the 26th May. She has a three day Warner Breaks holiday up for grabs and two tickets to see Bryan Adams at Sheffield Arena... not bad eh? With six bands performing, it will be a pleasurable day. Make sure you put it in your diary.

Rock of the North People

We pride ourselves on helping people at RotN and this is by giving bands a helping hand or giving them free places on a gig guide, or using our free classifieds section. Our tha