2018

January 2018

Lion and Royal - Navenby

Great start to 2018 with a packed show in Navenby, which saw us return for our third time in two years to a pub full of locals and friendly faces. Some had come especially from Lincoln to see us after having seen us in Lincoln during 2017 and they were very welcome as we did our best to help everyone shake off the post new year cobwebs and that back to work feeling. Setlist included four 'new to Navenby' tracks and although speedy was feeling under the weather and Jesus was still getting back to his best after the 'Aussie flu' that decked him for nearly a fortnight over Christmas, we marched through 'free world', and straight into 'figure it out' as a starter which had people on their feet from the first chords ringing out. Axle had some great banter with the crowd and Jesus was having a bounce about, more like his usual self. 'Sharp dressed man' was well received although it was at this point chug discovered that being on the left as the crowd sees you was not a great idea as it meant turning backwards to the audience, such was the position of the keyboard. It seemed a good idea when we set up to swap sides so that everyone could see speedy at work, but we have all agreed that we won't do that in future and we will stick to our usual formation. Highlights of the second set were 'Time is Running Out' (only our second outing for this, which had everyone singing the words back to us. 'Wanted Dead or Alive' and 'Beat It’ lead nicely into 'Joker' for a final flurry of bouncing about then a mock finish for 'Paradise City' which has now become a 'band favourite' and crowd pleaser (one we will definitely be keeping for a while) with 'Place Your Hands' for our finale! - on this occasion due to speedy not being 100% and croaky with just his talking voice we opted to finish here rather than die a sad death with 'Livin on a Prayer' - which we will let out to play next time around at Crowle liberal club on 20th Jan.

Crowle Liberal Club - Crowle

First distance outing of the year saw us pull into the car park at Crowle, not really knowing what to expect - what we found was a gem of an establishment with its own 't' shaped stage with lighting and a p.a. If you wanted to use it. We opted for our own trusty Mackie setup as we know where our base line set up is and we build from that during the sound check to make sure we have the best tone we can get as places vary with acoustics and size. Its always best to do this so you can accommodate for the ceiling height, distance to back wall etc. As it happens the room was very wide and even longer, so we set up with best sound approx. 25 feet from the stage, sound checked and had a beer. The punters were great, and dancing began two tracks into the first set which was great to see. Only criticism of the night was the venue insisting on three half hour sets split by half hours rather than the normal 60 min first set we do and 75 min+ second set. This meant we had to cut a lot of tracks and just when you got going it was time to have a break. We discussed this with the venue afterwards as a proper two sets would have been better for everyone, but they insisted "that's the way it's always been, and that's the way it's going to carry on". We will know for next time, although the band are split as to whether we will return if the three 30 min sets are the rule. We much prefer our normal pattern as it keeps everyone interested and when you’ve built up some momentum you want to keep it going. Nevertheless we enjoyed our excursion. For the record we did finish with ‘Livin' on a Prayer’ as Speedy’s voice was back to 100%

Breaking news!

We are delighted to confirm our re-appearance at this year’s Super Bikes weekend at Cadwell park on Saturday 18th august. To say we are excited is already the understatement of 2018! Get your motor running...

February 2018

Adam & Eve tavern - Lincoln

First time outing for us at this well-established pub and a first outing for our version of the eurythmics classic 'sweet dreams' which was a resounding success, bringing people into the bar area where we were playing from all parts of the pub. Faces were appearing around doorways and through the internal windows which we took as a good sign. First set - absolutely nailed in front of a very full and appreciative pub. Second set kicked off with brownstone and we set off like a steam train following it with the muse track hysteria which was a nice transition. Into the third track of second set speedy had a sudden loss of volume and it was apparent that one of the valves in his trusty fender Hotrod had failed reducing the overall output. We had a short break to replace the valve and thought everything was fine but again the issue repeated itself so rather than stop the set again speedy plugged straight into the sound desk and a quick wander into the crowd by 'Chug' to do an 'on the fly' soundcheck during 'You Really Got Me' saw us back up and running - a tale to tell afterwards over a pint. No other issue presented themselves and a double encore of 'Paradise City' and 'Place Your Hands’ generated cheers and applause from everyone including the landlord who requested a further encore of 'Run to the Hills' as one of his favourites. We can’t wait to return in October as the place and clientele is exceptional

March 2018

Navigation - Newark

A return to one of our favourite venues saw a good crowd rock out to some great classics and a few we've not played there before. New to navigation for this one was 'Sharp Dressed Man' which caused much dancing, a lovely Pink Floyd style start to the second set with Speedy’s best 'Gilmour' impression and a chorus of 'All The Small Things' set the tone for the evening. No snow either - bonus! We have a couple more dates at the navigation on Saturday nights which we are looking forward to and compare to the Friday nights which we have played so far.

Ferryboat - Washingborough

This pace was absolutely packed on what turned out to be a return of the 'beast from the east' at a re-scheduled gig (originally changed because of the snow two weeks earlier). As we unloaded the gear into a couple of inches of snow it was clear that it would continue snowing for much of the night, but we all agreed that we would give our best and see how the weather was when we finished rather than worry about it at the start. The gig was stomping as we moved through the first set with a first outing for a super new improved 'Foxy Lady' complete with additional speedy solo, also new to the ferryboat was 'time is running out' by muse, which went down a treat and had the whole place singing. As we started the second set the snow began to fall even faster. It was noticeable that as the night got later the bar began to thin out as people were getting concerned about getting home. Ferryboat is on a hill and we could see through the window at the far end of the pub that nobody was getting up it! A couple of technical issue meant we had to drop 'Baker Street' but 'Beat It' and 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' more than made up for it and we finished with 'Paradise City', 'Highway to Hell' and the always well received singalong number 'Place Your Hands'. Job well done - all we had to do was get home now! 80% of the band made it with 20% sleeping on the bass players couch after failing to negotiate Waddington hill in a rear wheel drive. C'est la vie!

Castle Inn - Coningsby

Aimee and crew at the Castle Inn never disappoint. If you are near this little gem at any point, it is worth a visit (Trooper on draught). It had been a while since we were at this cracking pub and they love a bit of 'grunt' so into the setlist went 'Slither' - a band favourite, a little dirty but an awesome song to play. The best bit for me (Chug) is the total silence just before the solo - half a second of complete magic that doesn’t appear in anything else the band plays. (Have a listen to the original recording - now it’s been pointed out to you, you will never not hear it ever! Our version of 'Sweet Dreams' got everyone singing and there were a couple of blokes just shaking their heads in disbelief at the speed of the lead guitar, to the point of bowing down at one point - love it!. We are back later in the year and hope to have maybe one or two of our own original tracks to drop in and see how they are received

April 2018

The Castlegate - Grantham

Third time at this venue - number one coincided with the funeral of one of their regulars, number two saw someone fall over the steps and knock themselves out, resulting in first responders and then an ambulance - so we were hopeful of getting through two full sets of material to a reasonable sized crowd, and we did just that. Plenty of audience interaction and spontaneous leaping about served us well and as this is Grantham’s 'rock pub' of choice we dropped in a few of our more rocky tracks, resulting in a double encore and a run out for 'joker and the thief' which we hadn't done since January!

Illness :( Due to severe head cold and a total loss of voice we had to pull out of the birthday event at the Navigation on the 28th unfortunately. We practised on the Tuesday before and it was clear then that axle was struggling and that was only the start of the cold, and it was to get worse. We had a call on the Thursday afternoon and Friday to see how progressive it was, but it was obvious that if we were to even attempt to play, the vocals would not be anywhere near acceptable and we didn't want to put on a half-hearted show, or worse still have to stop halfway through - definitely a showstopper. The Navigation was brilliant about it and very understanding and we are back later in the year - although our schedule doesn't allow us to put in an extra date unfortunately. We have a few weeks until our 'thank you' gig at liquor bar for everyone to recover, get better and get well-rehearsed - hope to see you there!

May 2018

Liquor Bar - Lincoln

After three years putting the band together and developing as a group, going from strength to strength and becoming a single unit, we felt it only appropriate to host an event to say thanks to friends, family, supporters and acquaintances who have helped us get to where we are today - a regular gigging band with events like British Super Bikes a regular on our calendar and with a great reception and some regular faces where we play. Liquor bar in Lincoln is a cracking venue with private access, full bar and a raised stage are, close to transport taxis etc, so it was an obvious choice.

What a great night.......... Our friends 'Behind the Wave' did a 45 minute semi-acoustic set with some great versions of classic tracks with tom using his looper pedal on guitar like a pro and Ryan on vocals pulling out all the stops - awesome (you should check them out on Facebook, 'like' and get to one of their shows) thanks guys!

We did a 90 minute set with some of our older tracks from when we first started out which were well received (Tech Tone especially appreciative) mixed in with some of the more advanced stuff we do now. We really do appreciate the support we get and we don’t often get the chance to publicly recognise people so...

• Tech tone - for sorting our gear from jack plugs, valves and intonation to the sourcing of push pull switches from America - hugs to you

• Al the Mud - for drinking our beer, taking photos and promoting our brand of rock (manly hug)

• Peanuthead - needs a special mention for driving 'lovebus' with us and our gear in, to gigs and allowing kebabs to be eaten in her :)

• The 'Clivettes' - for attending many gigs, taking photos and for being generally lovely

• Mick hocking - for his insane list of local gigs to Lincoln (posted in more Facebook groups than you knew existed) - great work mick <3

• Marquis of Granby - for being our 'Vegas'

• Nicholas William Jones - for his continues support of us and live music

Needless to say, the night was a great success, beer was drunk (like most of the crowd), rock was played, the Portuguese man begged for Metallica and we will do it again!! Xx

Lion and Royal – Navenby

Fresh from the liquor bar gig we descended on the lion and royal in Navenby. We love this pub; it was our third visit and serves a great pint and supports the lincoln music scene like a trouper. It didn’t disappoint ............. We varied the set list from the liquor bar and put in some of the newest tracks that hadn’t been played at lion and royal - 'sweet dreams' went down a storm as too did 'its my life', a resurgence of 'baker street' and the introduction of our rock version of 'superstition' brought the house down, finally slaying them with 'paradise city'

A great couple of gigs in the same weekend saw us depart into our summer break while band members have holidays on an absolute high - what a great hobby... Next, we have to think about the British Super Bikes weekend and what we can add in to make it a special night for the bike enthusiasts and on-site campers

June 2018

This month sees everyone in the band having a holiday, with most crossing over so unfortunately there were no gigs. The good news however was it was sunny, hot, dry and perfect weather for a holiday #perfecttiming. Bad news is that .................err - nothing :)

July will see some revitalised alien rock band members gather some new tracks under their holiday bloated and beer swelled midriffs, ready for a second visit (separated by almost exactly 365 days) to 'The Birdcage' in Lincoln - a great venue, great food, great vibe - rogue saint (no introductions required) and the Marquis of Granby, Wellingore for the landlady's birthday

July 2018

Birdcage - Lincoln

After a full calendar year since the last visit, we were looking forward very much to this great supporter of live music (and great beers too) - alas the curse of English football struck us with a 3rd/4th place play off in the afternoon, which meant by the time we arrived for our evening gig most people had either peaked too early or just gone home after watching England loose to Belgium. As it happened the people that remained had a good time as we were like coiled springs after the summer break - some marvellous dry humping action from a couple (worse for wear after their afternoon session) proved to be entertaining to the band as they gyrated in front of us. Hats off to the bloke for persistency, but she was having none of it. At one point we thought he was going to fall out of his flip-flops, but he held it together nice. A few cobwebs meant a couple of extended re-mixes of tracks and a radio edit of ‘Paradise City’ but we were happy to leap about for those in the pub and afterwards we had lots of compliments from those that remained, particularly over Speedy’s legendry guitar solos.

Rogue saint - Lincoln

Well what can we say - after the previous weekend it was definitely standing room only for this one and some familiar faces from previous city centre gigs were noticeable as we kicked off with 'Freeworld' - instant dancing occurred which continued into 'Are You Gonna Go My Way'. Next up was 'Ziggy' which slightly killed the mood as the dancing subsided (note to self - maybe this tune has had its day for a while). 'Figure it out' had them back where we wanted them and towards the end of the first set a debut outing for 'Hush' (Kula Shaker version) raised the temperature even more than the registered 30 degrees (middle of the heatwave weeks) and finishing with Jovi's ‘It's My Life' saw a solid first set with 'Baker Street' getting some whistles and more than one shout for some Metallica (our Portuguese friend from the 'liquor bar' gig had clearly arrived at some point)

Second set 'small things' brought everyone back to their dancing best and a maiden outing for 'Get The Funk Out' went down a treat (we've been practising that for a good 6 months to get the middle runs nice and tight - and it definitely paid off) - bet you've never seen a pub band play that before! A few staple singalongs follow (All Day and All of The Night, Tie Your Mother Down, You Really Got Me). A tiny dip of the mood for Iron Maiden’s 'Run To The Hills' (note to self - probably not a track for this venue despite the calls for it) and then our 'G3 style' rendition of 'Superstition' had the girls drag the boys up for a boogie (nice!). Finale of 'Beat It', and full 'Paradise City' left a two-track encore of 'Place Your Hands' and 'Highway to Hell' (with extended solos over the ending - a fantastic night- we are back in November and can’t wait.

Marquis of Granby - Pauline the landlady’s birthday

As our local pub and scene of many a triumph we were more than happy to play for the landlady’s birthday bash. Unusually for us we had to ask a friend to stand in on bass duty as Jesus was chasing fame with Noel Gallagher at tramlines with 'Dont forget Rupert' (check them out - a great indie originals band). Luke did a grand job on bass and there were only a couple of sticky moments that the band would notice but the pub wouldn't. A similar set to rogue saint the night before but added in velvet revolver's 'Slither' which always goes down a treat here. 'Livin on a Prayer' made a reappearance in the second set and 'Superstition' again was a highlight and talking point afterwards. Pauline had a great night as too did we - next visit to the Marquis is New Years Eve - awesome!

Aug 2018

British Super Bikes - Cadwell park

Some lengthy hours of practise to get a trio of new tracks ready for this plus the holiday season meant we had our heads exactly where they should be for this - last year we were a Friday slot which was incredible, however this year’s event was the Saturday night after qualification and again paired up with flipside party band (whom we were paired with last year). We've always made a note of tracks that go down well and others that sometimes don’t (or get a mixed reception) so after three years of development we probably had the best setlist we have ever had, and it certainly paid off. It was a hot dry day and qualifying times were astonishing which meant the crowds came out early and happy to watch from the sunshine filled grass paddock in front of the marquee we were in. Beers flowed, stag groups arrived, men wearing orange lingerie danced, axle strutted his stuff and speedy pulled off some blistering solos. We had Alex Abrahams come along and video the night for a promo film and 'Fawtography' to take some stills (check them both out on Facebook - they are awesome). The night passed so quickly and ended with a packed marquee, packed paddock and some of the best singing we've seen so far - we love everyone at Cadwell, they are all awesome. Special shout out to elaine nutbrown from the circuit who works so hard to organise but never gets a chance to see the bands due to the workload - we very much appreciate your faith in us. For all those people who came to have a chat, selfie and banter afterward, we really do thank you all from the bottom of our hearts - it is our highlight of the year and it means so much to get such positive feedback.

Rock the Boat Festival – Ferry Boat, Washingborough

We followed 'Elvis' to headline this year’s event, and despite some mixed weather over the weekend saw a packed venue welcome our return with our brand of rock music. Those that have seen us will relate to the term 'Conspirify' - this essentially means we take a well-known track and give it a 'conspiracy rising' twist. - axle now calls this a track that we 'Conspirify' which has now entered the English language and will be in the Oxford English dictionary next year*. Tracks subjected to the 'Conspirify' tonight were 'Sweet Dreams', 'Baker Street' and new (ish) track 'Zombi' much frivolity ensued as we took off at high speed and everyone was dancing and singing along from the first moment. The first set landed brilliantly with 'Bed of Roses' (second time out - debut at Cadwell), had a full semicircle of people, arms around each other’s shoulders, singing word for word for the entire track. A quick 'pee' break and set two kicked off with 'You Really Got Me' and 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ and 'Hysteria' took it all to another level. 'Zombi' was sensational and a definite permanent track in the list as too was 'hush' (kula shaker version). A grand night had by all with two encores and a final flurry of 'place your hands' resulted in mutual respect for a great night’s work - if you've never been to the ferry boat inn, you should make an effort to do so - great little pub with a huge community feel and top-quality grub!

*That bits not true 😊

Sep 2018

The Castle Inn - Coningsby

Despite us being billed against the Anthony Joshua fight the pub was full and we received a warm welcome and lots of handshakes as set up our equipment and sorted the des kand lights. We had 14 'new to the castle' tracks so anyone who had seen us there before would appreciate the difference . 'Hysteria', 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' and a ‘Conspirified’ version of 'Superstition' were memorable moments and a few air guitars appeared to compliment the guy with the air drums whose mate was clearly playing air bass. As it had been a few weeks since the last gig we were really tight as we'd been putting in the hours in the practise room. Additional encores were called for as everyone who had been watching the Joshua fight arrived with three tracks to go. Track of the night for the band was 'Zombi' as Speedy’s extended guitar solo at the end was stunningly awesome!

The Still - Lincoln

Cracking night at the still for the landlord’s birthday - plenty of group singing and a particularly fine set of dancing men made it an all-round good night. We somehow managed to forget to switch on one of the pa speakers for the vocals but spotted it after three tracks - nobody in the crowd seemed to notice. We had rave reviews for 'Baker Street' and also for 'Sweet Dreams' both of which have had the 'Conspirification’ treatment. As it was freshers week we had a visit from the 'real ale society' who were in fine voice and amazingly still standing as we headed into the last few tracks of the second set. A finale of 'Wanted Dead or Alive' got a standing ovation and nods of approval from the birthday boy - so all in all a job well done. We'll be back in March 2019 for another birthday bash :)

Oct 2018

***stop press*** Many thanks to Gary 'Peanuthead' Leighton for his drumming services since the band formed, but after the last gig he decided to leave the band with immediate effect. We all wish him good luck for the future. So, the search for new percussion started and an old acquaintance was called upon for deputy duties until a replacement could be found. So up stepped probably the best rock drummer in Lincoln, a certain Mr "Steg" and a quick rundown our track list to see what familiar ground we had, that would allow us to fulfil our next gig, uncovered that he was familiar with a large chunk of our 50(ish) track catalogue. With a full month to get somewhere close to gig ready we had a fighting chance for putting on a good show - so we set to work...

Lion and Royal - Navenby

To say we (as a band) were a little nervous would be true. Steg had worked like a trojan to get ready and some lengthy practise sessions for all of us meant we had a show of some quality, however mentally prepared you are there's always the possibility of something not quite hitting the mark or just human error to throw you off. We were still at the ‘forming' stage so still learning how each other plays and for those in a longstanding musical collaboration you'll know how your other band members work and what they will likely do in a given situation if something doesn’t quite work to plan - anyhow we set up with some excitement too. Steg noticeably quiet as we watched the pub fill up as we got ready to kick off

Nov 2018

Rogue Saint - Lincoln

So, second time out for us with new drummer 'Steg' who we are pleased to announce will be a permanent member of the band and what a cracker it turned out to be, after a slow start with low numbers in town due to firework events and bonfire commitments. Everyone was on form and the various 'Conspirified' starts and ends to tracks all dropped into place nicely. Highlights of the evening were -first set = 'Figure It Out' encouraged three very fine young gentlemen to leap around and play 'air drums', culminating in applause for Steg and calls of "sic drummin' mate". A first run out for 'Welcome to the Jungle' which opened the second set followed by another newbie 'Basket Case', both of which whipped everyone up into a bouncing bundle. 'Place Your Hands' brought the second set to a close with 'Livin on a Prayer' as a joyous encore. As the evening extended more people arrived after various fireworks events - "note to self" - avoid booking a gig on the first weekend of November as bonfire parties and fireworks will impact the numbers of gig goers

The Navigation - Newark

Love this venue and a first time for us on a Saturday night. We had Luke 'Skywalker' Winter as stand in on bass duties for Jesus who was on 'Dont Forget Rupert' duties. Luke has played with us once before as cover for Jesus so we knew we were in safe hands after a couple of practise sessions with him. Steg also feeling noticeably more relaxed (as evidenced by a drumstick throw at one point) in a gig that turned out to be a steady affair with the Navigation crowd with us all the way. Plenty of dancing from the older members of the crowd, thoroughly enjoying our tributes to AC/DC, Queen and Bon Jovi. Landlord happy and the promise of return dates in 2019. Early(ish) curfew meant we had time for a chat and kebab afterwards to dissect the performance and overall, we were happy, just a couple of off-piste moments and a detour towards the end of Paradise City. (not that most of the crowd would notice but enough for the band members to make a note to add this to the following weeks rehearsal)

Dec 2018

New Year’s Eve - Marquis of Granby - Wellingore

Little did we know this would be the final trading night for this fine establishment. We played our hearts out and the crowd sang their lungs off. Awesome night which ended late/early. We filled the place to capacity and rocked everyone as best we could - what an awesome night. Bring on 2020 - BSB already confirmed and a growing following - we are humble.