Thursday 17th May 2007

Back on stage at Unity Free Will and the Bad influences with their bluesy Led Zepellinesque rock. Even will himself sports the Roger Daltry hair style. Wow! Acer rocking it up.
Jimmy and the boys in Point 7 Pistol.

Thursday 10th May 2007

Andy Whittle a firm favourite at Unity and an old friend kicked off tonights show, accompanied harmonies by Rebecca Dawson. That's him standing in the pouring rain outside Spirit & Soul after his set.Well we've been waiting for ages for this next band to grace our stage. The Winterkings. They didn't disappoint. Excellent. Love the way they could just change the pace they played hard rock rock then gentle melody seemlessly. A joy to listen to.
Not content with having two great acts on stage we get a third great act with "Blind io" all the way from Manchester. We spoil ourselves. Here at Unity we're rapidly getting used to regularly seeing great bands play our stage. Blind io is another great band.
By this time we're almost beside ourselves with excitement, three great acts and then Unity favourite "Wake" this time they've toned down the heavy rock and gone all Acoustic for us. Which is always nice just for a change.


Oh my God! Next week. Don't miss it. We've got Acer, if that deosn't make you pee your pants in excitement Jimmy Kidnap and the boys of Point 7 Pistol will be rocking it up, not only that Band of 2007 runners up "Free Will and the bad influences" where does it all stop because we have Julian Stone making an appearence as well. So if that lot don't float yer boat we don't know what will. See you there...

meanwhile ... er.... rock on mes enfants

Myspace of the week

There are those that push and there are those that need pushing. This weeks myspace of the week goes to a guy who falls into the latter category. Chopper. Quiet and unassuming. I guess there must be people who have seen a different side of him. He doesn't blow his own trumpet and is very modest about his achievements. What's more on his myspace there's only one song. But what a song. It's fantastic. "Mind sounds". Jody plays flute and there's a mean piano too. Chopper himself plays virtually everything else, showing just how versatile he is as a musician. I for one can't wait to hear some more, once someone pushes him into the recording studio and loses the key until he's finished.

NOw I know you're desperate to have a listen to his amazing Mind Sounds so you can click right here. http://www.myspace.com/chopdchop
oh and see if you can hear the camel right at the end It's there. Honest it is. Now there's a reason to listen to all of it if nothing else.

Thursday 3rd May 2007

John Litchfield steps in at a moments notice to take on the world armed only with a borrowed electric guitar. Here he is doing his Colonel Kurtz impression. The Horror The Horror!James Chadwick taking over the mantle of folk rock God. Does this mean he's not so evil anymore?
The unstoppable Sidearm who's famous drum changeover routine went so smoothly.
Opaque. As if you didn't know. Well perhaps you didn't recognise Moony now he's had a haircut and shaved off the famous moustache.

Myspace of the week

This weeks myspace of the week isn't a band or a musician. It's something much more important. We'd like to draw your attention to JOMAP Just A Minute Of Peace. This is an organisation promoting peace in this world. Take a few minutes to have a listen to Dan Akroyd saying a few words and sign the declaration. If enough of us do that it could make a difference. You know it's the right thing to do, for yourself, your children and everyone else on this planet.

Go take a look make friends

http://www.myspace.com/jamop

You know it makes sense.

Peace be with you
(We thought we'd get this in before Cornelius does)

Thursday 26th April 2007

First on stage the very talented and enthusiastic Jack Brown and The Dead mans Orchestra, playing selections from his latest and very succesful show on myspaceNow you don't get many girl drummers, but when you do they are usually pretty good. When you get Sarah leanne Palmer on drums as well as being the lead vocalist and song writer you know you're in for a treat. Here she is with her band.
All the way from London, but you'd be forgiven if you thought she was a local, because she plays here regularly, Tallulah Rendall. This time pared right down to a solo performance having left her band behind in the smoke. Note we don't miss any opportunity to have her posing with Peterboroughs very latest arts magazine "Art & Soul" Check it out at your nearest venue, Spirit & Soul, The Glass Onion, The Office, and many other places. It's jam packed with reviews, features, photos, of all your favourite local artists and much more.
Fabonacci rounded off the night. Rounding off a brilliant nights entertainment.


Don't forget next week we have Opaque, James Chadwick, The Beautiful Sleezy, Runners up of the band of 2007 competition,and mad rockers Sidearm who can never be accused of lacking enthusiasm. So it's going to be a memorable night.
We're off to Great Stukely now for the BMF music festival at the Four Horseshoes. Where you can see such great acts as Point of Origin, Opaque, The brackets, AOB, Circus and Richard Hall amongst a whole bunch of other acts on stage. So if we don't see you there we'll be back at Unity next Thursday. Until then ...Rock on dudes.

Thursday 19th April 2007

Here's simian Hybrid. You may remember the Staceman as a drummer. He is now back with a new ego to try on for size as ace singer songwriter who happens to now have a band as well. Fingersmith. What again? You may be asking yourself. You may not. You may not have been paying attention to what's going on. But if you did ask yourself the question all we can say is shame on you. We keep asking these guys back because they're brilliant. An if you'd paid attention and if you'd seen them before you would know what I'm talking about and you would never have even thought of asking the question. You'd have just said "Hoorah! they're back again." AND they come all the way from suffolk to play for you.
Cripes it's the Contrast. When questioned by some idiot "What's The Contrast like?", Fozzy feigned total ignorance. "Never heard of 'em" he said climbing on stage to sit behind the drum set.

...and here's some of you enjoying the evening.
Until next time ...er ... rock on mes enfants.

Unity News Roundup

Britney Spears stole my virginity. World exclusive. "I am the baby's father". World Famous Peterborough Photographer in shock paternity scandal. Mike Harris AKA Mike Da Hat is reported to be "over the moon" with suggestions that he is the father of Charlotte Churchs love child. Meanwhile closer to home local playboy, Richard Hall, is vehemently denying any suggestion that he is the mastermind behind a plot to overthrow Robert Mugabe in strife torn Zimbabwe when questioned about it Richard (34) said "Robert who..?" Conclusive proof that he is covering up more than he's letting on. Following in Madonnas footsteps world famous magazine editor and journalist Mel Elliott, Art & Soul Magazine, is planning a trip to drought ridden Malawi to adopt a goat. "I've always wanted a goat and doing this gives me the chance to save one and give it a better future." The goats parents were unavailable for comment at time of going to press. Madonna declined to comment.
Following kate Middletons departure from the Royal Fold it has been reported that Moony is considering taking her place in the media circus. "..purely for publicity purposes...Prince William and I are just good mates....although being the wife of the heir to the throne wouldn't do Opaque any harm at all." Sources close to the palace suggest the prince actually has his eye on Tasha. Excited bookmakers have put odds on Tasha as the next queen to 150,000 to 1.
Reports are coming in that Andrew Gates, AKA Shaggy, has had a windfall. Unbeknown to Andrew he was the secret love child of one Bill Gates Multibillionaire and philanthropist. The Nouveau Riche shagster said the money would not change his life at all. Speaking from his yacht off the french Riviera The Shagster said "it's the begging letters that get me, they never stop. I've even received one from myself that I wrote before I got rich."

Thursday 12th April 2007

Johnny Funghi and his unique brand of acoustic talent. Great lyrics. Very entertaining.All the way from oop north in Barnsley Gaia turned up to amaze everyone. We were so impressed. Their style blends a lot from early Hawkwind with their driving base lines and Uriah Heep with a touch of Dave Gilmore (pink floyd) style electric slide guitar thrown in for good measure. This with luck wont be your last chance to see them. We're hoping they're going to come back and entertain us all over again at the summer festy. Meanwhile if you can't wait check them out on their myspace site www.myspace.com/gaia
Point of origin need no introduction no write up. Brilliant as usual.
And here's a few of you enjoying the music and atmosphere at Unity.

Thursday 5th April 2007

First of all Unity would like to wish Tasha a Happy Birthday. Those of you who know Tasha will know she's been helping out Unity since the beginning, for which we are extremely grateful. She's usually first on the dance floor and full of enthusiasm. We all love her. Happy Birthday Tasha from all of us.Free love and the Good Plant. What an excellent band. Very different from the usual and I think that's what made them so interesting. Many varied styles of music all married together along with a varied pace. Excellent stuff.
Whoopee! It's Opaque again. What can you say that hasn't already been said? Entertaining as usual.
Here you all are in all your glory.
Don't forget next week we have the wonderful Gaia, with Unity Favourites Point of Origin and what night wouldn't be complete without Johnny Funghi. It'll be a blast. You know you want to be there. Until then.....

Rock on mes enfants.

Myspace of the week

Blimey why haven't we nominated this band before? We've known about them for ages ever since our good friends at Muddy promotions gave us the nod. And it's nothing to do with the fact that they're coming to play at Unity on 10th May and we want you all to come and share the joy with us. No sirreee Bob! It's down to the fact that they are very very good. There's a bit of Nick Cave stylee in there, there's classic riffs, there's a grandeur, there's subtlety, it's kind to your ears. I gotta say we've been listening in the office and we've enjoyed it. So who's our myspace of the week this week?
Yes of course it's The Winterkings

Go on have a listen, you'll love them. Not only that if you love them as much as we do here in the office you've got two chances to check them out live. Unity on the 10th May and The Glass Onion on the 18th May. Go one give your ears a treat you know you want to:

www.myspace.com/thewinterkings

Gizz Butts Rock Academy

Muddy Equinox Party

Here we go here's some pics from the muddy equinox party. Point of Origin, Opaque, Corneilius (bless him), James Chadwick, Alison Small, Keltix and a few faces you'll recognise.
Our guest photographer this week is the one and only Dayglow Joe who captured all these images on the montage below.

The Muddy equinox party. What can we say? It was a triumph. Brilliant music lovely people and a great time was had by all. So you don't have to wait a moment longer here's the pics of you. Muddy Promotions love you, Unity Loves you, you love you. Richard came back all the way from Spain because he loves you. Shaggy loves you. Moony is overwhelmed by your love. Corneilius loves you all. It's all love love love. Here you are...

Thursday 22nd March 2007

Columbian Necktie as you've never seen them, acoustically, not that is unless you've been in their front room on a bender.Actually it was pretty good, the usual unusual that you'd expect from the guys.End of the Day continue to entertain. In a Forest in a wood being one of my favourites, not least because Danny goes crazy, except he didn't this time.
MrZed who supplied the visual backdrop controlled by a PC in the sound booth,which incidently also inspired these photos. We went for a more surreal psychodelic look in the pics this week. Why? Because we can. It's done by using a slow shutter speed to capture the ambient light and a flash to capture the action. A little bit blurry in parts but that's the trade off.
Of course no night would be complete without our audience. A more lovely bunch of people you couldn't hope to meet.


Oh this Thursday we've got something different. Unity is hosting Gizz Butts Rock Academy. It's the first gig for all of the four bands on stage, but they've all been personally trained and guided in all aspects of rock music by the world famous Gizz Butt (ex Prodigy). It's £4 to get in but it promises to be a very interesting night. If you come after 11:00pm it's free. But then you'll miss the bands.

It's great to see Richard back from his sojourn in Spain. He's back on the Unity team with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. Watch out very soon for pics from The Muddy Equinox party. It was great.

See you soon, until then, Peace, Love and Unity

What's on this week

Greetings mud monsters!

It's that time of year again - the spring equinox is upon us and that means its time to party - celebrating the oncoming summer and all the extra partying it will bring! The Grassroots Equinox Party is taking place at Spirit & Soul (formerly Lisboa), 24 Lincoln Road, Peterborough this Saturday from 4pm till 4am and promises to be a really special event. See below for more details.

But that's not the only thing on the agenda for the week and weekend:

Wednesday

The Glass Onion will have Arry in session with his weekly DJ workshop for you to learn and hone your skills on the wheels of steel. The workshop will run from 6pm till 8pm and is free.

At 8pm the Bar area at the Onion will become a meeting space for discussion and planning of the City Roots Festival - which Muddy are working on in conjunction with Peterborough City Council and which will take place on the Embankment on 4&5 August this year. This meeting is open to anybody who wants to get involved on any level or who is just interested in hearing what is going on.

Thursday

Thursday nights are Unity nights at Spirit & Soul, and after the success of the relaunch party the team are proud to have another kick ass line-up of music.

Mr Zed are Cambridge based psychedelic phreaks with a 6 piece band playing intensely original music taking in elements of drum & bass, Pink Floydesque psychedelia and dubedelic skank.

End of the Day have made quite an impression on the local scene in their short time on it. Their synthed up rock has been compared to Sonic Youth and they are always a treat.

Columbian Necktie are playing in acoustic guise (something you don't see every day). We're as fascinated as anybody to see how their comedic rock insanity translates into the new format.

Ghost is a breakcore/experimental producer from Cambridge record label/party crew Life 4 Land. He will be playing a DJ set of his own tunes from his laptop.

DJ Urb needs no real introduction. This time around he will be playing drum & bass.

Entrance is FREE before 9pm, and is only £3/£2 muddy members afterwards.

Doors open at 8pm and will close when we've had enough. :)

Alternatively round the corner at The Park you'll find local rock wonders Acer, Point Seven Pistol and Wake playing from 7pm. There is a headline act on the bill too but I don't remember their name right now.....oops..... Tickets are £5.

And at the Glass Onion it's games night from 4pm till 12 midnight - with games consoles on the big screen, free pool, chess etc etc. Entrance is free.

Friday

There are two wonderful acoustic shows on this Friday - the city is being spoilt this week!

The Glass Onion is hosting it's open mic session from 8pm, with special guests this week Andy Whittle and 3DM. Earlier in the night there's also the weekly drum workshop with Dutch Tony, this is also free to take part in, is open to all and takes place from 5 till 6. This Friday also marks the start of a public disply at the Onion relating to the anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

Meanwhile in other haunts you'll find Abi's acoustic session at the Brewery Tap from 9pm till late with performers Fre3 Peace (Abi, Stacey and Kez from Point of Origin unfame), Jennifer James and John Litchfield. Entrance is free here too.

Saturday

Well it's time for that Equinox Party again!

The venue is Spirit & Soul, 24 Lincoln Road, Peterborough. Doors open at 4pm and the first band is local faves Point of Origin who will play at 4:15 pm so get there early. Entrance is a mere £3 if you get there in time for POO, afterwards is £6/£5 Muddy members.

Check out this line-up:

BANDS STAGE:-

Excentral Tempest www.myspace.com/excentraltempest
Touring with her large entourage of musos bringing conscious and socially aware hip-hop to the people.

Gideon Conn www.myspace.com/gideonconn
"Think Beck at a jamming session with The Shortwave set. Gideon's lyrics, often rapped, tell of heart-warming and humorous tales and produce laughs without fail. His band variates in size and instruments, sometimes including violin, jew harp and trombone." - www.last.fm

Joe Driscoll www.myspace.com/joedriscoll
"A sonic wonderkid who creates his 21st century 'folk' live onstage, sample by sample, beat by beat... one to watch." - Time Out

Keltrix www.myspace.com/keltrix
Diversely described as Country/Dub to Folk/Punk. Have a listen and you try

Opaque www.bandopaque.com
Local alternative heroes who really need no introduction on this board.

Point of Origin www.myspace.com/pointoforigin123
Another set of local bods you probably know by now, if not come and see them....


ACOUSTIC STAGE:-

James Chadwick www.jameschadwick.co.uk
....and another one who should really need no intro. If you don't know him where have you been?!

Corneilius www.corneilius.net
"the aim in all good conversation, in communication with heart, is that there can neither be victor nor vanquished, only well informed, enlightened and reassured people."

Sarah Bear www.myspace.com/sarahbearsounds
Conscious acoustic music from Sarah, who works closely with groups such as Sunday Sounds, Peace Not War and Rhythms of Resistance.

Julian Stone www.myspace.com/julianstonemusic
...who? lol


DJ's:-

Pony (Small World )

Small World's festivals have become legendary in the UK. Pony plays a diverse mixture of music from world to ska to dum & bass.

Luvlea (Tripycyty/Scarymonsters?/Twyst)
Luvlea is a psy-trance DJ currently working with Cambridge based crew Twyst.

Shaggy (Playskool/Psychedelic Breakdown)
Psychedelic breakbeats from man from Playskool.

Urb (System Abuse/Playskool)

Dirty and twisted drum & bass from our resident world record holder.

Don't miss out - this party is going to be really special! Come along, bring your friends, tell the whole world. Rock da Grassroots!

...till next time

Peace love unity and respect.