Laura Martin Guest Photographer

This weeks guest photographer at Unity was Laura Martin, who did quite well in capturing the mood of the night, even finding time to be a little arty with her red shoes and the sunset. Any would be photographers who fancy being guest photographer see Mike Da Hat.

Meanwhile don't forget Pixie Skin tonight. Featuring Point of Origin, Irene Rae The singing Monk.
Sunday Richards acoustic night at The Solstice.

MYSPACE OF THE DAY

www.myspace.com/katewalsh

Thursday 8th June 2006

Hot Hot Hot but who's complaining. Not me. Not when we've got great music to listen to. After amazing us with his incredible skill on the sofas last week Shaggy invited Michael Parker to play a proper set for us. He didn't disappoint. Now we've seen young James out and about before, but never like this. Here he is with Mark and Carolyn with their new band Sympathy For Mr Vengeance. Not since Tarantism have we seen so many people up and dancing. With two PC's providing backing tracks and a back screen projection of Japanese Manga cartoons these three produced some amazing techno dance sounds, even more amazing when you consider it was only their second ever gig. I talked to the guys after. They tell me Carolyn hasn't finished writing. IN the future it's going to be much better with songs and back screen melding seemlessly from one song to another.
In a lot of bands you've got a great front man who has all the personality and the rest watch their feet. Sometimes I despair because you've got a band of obvious talent and they don't entertain. You can't say this about Sidearm our third act of the night. here we have four guys hell bent on enjoying themselves on stage and don't they want you to know it. The first time I saw Sidearm they were good but a little rough round the edges. The second time they were better. This is the third time I've seen them and they have matured, they are solid, incredibly well rehearsed and professional. How many times have you seen a change over of drummers and the beat never stops. Brilliant. How many times have you seen a drummer who then blows you away with a blazing guitar riff? Or a brilliant front man who then steps back to be an equally brilliant drummer? These things and more make this band special.
Laydees and Gennulmun here's Sidearm....
OK you want it, you've got it, the papparazzi pics, including bottom left Charlene, and er ... damn I washed my hands and now I can't read the other names. That's me off their Christmas card list already.

Diary dates for you to make a note of:

Thursday 27th June @ Unity Heather McVey
Thursday 29th July @ Unity The Neumes

Sunday at the Solstice

Here's a few pics from Sunday night at The Solstice Richards new acoustic night and here he is with Abi in their guise as Istari. Abi did tell me what Istari meant but I've forgotten this is what age does to you.
Unusually The Shagster by himself without an army of musicians behind him.
Oh well at least Abi and Rich managed to steal some of the upstairs audience from Radius where this band was playing "Dekadence". They've just released a new EP and will be playing on a Unity stage near you some time in the near future.
 

The week ahead

Greetings sun monsters and shade seekers!

The Peterborough contingent rocked Strawberry Fair on Saturday by all accounts - thanks to the organisers for giving Opaque the sunset slot on the main stage to draw everyone away from the much-beloved dub tent!

It's also time for me to do the weekly Grassroots Festival ticket reminder - they are still available and you can get them from The Glass Onion on Burghley Road any time from 10am to 10pm 7 days a week, or from the Muddy stand in Lisboa at Unity on Thursday night.

So what's tickling our fancy in the boro this week?


Tuesday

The weekly open mic and jam session at the Comet on Garton End Road, Dogsthorpe, is going from strength to strength. Entrance is free and the people are friendly so make your way down for a good night of music and laughs.

Wednesday

Music Jam at Xoo bar is continuing its weekly run of open mic acoustic music, hosted by maestro James Chadwick. Entrance is free and doors open at 8pm.

For more acoustic music and open mic shenanigans make your way to Pixie Folk club, brought to you by Pixie Skin. The event is taking place every Wednesday at Lisboa, 24 Lincoln Road. Entrance is free.

Thursday

Unity @ Lisboa has another fantastic line-up to please your ears and dancing feet. Sidearm are an intense and arty full on rock experience, highly emotional and with lo-fi tinges. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance are a new-to-the-scene trip-hop act that have been pleasing their new audiences with their original live sounds. Acoustic artist Michael Parker turned up to the jam session last week and blew our collective socks off with his guitar skills, and we're very chuffed to be able to have him back for an acoustic slot. The acoustic jam around the sofas will begin proceedings. Entrance is still free and the people are still very friendly. Doors open 8pm.

When Unity finishes DJ Urb, our resident record breaker, takes the helm to keep Lisboa dancing till the early hours. Urb gives a diverse mix of all styles, to give a rounded end to your Thursday night on the town.

Friday

Abi & Stacey of Point of Origin fame are presenting an Acoustic Session night in the Brewery Tap on Friday night with maestros and maestroesses James Chadwick and Irene Rae to complete the three way line-up. Entrance is free before 10pm and music starts at 9pm so get there nice and early.

If you want to get sweaty rather than chilled System Abuse are also in the Limit - presenting a night of full on and filthy drum and bass through their 20K rig, vibrating your brain cells joyously until 4am. Special guests this time around are Dissect & Biomethod of Casa Records, alongside SA's homegrown wonders Urb, Khanage & Lethal (Offkey/Ohm Resistance) and Kodo (Sensoo Alliance). Entrance is only £4 before 11pm and more after.

Alternatiively Audio Collective are in the Lisboa 8pm till 2am bringing a mixture of hard dance, breaks and drum & bass. Entrance is free.

Saturday

Pixie Skin are holding their first Saturday night event at Lisboa this week, in association with Muddy Promotions/Arts and Krunch Sound System. Live music will come from 100th Monkey, a festy band based in Glastonbury - with local support from Point of Origin, The Singing Monk, Irene Rae and many more. There will also be an open mic session earlier in the night. Later in the night DJ's from Krunch sound system will keep you grooving through the night. Doors are 8pm till 5am and entrance will cost your pocket £3.

Around the corner the Brewery Tap has Dj Otiss presenting a night called "Cooking". Entrance is free before 10pm.

Sunday

Rich (Unity/Istari) is presenting weekly acoustic sessions on Sunday evenings from 9pm onwards in the Solstice. Entrance is free and high qulaity acoustic acts will be on offer, though I don't have full details of who just yet.

At Lisboa Deep Roots will be mellowing you out and cheering up your Sunday with good vibes playing a diverse selection of beats, grooves and structured bunches of frequencies to bliss you and please you. Entrance is free and doors are 6pm till late.

...and Finally

The countdown to the Grassroots Festival is ticking shorter and shorter - with only 18 days to go till doors open as I write this mail. Get your tickets quick people - don't miss out this very special event!

Peace love unity and respect to you all.

--
www.muddypromotions.org.uk
www.unityrocks.blogspot.com
www.systemabuse.co.uk
www.play-skool.org.uk
www.boro-bands.co.uk

Myspace of the day

Here's a band that's been brought to my attention. In parts they sound like they've recorded some of it in their mums front room but that doesn't detract from the funky quality and crystal clear vocals. An international band with members from England Ireland Italy and Germany. Have a listen.

www.myspace.com/747's

Thursday 1st June 2006

Tonight we had the Jam around the sofas, making it look like people were playing in my front room, without the anti-macassars and a tray full of Jap fancies and a pot of tea. First upon stage was Cornelius from London. Cornelius is exactly the same age as me so you can keep on guessing. The only other Cornelius I've ever known was that character in "Planet of the apes" but this guy is way cooler than him. He didn't play guitar or sing as I recall but then he was an ape. But the human version, the non fiction Cornelius, sang political songs with more than a dash of humour. I can't wait for the festival to hear him again. We're best mates already, although he doesn't know that yet.
The Super Penetraitors, brilliant the last time they played Unity, this time they struggled with tuning and the loss of their original bass player. The replacement bassist, who shows a lot of promise, played his first live gig with them. They'll soon get back on form with their tongue in cheek heavy metal set. Check out the drum kit, straight out of the Anne Summers catalogue. Impressive or what? I loved the intro. Very original.
Opaque this time with James "Evil" Chadwick on bass guitar, I bet he only had one rehearsal and was perfect. Some of you may be beginning to think I have a vendetta against James "Evil" Chadwick. You'll be right. It's sickening how he shows us all up with his supernatural talent. The rest of us have to work hard at it and in my case, even very hard work and practice doesn't get me anywhere. I'm still crap. Moony, as ever, just glides through the performance, with his theatrical style. Does anyone know where that crossroads is? I need to sell my soul and catch up with everyone. Or maybe I should just know my place and stick to taking photographs.
Yeah Yeah Yeah forget the band photographs you want to see yourselves. And here you all are.Well some of you. OK a lot of you.
Don't forget if you haven't got your ticket for the Muddy Festival you'd better be quick. Moony tells me they are selling faster and faster.It's going to be a sellout. So you'd better get yourself down to the Glass Onion pronto if you want to share the experience. Tickets are £20 plus £5 membership of the muddy organisation. So that's just £25 to be part of history and a great weekend. You have been warned. IT WILL BE A SELL OUT. You can promise all you like that you're going to go. Can we reserve you a ticket? But right now it's down to the wire. It really is a case of divvy up or don't go. WE have more people saying they want to come than tickets so from now on it's first come first served.
I should also warn you that the numbers are STRICTLY limited. There will be no sneaking in without a ticket. Our first festival will be observed very closely and our organisation judged accordingly. If we fuck up there wont be another. That's why we have to be strict. Moony will be more than happy to relieve anyone of their money. Christ on a bike! He even, with a smile on his face, took £50 quid off me and I'm the photographer. It's the first time I've ever paid for the privelige of working.

Rock on dudes (see you at the Muddy Festival)

Myspace of the day

OK we're thinking of doing a new feature it's

myspace/of the day

A lot of you are on myspace and crash around looking at bands and singers so when you find someone worth listening to send in the suggestion and we'll feature it on "myspace of the day"
so everyone can listen to your latest discoveries.

Here's the first Heather McVey

OK I've mentioned her before but there's a good reason to repeat it, we're lucky enough to have her play Unity on the 29th June, so make a note in your diaries. Meanwhile have a listen if you haven't already. Beautiful laid back tunes on guitar and piano overlaid by powerful but subtle vocals reminiscent of Annie Lennox. Sit back relax and listen.

Now email me, Mike Da Hat with your suggestions.

What's on this week

Greetings crystalline entities!

I hope you all had a good weekend - it seemed unusually quiet for a bank holiday weekend in Peterborough.

A very wet and rainy Saturday morning saw the Muddy camp constructing the first proto-type geodesic dome in the garden at The Glass Onion. Geodesic domes are one of the greatest structures there are - they are energy efficient, extremely strong and very quick to put up! .......and they look well funky too. Just wait till we get the big dome put together!

Grassroots Festival tickets are still available and can be purchased from the Glass Onion any time between 10am and 10pm 7 days a week (ring the doorbells at the back door), or from the stall at Unity every week. They can also be purchased at the stall at Contact this Friday, the Xoo Bar acoustic session this Wednesday, the acoustic session at Solstice on Sunday and from Deep Roots at Lisboa on Sunday. There are only 500 tickets for this very special event and there are going to be disappointed people when they've all sold out - don't be one of them, snatch them up quick!


Let's have a look at this week:

Tuesday

Tuesday nights is time for the open mic/jam session at The Comet on Garton End Road, Dogsthorpe. Entrance is free, just bring your instruments and your ears for a lovely evening.

Wednesday

Music Jam at Xoo Bar is holding a Muddy Promotions special this week - featuring amongst others Opaque in acoustic guise. Doors open from 8pm and entrance is free. As well as a few booked acts this event is an open mic session so come ready to play.
Pixie Folk Club, from the organisation behind the Pixie Skin events, has taken up weekly residence every Wednesday in Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road). Traditional folk jams and open mic madness will abound. Entrance is free.

Thursday

Unity is settling in nicely to their new home at Lisboa, and have a very full line-up of quality acts for your entertainment this week. Corneilius is an acoustic artist based in London and works with Small World, who run an acoustic stage in the Greenfields at Glastonbury and work closely with the Synergy Project parties in London - unity is honoured to have him on board for the week. We also have busy bees Opaque returning to the Unity stage this week, along with tongue-in-cheek metal gods The Superpenetraitors. Completing the large Unity line-up are Hibachi Dealers, a Cambridge based rock band playing unusual and eclectic music with a strong touch of weirdness. The Unity Jam will start the night at 8pm and entrance is free.

When Unity finishes in Lisboa DJ Urb takes over, mixing up a diverse mixture of beats and grooves to put a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Urb will play through into the early hours.

Friday

The Contact nights caused quite a stir in their short time at Fidds, pushing the boundaries with experimental electronic music and digital arts made quite an impression on the people of Peterborough and has attracted a lot of attention from experimental artists and producers from up and down the UK. This Friday Planet Contact lands in Lisboa for the first time, with a special event reuniting some of the people who used to run the Diagnostics parties in Winners some years ago. On the bill this time around are Lee Ashton (Inceptive), Kenny Small (Diagnostics), Static Noise & Odin (Drip-Dry), Peddlebreaker (Drip-Dry), Chopper (Choppertunes), Local (Localised), Shaggy (Playskool) & Dan Cracker. Arts will be hosted by Lukus with special guests Lee Mason Door times are 8:30 till 5am and door tax will be £3 before 12pm, more after.

For something a little less experimental the Brewery Tap is hosting Soul Grooves to take you funky into the early hours.


Saturday

Summer must be landing swiftly as it's time for Strawberry Fair again. The event is taking place in Cambridge on Midsummer Common as always, and will showcase a number of stages including the ever-quality dub reggae stage that vibrates Cambridge bus station with basslines each year. Other highlights include Opaque on the main stage at 8pm and one of the guys from Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine in the acoustic tent.


Sunday

Deep Roots continue their weekly sessions of laid back grooves, beats and blips at Lisboa on Sunday evening from 6pm onwards. Entrance is free and the people are friendly.

Alternatively a new weekly acoustic night hosted by Richard Hall (Unity/Voodoo/Istari/ex-Within) is opening it's doors on Sunday night. The event will take place at the Solstice, and the line-up this first time around features a return from Istari after a short break, and a rare chance to see Point of Origin singer Shaggy in solo acoustic guise. Entrance is free and music starts at 9pm.

....and Finally

The summer is nearly on us,. festival season is arriving. Time for muddy weekends (and Muddy weekends) out under the stars in the beaming sunshine and English rain.

Until next time, peace love unity and respect.


www.muddypromotions.org.uk
www.systemabuse.co.uk
www.play-skool.org.uk
www.boro-bands.co.uk

Semi final of Band of the Year

Actually that's a little bit of the trick title, because there is no third semi final of "Band of the Year" because.. and this is strictly on the QT, Rebel Radio have pulled out.
This leaves Buckle St and Irene Rae to go through to the grand final with Kulak and Point or Origin. Which is rather cool for Irene Rae as she's sailed through her heat and the semi final without playing a note.
Anyway here's a lovely picture of the lovely Irene Rae, by way of compensation for not getting any pics of the 3rd semi final.Oh Gosh! what have we here? It's a before and after montage of James "Evil" Chadwick sent in to Unity Towers by one of his henchmen. On the left the virginal 15 year old James Chadwick before he'd even played his first proper gig. On the right James Chadwick as he is now, after having surrendered his soul to Satan in return for his awesome ability to play guitar. Can you tell the difference? Lock up your daughters .. I'll say no more....
With James in the left hand picture Joe Watkin and with him in the right Alison.
Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Rock on mes Enfants

Saving the planet

This item has just been brought to my attention. Now I bring it to yours.

Dear friends who care about our planet.

Judge for yourself if you want to take action.

In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chile runs from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers.
Water is a most precious resource, and wars will be fought for it.

Indigenous farmers use the water, there is no unemployment, and they provide the second largest source of income for the area.

Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit of gold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it would be necessary to break, to destroy the glaciers - something never conceived of in the history of the world - and to make 2 huge holes, each as big as a whole mountain, one for extraction and one for the mine's rubbish tip. The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is called Barrick Gold.

The operation is planned by a multi-national company, one of whose members is George Bush Senior. The Chilean Government has approved the project to start this year, 2006. The only reason it hasn't started yet is because
The farmers have got a temporary stay of execution. If they destroy the glaciers, they will not just destroy the source of especially pure water, but they will permanently contaminate the 2 rivers so they will never
Again be fit for human or animal consumption because of the use of cyanide and sulphuric acid in the extraction process.

Every last gram of gold will go abroad to the multinational company and not one will be left with the people whose land it is. They will only be left with the poisoned water and the resulting illnesses. The farmers have been fighting a long time for their land, but have been forbidden to make a TV appeal by a ban from the Ministry of the Interior. Their only hope now of putting brakes on this project is to get help from international justice.
The world must know what is happening in Chile . The only place to start changing the world is from here. We ask you to circulate this message amongst your friends in the following way. Please copy this text, paste it into a new email adding your signature and send it to everyone in your address book. Please, will the 100th person to receive
and sign the petition, send it to noapascualama@yahoo.ca to be forwarded to the Chilean Government.

No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean Cordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier. We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3 glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the whole population of the region.
>

25th May 2006

So here we are again at Unity, it's my dear old mums birthday as well, it's OK I took round flowers, I'm a good boy, I left home!! So despite the fact Richard and Gav (AKA Chopper)are not in Band of the Year they've been rehearsing like mad for tonights gig. I really enjoyed their laid back style and the way they compliment each other. Oh my giddy Aunt! It's those Kulak boys again. With their unique blend of heavy rock and rap. They've been rehearsing for the band of the Year final. They are really going to give Point Of Origin a run for their money. It's going to be a nail biting affair. Various members of each band have all said they'd be proud to lose to the other band but I guess secretly they both think they've got a very good chance of winning. I wouldn't like to call it. We don't even know yet who the third band will be in the final. But we'll find out this Saturday at the Fidds.
Quint. Solid rock combo. Not so good if someone calls you on your mobile. How do you tell a loved one to go forth and multiply because you want to listen to a band? It's tricky. I think I got away with it. "I can't talk to you right now this great band is on stage.... sorry what's that you said?... yes they're very good..... I can't hear you very well... I gotta go."
It's the sepia paparrazzi shots. Because I can. You may notice I got bored with the sepia shots. Does anyone know how to spell papparrazzi? or is it paparrazzi or papparazzi. Jeez help me out here.
Don't forget semi final of Band Of the Year this Saturday. Irene Rae is playing that should be enough to get the crowds in.

Meanwhile I want you all to check out Heather McVey I found her just recently and she's very keen to play for us in the near future. Just click on any of her songs and sit back, shut your eyes and relax. She's incredibly good. Shaggy is currently checking the database to find out which dates we can offer her. When we know the date so will you, so make a point of putting it in your diary. Don't miss this opportunity to see her play live. You wont regret it.

Well I'm off to watch Star trek on video. Because I can.

Meanwhile here's how the gents at Bar Lisboa will look after the proposed make over.


Rock on mes enfants.

Have you seen this man!

This is Unitys good friend John. It was his birthday last Saturday. 
Happy Birthday John 

What's on Update

Greetings all,

As anticipated there is an update for what's on this week:

Wednesday

As well as the punk night at Fidds there is an event for the benefit of Deafblind UK taking place round the corner at the Met Lounge. An impressive line-up comprising of State of Freedom, Khalo, No Going Back, Shaun and Electric Welland will be on offer for the price of £5 on the door. It's good to see local musicians and promoters supporting local charities, and would be really good to see local people support them in this.

Saturday

Angry Man, a popular local act with folky roots, are playing in the Brewery Tap from 10pm onwards on Saturday. Entrance will be free before 10pm.

Meanwhile, Slademan and T-Rex are playing hip-hop at The Park as part of an event that is being broadcasted on Radio 1xtra.If hip-hop is your style don't miss this event.

...till next week....

Have a great one wherever you go.

Peace.

What's on This Week

Greetings jobs and blobs.

Didn't it get wet towards the end of last week!

Had a lovely weekend though - Tammy Garcia knocked the a*s out of Lisboa on Saturday night, if you weren't there you missed out! And the better news is that £403 was raised for St Theresa's. The management there told me that this is enough money to keep the soup kitchen in food for about 4 weeks! Many thanks to everybody who came and supported the event and a special thanks to the staff and management of Lisboa for making the whole thing possible.

It is a month today till the opening of the first Grassroots Festival! Much excitement and concern is flying around in the Muddy camp making final preparations for the big weekend.

So now it's time to start gathering the volunteer force for the event together. This Saturday we are travelling to the Festival site to show those who will become the core of our stewarding team around and go through some important information together. Obviously there is no volunteer force without volunteers, so if you would like to take one of the many roles in this regard at the festival please reply to this mail and I'll give you details of where/when to meet on the day ready to go to the site. Thanks as always for your understanding and positive action.

So what have we got to draw our attention this week?

Tuesday

The open mic session at the Comet on Garten End Road, Dogsthorpe is gatherig momentum. Entrance is free so if you have some spare time to take part by performing or just enjoying the music and atmosphere head down.

Wednesday

Another weekly open mic session that is always a good night out is the Music Jam nights at Xoo Bar, hosted by James Chadwick. Entrance is free and doors open at 8pm.

For something a little heavier Anti-Septic are presenting a night of live bands at Fidds, with a spectacular line-up including intense art-rockers Sidearm, punk/metal band The Escaped, MCD (DIY punk rock from London), Weapon of Choice (local punk band) and The Librairians. Doors open at 7:30pm and entrance is £4. This event is open to anyone over 16 (with ID).

Thursday

Unity, swiftly settling into their new venue at Lisboa, have a fantastic line-up of rock and acoustic music this week. Quint are local rockers who keep their tongues firmly in their cheeks, while Kulak are one of the most exciting new up-and-coming bands with their fusion of rock, rap and drum & bass rhythms. Rich & Chopper, two acoustic favourites for the Unity comm-unity have been collaborating on some new material and will be performing earlier in the night. The Unity Jam, so central to the concept of the Unity event will take place from 8pm till 9pm. Entrance is free all night long.

When the live music finishes at Unity DJ Urb begins with his diverse selection of tracks to keep you moving till the early hours.

Friday

Audio Collective return to Lisboa this Friday for a night of hard dance, drum & bass and breaks. Entrance is free.

Round the corner in the Brewery Tap an event called All Funked Up brings Dj's with funky beats and grooves till close. Entrance is free before 10pm.

Saturday

A rare occurence for these mailouts - other than the steward training session in the daytime I'm not aware of any events in the city on Saturday night to take your fancy. If anyone wants to tell me of anything that I'm not aware of please mail me and I'll send out a late amendment.

Sunday

Sunday Skool are funking things up in Lisboa on Sunday night from 6pm taking you into the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday.

Over the road in Gem Bar the Playskool bods are thrashing out a mixture of psy-trance, deep house, hard trance and bassline breaks. Door times are 8pm till 2am and entrance is free for this one-off event. There will also be reggae downstairs in Bogarts beer garden to mellow you out.

....and Finally

Tickets for Grassroots Festival are still on sale from The Glass Onion, from the Muddy stand at Unity on Thursday, from the sound man at Anti-Septic@Fidds on Wednesday, from Sunday Skool @ Lisboa on Sunday,and from Playskool @ Gem Bar on Sunday.

Check the up-dated Muddy Promotions website muddypromotions.org.uk for more information of layour and line-ups. Grab your tickets quick, they are a mere £20 for members (membership £5 for one year) and disappearing quickly. Grab them quick!!!

Have a fantastic bank holiday weekend! That's all for now.

Peace love unity and respect.


muddypromotions.org.uk
systemabuse.co.uk
play-skool.org.uk
boro-bands.co.uk

Flying Donkeys on Acid

Saturday saw the Peterborough leg of the Flying Acid Donkey UK tour, a collective of folk musicians under the banner of Folkwit records. Talking of which here's "Palava" featuring those Folkwit emprasarios Nick Butcher, Liam Doona and John "Gaff" Gaffan (that's him with the black hat and suit)Also appearing on the first and suspiciciously last date of their world tour, all the way from Glasgow the harmonious "Blackwaterfoot" who are Gerry Hart, Stephen McLear and Garth Westland helping out on keyboards.
James Yuill accompanied by Apple Mac on drums synths keyboards and strange noises. This is the post modern face of folk music.
From London the very beautiful and haunting sound of Catherine Anne davies.
Now here's a treat and a surprise for many of us. Nominated for every Folk Music award radio 2 can think of, and winning a few along the way, Jim Moray, here with Jackie Oates performing some traditional folk ballads with great expertise. Jim wasn't even on the programme but just turned up anyway. Lucky for us I guess.
The Legend in his own lunch time, James "Evil" Chadwick. Who proved today he has sold his soul to the devil in return for his incredible skill at guitar. Meanwhile he invited on stage Naith from Circus and the lovely Alison who I suggested on this site a while back that she should be used more for her brilliance on electric violoin. I'm going to reitterate that and add for her vocal skills too.
Finally to round off the evening at the Solstice the brilliant Laughing Gravy who had all our feet a tapping. Their style is not far short of a combination of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and a little nod to Nick Cave and the bad seeds.
A great days entertainment in my opinion only spoilt by the lack of an MC to introduce the acts and let us know what was happening. I would there were a lot of people who didn't know who they were watching. But the evening was far from over, quick dash across town to the Bar Lisboa where Point of Origin were waiting for us to arrive. Well not just me personally of course, although that would be understandable being as I am now, officially, according to James Chadwick, a Leg End.
Point of Origin brilliant as ever had everyone dancing. The event was being held to raise funds for St Theresas.
And as if the days entertainment couldn't get any better, along comes Tammy garcia all the way from Portugal, who's breath taking performance blew us away. How many times can one say "Brilliant"? OK how about "Fabulous"? or how about "Fcuk me, they were good!"
...and now the bit all you lovely people have been waiting for. A chance to see your smiling little faces on t'internet. We had a lot of smiling faces tonight, hardly surprising with the standard of acts we were priveliged to see.
See you on the dark side

Rock on mes enfants