15-01-2015 The Three Tuns with the Iron Hearts

its a cold thursday night, my car's heater fans are busted and the band was all over the uk literally!!

nothing like chaos before a show!

With Connor calling me up telling me he is in work in Wales! and our ed sheeran lookalike drummer craggsy busy doing a university exam, a plan of action and precision was required for this night.

The Iron Hearts

Spitfire Bullets

it begins with a phone call

(not the actual conversation happened but it was close)

Thursday 14:00hrs   

(rob is green Connor is Purple)

"Rob its connor am at work today i'm in wales but al be back in time to play tonight can you pick my bass up and take it to the tuns i will be getting a lift there"

"what the hell wales!! ok al pick it up no problem man. Why can i hear sheep in the back ground"

"cheers and what sheep there's none here" (baa baa) "Shush you"

and just like that a plan was being worked out.

1. pick connors bass up
2. get my gear
3. head to the Winchester and have a pint and wait for the whole thing to blow over. 

but like shaun of the dead. plans can go wrong.

Heading home from work i picked up connors bass headed to my place and picked up my gear

while feezing my ass off from the icy wind we headed straight over to the tuns, amazingly we were the first band to show up.

7:30pm

finding out we were on at 9pm connor was somewhere in a van on the M1 and craggsy was still in uni

the iron hearts turned up and we had a good chat with them about gigs and veunes while sharing stories of how long the bands had been going for.

8:45 pm 

i can't remember if this was the time but our drummer turned up with his gear ready to set up

since we were first on my gear was set up as well as connor's but there was no sign of connor.

9:30pm

there was a change of plan and the iron hearts went on first with no sign of a bass player we got worried our connor was killed or kidnapped (turns out he wasn't far away)

so the Iron hearts went on first and played a killer set of original songs as a 4 piece band they kicked out some loud noises. their guitarist is one crazy guy.

round about 10:30 just as the iron hearts finished off their set in comes running a long haired person from the cold exhausted and tired, Connor had arrived. Late but least he was alive which is a good thing.

we started getting our gear set up on stage while connor caught his breath and had a quick rest, 

tuned and sound checked we kicked off with our adrenaline fuelled set one song after the other like a high speed train crashing through a station. During our song Head in the Toilet the ending solo i ended up walking off the stage to give it a bit edge since there was only a few of us in the room and plenty of space to walk about, The iron hearts guitarist came up to maybe give me a hug while playing (there is a photo of it further down) and his sister who came along shouting out "do a solo" so i gotta give what they want and a full blast guitar solo for the small audience was done!

in total for the show it was a great fun exciting and exhausting night with a band that only just got together in time on the night from work and university to play a 30 min set we some how managed it
and get some great reaction.

if you wanna check out The Iron hearts check out their facebook >> The Iron Hearts

myself and the iron hearts guitarist

  

A bit late but Happy new year / Spitfire Bullets at the Roxbury

Happy new year everyone we hope you had a great start to the year already!
i know we did!

Sweet Ammonia

Spitfire Bullets

We kicked off our 2015 with our first ever show in blyth supporting Sweet Ammonia the grungy rock band from Newcastle. we got down about 7:30 pm for load in, we got in very early as Vince the man who organises these great shows was still setting up the pa and the guys of sweet ammonia were busy setting up their amps ready for a sound check and to go through a few songs.

we set up our gear and had a quick sound check and had some spare time to chat to sweet ammonia who turn out to be Ramones fans, its great when we all have that favourite band to talk about.

so roll on 9:30pm and we go on and kick off with our set of covers and originals with only a few people in the room for our audience we shot through 13 songs within 30 mins kicking off with our usual intro song i'm not your stepping stone.
We finished off our set with our fun punk rock piss take cover of house of the rising sun.

Sweet Ammonia came on next with their full hour set of originals a few i reconsigned from listening to their sound cloud a few days ago you can hear them here > Sweet Ammonia's Sound Cloud
they are a great bunch of guys who enjoy what they are doing with a passion you should check'em out sometime. check out their Facebook page if you want >>> Sweet Ammonia Facebook

12-12-2014 Golden Lion Show and other news

With a early load in of 7:45 we were the first band there with all the gear guitar amp a bassist myself and guitar and bass but no drummer (he turned up eventually he got lost LOL) with only two bands on the set the boys from Black Bloc stepped in to do a short set of anarchic punk kicking off with Anti-nowhere leagues "So What"!!! mixing in originals and ending the set with sarin taking the vocals on SLF classic Alternative Ulster (which we covered but dedicated to them :-) ) we set up our gear and we got a lend of all out attacks bass amp we nearly ended up borrowing black blocs guitar amp to use as a bass amp we might have blown it if we did!. With a cheap karaoke microphone a really good PA system to use and the bars own HI FI speakers used for the bad and drunken karaoke singers for the sound we kicked off our set with stepping stone with feedback squealing from the mics we pushed on going through our set, until the microphone stand got tired and collapsed looks like my gaffer tape on the floor keeping the stand up didn't work sadly. we finished the set with a cover of house of the rising sun our own way which got the punters of jarrow looking confused bewildered and more drunk.

All out Attack took to the stage which now looked very crowded considering the stage is quite big they kicked off their set of originals and adding a Motorhead "class no class" they were loud and the PA some how managed to take the sound well but they were pulled it off well,

Spitfire Bullets

Black Bloc

All Out Attack

IN OTHER NEWS

i have been working on a side project blog called LOUDMOUTH  > http://loudmouthpunkzine.blogspot.co.uk/
the blog will be a monthly update on reviews local bands and whats on
I already kicked off the site with a blog review of Collisions EP released this year and it seemed to go off well so this january you can see a full page of local bands, reviews and local gigs and who to check out so keep your eyes open.

Up coming GIG Golden Lion Jarrow 12-12-2014

so with one week to go we will be down at Jarrow blasting out some fast Punk Rock fun of our usual set list of covers and originals in a supporting slot for the headlining Group "All Out Attack"

we're gonna get some rehearsals down in the Bunker and do a bit maintenance to our gear before the day comes, cause we don't want a G string snapping or an amplifier Blowing.

in other news Rob has been creating a new blog site called Loudmouth for reviews and news on punk and alternative bands you can check it out here >>> http://loudmouthpunkzine.blogspot.co.uk/

thats all for now folks!!

The Corner Flag 08-11-2014

Our second gig with our new Bass player Conner who fitted in perfect with the "bullets"

the bar was slowly filling up with punters misfits and the usual Uplifting Gormandizers. with the sun setting and the night coming in fast we loaded in to the Corner Flag at 7:45 and hung about waiting for the stage to be set

The night was kicked off at 9pm with sittin pretty playing a collection of clash inspired reggae style originals while adding a few covers including a Beatles one! with lead vocalist Raish with his joe strummer style playing on the strat while his boys complemented the sound of fuzzy bluesy riffs and heavy bass lines with a good strong drum beat, 

next up was Fire Lady luck a green day inspired pop punk band they were known as the Blitz before their name change they played a mixed set of Green Day covers and originals through a very loud wall of sound with their lead singer Billie Joe lookalike taking up center stage with his left handed les paul double cutaway.

soon it came to our time to shine, the stage was set and all was quiet with a loud 1234!!! we kicked off our set with a cover of a sex pistols cover version of I'm not your stepping stone then going to one of our originals Spitfire!!! a song dedicated to a familiar aircraft every body knows, the one that won the Battle of Britain. we finished off our set with a punk cover version of house of the rising sun.

but before we could pack up we got Raish up of sittin pretty to join us for a jam playing Beat on the brat and blitzkreig bop and tried a cover of anarchy in the uk before finshing off.

the whole night was a fun exciting and very loud! we didnt get home till about 1am 

our next gig is down at Jarrow on the 12th December at the golden lion supporting all out attack

Review...Sham 69 Punk Fest

Myself and Sophie shot off in the car headed towards Selby with a full tank of fuel and sham 69 blasting while racing down the M1, We planned to stop over and stayed at a nearby hotel called the wishing well a very nice place and very cheap! we got down to Selby at 5:30 and drove around to find the veune on the riverside before checking in the hotel.

we hired out a taxi and headed down about 6:30 pm and bumped into our good friends LoGOZ
we just caught the Kingcrows during midset great band i picked up a CD after the show.

next was a rather grungy inspired very simple up beat cheery happy band bad dog no biscuit wearing hawian shirts and singing songs about not wanting to get out of bed. during this time i think i was on my 2nd pint of cider and sophie was on her 3rd jack n coke

next up was a hard core i'd say old fat punk band with lots of aggression and funny t shirts such as fat people are harder to kidnap. i remember the bass player playing a very pretty black and green i assume gibson custom thunderbird with light up led fret markers on the neck IT WAS SO PRETTY! I WANTED IT "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!"

Next up was LoGOZ kicking off their set with *Long time dead* whao!! oh oh" such a cheery tune man.
Playing a great loud 30min set they pulled the crowds in, including a very tall punk standing next to me with a huge mowhawk who made me fell like a hobbit standing next to Gandalf. the guys ended their set with their usual crowd fav Mexicola la while giving out good advice about ebola *Dont catch Ebola* message received guys, they had the crowds cheering by the end. i should point out sophie did a bit filming for them during their set, shes good with a camera i can say that.

after the guys set i was on to my erm 6th pint i think and sophie on her 8th JD n Coke the next band was very in your face, words can't describe what i saw but that tall punk with the mowhawk i mentioned in the last paragraph he was the lead singer performing in Total disfunction. it was punk hardcore, scream core, death core metal type but from what i saw it was very in your face and a big F**k YOU to the system

next up was sham 69 i was on my 29th pint i think and sophie on her 500th JD and Coke, (by this time i lost count) i saw sham 69 at Newcastle calling when they had a reunion with jimmy pursey the original lead singer of the band i was very lucky to see these guys in action thinking i will never see it again but here they are in front of me performing their classic "Hurry up Harry" and ending the set with "If kids are united" they played a great classic set taking you back to the 70's

so after the show and being drunk and happy we caught up with LoGOZ and said our goodbyes and with myself being in a hyper drunken mood went over to give the guys a hug and a lift (i think its my drunk way of saying goodbye n take care) some how alcohol gives me strength these guys are taller than me and managed to lift them all. i'm glad they all got home safely its horrible driving at night

so with the show over me and sophie were hanging about waiting for the taxi to come and we got talking to sham 69 & their tour crew we had a laugh made friends with them even got pointed out i look like one of the Ramones

in the end we finally got our taxi and headed to the hotel, it was a great night great little venue great bands and good drink.

8 simple rules to play on a backline

I saw this on a forum and i think every band can relate to this not just us but every band that has either lends or shares their gear to other bands, luckily we have never had any of our gear broken, damaged or stolen

all we ask is you to look after it and respect it and we will respect you

Dear band members who aren’t playing on their own back line.

The last couple of years we shared our backline A LOT. We actually don’t mind doing so

Often we are happy about it, but we don’t mind. The reason why we are not always

Happy about it is because some unwritten rules of playing on someone else’s backline are (too) often broken.

These rules are very simple and based on common sense and respect.

1.You break you pay! – Sorry man, but you broke it and we were already kind enough to lend you our gear.

2.Help (un)loading the van – The backline owners probably had to leave work early to get the gear you need to the venue. They will also have to unload all the stuff late at night after the show.  Ask if you can help (un)loading at the venue. This will be much appreciated, as they don’t have to carry it all 4 times in one evening/night.

3.Plug in correctly (ask how when in doubt)! – Or else things will get broken… just ask. Please

4.If you want to move stuff, do so carefully and with respect – seriously? Do we even need to explain this?

5.Ask if you can use the backline – Ask the band a couple days before the show if you can use a cab, drum, complete backline, … it’s common courtesy.

6.Stay and watch the band play. – Okay, this isn’t always possible, you may have another show, you may be sick, or you may have another good excuse. But not doing so because you don’t feel like it? Come on, that’s a bit pretentious, no? Without the backline you probably weren’t even able to play the show and everybody needs the support.

7.Respect the gear. – Don’t put beer on the cabs. Don’t stand on the bass drum (no matter how cool you think it makes you look), don’t trash any guitars on the backline … COME ON! Seriously bring your own stuff if you want to do this!

8.Say “thank you” – Sounds obvious, but those two words tell the guys that you do really appreciate that you could play on the backline. Another magic trick to really show your appreciation: offer them a beer (or any other liquid they prefer)

EVERY LITTLE HELPS