The Rythmn Festival - Bedford - 22/8/10

Unfortunately this is the sad tale of the gig that never was.

It had taken me (with the great help of Roadhouse supporter Ray Baldwin) 3 years to get onto the Bill of Jin Driver's great, large scale festival.

Our dreams ended as Bills vans engine blew, in spectacular fashion en route to the gig on the M5. Rumours at the festival that Band members were hurt, were fortunately this was not true...

All that hurt was our pride and the fact that we had failed to appear in front of so many people. Loads of great Roadhouse friends/fans texted mailed and phoned their good wishes through following our failure to appear.

Jim was brilliant about it and we have been offered a slot at the festival next year....good man.

My heart goes out to Bill and his van and a near 2k repair bill. This is all we need, as we are only a couple of weeks away from recording the new CD.

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 5 September 2010

The Saltash Rock & Blues Festival - 21/8/10

The first of what we had intitally hoped as two big festivals over the course of this weekend.

The key festival organiser was our old friend and ace guitar builder/luthier, Tom Anfield. With several stages in operation and The Damned as the headline act in the main hall, we were headlining the main pub stage at The Union.

A really friendly but intimate venue, with the crowd virtually standing in our face. The Band were really on form following the mid week rehearsal. The crowd really rose to the new, sing along style number 'The Gospel Working Class Drinking Blues'.

With 3 girls on duty (Kelly Marie Hobbs, Mandie.G and Rachel Clark) the band really kicked into life in the second set, as we achieved a better vocal sound balance in this relatively confined space.

It was a great gig. Tom had not seen the Band in two years and was amazed by how much things have grown/improved. The crowd and the festival organisers brilliant reaction, mean that we will be back hopfully on the main stage next year.

Thanks to Tom and the great people of Saltash.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 5 September 2010

The Charlie Butler - Mortlake - 16/7/10

It was weird for the Band to take a step back in time and play at a small pub. However, we owed the Londord, Chris (Crispin Mallet) a great deal.
Roadhouse learned their tade about 17 years ago regularly playing at his local (to us) Jolly Gardners venue. He also introduced us to his Barmaid the Roadhouse legend, Lorna Reilly and quite a lot of history happened as a consequence of that meeting.

The week before the gig Chris had a visit from the Council 'Noise Police', so as a consequence temporary soundproofing was in place. However, rumours were rife across the music scene that gigs had been suspended at the CB.

As this gig stood in some ways as being contrary to our agreements with our main promoter, Pete Feenstra and with the strategy of our record Company I could not afford to promote it that heavily.

As a consequence of problems with the Council, the Band played at a record breaking low volume. visiting journalist Darren Wisidom complained that though he was standing only 6 feet from Danny, he was struggling to hear him.

Still the low music levels allowed the vocals to soar and Kelly and Rachel revelled in being able to hear themselves much more clearly than usual. They sang brilliantly.

The first set was played to a relatively small crowd. The biggest reaction was given to the title track of the new (forthcoming) CD, The epic, 'Dark Angel'. By the start of the second set a good sized crowd had mustered and we rocked out a fair bit more. Reaction was great and we ran into some people who had seen us at Glastonbury (small world!)...

It was great to see Chris who is getting good Bands in twice a week and has the Jam Pact boys running a good jam session every Tuesday - check it out....

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 15 August 2010

Millers Blues & Snooker Club - Kirkby In Ashfield - 8/7/10

I was initially reluctant to travel up to do a gig near Mansfield on a Thursday night. Firstly, July audiences can be a bit thin on the ground, then there was the hot weather and the World Cup (two live music passion killers!)...

However, Rob was very persuasive and what a great guy he turned out to be. Lovely music room, good sound, nice big dressing room, food and drink all supplied. If only everyone looked after Bands the way he does.

And what a great crowd, to have over 80 people turning up on a Thursday night, all paying £7, is some acheivement in the current recession.

A big thanks to regular supporters, including Pete Laplanche and our jam buddy Mick Rutherford for turning up.
Also present was the lovely Carol from our label Blues Matters who made a great speech introducing the Band. Another notable attendee was that ace photographer Tony Winfield.

Another massive thanks for Steve who filmed the gig.
Catch the following on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmHE9htOhKE&feature=email = Too Tired To Pray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB0zfFwhRWM&feature=channel = Blues Highway


Rachel and Mandie were on vocal duties and performed admirably. 'Blues Highway' got as off to a good start and by the end of 'Too Tired To Pray' the crowd seemed to be 100% behind us. 'Dark Angel' received a massive ovation which bodes well for the new CD of the same name.

The second set really rocked and the 'stomp along' at the beggining of 'Tellin Lies' made the stage shake.

A great place and a great gig. We should be back next year.Thank you Rob.

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 17 July 2010

Glastonbury Festival - 27/610

A day to remember as our 20 year career lead us to an appearance at Europe's biggest music festival.

A massive thanks to Andy Fielding and his wife Sue who put us on their excellent Bourbon Street Blues/Jazz stage....

The day started badly, as the Englad football team where put to the sword by a tactically superior German side (augmented by the biggest refereeing blunder of all time), we were shut out of the festival. All approaches into the festival were closed due to the massive crowds watching the game.

We were placed in a holding compound for the best part of 2 hours, as tempers and nerves became more and more fraught on a hot and humid day. Finally Artist Transport whiz Dave found us in his magic Land Rover. The girls and I were then driven to the stage, while poor Danny, Bill and Roger (and his bad back), were left with a 3 mile walk in boiling conditions.
They truned up hours later in some state of disrepair, after pausing frequently to let Rogers back manage to take the strain.

Then began a long wait for our appointed slot.....

The Bourbon Street stage, has a capacity of 6-800 hundred with seating outside on the grass for around another 1-2,000. There was relatively few people there all day, as people stuck with some big hitters on the main stages, like Slash and Stevie Wonder.

We went on to about 80 or so people, just as Stevie was finishing up on the Pyramid Stage. We started quietly with 'Blues Highway' and by the time we hit a rocking 'Too Tired To Pray' as a second number people statrted to flood into the tent and onro the grass embankment.

The Band played really well and early stage monitrpoing and level problems were quickly overcome by the competent stage manager and sound crew.

All 3 girls Kelly, Suzie and Mandie sang brilliantly. The crowd went mad for their 3 solo performances of 'The Lying game', 'House of the Rising Sun' (which had been part played by Muse on the Pyramid on Friday night) and 'The Big Easy'. I managed to get a big ovation for my solo in 'House', so thanks to all the rest of the Band for making me sound so good. By the mid point of the set, the crowd were chanting Kelly's name (super star in the making?)

The real heros of the night were Roger (playing with his really bad back) and Danny who used the house backline and did a great job of producing a killer sound.

A 3 tap finish of 'Tellin Lies', 'Preacher Man' and 'No Place To Hide' (The well deserved and cheered for encore), produced a rocking set to a fantasic reaction from the big crowd. A few punters came up and said it was he best thing they had seen all weekend (I'll settle for it just being bloody good!).

A million thanks to all Andy Fieldings great Roadhouse Promotions Crew, including Nails and Joe.

We waited back stage through another transport embargo, this one due to the large amount of drunk/high people on the site. At around 3 in the morning Dave turned up in the magic Landrover.

On this occassion the Landrover turned into the tardis. We put Roger in the front, all the equiment in the back and then fitted six Band members in the normal space that would be occupied by two people. This ws a simlar experience to being laoded onto a crowded Tokyo commuter train. I'd like to apologise to Suzie for eating quite a large quantity of her hair. The 30 minute journey over bumpy ground will pass into legend.

On the drive home, dawn broke over mist shrouded fields. Rising out of the mist, a few hundred yards to my right rose the majesty of Stonehenge. I reflected that, that construction had been around longer then Roger and it put the whole thing into context for me.....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 30 June 2010

Music Cafe Gompelhof - Mol - Belgium

This is such a great venue, that it felt like coming home..

Jo and Annette, the owners are fantastc people. If only all music promoters/venue owners were like them. We were incredibly well looked after...

Last time we stayed in a nice modern hotel, this time they provided a bed and breakfast in an amazing stately home - luxury!!!.

We spent the afternoon sipping beers in the sun soaked garden. Then Jo and Annette took Kelly and I to a local football tournament (with much associated drinking)...

It was another hot night, so Jo had a real concern over crowd numbers. However, though a bit down on last time there was still a good sized crowd.

A local Chicago style blues band playing their first ever show, opened the night. They did a fine job.

So onto the Roadhouse set and we changed things around a bit from the first two shows. 'Slip Away' got an airing and 'Voodoo Queen ' returned to it's usual slot as the penultimate song in the set.

As ever the Gompelhof crowd were brilliant and they gave us a great response. after 2 Encores, there was time for a lot of CD signing and drinking with the local music lovers.

I recommend this gig to every major touring band as the hospitality and Crowd are truly remarkable...
We'll be back soon

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 June 2010

The 013 - Tilburg - Netherlands - 4/6/10

From a great night and an excellent crowd to a gig that in all honesty was painful....

Ou orignal gig at great muso venue the Green Angel was cancelled and fatstic promotet, Liesbeth magically booked us into this huge venue/arena...

The 013 has 3 halls, and features arttists playng recently like Chris Isaak and Marc Almond and Pappa Roach....
Unfortunately it was what i expected.....

We were so well looked after in our luxurious dressing room, the staff (mainly volunteers could not have been nicer)....

Three big problems:
- We'd never played that aprt of Holland before
- I dont think the venue did much promotion for the show
- It was boiling hot, still in the 80's at 10pm

I was proud of the Band as it put on a great performance under the circumstances. Playing to an all time record low (in 19 years) of 8 people (plus 16 staff).. it was hot and hard work......

To make things worse I starined my voice during the first number as the engineer had turned the mntors virtually off and lost the top 3rd of my vocal range for the rest of the night...

Still we rocked out and two rpomoters who came to see us were very impressed and have booked us for their venue in September.

The people at the 013 were nice and praised us to our faces, shame they have been sarcastic on their website about the small crowd......

Oh well onto Mol and a guaranteed good crwod and then to Glastonbury!!!!

You win some (most) other times you take it up the wrong hole (so to speak!)

Gary

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 19 June 2010

The Podium - Schiedam/Rotterdam - Netherlands - 3/6/10

Our third time at this atmospheric canal side venue.

Our great friend and Dutch promoter Hester cooked us both a great dinner and cooked up a big crowd for this warm summer night.

This was the biggest crowd that we had pulled at the Podium so far. The Band were on great form with Suzie.D sharing vocal duties wih Kelly Marie Hobbs.

A great version of 'Blues Highway' prepared the ground for the kicking new number 'Too Tired to Pray'. This night also featured the best version of 'Dark Angel' that we have played so far, the crowd reaction was fantastic.

There was so many local and cool musicians and artists in the audience, that we had to play well. The Band delivered and 'Preacher Man' was the appropriate encore..

A massive thanks to Hester and hopefully we'll be back next year.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 15 June 2010

The Colourhouse Theatre - Merton Abbey Mills - 16/5/10

So back to this great local venue run by journalist and ace harp player Buffalo Bill Smith...

Set opposite to the famous bandstand which plays host to the enormous Merton Abbey Mills Blues (catch us on Friday 27th August, in the open air, playing to the big crowd) and Jazz festivals. This cozy candlelit theatre seats about 50 before they need to bring in extra seating.

We had a crowd of around 35 plus, this was better than last time, but still not enough local support for my liking.
Still full of Roadhouse fans and old friends we still had a fantastic night.

The first set for once was superbly well played. According to Danny I was bit loud in his mix, but checking with quite a few people out front the balance was spot on. From the opener, 'Blues Highway', Kelly and Mandie's vocals combined superbly.

Everyone played well and the crowd response was terrific. The new songs 'Too Tired To Pray', 'Dark Angel' and 'Swamp Girl', all went down a treat.

In the break our good friend Jimmy Dublin played a short set alongside Bill on the harp. As usual this was punctuated with alternative comedy and the standard public altercation with Mandie routine, that just cracks everybody up.

Into the second set and Bill joined us for a rousing 'Roadhouse Blues'. Soon we were at 'Preacher Man' and then another great gig was over.

Thanks to all those great people who came and supported us on the night.
Regards,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 26 May 2010

The Roahouse Jam - Grove Tevern - 6/6/10

Our monthly jam at the Grove (the first Thursday of every month) landed on election night. Unfortunately, this lead to a quieter night than recent jams.

The numbers may have been down from about 60 to 30 something but a lot of the jam (and Roadhouse's) core supporers/friends were in attendance. Danny was missing (The first Roadhouse gig he has missed since joining the Band nearly 3 years ago) and was replaced by a quality dep, in the form of the legendary Robin Bibi.

The opener 'Blues Highway' saw a different approach from Robin, as he augmented the song wih some great blues slide and even added a touch of wah wah to the progrression. We finished the set with the new song 'Too Tired Too Pray' and Robin managed to produce the main riff, after just having it hummed to him 5 mins before the start of the show (Quality!). Kelly and Rachel's vocals were right on point as this song really kicked.


The jam had some nice moments. My fave's were Pete Sargeant's harp playing, as he joined Robin for a set along with the great Tim Matthewman on bass.There was some really nice interplay between them. Geronimo was also on good guitar form.

Towards the end of the night Kelly got up to deliver a great reading of 'Stormy Monday'. Then it was over to Grove soundman and Ozric Tentacles fluteplayer extrodinaire, Jumping John. John finished the night with a great acoustic guiter instrumental, very new world, but with a raw edge....

Next month the jam will be run by my good friends Mark and Tony of Jam Pact. Roadhouse will be on tour in Holland and Belgium. We'll be back running the jam on the 1st July.

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 22 May 2010

The Hope Tavern - Holton Le Moor - 2/5/1008

The Hope Tavern has always been a great bastion of Roadhouse support and so it proved once more, on an excellent Sunday afternoon in May.

It was a first time here for Rachel and she was rewarded with a visit from 7 of her family, including Grandma (brave woman wasn't deaf at all - before the gig anyway!).

Atfter enormous Hope Tavern Sunday lunches (thanks to the amazing Graham!) we had some volunteers to roll us nto the stage.

Ther is always something special about playing the Hope. The crowd sits virtually on top of you and you can see everyone;s faces as they react to both your successes (and to any mistakes). A lot of this crowd knew the songs better than we did, so the pressure was on to do them justice.

Over 75 paying punters turned up, which was a very big crowd for this small venue. And what lovely people, as we sold a lot of CD's and 5 copies of our new limited edition DVD.

Things went well from the opening 'Blues Highway 'and 'No Place To Hide'. The 3 new songs 'Swamp Girl', 'Too Tired Too Pray' and 'Dark Angel' were also big hits with the crowd.

Kelly and Rachel did well together, the only problem being a harmony on 'The Answer' which was otherwise well performed. Great drum and even Bass solo from Roger and Bill repsctively, in 'Voodoo Queen' . 'Preacher Man' rocked and then it was over for another year at The Hope.... what a great venue!!!.

Only sad note was that great Roadhouse supporter and a local Ray Baldwin was not in attendance. He was looking very ill last year and it broke my heart not to see him in his rightful place at the bar.....

There we go for the for the grace of....

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 12 May 2010

The New Inn - Witney - 30/4/10

In this lovely Cotswold town, a really nice landlord called Martin has been on a mission to bing top quality live music to the area. According to Blues Maters own Vicky Martin it was a dream of his to have Roadhouse play thie quaint little pub.

We turned up as part of a local beer and memorial/'Heroes' festival. This was the first time we were ever introduced by a priest, which was quite ironic as a set of songs about blues, voodoo and the devil sent him rushing to the exit. Still the local Mayor stuck it out and decent sized crowd of around a 100 started to really get into the music.

Midway through the first set David Cameron turned up (well it is his constituency) and the whole evening became progressively more surreal. According to Martin he said, "They are not bad at all, are they", which I guess is a quote that will now go down in Roadhouse history. I'm sure David is now regretting asking the magic Genie that he can become well hung - ho, ho... sorry!.

Anyway, onto more musical matters. The second set was very well played with Kelly and Rachel working well in tandem. Kelly sang a nice 'Stormy Monday' and once more the new songs 'Too Tired To Pray' and 'Dark Angel' went down a storm.

A big thanks to Martin for his hospitality and a good night
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 8 May 2010

Dove Valley Blues Club - 24/4/10 - Derbyshire

A first time at this nice blues club in Derbyshire. Thanks to Fred and Dennis for having us along...

The club had not been doing that well in the recesion recently and I know the guys would have liked to have pulled in a bigger crowd for our first appearance in this area. However, I think 30 something people paying £8.00 to get in was not a bad turn out for a first time.

Great to see a few familiar faces, as some Roadhouse fans ran up a lot of mileage to come and give their support (god bless em).

We had Mandie and Rachel out of our squad aof great female vocalists on duty this night. The Band put on a great performance. To me this night was notable for the new, epic song 'Dark Angel', really coming of age. We have halved the chorus structure and it's really improved the dynamic (and duration) of the song. Also Rachel was really brave as she took on another 2 songs that were brand new to her and she did well with both of them.

The crowd were really great and pleasure to play to. the night finished with 'Tellin Lies' and 'Preacher Man'.

Thanks to all for a great night
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 1 May 2010

The Buzz Club - Barnet F.C - 18/4/10

Onto Pete Feenstra's big stage North London venue.
Nice room and a very large deep stage, great acoustics and a superb lighting technician.

Recent problem with the bar and owners of the venue lead to this gig beng poorly attended. I'd like to thank the 15 or so Roadhouse supporters who turned up, but they were only augmented by 7 or so locals/regulars.

Still, ace Jounalist and musician (check out the Band, Elephant Shelf) Vicky Martin was present - so expect a review of the gig in Blues Matters. This is in advance of the in depth interview with me, which will be going into the magazine just prior to the launch of our new CD Dark Angel, in October.

The Band were on top form and featured strong performances fom all 3 girl singers, Mandie, Kelly and our new start turn, Rachel Clark. Roadhouse legend Anne Campbell was in attendance and performed a guest slot, with a nice version of 'Brooklyn Blues'...

Out of the new songs, 'Too Tired to Pray' really rocked out and 'Dark Angel' is developing superbly and the cut down version of this epic worked a treat (despite an intonation problem with my guitar).

The people there created a great atmosphere and we were able to finish with a belting version of 'Preacher Man'.
Upwards and onwards,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 28 April 2010

The Duck & Drake - Leeds - 21/3/10

So our mini tour of the North concluded with this visit to Mandie's home town.

This was a great pub venue.. yet another excellent Simon and Sharon Colgan venue (they are taking over the UK and good job too!). Ian the Manager was a good guy too and this was one of the best and most responsive crowds that we have played to in a long while.....

The place was packed and from the off Danny and I's solo's were cheered and Mandie and Rachel given ovations for their vocal prowess. This was one of the best gigs of the year so far, the second set alone lasting in excess of 90 minutes.

The time flew by, I played as well as I'd probably ever done and while on stage felt fit and well and years younger. Within an hour of the journey down the motorway it was back to feling 95 again (and I'm not talking about Roger speeding).

Sharon Colgan herself got up and did a fine reading of 'Stormy Monday' (always loved her voice).... I think that this was the night that the new song 'Too Tired To Pray' realy emerged as a winner.

Mandie's family came and gave her massive support... A great night, we'll be back.....I hope!
Gay

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 4 April 2010

Redcar Blues Club - 20/3/10

Redcar proved to be an interesting place... as I saw the steel works and chemical plants on the outskirts, I sensed the kind of hard work, toil and monotonous existence that force people into strange mechanisms of escape.......would that extend to going to a Roadhouse gig?

The centre of town was fairly shuttered and devoid of life, even in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. The wind howled down the seafront, while the mannequin in the sexy underwear store window, suggested that a cross between a ballerina and a bosons mate was the look that guaranteed you place in some twisted sexual nirvana.

In the pub under the guest house (how convenient) Rachel ordered the 'mini 'mixed gril and we then watched in awe ,as she munched her way through 5 times her body weight in meat. I ordered the chicken and bacon salad which ended up being a pile of steaming kebab meet on 4 lettuce leaves - unusual!.

To the gig.... met Alan the promoter ....... the kind of unsung hero that keeps live music going in this country. John the PA man (it's not heavy metal but I like it!) was also a real gent.

A nice room..... gets really going when there is about 150 people in it. Recent averages have been around 95. We probabaly did about 85-90, which was good paying crowd, but I would liked to have done better.

The atmosphere in the first set was starnge. The crowd re-acted well enough, but it felt like there was something missing. Our new epic, 'Dark Angel' was given its 3rd outing and went well enough ( all 4 hours of it - :) ). I still think it needs some judicous editing, but it's a classic in the making.

In the break I felt like a celeb as I was asked to draw the raffle. This hall of fame acknowledgement of my undoubted talent led to a vastly improved second set....

In all seriousness the Band really kicked on and totally over the top versions of 'Watchtower' , Voodoo Dance, 'Roadhouse Blues ' and a great drum solo in 'Voodoo Queen', won the day......

Just a single encore at the end of a very long set, then some excellent CD sales followed...

Apparently, a handful of die hard Blues Purests has gone home, depressed by our 'Rock leanings', however for many it was some of the best music that they had heard for some years (and I quote about 10 of the lovely people we met there).

The Clan Gwilym were there to monitor their sibling Danny's talent and he of course blew them (and the whole crowd) away. Well played mate.

And then onto the meanstreets of Redcar and the invetible late night kebab shop full of fat girls in mini lycra party dresses and corned beef legs.. pass the hot sauce.....

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 4 April 2010

The Blues Cafe - Harrogate - 19/3/10

So the road took us North, back to Simon and Sharon Colgan's excellent Blues Cafe in Harrogate..

An intimate venue, it was crammed with people for this gig. Several groups of Roadhouse supporters came long distances with groups of family and friends for this show and we thank them for their brilliant support. One great guy said he'd spent over £200 pounds on mini bus hire and babysitters to get his party to the gig - good man!!

This gig was notable for it being Rachel Clark, our stunning new female vocalists first tour with the Band. Also there was official Roadhouse Band photographer and journalist Alan White (www.earlyblues), who travelled from Lancaster to photograph the gig.

The music itself went really well. However, we struggled with the in house PA in the first set. The main casualty was the new song 'Tornado', which lost it's vocal edge. But with Rachel and Mandie in fine voice (great version of the 'Lying Game' by Rachel), the guitar trade off in 'Rock Me' was magical and brought the first set to a fine climax.

The second set was a stormer. 'Watchtower' really kicked, as did the killer new song'Too Tired Too Pray'. The two encores were 'Preacher Man' and 'Sacrfice'

A great night at a great venue, we'll be back
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 1 April 2010

The Tropic, Ruislip - 28/2/10

George Mcfalls' new venue has an established Friday night music scene, but for Sunday's it's still early days for this atmospheric back room at Harow & Wealdstone FC.

Aided by fantastic support and promotion from journalist/music afficianado, Darren Wisdom and also from Roadhouse legend Anne Campbell, we managed to draw a reasonable crowd....

An interesting night for the band on a number of levels. Firstly we had an appearance from Rachel Clark .Rachel is a great young talent who has decided to join the Roadhouse squad and at this gig she joined Mandie and Kelly on 4 numbers.

Secondly we featured 3 new songs for the first time. I chose to open with the stomping 'Too Tired To Pray', but this turned out to be a poor decision. Though the song was great in rehearsal the band were hesitant in delivery. This hesitancy spilled into the second number, 'Slip Away' and it was song three before we hit our stride....

'Dark Angel' was the next of the new songs to get it's test drive. I've great hopes for this song and it did not dissapoint. The girls sounded amazing on a chorus that manages to sound gothic, dark and commercial all at the same time (somehow!).. The song recieved a great reaction. Danny and I had not been on top form in the first set, but managed to hit our stride during the trade off section in 'Rock Me Baby'.

In the second set we managed to finally deal with the sound problems caused by the low ceiling. Things really rocked, as we ploughed through songs like 'Voodoo Dance' and 'Tellin Lies' and another new rocker, 'Tornado'.

A guest appearance from Anne Campbell on 'Brooklyn Blues' and then 2 encores, 'Preacher Man' and 'Sacrifice' ended the night.

A good first showing in this new venue, full of true music fans... We'll be back
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 14 March 2010

The Blues Room, Harry Smith's Bar, St Albans - 6/2/10

From a big stage arena, and a crowd of thousands to a very intimate venue in St Albans....

This venue is being promoted by the talented Vicky Martin, front person of the band 'Elephant Shelf' (check 'em out they've got this Berlin, decadent transgendered cabaret, blues thing going on, with female vocals and electric violin - interesting!), plus journalist and graphic artist. This venue is also being sponsored by our own Blues Matters label....

We set up in a fairly cramped space, but our spirits were soon lifted by an excellent turn out, including loads of people who'd seen us on the big stage at Skegness the previous weekend.

Overall it was a rocking gig and a decent little venue. The Band's hot streak in terms of both performance and crowd pulling power continued. It's great to have Manide back on a regular basis and both Kelly and Mandie were on great vocal form. All rose to Roger's mighty dum solo and there was even a second encore as we extlled the virtue of Human 'Sacrifice' to the good people of St Albans (I bet that livened up a few after show parties! - mind you finding a virgin in St Albans can be an issue - apparently!)

We'll be back in July
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 2 March 2010

The Roadhouse Jam - Grove Tavern - Sth Wimbledon - 4/2/10

After a quiet first two jams at this location, the January jam had been cancelled due to the snow and terrible icy conditions....

With tempreatures still around freezing, we turned up expecting another night of 'attendance apathy'. We were pleasantly surpised......

More and more people turned up including loads of faces/freinds from the Woodman days and by the time the music started there was a great crowd.

Roadhouse played a nice opening set with Kelly 'on point'. This was followed by great, young singer, Rachel Clark auditioning for a role in the Roadhouse ladies squad. She did a fine job and as a consequence will be working with the Band this year.

Many great musicians then put in an a appearance. Highlights inlcuded 13 year old Chloe singing with the great Robin Bibi. She did a fine version of 'House of the Rising Sun', on which Robin's slide playing was outstanding.

We had great performances from Tim Matthewman, Burlesque, Geronimo and an excellent finish from Jimmy Dublin playing with the superb Andrew Heart on the bass.

A great crowd, a rocking night and here's to the next jam on the 4th March...

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 1 March 2010

Roadhouse Live At Skegness - Centre Stage Appearance

So to Centre Stage on Sunday night. We were up against stiff competition in the form of The Deborah Bonham band and Nazareth being on the equally sized, REDS stage.

As we stood in the neon twylight, waiting for the curtain to go up, I felt the 'positive tension' (well some of us were shitting themselves) crackle though the Band. After an age the curtain swung upwards to reveal an enormous crowd and the Band responded by kicking into a rousing version of Tellin Lies.......

This was arguably one of our best ever big stage performances. The guitar solos on 'Blues Highway' drew ovations and the new song 'Swamp Girl' achieved a great response from the superb crowd.

All 3 Roadhouse ladies then delivered excellent lead vocals. Suzie.D on the Lying Game (she really owned that stage), Kelly Marie Hobbs (looking and sounding amazing) on 'The Big Easy' and finally Mandie getting her usual standing ovation for our blues flavoured version of 'House Of The Rising Sun'.


'The Answer' was followed by the Youtube made classic 'Voodoo Dance'. After the girls had carried out their normal samba with Satan the crowd went crazy....

Preacher Man followed as the iconic and demanded encore.........

What a crowd, thanks to all there for your marvelous support. On nights like this you can almost believe in the future of live music...

On with the deam...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 8 February 2010

Roadhouse Live At Skegness - JAKS Set & The Skeggy Jam - 30/1/10

So to our 7th consecqutive appearance at the massive, annual Skegness Blues and Rock festival. This year marked a changing of the guard, in terms of many of the Bands who play the festival. A lot of old faves were not on the Bill and there was a rock stage, with likes of Nazareth treading the boards.

We opened up on the Saturday aftenoon on the JAKS (500 capacity) stage/venue. Hampered by a misprint in the programme, in terms of start time, we had to wait until about 13.45 instead of the usual 12.30, before kicking off proceedings.

We had a great crowd and the opening Roadhouse set really rocked. 'No Place To Hide' was followed by 'Slip Away' and an extended version of Roadhouse Blues. The hour passed by in a blink and we finished up with great renditions of both 'Sacrifice' and Voodoo Queen, with Roger getting an ovation for his excellent drum solo.

You can check out 'Sea of Souls' and 'Roadhouse Blues' on Youtube, by pasting the following links into your browser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlmO91lHijc
http://www.youtube.com/user/jumpthegunblues#p/a/u/0/gM27G2Pe9bk

Overall it was a great set ,with all 3 of our fabulous female vocalists strutting their stuff. The set was probably notable for the return of Mandie (just when you thought it was safe!).

I then ran arguably the best Jam session, that we've ever had at the festival. Highlights for me were the set from top young guitarist Jason Barwick (of the Amazing Brew), who played with our own Danny Gwilym, along with Mick Rutherford on the bass. Sharon from the Blues bar Harrogate, then delivered a fabulous vocal, followed by the amazing Maggie who achieved such rave reviews last year. Gizmo was also on form on the guitar and overall we featured over 40 musicians and 4 different Bands.

The crowd were the real stars; this was music by the poeple for the people. The crowd supported, stamped and cheered for everyone, no matter their level, confidence, or ability. All rose to the challenge and the whole afternoon was a massive high.....

Here's to 2011
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 8 February 2010

Roadhouse & Special Guests Northsyde - The Hlaf Moon Hearne Hill - 12/12/09

So to our final gig of 2009. After this double bill worked so well in the summer at our 20th anniversary show, it was decided that it was worth giving it another spin.

Jules & Lorna Fothergill are an intergral part of the history of Roadhouse. They appear together on 3 Roadhouse CD's, Blues Highway, Roadhouse & Friends Live and the legendary No Place To Hide. In my view thay played a better set Hearne Hill, then they did at Sutton. Their Band were cooking and produced a really good set.

The grim reality of the evening was that for two such 'quality' Bands it was another poor turnout. Still we saw loads of good friends and the people there made such a great noise, the atmosphere was terrific.

Pete Feenstra our host was on great form, well lubricated for the Xmas period his banter between sets was top quality entertainment....

The Roadhouse set was another winner with Kelly in solo mode again, stepping up to the plate and delivering big time. My fave songs/performances of the night were 'Swamp Girl', 'Blues Highway' and when Jules joined us for the double encore of 'Voodoo Queen' and 'Preacher Man'. The triple guitar harmony was a killer, top notch!.

The bands morphed together as the show rolled into the early hours. Jules and Lorna joining Roadhouse for a killer version of 'I Couldn't Get To Sleep'. The song was played so well it sounded as if it had been lifted directly off of the No Place To Hide CD!

All time Blues great John O'Leary joined us all on stage and sang and harped us out on a closing, classic 'Rock Me Baby'.....

An all time great gig, which was partially filmed by top promoter Eric Harvey. We are trying to get footage from Eric. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Xmas and New Year to all our freinds and followers... We'll need your support in the New Year in order to take the Band forward in these tough times.
Thanks to all that came
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 2 January 2010

Roadhouse Xmas Party Gig - The Bulls Head - Barnes - 7/12/09

The annual Xmas party gig at this great riverside Jazz venue has become a tradition.

After a quick set up, most of us indulged in some magical food from the onsite Thai restaurant. The only shae about this fantastic nights music was the relatively low trunout. From around the usual 70 people in the room mark, we were down to 35 (what's going on - there were so many reglar faces missing!!!).

It was a shame for the people who missed it as this was one of the best ever Bulls Head extravanganzas...

The show kicked off with a great set from our special guests Jimmy Dublin and Geronimo, who were backed by Bill and Roger.

The Roadhouse set was one of the best we've ever played at The Bulls Head. A soaring 'Blues Highway' and rocking versions of 'No Place To Hide' and 'Tellin Lies', were highlights. With the continued absence of a very poorly Mandie, we still managed to produce worthy versions of both the 2 new songs, 'Swamp Girl' kicked and 'Rainmaker' worked in a 2 vocal format (well done Kelly again.... An epic 'Watchtower' and then 'Voodoo Queen' brought the set to an end. What a great response from the people there.

The evening finished with host/promoter George McFall on the Skins in a great set ,fronted by our other special guest, musician, writer, DJ and all round talent, the excellent Mr Peter Sargeant.

It was a great night.... but the dwindling crowd numbers makes you wonder, what do you have to do, to get people to come out for live music any more???

Thanks to all that were a part of this fantastic night.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 December 2009

Jam Session - The Grove Tavern - South Wimbledon

So to our second night of jamming at The Grove. As people love opening nights, this was always going to be the one to worry about.

In the opening set Kelly continued with her superb singing form, nailing both 'Blues Highway' and 'The Lying Game'. We played a decent version of 'No Place to Hide' too.

Buffalo Bill Smith, the promoter who runs the Colourhouse Theatre and The Merton Abbey Mills Festival, put in a welcome appearance. We were able to offer an all time first of Buffallo Bill onstage with Geronimo. No blows or arrows flying, just a great guitar and harp interchange.....

Late in the day Pete Bedford put in an appearance, along with Jon Griffin and Nicollette. Musically it was solid night, with just enough support to proivde optimism for the jam taking root at this new venue in 2010.

The next Jam is on Thursday 7th January... see you there!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 December 2009

The Colourhouse Theatre - Merton Abbey Mills - 29/11/09

Our return to the superb Colourhouse theatre. BB's blues club was forced out of this great venue, due to little men with noise meters being sent down by the council about 10 years ago... Guess who was on that famous night when they closed the Colourhouse down due to excessive volume?? (answers on a postcard to BBC Television Centre, etc, etc)....

After the failure of the venue to prosper at GJ's, despite the occassional good night (and we had a couple of them there)....; Buffalo Bill Smith has brought this venue back to life.

The Colourhouse is well laid out with candlelit tables and a really great young sound crew. This produced a superb sound balance and there was a magical atmosphere about the night.

The good news, it was a fantastic nights music and in the absence of Mandie.G, Kelly rose to the challenge superbly. Most of the crowd could not believe how well she sang, as our voices belnded really well, especially on a very atmospheric 'Blues Highway'. It was really Kelly's night as she belted her way through the 'Lying Game' and a great version of 'Stormy Monday' - brilliant!

Jimmy Dublin was our special guest and he played a nice little blues set in our break. Buffalo Bill himself joined us on stage for the 'Roadhouse Blues' and a fine harp player he is. I love the way he never overplays.......

The only dissapointment of the night was the mid sized crowd. We should be pulling better numbers on our own patch, so to speak. Many key regular supporters were missing. In the end it was their loss as this was one of the best gigs of the year.

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 20 December 2009

Cafe Oud Brabant - Netherlands - 15/11/09

So a Sunday afternoon gig to finish this great little Euro mini tour...

This highly recommended venue, has superb stage and equipment and is run by the charismatic Jan Schelekens. Jan is a great guy and he and his fantastic wife really looked after us....

The 2 late night shows had caught up with us. Voices were affected and it led to a lame soundcheck with us vocally murdering Slip Away (if I'd been Jan I'd have wondered about who I'd booked)......

I then started to feel really ill and spent an hour lying in the tour bus thinking i was going to die.... but I don't think the devil will let me off that easy....

So the show went on.......As the gig coincided with the Dutch celebration of Xmas, the crowd was a bit thin to start. It filled up nicely by the end though.

As we launched into 'Blues Highway' the vocals were back in operation and a good crowd re-action allowed us to really rock it up in the second set......

This turned into a great gig and we met some excellent people including a British photogapher called Mick Davidson. Check him out and his great shots of the gig at
davidsonmick.squarespace.com www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile//10226.html

There was just time for a quick round of goodbyes and then a standard Roger Hunt Formula One style drive, to make the midnight ferry....

A great trip......
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 8 December 2009

Gompelhof Music Cafe - Mol - Belgium - 14/11/09

The best gig of the tour by far......
The rear doors of this venue swung open to reveal a 400 capcity music room with giant stage. The auditorium was surrounded by giant, blow up pictures of us all downloaded for the internet, the Manager had to restrain us from immediately nicking them.....

We were then taken to the Roadhouse pre gig dinner, where we sat down with it seemed most of the town to a festival of muscles and frites, all under under canvas..magic

Gig time.....and the Band really rocked, the crowd were brilliant. Our 3 girl format was working a treat, with Suzie on great form. The new song , 'Swamp Girl' was a real stormer......

A double encore and mass autograph signing then took place, for those typically fantastic Belgian people..We met so many great folk on the night.

Thanks to the incredible Jo and his wife Anette We'll be back next year......

An all time great gig
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 6 December 2009

The Abdij - Briel - Holland - 13/11/09

The first date of the Euro mini tour, with a special thanks to Tim Smith of the Brew, the wonderful Hester of Schiedam and Jo Verboeven for helping to book the whole thing....

1st up was this mid sized, traditonal Dutch, 'Brown' cafe.....Thanks to Robb 'Fixerman' Hendrix and Remko for having us at their atmospheric venue....

Good news - a lovely hotel, based 5 meters across the street allowed us to stagger home. The hospitality was great, good meal drinks, nice staff. All the people who like live music loved the band - the trouble was their was just not many of them there...

Bad news - we were booked on techno/house music night and there was mostly a young crowd there for that. The different genre of music played either side of our sets did not help the mood or the perception of what the night was about.....

The low wooden ceiling gave the whole sound a nasty bass 'rumble' and the lack of audeince response was dispiriting. However, instead of hiding the Band powered out a great second set.

The late night dance music allowed the Band to have a bit of a 'team build'. And Suzie, Kelly and Mand's truned the whole thing into a roaring night out........ pics on cyberspace via Hester..

It was very much have a good time and then let's get onto the serious business, in the form of a major gig scheduled for the next day in Belgium....

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 6 December 2009

The First Grove Tavern Jam - South Wimbledon - 5/11/09

So to our new venue, well not exactly new!. Roadhouse in our earlier formats had played at The Grove Tavern for over 12 years.....

The pub is far more of a rough and ready music venue, with it's own PA and lighting and good old 'Jumping John' as the sound engineer......Reponse to the opening Roadhouse set was really positive.

We had 2 new girls trying out for a place in our squad, in a move to take the pressure off of our 3 current ladies. Both girls Ashlyn and Michelle, sang great.

Overall about 15 regular punters and 10 musicians made the sojourn to the new jam. This made it a decent opening night.

Special thanks to:
- Tim Matthewman
- Geronimo
- Pete Bedford
- Frank Dymore
- Jimmy Dublin
and others for their great playing and massive support.....

Next jam is on Thursday 3rd December, come on down, let's turn this into a success story.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 3 December 2009

The Final Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 22/10/09

So after 8.5 years of the jam running at The Woodman, the final night before our move to the Grove Tavern (first Thursday of evey month) beckoned.....

Apparently the jam was not busy enough fo the Brewery to endorse the patheitc £180.00 that Martin would pay for this musical extravaganza (if it wasn't for the generous jug at this venue we would have gone ages ago).......
All this is weird, because though the jam was not pulling the big crowds of old their was still a regular crowd of at least 70 people to see it though a quiet night..

Still as it was the last night, everybody came down for the wake... who can't resist staring at a corpse????

A massive crowd included players wo had never even played the jam before, like John Iden of Yardbirds fame...

Still it was a great night of music, Mandie was as pissed as a rat and loads of the old regulars played their hearts out......all very rock and roll!!

Thanks to too many people to mention here, but certain people should be thanked for their regular contribution, including Frank Dymore, Geronimo, Jimmy Dublin, Andrew Heart, Tim Matthewman and John O'Leary to name but a few....

When I think back about all those years at the Woodman the ghosts of Jules Fothergill, Andy Cortes and Andy Thompson will be forever slugging it out under the conservatory...memories!

NOW ALL GO TO THE GROVE TAVERN, 2 MORDEN ROAD - THE FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH

The show must go on, no surrender!
Gary

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 28 November 2009

Blakeney Harbour Rooms - Norfolk - 10/10/09

Our first time up at this gorgeous 'A' list venue in Norfolk.......
A lovely music hall with a big stage and great PA/Technician, we were made to feel very welcome....
Thanks to that good guitarist Gizmo, one of our jammers at the Skegness festival, who took the time and trouble to broker us into this venue

Things were all looking great, until we realised that Bill had left the cymbals behind in his garage!!!!. Roger's drums looked somewhat like a Xmas tree without the decorations.... and the cheerful chappie himself looked more than a tad more dour than usual (ok, he looked SCAREY!!)...

Still the soundman came to the rescue with a limited set of cymbals from the local music class..... well done that man!!

Onto the show.... a massive festival 20 miles away featuring Dr Feelgood and Wishbne Ash led o it being a quietish night.
Still for the near 50 peple in the room it was a kicking gig.

Kelly had a night off and Suzie did a great job singing with Mandie. She also performed a lovely reading of 'Stormy Monday', as well as doing the job on the new song, 'Swamp Girl'.

Roger took the plaudits of the night however. He played an incredible drum solo in 'Voodood Queen' that made a nonsense of the fact that he was playing with 'toy' cymbals.

A lovely venue run by a man with a great name (Gary) - we'll be back on the 18/6/2010

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 28 November 2009

The Hope Tavern - Holton Le Moor - 4/10/09

Back into business at Holton Le Moor......
After Graham and his team completed their usual magical transformation of the venue, from sleepy Sunday eatery to initmate Blues Club, we were ready to rock....

We were greeted by a very decent sized crowd, with some people driving over 80 miles to see thier fave band (you are nuts, but we love you!)......

The stage is tiny at The Hope, which leads to the ultimate interactive audience experience (i.e. getting knocked over as people try to reach the toilets). Most of the crowd have all the CD's and the interactive banter was fantastic.

Kelly and Mandie sang well and Danny and I's trade off section on'Rock Me Baby' , really caught fire. Other than that it was 'The Answer' that provided the afternoon's goosebump moment.

It was great to see Bill and I's old school friend Boz and also our staunch supporters Nicky and Ray (get well Ray - we are thinking of you!).

A really good gig
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 17 November 2009

The Banham Barrell - 3/10/09 - Norfolk

A return to Banham, a great place run by the excellent Jonty and his team (dispensrs of some of the worlds most lethal cider).

This was probably our 10th time at this venue, where we have always had great support. Unfortunately, this was to prove another quietish night.

Still it was a good performance, with pride of place to both the new songs, 'Swamp Girl' and 'Rainmaker'. The crowd re-action to the girls gospel section at the end of Rainmaker was fantastic.

Roger's drum solo at the end of Voodoo Queen was particularly venemous, leading to the band crying out for a drugs test!!

Back into the vans for the drive up towards Lincoln/Holton Le Moor. We had rooms in Peterborough City Centre Travel Lodge and emerged into scenes of an alternative universe/drunken carnage, as Peterborough's late night revellers poured out of the clubs and into the back of waiting 'meat wagons'. Made me feel old and just like a Daily Mail reader...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Cafe T'Goor - Goreeind - Belgium - 24/9/08

The Sunday took us back to this excellent venue promoted by our long time friend and loyal supporter Michele Hofkens....

Paul the owner (great guy!!), met us and helped a super smooth set up... Bobje Blues the famous Belgian rock journalist, who used to be our European tour Manager was also waiting for us. It was quite emotional seeing him again.

Hester came down from Schiedam and top Belgian rock writer Alfons Maes was also in the crowd.
Surrounded by these great friends and believers, last night was just a distant memory.

Crowd was a medium capacity, which everybody put down to the fantastically hot afternoon for the time of year (temp was still in the 80's when we kicked off at 16.30). But it was still a good crowd, both in numbers and in spirit. They lifted the Band into delivering an excellent peformance.

Suzie and Kelly combined brilliantly on the afternoon. Their solo singing and harmonies really hit the spot (A great reading of Stormy Monday by Suzie in the 2nd set)....

The second set really 'kicked' on and my great friend Bobje (who has had it tough recently!) was moved by both 'Slip Away' and 'The Answer'

After 2 great encores the gig generated some fantastic photos by Bobje and a great
review by Alfons Maes which has already gone to print (we are waiting for the full translation)...

A superb high speed drive by Roger onto the last ferry......

Rog and I were out on deck relecting on a good mini tour, yet another financial loss. Still the Channel was calm and the stars were bright... and played 3, won ,was a pretty good score for the weekend....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 1 November 2009

The Rambler - Eindhoeven - Netherlands - 23/9/08

A return to this big and atmospheric venue in the centre of Eindhoeven....

I love the guys that run this venue and the last time we were there the crowd was good in the first set. However, this time was a major dissapointment. With numerous Dutch Independance Day festivals taking place in the vicinity, the crowd was far too small........

The small crowd in such a big and prestigous venue sucked the life out of the Band. We hit the ground running with Telling Lies as a kind of act of defiance and it rocked.

Though the people present were right behind the band and made lots of noise, band members were all miserable by the break and moaning about the sound (I thought the sound was good - ace soundman in Walter!), the lack of connection, that fact that they weren't immortal - you name it!. I spent the whole break on emotional damage control!...

Lovely venue, lined with coffins, seating from muscle/racing cars - i love it; and when The Cult play there next month, i think it might be packed...

Nights like this make me doubt the point of it all. Good old Danny accompanied me as I opted to walk back to the hotel (rather than ride the misery bus)...
The stars were pretty
Gary

Wrong evening, wrong planet.....wrong - killer version of Preacher Man though....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 October 2009

The Podium - Schiedam/Rotterdam - Netherlands - 217/9/09

Thanks to our great friend in The Netherlands, Hester (what a woman), we returned to The Podium. Last year we were introduced to this great, canal side venue by our good friends, Tim Smith and the Boys in The Brew.

Loius was a great sound man and though the place was not packed the Band went down a storm. The crowd were pounding on the tables at the end of each number and it sounded like the final charge in the movie Zulu (not a lot of people know that).

No Mandie on this trip, as numerous chest infections had taken thier toll (and no shortage of fans wanting to rub the vic in for her).

Kelly and Suzie worked wonders on the vocals and as the final blitz of Preacher Man rippled across the canal it was time for us to retire to a variety of sleeping arrangements.

Hester's hospitality know no bounds, having already fed, watered and acted as agent, manager and tour guide. she also put up Kelly and Suzie overnight. Bill and Danny went to an all night Nazi, Rockabilly marching concert but that is another starnge and twisted story.

Friday was a day off due the closure of a venue and the subsequant gig cancellation. We did the tourist thing aourn the canals and windmills of Scheidam. The weather was hot and as a group the vibe was terrific, such a shame we were burning money and plunging further into debt...
Still thats rock and roll

Here's to people who believe in music and offer up their homes and generosity beyond belief, in the name of keeping 'it' live. Thanks to Hester and all those great people we met in Schiedam

We came, we saw, we did a little sightseeing
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 11 October 2009

The Famous Late Night Blues Club - Oxford - 14/9/09

We returned to this great venue, but in truth it was a mixed night for the Band.

This venue run at The Bullingdon in the centre of Oxford, by music promoting ,larger than life legend, Philip Guy Davies, deserves full on support.

Unfortunately, word on the street was that attendances were dwindling in recent weeks. This proved to be the case, with only around 20 something people tunring up...

The Band have done well in the last year, in the sense that there has only been and handful of poorly attended gigs up to this point. Still band morale was down and I was dissapointed with the moans and groans I received from some band members. Still we put on a cracking show, sold a good few CD's (honestly) and the people present had a great time...

I guess that's the important thing, isn't it?????????
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 September 2009

Colne - the National R&B Festival - 30/8/09

Hopefully you've read the journalists review, which can be found under the review section of this Website.

Here's my personal perspective...........

It was great to be allocated the peak slot on the big stage at Colne. Our 7th year in a row., on this stage..and I have so many good memories of the different performances. The spirits of all the great players that have been in Roadhouse, felt really close to me as we played a record 93 minute set...

Clad in my brand new US purchased, glittery 'rock and roll' T Shirt ( a perusal of which on the post gig camcorder footage, showed me looking like an oversized glitterball at a gay disco). I launched the Band into 'Tellin Lies'.

Suzie also had a glittery top on and with a few 'stones' in Danny's shirt too, we were throwing light into the audience at a kind of poor mans Pink Floyd level (who needs lasers)......

Our new song 'Swamp Girl' was given an airing.... and no one believed that was only the 2nd time it had ever been played. This song is now cemented as a mainstay of the set....listen out for it.

The room filled up a treat for us and the big crowd (as ever at Colne were maginficent), a pleasure to playe to.

The girls put on a great show, compensating for my broken rib (leaving me with turning circle and manouverability of an oil tanker) and Bill and Roger were rock solid (from the neck upwards, of course)

The 'Big Easy' went really well (good lead vocal from Suzie) and a killer solo from Danny.

The 90 minutes blurred by and with the spotlights traversing the crowd 'Preacher Man' hit the sweet spot.....
Great ovation, CD sales, crowd and more memories....

Colne 2009 - One of our best -If you were there, thank you very much
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 24 September 2009

Colne - the National R&B Festival - 30/8/09

See the review by ace 'jorno' Darren Wisdom under the review section of this site.

The Band were so grateful for the support of the full house and the excellent stge crew of this major festival....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 16 September 2009

The Wervick Festival - Belgium - 19/7/09

A massive thank you to our great friend Phillipe Warlop, who arranged for us to play this festival and provided us with pre show hospitality.

A beautiful setting, with a big stage and massive PA in the towns main square. The hospitality of the organiseres was superb, as we were very well looked after.

The majority of the crowd positioned themselves in the row of bars to the right and left of the stage, leaving a bit of a gap centre square which was a little hard to play to.

This annual festival where one band plays per weekend, is taking its time to take off. Attendances last year were around the 200 mark, but by the time we had finished this nights show there was between 350-400 people there.

The band were on great form in the evening sunshine. All 3 girls sang superbly and Roger and Bill niled the beat. Due to the family element we played a few more covers than usual, but all the Roadhouse classics were given an airing including Blues Highway, Slip Away, Telling Lies, Preacher Man, The Answer, Sacrifice, and Voodoo Dance.....

The sun set over a well lit stage to a great crowd response and a double encore.
The people of Wervick were great hosts and a good crowd. CD sales were also very good. At the end we were offered the chance to come back in 2010 to play the major rock festival that the town is famous for. That festival pulls in excess of 4,000 people.

A great thanks to Philippe and the organisers and we'll hopefully be back for the big one next year.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 23 August 2009

The Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - 5/7/09

And now to the 2nd part of our 20 years on the road celebration. There was a planned synergy to this night, as we decided to share it with legendary Roadhouse band members Lorna Reilly and Jules Fothergill.

These guys have now chnaged their bands name from Funkydory to Northsyde, a Band to watch out for. Northsyde have just released a great new CD and are gigging at major festivals and internationally. Between them they gave around 10 years service to Roadhouse and it was fantastic to make this night a 'double header' with them.

I was pleased with the fantastic turn out with people making the trip to Sutton from as far away as Dorset, to be part of our celebrations. I could name check so many of the approx 120 people in the room, but then this review would go on for ever (just like us).

First up were Northsyde, now stripped down to a 3 peice from their Funkdory days. Jules's rich tone brought back a lot of memories, as did Lorna's emotional, funky and soulful delivery. A great set, which was topped off by their excellent and clever version of 'Whipping Post'. Losing the extra guitar and stripping the music back a notch has given them a much rawer and emotional edge - catch them!

A quick turn around and the crowd were with us as we launched into the traditional 'stomp along' intro to 'Tellin Lies'. The crowd reaction was great throughout our 1 hour plus set.

We cooled it down for Kelly to sing a great version of 'The Lying Game' and Mandie to 'nail it' on 'House of the Rising Sun'.

'The Preacher Man' encore(featuring some excellent Southern frieid shredding from Danny) was followed by Mr Feenstra himself coming on stage and saying some very generous words about the Band (good man Pete).

Jules and Lorna then joined the 2004 version of Roadhouse (well most of it) on stage, for an amazingly polished version of 'I Couldnt Get To Sleep' .
It was like stepping into the tardis!!!

Danny was back up at the end, duelling away with Jules, over Mandie and Kelly blasting out 'Rock Me Baby'

A truly great night, one i'll personally never forget, thanks to all our family and friends, members present and past.....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 July 2009

The Beaverwood Club - Chislehurst - 2/7/09

As part of the celebration of us beginning our 20th year on the road, we returned to Pete Feenstra's excellent Real Music club.

The last time we had played here, we had only attracted a crowd of around 30 or so people. This was a really hot day in the middle of the heat wave and Wimbledon was in full swing, so crowdwise our expectations were not great.

However, this turned into a storming night. With 32 advance bookings and over 90 people in the smallish (but very nice) room, there was a great atmosphere.

We made a lot of new friends, but it was great seeing so many people singing along to the songs and demanding requests from numbers spread across the 10 albums.

One loyal supporter came by motorbike from Norfolk and the overall level of backing we received that night made me feel very humble.

The band were on great form. a slow and moody start on 'Blues Highway', kicked into 'No Place To Hide' and then the title track of the new CD, 'Sea of Souls'. Danny played an awesome solo on 'Slip Away' and the girls were feeding off the energy we were getting from the crowd, with both some great vocals and on stage 'getting down to it' antics.

The 2nd set was like a rollercoaster as Roger and Bill drove us through 'Voodoo Dance', 'Roadhouse Blues', 'Tellin Lies' and a double encore of 'Preacher Man' and 'Sacrifice'.

CD sales were brilliant (Thanks girls!)
A great gig and a night to remember - thanks Pete
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 July 2009

The Mitcham Carnival - 13/6/09

Having missed out on our iconic, regular headline at the Merton Abbey Mills/South London Blues Festival due to change of booking agent - as compensation we were offered the headline slot here and a retutn to Merton Abbey next year......

Pete Walder does so much for events and live music, as demonstrated by this new event at the Mitcham Carnival . A lovely open air stage in the right hand corner of the canrival site, with excellent PA and crew.
We arrived early and could not believe it when we saw Buffalo Bill's (iconic harp player) Band only be seen by a handful of people.

On to our headline slot at 4pm. By now about 70-100 people lay on the grass, in the afternoon sun in front of the stage area, including aroiund 30 or so Roadhouse fans (special thanks to Kelly for the promotion)...mind you around 1,000 or so people in close proximity would have heard the music.

Suzie was down in London, so it was a full strength Roadhouse, with all 3 girl singers that hit the stage.. We had a ball, played the full festival set plus encore. Great stage prefromance and the crowd loved it - fun for all, and the end of a run of a few dodgy gigs for us........

' Telling Lies', 'House of the Rising Sun', 'Not Fade Away',
'Slip Away', Voodoo Dance', '
'Sacrifice' , 'Roadhouse Blues' and then the obvious Preacher Man ,with Suzie and Kelly swapping killer vocal lines to great effect. Bill and Roger were as solid as a rock and Danny had return to form.

All in all an enjoyable and appreciated afternoon in the sun.....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 27 June 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 11/6/09

Back at the Woodman and a relatively quiet night to consolodate my dissapointment over the last few gigs.

Still, there was plenty of great music. Geronimo produced a blues number that he had written over 20 years ago and it was magic. Adrian was back on the Drums, Jon Griffin sat in on Bass for Pete Bedford and Burlesque. Funky George Dare was back to drum through the last 3 sets.

We had the traditional double finish of Terry Brennan (The Big Boss Man Himself!) and the amzing Syd on the Banjo.

The Roadhouse se was good other than when we attempted 'Lights on Water'. This song has always had backing vocal problems since Mandie & Kelly became our most regular singers. Harmonies have wandered ( a bit like going for walk down to the corner shop and then ending up in Bejing). 2 weeks ago Kelly did this song superbly on her own. This time the errant vocals combined with Danny trying a complete alternative to the normal guitar lines/style, left me and the song to die a death....never again!!!!

The rest of the set was fantastic. I'm always amazed how limp our perfromances are at the jam, like we can't be botherered to get out of first gear. But not on this night. 'Brooklyn Blues' kicked off with Mandie and Kelly's voices combining beautifully. The version of 'Sacrifice' was a killer, with Danny superb on the slide and Kels and Mandie producing a wall of sound that gave me chills. Frank Dymore joined in on percussion and the whole thing was one of the best versions of this great number I've ever played.

Onto the Mircham Carnival this coming weekend.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 20 June 2009

The Yardbids Club - Grimsby - 30/6/09

Our 3rd time at this great purpose built rock venue, built above the associated bikers club.

This was our 3rd visit and on the last 2 we had pulled really good crowds. this time the doorman predicted a bad night. The combination of another really hot day and the cup final buggered things up for us.

At the highpoint, there was about 50-60 people in the room (where we usually get around 120-150). I apologised to the excellent Robbo, who runs the place. He was ok with things, especially as only around 10 people had turned up for a good band the night before.

A really good local support band opened, but were plagued by a wicked buzz coming off the stage. The same buzz was to be ever present throughout our set.
We had a good sound guy as usual, but there were loads of PA problems. Monitors were cutting in and out, feedback and levels changing, added to our frustration. The stage configuration had changed leaving Danny Sardined into the corner like a Japanese commuter.

There were about 15 Roadhouse supporters down the front. We really went for it, and some of the solos and numbers were inspired. Robbo wants us back but I still think we lost this one 2-1

Let's try again next year if we are all still alive
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 13 June 2009

The Highway - Hull - 29/11/08

For the 2nd time we were back on the 'Highway to Hull' (forgive the Pun).....

Terry and Pam run the place and have done great things for the live music scene in that part of the world. This is about the 3rd venue they have had to build from scratch, into a top notch music venue. Last time we played here they were away on hols, but this time it was good to meet them.

Last time the crowd was a good size, very appreciative and friendly (which is basically why we came back). This time a really hot day put paid to that. the amount of barbacue fires visible in the steets around the venue made me feel like 'General Custer at the Little Big Horn'.....

The crowd got to a reasonable size, but were not as appreciative as last time. Mandie was very brave singing on a nasty chest and throat infection. As a consequence the vocals were not at their best, even Kelly seemed to be slightly off form.

We tried really hard and rocked with a vengance and managed to get an encore.
It was an ok night, but not what we had hoped for.

Met some great people, played some good stuff - oh well ......maybe this was a
1-1 draw
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 13 June 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 28/5/09

Musically a good night at the Woodman.....

John O'leary was back again with a quality set, Geronimo rocked with some great instrumentals. Jimmy Dublin finished off the night with Adrew Heart on bass and these guys powered out some 60's great retro rock classics...

Tim Matthewman played 2 great sets on the bass, and as usual blew the crowd away with his soloing.

Mandie was sidelined with a chest infection so Kelly played the gig on her own. This enabled Roadhouse to play 'Lights on the Water' for the first time in ages (we'd stopped playing the song due to problems with the backing harmonies). As well as doing great on 'Lights' , Kel sang the 'Lying Game' and we experimented with a slow version of 'Rock Me Baby'. This enabled Danny and I to indulge in some slower than usual guitar trade offs.....fun

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 6 June 2009

The Happy Frenchman - Folkestone - 16/5/09

Well our run of 6 hot gigs in a row had to come to end sometime. Here it kind of hit an enormous wall, rather than gently running out of momentum......

Researched (badly) as Folkestone's top venue, we were surprised to find it was basically a pub with a mixture of real music lovers (low percentage) and drunks on a night out (high percentage) . Now don't get me wrong, I've nothing against drunks on a night out (probably sums up Roadhouse on tour)... However, due to some local factors, initial attendance was low. Atmosphere non existant and though we tried hard the whole thing was typical of the Band about 8 years ago playing C list pubs in London.

We tried hard in the first set but the re-action was apathetic. We were supported by the managements half time pep talk, that we were brilliant and everybody loved us, they were just a bit 'shy' and we just needed to change the lighting by removing a couple of light bulbs.

The pub fillled up in the second half with mixture or drunken soldiers, bikers (hooray to see them) and some strange, predatory looking women in their late 50's, fresh out of a Wim Wenders movie (hold onto your Gerbils). We and they rocked quite a bit more in the second set. An encore was played and the girls had to be surgically extracted from the pub...

It got a lot better, but then it really needed to...

Not one for the book of memories...
Gary

Met some nice people

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 31 May 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 14/5/09

A good crowd at this jam and a high standard of music.....

Mandie's friends returned with
the excellent Eddie on guitar and vocals leading the way, joined by jam regular Byron Banks, for duelling harps great stuff .....

It was good to see John O'Leary back at the jam and the classy bluesman delivered a great set joined by Eddie on the guitar.

Roadhouse played well and the crowd went home very happy.......

This is the 8th year of the jam and its really great that it still alive and providing a showcase for live music in South West London...

Nice to see Anne Campbell in the crowd (Roadhouse legends never die)

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 31 May 2009

The East Harling Blues Festival - Norfolk - 2/5/09

East Harling's Blues Club has been a staple stopping place on our circuit for the last few years. This year for the first time they had a 'Blues & Booze' festival across the bank holiday weekend. With such excellent other bands involved as Egypt (ex Groundhogs) and The Grapevine Blues Band, we were very happy with our Saturday night headline slot.

We were the 4th act on in the day and the big room filled up really well for our 10pm start. Our 6th storming gig in a row, this is officially a new record for Roadhouse. Both set's kicked proverbial arse and every Band member was on top form.

We had a lot of friends and fans there and it was great to see so many familiar faces.
For a new festival, this one looks a winner. This gig went so well, I didn't start to feel exhausted until the 2nd encore........a reord for this year. Maybe there is hope for the old git yet. well done to Bill and Roger, solid as a rock all night.....

Here's to next year - be warned new songs have been written!!!!!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 17 May 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 16/4/09

An even quieter jam.......
Maybe a contributory factor is that thet new jam sessions are popping up around London just like new cases of swine flu.
Many of our regulars are now running their own sessions. Best of luck to all, wouldn't it be a miracle if live music grew in popularity......

Still by the start their was a respectable number of people present. We had no problem filling the running order with some ace musicians and some quality music.

Mandie brought down some new guys she'd met at a jam in Acton and they were great as we kicked off with duelling harps (a la Alabama 3). Then superb guitarist Eddie sang a song and impressed all with his great technique.

Geronimo was back from Spain and belted out some classic rock and both ace bass players, Tim Matthewman and Andrew Heart were on form. The night finished with the traditional sexual interplay between Jimmy Dublin and Mandie on 'Whole Lot of Love' (Watch out for the trade descriptions act) and Syd on his banjo, plonking us iconically into the night.

For the record Roadhouse performed 'The Lying Game' (welcoming back Kelly from her hols in Columbia), 'House of the Rising Sun' , 'Sacrifice' and 'The Answer'.

See you in 2 weeks
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 10 May 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 16/4/09

Another Woodman Jam and a quiet one for a chnage. Musicians were as thin on the ground as the hair on my head, not to say they were thin, as most musicians are fat (poor eating and drinking habits and bad nutritional advice, anyway who needs fat hair!)....

Andrew Heart is not fat and is not just a bass player, as his 3rd solo rock guitar/60's classics vocal performance was very well executed and a real crowd pleaser. Well done Andrew.....

James Dublin (of course it's his real name, Dublin was named after him) climaxed the night with his great tone and a superb performance. Then Terry Brennan rolled back the years (a la HG.Wells) for a performance classic of 2 songs that ended with the words 'man' - well done mate, a table of ladies luvved it all up

And Kelly was on holiday in Costa Coffee (its all she could afford) - sorry Costa Rica - memories a funny thing at my age...

Hope more come down on the 30th May
Thanks to all
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 29 April 2009

The Blues Cafe - Harrogate - 12/4/09

We arrived in Harrogate at around 02.15am, and then had the rare experience of kicking our heels around town all day, waiting for the nights show.

It was a great night at Simon and Sharon Colgan's intimate but very atmospheric venue.

Many of Mandie's family turned up for quite a touching family re-union, while we were paid a big complement by a lot of people, who left the Burnley Festival and drove to Harrogate to catch the show.

A packed room, a fantastic response and the 6th cracking gig in a row (def an all time record). Highlights included Sharon herself singing 'Stormy Monday', Suzie back on 'The Big Easy' and Mandie wrapping her tonsils round 'Heavens Door'.

By the end I felt like I was running on empty and nearly died when the crowd would not let us away with a single encore.....
It was a long, long way back to London, just in time for breakfast............(then I nearly did die)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 18 April 2009

Burnley National Blues Festival - 11/4/09

We were headlining the smaller Festival/Press Room Stage, with the 22.00 hours slot.

After a rapid turn around with the excellent Jay Tamkin Band, we were ready to rock (even though monitor levels were decidedly dodgy). Jay's band had rocked, but for some strange reason the audience re-action was only lukewarm. We were determined that would not happen to us.

As a consequence we opened with a kicking 'Tellin Lies' and then brought the level down with a epic version of 'Blues Highway'. With Kelly on holiday it was great to be working with Suzie again and she was on great form. Both girls nailed their showcase numbers, Suzie on 'The Lying Game' and Mandie on 'House of The Rising Sun'. The repsonse was great...

As ever the second set was even better with killer versions of 'Voodoo Dance', 'All Along The Watchtower', 'Slip Away' & 'Voodoo Queen'
After the encore the feedback was fantastic, the stage manager and bar staff said they "Wanted us to keep playing and playing" and we had a number of approaches for gigs and tours.

5th cracking gig in a row and out best appearance at Burnley by a distance.
Must be a record
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 15 April 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 2/4/09

A good jam, Roadhouse were at full strength and there was a decent turn out. Overall a good jam.
See everyone in 2 weeks
Keeping music live, spontaneous and local
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 15 April 2009

The Banham Barrell - 28/3/09

Our fave venue in Norfolk, we love Jonty and his hard core, music loving staff...
So many old friends came out for this one... it was great to see Alan Harvey again, a man/jounalist/photographer who'd been such a great early champion of the Band....To many friends to mention really.

The overall view from the Band was of some disconnection in the first set (though I enjoyed it). We'd brought back the duelling guitars on 'Rock Me Baby' and the crowd lapped it up...I enjoyed opening with 'The Amswer' for a change

The 2nd set was top rate. From 'Voodoo Dance' to 'The Roadhouse Blues' and 'Slip Away' played as a tribute to heart attack victim and top drummer at our Jam, Reg Isidore (of Robin Trower fame).

3rd great gig on the spin
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 10 April 2009

The Famous Late Night Blues Club - Oxford - 23/3/09

Monday night and our first gig in Oxford at The Bullingdon....

We got to meet the living legend, promoter Philip Guy Davis, what a character and a great guy....

It was a worry for him, having any Band for the first time. But the crowd was a good size and according to the punters nearly double what he'd had for Kent Du Chane on the previous gig. We'll pull more for him next time....

This was the 2nd great performance in a row. The band played really well. Mandie was in a good mood and on top, top form....

Which brings me on to Danny (directional dyslexia) Gwilym. We waited an hour for the soundcheck as Danny was bringing Kelly and overshot the motorway exit by four entire junctions...... A record, even for this Band.

The two sets shot bye in record time and the audience re-action was first rate. a number of CD collectors were there looking to augment their Roadhouse back catalogue and CD sales went over the £200 mark.

A double encore of 'Preacher Man' and 'Sacrifice' ended a classic gig.. We hope to return...


Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 5 April 2009

The Limelight Theatre - Aylesbury - 20/3/09

Thanks to Derek White for booking us for this great gig. A small Theatre but with great atmosphere, fantastic sound system (and engineers) and alarge playing area. Highly recommended as a music venue

The only dissapointment on a great night, was the relatively low crowd numbers. Pre- bookings were worryingly low at only 26, but on the night the crowd swelled to near 50, but it was still below the promoters break even point.

What did the absent people miss:

- A decent support Band
- An excellent Roadhouse performance
- A Fantastic music loving crowd, who were responsive and created a great atmosphere.

From the opening 'Blues Highway' to the double encore including 'Preacher Man' the Band were on top form both vocally and musically.

It was one of those times where I truly appreciated all the great people currently in the Band (I usually hate the fuckers); their friendship, trust and support that has enabelled us to achieve so much in our 19th year......

Highlights for me were some of Danny's guitar solo's (particualry on 'The Answer' and 'Voodoo Queen'), Rogers Drum solo and a killer vocal by Mandie on 'Rising Sun'. But everyone played great (including me - a good guitar night for yours truly!) so it's wrong to single out individual contributions...

Well done all and on to Oxford on Monday

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 28 March 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 19/3/09

While I had been away Pete Bedford and Burlesque has run the last Woodman jam, a major thanks to those guys. Unfortunately they had a poor turnout, so we expected the worst on this night.

However, though not packed we had a great jam, with a reasonable crowd and a good number of musicians.

The highlight for me was Kelly and Mandie singing for some regular and new Jammers, and sounding great....Geronimo continues his return with a damn fine version of 'Freebird' with Andrew Heart playing some great bass.

See everyone in two weeks time
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 28 March 2009

Le Blues Autour Du Zinc Festival - Beavais, France, 12th & 13/3/09

The first festival apearance in France for us.
The good stuff first:
- We were really well looked after, hotel was fine and all meals were served for all the musicians under the big top, main stage arena, at set times. Bands had been sourced from all over Europe, so this was great for Networking and seeing friends like label mates The Brew and The Mustangs. The food and red wine, went down very well.

Once we turned up at our designated venue we found the organisation to be more laid back/chaotic.
We were in Wallabies, an Australian bar North of Paris (such is cultural diversity these days!). We were 3rd on the Bill both nights with some very strange Bands in the opening/supporting slots.

First up were to The Manic R&B driven youngsters in the
The Experimantal Tropic Blues Band - after some crowd surfing, female crwod memeber stalking antics the front man 'climaxed' by dropping his pants and trousers and flagellating his willy with his guitar lead... 'electric' and of course 'experimental'. The 2nd band wer also young and had attitude and other than being repetitive were not bad; and then after a delay (as no turn arounds had been tmetabled for ), we were on.

The Friday night perfromance was a really good one. Starting with a storming clap along with 'Tellin Lies' and 'Voodoo Dance', Suzie, Kels and Mandie laid down there 3 solo slots to great acclaim...
Our version of 'Roadhouse Blues/Jim Morrison est Mort en Paris' was very well played

The only shame about the Friday was that a portion of crowd drfited away as we went past midnight, in order to get their positions for the late night events in the main arena.

By the end of Preacher Man I thought we'd done a great job and all around us were very complementary.

Come Saturday PM, some more chaotic communication and a no sound, sound check. The local organizers at Waalabies were inviting us to go on first due to the 'alternative nature' of the 2 other Bands - which in my mind was a thinly disguised ploy the female orgainser to get her Faves, Deltahead who she'd imported from Sweden further up the Bill.

We didnt move and the aformentioned lady managed to spoil most of our evening by encouraging Deltahead to overplay by 15 minutes and then to sell their CD's and not bother to pack their gear down for another 20 minutes.

I will not describe Deltahead on this website other than to say they played 15 minutes of intro music via a 'His Masters voice' style gramaphone, had all their faces painted white like clowns, and played a punk alternative style that only Suzie and Kelly 'got'. They were of course from Sweden (the Worlds highest rate of suicide also comes from Sweden)

Good old Fred the owner agreed to let us play past the 1am deadline (well done Mandie, for her 'influencing' skills). By the time we got on (past midnight) a screaming monitor (right in my face) and sound balance issues had taken my patience to the limit.

Amazingly we were going down a storm, even better then on the Friday. People were dancing on the bar and
geting right behind us. Half way through our 3rd song, 'Sacrifice' my pedal board blew up and in the 5 mins it took good old Bill to solve the problem about a 3rd of the big crowd had drfited away.

Around this time I did unusually for me, totally lose my rag and was snapping at fellow band members, left right and centre. I think if someone had told me I'd never have to play another gig agan at this time I would have celebrated..

Somehow we finsished the set and got a better response than on Friday, when we had played so much better.

An interesting weekend....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 22 March 2009

The Bulls Head - Barnes - 2/3/09

To our annual birthday bash at one of Londond's top Jazz venues....
It was the night of my Birthday and a celebration of Roger reaching 60 (god knows how he's made it!).

If overcoming my health issues to play was not enough of a challange, I stuck a bread knife through my left index finger at lunch time, just to give myself a reasonable level of challenge for the night.......

It was fantastic to see so many people out supporting us on a cold Monday night during the 'credit crunch'. So many people who are special to the Band. Both old friends and new.

Jimmy Dublin, Geronimo and Byron Banks (Harp) kicked off the night with 3 blues grooved songs. Next up was Pete Sargeant (a great friend to, and supporter of the Band) on bass and vocals joined by our host, promoter George Mcfall on the drums.

The Roadhouse set opened with a very emotional version of 'The Answer' - it hurt, but I was playing the guitar pretty well (just leaking a bit!).
Kelly and Mandie nailed versions of 'The Lying Game' and 'Rising Sun' (and were on all round top form).
The failure of Kelly's mic, lead to some Lesbian style mike sharing antics, that certainly 'warmed' the crowd up..
Voodoo Dance rocked it up several notches, before an emotional 'Slip Away' (great solo Danny!) segged into a stomping 'Telling Lies'.
Bill & Roger were rock solid in a great all round Band performance. Personal intros with much onstage birthday banter, punctuated Voodoo Queen, before Preacher Man gave the set a 'stadium' style finale....

John O'Leary then played the night out with some great harp driven blues....

So fantastic to see people like Darren Wisdom, who has written such great national reviews of the Band and Roadhouse legend Anne Campbell, whose efforts drove the Band forwards for years..

There is life yet.......
Off to the big festival in France now
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 March 2009

Jam Sessions - The Woodman - Wimbledon - 5&19/2/09

A tale of 2 jam sessions....

After the massive crowds and fantastic reponse at Skegness, jam session one was a reality check.
A thin night musician wise and with only about 20 loyal supporters.. it was hard for the Band to produce any energy in their opening set.
We played 'When Mountains Fall' for the first time for years. the girls did great with the vocals but Danny and I's solos did not cut the mustard.

Later in the night Danny and I redeemed ourselves with an epic 'Watchtower' (longest one yet i reckon...).
Some nice performances by the jammers but a poor night in my perception.

The second jam had a much bigger crowd and the Roadhouse set was re-energised. 'We played 'Mountains Fall' again and this time the guitars were good and the vocals all over the place (we'll get it right sooner or later!)......
Nice sets from Jimmy (the tone) Dublin and a great young Band in the new Band slot....
A good night
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 March 2009

Skegness Festival - Centre Stage - 25/1/09

To possibly our greatest big stage performance......

The upside of being the opening act in the 2,000 plus capacity big room/Centre Stage is that you have a lot of time for your set up. The down side is that you could have a poor crowd, as people tend to drift in after dinner.

There was a 'healthy' amount of tension through the dressing room before, which for Kelly meant vocal warm up exercises and for the rest of us meant drinking and or worrying. We stuck our head round the curtains with 10 minutes to go and there was only about 3-400, in a well deserted room. Still we had to tackle the show 'Full on', or it just would not work....

We were announced and the Safety Curtain rolled up as Roger hammered into the drum intro for 'Voodoo Dance' . My first thought was 'Where did all the people come from....'
The girls 'danced with the devil' (very nicely) and the 1st number had gone down great.

Second up was 'The Answer' and as the song opens with me singing and playing a difficut set of guitar arpeggios on my own, a tester. Bearing in mind my continuing decline in health and the battles still to come, this was lyrically and emotionaly a big song for me personally.

It went great, the only dodgy moment being when I glanced stage left and saw my my face up on the giant screen, in close up (sporting more chins than the Hong Kong phone directory - ghastly!)... Danny was getting into his stride the girls sounded great and I even managed a half decent solo...

Three songs for the lucious ladies next, Suzie downsizing the Arena into a smokey, intimate club, with her stylish reading of the 'Lying Game'. Kelly comfortably belting out 'The Big Easy' and Mandie reapeating yesterdays epic Success with 'House of the Rising Sun'. She got a standing ovation from a room that was now very full (amazing as we were up against The Rats in the other Big Room = members of the Boomtown Rats without Bob Geldorf, who apparently had a poor crowd).

'Sacrifice' was given its big stage debut and 'Telling Lies' provoked an outbreak of air guitar playing. Then came Voodoo Queen. First I totally went blank on how to play the intro and then we regained some cred by getting a good portion of the crowd to sing along in true 'stadium style' (thanks peeps - very kind of you). Rogers strobe lit drum solo was the highlight of the Band introductions and overall the Skegness crew did a great job with both the sound and a top light show.

There was no doubt about the encore and Preacher Man took up up to a set time of around an hour and 5 minutes.

What a great crowd response and for me a validation of some very hard times and shed loads of pain, to get to this point...

Photo call from the great Alan White, CD's and Autographs and then the long road home.

But surprise, Roger had recorded the whole show (and filmed it). we listened and were quiet impressed..... wonder what the DVd will look like

Thanks to the great crew at Skeggy, to Alan Pearce, Pete Barton and the amazing crowd.

Photos available from:
(Girls are looking good)

http://flickr.com/photos/cpdigital/sets/72157613015103485/

Group photo from on this page is very nice...
http://www.earlyblues.com/Skegness%20Rock%20&%20Blues%20Festival%202009%20Sunday%20Evening.htm

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 7 February 2009

Roadhouse Live At Skegness - JAKS Set & The Skeggy Jam - 24/1/09

At 12.15pm the 450 capacity JAKS room was only at half capacity. But when we kicked off at 12.30 with a storming 'No Place To Hide', it was nearly full.

The crowd were great getting right behind the Band as we played a set from which we would only repeat 2 songs on the main stage on Sunday night. Next up was 'Blues Highway' where my solo by some strange trick of the acoustics was given an ovation.

The girls came into play on 'Help Me' and then Mandie as usual grabbed the limelight with her killer version of 'Rising Sun'.
Danny was really enjoying himself, playing great and with Bill and Roger totally in the groove, it was a very good performance.

'Slip Away' and 'Sea of Souls' benefitted from both great female vocals and amazing solos from Danny and we resolved our first set with a cool version of 'Roadhouse Blues' .

On to the jam, what a success. Unlike last years icomic 'Dave Jam' (where 13 of the performing musicians were named Dave), we only had 3 Dave's on the play list.
After an opening set of all jammers meeting for the first time, we had a killer set featuring Tim & Kurt Smith and Jason Barwick (my fave young guitarist ) from The Brew, playing with our own Danny.G and with Mick Rutherford on the vocals. A great set by any standards.

Loads of good visiting players came out of the audience, including people like Gizmo on the guitar, Bob on the Harp and John and Dave on the drums. But many Bands joined in, including The Mick Rutherford Band , The Sugar Bee's and Green.M.

The crowd loved it and JAKS was rammed (the biggest ever Jam crowd). None of the players and singers let the crowd down (well done Maggie on the vocals - great voice!)...

At the end we closed the afternoon with 'Heavens Door' and then a rousing 'Preacher Man'.
An afternoon to remember. Here's to Tomorrow on Centre Stage
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 6 February 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 22/1/09

A relatively quiet Jam saw the Band complete their final preparation for the giant Skegness festival.
It was great to welcome back Suzie.D, as the girls practiced their 3 way vocals on the big dramatic numbers, including 'Slip Away' and 'The Answer'.
It was nice to see Dave Dicks (great harp player) return to the jam. And overall it was a good, bluesy evening.
Next stop Skegness.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 6 February 2009

Walkern Music At Timbers - Stevenage - 17/1/09

A fantastic night at Trevor Keelings great new incarnation of Walkern Music at Timbers.

I was really impressed by the lovely galleried room. The night kicked off with a good set from the local Cole House Porter Band (fully equipped with 3 dancing girls and a hell of a boogie piano player).

A good crowd of around a hundred was value for a wet and cold evening in mid January.

We kicked off with 'Telling Lies', 'Sea of Souls' and 'Voodoo Dance'. Kelly and Mandie weighed in with 'Help Me', 'The Big Easy' and 'House of The Rising Sun' (again bringing the 'house' down so to speak).

Passionate versions of 'The Answer' and 'Voodoo Queen' brought on a triple encore of 'Preacher Man', 'Heavens Door' & 'Sacrifice' (the set lasted 110 minutes).

Crowd reaction was great & CD sales wonderful. I must apologise to Danny and Roger, as due to the fact that I was having a rare low pain night from my muscle disease and consequently had as good a night as gets for me on the guitar, I was a 'tad loud' on stage (sorry guys!).
Well played Bill who held the whole thing together

A great night and a venue I'd recommend to anybody.
Thanks to Trevor and Richard for having us

We'd love to come back.....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 18 January 2009

Proud Camden Blues Jam - 11/1/09

A bit of history as we fronted the opening night of the 'Proud of The Blues Jam' at the fabulous gallery space/venue of Proud Camden.

First the bad news, the venue has awful access for bands. with a very long carry in through the surrounding market and the throngs of people. It also didn't help that the afternoon jazz jam had overun, just adding to the confusion adn pandemonium.

However, the good news was:
- A fabulous room,
- A big stage,
- A great PA,
- Good sound man and overall sound/lighting.

A number of our regular jammers had followed us across from South West London, including Byron Blake on harp, John Griffin and Nicollete on guitars and vocals and the great Jimmy Dublin (who the crowd loved!).

There were some awesome jammers there from central London too and overall for an opeining night, it was very good. At one point there was about 75 people in the room getting right behind Roadhouse and then the jammers.

Special cerdit to Roger Hunt who jammed for 90% of the night and did a great job.

I'm leaving the next 2 weeks in the hands of Mark and Tony of the brillaint 'Jam Pact' and then one Sunday from Jimmy Dublin. This one could catch fire as a regular event.

We'll be back on the 13th February
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 18 January 2009

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 8/1/0908

The New Years Jam at the Woody - With rumours/predictions that the Brewery were going to stop all music at all their pubs regardless of individual success, tension was high. A lot of poeple turned up to see whether this was going to be the last jam at The Woodman.

However, news on the night was good, Martin had not received the predicted 'stop notice' and we will roll on ( the usual once every two weeks basis).

Roadhouse played 'Lights On The Water' for the first time for ages and other than some dodgy 'oooohhh sections', Kelly and Mandie had worked out the harmony problems. Mandie was shortly up with some young guitarists to sing a very sweet blues. ~ when it was Kelly's turn she did great with 'Sweet Home Chicago' (after a false start with Proud Mary - they didnt know it!)

Jimmy Dublin was back again to play the nights stand out set with Jeff Nicholson, including a great Bass solo from Tim Matthewman. A good night.
See you in 2 weeks
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Zoom at the Moon - The Half Moon - Hearne Hill - 3/1/09

Well to 2009 and a Staurday gig at Pete Feenstra's classy big stage venue was scheduled a little too close to the New Year this time.

It was a freezing cold night and early in the evening it looked like we'd be playing to handful of people.
However, the crowd grew respectably into the 40' plus and got right behind the Band.

Jimmy Dublin was up as first our support act. With Andrew Heart on the bass and our very own Rog on the drums Jimmy got the evening off to a great and very well appreciated start. His tone was full and rich and choice of material spot on.

We played straight through for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Bearing in mind we'd had a 2 week break we were remarkably on form. 'Voodoo Dance 'and 'Sea of Souls' kicked us off. Mandie and Kelly brough the house down respectively with 'House of the Rising Sun' and 'The Lying Game'. Sacrifice was given a rare outing and powerfully delivered, with Danny playing some tasty slide.
When we came off stage a good number of people said it was the best version of 'Slip Away' ever. I don't know about that, but the song itself rolled nicely along in all its depressing, monolithic majesty.

What a great way to start the year. Thanks to all the eskimos who came out for the gig and to Mr Feenstra himself.
Happy New Year
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 12 January 2009

The Xmas Jam - The Woodman - Wimbledon - 11/12/08

A large crowd and a great night at the Xmas jam. It was like the old days with so many punters and musicians turning up. I was unable to fit them all the musicians in, even though we overan by 15 minutes (to 11.15) . Special apologies to Terry Brennan as a jam regular I could not fit in.

It was lovely to see John O'Leary and Robin Bibi playing together in my 'select set' of the night, and Joe X provided some great guitar playing in the 2nd set.

Roadhouse rounded off 2008 with a rocking 4 song set including The Bands current fave Voodoo Dance.

Martin (our landlord) played Santa with his excellent mince pies, but wth talk of the Brewery either cutting back on all live music including the jam, from early next year onwards, there was a sad nip in the air.

After 10 Years could the next jam on the 8th Janaury be the last one, we shall see.....
Happy Xmas and a Happy New Year to all live music lovers,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 4 January 2009

The Lady of the Lake - Lowestoft - 6/12/08

Our 3rd week in a row on the road, promoting the new CD, Sea of Souls.

This long journey took us back to 'The Lady', where Paul the owner has continued to develop this excellent venue. Now along with the nice, big stage is some quality lighting and dressing room facilities.

The last time we'd played here had been Sept 2007, for Paul's birthday and the place had been packed. So we were diaapointed to travel such a long way for the relatively small turn out. We played to around 0-40 people in the first set and 70-100 were in te Venue for the 2nd.


Still the Band played well and as usual the second set was so much better than the first. The re-action was good, sales were OK and both the owner & the local music lovers were full of praise.....


On the way home I reflected on all the great trips/tours/gigs both played and achieved this year, aginst a background of declining market and medical and personal adversity, well done to the whole Band.

We've agreed to return here as Paul is such a great guy....
Lets hope it rocks the next time
Next up for us and last gig of 2008, is the Xmas jam
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 13 December 2008

The Yardbirds Club - Grimsby - 29/11/08

So after killing time in a freezing marrket place, in a nice posh place called Beverley, the Roadhouse Tour crossed the fog shrouded Humber Bridge into an icy Grimsby.........

Our great ally Tim Smith of The Brew had got us this great gig orginally. The last time we played there Tim and boys came up and jammed and turned it into a real party night. Tonight Tim's Mum was ill and we were firmly on our own. The question was, as usual, what kind of turnout would there be on this freezing night????

This is a great rock and roll/biker venue and built for Roadhouse gig. It's great to have a nice sized dressing room with Kitchen and TV etc and we entertianed an old school friend of Bill and I's who'd driven up from Lincoln for the show.

Well tonight was a hands down win with a large turnout, good repsonse and health CD sales. The band kicked, after being honed by 2 weeks on the Road. Danny was really enjoying himself, revelling in the large stage, big PA environment, carving out huge chunks of tasty rock guitar. We also saw the beginning of fruition of Mandie's new Partnership with Kelly,as both girls rocked out nicely.

Number wise, 'Heavens Doorr' is having a new lease of life, with Kelly's backing vocal giving Mandie a solid platform to work her magic from. 'Sacrifice' is back in set with Danny making nonsense of his lack of experience on the slide guitar. My faves of the night were, ' The Answer' and 'Voodoo Dance', which really rocked. Bill's new bass rig has also given him a massive shot in the arm and would you believe he is now playing solo sections????

It was one of the longest drives home in Roadhouse history (UK wise). The long drive gave me time to reflect on how proud I was of everyone and so honoured that these great people were prepared to play my music.........I'ts now about health battles and finding strength for the longer haul - worth it - big time
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 13 December 2008

The Highway - Hull - 28/11/08

Sing it, all together!, I know you want to........., here we go, "Were on the Highway to Hull, We're on the Highway to Hull....... ok, ok, I know it wasn't that funny...

This is a relatively new venue, run by the legendary folk who'd established Hulls top venue but had been moved by the Brewery.
On arrival we were a little dissapointed to find that The Highway had all the rock ambience of a Beefeater...

However, by showtime the place was full of warm, friendly music lovers. The crowd were with us from the opening 'Blues Highway' and then as we hit the rocking 'No Place To Hide' we knew we were on a winner.....

By the time we had rocked out to Voodoo Dance and Preacher Man, we received a double encore in which we gave 'White Water' a rare but enjoyable outing...

A great night, good crowd and we hope to be back
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 10 December 2008

The Blues Bar - Harrogate - 23/11/08

Roger wanted it put on record that he was actually present at breakfast!!!!!.
Usually we watch the larm clocks sail out the window along with anyone else who tries to wake him up before high noon.....

More pool followed (with Danny demonstrating his ex Merchant Nany prowess) and a leisurely day, before driving up to a very 'Christmassy ' Harrogate and the both atmospheric and intimate Blues Bar.

After giving ourselves a good lubrication so we slipped onto the little stage, we had the chance to meet members of the Northern Branch of Band Members families, as well as a great group of Roadhouse fans who'd driven from various places, such as Preston.

After a warm welcome from our host and hostess, Simon and Sharon. We delivered a good first set, with 'Blues Highway', 'House OfThe Rising Sun' and 'The Answer', being the standout tracks.


After a a nice chilli (thanks Sharon!), we kicked into the 2nd set with 'Voodoo Dance'. Sharon, who we had intitally met when she sang at our Jam session at Skegness 2008, joined us for a joplinesque, 'Stormy Monday'.

The 4.5 hour sans aches, exhaustion and hangover, drive home beckoned. But it was so great to watch groups of people singing along to all the words to our songs. It's moments like that and the Blues Bar's mighty fine Wolf Blass Chardonnay, that make it all worthwhile. Time for 'Preacher Man'......

We'll be back to this one.
It was once more a long way home.
Cheers Simon,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 30 November 2008

Rudi's Blues Cafe - Rotherham - 22/11/08

A great venue in Rotherham, large stage, PA, a great look and the charismatic Joe, who looks after both PA and the place itself.

The trouble is that even with many top names performing, the good folk of Rotherham have not really appreciated the quality of both venue and acts. Attendances had been low ove the lst few weeks and I'm sad to say that on this cold, November Saturday, things were just as bad.

A total of about 44 people (about 250 capacty) saw 2 good sets. The second one (as usual) dwarfing the first in both energy and quality. Still Joe loved the Band, we sold quite a few CD's and saw some old freinds and supporters who'd driven a long way to see us on the night.

Back to the hotel which to everyone's surprise was run by a Roadhouse fan (complete with CD collection) . For the majority of the Band it was a good late pool tournament/social and a very big nightcap.......

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 30 November 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 13/11/08

A months break from our regular jam and a 3 week holiday from playing, built the aniticpation for Jam night....

A good turn out helped us to celebrate Danny.G's birthday and to see legendary ex-Roadhouse guitarist Drew Barron's last appearance before his return to Canada (well at least thats one less Tottenhm supporter in the Country).

We started with a well sung but 'staleish' version of 'Brooklyn Blues'. 'Sea of Souls' saw us get back in the Groove and then we managed to deliver a cracking version of 'The Answer' before a spirited version of Voodoo Dance saw Bill christen his new bass rig with a Solo (shock - News of The World expose!). Sylvie then brough the Birthday cake on stage for a resounding happy beirthday to Danny!!!.

Drew then took the stage for his final bow with Roadhouse. Drew chose 'Preacher Man' for his 'Last meal' and I just love the way he harmonises the bass run, making that whole phrase monolithically fat (so to speak!). By the time we'd finished this 5th number, we felt lke we'd played a whole gig (unfit or what!).

Geronimo was on great form in the jam, Tim Matthewman delivering a super bass solo.
Drew then played his own set and featured a tribute to the late Mitch Mitchell with a 'Hedrixian frenzy' including fantastic speed phrases and scat singing in harmony with his twisitng guitar lines. He finfshed he set off by giving his guitar a good tounging and applying his mouth quite vigorously to the hot, on stage, axe action (believe me mate dental floss is cheaper and safer!) .

It was sad to see Drew go, for over 2 years and over 60 gigs he'd been a Roadhouse mainstay on both guitar and while Bill was in hospital, on bass. As he walked off into the snow of a Canadian winter, I reflected on the amount of friends who's left the band over the 18 years of our Tenure - sad and proud!!!

Frank then announced the sad passing of Mark Havart, one of the famous jamming Havart twins - mate we'll miss you/ Our personal legion of dead friends is recruiting at an increasing speed - mate, we'll miss you!

Copies of Rock N Reeel were all over the Woodman as the new Roadhouse review of Sea of Souls, with giant Ad and a track on their new artists to listen to CD (Preacher Man - over 30,000 copies) hit the 'high street' at both W.H.Smiths and Borders.

It left me at home, dreaming of my private jet and special Limo's, with interior swimming pools (and then I woke up with the usual hang over)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 16 November 2008

O'Neils Bar - Aylesbury - 18/10/08

Not to be confused with O'Neils the pub chain. This was Barry's warm venue, for this special gig arranged by Kelly.

A good turn out, saw the band turn in a good performance on the sizeable stage area.

It was great to see so many friends both new and old, especially the folk who's last seen us at Skegness.

This was the last performance after a busy schedule, before we grabbed a well deserved break.
It was good to go out on a high. Major, thanks to Kelly for arranging.
Rock on
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 16 November 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 16/10/08

A great turn out of music lovers, but where were all the musicians?.....

If we don't start picking up some extra musicians soon, I might have to re-locate or cancel the jam. For 9 years this jam has been central to the SW London music scene, lets hope it caries on that way.

Still everyone had a great time, with nearly all musicians getting 2-3 appearances on stage .It was good to see Mandie and Kelly totally making up songs (complete improvisation). While there was a mixture of the brilliant, avarage and terrible , we all had fun improvising and trying new
things.

The next jam lead by Roadhouse is on the 13th November .Lets hope for a better turn out of musicians...

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 8 November 2008

The Motorcycle News Festival - Butlins - Skegness - 5/10/08

Performance 1 - Skyline Stage - 15.00

Tensions dissipated as the Band pulled together, in order to play this challenging set.

Playing a mid afternoon slot under the 'Big top' at Butlins, Skegness can be very daunting. There were about 200 people in front of the stage area, with maybe another countless hord distributed across the cafes, bars and amusement arcades that make up the big top. So with a constant flow of people through the central walkway, I've no idea just how many people heard this show....

We eased the crowd in with 'Blues Highway' , 'Not Fade Away' and 'Help Me' (introducing our fab 3 girls). The response was really good and a number of pople who had seen us at MCN's last festival came to the front and gave us some support.
We were soon rocking out and the guitar duel at the end of the first set, seemed both good and appropriate.

The second set rocked out and went down well with the motorcycling fraternity. 'Roadhouse Blues' struck that '5th gear' motorcycling chord and the band intros flowed really well in 'Voodoo Queen'. Roger's drum solo was a cracker and the girls just oozed vampiric, sultry sexuality on their individual vocal segments. Danny, stole the show with a Joe Satriani style shred, followed by the sailors hornpipe (he nearly earned a Butlins Redcoat with that one)



Performance 2 - JAKS Stage -23.00:

Onto closing the whole festival on the JAKS stage, late Sunday night into Monday morning.

We were following the wnners of the Keraang Batlle of the Bands onto the stage. Their set sounded like the screams of a million damned souls, descending into a black vortex of eternal torture ( you get the idea - it was f****ing loud!)

After the thermo nuclear assault, it was hard to get our sound balanced properly. As we kicked into 'Voodoo Dance' Roger was deafened by white noise coming out of his monitor and I don't know how he got through the song.

As we got into the set the sound settled down. 'Slip Away' carried on the soul in torment theme of the night (quite nicely I thought) and 'Rising Sun' had a strong impact.

The organisers had asked us to integrate a short jam session. Famous Motorcycle and Red Bull air racing comentator Barry joined us for good quality harp and vocals on 'Mustang Sally' with aguest bass player who's name escapes me.

We finished with a blast of Preacher Man...... and then it was a long, long way home (as the song goes) and the end of a health sapping 8 shows in 11 days.

A special thanks to the girls who sold a tremendous amount of CD's on this trip. Well done ladies......

Back for the Major Blues & Rock festival in January, bring it on
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 21 October 2008

The Cider Shed - Norfolk - 4/10/08

Having been kindly asked to play yet another 2 performances at a Motorcycle News Festival at Skegness (our 2nd MCN festival and 3rd Butlins Skegness festival of the year), it was great that we were able to keep this regular venue and play the gig en route to Skegness.

Jonty is a good guy and we love playing this friendly venue that oriiginally used to be an old cider factory...
On this night expectations were high, as he had a private birthday party in a hall at the back of the venue, for a guy who was a Roadhouse fan . A lot of the party goers were expected to come front of house, for the show. Our last appearance at the Cider Shed pulled a great crowd, so we were hoping for a good turn out.

On the downside we only achieved a medium sized crowd, which lowered the door taking. On the plus side the crowd were really up for it (especially in the second set). In the first half the stage sound was a little loud, once modified the Euro Tour form cam flooding back and from the opening 'Voodoo Dance' it was a kick arse performance, with a good encore.
We saw a number of old friends and supporters and sales of Sea of Souls were decent.

Jonty said that having bands like us was the main reason he'd taken on the venue, and with flattery like that, we can only agree to return next year.

As we drove up to Skegness tension was quite high between some band memebrs. This was due to the unexpectedly low door money and the fact that it takes around 4-5 weeks for gig money to come through from a major festival. The band debt incurred from making and marketing Sea of Souls is pretty daunting (as it mainly hangs on me - I can tell you it's quite a weight). For some band members the hard work for for little, or even negative financial return, was starting to bite. For others the musical vision, live perfromance and level of Global artistic achievement is enough - this is not an easy game.....

We turned on the heaters in our little Butlin's chalets at about 3.30am and hoped for some semblance of sleep.
Perhaps it would all look brighter in the morning????
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 19 October 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 2/10/08

I was expecting the jam to be an anti climax after Europe... but with a good turn out of of our regular friends and local music lovers/Roadhouse fans it wasn't a bad night at all....

We did 'Heavens Door' (as we'd played it so often in Europe) and I still managed to keep up the new high standard of guitar playing - but the jam made me reflect that the band is just not the same in the local confines of the Woodman, playing just 3 or 4 numbers. Roadhouse on the road or at a festival is a whole different prospect....

Still the jam is so good for local live music, thats why we kill ourselves keeping it going -musicians are always warmly welcomed, come on down to London's freindliest jam (probably!)...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 18 October 2008

Cafe T'Goor - Goreeind - Belgium

A morning drive across the border, to the last stop on this tour.

After the 'Sat Nav' insisting that we should play in a field full of cows, we finally pulled up at a superb, but relatively new music venue.

Promoted by our old and valued friend Michel Hofkens, the venue had a great set, superb stage and lighting. This great new place was run by a great music enthusiast, Paul (what a terrific guy!)....

After a quick set up we were ready to rock, but........
The new purpose built house PA, would just not work....
Paul made a phone call and brought in his 'engineer.' - an hour of feedback noises later....we and the crowd were still waiting, but we'd all had a few beers together and it built anticipation for the gigi, rather than raise the stress levels.

Outside the venue we spotted some great old muscle cars and a fantastic old Harley mounted with full on, 'Broken Land' style cow horns... On meeting the biker himself we discovered he'd rode this beast to Russia and back. Que the shy and retiring Kelly to volunteer herself for a ride on pillion - and we watched her blast off into the distance (hoping she wasn't en route to Russia)...

Paul finally gave up on the PA and Bill and Roger saved the day with an ace and perfect 20 minute set up of the Roadhouse PA...

Into the show and amazingly, about 70% of my voice was back, but we asked the girls to 'step up to the plate' again and they did a great job. After 'Blues Highway' provided a slick entry to the set, the girls powered out 'Help Me', 'The Lying Game', 'House of the Rising Sun' and 'The Big Easy' to great acclaim. Another good guitar trade off (and gurn off) in 'Rock Me Baby' was followed by a blitz of a second set.

Amazingly my good guitar form continued and I pulled off another good solo as Mandie belted out ' Heavens Door' en route to a 'Tellin Lies', 'Voodoo Queen' finale....

A double encore ensued, followed by a nice meal courtesy of our host Paul.

We are dying to come back to this venue - great place, great people.....

A few hours later we were sitting on the Ferry, tired but happy, reflecting on a fantasic trip.......even though we'd sold a shed load of CD's, overall we had still lost money - but so what - are we in this to get rich, or to enjoy rocking out live? - answers by text to Roadhouse competition)

Proud of the Band!!!!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 18 October 2008

The Rambler - Eindhoeven - Netherlands - 27/9/08

This gig marked our first return to central Eindhoeven, for 8 or so years.

We were impressed with the venue. The Rambler was a real rock and roll venue. Racing & muscle car seats for seating, walls lined with full sized coffins and rock posters/memerobillia. The whole place reeked of rock and roll, voodoo, metal and the sweat of the 1,000's of bands that had played here before us.....

A fridgefull of beer (thoughfully supplied by the venue) and a ordered in Chinese later, we were ready to take the stage. However, not before talking to the great Manager Peer and the couple of die hard Roadhouse supporters, that had moved from Wimbledon to Eindhoeven and made this gig possible.

While talking to Peer, what was left of my voice deteriorated to a cartoon squeek and I knew the girls would be working hard tonight. Richard the paranoid sound guy patrolled the front of the stage, like a stalker on heat, as he strove to turn the guitars down, and let the girls hear the monitors.

Attendance at the Rambler had been low recently, with a high of 115 and a low of 18 in recent weeks. So we were ok with the 80 or so people in the audience.

The girls may have struggled with the monitors, but we hit the ground running, My goal was to sing as many rockers as I could, before my voice gave out completely. This ws also an excuse for the venue to give me lots of free brandy (which didn't help my voice, but boy did it make me feel good).

To take the pressure off of my voice we reintroduced 'Heavens Door', giving Mandie a 2nd Power Ballad/Roots Song and she gave it the full treatment. Strangely my guitar playing went to a whole new level, from that song onward.
In fact it was probably the best I have ever played at any gig (ever). With Danny matching me blow by blow and Bill and Roger keeping it tight, the first set was a triumph of energy and great singing (by the girls anyway) over a strangely variable mix.

The second set started well after 11pm, with the crowd now a bit thinned out. Never mind, 'Voodoo Dance', 'Telling Lies', 'Slip Away' all hit the spot. Roger's drum solo in'Voodoo Queen', began a run of hot solos for him that would be seen to continue over the next few gigs.

There was time for me to talk my way through 'Preacher Man' until Danny and both Mandie and Suzie did the main 'talking' on the end section.

With the venue happy with the news, that I planned to bring my voice with me on our return, we limped off for anther late night.
Job done!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 October 2008

Cafe d'Oude Stoep - Vlaadingen /Rotterdam - Netherlands 26/9/08

Thnaks to Esther for ararnging this gig, as a last minute 'fill in' following a cancellation from naother venue.

We arrived and met the great Hans and his team at this atmospheric cafe..

This was a late one, after 11.00 pm a stage area was cleared. A quick set up. was the required as suddenly the the place filled up rapdily until it was packed out. Converting nicely from an eatery to a funky live music joint.

We set off with 'Blues Highway 'and 'Not Fade Away. A pretty good reaction from the crowd. We had Tim and boys from the Brew down the front with a lot of musos and the first (closest) half of the crowd were really with us'.

After the first 40 or so people in the closest proximity to the stage the wedge of folk behind that, including about another 50 outside, were less re-active.

Midset we started rocking with 'No Place To Hide' to great response, but then as we slowed it down the set lost impetus. The guitar battle at the the end of Rock Me Baby won the crowd back. My guitar playing seemed to have gone up a notch on this trip, so Danny and I had a notably good trade off.

Those of you who have followed my health strugles with my neurological condition, would question my sanity at doing these 4 consequtive shows (as did I) , but I was feeling remarkably full of energy and a problem came from an unexpected source.
My voice was still on good form, but I noticed that by the end of the night it had a 'growlier' aspect to it.Little did not know that most of my voice would be gone by morning.

We blasted into the second set with 'Roadhouse Blues' and were just going into overdrive on 'Voodoo Dance' when Bill had to come off stage with seized tendons in his arm . Tim Smith rom the Brew bravely stepped up and added some bass. Bill returned and we were able to get a good jam number going with the boys from the Brew, before a classic 'Voodoo Queen/Preacher Man' encore, finish.

Thanks to Esther and Tim for the gig and to Hans for the great food (chicken and fish to die for ).We also met some great musos, and musicians including a great yourng guitar player called Arnold who has offered to help us get more Euro gigs.

We also jammed on 'Watchtower' for the second night running with a great local sax player who's name was I think 'Ando'.

4am it was finally off to bed, but not for some of the band who went out to party (the indentities of the band members concerned will remain a secret! - (read about their antics in the News Of The World)

2 Down, 2 to go
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 11 October 2008

The Podium - Schiedam/Rotterdam - Netherlands - 25/9/08

Well it had been a while since we played in Europe. The gigs had dried up after that great Blues lover, critic and Website provider Bobje Blues, had retired from being a Tour Manager.

Still armed with our best ever CD (Sea of Souls - oh and by the way did I tell you that we had a new CD out! - as if!) and with the help of Tim Smith of our great friends The Brew, we put together a mini tour of 4 venues in the Netherlands & Belgium. A big thanks to Tim as it's the Excellent Brew's success in Europe that has given us a descent platform for a staggered return to Euro touring.....

The Podium in Schiedam was a great medium sized venue, based on the banks of a scenic canal. It reminded me a lot of the times I used to work, gig and jam in Amsterdam (some of the best times of my life).

We met Ester, Tim's friend and right hand in Holland, who had been instrumental in putting the Rotterdam segment of the tour together. A massive thanks to her .

After Roger had heroically steered the tour bus through a partially open channel tunnel, we snatched some dodgy burgers, satay and chips before kicking off. the show

A decent sized crowd (thanks to Tim's promotion) saw a good performnce from the Band. It was great having all 3 girls on the tour and on this night they really looked the part. Halfway through the first set we now had our traditional Ladies segment, with Suzie singing 'The Lying Game', Mandie 'House of the Rising Sun' and Kelly, 'The Big Easy'. All were on good form as was Danny, who relished the whole tour. The guitar duel in the middle of 'Rock Me' really seemed to resonate with the audience, many of whom were local musicians or artists, in this wonderfully bohemian venue.

'Voodoo Dance' and 'Roadhouse Blues' provided a storming start to the second set. There was then a great moment when I went into the audience to play the intro to 'Telling Lies' and realised that the my legs weren't long enough to get onto the closest stool (shouldnt have been surprised should I?)

The set came to a good climax with members with The Brew coming on stage to jam with us. First Mandie sang 'Whole Lotta Love', which featured the amazing Jason on the lead guitar. The night finished with a rocking version of 'Crossroads' with Kurt on the drums, Tim on the bass, Danny and Jason on guitars and amazingly enough I was really pleased with my lead vocal (This was to come back to haunt me on the rest of the tour)

A great night, a memorable return to Europe and this great venue wants us back!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 8 October 2008

Real Music Club - The Beaverwood - Chislehurst - 11/9/08

Pete Feenstra runs's some great venues and does so much for live music in London.

This was our first time at this spacious venue and though the crowd was a little down onr ecent weeks (about 50 paying punters), they were real music lovers and the gig rocked.

We made a lot of new friends.
The band played great with Mandie and Kelly singing great in combination.

After the last echoes of the encore 'Preacher Man' faded into the night, we sold a lot of the new CD. Sea of Souls is going great guns, both in terms of sales and airplay around the world.

We'll look forward to coming back to this excellent gig,
Thanks to the real music lovers
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 30 September 2008

National R&B Festival - British Stage - Colne Lancashire - 24/8/08

From our 6th year at Merton Abbey to our 6 year on the largest stage at the National R&B Festival in Colne.

We'd been offered the headline/final slot in line with the launch of our new CD. However, knowing that about 30% of the crowd drift away at that stage we took the second last slot.

With a generous turn round times this year, we had a leisurely set up. By the time we hit the stage at around 9.15 the auditorium was rammed full of people.

If Merton Abbey was one of our greatest ever all round shows, this was probably the best ever Roadhouse visual, big stage performance.

All 3 girls looked fantastic dressed in black and put great energy and movement into the show. So many of the crowd came up afterwards and said it was the best they'd ever seen the band look and sound.

On the down side we had some typical big stage sound problems. Monitoring issues lead to one or two timing errors, Danny's guitar rig cut in and out a few times and the gods of guitar refused to sprinkle any fairy dust on my solos.

Still the new songs 'landed' really well. The crowd were right with us and seized the chance of keeping us on for a encore. Preacher Man - no surpise!!

We played for over an hour and 20 minutes, but as usual it just didn't seem long enough. The return of Voodoo Queen to the set gave a chance for me to introduce the Band and the cowd gave all 3 girls and Danny much respect. Honours went to Roger though, who generated a damn fine drum solo

Our great friends the Brew followed us on, with a rocking set. Meanwhile we were stil signing copies of Sea of Souls and chatting to a lot of the great people who had travelled such along way to come and support us.

To end the evening I ran a 45 minute jam session. I involved Adrian and his harp player from the Mustangs.Kurt, the awesome drummer from the Brew was a constant in the jam, as the line up morphed into Mandie.G being bellting out a fine version of 'A Whole Lotta Love' while being backed by the guys from the Brew. The evening finished with a 3 guitars blazing version of 'Crossroads', featuring Tim Smith on vocals. I enjoyed my final solo players (and nice guys).
It was all recorded live by a Belgian Sound Crew - Live CD Coming Your Way??

Colne 2008 - Thank you for the memories............
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 6 September 2008

Merton Abbey Mills Blues Festival - Merton Abbey - 22/808

Described by many band members as their favourite night of the year, for the 6th year running, we were playing in the open air on Friday night at South London's biggest festival.

We had the chance to play indoors at the Colourhouse Theatre, which would have earned us some money, but rejected this so that we could play to a massive crowd and to give everyone's kids a chance to see us (and become prematurely deaf!).

The weather was nice, the gods of Blues/Rock smiling on us, providing a window in the sludgy greyness that has been yet another apology for an English summer. With the expert Brian and his crew managing the massive PA and with a whole 2 hour slot to fill, the stage was set for one of the finest ever Roadhouse gigs....

Having all 3 girls on duty in our festival line up was another postivie and they looked amazing in black. They put on an awesome vocal and visual show.

We started to a good sized crowd and by the time we were into the second set, it must have been one of the largest ever Merton Abbey Blues Festival crowds. The crowd were also very, very responsive. With so many Roadhouse suporters there, we were able to play a 'full on' show rather than resorting to the occassional less than stellar cover version, in order to keep the interest of the uninitiated.

Bearing in mind we'd just had a 3 week break, I could not believe how well the whole band played. We were augmented by Frank Dymore on percussion, who did a fine job and Andrew Heart guested on Bass in a roaring second set 'Wachtower', providing a slick little solo.

The band kicked off with the title track of the new CD, 'Sea of Souls' and rocked through all girls having a feature as we blasted through, 'The Lying Game' -Suzie, 'House of The Rising Sun' - Mandie and 'The Big Easy' - Kelly..
As Danny and I traded extended guitar licks into the fading of the summer light the first set finished to a tremendous reaction.


The second set just lifted and lifted, as Voodoo Dance, Tellin Lies and Preacher Man (Encore) took it to a whole new level...
CD sales were our best ever by a long way for this festival.
It was one of the nigts were all the pain, effort (and debt) semed worthwhile...

Thank you so much for your support, it was like a football team laying at home to well over a 1,000 loyal supporters. Please don't leave it another year before coming to see us..

You can see pictures of the show, courtesy of Phil on http://www.flickr.com/photos/philmcelhinney/sets/

Rock on
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 27 August 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 21/8/08

The jam resumed after a 3 week summer break....

Compared to recent attendances it was predictably quiet, no doubt due to the Merton Abbey Mills Festival appearance scheduled for the following night.

However, with Andrew Heart doing a fine job depping for Bill on the Bass, it was a good warm up gig for the band.....
Voodoo Dance was very full on (Martin had to close all the pub windows and doors quickly before the noise police tunred on the sirens). Kelly did a good Lying Game and Mandie as ever was on top form with The House of The Rising Sun.

The smaller amount of musicans attending meant no-body needed to rush and people could musically stretch out.

Geronimo played a great solo in the first of his 3 songs and the Pete Bedford Band produced a superb set ,which climaxed with a storming version of The Who's, Won't Get Fooled Again.

There was Time for Danny, Andrew and I, joined by the lovely Betty on percussion, to blast out a typically indulgent 'Watchtower'. I was pleased to connect well with the solo, particularly after being away from playing for 3 weeks. This song probabaly received the best re-action of the night.

There was still time for Syd and his 'magic banjo' to lay down the msucial version of the Epiogue (remember that?) - as he adeptly 'plonked us' into the damp summer night......

Bring on Merton Abbey and Colne....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 23 August 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 24/7/08

It was good to see the crowd beginning to back to the numbers of last year/early March......

Roadhouse were at full strength and after her now traditional false start, Mandie nailed 'Tumbling Down' (a current radio play in Croatia).
Kelly then took on Suzie.D's 'Tthe Lying Game' and for a first time and being fairly unrehearsed, she did a great job....

We finished up with Voodoo Dance and I got into some weird rant featuring parts of Meatloafs 'On a hot summer night (would you offer your throat to the Wolf with the red roses', meshed in with will you risk it for a biscuit. I need help - honest!.

Fank Dymore was hysterically funny abusing all present (and especially me), which was pretty rich from a guy wearing a giant tablecloth instead of a shirt.

Danny played ell with the Pete Bedford Band (the tart!), who also featred the great Tim Matthewman on the bass. The Isidore brothers (of Seal and Robin Trower fame) and Andrew Heart were beset by technical (guitar lead problems) and when Gus ovecame that, he popped his E string (painful!) - for the first time it wasn't their night.

Geronimo was on form, as was Joe.X on the guitar. As the crowd thinned out (to match the most common hairstyle present) Syd played us into the summer break on his amazing banjo...

The jam resumes on August the 21st
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 July 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 10/7/08

Following the amazing launch night at the weekend, I was both surprirsed and pleased at the amount of people who came out again to support us at The Woodman.... thank you our freinds...

They were rewarded with a good jam session. Kelly had a baptism of fire as with Mandie's car breaking down on route, she was singing alone with the band for the first time. She did a fine job, even handling the new song Dark of the Sun's 3 backing parts on her own. Our voices meshed really nicely on Voodoo Queen. That song sounded,great to me as we hadnt played it for a fair while,,, a personal fave.

It was great to see Jimmy Dublin back onstage at the end of the night. Playing great despite his season ticket for the hospital....good man!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 July 2008

South London CD Launch - The Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - 6/7/08

Every now and then along comes a night where evrything comes together and affirms all the effort and pain you've gone through, for the love of your music - this was such a night.

A massive thank you to all our many friends, who came out to launch 'Sea of Souls', on what proved to be a special night for the Band.
Thanks also to Pete Feenstra and George McFall for both keeping faith in us and all that they do for live music in London....

Our good friend and Roadhouse legend Drew Barron kicked off proceedings, with Frank Dymore on the drums and Pete on the bass. Drew played a cool opening set and was joined by that great guitar player Tim O'Sullivan for the final 2 songs. My personal fave was the jazz flavoured rendition of 'Summertime', which featured some tasty guitar trade offs.

Onto the Roadhouse set, which featured all 3 of our great female vocalists. We kicked off with 'Sea of Souls', then played Lights On The Water'. These were shortly followed by 'No Place to Hide' and 'Slip Away' from the No Place To Hide album.

We then featured all 3 girls in sequence, Suzie on the radio friendly 'Lying Game' and Mandie bringing the house down with her smokey blues version of 'House of The Rising Sun'. Kelly rounded off the hot, '3 girl action' with 'The Big Easy' from Broken Land.

'Telling Lies' had the crowd stomping along behind us and the atmosphere was so warm and supportive, it was like a being in a football team playing at home.

The girls were putting on a great show, dressed all in black they looked totally cool (in my humble opinion)...
Preacher Man lead to a great shout for and encore and with timer unning out on us,
' White Water' finished off the night.

I was really proud of everyone in the Band for the qulity of performance (but don't tell them, or they will think I'm getting soft!)

We sold over 30 CD's on the night. A massive thanks to all that came, you made up a vey good crowd. It ws especially nice to see Pete Sargeant there (whose review of the new CD graces this site) and special thanks to Darren Wisdom (another good writer) who was the only person to come to both North London and South London launches (and spent hours travelling to so so).

Onwards with much more hope and determination,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 12 July 2008

Nth London CD Launch - The New Bull & Butcher - 4/7/08

What anticipation.........
The new CD sounds great, cover and book design are brilliant....and this was our first chance to launch it.

What a venue, great stage PA, lighting, effects, lovely room. Good pub with nice food - dressing room - the works - Well done Pete Feenstra!!

Now the downside - hardly anybody came. Pete and the band must have sent a mailshot to over 500 people and countless 'e' reminders - but that was the reality......

However, the small crowd (including Roadhouse legend Anne Campbell & partner) were right behind the band. The actual performance was excellent with some scorching renditions off the new songs and sme old lassica blended in.....

A big thanks to all that came ...we wish there were more great music lovers like you......We sold 10 CD's between less then 20 people, which is some result in the circumstances.

Lets keep our head up and see how Sunday night at The Boom Boom Club turns out.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 8 July 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 26/6/08

An improvement on the last jam, with a decent (but not large crowd), there was still a shortage of musicians (compared to the average attendance over the last 5 years).

Mandie was on form, being the only one of the Roadhouse girls 'on duty'. Slip Away, Sacrifice and her own rendition of Rising Sun were great. It was more of a struggle on The Answer, where the 3 part harmonies were sorely missed. Still it was a good blast of a new stage favourite.

In the 'Jam' itself there was a good set from the Pete Bedford band and it was nice to hear Jeff Nicholson (of East of Eden Fame and tonight's Birthday Boy) on such great from on the pedal steel...

Syd 'banjoed' us into the night...as we all thought of the forthcoming launch gigs and the release of the new CD Sea of Souls - just 6 days to go....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 6 July 2008

The Railway - Coultishal - Norfolk - 14/6/08

We stepped in to do this gig for our good friend Alan Fish of the Groundhogs and Egypt fame.
A nice little pub, just past Norwich, it was full a rock and roll memorabilia and a nice revolving LCD display of the good bands playing there.

Dave was an engaging and musically knowledgable Landlord, it was good to work with him.

The venue itself was long and thin in shape and a bit small for us. We were wedeged down the far end ,with the majority of the audinece over half the pub away. It was all a bit surreal and hard to gain connection. Things were not helped by a perfect sound out front, but a stage sound that boomed around the alcoves and was deafening Roger (hang on I though he was deaf already!!)

Anyway, it made the band work very hard and have some 'feisty' altercations at the break. We pulled together, altered our stage positions and delivered a much more cohesive and powerful second set. We even got a reaction from the famously passive audience.

At the end we spoke to a load of lovely people, including Dave, who had really enjoyed it and we sold a lot of CD's.
With the CD a few days from release it was good for the Band to have to work so hard.

It was still along drive home..
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 28 June 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 12/6/08

An unbalanced night at the Woodman...... a relatively good turn up from music loving punters, but an all time low in terms of musicians present.

An historic night for Suzie as it was her last jam before moving back to Birmingham (for a period). Don't panic, she'll be back for the launch gigs and will play all major festivals and tours.....

Suzie sang the Lying Game from our new (best ever!) CD, Sea of Souls and later returned to sing her own composition 'Don't Let Go', as a temporary goodbye to all her friends and supporters...

Mandie gave a debut to 'Tumbling Down' which was well played and sung for a first outing (again on the new CD). Also we gave a very first aring to 'The Dark Of The Sun', which the band played well, but would have benfeitted from me remembering one chord change and getting all the words right on the bridge (duuurgh, still, not bad).....

Due to the dearth (not death!!) of musicians we had a few solo acts, with Laurie starting us off ,before there was a few songs from that great singer songwriter Micheal Ray Jr......

Drew Barron sported his old hollow bodied guitar and generated a mean and tasty tone, as he blasted through some great rock blues. The end of the night saw the return the Woodman stage of Jimmy Dublin, after a recent spate of hospital torment. Welcome back Jim, keep fighting the good fight mate.
Joining Jimmy was an old friend of ours, Bob on the harp, one of the stars of our legendary Skegness Festival jam sessions.

At least he could be bothered to turn out (and he came all the way from Lincoln)..

Musicians let's be having you -Or I'll stay at home and do my knitting
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 22 June 2008

East Harling Scial & Music Club - Norfolk - 31/5/08

A return to one of our friendliest venue's....

A starnge warm night, with half the crowd being outside on the verandah (in the early stages) made the whole atmosphere feel flatter than usual.

However, in our break two great yourngsters (13 years old), on the drums and guitar, called the Peppercorns, played a stonking little set. Original music with a variety of flavours incluing blues/ modern rock and reggae, warmed everybody up. I hope the lads keep going with it, they could do well......

Onto the second set.... the band really gelled from the opening 'Watchtower' into a great version of 'Voodoo Dance', followed by 'The Answer'. A double encore and comments around best band, perfromance and Roadhouse line up sent us happily onto the long drive home...
Back on the 15th November
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 14 June 2008

The Red Lion - Stevenage - 18/5/08

Back to the legendary Red Lion, Trevor (The Man With The Hat) Keelings, grass roots, hard rocking biker style pub/venue...

Strange thing about this one is that its' very intimate with the audience being only inches away from the microphones. Good thing is you can feel the repsonse and atmosphere, as it's totally in your face.

This was a first gig for Suzie and Kelly woking together in tandem and they did a good job. Kelly taking lead on The 'Big Easy' and Suzie delivering her new song 'The Lying Game' (as featured on the new CD Sea of Souls)

It was great to have a visit from Roadhouse legend Anne Campbell and her new man John. She is still a great supporter of the Band and its always good to see her at a gig.

The second set Rocked big style and all thoughts of an early finish dissapeared with a double emcore and Danny shreeding into the night at the end of Preacher Man.....

Cheers Trev....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 6 June 2008

The Musician - Leicester - 10/5/08

A nice return to a refurbished Musician. It was always a nice and distinct music venue, but now its a bit bigger and better still.

The night was always going to be about fun (not money, as we were never going to cover our costs), as we were performing a double header with our great friends 'The Brew'.

The only downside to the Musician is its tendency for variable crowd numbers, which is dependant on what's going on in the surrounding area. Unfortunatly the crowd was smaller than we both band would have liked, but they were passionate, both bands attracting a core of loyal supporters.

The Roadhouse set was very well played. Even though we were on first the crowd were totally behind the band. The new numbers went down well especially, 'Lights on the Water', 'The Answer' and Mandie's 'House of The Rising Sun'. Suzie powered out a rocking 'Big Easy' and Danny burned up the fretboard on the encore, 'Preacher Man'.

Next up The Brew, with Jason Barwick proving he is one of the finest your guitar players in the country, great set guys.....Tim Smith has helped us so much and had Mandie join him for a retro 'Whole Lotta Love', at the end of the set.
For the last number I joined The Brew for a rock out on 'Crossroads' and loved trading licks and solos with Jason, fronting Kurt and Tim's thundering rythmn section...

A great night
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 1 June 2008

The Boot & Shoe - Yorkshire - 27/4/08

After most of the band crawled out of their sleeping bags (or off their all night bar stools) at the Crimea Tavern, we wound our way 25 mins down the road to another great gig.

The Boot & Shoe has a great stage and sound. Les was another superb host and he laid on a warm greeting and sound.

This time the audience (which contained people who had come to see us following our appearance at The Burnley Blues festival) were totally with us from shortly after the off.

A played a well received 2 sets, to a good sized crowd. Highlights included Mandie's 'House of The Rising Sun', 'Tellin Lies', 'Slip Away' and a rousing 'Watchtower'...

Nice one Les, We'll be back
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 10 May 2008

The Crimea Tavern - Yorkshire - 26/4/08

The first of 2 Yorkshire gigs arranged for us by our good friend Tim Smith of that excellent band, The Brew.

We were welcomed and well looked after by our genial host and all round great guy Jimmy. Early problems with monitor level and feedback were dealt with by that awesome soundman and another good guy, Stig.

What friendly people, the whole place had a real indivual warm atmosphere. With the high stage, good lighting and PA, I'd recommend this gig to other touring bands...


Though we had the sound problems, there was a good crowd for the first set. However, the audience reaction though positive, was not at the high level we are used to. In the second set, the corwd thinned out due to the late timing, but conversly the reaction improved as we turned up the heat and rocked it up a bit.. Preacher Man 'kicked' as the usual encore.

Just as we were thinking we hadn't gone down quite as well as usual, we were besieged by loads of friendly people telling us how much they they had appreciated original music and improvisation. This after a standard diet of mainly covers and tribute bands performing in the area.

Out host Jimmy held court till 6am, most of the band crashing in sleeping bags. While the 2 most decrepid and unheathy of us (including me!), blew our gig money and more on a hotel bed for the night (what a happened to the spirit of rock and roll?)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 10 May 2008

Motorcycle News (MCN) Weekend Festival - Butlins - Skegness - 19/4/08 - Part Two

Onto our main stage appearance. It was a shame that with this festival alot of proeple go home on the Sunday.
We opened at 8pm to a fairly empty, gigantic REDS arena.
Also handicapped by being asked to play covers, w decided to go for a 50/50 split.

Opening with 'Heavens Door' and 'Slip Away', the crowd began to grow.
We kicked into 'Telling Lies' and our 3 girl festival line up started to make its presence felt as people started racing to the front.

Mandie again pulled in a standing ovation, for her stunning Blues Rendition of 'House of the Rising Sun'. Additionally, Voodoo Dance was another great preview of the new CD, which will be rleased in June (as featured on YouTube).
Danny was on top form as we said goodnight with a belting Preacher Man. The much bigger crowd were now totally with us. CD sales were amazing, bearing in mind that we were selling original music to anon music festival...

We drove away to the sound of a Blondie Tribute band cranking up their Drum machine. We'd love to replace Roger, but cant find a machine with a capability for extensive moaning.......

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 7 May 2008

Motorcycle News (MCN) Weekend Festival - Butlins - Skegness - 19/4/08 - Part One

It was nice that the impression we made at Januarys Skegness Blues & Rock festival, led us to this prestigous booking.

Out first challenge was to run a Jam Session on the cavenous Skylive Stage (under the big top roof) at Butlins......
We didnt know how this would turn out, as we had no idea if there would be any musicians present at this rocking weekend.

However, it went rather well. After an opening 3 Roadhouse songs to set the tone (including a nice 'Blues Highway') we involved 2 bass players, 4 drummers, a guitarist and about 14 vocalists.

Highlights included the 4 ladies (and the drunken guy) who joined us on backing vocals for 'Mustang Sally'. Also the female bass player who'd only had 3 lessons and was coached by Bill through a whole number, on this largre stage in front of about 500 people....brave and happy lady!

However, the whole thing was such hard work to organise, we were drained (especially me!) and we had to get ourselves ready for the main stage at 8pm....

The previous night we had checked out the covers bands that were almost exclusively playing the festival, including X Factor 3rd placer Ben (and his flowing locks). Great voice and band....... but, why did so many people leave???

The crowd were in party mood with well over a thousand people were in fancy dress. Star Wars characters mixed with the Cast of St Trinians, Smurfs, Romans and enough fetish clad women (and the occassional tranny) to make most mens pulse race (but not if your as old as me and are missing a pulse)...

This lead to some serious Roadhouse partying, climaxing with Kelly in an inflatable Penis outift (but thats another story!).....

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 7 May 2008

BB's Blues Club - GJ's - Colliers Wood - 30/3/08

Sorry that this journal entry is out of sequence... health issues, pressure, blah, blah and other excuses.....

This was a very good night. The concept was to preview some of our new material for the forthcoming CD, 'Sea of Souls' (released on Blues Matters in June) and to feature our latest female talent Kelly Marie Hobbs.

There was a lot of interest in seeing Kelly in one o her first full gigs and as a consequence it was the best crowd that BB's club has seen for years...

As a double whammy Roadhouse legend Billi Shaw also turned up and duetted with Mandie on 'Rising Sun' and 'Rock Me Baby.' Standing ovations all round...

It was great to see that fine old statesman of the blues Bob Bruning, be delighted with the atmosphere and turn out of this nice blues club.

Kelly herself had a great night. On the first song she let the nerves get to her and was 'A little pitchy'. After that she rocked, delivering an excellent lead vocal on 'The Big Easy'

The new songs went down well and overall the whole night was a big success.....

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 7 May 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 17/4/08

The only jam for April was a good one. We now resume running this event on a 2 weekly basis, as long as it's well supported.

Roadhouse featured Mandie with Kelly. This is a powerful partnership, but it will need a bit more time and work to blend the vioces to meet the tonal quality we get when Mandie sings with Suzie. I'm also interested in hearing Suzie and Kelly together on stage as a duo.

Roadhouse played Blues Highway, Sea of Souls and The Answer. Bearing in mind Danny and I hadnt touched our guitars for over a week, the playing was pretty damn good.

The whole night had a Roadhouse theme, with Kelly doing her first solo jam song (and learning the lesson of getting the band to play in the right key for her - she still did a good job). Mandie followed on with Summertime and Roadhouse legend Drew Barron did a great set with Bill & Roger, including an ace version of 'Gloria'. Drew also joined Bill, Funky Goerge and I for a stoming 'Watchtower' towards the end of the evening.

Dr Noel Brown completed the Roadhouse theme by joining John Scott and friends. New fave Joe.X on the guitar played an ace set and Syd played us out on the Banjo.

Pride of place went to Pete Bedford, as it was the night of his 60th Birthday. Despite a good set he had the piss appropriately ripped out of him all night......Keep on rocking Pete

Well here's to the Motorcycle News festival to 5,000 peole at the Weekend and then the next jam on May 1st
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 18 April 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 27/3/08

The last of the 'People's Jams', before the Brewery start paying for this local institution again.

A big thanks to Andrew, who put up a large sum towards the expenses of this packed night at The Woodman.

Roadhouse were on first and did a surprisingly slick set ( A surprise to me!) of new material. The Answer, Sea of Souls & Lights on The Water were all well played . Kelly was working with Mandie for a change with Suzie off sick. As the 2 girls hadn't worked together before there were some rough patches on Lights and The Answer. However, enough quality came through to see that with work, they are going to be an excellent partnership.
Mandie's good friend Mel Jackson (another nice young lady) joined us to Sing on Voodoo Dance and demonstrated that her voice has come on leaps and bounds (one for the future perhaps?)

Later Mel joined Roadhouse legend Drew Barron, Andrew Heart on Bass and Robin Trower band drummer, Reg Isidore to hammer out another good number before Drew rocked out on Mr Trowers own Too Rolling Stoned

This was one of the busiest ever jams and some people did not even get on the play list - apologies, but please arrive early/earlier.

New fave Joe.X did a good set and old fave Jimmy Dublin closed the night out by having a 'Whole Lotta Love' with Mandie (if you know what I mean?)

The Pete Bedford band were as good as usual and then the stage was besieged by an army of photographers for the appearance of 80's superstar Rick Astley, who proved to be a competent drummer for Arwel and his Band...

You never know who's coming to The Woodman Jams??

Only one jam scheduled for April, due to the school Hols - then back to every 2 weeks
See you on the 17th April
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 1 April 2008

The Hope Tavern - Holton Le Moor - 16/3/08

Well after a classic Hope Tavern Sunday lunch and the rocking of the night before, energy levels were low, health issues high....

Would last nights gig only 25 miles down the road have an effect on the crowd size - Graham our host was worried.

He had no need to be, as this was arguably our best crowd and overall Hope Tavern gig ever.......

The standing joke was that crowd were so close to us poeple had to manouvre round my mikestand to get to the toilet. This was ok until the afternoons drinking stated to take effect, which resulted in mye getting battered in the mouth by the microphone on at least 5 occassions (much to the crowds increasing hilarity).....

Thier was some great banter and I had one of those rare days where my guitar playing just came together and I went up to that higher level (probably the best I've played in memory)..... the rest of band were snoring as I droned on and on, but the cheers of the crowd perked me up no end (real music lovers in my view)....

From a gentle start with 'Brooklyn Blues', we lifted it with a storming No Place To Hide' and a great vrsion of 'Dark River' which features an improved vocal arrangement. 'Lights OnThe Water' was suitably atmospheric and then Mandie and Suzie brought the house down with their versions of 'Rising Sun' and 'Big Easy', respectively.

The second set really rocked with Voodoo Dance being the pick of the impact numbers.
All was set up for Preacher Man, but unfortunately not, as Danny's amp bit the dust at the end of Voodoo Queen.

It was funny doing 2 encores without Danny (who'd played so well over the weekend - as had Bill and Roger, our legendary rhythmn section), but it allowed me to branch out on Whiskey Man, which we dusted down and pulled out of the archives.

One of the great all time gigs. It was good to see Ray and Nicky again. A big thanks to Graham for having us back and John the Baldingbloke McGuire for filming the whole thing. Great CD sales and more YouTube posts to hopefully follow

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 23 March 2008

The Yardbids Club - Grimsby - 15/3/08

First of 2 nights in this area, as arranged by our great friend, Tim Smith from our label mates and great band, The Brew.

To our surprise the venue was a cracker, big stage, giant PA, stage, dressing room, sound crew, lighting rig. All we needed was a decent crowd to fill the mid sized room of what is essentially a rocking biker venue.

With Tim and loads of the Brew crowd partying with us in our dressing room before show time, the main room filled up to a good level and it was game on.

A initial warm response from the crowd kicked up into overdrive, following Mandie's now legendary version of 'Rising Sun'. 'The Answer' was on the money and the first set finished with a good trade off betwwen Danny and I on 'Rock Me Baby'

The second set belted into action with a double tap of the You Tube fave 'Voodoo Dance' and 'Roadhouse Blues', followed by a kicking 'Telling Lies'.

We then guested that great guitar player, young Jason from the Brew. He joined Suzie and Danny for an atmospheric Stormy Monday and his playing soared. The crowd went nuts fo this talented young player, who was so obviously enjoying this excursion into the Blues. He stuck with it for Help Me and delivered another blinding solo (Go seeThe Brew, they are a great Band!)...

Watchtower & Voodoo Queen lead to a mass demand for an encore (and later CD's). Preacher Man sent us off into the night...... A really good gig at a great venue - We'll be back!!! (health and life permitting)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 23 March 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 13/3/08

A welcome return to the Woodman Jam.
This Jam was partially funded by Martin, the ace landlord, who is trying to defend the closure of the jam from a cost cutting policy run by the brewery. Thanks Martin!


We have been given a green light now to run the jam every 2 weeks for the next 3 months (with one 3 week break for the school Easter Holidays). We need more people to come out and support the jam or it will die!

Still it was a great turnout after such a long break. It was also a chance for Roadhouse to work on and showcase their new material.
The new vocal arrangement of Dark River worked a treat, and then band also played Sea of Souls, The Answer & Voodoo Dance (the latter 3 allowing us to include to fast developing vocal talent of Kelly Marie Hobbs.

Highlight of this jam was the 3 song session, where Robin Bibi and Jimmy Dublin traded off some great licks and were backed by the ace bass playing of Tim Mathewman.

Lets hope for a good turn out at the next jam on the 27th March
Cheers,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 21 March 2008

Stormy Monday Club - The Bulls Head Barnes - 3/3/08

We had a good return to the Classy Stormy Monday Club. A quadruple birthday bash for Roger, Bill, Drew and I, combined with a showcase of our new material for the forthcoming CD release (to be called either Voodoo Dance or Sea of Souls).

We had a few carefully chosen special guests, people who have ben a part of the Roadhouse family over the years. First up was a great guitar duet featuring Tim O' Sullivan and fronted by Roadhouse lagend Drew Barron. Great music and guitar playing (though we were asked to turn it down at that point!).

Mark Freeman did a good number and then drummed for cool guitarists Geronimo and Lol Sandford, ably assisted by the legendary Pete Sargent. Pete did a moving tribute to Jeff Healey who had died the previuos weekend, by playing an excellent version of Confidence Man.

Roahouse played 2 sets and I featured all 3 of our great girl singers, Skegness style.
We stated with Slip Away, moved into Brooklyn Blues and then to the new numbers.
The Answer was played with real feeling, though we stuttered going into the fast section at the end, while Lights On the Water hit he spot. Mandie's blues flavoured rendition of House of the Rsing Sun brought the house down and Voodoo Dance is fast becoming a Roadhouse classic.

Suzie sung a killer Big Easy, Kelly sounded great and we belted out Telling Lies (with my usual table dancing routine)

Check out this YouTube link thanks to Tim O'Sulivan (poor sound but the visuals give you an idea of the night
And here is the video clip!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eBAANtZaGZQ

Pictures of the night go to:

http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r189/tim_caesar/Roadhouse%20Bulls%20Head%20Barnes%20030308/

We finished by welcoming Drew onstage for a classic No Place To Hide and then Tim for a guitars raised to the heavens epic Preacher Man. A very decent crowd for a Monday night and somehow this bandwagon rolls onwards.........

Thanks to George & Pete.F
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 8 March 2008

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 7/2/08

With Martin the landlord not being able to secure funding from his Brewery, who seem financially over extended, this jam looked like being cancelled.

However thanks to donations from that great Roadhouse supporter Chris Berthelmy (the producer of much of our advertising and limited edition CD's) and Martin himself, the jam went ahead with the musicians on half wages.

This jam was well attended, despite the fact that we had not appeared at the 'Woody' for a month.

Roadhouse kicked off with 3 new songs, 'The Answer', follwed by a first outing for the blues rocker 'Sea of Souls'. we finished the set with our most succesful song judged from the Skegness fstival feedback, 'Voodoo Dance'. Kelly joined Mandie and Suzie for all 3 numbers and the 3 girls appraoch worked a treat (just as it did on the big stage in Skeggy). The 3 songs went donw really well and received great feedback from the crowd.

This was followed by an appearance from young prodigy Oliva De Souza and her band (including the great Tim Matthewman on bass, who amazed everybody with a falsetto backing vocal - if we ever need a new girl Tim - your on mate!)

Genie then took the stage and did a good set, nice vocals. It was girls night with Fiona McElroy, the Roadhouse legend ,then taking the stage . She was in good voice (to be sure, to be sure!). During this set Danny produced a mega solo that impressed me to death.

Roadhouse layed, Roadhouse blues as er Chris's request and sets came from Gronimo, Pete Bedford, John Griffin and Syd and his magic banjo.

We will try to get things re-started on the 13th March, with a view to running 2 jams a month - lets wish Martin luck.!

Thanks for all the great support
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 10 February 2008

Skegness - Monsters of Blues & Rock Festival - 27/1/08

Part 3 - Main Stage Appearance - REDS Stage - 9pm

Our label mates the Brew did a fine job before us, but the crowd grew very noticeably in size before we came on at 9pm.

From the opening drum intro into 'Tellin Lies' the big crowd of ace music lovers were well wth us......
Slip Away was up next and using all 3 girls together was noticeably giving us a strong visual presence.

We then gambled and played the brand new song 'Voodoo Dance' for only its second airing (we learned it only 3 days before and its already a firm band favourite).
.

Use the following UTube address to view some camcorder footage of the whole song (forgive the dodgy sound - it was clearer on the night, but thanks to whoever filmed and posted):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWOwhbQ

Mandy sang a great version of 'House of the Rising Sun' (which since then many people have said was their highlight of the whole festival).
For once I nailed my solo on that song and overall it was my best, or 2nd best personal big stage performance

Suzie was up next with 'The Big Easy' and then we blasted off the stage with Preacher Man, Danny doing a grand job in his first big stage appearnce with the band..

Against the odds, the tradition of the day and the clock we were given an encore. Voodoo Queen took us into a strong finale followed by a frenzied session of mass CD buyng where we shifted neary £500 pounds worth in 20 minutes.

It was a long way home as the song says, but we were pummped up from playing so well on that big stage to a crowd of great music lovers.

One of the best Roadhouse gigs ever
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 2 February 2008

Skegness - Monsters of Blues & Rock Festival - 27/1/08

Part 2 - Unplugged Set JAKS Stage - 2.45-3.50 Sunday:

After a good solo from the accomplished Roy Mette, we did one of our rare 'unplugged performances'

A big thanks to the 120 or so people who ignored the lure of John Otway and The Hamsters, to catch us in a different mode.

It was dissapointing that we were not offered a full sound check, resulting in Danny's acoustic not working and the lack of any monitoring at the back of the stage. This lead to Danny playing the electric and some timing issues caused by Bill and Roger not being able to her note that I was playing.

Still with Roger on the congas and Danny adopting a warm blues/jazz tone, things went quite nicely. All 3 girls were also performing and did a fine job.

Highlights for me, included a trip back in the songbook to mprovise an acoustic version of 'When Mountains Fall'. Additionally, Voodoo Queen sat in a nice groove wth excellent vocals and by the end the crowd were well involved.

Onto the big, big stage for the evening.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 2 February 2008

Skegness - Monsters of Blues & Rock Festival - 26/1/08

A very, very , very successful and well received trip to the massive Skegness festival this year......

Part One - We had a great warm up hour on the 400 capacity room/Jaks stage.
Kicking off with No Place To Hide, the hour flew by. The crowd swelled to a new high and by the time Mandie sung our Blues version of House of the Rising Sun (which somehow manages to transcend cliche) the crowd were totally into it. We gave debuts to 2 new songs, The Answer and Voodoo Dance and both worked really well.

We managed to record the whole set and its come out amazingly well, so watch out for a collectors run of 1-200 hundred live CD's, coming out soon (mail or phone me to avoid dissapointment)....

It was Danny.'s first big gig with us and he did a fine job following in the tradition of great guitar players in Roadhouse, rreally stepping up to the Mark. The success of the weekend was our 3rd new Voodoo Queenette (is that a word?) Kelly Marie Hobbs who added great, additional vocal and visual power to the band. Everyone enjoyed the '3 girl on stage action', so to speak.


After that I/we kicked into the 3rd year of the Skegness jam.
It was a great honour to compare this event, which is fast becoming the highlight of the festival. The arena was packed, the great crowd got right behing the musicians and the standard of musicanship was great.

Special commendations to the incredible talent of the young 'Little Boy Blue' on meteoric guitar and vocals, Gizmo on the guitar and the amazing Sharon from The Blue Cafe Bar in Harrogate, on the vocals.

The event rose to a crescendo as we mixed members of the Brew, including Tim himself and the incredible Jason on lead guitar, with members of Roadhouse. It all finished nicely with a resounding Watchtower.

4 hours had blurred by, here's to next year, god and fate willing
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 29 January 2008

New Years Jam - The Woodman - Wimbledon - 3/1/08

A great jam, but bad news as due to financial problems with the Brewery the Jam is suspended until the 7th February........

On the night - A great version of Risng Sun from Mandie and the most totlly self indulgent Watchtower from Danny & I ever...........

Other good performances from 15 year old prodigy Oliva with the legendary Tim Matthewman as her bass player. The Pete Bedford Band were also on good form. Earlier Lol Sandford ha delivered a rare, but accomplished vocal performance.

Olivia finished the night with a solo perfromance. Just her and an electric guitar, her own song, her voice. The audience were transfixed by this 15 yer old....

Here's to the 7th February
Next stop SKEGNESS !!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 20 January 2008

The Xmas Jam - The Woodman - Wimbledon - 13/12/07

Well last week turned out to be the 'downdraft' before a mega turn out for the annual Xmas jam.....it was packed

Suzie opened the evening with a dazzling 'Stormy Monday', accompanied by the great Tim Mattthewman on the soloing bass. Danny repeated his strong slide performance on 'Sacrifice' as Roadhouse legend Drew Barron took up the bass duties. Kelly continued her development on the vocals, then it was into a strong version of the new song 'Lights on the Water'. We finfished off with a top notch vocal from Mandie.G on House of the Rising Sun. A good set, the only dissapointment for me was that I couldnt re-capture the guitar form I demonstrated in Kenley around 10 days ago. Still was the best i'd felt on stage for a while (large crowd or large intake of alcohol - one or the other!).....

Onto the jam and with musicians stacking up all round the big pub, scheduling was going to be a challenge. his was not helped by a total PA failure - which cost us 12 minutes.

With a PA patch up we started with Jeannie on the vocals, repaeting last weeks performance of 'Another Peice of my Heart'. She did a fine job with a gravelly vocal, backed by our very own Mandie.

The Tom Anfield Band then did a set that had a lovely feel. Then its off to Australia for Tom for 6 months (most people who want to be big down under just take Viagra - but Tom's serious about it!).

Then we were onto the feature set for the evening, showcasing the talents of Jimmy Dublin alongside Roadhouse guitar legend (and bass dep!) Drew Barron. Drew's tone was superb and it was great to see Jimmy back.

Next up a typically strong set from Pete Bedford and his crew. Blues legend John O'Leary then shared the
stage with Charley, John Scott and Jon Griffin, plus Dave the drummer (the drummer with no surname - cos i dont know it). For an eclectic mix of players, this cocktail was pretty tasty.

Then I found space for a quick Xmas 'Watchtower' with Danny.G and Funky Goerge on the Drums. And at last I found some guitar form (hurrah!)

Final sets came from the eternal showman Terry Brennan and Syd on the banjo.
A happy crowd with a few dissapointed musos who didnt get to play, trudged off into the chilly night...

I reflected on over 5 years of this great jam. From the early days when we were hosted at BOFS/The Earl of Spencer by Colin and Andrea, where strang memories include the awesome vocals of Lorna Reilly and the cigar chomping presence of Noel Brown. In those days you couldn't keep Keith Grant and Little Rusty off the stage.. Onto the Woodman, with our present host Martin (and his magic mince pies). I recalled the early days down at the conservatory end and hearing Andy Cortes play with a young Jules Fothergill for the first times and them 'blowing me away'. The giant sax majesty of Andy Thompson and the organisational work and vocals of Anne Campbell completely holding it together until the return of Mandie.G to the fold.....

Ghosts of Xmas's past and a great Xams jam present

Thanks for all the support, I wouldnt have made it to the end of 2007, without the incredible help and support I've been given,
Have a great Xmas, look after your health and your families
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 16 December 2007

The Woodamn Jam - 6/12/07

The quietest jam at the Woodman for a couple of years. I'm hoping that's becuase everyone is waiting for next weeks Crimbo special extravaganza....

Still there was enough regulars there to make it a worthwhile night. It was an easy jam to run as it was so quiet and overall the standard of music was very good.

Andrew Heart sat in on the bass in place of Bill and did his best job for us yet. A decent set from us based around some old Roadhouse classics including 'Blues Highway'. Danny.G played 'Sacrifice' for the first time and did a great job as he continues to develop playing slide guitar.

It was bye bye to Geronimo for a while, who did a great set before going back home to Espana.

A quiet but pleasant night...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 16 December 2007

Kenley Sports Club - 2/12/07

With Bill still out of action following his shoulder operation (robbing us of both his bass playing and our PA), it would have been the easy option to cancel this gig.

However, we couldn't let that great Roadhouse supporter, Ray Baldwin and his lovely crowd down.
48 hours to go and half the Band had flu and I'd lost my voice completely. A shed load of vocal zone lozenges later I could croak for England. So we gave the girls and Drew (playing a superb dep role on the bass) a vocal feature (it probably gave a nice change from a typical growl along with Gary night, anyway!)

Special thanks to Frank Dymore who played percussion and provided the PA and that legendary Roadie Big Ron, who transported the monitors....

The girls were on great form singing, Brooklyn Blues, Stormy Monday, Help Me, Big Easy, Heavens Door, Rising Sun and Drew weighing in with Howlin for My Darlin & Watchtower.
This allowed me to focus on my guitar playing. Having a muscle and tendon disease likes mine really adds fun and a sense of achievement to the rudiments of guitar playing. With different muscles, nerves and tendons playing up every night, you have to adapt your style. Tonight thanks to the girls and Drew ,I was in the zone and was genuinely surpirsed by my own standard of playing (if only I could do it evey night!).

I mumbled my way through Blues Highway, Slip Away, Voodoo Queen and Preacher Man. The crowd were great and by the end the atmosphere was superb, as they were totally 'with us' though the last 4-5 songs.

What nice people - a very good band perfromance and a great night all round.....

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 9 December 2007

Jam Session - The Woodman - Wimbledon Park - 29/11/07

A good jam at the Woodman with the music being of an overall high quality.

In the Roadhouse set we again featured to legandary Mr Drew Barron on the Bass (in place of the slowly healing, post operative Bill)

In the Roadhouse set we gave Kelly another workout with 'Blues Highway'. Although pitchy at first she did well by the end of the song and followed up with a credible vocal on 'White Water'.
We gave the new song 'Lights on the Water' a very good work out and then concluded with Mandie's version of 'Heavens Door'.

On to the jam iteslf. Pick of the night was the Isidore Brothers, Gus & Reg. First off they played an Osibisa song song with Osibisa'sown Mr Greg Brown on bass and vocals (excellent). they were then joined on the bass by Andrew Heart and played a great bit of hendrix and then a high quality original. Gus's guitat playing (strung uoside dwon al la Handrix) was outstanding and you could see why world class acts, like Seal, had him in their bands.

Good sets from Geronimo, Pete Bedford and Terry Brennan followed. I enjoyed an chance to play with John O'Leary again and Lol Sandford, stetching out some classic blues.
The jam is on the next 2 weeks running, The Xmas jam (last for December is on the 13th)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 2 December 2007

East Harling Social Club - 24/11/07

With Bill at home recovering from his shoulder operation this was a difficult and costly gig to arrange and play. However, the wonderful warm crowd at East Harling and the fabulous Sandie made the effort worth while, if only more venues were as appreciative and welcoming.

Thanks again to big Ron, who picked up the PA from Bill's and drove it all the way up to Norfolk and for Mr Drew Barron himself, for sitting in on the bass and doing such a superb job......

Line up wise other than having the Candian version of Mark King on the bass, we had a full line up. Kelly was also there continuing her developmental path (with the emphasis on 'mental' for wanting to join Roadhouse in the fist place). Kel sang backing on No Place to Hide and Brooklyn, lead on Big Easy and indulged in a bit of 3 girl (vocal) action on Slip Away (next up a gospel choir!)
Many of the crowd said she only looked 16, but I took great delight in telling them she was really 74 and has had £1.8 mil of reconstructive surgery.....

Set wise Help Me, Rock me and F**ck Me slipped effotlessly off of Suzie and Mandie's tongues as they were on great form. Suzie really nailed Stormy Monday

What I really like about East Harling are the number of children and families there, really getting into the live music. Thanks to my 9 year old little buddy who helped me play my tremelo arm in Watchtower.

Many of the crowd had really dug the excellent (our good freinds) The Mellotones (all the way from Holland), but apparently for some strange reason Roadhouse still top the East Harding popularity stakes.....

Drew, Danny and Roger all played a blinder..even I got excited in Preacher Man.

2 dates now in the diary to return next year. Let's stay alive and or in the game that long.....
Nice club, nice people
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 28 November 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 15/11/07

I'm pleased to report that this was a good jam at the 'Woody'

For the record, in the Roadhouse set I gave all 3 girls a feature. Suzie did a superb rendition of 'Stormy Monday', Kelly did good on 'The Big Easy' and Mandy sang a very nice 'House of the Rising Sun' (I think the quality in feel of our version takes this song above its usual level of cliche). Danny played well all night and Drew did a good job convering for Bill on bass, as well as delivering a great set himself with a visiting Canadian bass player (For all interested, Bill's operation seems to have been a success and he is doing well).

Onto the jam and good performances from Geronimo, The Pete Bedford Band and Lol Sandford. It was good to see more new blood and a nice welcome back to drummers Dave and Jerry

See you on the 29th
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 24 November 2007

Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - Special Guests of Pat Travers -2/11/07

Quite a special night really.....

Pat Travers and his crew arrived an hour late (good to see Manny his Road Manager again, last time was the successful show we did with
Joe Bonamassa), so we were up against is set up/sound wise.

As ever against adversity, the band played great. It was nearly a full house and we won the crowd over big time.
Starting with Tellin Lies and kicking on with Big Easy, Brooklyn, No Place To Hide, Slip Away, Watchtower and then the band intros on Voodoo Queen. We had enough time and audience response for Preacher Man, but the Travers Road team were gettting twitchy and we had to go off to very decent applause and CD sales.

Danny showed how well he is settling in and Kelly joined us for 'No Place' and 'Slip Away' and the girl did good.

During the first 3 songs my muscle disease made every chord/note agony to play, but as we hit 'No Place To Hide' I got enough adrenalin to get above it . This was Bill's last gig before his major shoulder operation on Tuesday. Our thoughts go with him, hopfully he'll be back in the 'saddle' by mid January. in the meantime we'll only do a few shows.

If we all stay alive I'm determined to record another CD in late spring (Big if!). Our thoughts also go out to Alan Pearce, Head of our record label Blues Matters and his fight with cancer.
This is a period for battling and keeping the faith.Stay with us my friends.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 4 November 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 1/11/07

A good turn out by music loving punters, but a limited turn out from musicians (including only one bass player present other than Bill) created a challenging dynamic.

We used the Roadhouse set as a warm up for Friday's Pat Travers support, at The Boom Boom Club, Sutton FC. We opened with the new song 'Dark River' which is really showing good potential, and other than the girls being nervous/woried about the monitor levels, went very well.
Suzie sang the 'Big Easy', Kelly joined Mandy in the backing on 'No Place to Hide'. Once again we did our version of 'Rising Sun'. I liked the fact that Mandie missed her power verse out (by accident) as it added to the blues feel and subtlety that the version needs. Audinece reaction was great.

On to the jam and after a couple of good opening sets, including some nice guitar playing/singing from Tony Quinta, I was plased to play a set with the legendary John O'Leary (also the world record holder for losing mobile phones) and Lol Sandford. Basically Lol held it together while I pissed around with the riffs and structure. Nice feel on the songs.

Good sets from Geronimo and a killer version of Rocky Mountain Way from the Pete Bedford Band followed . The night finished with Suzie & Mandie singing a strong version of 'Help Me' with John Griffin and Lol on the guitars.

No jam for two weeks, so see everyone on the 15th November
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 3 November 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 18/10/07

Sorry for the late posting of this journal entry. Recently I've been told off/taken a lot of flak for posting reviews late and will try to do better. Trouble is with my current health issues, both post gig energy and schedule issues do not always facilitate the chance to post early (especially with the post strike - Boom Boom!)

Well this was a rocking night at the Woodman. A return to form following last weeks bad turn out.

This was Kelly's first 'official' Roadhouse appearance and lead vocal. She nailed 'The Big Easy' (I was very impressed). Mandie did a great job singing our 'blues feel' version of 'The House of the Rising Sun. This also featured a good solo from Danny and gained superb feedback from the crowd - one for the new Album?

Jammers included Geronimo, Pete Bedford Band, Terry Brennan, Lol Sandford. But pride of place, on a great musical night went to Drew and his Canadian 3 peice (and I'm not talking about his crown jewels). They were great and with a bit of luck his Candian freinds will be back again next year.

Following the joys of half term the jam will resume on the 1st November
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 28 October 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 11/10/07

Well it had to happen I suppose, a very quiet jam at the Woodman......
After last weeks influx of new blood I was surprised to see it so empty.
Maybe we should go back to once a fortnight??

Roadhouse wise, Bill was off on jury service and has his major operation pending in the immediate future. Andrew Heart did a fine job of deputising. Kelly joined us again for Blues Highway and Slip Away was typically epic, featuring a fine solo from Danny.

The girls then fronted a line up containing Lol Sandford and other quality players. Mandie and Suzie were on great form on both 'Sweet Home Chicago' and 'Help Me'

Highlight was Monsieur Drew Barron returning to blast us with Robin Trower's 'Too Rollin Stoned'. It must have been great to do that with the original drummer from that band, Reg Isidore banging the skins. Drew followed up with his legendary Pink Floyd medley, including demented and accurate Scottish schoolteacher rant (mind you his English accent on the rest of it sounded like shades of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins) on 'Another Brick In the Wall'.
Brilliant!

We had good sets from Geronimo and Pete Bedford and a traditional finish from Syd on the banjo.

So quality music was played throughout and those there had a great time
More people please.....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 14 October 2007

Late & Live At the Thomas Tripp - Christchurch - 6/10/07

Our second gig at this big stage venue, thats currently featuring big name acts like Wishbone Ash and Hawkwind.

A big thanks to Promoter, Paul Hills and owner Johnnie (who joined us onstage for an insane 8 minute rap on Voodoo Queen - I loved it, but others found it an acquired taste).

We pulled a bigger crowd than last time and the show went down really well. Danny seems to be growing nicely into the role and Dark Water got an excellent first full gig outing.

All played well, we just hope that current disagreemnents between vanue management the promoter do not get in the way of us coming back....

A good night
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 13 October 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 4/10/07

Normal service was resumed with a cracking jam at the Woodman.

Lots of new blood present as Adam, Pete and Lewis played some rock classics including the first version of a Muse song ever to be performed at the Woodman jam (much cred).
Tony a new guitar player excelled and added some 'violin technique' to the proceedings.

Danny.G playing with the worthy Pete Bedford Band did a brilliant solo on 'Heart of the City', only to totally detroy the last and simplest line of it. "My jazz note" shouted Daz, hilarious.....

Danny.G performed his first version of 'Dark River' and did a sterling job. We returned to a 3 vocal opening harmony to this new and unrecorded number and it really improved the song. Kelly was back and the 3 girl 'action' on Brooklyn Blues was impressive.
Come on down and see what you are missing
See you next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 7 October 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 27/9/07

The first quiet jam at the Woodman for months. It wasn't empty and was still a decent night, but by usual standards it was quiet....

Kelly continues to sing a new song or 2, each night and is progressing. The Roadhouse set featured Danny.G playing 'Lights on the Water' for the first time, and it was ok.

Drew himself was making a visit as a punter and the possible the hgihlight of the night was his solo set ,which featured some pretty tasty playing.

Lets hope for more folk next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 5 October 2007

The Lady Of The Lake - Suffolk - 22/9/07

Second night on the road and a great trip to a very scenic part of the world, near Great Yarmouth.

It was Paul the landlord's birthday. The nice big stage was atmospherically lit by the very helpful Steve. We really liked the sizeable room with the poster of the alluring lady herself smouldering behind the kit (the lady not Roger), it was very rock and roll.

Though it looked great, the low level lighting meant we struggled to see what we were playing. This lead to my playing of some comedy chords during the opening 'Blues Highway' before help from a guidedog aided me in me finding the fretboard...

The first set went well but the audience reaction seemed just 'allright' and we wondered if we were cracking it.
By the end we were running out of encores and the audience were singing and chanting (honestly!) for us to continue.
This lead to the fun of Danny and Suzie doing songs they'd never heard, let alone played.
Even Whiskey Man was brought out of the coffers and dusted down.
Another very good one
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 28 September 2007

The Banham Barrel - Norfolk - 21/9/07

Danny's first Roadtrip as a full time member took us back to one of our fave regular gigs.

The old 'Cider Shed/Factory' is still a great haven for music lovers. It's a shame attendances for Jonty's friendly venue have been up and down over the last 18 months or so. However, tonight was an 'up night', with a very good crowd.

Suzie was alone on vocal duties and revelled in the freedom that gave her. She was in great voice and performed superb versions of Stormy Monday and her trademark epic 'The Big Easy'.

The second set saw the band go into overdrive and a storming Roadhouse Blues and Watchtower gave the guitar buffs their dose of over the top antics.
The whole gig came to its Voodoo Queen /Preacher Man climax and went down a storm.

See you next year Banham
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 27 September 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 13/9/07

Back at the jam following our massive festival success.

Fortunately there was no sense of downscaling ,as this was a busy night. Suzie was absent, so it gave another chance for young Kelly to try out on the vocals. She did her best job yet (especially on Preacher Man) and is developing nicely. Give the girl a few months and she could become a valuable member of the Roadhouse team.
It was also Danny.G's first official Roadhouse gig after Drew's had to take a step back to our dep list. Again Danny is making a good start.

Out of all the great jammers, I must give credit to the Isidore brothers (with Andrew Heart on bass), who played some quality original material. There was a nice range of new faces present at this jam to.

See you in 2 weeks,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 27 September 2007

COLNE National R&B Festival - 26/8/07

So our run of 4 gigs in 5 days concluded with our appearance on the mega, Super Roadhouse (British) Stage at the Colne R&B Festival. This was our 5th successive Colne and the end of an era, as it marked Drew's last appearance with us as a full time Band member.

This was fittingly one of Roadhouse's finest ever big stage/festival appearances. When we arrived the Buzz from the stage crew and compere Pete Cuddy was that it had been fairly quiet in the arena all day with no bands really making a big impact. All day people had been asking when were we going to be on stage.

Some quick work with the soundcrew faclitated our stage time being upped to an hour. As we launched into the intro to Telling Lies, the place started to fillig up rapidly and the crowd went with us from the moment the first guitar riff cut loose. As the lights went up at the end of the first number, the arena was nearly full and the atmosphere was outstanding.

This was probably the most in control I'd ever felt of a major stage performance and the Band were on top form.
No Place to Hide, Slip Away, The Big Easy, Heavens Door, Roadhouse Blues, Voodoo Queen blurred by.
After the encore the re-action was superb and Mandie and Suzie were besieged for CD sales.

Our good friends the Brew (aslo on Blues Matters) did a good job following our set (check out the work we intend to do with those guys next year). At the end of the night its a massive thanks to the 2 years of class guitar perfromances from the Candian maestro, monsieur Barron - here's to him depping and playing with us in future.

One of the best all time Roadhouse gigs (check out the pictures on this site)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 15 September 2007

Merton Abbey Mills Blues Festival - 24/8/07

Our 3rd night in a row took us to South London's very own open air festival. Under the Bandstand down by the river at good old Merton Abbey.
This was our 5th consecqutive year at the festival and the 3rd year in a row that we were the headline act.

Last year we broke the attendance record for a Friday with over 1,200 people. This year started slowly with around 4-500, but by the end was around the 800 plus mark.

Well done to Bob Bruning and Pete for keeping this superb event alive.. By the time we encored with 'Preacher Man' the whole place was jumping and CD sales breached all past Merton Abbey records.
Brian, his PA and the sound crew were superb.

This was by far the best show the band has ever played at Merotn Abbey. The crowd and the atmosphere was great

For the record, Frank Dymore played percussion, Kelly joined us for Brooklyn Blues and Slip Away. Danny.G joined us for a guest slot .Playing with me on a strong version of 'Watchtower' and then a kick arse 'Tellin Lies'. Drew then invited him onstage for a bit of 'Freebird' 3 guitar style overkill on Preacher Man.

A massive night and one for the scrapbook of all time great gigs
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 31 August 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 23/8/07

The second night of our 4 major dates in 5 days 'marathon' (well it's a marathon for me anyway!).

A good crowd and a good jam at the Woodman as we resumed service after our 4 week summer break.

Young Kelly was trying out/auditioning for membership of the Roadhouse female backing vocalist squad. She did quite well, (very good volume and power, just needs to work on her tone and blending).
A full strength Roadhouse played the 2 new big songs, Lights On The Water & Dark River. Also played were No Place To Hide (correctly, after last nights jazz interpretaion), Brooklyn Blues & Slip Away.

The jam was full of quality with Geronimo, Pete Bedford Band, John O'Leary and Mark Freeman all doing the business. However, it's weird with the crowd ebbing and flowing, as the new smoking law leads to 30% of the audience being out in the garden all night.

Pride of place went to the Brothers. Reg Isidore was the legendary drummer on Robin Trowers famous 'Bridge of Sighs' album (my copy is well worn) while his brother Gus has played guitar for Seal, as well as many other major acts. Their Hendrix interpretations were superb, top notch playing.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 31 August 2007

Peterborough CAMRA Beer & Music Festival - 22/8/07

Well the summer break ended and we were back with a bang, playing on Europe's largest tent, on a giant stage to a few thousand lovely people.

Unlike last years trade show appearance at this ace beer fest, this was a open to the public night. Consequrently there was a very good crowd and a really good atmosphere.

Overall the Band played very well after the 4 week break. It was one of the most energetic and best ever visual performances that we've ever staged. This spectacle was aided by Mandie and Suzie disovering the home made wine stall, which in turn lead to on stage dancing, miming, simulated 'guitar jobs' and small children (well a lovely and very young lady called Molly) being paraded/danced with on stage. The crowd 'luvved' our girls - who put on a great show and for the first 80% of the set were on top vocal form.

The whole band played a stormer and apart from my personal re-writing of No Place to Hide (and believe me on that big stage I couldn't find one - what a cock up!) did a great job

So began our 4 gigs in 5 days to conservatively over 6,000 people (With my forthcoming surgery it will interesting to see how I cope with this schedule)
I'll keep you posted,
A very good gig
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 24 August 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 19/7/07

The last jam before our 1 months summer break. I thought that pre break things might be a bit quiet, but the place was rocking.

It was a struggle getting all the musicians on and some on stage tuning and really long numbers incurred a late finish. This understandably pissed of Bill, who has to carry the PA all the way home to Thamesmead and gets hardly any sleep anyway. We'll have to see what we can do about the overuns in the future.

However, it was a great jam with a very high standard of musicianship. Lol Sandfords's Solo on I Shot the Sheriff) (John, Kyle and Billy's set) was pic of the night for me. A strong first appearance/Woodman debut from Robin Trower Band drummer , Reg Isidore, was another highlight.

Roadhouse played Blues Highway, Brooklyn Blues & Telling Lies.

Geronimo does an interim gig at the Woodman on the 9th August.

We are back on Thursday the 23rd
See you then,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 23 July 2007

The Ray Murray Memorial Gig - The Woodman - Wimbledon Park - 7/7/07

It was nice to be asked to play this memorial gig for the death of my good friend Ray Murray.
Ray over the years had been influential in Bills and I's musical career. He got us into our first Band, helped form Roadhouse and put the jam on at both the Earl of Spencer and The Woodman. All in all he'd been a good friend to me from the age of 14.

A lot of tickets were sold and the attendance ended up a tad dissapointing, in the mid 70's. It was lovely to see Ray's widow Jenny and his family really enjoy the night. A big thanks to Martin at the Woodman for putting on the show and guest musicians, John Scott, Tim Havard, Danny G and Pete Bedford and friends. Ray's old friend and rated international photographer Laurie Asprey also did a nice couple of Acoustic tunes.

Roadhouse were at full strength and played 2 excellent sets (we were on top form for some reason).
Personally I had the best night on the guitar, possibly the best I've ever had (Ray must have been smiling down on me).
It was weird really as my music career has been a long journey. Now, as my physiacl/medical problems mount, I finaly seem to be reaching the standards I've always strived for (quite ironic really!).

The crowd loved the show
Ray we won't forget you mate.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 20 July 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 5/7/07

At last a return to a traditional busy night at the Woodman. The struggle was back on to get everyone on stage and I appreciate the flexibility of all the later acts for letting me merge line ups.

Things started off with a very different version of Roadhouse (Mark 37.5). Bill had the night off (well we all get lucky once a year!) and the band featured Drew on the bass (yes Drew!) and Danny and the guitar. Also featuring Mandie as out solitary white thigh booted female (I tried to find more white thigh booted females, but was thrown out of the lap dancing club)... Roadhouse played Heavens Door, Blues Highway and Voodoo Queen.

Things moved on with a wave of youth, Laurie did a 3 piece slot, followed by Lyndsays first ever vocal and 3 piece performance. Later on it was the turn of the over 30's (sic), with Danny.G and Jim Dublin leading the way, rocking us through to an excellent conclusion.

Syd and his legendary banjo played us into the rainy summers night

A good one - next jams in 2 weeks time
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 July 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 28/6/07

The quietish spell at the Woodman continued with this jam. There was still some great music and everyone who came had a good time.
The show must go on!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 July 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 21/6/07

The attendance had been well down on the last 2 jams. So it was good to see things getting at least on their way back to normal with this one.

For the record Roadhouse played Dark River, Brooklyn Blues (well sung girls and happy birthday Mandie for Saturday) and Bob from GJ's/BB's joined the girls on the Bv's as it was also his birthday, for a reasonable White Water.

Decent sets from Geronimo, Pete Bedford, Resemary and Terry Brennan. I enjoyed joining up with Danny.G for an excellent Watchtower and Mandie duetted with me on House of The Rising Sun (nice feel on our version and some excellent playing as well
by all concerned.)

See ya next week (I hope!)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 25 June 2007

The Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - 10/6/07

So to our much heralded "18th Birthday" party gig at the Boom Boom, Sutton FC.

I apologise for the late posting of this gig report and missing out one on the preceeding jam session all together. This is due to combination of increased ill health and our server/site being down for an extended period.

I've mixed feelings with regard to this gig. On the positive side it was great to have over 45 paying friends and family present at the gig. Many of our most loyal friends and supporters were there and your belief and help means so much to both me and the Band.
Big thanks to promoter Pete Feenstra, who gave us our 5th headline at this major venue. Pete and George's support has been vital throughout the Bands most successful years.

As I reflect on the many years of Roadhouse and all the great people I've worked with (over 35 different Band members and 9 CD's released), I must take pride and delight from such a long and relatively successful journey. When we formed to play one gig at a friends wedding, we didnt know what we were starting...
As many of the mainstream monolithic monsters of rock have bitten the dust, we on our own small scale have remained.

Thanks to special guests Tim O'Sullivan (dynamite on the encore - Preacher Man, Robin Bibi adding class on Voodoo Queen and Pete Bedford and Lol Sandford playing on Help Me. Our very own percussion player Frank Dymore joined us for Voodoo, Sacrifice and the best perfromance of the night with Danny.G joining us on Watchtower.
Crowd reaction overall was brilliant

On the bad side the 60 plus people in the room is just not a worthy return for either Pete or for us.

After support band the very capable "Sharpees" , with their Rory Gallagher roots had blasted evryone with extreme volume and overun their time slot, we did a quick turn around and took to the stage as quickly as possible.

It was annoying to lose a couple of songs from the set, then by the end of the opener Blues Highway, the main power monitor blew. the consequence was that my voice was blasted across the stage like an exploding, constipated Dalek (no change there then, I hear some of you saying). It was difficult to sing, and though the out front sound wasn't bad at all(though it was mainly Drew and the Drums that dominated the mix) I had to play with the worst stage sound I've ever experienced.
Along with that, there was periodic on stage feedback, but bearing mind all the problems the standard of vocals was really good.

In the end its a case of thanks to everybody who came, supported and enjoyed.the night. I know Pete promoted it hard, but in the final analysis maybe 18 years is long enough??????

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 24 June 2007

The New Crawdaddy Club - The Belvedere - Essex

Our 4th appearance at this Excellent top quality venue. A big thanks to Paul and Ashwyn for having us back.

A massive thanks to Pete Bedford and Big Ron for solving our transport problems by kindly giving Band members a lift and making the gig possible....cheers guys

It was a great night with an excellent turn out. First up, house band The Heaters (Paul's own band ), played a solid set. Highlight for me was their version of Garry Moore's ' I still got the Blues for You'.

We played for around 1 hour and 35 minutes straight and other than my comedy error in White Water and Suzi's attack of Alzheimer's in the Big Easy, it went well.

Highlights included the best version yet of the new song Dark River, Telling Lies, Slip Away and the double encore of Preacher Man & Sacrifice

A fine gig and we'll back next year (all being well)

On a footnote it was great to see Roadhouse legend Anne Campbell at the gig, as well as many other valued friends and long term fans...

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 4 June 2007

The Barnard Castle R&B Festival - Barnard Castle - 27/5/07

Well I suppose after 18 years on the road it had to happen, we didn't make the gig.....

All was going well until with 160 miles gone and 100 to run, Roger's top hose (on his engine - not his underwear) broke. After an hour of nail biting tension in the driving rain on the M1 hard shoulder, the AA man pronounced the head gasket blown and our major festival headline dream over.

6.5 hours later and £620 lighter, Roger, Suzie, Mandie and I we were towed back into London at around 10pm, depressed and cleaned out...

Bill and Drew in the meantime obtained the services of a local drummer and as a 3 peice successfully ended this major festival - rocking for an hour. A period of rain and very low tempretures and taken the crowd down for its earlier level of around 1,000, but there was enough people there to help Drew and Bill on their very cold and damp way.
Well done guys....

One for history books - for all the wrong reasons - shame!!!!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 28 May 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 24/5/07

A really muggy and hot spring night, kept quite a few punters outside of the Woodman and the overall crowd a little lower than usual.

The Jam had an interesting Roadhouse opening with Drew playing the first 2 numbers. The strategy was to play the 2 new songs before Drew had to make an early exit. Planet of Fools was really solid, and then we tried a girls only intro to Dark River and that was brilliant. The rest of the song was going fantastically well untill Drew extended his solo and the whole thing truned into an 'M25 pile up'. Still I have learned that this one is a winner - big style!.

Danny.G then joined us for a a solid Big Easy. Next up was my Daughter Rhiannon who sang the first half of Slip Away alone and the second half in great harmony with Mandie and Suzie. I was as Proud as an old Dad could be ....the girl did good.

Later in the jam Lawrence was back for blues guitar frenzied work out on Watchtower. John, Kyle and Bill (Dad, Son and Uncle) did a great 'I Shot The Sheriff' and The Pete Bedford Band got their kicks on 'Route 66' very nicely. Awesome Tony was the pick of the nights drummers for me - Awesome ((did what he said on the tin)

No jam for 2 weeks
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 28 May 2007

The District Club - Pontypridd, Wales - 18/5/07

One of the better days on the road. A sunny drive to a really large hall, with friendly staff & cheap drinks.
The crowd here varies from 40-150 and it is sometimes tough for bands coming up for the first time. So we were delighted that after 18 years on the road, that there were over 100 people out for our first gig in Wales.

What a great crowd, the people were warm and witty and really into their music, giving the band great encouragement and support.

The 2 long sets flashed by. The band played well and the new song 'Lights On the Water' went down great. The encore had a quite a few of Pontypridd's very attractive ladies up and on the dance floor, as we rocked out on 'Voodoo Queen and Preacher Man'.

They want us back next year, shame its not sooner! - a good one
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 28 May 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 17/5/07

A good crowd and jam at the Woody (an unsually dissapointing jug though - which is what usually keeps this jam going!).....

Another Dep for Danny (I've got more hair than Drew) G - and we responded with one of the best versions of Watchtower ever played at the Woodman (I even enjoyed my own guitar solo - and thats a rare thing!)

Due to everyone coming in quite late, the later slots became truncated. Jimmy Dublin and Geronimo both did well, playing short but punchy sets. Julianne Shaw was in good voice as were Suzie and Mandie, who did some incredible harmonies on Sweet Home Chicago with an early line up.

My daughter Rhainnon should make the next jam and maybe she'll lower herself to sing with the oldies?
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 20 May 2007

The Hope Tavern - Near Lincoln - 13/5/07

Our 4th gig at this excellent venue. Graham does a cracking job transforming this nice little pub into a rocking blues venue.
We had played here twice with the legendary Jules Fothergill, Lorna Reilly and Anne Campbell line up, then once with Fiona McElroy singing in tandem with Mandie.
This however was arguably our best ever gig there.
The first set rocked with Suzie on great form in 'The Big Easy' and Mandie really brought home her version of 'Heavens Door'. The guitar battle/trade off really gelled during 'Rock Me'

There is great music loving crowd in this venue and they really lift the band (It was great seeing Ray and Nicky and other old friends). The second set kicked on and the crowd loved Drew's impromptu version of Pink Floyd's, Another Brick In the Wall - Part Two.

Drew was on good form and his outro on Voodoo Queen lead to a double encore of Preacher Man and Sacrifice (Subtitled sometimes its hard to find a virgin).
If we all stay alive, We'll be back - a good one - it's brought back the faith ( well a bit anyway)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 17 May 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 10/5/07

Back to another good crowd and excellent jam night at the Woodman.
We are getting a nice slection of new faces at the moment augmenting regulars like the excellent Geronimo, Pete Badford Band, Terry Brennan etc....
Syd and his banjo played us out into the cold wet night ( a tradition).
Here's to next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 17 May 2007

The Roxzone at the White Horse - Bognor - 5/507

Well first the good news. What a nice venue, first rate pa, soundmen and stage. And the promoter Paul was a gent. Also we had a great dep
performance from Danny.G, stepping in at the last minute for Drew - he played a stormer.....

The bad news, this venue though worthy has only been going a few months and has largely featured tribute bands. a good run of attendance was broken by a band not turning up and then a break for Easter. The consequences were that we played to a dismal corwd. If you took away the 11 Roadhouse fans/regulars (including my Mum and Dad ), we were playing to the proverbial 3 men and a dog (it wasn't quite as bad as that - but seemed it.


The band played well, the people loved it and as usual were full of complements - "Best band etc" -- but can live music keep going in the UK with this lack of support??

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 16 May 2007

Jam Session - The Woodman - Wimbledon Park - 3/5/07

A really good jam night at the Woodman. It kind of all passed me by personally as my new Harley Street Doctor gave me some new stuff to take, that as an effect had me considering calling an ambulance by about 5pm....
However, at 8 pm Frank Dymore kindly picked me up in his large gas guzzler and plonked me on the stage. Normal service was resumed (or near normal anyway)

Danny.G was sitting in for Drew and did a good job. The young base player and his Dad John, were back with a great singing drummer (like the singing detective only hae plays the drums). Their version of superstition was tremendous and the highlight of a night that was all a bit of a blur to me.
It was also great to see Julianne Shaw back and doing a nice set with Lol Sandford
Ah well maybe next week I'll be back in the game more fully
Well done all for putting on such a great show

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 11 May 2007

Live & Kicking at the Thomas Tripp - Chirstchurch - Dorset - 28/4/07

A rare trip to Dorset and an excellent new venue. The Thomas Tripp is Paul Hill's new promotional venture and is well worhty of support.

A nice deep stage (deep enough that the support band could set up all their rig, including drums, in front of our gear) a good sound crew and lighting rig, including effects (excellent!) - lots of poses from me on the drum riser - well any chance to look taller)

First up was worthy support band Brazen, who did a decent covers set. At this point the venue which has a late license and long standing rep as a very late watering hole was a ghost town...

By the time we were on there was only about 30-40 in, so we delayed the start of the second set and by the end of the night it was very busy

Overall, it was a great performance as the band nailed most songs and both sets got a very good response. The Roadhouse ladies sang well and the encore Preacher Man (as usual) rocked the joint. Unusually even I was top form!!!

Well be back to this one
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 6 May 2007

Jam Session - The Woodman - Wimbledon - 26/4/07

The first Jam after our 3 week Easter break and it was a good one.
Great sets from the Pete Bedofrd Band, Jim Dublin and Geronimo. Jin brought donw this great young bass player who had been to the Victor Wootton bass school (great solo)
Roadhouse did a blinding version of the new song "Lights On The Water" and really rocked out on Roadhouse Blues. Overall it was a good crowd too
The Jam is back...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 6 May 2007

Burnley National Blues Festival - Main Stage -8/4/07

Well onto our main stage appearance at Burnley and a lovely big stage it was..
We were opening the festival at 3pm in the afternoon.

Following the 2 plus hours mega set of the night before and only 4 hours sleep I was feeling more than a little achey, tired and jaded. This wasn't helped by there only being about 120 people in the arena when we kicked off early at 14.50.

However, by the time we hit the half way point a few hundred were in and we were getting into the big numbers of attendees by the time we concluded our set.

Overall, we put on a good show and got (according to the organisers) a very good opening set crowd and re-action. This was also reflected in CD sales

However though I sang really well, I couldn't find the hot guitar form that I was in the previous night. The stage sound was very weird and added to an early Sunday afternoon feeling of surrealism

Still it was a good show, at an excellent well organised festival with a capable Stage Manager and crew.

We started with Slip Away, then played Help Me, The Big Easy, Voodoo Queen, White Water, No Place To Hide and encored with Preacher Man (apparently a first set encore was a rare accolade)

I'd like to do this again, ideally further up the Bill/later in the day
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 29 April 2007

Burnley National Blues Festival - Festival Stage - 7/4/07

Thanks to some excellent research and dealings by Drew, we checked into some nice accommodation (for a change!). Thanks to Lynne and Peter for looking after us at the Palace guest house (old Majors house/Georgian style) - very nice.

At the venue we set up on the small/cosy festival stage in Oliver's bar. As the headline act on the smaller stage, we ended up playing a marathon 2 hours and 10 mins (not including the short break we took in the middle).

We thought we'd struggle to fill the 2 hours plus, as we haven't done that length of set for ages. Truth was it flew by and we didn't play stacks of stuff including 2 or the new 3 songs and Watchtower, even though we had numerous requests for it.

In the first set, the PA blew up around the midway point. At one stage we played on, with half the sound crew on stage working around us to rectify the problems. However, the audience were great and totally into it and the set rocked out nicely.

The second half rocked with a vengance. I remember the crowd manically "Haw, haw hawing"along with Drew on his Howling Wolf ditty and they wouldn't let us go without a big cry for 'Preacher Man'. There was even a decent sing along with it at the end.

Apparently one of the major acts had bombed on the main stage upstairs. The majority of the crowd walking out and then coming down to catch us. Oh well thats showbiz!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 10 April 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 5/4/07

A further good warm up for Burnley. Mandy's friend Mel joined us for a rousing version of the new song 'Dark River' and it was a good opening set from a full strength Roadhouse.
A lot of people at the Jam, but fewer musicians than usual. A good set from Laurie, who came with a band for once. Mandie joined some ace jammers including Lol Sandford and John Scott for a version of 'Mustang' and there was time for a solo slot for Drew, before Roadhouse finished the night (for once!)
See everyone after the Easter break on the 26th April
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 10 April 2007

The Red Lion - Stevenage - 1/4/07

So to Trevor (Mr Mayfest/the Man with The Hat) Keelings fabled, ace pub venue. A full on gig where the eclectic audience (bikers, old friends and supporters, sexy lady's, transexuals you name it) are packed up to your face and rock!!
Likened to the bar full of Aliens in the first star Wars movie, this was temendous fun venue and night.
It was bit worrying when the over excited crowd demolished the left hand PA column and sent 2 of my guitars flying, but it was all in the spirit...
Two blistering sets was an ideal warm up for our appearance at next weeks National Blues festival in Burnley. The encores went down a storm - see you next year and at Mayfest 2008, Thanks Trev
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 6 April 2007

The Dugout - Fanrborough FC - 30/3/07

On the way to Pete Feenstra's great new venue, I was really worried about crowd numbers. The rain was bouncing off the M3 on a truly miserable evening and it wasn't actually encouraging night on which to come out and support live music.

On arrival it was great to see that the Dugout was a good venue, warmer and more homely than Sutton, with a nice big stage and friendly people. It was also great to chat to Pete, who has done so much to support the Band and keep live music alive in the South of England/UK (and parts of Europe)

It was worrying that with only 10 mins to show time there were only 12 people in the audience. However, by the end of the 1st set we were up to well over 30 (on a foul night) and by the second set the night really rocked.

It was great to see our ace record plugger Golly Gallagher and together we began to hatch our marketing strategy for the next Roadhouse CD, due out in 2008 motality and health permitting).

The first set suffered from some vocal feedback and a loud backline, but the band was rocking and both No Place To Hide and newbie 'Lights On The Water' went down a storm. The second set saw the sound imporve and the Band went into overdrive. This lead to a double encore of Preacher Man and a requested reprise of No Place to Hide (great to see so many dancing and singing along)...

Lovely to see the big party of people who came down for Jill's bithday and had seen us before at Sutton (its folk like you that keep live music going)

Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 4 April 2007

The Woodman Jam -Wimbledon Park - 29/3/07

A good opening set by a full strength Roadhouse, as House Band. An improvised and impromptu into to 'Lights On The Water' worked really well and Planet of Fools rocked.
Another good crowd saw a night of varied performances. The multi talented Lewis lead a very good set, which though it suffered vocally, had some nice musical highlights. One of the younger new musicians (who shall remain nameless for his own safety) walked off stage when struggling with his second song, leaving the bass and drums to take out a contract on him. Oh well thats what the jams all about!

As usual good sets from Geronimo, Pete Bedford and Jimmy (I didn't know he was Irish) Dublin.
Here's to next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 1 April 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 22/3/07

Bill sustained a bad eye injury while working, leading to a rare dep appearance from bass soloist supreme, Tim Matthewman.
Tim coped well with his first play of some of the Roadhouse songs and came to the fore with his solo in Stormy Monday. This was well sung by Mandie and Suzie (despite Suz struggling with severe throat/laryngitis difficulties at the moment)..
We missed Bill's normal dovetailing with Roger on some sections, but overall it wasn't a bad opening set.

Another hero was Pete Bedford who rescued the night by supplying his pa, as Bill had his eye on ours (groan)... Good set and keyboard and hap playing to Pete (you just need a jews harp a gargling solos for the versatility set )

Overall the music was of good qualityand it was a decent turn out. It was good to see John O'leary back and I was delighted to do a set with him. Unfortunately my solo in the first song, stank (one of my worst this year - I'm amazed that some people clapped it !!), still the second one was ok.

Here's to next week, which will be followed by a busy weekend for the Band.

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 25 March 2007

The Banham Barrell - Norfolk - 17/3/07

Well after a 'rest' from long- haul gigging since our Skegness' appearances, we were finally back on the road.

Jonty's friendly, warm, ex-cider factory pulls in a good group of enthusiastic music lovers (they are often even more pissed than the band).

Support came from our special guests, that ace young band Blitz Screen. These guys used to watch us at East Harling and did a guest slot the last time we were there.
Seriously good original music with some superb and very fast guitar playing... keep it going lads...


To the Roadhouse set - We managed to play the best ever version yet of our killer new song Lights on The Water, and the other newbie, Planet of Fools rocked along nicely. With Mandie singing U2's 'I Still Haven't Found' (to commeorate St Paddy's night) and Drew's sleazy version of Satisfaction, the set had a fresh/new feel.

A good gig indeed and it was a long and late way home....
never mind - it was worth it
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 March 2007

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 15/3/07

Another good night at the Woodman. Great to see some excellent new faces there like Julian the drummer from 80's mega group ABC (he was a great drummer)
Following the Roadhouse set we had time for a bit of Drew Barron lead jamming and produced this amazingly sleazy, slow and spacey version of the Stones Satisfaction (everybody said we should do it again - and maybe we will)
Syd played us into the night on his Banjo - classic !
Thanks for the excellent support
See you next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 March 2007

Jules & Lorna's Wedding Reception - Putney Boat House - Putney London

Well I suppose the first question you are asking your self valued reader, is why am I writing about a wedding reception in the Band Journal?.
Well in truth it was a lot more than just a wedding reception.
Jules and Lorna were a key part of Roadhouse history. Part of the famous line up that many consider one of our finest, that produced the superb No Place To Hide CD and some of our finest ever festival appearances. Since leaving to form the popular and successful Funkydory they have continued to guest/dep and will always be part of the Roadhouse family.

At this excellent wedding reception overlooking the Thames on a gorgeous, globally warmed, March evening, even the speeches were good value.

Lorna looked great in her wedding dress and she fronted Funkydory as they played a rousing set , complete with wedding dress (very Evanesence and now de rigeur for all future gigs - I don't think - looked cool though). Jules played a blinder both as host and on the guitar.

This left an interstellar, all star jam to take place, which I was very flattered to be asked to run. Highlights for me included:
- Robin Bibi playing with Andy Cortes
- The great driumming of both Hayden and Joaquim
- John O'Leary and Roadhouse's own Drew Barron being on great form
- I sang Roadhouse Blues with Danny.G on the guitar , Bill on the bass, Owen on drums and with Anne Campbell on the BV's = Another Roadhouse re-union for the history books.
Pete Sargeant - finishing the night of great live music

We met and saw so many special band freinds and family members, it was a great night.
For me I was just delighted that Jules and Lona had deservedly had a very special day
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 19 March 2007

Jam Session - The Woodman - Wimbledon Park - 8/3/07

Following last weeks mega, quad birthday party jam, this was bound to be a quiet night.

Funny enough it wasn't, loads of good musicians and a good appreciative, music loving crowd. I got to play 'Ride on' with Jim Dublkin and the bits of my guitar solo that were in tune were not bad at all. Mandie and Jim's comic collaboration on Whole Lotta Love reached an all time high or low (depends which way you want to look at it)..

Here's to next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 19 March 2007

The Triple 50th BDay Party Jam - The Woodman - Wimbledon Park -1/3/07

A special celebratory night at the 'Woody'. I turned 50 at midnight, Drew a few days before and Bill in a few days time. It was also only a couple of days to Rogers 523rd birthday (or something like that!).

A great crowd and some fantastic musicians came out for us, and this turnned into one of the great all time Jams.
The Woodman was wedged out and it was hard to fit everybody on a glittering bill.

It was particularly great to have Jules Fothergill and Lorna Reilly in attendance just a few days before their wedding. We celebrated with them joining Bill, Roger and I for a blinding version of "I Couldn't Get to Sleep", a song which was synonimous with the last great line up of Roadhouse. That one blew everyone away and left a lot of people tearful with nostalgia.

Earlier the current Roadhouse did a good set, with Suzie and Mandie and Drew all on great form. Bill and Roger were as solid as ever, through The Big Easy, Heavens Door, No place to Hide and the new song, Lights On The Water.

Other highlights before I was totally drunk included the great comedy interplay between Jim Dublin and Mandie.G on Whole Lotta Love (way down inside will never be the same again)

Thanks for all the great cards, goodwill wishes and the fantastic support, both I and the band get collectively at the Woodman. Thanks to you all.........
At least I became an even older, old git on a high....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 11 March 2007

BB's Blues Club at GJ's Colliers Wood - 4/2

Well after the grandeur of the main stage appearance at Skegness (dry ice and all), back to earth with the proverbial bump.

This nice candlelit club sponsored bu the great Bob Bruning of Fleetwood Mac fame and run by the passionate Bob and James, deserves more support. Attendances have been bad ther this year, our last appearance their had been an exception. Not this time, only 16 people plus our special guests, Jim Dublin and Laurie, Lol Sandford and John (Harley.D ) Scott mad up the attendance.

With the sound bouncing round the room wihtout bodies to soak it up we were asked to play at a ridiculously low volume level, which led to a loss of feel and emotion. there was some great moments and our guests did a great job.

At the end of the day its one of the nights that makes you ask yourself that "After 17 years and 8 succesful CD's is it worth carrying on???"

Thanks for those of you who did come out to support live music on this winters night in February
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 11 March 2007

Jam Sessions - 1/2, 8/2, 15/2 -The Woodman - Wimbledon

The jam sessions following Skegness were lower than usual in attendance.
For 2 of the 3 nights Drew was away celebrating his birthday in Cuba (now I'm reliably told it's re-named Druba) and Danny.G did a hell of a job sitting in with Roadhouse in their capcity as the house band.
On another night Mandie was poorly and Suzie did a great job on her own.
Other than that, despite a healthy turn out of punters/music lovers, there were generally less musicians present than usual.

This gave me a chance to give all comers more time and also to be abit undulgent and play some Roadhouse back catalogue (i.e. The Dealer) and overall the standard of music was higher than it's been for ages.

Persistantly good performers included Jim Dublin and Geronimo and the ever excellent Peter Bedford and his Band.

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 7 March 2007

Skegness Monsters of Blues & Rock Festival -28/1/07

Our 4th consecutive appearance on the cavenous Centre Stage at Skegness (quite an achievement!).

We had been moved up the bill from 12.00 lunchtime to 20.00 and as a consequence had the day to kill. I wandered round the Butlitz wire perimeter and pulled faces at the security cameras (but still didn't manage to escape). I spent a lot of time thinking about the bands 17 years and all the great people who have come and gone, broken lives and broken hearts. Also fans and friends that are no longer with us (or anyone else)...well it put me in the mood for playing out stuff!

The big stage show usually goes bye in a blur - 50 minutes seeming like 5, this time I was determined to savour it.

We set up while all were at dinner and the empty arena seemed even larger than usual. Amazingly it filled wthin the space of about 15 minutes (leaving our Suzie with a mild bought of stage fright - it didn't matter though cos she was great)

The band kicked off with a stomping Telling Lies which segged into Slip Away (sans dry ice and great light show). Drew was on good form and not at all put of by his enormous rock star sunglasses.

The girls looked great dressed all in black and red (so was I, but no-one was looking at me!), and Suzie nailed a great version of Big Easy.

The monitoring was great and it was the best big stage show I've ever sung. I indulged myself with a bit of harmonicy, strange scale widdly guitar work on Roadhouse Blues before we timed out on Voodoo Queen (great drum solo from jolly uncle Roger). But they wouldn't let us go without Preacher Man - and big parts of the crowd gave us a standing ovation after Drew's Freebird like crescendo...

CD sales were excellent - one of the classic Roadhouse gigs.
Thanks to all the great people there.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 25 February 2007

Skegness Monsters of Blues & Rock Festival - 27/1/07

Fists day of our 2 Skeggy appearances in 2007 - Back on the JAKS stage at 12.00 we opened with a one hour set.
Bearing in mind the 2 main stages were in operation I was delighted with the crowd of around 300 plus that pitched up for our set. We featured all 3 new songs and Dark River went down a storm.

This was probably the best set we'd played on the JAKS stage and we couldn't get away from the screams for Preacher Man at the end. So though we wanted to save our final anthem for the Centre stage on Sunday, it got the first of 2 airings.

Then followed the Skegness jam which I hosted for about 3 hours.
This was the festivals best jam yet, with over 60 regsitered jammers who all got the chance to play. The overall standard was very HIGH. The audience were right behind the jammers and relative beginners mixed in with main stage heroes in what was in all, a great celbration of music...

Special thanks to the contributions of Blues Matters own Mick Rutherford on bass and vocals and the amazing Jason from The Brew on the guitar (I enjoyed our trade off towards the end of the jam, in a storming version of Watchtower)

Rumour has it that the jam might move to a big stage next year - and I've already been asked to host it - bring it on
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 9 February 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 25/1/07

Well the last jam before our appearance at the major Skegness festival. The 3 new songs got a good airing, though I got lost towards the end of Dark River (I need a new canoe and compass)...

Keith Grant of the Downliners Sect fame, was back with Stan and the brass section from the Atlantic Soul machine and they did 3 great numbers. Adrian was here for the second week running along with his mate a guitarist from Canada (good vocals!).
It was nice to see Tom Anfield back and the rocking set from Mark Freeman/Lol Sandford.

Towards the end I got up with Danny.G and the amazing Tim Matthewman on the bass and we rocked out on Watchtower.
Onto Skegness
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 26 January 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 18/1/07

A day/night of gale force winds, which kept the crowd away until late then the venue really filled up a treat.
The late start meant we were really chasing the clock all night. So apologies to the folk who only got one number.

Roadhouse gave a debut to their long awaited 3 new numbers, Lights On the Water (co-written with ace bass player Tim Matthewman), Planet of Fools and the 'heavy metal bluegrass' of Dark River - not bad for a first outing with 'Lights' showing all the signs of becoming a Roadhouse classic.We then had to play Roadhouse Blues for Chris Berthelemy's B'Day.

A good quality jam followed, with Laurie excelling on the acoustic and great stuff from John O'Leary with Alan Vincent on the guitar. Danny.G was also on good form.
A good night - see you next week as the jam becomes our warm up the big appearances at Skegness.
Cheers,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 20 January 2007

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 11/1/07

Less musicians than usual - but not a bad crowd for Janaury. The standard of the music was very, very high.

Maker were a good band in the tradition of the Black Crowes, The Pete Bedford Band rocked on a version of The Who's 'Won't Get Fooled Again' , Jim Dublin excelled and there was even time for Roadhouse to re-take the stage for a version of Voodoo Queen, nicely augmented by Frank Dymore on percussion.

See you next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 14 January 2007

New Years Jam - The Woodman -Wimbledon Park - 4/1/07

Happy New Year to all and with people still away, the fear was that this could be a quiet night. However, as usual it was not the case and a totally rocking jam kicked of 2007.....
Mandie.G was away with the throat 'lurgie' but Suzie did great on her own and it was a particualrly good Raodhouse opening set with a killer Big Easy, suitably mournful Slip Away and me being very guitar self indulgent on our epic version nof the Roadhouse Blues.
John O'Leary was on top form, I got to play with young Lawrence and the Pete Bedford Band were great as usual with young Ryan excelling on the keybords.
Syd played us into the night, ably assited by Drew and Tim Matthewman - roll on 2007 and see you next week,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 11 January 2007

The Xmas Jam - The Woodman - Wimbledon Park - 21/12/06

Another great festive occassion. A really good crowd and group of musicians at this years Woodman Xmas bash. Fuelled by the much improved menu/quality of food and Martin's 'freebie' mince pies, the jam rocked.

Lovely to see John O'Leary perform with 2 very young guitar players (Lawrence keeps on progressing). Jim Dublin was a top cowd pleasing form and young Deborah who had flown all the way from Rome to sing was entertaining.

Highlight for me was Drew playing an iconinc version of "Punk Floyd's" another Brick in The Wall" - his mid song South London accent rivalled Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins - but his Glaswegian was spot on an I shall forever rememeber him dementedly screaming "How can you have your pudding when you can't eat your meat" - superb!

A good landmark in all - this being the last gig of the year. Band members delivering in summary a great album, many top festivals and performances. Crowds varied from the biggest ever to the worst. Band members had to overcome terrible health and personal issues, including bereavements, personal betrayals, financial issues and a whole soap opera of bad luck and adversity.
Still at the end of 2006 we are still here! - What will 2007 bring?
Next jams on the 4th January
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 28 December 2006

Elme Hall - Wisbech, Norfolk, 17/12/06

Our fourth gig at Elme Hall, the first since they have come away from the major circuit bands format and now feature a lot of local acts.

As this date was also close to Xmas a quiet gig was a real possibility. However, the gods of live music were awake for once and around 70 paying punters gave us a very good afternoon.

It was great to see so many freinds who are coming up to Skeggy to see us. For many attendees it was their 4th or 5th Roadhouse gig - well done, we need your support.

Our apologies for the poor sound in the first set, as the pa whined with occassional feedback and the vocals struggled underneath the thunder of the miked up drums and Drew's death ray emitting Fender amp. The difficult room and the changing dynamics of the increased crowd threw the pa a bit, but this was rectified in the break.

The second set really kicked. We started with Stormy Monday and Brooklyn Blues , with the backline scaled down and the girls (Mandie & Suzi) in great voice. Telling Lies was a scorcher with Drew burning up the fret board and Suzie excelling on the call and answer vocal section.

Overall a very good afternoons work and we look forward to seeing all our friends at Skegness.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 22 December 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 7/12/06

A good crowd and a good jam.
Nice to have both Mandie & Suzie singing on top form together. Plus great sets from John O'Leary and Pete Bedford.
Lol Sandford and Julie Anne Shaw also did a good set previewing their gig next Thursday (14/12/06), as Vibe.
See everyone at the Xmas Jam on the 21/12/06
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 21 December 2006

Roadhouse Xmas Party - Bulls Head Barnes - 4/12/06

What dissapointed me was after 2 great years of attandances of this 'long awaited' Xmas event, the crowd was a let down.

We had over 15 great musicians on display and musically this was one of the finest music club fomat nights ever.

Highlights included:
- Great vocals from Suzi.D and Mandie.G in a rocking Roadhouse set
- Fantastic playing from Jules, Tim O'Sullivan, Danny.G and Geronimo
- Lorna & Jules performing I Couldn't get to sleep with Roadhouse - 'awesome'
- Tim O'Sullivan joining us for a rocking double guitar blast on Preacher Man, to finish the Roadhouse festivities
- A classy finish from that greta man of the blues John O'Leary

The people who came made shed loads of noise and it meant so much to me to play with and listen to, so many close and special friends - Thanks to all that were present
Happy Xmas
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 19 December 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 30/11/06

In truth this whole night was a haze. Having been diagnosed with a serious stomach condition on top of my muscle disease, I spent the whole night nearly passing out. My sincere apologies to anyone I was short with, as I struggled to run the jam.

At times like this in life, you really appreciate all the great musicians and supporters of live music who turn up week after week at the Woodman.

It was a really good jam with great music (apparently)
Thank you all - so much,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 19 December 2006

The Black Horse - Barnard Castle -26/11/06

From 45 people in a room for 300, we moved 2 hours cross gorgeous country, to this beautiful village for 65 people in a room suitable for 40.
At long last a sell out. Thanks to promoter Mike Walden and to the master of great hospitality, Andy the landlord (rarely have we been so well looked after).
The gig was a sell out, had a passionate crowd. and Roadhouse played 4 (yes 4 sets), culminating in 4 encores and a mammoth drinking session.
One of the great nights for the history books and we've already been booked for their much acclaimed festival in late May - result !
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 10 December 2006

Barrow In Furness Blues Club - 25/11/06

The long haul to Barrow wasn't helped by a bit of musical venue chairs, so to speak. Those great (and they should be better supported ) promoters Joyce and Bill, had the well established Duke of Edingburgh close on them for re-furb with just one weeks notice.
As a consequence they have tried more than analternative venue with the predicatable drop off in attandance.
Tonights venue was the British Legion (shades of Pheonix Nights). However the manager and staff were brilliant and real music lovers (thanks Adrian).
When we kicked off there were just over 20 people in the room and the gig peaked in the mid 40's (would have been nigh on 200 at the Duke).
However, the audience were great. they got right behind the band and made shed loads of noise. The band with Suzi singing alone, played a blinder and the 2 encores were followed by brisk CD and DVD sales.
It was good to see Joyce and Bill and we hope to come back to a more settled venue.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 10 December 2006

Woodman Jam Session - Wimbledon - 24/11/06

Thel ong awaited return of "The Jam" to the Woody, after it's 6 week re-furb.

It's now tighter down the front with a resticted view from the bar, but other than that it is warm and cosy and still has a great atmosphere.

There was an excellent crowd, but fewer musicians than usual, giving me a chance to get back up and punch out a version of Watchtower with the blinding Danny.G on guitar (depping for Drew), and Pete Sargeant on the bass. Suzie.D did a nice version of Stormy Monday and both Tom Anfield and Pete Bedford Bands delivered great sets.

Geronimo and Terry Brennan delivered their usual iconic performances, before Syd and his banjo played us into the night.
It's great to be back - see you next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 29 November 2006

East Harding Blues Club - Norfolk - 18/11/06

Back at the good old East Harding Blues Club, one of the circuits freindliest venues.

This was a great night, as a group of young lads who have watched us for a few years had formed a band themselves, so we asked them to do a guest spot. Blitz Screen obliged, with a great 20 minute set, which included me guesting with them on a version of Johnny.B Goode. Keep an eye on these lads they are going to be great...Nice of them to get a fair few people along and overall it was a decent crowd

It was the end of a weird week for me which started with me collapsing in Aberdeen and being rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Health issues abound, but after some intial panic and unplesantness I was glad to get out of the hospital.

As a consequence I really enojoyed playing this gig. Drew suggested that if I was gong to play that well, I should be taken to hospital every week.
It was great to have Mandie and Suzie singing togther again and they excelled - alltogether a good night on the road
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 29 November 2006

Blues Matters Showcase - The Greenwood Inn - Northolt- 10/11/06

Only the 3rd gig at the Greenwood, as promoters Pete Feenstra and George McFall were forced to move their West London venue once more.
On a cold and very wet Friday night in Northolt Roadhouse and The Brew were showcasing some of our record labels capability...

Negative side - Only 35 paying punters, surely this great night of music deserved more - said all present!
With guests etc there was onlyabout 50 people in the room..

Positive Side - Both bands played a blinder and the sudience were brilliant suporting the acts on anice wave through to the Bands coming together for a 'Preacher Man' climax - so to speak!
And the venue was cool, friendly staff and a great room - deserving of more support

Roadhouse again featuring Billi Shaw along with Suzie.D played a short opening set, kicked off with CD title tracks Blues Highway and No Place To Hide and concluded with an impromptu, but sleazy and epic version on House of The Rising Sun (fabulous vocals from Billi Shaw)

The Brews set was a great bit of retro rocking, with a superb version of Moby Dick, along with violin bow guitar solo (took me back to Earls Court in the 70's) and fist pounding drum solos (sans sticks)

The Roadhouse closing set opened with White Water and built via other Broken Land staples, The Big Easy (nice vocal Suzie.D) and All Along the Watchtower to the climatic 'double tap' of Voodoo Queen & Preacher Man (shame so many missed the musical boat on a great night)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 November 2006

Walter Trout Support - Sutton FC - 10/10/06

It was a great honour for me to be asked to open for one of my personal heroes, especially as this was for the second time.

I own 8 Walter Trout CD's plus the live DVD and love the Band. This gig was only convened with about 10days notice so though it was packed, there was sufficient space to move about and enjoy both bands.
I'd like to thank Pete Feenstra the promoter for the opportunity and all our staunch supporters from the Woodman for being down there at the front for us.

With Billi Shaw and Suzie.D on the vocal duties (meeting for the first time on the night) and us perched precariously on the edge of the stage due to the mountain of Walter Trout Band gear, we new it would be tough to deliver to this big and partisan crowd.

In the end 'no worries', it was a great set and we went down a storm. The Walter Trout Band loved us 2 years ago and this time both Joey (what a drummer) and Waler himself were very complementary. We were delighted to get such a strong audience re-action.

It was good to see the guys from Proper records our distributors (for Blues Matters) along with our ace record plugger Golly Gallagher (check out his website). Come on fellas we want our CD's in even more shops.

On to Walters set, it was great to hear stuff from his first album and the version of 'Life in the Jungle' was a killer. My 11 year old son Matthew was down the front right under Walters fretboard and mid solo the great man gave my son his guitar pic.
At the end it was all mutual admiration, high fives and some shots taken of Walter and Joey shaking hands with me, which we will get on this site asap
A great night - one for the scrapbook
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 15 October 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 6/10/06

Yet another performance with the band from Billi Shaw, who joined me late in the evening for an improptu version of House of the Rising Sun (great feel, very well sung by her, could well end up in the Roadhouse set). Mandi and Drew were also on form and the whole thing wouldn't work if Bill and Rog didn't do such a good job with the PA/backline.
It was another mega crowded night, but I managed to fit nearly everybody on.
Lawrence was on fire, the Pete Bedford band rocked and for once we had plenty of bass players, including the excellent Foxy. Lewis had a whole lot of ladies dancing on his version of Boys of Summer.
At least one more jam to come before the closure at the Woodman for re-furbishment

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 October 2006

Digiblues/Crawdday Club - Hospice Charity Festival -1/10/06

Great to play for a good cause and well done to Paul, Ashwyn and both the Crawdaddy and Digital Blues teams for running this great charity festival to benefit a children's Hospice.
After aching like hell throughout our performsnce and East Harling with my nuisance muscle disease (advanced FMS - look it up if you've too much time on your hands!) tonight I was blessed with an ache free performance.
It was great to have Suzie.D back and she and Mandie sang really well together.
The hour and 10 minute set, as we topped/closed the festival, flashed buy.
There was a great pa and sound and I think the Band played really well.
Thanks to all you great Essex music lovers who came out and supported such a good cause, as well as live music.
As so many of you said, see you at Skeggy.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 October 2006

East Harling Social Club - Norfolk - 30/9/07

Back at the very friendly East Harling social club for our 3rd appearance.
First time there ws a big crowd, but same as last time there was only about 35 people in the music room. However, what a great, frieindly crowd. It was like playing to 3 times that number and so many friends and local musicians who we just love to catch up with.

The second set was a lonnnnnng one, and really came to life as we had some fun. Drew was on his Howling Wolf thang, Mandie was Mustang Sally and I found it a bit windy on All Along the Watchtower.
A good night in all.... nice to meet Sandy the new Music lady at Easy Harling
On the way home we stopped for our ritual late night row with the staff at (any ) Wild Bean Cafe, but this time they actually agreed to serve us, we were gutted,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 5 October 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 28/9/06

Another great crowd and jam at the Woodman.
Building on her performance at GJ's, Billi Shaw was back in Roadhouse and delivered along with Mandie Slip Away, Sacrifice and a unplugged version of the classic song she wrote with me on the Blues Highway album, Dark Rain.... Both girls looked amazing (I'm too old to notice that myself, but quite a few people told me!)
Choice performances from Jimmy Dublin and Danny.G and it was great to have The Atlantic Soul Machine band playing - a great set. Wecome back John O'Leary and it was superb to see/hear Alan Vincent on the guitar again.
Terry Brennan and Syd gave us an iconic ending to the night - 2 more jams before the Woodman closes for a refurb
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 1 October 2006

BBs Blues Club at GJ's - Colliers Wood - 24/9/06

A better than usual crowd at Bob Brunnings intimate little blues club. This night was propped up by some great guest appearances from Lol Sandford, Danny.G, and US John and Mark Havard on bass (lets not forget Drew playing drums - who could?). They did a nice little set in the break which featured the great Julianne Shaw on vocals.
Julianne then did 2 great songs ith Roadhouse, singing with Mandie.G on Telling Lies and Slip Away.
Top event of the night was the appearance of Roadhouse legend Billi Shaw of Blues Highway fame. Billi was in great voice and helped deliver a storming Voddoo Queen and Preacher Man finale. Her and Mandie's voices dovetailing nicely - a good night
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 1 October 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 21/9/06

A hot September night and the crowd was inititally a bit lower than usual.
So we extended the Roadhouse set until some musicians pitched up. I'd been feeling very ill with my muscle disease for the last few days, so was strangeley in the mood for playing and did some half decent stuff in versions of both Backstreets and The Roadhouse Blues.
By this point the Woodman was packed out and one of the all time great jams got into full swing.
Great sets from Lol Sandford and Julianne Shaw who was in great voice, Lawrence & Lyndsay, Mark Freeman, Pet Bedford band with Danny. G.
at the end of the night Jimmy Dublin joined Kota, Roger and I, in an overkill version of Watchtower, as requested by some of the folk who caught the big show at Merton Abbey Mills.
Syd and his banjo played us off into the night - a classic
See ya next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 22 September 2006

Wingate & East Finchley FC - 17/9/06

Pete Feenstra's North London venue had not been functioning for recent months due to the World Cup and summer holidays.
As a consequence the crowd was very thin on the ground.
But we saw some great old friends and supporters.
Ian Cook presented me with an all time great gurning shot (large colour print) of me in a state of typical extreme ugliness.
2 good sets (especailly the second one), with this venue showing enough potential to suggest it will be in full swing and well worth playing before the end of the year.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 22 September 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbldon Park - 14/9/06

Just Mandie on female vocal duties, but she did great with a sensitive rendition of Stormy Monday. Drew was connecting well with my ESP (which he has on extended loan while his Strat is being overhauled) - great solos on Devils Highway and his spirited rendition of 'Howlin for my Darlin', followed.
Another busy jam then commenced and my pick of the sets was Danny Gwillim and Lawrence in a 2 guitar blast session and then Pete Bedford's Band 's rendition of Won't Get Fooled Again. This with Pete's son Ryan to the fore on keyboards.
Here's to next week,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 21 September 2006

Private Party - Tring - 9/9/06

Weird to do a private party - after all who wants songs about dark visions, death, depression and voodoo highway women at their Birthday party??, well Mark did - what a gentleman

The Band set up in their purpose built marquee and though we froze off our proverbials, on a strangely cool September night, we were looked after a treat.

Two sets to a cold but very nice crowd of people, a very nice sit down dinner and loads of bottles of Oyster Bay.
CD sales were brisk - Thanks Mark and all for being such a great bunch of music lovers
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 19 September 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 31/8/06

From 3 super sized festivals back to the Jam. The good crowds continued as there was a stunning turnout of both musicians and music lovers.
A really good jam....
Thanks to all for the great support
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 19 September 2006

COLNE NATIONAL R&B FESTIVAL - SUN 27TH August

Well onto Headlining on Colne's largest stage (The British stage, usually known appropriately as The Super Roadhouse stage).
It was great to see all our colleagues from our record company Blues Matters (including Mr Pearce himself).

The trouble with headlining was that as we hit the stage at 11pm the crowd had been partying all day and had thinned out a llitle.
Still there was well over the thousand there, as we did a high energy set which went down a storm and has already achieved some great reviews.

At the end of our set I featured a short jam involving members of other Blues Matters Bands, The Brew and the Roach Twins were both heavily involved. Some great vocals from Mandie & Fiona and then finally Drew Barron himsef (that cool Canadian crooner) finshed a very succesful day - next years already in the book - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 19 September 2006

Friday 25th August - Merton Abbey Mills Blues Festival

Well to Bob Brunning's and South London's own Blues Festival. this was the bands 4th year here in succession and an all round record night.

Usually on the Friday there are 3 Bands and we headline, but tonight we were given the whole night. to ourselves Out in the open air (great for bringing the kids) , under the bandstand with Brians great PA, a massive, record breaking crowd of over 1,200 saw a classic Roadhouse performance.

A blistering set of all our classics with best new songs form Brkoen Land we wll and trult rocked the riverbank.
Mandie and Fiona were on great form, particularly the Big Easy (Fiona) and Knocking on Heavens Door .
Cd sales were great - here's to next year.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 13 September 2006

Friday 25th August - Merton Abbey Mills Blues Festival

Well to Bob Brunning's and South London's own Blues Festival. this was the bands 4th year here in succession and an all round record night.

Usually on the Friday there are 3 Bands and we headline, but tonight we were given the whole night. to ourselves Out in the open air (great for bringing the kids) , under the bandstand with Brians great PA, a massive, record breaking crowd of over 1,200 saw a classic Roadhouse performance.

A blistering set of all our classics with best new songs form Brkoen Land we wll and trult rocked the riverbank.
Mandie and Fiona were on great form, particularly the Big Easy (Fiona) and Knocking on Heavens Door .
Cd sales were great - here's to next year.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 13 September 2006

Friday 25th August - Merton Abbey Mills Blues Festival

Well to Bob Brunning's and South London's own Blues Festival. this was the bands 4th year here in succession and an all round record night.

Usually on the Friday there are 3 Bands and we headline, but tonight we were given the whole night. to ourselves Out in the open air (great for bringing the kids) , under the bandstand with Brians great PA, a massive, record breaking crowd of over 1,200 saw a classic Roadhouse performance.

A blistering set of all our classics with best new songs form Brkoen Land we wll and trult rocked the riverbank.
Mandie and Fiona were on great form, particularly the Big Easy (Fiona) and Knocking on Heavens Door .
Cd sales were great - here's to next year.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 13 September 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 24/8/06

Another very busy night at the Woody. I was under pressure to get everyone on stage, but in the end the packed house loved it (and I was left with a giant head ache )
Keep the head aches coming -support live music
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 13 September 2006

CAMRA Beer Festival - Peterborough - 23/8/06

Well a difficult journey for all to the World's biggest tent (or seemed that way to me)
There was an awesome stage and Jules Holland's sound man with wondeful PA on duty.
There was about 3,000 people in the 3 tents, but the audience on trade night was transient, checking out the band for a while then back to one of the hundreds of bars.

Mandie and Fiona were on vocals and depping on guitar it was great to have Jules Fothergill back with us. The band put on a really good big stage show and got one of the best reactions from a trade night crowd at this festival.
Jules did an excellent job and by the end of the night the talk was of having us back for a Friday or Saturday next year for a crowd of 5,0000.
Bring it on (thanks to Harry Morton)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 August 2006

Banham Barrel - Norfolk - 19/8/06

A small initial crowd and pa problems made the first set a little tentative.The guitar trade off in Rock Me was good, but the crowd and Suzie and I struggled to hear the vocals.
Bill and Roger did some adjusting in the break and we opened with a sizzling Stormy Monday, with Suzie loud and proud. She sounded great.
The crowd filled up a bit to about the 55 mark and it was a truly great high energy set and for once my guitar playing was really on form.
A really good Roadhouse performance
A brilliant crowd who really got behind us.
A big thanks to Jonty and all his staff, we'll be back next year (I hope)
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 August 2006

The Woodman Jam - 17/8/06

The Jam resumed after the annual Band holiday.
I personally had gone with wife and kids to Spain. Those of you who know that I have been bettling against a neurological/muscle/tendon condition over the past 4 years, will know that it getting more of struggle. In Spain the illness made serious in-roads into my lower back and hips, so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to perform to standard on this first (and future) gig/gigs
At the end of the day it was a great jam - Suzie sung well on her own with us for the first time and though I wasn't on great form it was more through 'ring rustiness' as I manged to beat off the new level of pain.
There was loads of great musicians there and it was a really good night.
A big thanks to everyone for their support
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 August 2006

Charlies In The City - London - 25/7/06

Well you have to feel sorry for the promoters including my good freind Grodon 'Geordie' Carlyle. they needed over100 people to break even at this nice air conditioned (effective against the heatwave venue) and the 40 odd people in the room didn't come close.
We played well enough and some great on stage banter and some guitar and vocal magic sent the crowd home very happy.
So why so few people???, the holidays, the heatwave, the backlash from the World Cup, the stiff door fee - who knows -Does the UKstill need quality live music - I don't know the answer - a night for reflection
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 27 August 2006

The Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 21/7/06

This one goes in the record books as the hottest ever gig (from a tempreature perspective unfortunately).
About 15 people in the garden and 18 in the pub saw a pretty good performance with Suzie.D doing her first ever 'solo' spot with the Band.
She did a great job, nailing Stormy Monday, Help Me and The Big Easy...
With the doors and windows closed for sound insulation, tempreatures rocketed into the 100's. Still at least we lost weight,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 24 July 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 20/7/06

The heat wave made us think this was bound to be a quiet one - think again - it was wedged out. both in the gardens and the pub itself.

One of the best ever Woodman Jams, takes us into a 4 week break for the Roadhouse annual band holiday.
In the meantime the next 3 Thursdays will see live sessions from (in order):
- Geronimo
- The Pete Bedford Band
- The Robin Bibi Band
then the jam returns.

There were too many great sessions to mention, but a wonderful job from all present with some truly great performances.
Well done to all and see you on the 17th August,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 24 July 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon -

A late start caused by early low attendance, created a musical traffic jam later in this busy but bright evening.
Devils Highway was given a dusting down to comemerate the launch of Chris Berthelemy's beautifully compiled Roadhouse double CD compilations. Drew turned in a great solo..
Sacrifice and Broken Land both kicked, but due to my early crap solo on Devil's, I needed the good trade off with Drew on Rock Me Baby to at least partially redeem myself. Other than on Devils Highway, Mandi and Suzi sounded great...
To many great performances on the night to mention, though Danny.G and Jim Dublin probably stole the show and it was great to see John O'Leary back.
Apologies to all those who either didn't get to perfreom or only got one number. I'll make it up to you - promise
Gary

Submitted by 6/7/06 on Sunday, 16 July 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon -22/6/06

Bearing in mind the World Cup and that Brazil were playing it was a pretty good showing at the Woodman last night.
We brought "Get off My Land" back from the dead and for a first outing it went well (other than one dodgy chord change and the wrong guitar tone on my amp during the hoedown section). It was one of our Regular's named Bob's birthday, his ambition was to sing backing with the girls on White Water and so he did - well done mate!.
Mandie and Suzie were on top form and did a great job also singing with young guitar toters Alex and Lyndsay.
At the end of the night Mandie and I got to sing backing on Sweet Home Alabama with Pete Bedford, so Jim fixed it for me.
See ya in 2 weeks,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 June 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 22/6/06

Bearing in mind the World Cup and that Brazil were playing it was a pretty good showing at the Woodman last night.
We brought "Get off My Land" back from the dead and for a frist outing other than one dodgy chord change and the wrong guitar tone on my amp during the hoedown section, it went well. It was one of our Regular's named Bob birthday, his ambition to sing backing with the girls on White Water and so he did - well done mate.
Mandie and Suzie were on top form and did a great job also singing with young guitar toters Alex and Lyndsay.
At the end of the night Mandie and I got to sing backing on Sweet Home Alabama with Pete Bedford, so Jim fixed it for me.
See ya in 2 weeks,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 June 2006

The Woodman Jam - 8/6/06

A very hot night drove many people outside and though the overall attendance was bigger than usual, the conservatory was a bit empty dtracting from the atmosphere.
Nice to see Andrew Heart back with Jim Dublin, plus a nice set for John O'Leary and Pete Bedford.
Young Alex on the guitar is getting better and better, but Mandie and Suzie our very own 'Roadettes', stole the show for me.
No jam for 2 weeks cos of the World Cup, see you then,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 12 June 2006

The Woodman Jam - 1/6/06

And the good times roll on at the Woodman with another top notch jam.
Nice to see Jules back in Bass playing garb and Lorna just chilling and enjoying the vibe.
Fiona was on good voice and it was another night for young talent with over 7 guitar players under 25.
No let up in the great crowds, roll on next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 12 June 2006

Stevenage Mayfest - 28/5/06

Brilliant to be back after a 3 year break at the Mayfest.

A major thank you to Trevor Keeling and Richard, John and the whole Mayfest team for being a part of this brilliantly organised major festival.

When we turned up weekend rain had turned the site into a bog and Bill and the equipment van had to be towed a quarter of a mile to the main stage.
Once there a nice quick set up from the very competent pa team, left us with time to visit the hospitality tent and get in the required "Rock and Roll mode" before hitting the stage.

The one hour set went by in a blur...... Suzie did a great job on The Big Easy, Mandy lunged it out on Heavens Door and it was great to watch big sections of the crowd sing along to new songs like White Water & Sacrifice. The new singalong section on Voodoo Queen made up for me leaping to the dance floor on Telling Lies and then finding myself stuck there (stage too high - Mandie nearly got a hernia lifting me back on!).
Mandie and Suzie's James Bond style gun toting dancing on Drew's Mission Imposible excursion, was brilliant (and very funny)
A great Preacher man topped off afine set and a great audience re-action. So many old freinds, including Tracey Knight and loads of guys from both Butlins and Charlie's in the city.
It was also grat to see Anne Campbell our ex singer/Manager for the first time in ages. Anne took some great shots of the band and we hope to get them on the Website soon.
A good one - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 5 June 2006

Stevenage Mayfest - 28/5/06

Brilliant to be back after a 3 year break at the Mayfest.

A major thank you to Trevor Keeling and Richard, John and the whole Mayfest team for being a part of this brilliantly organised major festival.

When we turned up weekend rain had turned the site into a bog and Bill and the equipment van had to be towed a quarter of a mile to the main stage.
Once there a nice quick set up from the very competent pa team, left us with time to visit the hospitality tent and get in the required "Rock and Roll mode" before hitting the stage.

The one hour set went by in a blur...... Suzie did a great job on The Big Easy, Mandy lunged it out on Heavens Door and it was great to watch big sections of the crowd sing along to new songs like White Water & Sacrifice. The new singalong section on Voodoo Queen made up for me leaping to the dance floor on Telling Lies and then finding myself stuck there (stage too high - Mandie nearly got a hernia lifting me back on!).
Mandie and Suzie's James Bond style gun toting dancing on Drew's Mission Imposible excursion, was brilliant (and very funny)
A great Preacher man topped off afine set and a great audience re-action. So many old freinds, including Tracey Knight and loads of guys from both Butlins and Charlie's in the city.
It was also grat to see Anne Campbell our ex singer/Manager for the first time in ages. Anne took some great shots of the band and we hope to get them on the Website soon.
A good one - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 5 June 2006

Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 27/5/06

A hot bank holiday night in this intimate little venue, developed into a good crowd by the break.
Mandie and Suzie were in good voice and the late influx of Roadhouse supporters lifted the second set into top quality rocking. Roadhouse Blues and Telling Lies really kicked arse. The double encore including a storming Preacher Man was a great warm up for Sunday's Mega Mayfest.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 5 June 2006

Jack Beards - Tooting - Live DVD Recording - 20/5/06

Well the bad news was the poorish turnout with about mid 30's paying and 10 or so guests
All the rest was good news as the crowd were real freinds and some of our greatest supporters and they made enough noise for 100 people.

Roger (Ridley Scott) Hunt had arranged 3 cameras (big thanks to Richard and Marianne for operating) and the DVD should be edited and ready/available within 2 months, with a live CD of the night being more readily available within the next few weeks.

As at the launch gig we had all 3 of our great lady singers present and used them in rotation. Fiona, Mandi and Suzi were all on top form and the Band played a blinder.
Favourite for me was the crowd singalong at the end of Voodoo Queen.

Thanks to Pete Feenstra and John O'Leary and Les on the PA, a historic night - we'll let you know ehn the DVD is ready
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 22 May 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 18/5/06

Another packed night at the Woody. we played broken Land again and Fiona was on form with the Big Easy.

Nice to play Wtchtower with Saiichi Sugiyama again.

The highlight was Danny.G with his Dicky bow height semi acoustic playing with Charlie (spin it gain Dan).

Highlight for me was the great set from young Lwrence nd Alex -superb guitar playing at an ege where I couldn't even work out how to get one out of a box.

A great night, roll on next week and Saturdays live DVD recording at Jack Beards in Tooting
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 19 May 2006

The King of Diamonds - Shirebrook/Mansfield - 7/5/06

We'd heard great things about this venue and they turned out to be true.
We arrived to an excellent meal (good pub fayre) - well done to Dave and his staff.

2 great sets to a 60 strong responsive crowd, including the first outing for a while for title track, Broken Land. a great re-action, 3 encores and a planned return on the 2nd December.

Great to see groups travelling from Notingham and other good distances to catch the show - many thanks

Also thanks to Les and Alan Fish for making it happen - roll on December
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 19 May 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 4/5/06

Ladies night in the Roadhouse set as Fiona, Mandie and Suzie took all the lead vocals. A great version of Heavens Door was my personal highlight.
More superb young talent on display, as young Alex (what a talent ) and Lyndsay blasted out a great set on guitars with the Crooner from Vancouver (aka Drew on lead vocals) .A great duet with Fiona on Dust My Broom followed - brilliant!
Good to see a nice set from Syd on the Banjo and both Mark and Foxy back on the Bass as well as Awesome Tony on the drums
No jam next week due to hols, see you on the 18th
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 6 May 2006

The Shed - Norwich - 29/4/06

A mixed night in truth.
Plusses were the large crowd, Suzie's vocal performance and the number of CD's sold..(Broken Land has now sold 86 copies at gigs).
Negatives were that we set the volume trip off 4 times, as the background noise of the large crowd made it hard to get a reasonable playing volume. Consquently everytime we got into something with real emotion, the music tripped off.
Also Drew did the whole thing on his acoustic and this produced some real highs but other songs were very different to normal (maybe a good thing?)
Best thing was we got to play Mexican Nights with Drew's great guitar and Mandie's classic Mexican Eartha Kitt impersonation. The song was just rocking into the bridge when the volume tripped out (it was that kind of night - a bad connection in my peddle board added to the fun).
Never mind nice to see Ryan and some good old and new friends
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 4 May 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Pk -27/4/06

Following the great launch we all expected a quiet jam. But no it was another cracker.
Mandie & Suzie were superb in the Roadhouse set and the jam featured a great range of new, young talent, including 4 guitar players under 18 and a good drummer.
Here's to next weeks session
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 1 May 2006

The Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - 23/4/06

So to our long awaited Broken Land CD Launch Party.
I'd gone public and said that if we didn't have a good crowd I'd consider winding the band up. At about 8.15 with around 60 people in the room that was looking a likely scenario. However, by the time Roadhouse went on at 8.50 there was a great crowd. So many old friends, so many people who have stuck by the band through all the changes. I feel both very grateful and humble for that amount of support on our home patch - thank you to all.
Support was from some of our top jammers from the Woodman including Danny.G, Lol Sandford, Roadhouse percussion player Frank Dymore, Geronimno, Tim Havard and Pete Bedford. These guys gave us a great opening set. Special thankjs to Blues Legend and our great friend John O'Leary who fronted the whole support performance.
Pete Sargeant introduced the Band on behalf of Blues Matters and even the public jibes re: Chelsea's FA cup defeat could not take the gloss of the night for me (Bill's busy blowing bubbles).
Pete came on to join us for a bit of harp magic on Help Me.

We had our 3 lady's in tandem and Swiss Fred on sax (great playing). The long set blurred by and we nearly ran out of time for the encore. However, we managed to slip in a truncated Preacher Man, which rounded the night off nicely.

The band played great and it was Suzie.D's first proper gig with us, she was superb.

For the records the set was:
- White Water
- Blues Highway
- The Last Train Home
- The Big Easy (Fiona was
on form)
- No Place To Hide
- Sacrifice
- Help Me
- Heavens Door (Mandie
rocks)
- Slip Away
- Watchtower
- Tellin Lies
- Voodoo Queen
- Preacher Man

Thanks to Vaughan Oliver for both the great CD cover/artwork and a pint of guinness, Pete Feenstra and George McFall for making the night possible (where would the London scene be without those guys)?, all at Sutton FC and magic Mikey the PA man.
Onto Jack Beards in Tooting for the next launch gig on the 20th May where we intend to MAKE THE ROADHOUSE DVD - SEE YOU THERE!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 24 April 2006

The Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - 23/4/06

So to our long awaited Broken Land CD Launch Party.
I'd gone public and said that if we didn't have a good crowd I'd consider winding the band up. At about 8.15 with around 60 people in the room that was looking a likely scenario. However, by the time Roadhouse went on at 8.50 there was a great crowd. So many old friends, so many people who have stuck by the band through all the changes. I feel both very grateful and humble for that amount of support on our home patch - thank you to all.
Support was from some of our top jammers from the Woodman including Danny.G, Lol Sandford, Roadhouse percussion player Frank Dymore, Geronimno, Tim Havard and Pete Bedford. These guys gave us a great opening set.
Pete Sargeant introduced the Band on behalf of Blues Matters and even the public jibes re: Chelsea's FA cup defeat could not take the gloss of the night for me (Bill's busy blowing bubbles).
Pete came on to join us for a bit of harp magic on Help Me.

We had our 3 lady's in tandem and Swiss Fred on sax (great playing). The long set blurred by and we nearly ran out of time for the encore. However, we managed to slip in a truncated Preacher Man, which rounded the night off nicely.

The band played great and it was Suzie.D's first proper gig with us, she was superb.

For the records the set was:
- White Water
- Blues Highway
- The Last Train Home
- The Big Easy (Fiona was
on form)
- No Place To Hide
- Sacrifice
- Help Me
- Heavens Door (Mandie
rocks)
- Slip Away
- Watchtower
- Tellin Lies
- Voodoo Queen
- Preacher Man

Thanks to Vaughan Oliver for both the great CD cover/artwork and a pint of guinness, Pete Feenstra and George McFall for making the night possible (where would the London scene be without those guys)?, all at Sutton FC and magic Mikey the PA man.
Onto Jack Beards in Tooting for the next launch gig on the 20th May where we intend to MAKE THE ROADHOUSE DVD - SEE YOU THERE!
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 24 April 2006

20/4/06

A quieter night at the Woody as all await Sundays mega CD Launch Party gig at the Boom Boom Club, Sutton FC.

Roadhouse kicked off with a rare outing for Backstreets, then onto the new CD for Fiona blasting out The Big Easy and then a good version of The Last Train Home.

It was young player night with 2 young (under 18) duos and a great young guitar player called Alex. Good sets from John O'Leary playing with Drew and Jules Fothergill (who was in cool ace of bass mode - and acting like Gary in the movie Team America). Followed by Geronimo and a good close from Pete Bedford & Friends
- All onto Sutton on Sunday for the PARTY !!!
Gary

Submitted by The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park on Friday, 21 April 2006

The Woodman Jam - 13/4/06

The Easter jam at the 'Woody' was an all time classic.
A packed house saw the return of Suzie.D, as she superbly augmented Mandie producing a wall of sound on Slip Away, Preacher Man and Telling Lies. She was then assisted by my Daughter Rhiannon on Voodoo Queen. All the girls sounded great (Rhiannon at the ripe old age of 15, was excellent).
Next Syd was up for some ace Banjo plucking, then Anne was joined by the best sax player I've seen for years, James (ex Stevie Wonder Band ).
James ended up doing another 4 sets as per public demand/request.
Pete Bedford had the all time record anount of people on the stage with 5 vocalists alone at one point. Mandie did a brill Too Hot To Handle and John O'Leary's set was great with Danny.G and Lol Sandford excelling on the guitar.
A big crowd and one of the all time top nights at the Woodman.
See ya next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 14 April 2006

The Hope Tavern - Lincoln - 9/4/06

We turned up for the excellent Sunday lunch served by Colin and his team.
Then we watched transfixed as this nice Country pub was turned into an excellent Blues Club, with stage, back drop, lights etc.
After some recent dissapointing attendances particulary in London, it was great and very affiirming to play to a fantastic crowd.
It was wedged out and with great music lovers, many of whom have been Roadhouse fans for years (great to see Ray & Nicky among so many old friends).

A great performance, 2 encores and the the fact we cracked Fiona up while she was mid song, all added up to a great gig to remember.
There was a universal agreement that this was the best version of Roadhouse yet and we shifted nearly £250 worth of CD's
We are looking forward to coming back next year,

Sales of Broken Land now stand at 33 (but whose counting) - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 14 April 2006

The Hope Tavern - Lincoln - 9/4/06

We turned up for the excellent Sunday lunch served by Colin and his team.
the we watched tranfixed as this nice Country pub was turned into an excellent Blues Club, with stage, back drop, lights etc.
After some recent disspointing attendances particulary in London, it was great and very affiirming to play to a fantastic crowd.
It was wedged out and with great music lovers, many of whom have been Roadhouse fans for years (great to see Ray & Nicky among so many old friends).

A great performance, 2 encores and the the fact we cracked Fiona up while she was mid song, all added up to a great gig to remember.
There was a universal agreement tht this was the best version of Roadhouse yet and we shifted nearly £250 worth of CD's
We are looking forward to coming back next year,

Sales of Broken Land now stand at 33 (but whose counting) - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 14 April 2006

Charters Bar - Blues on the Boat - Peterborough - 8/4/06

A good night at Charters. Well fed on the in house restaurants crispy duck, we were lifted by some nifty new positioning of the PA by Drew and Bill.
A bigger crowd than usual at this late night venue responded very well to tracks from the new CD and a selection of old faves.
Mandie and Fiona did great and the audience and management gave good support, as they encountered the full new line up for the first time.
This gig will go down in history as the night we sold the first copy of 'Broken Land'
With pre-orders at 5, the sales score stands at 6 copies sold so far.
Wembley arena awaits......
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 12 April 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 6/4/06

An excellent night at the Woodman.
Pumped up by the arrival of out new CD, Broken Land, Roadhouse played a great opening featuring Fiona, Mandie and my 15 year old daughter Rhiannon (Fatherly pride and all that).
Later Mandie sung Heavens Door and Fiona Stormy Monday both with the excellent Danny Gwillim on guitar.
Drew played some cool bass on the night and it was nice to see the return of Syd and his acclaimed banjo.
A good crowd and a high standard of playing, well done to all.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 12 April 2006

Mr Jacks R&B Club - Orpington - 4/4/06

A Tuesday night at Pete Feenstra's new venue in Orpington.
The venue is a bit modern cafe bar but shows potential with quite good acoustics.
A mixture of local characters and music lovers made up a patchy/not bad crowd. Still had me thinking that with this degree of apathy in turnout and my health issues, will this be Roadhouse's last year?
The great Mr John O'Leary was there with his lights and considerable talent, adding great harp to 3 numbers.
We only had one of our lovely lady singers but Mandie did a fine job.
The second set was particularly good, with some good banter and on stage impro. This goes in the record book as the longest delay before an encore, as we had all sat down and ordered drinks before staff and punters decided we wern't going anywhere without just one more........well if we must
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 12 April 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park -30/3/06

A good night at the Woodman, crowd figures were up and everyone played well and had a good time.

Now the Woodman has a midnight license it's great to socialise in the hour after the music finishes.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 12 April 2006

Walkern Music Club - Stevenage - 25/3/06

A night of mixed emotions and outcomes
We'd hoped to launch the new CD, but printing delays and coputer art work compatibility, means we are still probebly at least 10 days away from receipt of the new, already critically acclaimed disc.
A slow drive through a rain sodden London. I was a passenger in Roger's 'Mr Angry' 4 wheel drive beast along with flu infested Roger and Mandi. So I can look forward to another layer of suffering on top of my current muscle disease, as their germs vie for who's going to nuke me first.
On arrival it was great to welcome Drew (his new limp is quite rythmic) back from hospital and into the Band.
A nice set up with the excellent and very loud pa guys par excellence and then off for a Chinese with Drew and Fiona. There I got further depressed by dialogue about record and publishing deals and the whole mush of keeping Roadhouse alive in the currently depressed UK music scene (if MY current depression contnues much longer we might even get a new song out of it).
I then got a nice text from Anne Campbell wishing all her old colleagues well, which was jolly decent of her. As we arrived back at Walkern my heart sank to find the venue nearly deserted (all bar 18 punters).
We've never failed to pull a really good crowd here and my heart went out to Mike and Richard, the promoters who work their socks off to keep this nice club alive.
Mind you it was great to see Trev 'The man in the Hat' as we sorted out arrangements for our appearance at the mega Stevenage, Mayfest Festival on the 28th May.
As we got on stage a sudden influx of punters lifted the crowd into the 30's.
What a nice crowd and the Band played a blinder. The audience were dancing most of the night and it ended with a blinding Preacher Man encore. All the usual feedback stuff, greatest ever Roadhouse, one of the greatest ever Walkern gigs (so where were the people ???)
13 year old David got up and joined Drew for a great performance/number on my Strat in the second (I didn't know what a Strat was when I was 13 - some people might say I still don't)...
Nice advance orders of the new CD and well done to Mandi & Roger for not passing out on stage as their respective fevers added to the heat generated by the lighting.

So a special thanks to all the great people there. I will be assessing over the next few months via attedances, just how much people are willing to support the Band ---- We shall see what the future holds
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 26 March 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 23/3/06

Another great night at the Woody. Roadhouse were blessed with extra girl power as new vocalist Suzie.D joined Fiona and Mandie to great effect.
We had a nice, chilled, mid -section of the Jam with Lol Sandford playing some acoustice guitar to some jazzy vamping from Lelani and then Mandi and Suzi once more doing the vocal only thang. Drew was back up with Fiona and Danny.G and I played with the excellent Mr O'Leary, though I couldn't find last weeks maigc touch in this set.
Geronimo featured sax and harp and second guitar as he played his last set before Easter as he's back home to Spain.
Terry Brennan, resplendant in a new pair of boots, fashionably finished off another great evening. Good to see the Tom Anfield Band back.
Here's to next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 26 March 2006

The Running Horse - Nottingham - 18/3/06

Not a bad crowd in the end as the Runner goes into it's last few weeks of trading.
We were fearful when it was quiet early on but though the crowd only got to the 40 plus stage they were brilliantly receptive.
Second night running for Mr O'Sullivan and he gurned alongside me as we slugged it out in a blaze of high gain (and camped up guitar playing glory).
A great Watchtower was augmented by a tremendous guitar duel in Rock Me Baby, where 'Ceaser' had the nerve to out tap me. So I had to produce a killer decending open D string line over some G string riffing grandeur and for 30 seconds it was a case of 'Et Tu Ceaser', but the bugger came back at me.

In the second set Fiona sung a great Stormy Monday and in the end the crowd just wouldn't let us away, as Tim shredded his way through Preacher Man and blues cruised up a Fiona led Serve U Right 2 Suffer.

Thanks to all for the mass CD buying frenzy at the end of the night - we'll be back at Barry's new venue in about 6 months time.
Good to see Barrry, David and laods of old friends, including the DVD film crew - looking forward to studying the guitsar gurning in slow motion
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 19 March 2006

The Banham Barrel - Norfolk - 17/3/06

A long haul against the Friday night traffic to this excellent venue opposite Banham Zoo,

Jonty is a great host and the crowd are really warm and appreciative. In Drew's continued absence we were brilliantly augmented by Tim O'Sullivan on guitar and Fred (Swiss Sax Supremo Scmidt).

Fiona was also on fine form and the Band played a great couple of sets. Fred went into overdrive on Slip Away and Tim's playing on Voodoo Queen and Telling Lies was a revelation

Great to see the lads up from East Harding and people driving down from Norwich to see us - thanks for your friendship and support.
We'll be back with the new CD
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 19 March 2006

Woodamn Jam - Wimbledon Park - 16/3/06

One of the finest ever musical jams in the history of the Woodman.
First in the Roadhouse set we introduced the world to our new singer Suzie. She did a great job on Blues Highway, Slip Away, Heaven's Door and White Water. Later Suzi and Mandi brought the house down with a great vocal only version of Just Like A Natural Woman. Great talent and she's only 18 (and stunning -still I can't be the only great looking person in the band forever). Danny Gwillim did his first ever turn in the House Band and played a blinder.

The rest of the night had a really chilled feel, with a great Moondance from Pete Bedford and Crew, and more jazz/blues orientation from Lelani and Lol Sandford.
I got up and played with John O'Leary and some great solos stuff waere produced in that set. Finally Masachi powered us out into the night with some blistering guitar work.

Tell the world about the Woody now being open till midnight on a Thursday, come on down...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 19 March 2006

Tring Blues Festival - Pendley Theatre - 11/3/06

On to Derek White of Storm Warning's excellently run festival.
Again we were without Drew due to injury, but were joined by the majestic Fred Scmidt on the Sax and Danny Gwillim on the guitar.
Only 40 mins on the big stage to the packed house and it flew by...
White Water, Slip Away, Blues Highway, Help Me, Voodoo Queen and Telling Lies. All well received by a nice crowd with great resulting CD sales.
We were followed by French Band 'Big Des' (good singer) and the accliamed Paul Lamb and the Kingsnakes.
It was nice to share a dressing room with the legendary Mr Del Bromham of stray fame, who was playing some excellent semi acousitc side stage blues between acts (nice guy and an old hero of Bill and I's).
Danny and Fred did great and we all wish Drew a speedy recovery

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 17 March 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 9/3/06

In Drew, Mandie and Fiona's absence it was great to see Jules & Lorna back in the house band. It was good to play I Couldn't Get to Sleep again and Sacrifice burned along nicely. They chose to 'wing' a new song and jammed a along with The Last Train home pretty effecively. Aa good fun opening set it brought back a lot of great memories.
The jam itself was quieter than usual, following last weeks epic birthday bash.
However the music was of a great quality. A good set with Jules cobining with John O'Leary, Andrew Heart,and Funky George Dare while Lelani and Lol Sandford had their moments (though had a comedy car crash in Joan Osbourne's "If God Was One of Us" ). Good to see John on the harp 2 weeks running and a nice set from Pete Bedford and friends. Finally Terry Brennan stalked us into the night, well up to the bar anyway, with the Woodman's new open till 12 music licence.
Roll on next week.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 March 2006

Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 3/3/06

Rogers birthday and a return into the line up for the excellent Tim O'Sullivan on guitar. No Mandi, who is generally unavailable to us on a Friday, but Fiona more than made up for it, singing 5 lead vocals including great versions of Stormy Monday and Serve U Right to Suffer.

Tim and faced off for the "Gurn off at the OK Coach", as we indulged our propensities to both be indulgent (Fiona needed a crash cart to revivie her after our extended duel in Rock Me Baby) and pull rather fascinating facial contortions while playing. I again won on the ugliness stakes (well Tim is yournger and more gorgeous - apprently). He actually beat me in the rapid muted passages this time (but don't tell him), tapping was a draw, and I managed to find some high end scale inspiration and for about 30 seconds I was in the lead - damn!.

The crowd was a little thinner than usual but got to a decent level by the end of the night. Telling Lies and Preacher man kicked butt. About 5 memebers of the audience told me my playing "Was on fire" this night and I must confess to having a rare hot bust of guitar form. However, my abiding memeory was the great pleasure of playing with Tim and what a good job he did AGAIN...Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 March 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park -2/2/06

My birthday jam, or to be exact the 28th time I'd celbrated my 21st birthday. With Roger's birthday to follow on the next night and Bill's the following week, the Piscean element of the band are live and kicking (despite Anne's departure).
I'd like to thank the droves of people who turned up for this night, what a contrast to the quiet night at GJ's.
Robin Bibi played in the house band while Drew was away practising self muitlation on the ski slopes of Switzerland. Robin played great, his haunting slide work facilitated us playing a great version of the old Roadhouse classic Devil's Highway. Fiona and Mandi both sang great. Highlight of the jam for me was Robin playing with John O'Leary in a great late night blues set...
Lawrence also had a good young line up, 1st song was great, but by playing a reasonable (if patchy) version of Watchtower they robbed us of the chance of us playing our current Tour De Force
Thanks to all for making it a birthday to remember...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 March 2006

BB's Blues Club at GJ's - Colliers Wood - 28/2/06

The pathetically low trune out of 15 people plus guests was the 3rd ever lowest Roadhouse showing in 15 years.
Seriously, if people can't come out for us on our own patch, I ask my self the question "Is it worth it" . Another couple of nights like this and it won't be.

However, the band played great and the people there including legendary club owner Bob Bruning were marveloulsy appreciative. Our 2 guest musicians Danny Gwillim and Andrew Heart played a great couple of songs with us including a rousing Watchtower and everyone went home saying how great it was and where was everybody - GOOD QUESTION.........

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 10 March 2006

Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - 27/2/06

3rd time we had opened for the legendary Nine Below Zero. The band without Fiona were well received by a good sized crowd.
Made to perch on a few inches of stage by the headliners inflexibility ,we manged to put on a damn good showing and got a great re-action from many punters afterwards. Loads of enquiries with regard to our CD launch gig at this prestigous venue on Sunday 23rd April (please diary it now).
White Water and Heavens Door rocked.

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 10 March 2006

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 25/2/06

No Fiona tonight and this gave Mandie the opportunity to reach out on some of the new songs. The opening 4 numbers were acclaimed as the on the best opening sets Roadhouse has ever played at the Woodman (Drew singing Fiona's part on a belting version of White Water)

Time ran out on another good jam and my apologies for all who did not get the opportunity to play. I'll single out Lawrence again for a great set and because he is developing so quickly.
It was nice to see Robin Bibi in advance of his appearance in the house band next week. He was joined by South African Chanteuse Lelani, who is fast becoming a part of the Woodman key group of players.
Here's to my birthday jam next week........

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 4 March 2006

Music Cafe Willem Tell - Belgium - 11/2/06

Our long awaited return to the excellent Willem Tell was a great success. The promoter, Michel is great guy and strong Roadhouse supporter and the hospitality was fantastic. This was the night after Endhoeven and following a superb dinner and few gallons of red wine, we celebrated Drew's birthday with one of the new line up's finest ever performances.Drew and both Fiona and Mandie were on fire.
Multiple encores meant we were stretching to find stuff to play, as the clock ticked around to 2am. Finally fiona equalled Mandie's earlier mass accliamed rendition of Heavens Door with a great reading of Stormy Monday.
It was superb to see Michel and many old friends including one of my fave journalists and photographers Steven Verhoeven.
Thanks to Bobje (and to Christine) for arranging this trip. A bigger tour and festivals will hopefully take place later this year.
After a couple of hours sleep we were up in order to get a cheap croissing home. Feeling dreadful, we just about managed to keep a smile on our faces as the bus finally started to breakdown on the outskirts of Wandsworth (well thats rock and Roll )
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 4 March 2006

Music Cafe De Kroeg - Eindhoeven -Netherlands

A entertaining journey on a rickety and leaking tour bus, saw us retun to Eindhoeven for the first time in nearly 5 years.
Amazingly enough, people turned up from the last gig we played their and handed us a copy on DVD of our appearance at the legendary Cafe Wilhelmina gig (thank you very much my friends).
This was a cracking little music venue and the 70 or so punters were treated to a strong performance, partuclarly in the second set.
We'd love to thank all the great people we met there for the friendship and help/support. Great hospitality and a nice plac. thanks Theo and Bobje, we'll be back. Check out the pics in the photo gallery
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 4 March 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 2/2/06

Freezing conditions lead to a quieter jam than usual. However, it was still a good night with a decent crowd.
Julianne Shaw was the highlight joining Roadhouse to sing a killer verion of Telling Lies before going on to sing well performing with Lol Sandford.
Roadhouse as house band gave some of the newer songs a good run through.
Highlights of the night for me were Lawrence playing his blues set with Danny.G and Geronimo's superb version of If I Was A Carpenter.
Bring it on next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 7 February 2006

Earl Of Spencer Staff Party - Wandsworth - 30/1/06

From the big stage arena to the function room of one of London's finest Gastro Pubs.
A private function for long time Roadhouse friend and fan John Cox and his lovely staff.
We played some new stuff and party faves and we were well fed and 'watered'. Fiona was on top form dancing with the crowd and Drew and I for some reason reached a higher guitar plateau than we manged at Skeggy (and it was pretty high there).
My abiding memory will be of Watchtower morphing into an impromptu version of Bob Marley's Exodus, surreal....and fun
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 7 February 2006

Skegness Festival - Part Two

So Sunday afternoon and onto the Centre Stage at 14.45. Jim Diamond was on before us and had the crowd singing along (in fact it was a bit like watching Saturday evening telly).
There had been a number of tasteful low volume acts, so we decided it was time to give the audience a bit of a change. No other stages were in action and the safety curtain came up to reveal a crammed arena.
We blasted into No Place To Hide (appropriate, despite the enormous size of the stage area (I tried to run over to trade licks with Drew but ran out of wind and needed a St Bernard half way across the stage), then Sacrifice and a Fiona feature on The Big Easy, both from the forthcoming CD, Broken Land on Blues Matters records.
Slip Away, Voodoo Queen and Preacher Man followed.
Reaction was incredible, CD sales enormous.
We have received masses of E Mails saying how much more dynamic the new line up is and just how much people thought the set kicked arse/rocked. Drew and Fiona made a big impression, offering both talent and really strong stage performances.
We'd like to thank all our friends and Roadhouse followers for the incredible support they have given us through this time of transition and now they can see that a positive future is well and truly here.
Thank you my friends, we will play on for you while there is any life in my/our bodies...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 7 February 2006

Skegness - Monsters of Blues & Rock Festival 28-29/06 - Part One

The new look Roadhouse rode into JAKS wild west styled bar to a really good crowd. The buzz was all about could the Band have survived the departure of 3 such talented and key members as Jules, Lorna and Anne.
The answer was a reasounding yes. The opening hours set had the crowd (well more like a mass gathering of mates really) going nuts for Drew's playing. And the new number 'White Water' went down a storm (or more like a waterfall really).
We then had three hours of the jam, with some excellent players. Good to see the excellent Henry up with Barry Middleton from the Running Horse, playing some of the best boogie piano I've ever heard. Bob was great on the harp and their was some sax and other playing to die for.
Thanks also to our great mate Alan Fish from Egypt pumping out some excellent bass
Mr Barton says he wants to do it again next year, so all vote with your feet and phone/mail Pete and or Butlins and demand the return of Roadhouse and the jam.
A big thank you to all the brave and talented muscians and the appreciative crowd for truly great 3 hour session
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 30 January 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 26/1/06

The first outing for 3 new Roadhouse songs from the forthcoming CD, Broken Land, scheduled for realease on BM Records on the 31st March.
Mexican nights was reasonably well done, while Pulp Fiction 2 suffered timing problems, but showed potential. White Water was simply the strongest ever first play of a Raodhouse song in history.
It was nice to see a new South African young lady singer, Lelani, who did a great job. It was a great jam all round with the usual brilliant and loyal crowd. Good to see young George Watkins back on the skins and playing well.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 30 January 2006

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 12/1/06

A fine new years jam....
With Drew Barron away on holiday we had the pleasure of Robin Bibi playing in the house band.
A great guitar player and all round good guy, we did a nice little set finishing with a rousing "Watchtower". It made me reflect on all the great guitar players that have been in, or have depped for Roadhouse, Drew Barron, Jules Fothergill, Robin Bibi, Tommy Allen, Noel Brown, Tim O'Sullivan and Charlie Whitney (of Family fame) . All in all pretty impressive...
The really good crowd were treated to some fine playing and probably pick of the night for me was the great set Robin did later on in the evening with young Lawrence.
Great stuff and here's to 2 weeks time...
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 21 January 2006

Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 6/1/06

This gig was scheduled at the last minute to give the band a chance to play the new material that we had rehearsed in the week, in advance of next months new CD recording.
However it was not to be, as Drew left for his hols a day early, due to flight availability.
Tim (Ceaser) O'Sullivan sat in on guitar and did a great job.

The gig was a slow burner with the band sounding better and better and the pub gradually filling up.
Both Tim and I are noted for our tendency to pull facial contortions while playing the guitar and many guitar officianados had long awaited the "Gurn off at the OK Coral". Well according to Tim I won (well I had a head start by being uglier and having the ability to get my bottom lip bahind my ears when playing high notes).
Then there was the guitar trade off in "Rock Me Baby" Tim belives he won that one to, but did admit he was "Out tapped" and defeated in "The fast muted note phrases" (which was of course incredibly painful).
After these guitar excesses Fiona needed a crash cart to revive her from the resulting coma. She came back strongly to sing 3 powerful numbers in the 2nd set.
TA Voodoo Queen, Preacher Man, Mustang Sally finish sent the crowd happyily (and with total loss of hearing) into the night and left everyone aware that we have another great dep guitar player in Tim.

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 January 2006

Xmas Jam - The Woodman - Wimbledon Park - 22/12/05

Martin and Jeff got the mince pies out yet again for our 4th Xmas jam at the Woody.....
Jules was great on bass, Mandie got the entire pub into her handbag and took them home (after effectively fleecing them for the jug).
It was very special to meet Blues legend and Californian DJ Mick Martin, who did an awesome set with his host Mr Pete Sargeant. Thanks for all the airplay in the States Mick, the new CD is on the way....
Richard did a cool blues thing and Mandie and Danny(The G Force), augmented the
Tom Anfield band in a superb version of Summertime.
A great crowd and a great night - Happy Xmas to all and a big thank you for the superb support throughout 2005 - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 December 2005

Roadhouse Music Ckub - Xmas Party - Bulls Head - Barnes - 19/12/05

New version amende spelling errors -
Success against adversity was the theme of this evening.
With 5 minutes to go before the kick off, Bill had to leave due to family emergency leaving Roadhouse sans Bass player. Additionally, Fiona's cold/flu detriorated to the point that she had to leave.... aaaarghh

However, a really good crowd was entertained by the power opening from Drew with Jules on impressive bass. Further performances from Geronimo and Danny.G and Saiichi's new Band, Creamy, plus BM's own Mr Pete Sargeant, were great.
Roadhouse did an old line up/new line up thang, with Drew playing bass for Jules and Lorna. The dynamic duo re-joined the line up and an epic Couldn't Get to Sleep and Stormy Monday were dusted down. Jules then played bass for Drew as Mandie.G sung Heavens Door and then we did a bit of Xmas Voodoo to send everyone into a cold but festive night.
Thanks for the great support and to all the musicians who came played, awesome -
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 December 2005

Roadhouse Music Ckub - Xmas Party - Bulls Head - Barnes - 19/12/05

Success against adversity was the theme of this evening.
With 5 minutes before the kick off Bill had to leave due to family emergency leaving Roadhouse sans Bass player and Fiona's cold/flu detriorated to the point that she had to leave.... aaaarghh

However, a really good crowd was entertained by the oopening from Drew with Jules on impressive bass. Further perfroamnces from Geronimo and Danny.G and Saiichi's new Band, Creamy, plus BM's own Mr Pete Sargeant, were great.
Raodhouse did an old line up/new line up thang, with Drew playing bass for Jules and Lorna. The synamic duo re-joined the line up and an epic Couldn't Get to Sleep and Stormy Monday were dusted down. Jules then played bass for Drew as Mandie.G sung Heavens Door and then we did a bit of Xmas Voodoo to send everyone into a cold but festive night.
Thanks for the great support and to all the musicians who came played, awesome -
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 December 2005

The Caoch & Horses - Isleworth - 16/12/05

A great gig at the Coach. We were mob handed with both Fiona and Mandie.G (who were both on brilliant form -vocally and visually the band has never been so strong) and the amazing Fred on the Sax....
Good crowd and a great reaction. Mandie brought some lovely people along with her and her friends and many die hard Roadhouse supporters were raving about the new line up, songs and performance.
Fiona sang a killer Big Easy which featured some great sax from Fred. It was one of the best times that Drew and I have played off of each other. Mandie did a great Knocking on Heavens Door and the night finished with what many said was the best version of Voodoo Queen ever performed.
A truly great gig.

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 18 December 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 15/12/05

A very busy and brilliant night at the Woodman.
In the Roadhouse set, new song Redemption Street got a tentative but solid first airing.
Great performances from Jim and Andrew, Anne, Pete Bedford, Lawrence and Danny.G. Tim Matthewman excelled on his fretless bass and it was great to both see and play with Saaichi again. All Along The Watchtower had some very nice moments.
Here's to next weeks Xmas jam.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 18 December 2005

East Harling Social Club - Norfolk - 10/12/06

Our return to East Harding saw the return on dep duties of our ex compadres Jules & Lorna.
Bearning in mind Jules was full of a very bad lurgy they were superb.
This was a really fun gig, the audience were totally up for it and went nuts for the music.
It was great to play some of the old songs again and Coldn't Get To Sleep rocked (as did many others)....
Lorna did a one girl = two girl thang and Stormy Monday was a killer....Nice to support Jules on Oye Como Va again, in a kind if Santa meets Santana kind of way.
Roll on next years return to this reallt friendly place full of nice people and to Jules and Lorna's next dep session.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 18 December 2005

Charters Bar (Blues on the Boat) Peterborough - 9/12/06

Our first ever Friday at Charters and it seemed a little quieter than a Saturday.
After some pa positioning and stage claustrophobia problems, the band produced a great rocking set; during which Fiona nailed a blues version of U2's 'I still haven't found what I'm looking for'.
At one point the place filled nicely and then the 11pm start and transport difficulties began to whittle down the numbers... However, a strong core crowd hung around to support us through a very strong second set.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 18 December 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 8/12/06

Yet another great night at the Woodman....2 members of the pub staff joining in including the excellent Jeff on the drums. Julie Anne sang 2 soings with Roadhouse/Fiona and did a good job, before delivering her own killer version of Runaway with Lol Sandford. A very good night.....
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 18 December 2005

Blues Matters Annual London Gig - Boom Boom Club- Sutton FC - Sutton

It was an honour to be asked to host our labels London show. Pete Sargeant was the compere and did a great job with his usual 'Dry as the Gobi desert' wit.
What a line up, Sean Webster was brilliant (buy his CD, can that guy sing and write songs!!). Innes Sibun was next and showed his tremendous guitar virtousity.
Raodhouse topped and tailed the night, ably assisted by Swiss Sax supremo Fred Scwhartz
The second set really kicked and the night ended with Fiona and Mandie duetting on Rock Me Baby, as we were joined on stage by both Sean and Innes, in a mega Blues Matters jam.
The crowd of around 80, were great and 90% comprised of die hard Roadhouse supporters. I was a more than little dissapointed that we did not get at least 150 for such a great line up!!!!!.
Live music supporters if you give up on the genre it won't be around for you that much longer.
Thanks to those who came, they had a great night

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 8 December 2005

The Banham Barrel - Banham

On from Norwich to Banham for the second of 2 gigs in a day.
After a decent pub meal and band social centred around favourite movies (yes Roger's is Dumbo). We went on to played probably our most visual and energetic ever stage show. The crowd was really responsive and I thought Drew was on fire. Fiona and Mandie were great and the backline held it all together despite blowing a monitor in the sonic onslaught.
Thanks to all the old freinds for driving in some instances long distances, to show thier support and keep the band on the road

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 8 December 2005

The Shed - Norwidh - pm - 3/12/05

It was great to play a semi acoustic set with the new line up. It's still early days for Mandie.G singing with Fiona but the potential came through.

A small turn out for the first set as live music has normally been stopped on a Sat pm here, but the second set crowd was decent.

Some very good stuff was played by all....

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 8 December 2005

Woodman Jam - Winmbledon Park - 1/12/05

Great crowd and night at the Woody.
First a tremendous Roadhouse set with Julianne joining us for 2 songs and for a first time, out doing a great job singing with Fiona. A belting Blues version followed of U2's 'I still haven't found what I'm looking for '(well sung Fiona). Sacrifice just rocked big time.....
Then my moment of personal calamity, when I agreed to sing a Bryan Adams song for the lads from In Your Face. 5 seconds in to realise that it was so the wrong key for me.
The summer of 69 quickly became a vocal nuclear winter of 05 (by my normal standards) and I was suitably crucified by Fona for my hilarious efforts (sorry boys)..
Great sets from Riyad's new band, Jplus im Dublin, Lawrie and Andre Heart. Specail guest were Drew's Friends and greta musicians (all the way from Canada ), Cheryl and Kevin, they rocked. and Danny.G played some great guitar with them
Here's to next week

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 2 December 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 24/11/05

Another bitterly cold night, but this time it didn't keep the people away. Not too many musicans (but more than enough) and a load of great music loving punters in the crowd.
In the Roadhouse set we featured for the first time Fiona McElroy singing with Mandie.G and it worked really well. Could this be our new top/winning combination??
Fiona and Mandy appeared again later in the evening producing good versions of Proud Mary and a blues rendition of U2's 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' .
Swiss sax supremo Fred Schmid sat in with us all night and is now a regular member of the Roadhouse playing squad.
Nice set from Lol Sandford and Julie Anne and Pete Bedford and Friends. Decent harp player pitched up too called John and we'll hope to see him again.
Syd, Nigel and calrinet/sax playing friend serenaded us out into the cold winters night.
A great jam as we build towards our big blues Matters gig at Sutton FC/Boom Boom club on Sunday 4th December.
Hope to see everyone back at the Woodman next week
Cheers,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 25 November 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 17/11/05

God it was cold out last night and consequently it was one of the lowest attendances ever for a Woodman jam.
However, there was still a decent sized and very appreciative crowd and they got right behind the musicians who produced some great music.
First the Roadhouse set, Fiona was back (nice and jet lagged from her trip to the US) and I was sporting my white & gold telecaster for the first time in years (doesn't show your dandruff & that guitar has deep significance - for those of you who know me)
Broken Land was full of great jazz fills from Drew (who went on to play some nice bass for most of the night), Fiona did a decent Help Me and then the Last Train home really kicked (my muscle disease was at it's worst ever last night and the song seemed very appropriate).
Great sets from Jim Dublin & a welcome return from Danny.G. Jacks duette with Pete Bedford was outstanding, Geronimo and Lawrence both played some great guitar.
Fiona came back and got everyone's mojo's working and then Syd cooled the frenzy down with some reflective banjoing of the plunkiest order.
Jim and I played out on 'Ride On' as I managed to coax a decent solo out of my cramping and aching hands (thanks to all there for the SO) - I reckon it will warm up for next week....... Come on down - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 18 November 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park -10/11/05

Another great night at the Woody. Roadhouse were amply assisited in their opening set by Mandie.G on vocals and Swiss Fred on the sax. We did a great job with Slip Away (ably assisited by Mandie's friend Mel Jackson) then repated the Knocking on Heavens Door cover (this time with less success). Finally a spanking and very self indulgent Backstreets, rounded off the house bands set.
Later I was delighted to perform some classic rock with Andrew Heart & Jim Dublin. Getting to fullfill a life's ambition by playing and soloing on A Whole Lotta Love.
Great sets from Andy Cortes, Geronimo, Anne, Lol Sandford and his son Riyad, Pete Bedford and friends. Lawrence is really coming on awith the Hendrix Blues style guitar and everyone is loving Jack's vocals at the moment.
Bring it on next week,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 14 November 2005

Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 5/11/05

Roadhouse mark 37b (well we do like to vary the line up) rolled into the Coach last night. Featuring Swiss Fred on the sax and the return of the prodigal daughter, Mandie.G on the vocals.
Would the fireworks keep the crowd away, answer = NO..

A great night, it was magic to perform with Mandie again and hearing that original female vocal on Preacher Man brought shivers down my spine. Fred's soloing was superb and some of the interplay with Drew Barron, breathtaking. It was great to hear some fine sax in the line up. The first since Andy Thompson's departure a couple of years ago.

The second set was very good and we played a version of Knocking on Heavens Door, for the first time, without rehearsal. Mandie was on vocals and it kicked. I got to be 18 all over again by being in spammy power chord mode..
The crowd was brilliant (particularly the group of lads from Glasgow), a great night

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 6 November 2005

The Prince Regent - sutton -3/11/05

Well having just come back from an aborted hol in Egypt, where I ended up in hospital on a drip, following the stomach bug from hell, I feared the worst. I'd only started eating 48 hours before this gig after, 6 days of nowt, so I wondered whether I'd last out the course.
The first set was ok, but the band sounded a little ring rusty. The second kicked brilliantly and I was delighted to really 'nail' the solo in Watchtower. It was great to see so many regular Roadhouse friends at the gig and they responded really well to Fiona's tremendous energy and Drew's playing.
In the end a pretty good gig and I made it through (just)

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 4 November 2005

The Woodman Jam - 20/10/05

Another cracking night at the Woody.... It was so nice of Jules & Lorna to show their faces and support, really appreciated. Jules playing my strat along with Jim who was camping up the Rock'N'Roll thing with an outrageous version of 'A Whole Lot of Love'
In the Roadhouse set, Fiona was away in Ireland and my Daughter Rhiannon and her friend Julia did well on Voodoo Queen.
Lots of good music, nice crowd, and I managed a good solo on Jim's 'Ride On' (Thats 3 jams in a row we've done that now, so time to give it a rest). Some nice bass on numerous sessions from Andrew Heart and apologies to Syd for giving him just one number at the end of the night, but boy that banjo sounded good......
3 weeks to the next jam, then back into the every week format.. thanks for your great support.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 21 October 2005

Jack Beards - Tooting - 14/10

Interesting gig in many ways.
Firstly Pete Feenstra's venue usually runs on a Saturday, not a Friday. Secondarily the Northern line closed down on Thursday and was not back in service. This lead to the crowd being a bit thin on the ground. However, by the time we kicked off there was a good number of music lovers in the room and we thank you for your support on a tough night for transport....
In the first set the Band was on fire, turning in a great performance. Once more Fiona did a great version of the Big Easy and coped well with singing on her own . Drew was also on very good form.
Those of you who really know me will understand that I've had a lot of emotional and physical pressure in my life recently and I was delighted to be able to channel a lot of that emotion into my personal performance. It was weird feeling tears in my eyes as I sang some of the lyirics.
We had two special guests, Drew bringing along a superb Swiss sax player called Fred who played great stuff on both Backstreets and Help Me (we'll be playing with Fred again I hope) and John Oleary gurested on Whiskey Man and sang one of his own reptoire, which the audience loved.
In the seond set I made a few structural errors, but the band was playing with great emotion. Bill and Roger combining well in their party peice on Voddoo Queen. A night that provided great hope for the future of Roadhouse.
Thanks to Pete Feenstra for his contnued belief and support....

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 17 October 2005

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Pk - 13/10

Yet another good night at the Woodman. In the Roadhouse set Fiona is really coming into her own singing the Big Easy, while Drew's harmony work is really the icing on the cake.
I got up with Jim from Trouble for the great Irish epic again, but couldnt replicate last weeks killer solo (instead of venting my tortoured soul, my tortoured soul vented me).
The big brass section band were back, with Lawrence on guitar and the great vocal talent of young Jack from Atalntic Soul Machine..
A good set from the Tom Anfield Band who had a great new guitar player and Masashi, Lol Sandford and Geronimo all played some great guitar. Here's to next week where appearances from Jules Fothergill and even my daughter Rhiannon are anticipated.

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 16 October 2005

The Full Moon - Newcastle Under Lyme - 9th Oct

Paul Cope's fabulous venue, great stage, decor, pa , lighting, cool sound engineer called Darcy....... guess whats happened, yep, you guessed it crowds have gone down the pan....
We thought we'd be playing to 2 men and a dog, but as the word got out that their was a good band on, the place began to fill. By the end we kicked butt to a decent sized crowd and thanks to Anne's endeavours sold a load of CD's.
A midnight finish on a Sunday
and it was (as the song says) a long way home...
Drew and Fiona, continue to get better and better within the context of both the band and the material.....Anne as ever was the unsung hero filling gaps and adding rich vocal textures
Keep music live
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 15 October 2005

The Running Horse - Nottingham - 8th Oct

Try as hard as we can we just can't crack the crowd thang at the Runner. On our last gig the crowd was up to nearly 50, this time we were back down to 30. This all despite reports that we'd played some of the "Gigs of the year at the venue".
Maybe people were wary of the new line up, they really shouldn't be Drew Barron and Fiona McElroy are on fire. The small crowd went nuts over 2 truly good sets by any Roadhouse line ups standards. Barry Middleton the owner said "Brilliant band, really, really exciting and what a new guitar player".
A DVD was made of the nights 2 sets by Steve, the Runners in house guy. If anyone wants to buy a copy fire me an e mail at garyboner@btopenworld.com (it's a bit dark and the sounds not great, but it rocks....)
We'll give the Runner one more shot next year...
Complemetary emails keep pooring in about the new line up and even more followed this gig.

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 15 October 2005

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 6th Oct

First jam officially without Jules and Lorna and the first one to be run on the new weekly basis. No surpises then that the audience and number of jammers was a little thin on the ground to start. However, it soon filled up and it turned into a really good jam.
First the Roadhouse set. It was quite ambitous really. 1st new line up rendition of Broken Land (without rehearsal) and it was pretty good, with Drew Barron pulling off the harmony lines with some ease. Secondly, Fiona did a great version of the Boner/Reilly composition The Big Easy - a must for the new CD. Then we rocked out on the new number The Last Train home.
Into the jam and the appearance of a full hon section, along with Pete Terry's accomplished squeeze box playing gave wonderful life to sets by Jack (from Atlantic Soul Machine and Pete Bedford).
Jim did brilliantly jamming with Bill, Roger and I on Watchtower and some Irish epic that ended up being 'tune of the night'. Geronimo backed by Funky George Dare and the versatile bass playing of Mr Drew Barron played some mean guitar.
The Roadhouse ladies, Anne and Fiona then did a dynamite duette on 'Help Me' and the night concluded with Terry Brennan stalking the audience, with a very scary version of Hotchie Cootchie Man (pure voodoo)
Bring it on for next week
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 7 October 2005

2nd View of The Rayners Hotel - 1st Oct

The Rayners is my local venue so there was no way I was going to miss this gig. In summary it was a great night of music with superb performances from both bands. Particularly liked the fact that the bands collaborated so well on the third set to demonstrable audience appreciation. I really like bands that feature multiple vocalists as it adds a lot of textures to the sound. I was so impressed that I bought "No Place To Hide" on CD (okay, allowed myself to be sold it by Anne in her inimitable fashion!) and played it last night. Production on the CD sounded very good too!

Never been fully able to understand why getting people to attend gigs at The Rayners is such a problem; okay it's not particularly central but transport links are fine and it's one of the few pubs left with a decent sized hall for music. A real club venue no less. There's a hard core of gig goers there but almost any band (apart from the better known tribute outfits) struggle to achieve a very much larger audience numbers. A great shame as I know that both Pete and George work very hard to promote the gigs but unfortunately their enthusiasm doesn't seem to be matched by that of the current landlord!

I also suspect that Mr. Drew Barron might be a world class guitar player...

Please come back soon!

Yours sincerely,

Darren

Submitted by Darren (member of the audience via e mail) on Monday, 3 October 2005

The Rayners Hotel - Rayners Lane - 1st Oct

Another historic gig for Roadhouse, the first official gig for the new line up, a double header with our record lable compatriots Egypt. Alan Fish and the boys were rocking as The Groundhogs in the 70's and are still a damn good 3 peice unit.
I was delighted with the performance of the new line up. Fiona sang really well for us and is now on the way to fulfilling her potential within the band. Drew was on great form and wins my personal man of the man match award (even though he supports Tottenham - well a Canadian wouldn't know better).
Though we had a few problems with electric shocks coming off the mics (Im still glowing in the dark - very handy for those middle of the night trips to the loo) we produced 2 good sets. The new songs Sacrifice and Long Train Home producing the biggest re-action. The boys from Egypt getting up and helping us rock out the night on jamming versions of Whiskey and Preacher man.
Getting people to the Rayners is always a problem for many bands, but I'd like to thank the 50 or so people in the room for being such a great audience

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 3 October 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 29th Sept

Well the moment arrived, Jules and Lorna's last couple of songs as full band members.
This was proceeded by them breaking down and nearly not making their own leaving bash, but the AA very nice man used a hair grip or a condom or something from an episode of MCGiver or the A Team to fix (or make a new Jag) and Jules and Lorna were able to make the kick off.
The last 2 songs they chose were (Lorna's very poignant) Slip Away, and Jules's 'kicking', Sacrifice.
We then got the new line up on stage and a respectable No Place To Hide was followed by the debut of the under rehearsed, but very strong Last Train Home (Boner/Barron).. I was a bit late n on the final chorus, but it showed very good potential in as Jules said ,"A Green Grass and High Tides kind of way".
Anne did a sterling job of keeping the vocal continuity going between the old and new line ups.
Before the set Lorna and Jules made a great presentation to Bill, Roger, Anne and I and to say we appreciated it is an understatement. A presentation was then made to them onstage. If those guys knew the real degree of regard and respect I have for their abilities, it would be embarassing, I will miss them as fellow band members.
The jam featured some great stuff, and enormous Tom Anfield line up did some great big band stuff and Andy Cortes was on superb form, squaring off with Jules on a "For a few dollars more" style 335 trade off, and other highlights to numerous to mention.
Now the jam will be on most weeks at the Woodman, the new line up of Roadhouse will need your support as it builds and jells towards the next phse of the now somewhat celebrated Band's history.

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 30 September 2005

The Belvedere/Crawdaddy Blues Club - Essex - 22nd Sept

Nice to be back at the Crawdaddy following our very successful Digital Blues festival appearance last year (I've talkes to super Ashwyn, and we may be on for doing 2006 )
A great looking, large, candleit room and a nice team of freindly sound guys who had to fight against the very low ceiling. Monitoing was a struggle but it (the sound) settled by the second set.
This was historically Jules and Lorna's last full gig as Roadhouse Band Members.
Lorna was our only lady of the night (so to speak) and sang all the parts with expected ease and assurance.
A decent performance, but I was by the end personally overwhelmed by the sadness and emotion of the occassion. Roger and I grunted at each other twice on the drive home as the focus was on introspection (Well at least something good came out of it).

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 30 September 2005

The Hope Tavern - Near Lincoln - 18th Sept

3rd gig in a row on our last Roadhouse weekend with Jules and Lorna.
A great traditional Hope Taven roast lunch paved the way fom the usual transition from cosy Countyr pub, to intimate and passionate private blues/rock venue....
Solving some of the tight space issues by setting our front line up on the floor, the first set went quite well.
The second set rally kicked and I was delighted to maintain my positive form from the night before.
The whole band played great and the audience were right with us (wot a nice bunch of people).
CD sales were very good and it was superb to see so many old freinds like Ray and Nicky.
A special thanks to the many people who travelled over 50 miles to catch a Roadhouse gig - Your the reason why we keep on rolling
Here's to our return in April next year
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 25 September 2005

Charters Bar/Blues On the Boat - Peterborough - 17th Sept - late pm to am

On arrival at our 2nd gig in a busy day, we were confronted with a weirdly configured house pa (monitors behind the microphones etc..)
However, the sound guy was a geezer and openly confessed to being newish to his trade and with a bit of coaching from Jules the 1st set minor feedback problems were overcome.
The second set was a belter and everyone played well. The guitar trade offs in both sets worked a treat and for once I was personally on good form (mind you I would advise anyone with my type of muscle problems not do 4 sets in one day - agony!)
The crowd hung around until about 1am, instead of thinning out as usual and rocked it out with us..probably the best Charters gig yet

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 September 2005

The Shed - Norwich - 17th Sept pm

The start of a 3 gig trip and very poignantly the last mini tour that Jules and Lorna will do with us as full time band members....
Follwing bad traffic and late running I thought it would be hard for the band to get into the somewhat chilled vibe required to undertake one of our legendary semi acoustic sessions. Not the case....

Two great sets were recorded and captured on DVD by Roger. Both Anne and Lorna sang superbly, Roger was great on percussion and Bill held it together with some straight and pumping bass lines. Jules treated us to a jazz fest (he was in super cool, expressive mode) and some of the guitar interplay was very nice indeed.

Thanks to Ryan and all the friendly staff at the Shed for making such a good gig possible.

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 23 September 2005

The Blues Bar - Grays FC- Grays, Essex - 15th Sept

Nice foorball stadium; Grays are riding high (second in the Conference) and there is a nice vibe around the place.
The hall smacked a little of Pheonix nights, but though not the most voiciferous of crowds, they were well into the music and CD sales were excellent.

At the end of the night they wouldn't let us leave and the place was rocking to Preacher Man........

Thanks to Alan Fish for getting us this gig and to Mark the organiser for having us.
Nice One,
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 19 September 2005

Grove Tavern - South Wimbledon - 10th September

Historically Roadhouse have been playing the Grove Tavern since 1992. It has been a semial venue for the bands development and for transitions between many line ups. Sadly current Roadhouse friends and supporters do not favour the Grove and with very limited walk in trade for the music, it's I believe time to pull the plug.
Lee and Libby are doing a great job re-vitalising the Grove and I think new Bands with their super keen friends and famillies is a good way to go. We wish them well.
The night opened with a good support band (covers of course) and then Roadhouse played a nice if somewhat loud couple of sets. It was great to see John O'Leary again (1st time since his movie to the land of dodgiest midland accents) and he played a very nice guest slot.

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 15 September 2005

The Prince Regent - Sutton - 8th September

Well after another comparatively glamorous trip to Belgiun back we were on home turf, in sunny Sutton.
A hot night didn't help swell a very friendly and responsive, but smaller than usual crowd.
Performance wise though, the Band rocked
Lorna had a bad cold and bearing that in mind she did brilliantly.
It was nice to see some good old friends and shift a few more CD's as sales for No Place to Hide rapidly approach the 1,000 mark
Jules and I hit a purple patch in some weird guitar passage during the Roadhouse Blues.
Quiet but good form
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 11 September 2005

PAJO Blues Festival - Belgium - 3rd September

A nice journey in the sun for most of the Band travelling in a tour bus , to good to be true (yep)...
1st the DVD player broke, then we got stuck literally in mountains of horse shit while tyring to find the hotel (yep, really, the local horse market was blocking the whole town centre).
After checking into the very nice hotel we approached a low bridge, "Reckon we'll get through there Bill", says Roger, "Mmmmm" says Bill - Answer = NO! (much reversing and embarassment later)------
Then we arrived at the gig at things took a massive turn for the better. A lovely festival in an ancient hall/complex of buildings. We had a first class meal at the local sponsors restaurant in Gaalmarden - 200 metres from the festival hall and camp grounds (and a speail thanks thanks to the Manager/Owner for comping our guests and Belgium Manager, Bobje's meals).
Then despite an overun by Paul Lamb and the King snakes we produced a great performance, in front of a packed house. We achieved a great response and were delighted with the stage and overall sound. Everuone in the Band played a blinder..
a special thanks to our persoanl helper Ludo, who kept the band well lubricated and fed both before and during such a slick perfromance.

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 8 September 2005

The Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 1st September

A slightly quieter night than usual at the Woodman, as the holliday period enters it's final phase.
Sad to realise that there is only one more of these left for Jules and Lorna before they officially leave, but I hope that on many an occassion they can rock with us again.
Weird one was that Danny Gwillim had asked to play Slip Away with Roadhouse and strangely just preceeding this event the song (sans Danny) was played on Radio 2 by Paul Jones (around 21.00). Danny is therefore officially god of the radio waves and can microwave your pot noodles on request. Incidently Danny played the song very well..
Other highlights = the boys from The Subway Sleepers sitting in with Barry and Anne in a nice set (great trumpet).
Two good turns from Jules on the Bass guitar before Andrew Heart arrived to add his quality playing to the proceedings. Finally well done Lawrence for developing a pretty good voice to go with the quality bluesy playing.
Next jam on the 29th September after our world tour of Sutton and Essex

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 2 September 2005

The Navy Club - Maryport - 28th August

Well, I must begin by saying that the reward for waking up in time for breakfast at our hotel was perhaps not in proportion with the effort it took! Comedy quote of the trip definitely goes to matey the YTS reject waiter - "have you got any breakfast?" says us - "er yes" - "anything in particular" - "er yes, breakfast - all kinds of things" - "how about a menu?" - "oh yeah, I haven't been here long, sorry" - etc etc. Having inevitably had to send back various wrong orders, eventually ours turned up and was quite tasty in a cobbled together kind of way. Anyway, rest of family despatched safely southbound, and we headed north to Maryport to play at the Navy Club, Sandra's replacement for the Captain Nelson. Despite looking rather Pheonix Nights-y - this was an awesome gig! I was really happy with my sound and playing, and the band was really cooking. A superb crowd of really nice people (top marks to Leon for randomly taking me on a minor detour to the sadly now defunct town of Fothergill!) - who made a huge racket at the end of every song - amazing energy! As expected, we had an excellent time, a quick tear down of gear and then back into one's jag-war for the 320 mile wearisome journey back to 219SR.

Submitted by Jules on Friday, 2 September 2005

Colne National R&B Festival - Super Roadhouse Stage - Lancashire - 27th August

And so it came to pass - our 3rd consecutive appearance at the National Festival on the biggest stage. After causing the doors to be closed on the arena last year, by the record crowd of recent times, we were rather strangely rewarded by being pushed into kicking off the Saturday afternoon at the usually dead audience slot of 2pm.
We had no time to warm up after Roger (a superb driver but a slave to his GPS - "The computer says no") opted for the M6 which saw some of us gridlocked. While he and I argued re:route in the front, Anne plugged herself into her slendertone while riding in the back of the SUV. Our argument was punctutated by strange cries of "What a big one" coming from the back seat - surreal stadium gig build up...
A million thanks to the nearly 400 Roadhouse supporters and friends who came in so early for our set (apparently crowds were down for the rest of the day)
We played a blinding set, Jules was actually duck walking, or something like it, while his 335 was dismembering all in it's path.
An epic Couldn't Get to Sleep was followed by a great Voodoo Queen, before the stage manager wouldn't let us encore, despite there being 5.5 mins left on our slot !!(crowd was going nuts for it)
thanks again to friends new and old and here's to a more suitable slot next year.
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 29 August 2005

Merton Abbey Mills - Abbeyfest - 26th August

Our third consecutive outdoor, Merton Abbey Mills, South London Blues Festival...
always a pleasure to play for our friend and all round legend Mr Bob Bruning.
The skies threatened rain, but for once the gods were on our side. a pretty decent crowd of around the 3-400 hundred mark, saw a nice opening set from our good friends So Long Angel (nice vocals Fran).
So come 9pm we kicked into our headline set. The question was how much rust would be present from the holdiay break??
We belted straight into Tellin Lies with the Crowd stomping along and Jules boasting a sound as fat as Mr Creosote on his Gibson 335. There was a few screams of protrst from the pa as the sound crew struggled with going from1-3 voacals without sound check, but we were rocking and things settled down after a couple of songs...
Then 70% of the way through a steaming version of Sacrifice the power blew... leaving us miming (a minority of the band stil managed to look attractive). Power was restored, Lorna and Anne sang well and everyone did their party peices nicely on Voodoo Queen. The crowd were well into it and then as we went into the last solo the power blew again!!!!!
Oh well here's to a powerful appearance next year (thanks to all for your support and the great CD sales) - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 29 August 2005

Woodman - Jam - Wimbledon Park -

Well after the holliday break if there was going to be a quiet Woodman jam this was the one. However, it was yet another packed night.
No full Roadhouse as the houseband, because Bill was still on his hollidays, so Pete Bedford and Pete (bass) from Hit and Run provided both PA and excellent cover in the house band.
Too many nice perfromance to single anyone out, but it lead to Martin our host, increasing the number of jams at the Woodman for 2005. So from October we will be running nearly every week..
Great stuff...Gary

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 29 August 2005

Antwerp R&B Festival - Belgium - 24/7

One of our biggest ever shows.
Thanks to our Belgium promoter Bobje Blues fand festival promoter Kid Van Thienen for getting us on such a great stage and bill.
On an enormous state of the art stage set up outsides Antwerp's City Hall in the main squuare, surrounded by stunniung Flemish architecture the band kicked proverbial (and non proverbial) arse.
Check out the photos in the gallery as this was an enormous gig to thousands of people in the most picturesque of settings.
In full 'Bon Joviesque stadium mode we kicked a high energy set though from Tellin Lies to the closing Voodoo Queen. I managed stadium guitar hero poses 1-437 (damn I only got half way through the book before running out of time)
Much acclaim and positive feedback followed including TV interviews, CD sales and autograph signing.
The whole band played well and a particular well done to Fiona and Lorna, singing so well together.
One for the memory book

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 19 August 2005

Finches - Wimbledon Village -17th July

Nice, nice bar and room, great promoter (Paul) with good ideas, but a landlord who was paranoid following neghbours complaints. This led to severe level restrictions and amps sounding like cheap transistor radios playing in someone's formica clad kitchen....
Low turn out on a hot summer night, but i still enjoyed hearing the vocals as clear as a bell and Jules's jazzed up playing on very sedate versions of our quietest songs. I must confess to amusing myself with my Anthony Newly (meets David Bowie on the Laughing Gnome) vocal version of All Along the Watchtower .
If we go with this again it will be with out semi acoustic set and I think that would work a treat at this venue..

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 19 July 2005

Walken/Stevenage - 16th July

Great to be back after 4.5 years to one of my fave club venues. It was great for Mike, Richard and Trevor the Hat to see how the Band has developed. They were all very impressed.
A great crowd with many dedicated Roadhouse fans present (loved all the ladies dancing to Voodoo Queen).
The Band played a blinder with 2 encores.....
Hope to back next March and we should now be at next years Mayfest (thanks to Trev)

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 19 July 2005

Red Lion - High Wycombe -15th July

A welcome return to this lovely venue, well run by Helen and her great and friendly crew of enthusiasts...

A great crowd with people driving from as far as Oxford to catch the show..

The band played great and sold a load of CDd's. There was magic in the interplay on Roadhouse blues (though Jules couldn't hear me clearly through the in pub stadium onslaught). Couldn't Get To sleep nearly brought the house down and built nicely to the double Preacher /Whiskey encore, man

Rock on and we'll be back...

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 17 July 2005

Woodman Jam, Wimbledon Pk, -14th July

Last Jam before the summer break, a very hot day, a shortage of bass players but it was a great night.
With Drew and Fiona in the house Band, I managed to kick off what was the first of 3 nights of personal guitar strap and string leprosy (don't let me touch you, your bits might drop off)...
Highlights, Drew's Spanish style solo in Charlie's latin number (sung in Spanish - I'm sure the accent was authentic!). Julie Anne with Lol Sandford, Masashi playing like a powerhouse (and demonstarting poses 1-279 of the guitar hero manual -my fave was number 37). I personally love rock and roll theatre and on that note after a good set from Geronimo, Terry sang us into the night. His emaciated frame emanating a kind of indiscribable menace, as he prowled the stage looking for some kind of rock and blues revelation...

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 17 July 2005

Bulls Head, Barnes - 11th July

After the fantastic crowd that the Roadhouse Music Club pulled in December and the many requests to run the same night again, we returned to this re-furbished venue with high hopes....

It was a night of very high personal dissapointment for me. 10 paying members of the audience!!!!!!!!!

The 22 musicians featuring both current and future Roadhosue line ups and most of Funkdory played a blinder.
The 10 paying people were fabulous.

Highlights (if any one cares) included a great set from Drew Barron along with the tripytechal Haringay horns. Oliveir on the Sax sat in on a grest versio of backstreets which featured Fiona McElroy. Also some great playing from Tim O' Sullivan. I also got my first earful of a great self penned original by Jules and Lorna....

Mixed emotions, great performance, but does London care enough about live music any more???

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 17 July 2005

Charters/Blues on the Boat - Peterborough -1st July

A busier night than usual at Charters, an ideal outing for the new look Roadhouse featuring Drew Baron and Fiona McElroy.
This was a first, as Fiona was singing with long time member, Anne Campbell. We've asked an awful lot of Fiona, singing alone, singing with Lorna and now singing with Anne (and she's done great).
Highlights included Drew having to leave the stage with arms cramps in the first set leaving Fiona and I to do a top notch Rock Me Baby with some of the best guitar I've personally played for a long time. Secondly, at the end of the night Drew took Jules's 'Sing along note for note with the guitar' section during the intros of Voodoo Queen and then doubled the speed and complexity.
Bring your diary for next years bookings said the management at the end of the night, nuff said....

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 5 July 2005

Woodman Jam - 30th June

A busy jam night at the Woodman. loads of faces old and new and my apologies to all I let down, by not fitting them on.
Please, please all musicians arrive a little earlier......
The crowd were great and Syd's 2 number slot brought the house down (banjo and slide, that looks like a wiining formula...
Well played all...Here's to 2 weeks time and I'll make it up to those who didin't get a full feature/slot

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 1 July 2005

Elme Hall Stately Home - Wisbech - Norfolk- 26/7

4th gig, 4th day, feeling very tired........
A great set up by Jules and Bill lead to a superb perfrormance.
A crowd that grew and grew until it soared well over the 100 mark... loads of old friends and supporters....
From the 'kick botty" opener (well we are English) of No Place to Hide, this was a full on gig with plenty of light and shade, great performances from all band members and a superb audience... roll on the next time.....

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 1 July 2005

The Shed (Semi Acoustic) - Norwich - 25/7

We faced our first semi acoustic gig in years with some trepidation....
However, it was a blinder with Jules achieving superb tone, Roger doing great on percussion. Lorna and Anne soundied brilliant. Their suitably layed back, but emotional vocals, clearly soared over some great and fluid versions of the Roadhouse catalogue....
Thanks to Ryan for being a great host and we'll do it again...
Brilliant fun.......

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 1 July 2005

The Riverside - Sutton Bridge - Norfolk - 24/7

On to sunny Norfolk,
Nice people at this tiny cellar venue..... nice fish and chips outside.....
Room was a bit small for us, the consequence being that after the first few no's the usual level of death metal blues rock exuberance made it v.hard for the vocals...
Crowd were nice with a few old friends and regulars (thank you).
Into legend went the unplanned segway into Smoke on the Water in the middle of Telling Lies...

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 1 July 2005

The Prince Regent - Sutton - 23/6

On a hot summer night would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses, probably not and you wouldn't go to a pub gig with temps above 30c inside....
However, loads of people did.
A good early run out for the new look, from Oct 1st Line Up featuring Drew and Fiona.
Fiona put in a staggering amount of enrgy into her performance and when we build famliarisation, it's obvious this line up will be a winning formula. Just a bit more work to do.
Crowd re-action superb with 2 great encores of Preacher and whiskey Man , man.... if that makes sense

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 24 June 2005

Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 18/6

A very hot night and initially a small crowd. However, the numbers built and built The first set was technically great, the second had a superb emotional/driving edge.
Nice guest appearances from Marc Le Guerranic and Jon Griffin.
A surprisingly good night well played and performed by all

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 24 June 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon - 16/6

Another great night at the Woodman......
Good little Roadhouse set, the Funkydory crew were in top form with Fench Marc winning my guitar accollade of the night with a superb display...
nice stuff from Father and Son team Lol Sandford and Riyad, and from Pete Bedford singing with Martin and his blues team. Also a lady harp player all the way from the USA, Karin, checking out our little scene......
Repeat perfromance in 2 weeks time, bring it on.....
Once mor a good crowd.

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 18 June 2005

Charisma Bar - South Hoyland/Yorks - 11/6

A big thanks to Alan Fish and Rossi the local promoter who put this gig on at short notice to fit with our Barrow appearance.
Against expectations another good crowd, not very demonstartive, but still they were with us and at the end very appreciative and friendly. Great to see people who'd seen us at Skeggy again.
The performance ranged from adequate to good with the Big Easy getting it's first gig outing successfully..
Much hand shaking, then into the cars and as the song Said on Radio 2, "It's a Long Way Home" (and it was)....

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 18 June 2005

Duke of Edinburgh - Barrow - 10/6

One of Roadhouse's greatetst gigs of recent times.
A big thank you to Joyce and Bill the tireless promoters who do so much for live music in this area.
Crowd numbers had been a litle slow in recent weeks, but a newspaper review and tie in to our appearance on BBC Radio 2 last night helped the place to develop a really good crowd.
We played 2 very long sets, Jules and I explored areas of improvisation in some songs that had not been investigated before (I even manged to stay with him once or twice)...
Great re-action, good CD sales, everyone played and sang great. The double encore of Preacher Man and Couldn't Get to Sleep sent a jubilant crowd into the night searching for their local hearing aid centre. If only all gigs were ike this.......

Submitted by Gary on Saturday, 18 June 2005

The Boom boom Club, Sutton F.C - 5/6

Our 'Big' pre Radio 2 appearance launch gig was a terrific success.
1st young band the Subway sleepers who did a lot of their early work at our Woodman jsam showed they had progressed nicely and played a great set.
Then the Drewmeister/groover from Vancouver did a great little set with Bill and Rog and Danny Gwillimj on guitar, with some great sax playing from Drew's French mate Olivier (great player, love to see him at the jam and the Barnes Music Club).
Then 1 hour 35 mins of Roadhouse. Guest spots from the lovely Fiona McElroy who had a successful debut in front of the die hard Roadhouse fans, Mr Pete Sargeant who added dark velvet tones and harp to Help Me (without Pete we wouldn't be on radio 2 anyway). Drew returned for a triple harmony in Voodoo Queen and some typical guitar overkill on the encore Preacher Man...
I'd like to thank all out friends who were there that night for their loyal support (lump in my throat time)
The whole band played great. It was one of those times when I personally reflected over the 14 years and 8 Cd's of Roadhouse. I am proud to have played on stage with all in the Band Sunday night, life's too short and we all have our trials to overcome (as in recent times I've really discovered - big style). I am proud to have played with everyone who performed in Roadhouse this night and deeply grateful and flattered that such fantastically talented musicians and singers are prepared to play the songs I write - thank you. One for the memory books......

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 12 June 2005

The Running Horse - Nottingham - 4/6

Our first Saturday night at the Runner saw our crowd numbers continue to increase.
There is a great atmosphere in this venue steeped in the sweat and endeavour of all the great Bands that have played this intimate but very 'rock and roll' venue.
First set wasn't bad with Sacrifice kicking butt and a reasonable guitar interchange tween Jules and I in Rock Me (but not as good as the cracker last week at the Loft Club).
Second set was blistering despite my senile moment in Watchtower when I went blank on the vocals and had to spend 30 seconds moodily shagging the mic stand before mumbling something inane and getting by. Killer versions of I Couldn't Get to Sleep and Stormy, followed by a particualrly aggresive and deafening Preacher Man rounded off a very good and acclaimed (by crowd and mgt) performance.
Also thanks to in house reviewer/writer Dave for joining us for anice bit of harp on Help Me

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 7 June 2005

Woodman Jam Session - 2/6

Another good night at the Woodman. The song that I've co-written with Lorna, The Big Easy, is improving and is now virtually ready to be gigged at most venues.
Good sets from Lol Sandford, Jules & French Marc and a nice soul digression from Andy Cortes and Lawrence, with Jack from Atlantic Soul machine on vocals instead of drums.
Fiona McElroy did well in both Roadhouse sets and doing an impromptu blues set with Martin, Paul and the boys.
Syd and Nigel sent the crowd happily off into the night with the sound of Suzaphone and banjo solos ringing in their ears. Eclectic and quality...

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 7 June 2005

Loft Cloub- Green Man - Barnet -29/5

Roadhouse
Well, this was another excellent evening at The Green Man in Barnet!

I've had a new-found respect for Roadhouse after their gig at the Rayners supporting Ian Parker, which was just perfect. I had become tired of the self-indulgent "Roadhouse & Friends" jam sessions, but when they played their own set it was excellent.

And so it was tonight. With another new girl singer, Fiona, joining the excellent Lorna on vocals, the audiovisual show was spot on! Gary treats his harem very fairly, giving them all a share of the spotlight, he even recalled Anne to sing on few numbers. Where else could you see a fine band like this with not one, not two, but three great girl singers?

The material was a mixture of the familiar Roadhouse back catalogue plus some recent winners from their new CD - "Sacrifice" was particularly good - and even some tired old standards like "Stormy Monday" were given a great workout by Lorna.

Jules told me he was eschewing effects pedals tonight, and I liked the pure tone he achieved, along with the brilliant slide work for which he has become renowned. And at times the interplay between Jules and Gary worked really well, I just love that twin-guitar sound.

Jules told me he was eschewing effects pedals tonight, and I liked the pure tone he achieved, along with the brilliant slide work for which he has become renowned. And at times the interplay between Jules and Gary worked really well, I just love that twin-guitar sound.

The veteran Roadhousers in the background, Bill 'n' Rog, have been in the band for going on fourteen years, Gary informed us. And their great professionalism is a joy to witness - in fact the whole band, old and new seem to get on so well it really works like a dream.

The finale Voodoo Queen was really great with Lorna and Fiona belting out the lyrics and Jules and Gary doing some great duelling. We demanded an encore, and got it, Gary showing great respect for the pub management and politely asking if it was really OK to do another song.

So, in summary, a really good, happy, professional show. As I said above, an excellent evening.

Submitted by Gary inputting Rob White's Review on Wednesday, 1 June 2005

Sportsman - Part Two

It was great see the audience singing along with the chorus of Voodoo Queen... a double encore and good Cd sales, plus Lorna singing great and having one of her best ever stage outfits, a very nice night.

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 29 May 2005

Sportsman - Croxley/Watford- 28/5

A long awaited return to the Sportsman, which though a very small venue had lobbied very hard for 18 months to get us back.
It was nice to see lots of old friends in the audience and Anne back in tandem with Lorna (Anne has been kept away through various commitments and issues).
Jules was experimenting with doing away with his pedals and just using his amp sound. This contributed to a shakey start, but by the middle of the first set was cooking. the last 3 songs of the first set including Sacrifice and Rock Me Baby were blistering.
Tha crowd were totally behind us in the second set with Anne nicely co-ordinating their input in Jules's stonking version of Santana's Oye Como Va

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 29 May 2005

Jack Beards - Tooting - 20/5

A support to the American guitar god Jo Bonamassa. It was a small stage for those guys who are a real stadium outfit and they were not to happy when they saw the size of this compact (but nice) venue......
Still we quickly built good relationships with the band and crew and the sound engineer was a Roadhouse fan (ta-dah, we were in).
No Jules and Lorna, but Drew and Fiona were doing a good job.....
Set ran Slip Away, No Place to Hide, Backstreets, Help Me and Voodoo Queen (Time ran out so quickly while we were having fun- '43 mins')....A good response from the audience but only medium CD Sales as Jo's multi CD merchandising operation was in full swing. A nice chat and exchange of CD's with Jo at the end, with the promise of further work between the bands in the future

Submitted by Gaz on Tuesday, 24 May 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon Park - 19/5

A wild and weird night at the Woodman...
In the Roadhouse set Broken Land was played best yet due to correct speed and good drumming from Roger (even though Jules lead failed mid song) you could see it had come together. A perfunctory Slip Away followed by lorna doing well on the great new number the Big Easy with new improved mid section (needs to double up on one bit then we are home and dry me -thinks). Sacrifice it ROCKS>>>>>>
Into the Jam, memories, Jules and Marc playing Jessica on speed (well sounded ike it and was excellent entertainment), a nice sax player called John, a great melange of sound from Geronimo playing with Danny 'Van' Gwillim (2nd song was bitching), and stadium rock from Georgie Pie alias Masashi (killer riff on second song) - strike the pose.
Syd went into history by forgetting his words on his second song, allowing me to bore th audience into leaving on time with a mega Gary stage waffle

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 20 May 2005

BB's Blues Club at GJ's - Colliers Wood - 15/5

A superb performance by the Band at this intimate but plush little club. Fiona McElroy was dong vocal duties for us while Drew was on guitar.
Result was a very well played night, starting with Slip Away and ending in 2 encores, Preacher Man and Serve U Right. Both Fiona and Drew did great jobs and the sound balance and clartity was very nice.
Special guest was Danny Gwillim who did a number with Drew and a rousing 'Watchtower' with me.
Only down side was that though the crowd was very passionate, with some great loyal, roadhouse supporters; surely this great club deserves a better turnout???

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 19 May 2005

The Grove Tavern - South Wimbledon

A good night at the Grove, with Fiona making her full debut. Doing a great job on all Roadhouse songs and combining superbly with Lorna on Blues Highway and Voodoo Queen.
Tremendous vocal duettes on Rock Me Baby and Stormy Monday were delivered by our twin divas.
Geronimo did a guest set with Owen on the drums and the Legendary Danny.G played a stonking Watchtower with me (despite me singing the first verse twice - still there must be some way out of it - shite I've done it again).
Tim O'Sullivan did a guiness fuelled guest slot and excelled in both gurning and blistering guitar duties.
A bit of a local party night and v.enjoyable

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 May 2005

Woodman Jam - 5/5

A blinding night at the Woodman, new Roadhouse singer Fiona McElroy did a great job on some old faves like Help Me while Lorna sang our new composition The Big Easy to much acclaim.
Great sets from Andy Cortes playing with fiery young Lawrence in a blues guitar masterclass.....
Helen did a lead vocal and then sang another song while drumming (a bit like making love while reading the financial times (I couldn't do it and according to some people I can't do either)....
A great night, Jules did a brill job on the bass (where have all the bass players gone) only Syd didn't get up to deliver(ance) on his banjo into the night and I will Make it up to him.
Rocking...

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 8 May 2005

Boom Boom Club - Sutton FC - 29/4

Nice to be opening for our old friends Ruthless Blues, a legendary and historic presence on the curcuit (I used to watch Little Stevie Smith when I was 20).
This ws the 3rd or 4th time (opinions vary) that the 2 Bands had played together, so there was a nice friendly vibe.
A very decent crowd included a lot of regular Roadhouse punters and they were well behind a rocking, if quite different to usual set.
Both Broken Land and Sacrifice were given their first big stage airings and went down a storm.
Jules did well bearing in mind he'd forgot a lot of his equipment (still he had is guitar and his trousers, which for him is more than enough)
A stormer, with great CD sales, happy people and much hand shaiking afterwards (well at least until I got to the Southern Comfort)

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 2 May 2005

East Harling Social Club - 23/4

A warm, friendly venue with an unfriendly low ceiling. The Band played a very nice gig to some friendly and appreciative people.
Lots of old faces from the Cider Shed and the Biker Fest we did last year.
I sat down in a crowd of 12-15 year old lads during the start of Jules's solo in Oye Como Va and they said to me"You are really cool", I wish they's tell my 10 year old son, who thinks I'm an embarassment.

Great set apart from Rog drumming through the 3rd Chorus of Broken Land and prompting Bill to play a different set of notes, just to keep us on our toes.
however redemption was swift with a great perfromance from both the aforemntioned on Watchtower.
Jules playing on Sacifice 'totalled me' ,it was so good. Lorns was on form and it was great to have the 3 part vocal 'thang' going again, with Anne rounding the sound nicely.
At the end some guys said the guitar trade off in Rock Me Baby was like the one at the end of the movie Crossroads (required watching dear reader)...
However, if that was the case I'd be like the SteveVai character, limping away with a scowl on my face (hey I just likened myself to Steve Vai -call in the Trading Standards Commision) - good gig

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 25 April 2005

Woodman Jam - 21/4

Woodman Jam - 21/4

Another great night.. tremendous to see Lorna and Jules back and we were treated to great performances by both...The Roadhouse set really rocked with Lorna singing 3 and Fiona McElroy singing 2. For a first time out with Roadhouse, Fiona was great.....
Reverse running order had Syd on the banjo playing early (how does Jules solo to that structure ???) and Geronimo on early release from the reservation re-enacting the Battle of the little Big Horn on his guitar.
Very interesting jazz vocalist Carla did a kind of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' approach to Route 66, and the crowd were well up for it. Very, very enjoyable..

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 25 April 2005

Woodman Jam - 7/4

One of the greatest and most magical jams ever at the Woodman.
We discovered a great new female singer (Fiona MCElroy) who has agreed to join the Roadhouse squad.
No Jules or Lorna again but Drew was kicking it and on Voodoo Queen we were joined by Rhiannon, my 14 year old daughter on backing vocals and she stormed it, receiving a great ovation (made me a proud, but old, man).
Andy Cortes and Danny.G were on fire and there were too many great perfromances to mention - big crowd to

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 25 April 2005

Woodman Jam - 21/4

Another great night.. tremendous to see Lorna and Jules back and we were treated to great performances by both...The Roadhouse set really rocked with Lorna singing 3 and Fiona McEvoy singing 2. For a first time out with Roadhouse, Fiona was great.....
Reverse running order had Syd on the banjo playing early (how does Jules solo to that structure ???) and Geronimo on early release from the reservation re-enacting the Battle of the little Big Horn on his guitar.
Very interesting jazz vocalist Carla did a kind of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' approach to Route 66, and the crowd were well up for it. Very, very enjoyable..

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 22 April 2005

Woodman Jam - 7/4

One of the greatest and most magical jams ever at the Woodman.
We discovered a great new female singer (Fiona MCEvoy) who has agreed to join the Roadhouse squad.
No Jules or Lorna again but Drew was kicking it and on Voodoo Queen we were joined by Rhiannon, my 14 year old daughter on backing vocals and she stormed it, receiving a great ovation (made me a proud, but old, man).
Andy Cortes and Danny.G were on fire and there were too many great perfromances to mention - big crowd to

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 22 April 2005

The Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 2/4

A quiet night at the Coach, with only 60% of the usaul good crowd. No Jules and Lorna, but Canadian guitar maestro and Roadhouse number one dep Monsieur Drew Barron ws on great form...
Anne performing on her own did a great job with the vocals despite a throat problem.
Second set lead to encores as the pub filled up and the night lifted. Higlights for me were the climatic All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Queen in which Drew pummled his fretboard into complete submission.....
Not a bad night

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 12 April 2005

The Red Lion - High Wycombe - 29/3

A Tuesday night at a new venue in High Wycombe - hardy enough to set one's pulse racing, but race it did.

Wonderful hospitality from Helen and her team, as this night has turned into an excellent Blues/Rock club and artists like Papa Goerge and Sam Kelly have already played this venue.
To add spice to the evening a camera crew working for the BBC filmed some of the first few numbers. Clips are to be featured in a forthcoming documentary on Lorna being taught by Roger to drive (wonder if it will containg his legendary, "You get an extra 80 points for an old lady" steering technique)..
A good two sets were very well received by a lovely audience and post gig CD sales were brisk to say the least
We'll be back here very soon. a great night

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 12 April 2005

The Hope Tavern - Lincs - 27/3

A superb lunch and great hospitality from the wonderful management and staff at this friendly pub.
When I say pub I'm wrong, because within 30 mins in comes a stage and lighting rig and it's converted into a wonderful little blues club....
Two good sets to an appreciative crowd who bought shed loads of CD's..
Broken Land and The Big Easy were both given good airings and though the on stage banter at times was unpro it was often very, very funny (especially the bit about when Roger stops Bill needs to fill him up the back)...
A great little gig and we will be back. We met so many great people, a special thanks to Bob Reid for a guest harp appearance and ace writer/photographer Iain Young who was reviewing for Blues Matters.
For officionadoes/desperdoes the 2 encore numbers were Preacher Man and I Couldn't Get To Sleep

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 28 March 2005

Charters Bar- Peterborough - 26/3

Blues on the Boat, our 4th appearance on the modified ex Rhine, working barge.
Nice meal in the upstairs Chinese followed by a kicking first set.
The audience have been sparse here recently, but not during our first set where the usual high levels of famous Charters apathy were overcome with a vengeance.
I was on good guitar form for a change and a notable highlight was the trade off with Jules in Rock Me Baby, as well as a fun version of 'Watchtower'
Sacrifice is becoming a live set fave with Anne and Lona lifting it into a new great (Dr Who) dimension
Numbers dwindled for the second set.. but with the clocks coming forward and the 1-2 am finish it was understandable.
Still the hard core remained and were rewarded by Jules's great perfroamnce of Oye Como Va.. A good one

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 28 March 2005

Woodman Jam - Wimbledon -24/3

Another ace night at the Wooodman. Expectations of a strong turn out were low due to lack of pre bookings and the forthcoming Easter Holliday. Boy was I wrong.
a tremandous turn out of both music loving punters and musicians lead to great jam.
Shame was I couldn't get everyone on, how often do I have to tell people to turn up early, so we can start at 20.30????
In the Roadhouse kick off set we featured a new song, 'The Big Easy' cowritten by Lorna and I (great melody Lorns) and it went down a storm and was reasonably well played for a first outing, well sung too...
A weird lack of bass players lead to great bass depping from both Jules 'Pastorious' Fothergill and Andy 'Bassman' Cortes.
Nice sets from the above mentioned Andy.C and
all concerned. It was great to see Pete Sargean there (weightwatchers man of the month) and all round great music jorno and player,
Her'es to the next one

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 28 March 2005

White Lyon - Worplesdon - 19/3

South of Guildford is not exactly south of Chicago and the A3 is not really Highway 61, and so it proved.
New owners at the Whyte Lyon, a plusher interior and a stage (strangely positioned directly facing the bar)..
A bright opening from support, The John Brown band, who had a very nice Dutch guitar player (who knew loads of Dutch people we knew) and then into a straight 1 hour 35 minute Roadhouse set.
No Jules or Lorna but an appearance from Canadian guitarist extrodinaire, Drew Barron, who played great.
It was the smallest ever crowd we'd had at this venue (about 42 at it's heady zenith), which is a pity because this is the worst paying of any of Roadhouse's regular gigs and CD sales and bar take percentage make up the feeble band wages.
As a consequence, despite the 2 encores and much crowd support/enthusiasm, we won't be back again. Onto bigger and beter things (I hope) - Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 22 March 2005

Woodman Jam - 10/3

Started a quiet night for one of our popular jam sessions but by the end was up to a medium attendance.
I was personally pleased with both new Roadhouse songs, Broken Land and Sacrifice. Vocally I was personally having a very good night, but don't know what was going on with my guitar playing. Still I enjoyed doing a late in the evening Watchtower with the excellent Danny Gwillim.
Musically the night was very diverse with Tom (I've got a big one ) Anfield giving the worlds seemeingly largest didgereedoo a stonking BJ, and both flute and saxaphone came into play as well.
Marc a la Francias proved he's total beast by breaking strings on both his own and Jules's guitars before continuing to play on 5 strings more effetively than most people could ever hope to on 6 (hope it made him Apee) - We made a bit more room amongst the soft furnishings on the woodman stage and here's to the next one in a fortnight's time

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 11 March 2005

Running Horse - Nottingham - 4/3

Last time here we achieved the 'Runners' smallest ever crowd (8 payers - 12 people) -but achieved a review that said the performance made it one of the gigs of the year.

This time it was still dissapointing (31 payers and a handful of guests pushing attendance up to near 40 people). Thanks to all our friends who saw us on the big stage at Skeggy and came across to this one, on a cold, cold night.

The band played a great gig. I must single out Anne for some praise as she sang great and come midnight it was her Birthday.
Jules was in an especially mischevious mode, with a whole montage of kiddy themes in the middle of Telling Lies being just the tip of his wind up frivolity (great playing).

We love this venue and Barry who runs it is a great guy who does a lot for live music, so we will be back on the 4th June and maybe this time it'll be a sell out

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 7 March 2005

Aplogiues & Cancellations

Due to the aforementioned viral havoc, we had to cancel our appearances at the Fox & Hounds on the 27/2 and Prince Fegent on the 3/3.
Many apologies to all concerned but these were only the 4th and 5th roadhouse cancellations of igs in 13.5 years - sorry unavoidable....

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 7 March 2005

Grove Tavern - 26/2

Injury struck, no Roger (nasty chest infection), no Lorna (nasty throat infection) and myself carrying a friendly (must be friendly cos it won't leave me alone' 'Stomach and throat virus we retuned to The Grove.
To bolster our flagging numbers and bodies I broght in a 3rd guitar in the shape of the excellent Drew Baron. However, Drew didn't want to be the odd one out and contrated a stomach bug on the way to the gig and spent the night doubled up or in the bog.
Sir Richard Pumperloaf came back in to dep for Roger and did his usual superb job though it included his usual too slow apprach to No Place to Hide. He is an awesome drummer.
This was the worst crowd we'd ever had at the Grove and we've been playing there since 92, so it was far cry from the glory of Skegness and La Belgique.
There was a handful of Roadhouse officinados (like a bandido only they work in offices - i think) and they were rewarded with amixture of wobbly moments, mulchy moments with 3 guitar overkill, but some absolute magical guitar playing and great bits of music - but who cared????

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 7 March 2005

Woodman Jam - 24/2

Back to the stage at the Woodman after being relegated last time to the conservatory.
Surrounded by the new leather furniture the stage size is greatly reduced. this means no more percussion which is a bummer...
Still I thought differently to the views expressed on Jules's site, that the tone was very nice and warm and got a lot of positive feedback on the Roadhouse set.
Later on Jules and Lorna returned with French Marc and a 'Funkydoresque' line up and the tone gods were smiling on both Jules playing and Lorna's voice.
We fast ran out of time on a busy night that was marked by the beggining of a nasty stomach bug for me (the vie from the tiolet in the Woodman is not recommended).
Some nice playing again by young lawrence on the guitar, it was also nice to here a rock three peice with a girl singer....

Submitted by Gary on Monday, 7 March 2005

Belg/Dutch Tour 4 - Rotterdam

End of tour, a afternoon large pub gig on the outskirts of Rotterdam. Of course in the spirit of this tour it couldn't be straightforward.
Anne took a PA carrying tumble on the way into the venue (triple pike with a high degree of difficulty - 9.7) and mulched here knee (don't know if thats a real word).
She did the gig stool bound a la Uncle Val Doonican, but without the nice sweater.
The audience were strange, the band were playing pretty well but the reponse was muted. The crowd swelled (well they were drinking alot of beer), but still they were unsure until the end of the first set, where a rocking No Place To Hide pulled them 'on side'.
By the end of the gig they wouldn't let us stop playing, fog horns blasted from the bar in approval (either that or someone was strangling a bison in order to make the satay) we did a triple encore....
The tour bus set off through snow storms and a lack of channel tunnel trains, to get us all home in time for post gig viruses and middle aged collapse (for the Band oldies).
But what fun and what memories. Thanks too Bobje Blues and all out tremendous Belgian friends

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 3 March 2005

Belg/Dutch Tour 3 - St Lenearts -Willem Tell Blues Club

Day Three - My pick of the tour gigs. Nice pre gig food and red wine frenzy led nicely to on stage in front of a packed house, with heated exterior tent (also well attended) while the snow fell quite heavily outside.
Michele the promoter was "Moved" by our performance, while in turn the band were moved by his chilli.
The Band were on fire, turning in 2 great sets and the on tour set rotation kept the numbers nice and fresh...
Many nice jornos in attendance and many pics taken of a great night.....

Submitted by Gary on Thursday, 3 March 2005

Belg/Dutch Tour 2 - Mol

On Day Two we were delighted that Jules and Lorna made a steady recovery.
We arrived at a supeb Americana styles venue in Mol (loved the jack daniels lampshades, guitar shaped tables and route 66 backdropped stage)...
Our host Loius was a great Biker guy who did the greatest Belgian beer based stew, ever. Big thanks to Jo Verboven and friends for helping to make this gig happen.
First set was top notch with Jules 'on fire' , making a welcome return from John Carpenter Zombie state to The Full Monty (with his clothes on of course)....
Second set not quite as well played, but by then the crowd were having a great time and post gig CD sales were frantic.
This was the only night of the tour that wasn't packed out, but still a decent enough crowd.

Submitted by Gary on Wednesday, 2 March 2005

Belgium/Holland Tour - 1 - Menen

The stuff of legends, forever to be known as the "10 Green Bottles Gig".
On arrival at Leper/Ypres we were met by our Belgian promoter/manager/Flemish Web supremo Bobje blues.
His welcome recption at his home was a lovely bit of hospitality.
However, you are not meant to eat the rind on Belgian cheese (not common knowledge in Roadhouse circles). Jules in fact thought we were on a tour of the Rind (ho, ho, boom, boom) and set about devouring slabs of the stuff.
On arrival at the great venue in Menen (Thanks to both Phillipe's, Seys and Warlop), Jules and Lorna became very ill and Anne only had medium vomiting and shits.
We started with Blues Highway to an appreciative full house, but by the 4th song Lorna left the stage (very ill), by the 5th it was bye bye Jules. Anne also periodically dissapeared and it felt to me like i was starring in a personal episode of the Twighlight Zone (only I wanted to dissapear but for some reason I couldn't ).
Bill and Roger were super, Anne was a trooper (how Abbaesque) and we managed the power trio, guitar hero thing (if you were drunk enough) pretty well, including stonking versions of the Dealer and Serve U Right to Suffer. Jules retruned (bravely) for one song just to prove that he couldn't stand up.
The venue were really undersatnding, we sold Cd's and most/nearly were happy, but mainly we were just worried about Jules and Lorna who continued to be very ill into the early hours....

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 1 March 2005

Coach & Horses - Isleworth - 5/2

Nice pub, nice people including many roadhouse regulars.
Jules had tonal problems, (tone gods on holliday via faulty amp settings) my muscle disease was also in a godless state (though I was very proud of 3 solos).
A pre Belgium/Holland tour workman like night.
New songs sounding good..
Gary

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 1 March 2005

Woodman Jam - 3/3

Tough night at the Woodman,
the stage is now occupied by unmovable leather furniture, so we were relgated back to the rear of the conservatory...
The jam functioned successfully here for 18 months, but the lack of sound insulation causes noise complaints and sure enough the police were on the phone twice in the 1st hour (funny that, cos I thought they'd disbanded?)....
No Jules, no Lorna, but Mr Drew Baron was on top form (after initial feedback probs) and Anne was in very good voice (nice to see her back at the jam).
No shortage of good players and not a bad jam under the circumstances. Let's see what the future brings...

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 4 February 2005

Earl of Spencer - Gastro Pub -2/2

The first of the monthly music and food nights upstairs at the EOS. Great concept, 3 courses of truly superb food, 1st drink and live\music all for £30.00.
Shame that a lot of the pre booked punters did not show.

Still the 20 plus diners and the handul of ligging Roadhouse fans had a great time. Overall the set went well and the re-action was great.

Next months show on Weds 2/3 = Robin Bibi (special guest me), hopefully this great monthly idea will take off big style......

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 4 February 2005

Skegness - Festival of Rock (2)

8pm CENTRE STAGE at Skeggy - 500 queing before the room opened. Hard to say how many people out there when the safety curtain went up but it was prob more than 3-4 thousand (seemed like 30,000 to me after some of our pub gigs).
Having that amount of people clap along to the drum intro to the opener Tellin Lies was a bit special....
Great re-action and a great show. We didn't play as well as in the afternoon, but rocked the place in a wonderfully Bon Joviesque way (without as much gag factor - I hope).
Voodoo Queen brought about the mandatory Preacher Man encore, then it was Team hug and a thanks to a wonderful audience (so many friends out there) and then some healthy Cd sales...
Here's to next year if all of us are still alive.......

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 1 February 2005

Skegness - Festival of Blues & Rock

We played 2 slots at Skeggy.
2nd only to Colne in it's sifnificance to the circuit but number one in stage size, we were on the same weekend bill as bands like The Animals, Dr Feelgood, 9 Below Zero, The Sweet, The Hamsters, Eddie & The Hot Rods, John Coughlan's Quo.

Our first appearance was on the 750 capacity venue JAKS (Walt Disney type version of a cheesey wils west bar). We had a healthy 500 strong crowd for our first (and best playede set of the day) and then ran a very nice jam session. Due to lack of advertising we had to loan people instruments, but their was some nice players and the whole thing went well.

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 1 February 2005

Woodman Jam - Thurs 20th

A really busy jam at the Woodman last night. so many players I could not accommodate everybody and had to reduce some great players and favourites to just one song. Other people didn't even get on, this is so contrary to my personal values and what I try to acheive, that I felt really stressed by the whole experience. I also got a blasting from the venue for the 13 minute over run at the end of the night...
However, I was pleased with the 1st outing of 2 new Roadhouse songs of which I am particularly proud, Broken Land and Sacrifice... Despite my errors and a dodgy count throwing the beginning of Broken Land, they both went well enough for a first outing. The feedback from punters and musicians was superb..
Great sets from Tom Anfield Band, Masashis and Danny Gwillim and others and first Woodman timer Alex...
If only peopl would turn up earlier... oh well here's to the 3rd Feb

Submitted by Gary on Friday, 21 January 2005

Elme Hall - 19th Dec

After anice Xmas lunch blagged by Jules we played a great gig to the 100 or so patrons of Elme Hall, stately home...
though thinned out by Xmas shopping this was a great audience who got right behind the band and as a consequence the epics came thick and fast (and very long and very loud)
Lorna was back with a vengance and Jules had sold his soul to his tone gods (again!)
A great time was had by all...
Here's to a retrun next year

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 4 January 2005

Coach & Horses - 18th Dec

Start delayed as I'd stupidly left stuff at home and Jules saved the day with a Saabesque taxi ride to the rescue.
Whan we started late I was on very poor form, with the rest of the band trying to compensate and Lorna resting/heckling from the audience (getting over her laryngitis). Anne did a good job on solo female vocals.
2nd set I finally got going and and the band played a blinder, which kicked off a CD buying frenzy atr the end of the night (loads of people must have manic depressives to buy for)

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 4 January 2005

Xmas Jam - The Woodman - 16th Dec

A brilliant Jam at the Woodman. Lorna did a great couple of songs before the laryngitis kicked in, but we then rocked out with fun versions of Watchtower and Oye Como Va.
Jules did one of his best ever solos when playing with French Marc, Tim Matthewman took the art of lead bass playing to a new zenith and all round good perfromances and festive cheer to a packed house

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 4 January 2005

Tour Of Norfolk - 10-12th Dec

3 dates in Norfolk courtesy of Alan Fish of Egypt and The Groundhogs fame.
Night 1 at the Vernon Arrms, not a bad little gig livened up by the Bands best ever performance of Lost in Pain and the willy watching alsation that hung around the Gents toilets (down Shep)

Night 2, The legendary Hunstanton Social Club was a good gig. Loads of old fiends and a very enthusaistic audience, as the band tried to thaw out (quite successfully) from a night in sub zero accommodation. Love to do this one again in the warmth of spring or summer

Day 3, back for a luchtime gig at the excellent Cider Shed in Banham. Ryan our host was again on top form and we rocked a very decent crowd, with a full frontal set. Looking forward to viisiting the Cider Sheds new home in Norwich next year

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 4 January 2005

Grove Tavern, South Wimbledon - 27th Nov

This was the best the Band has ever played with Drew Baron.
Sitting in for Jules he was on brilliant form. Great perfromance by the band, tremendous vocals from Lorna, rhythm section on the money and best playing from me for over a year....
Highlights included a version of All Along the Watchtower, and Drew's comedy La Bamba/Twist and Shout Segway (for a minute I was a Spanish Beatle - then someone trod on me..)
Good crowd and a nice night at the Grove Tavern

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 30 November 2004

Woodman, Saiichi Gig/Jam - 25th Nov

With Jules having those testy tonsils removed, what better time than to play the much promised (over the years) gig with Saiichi Sugiyama.
A good friend to the band, Saiichi has supported numerous jams and music clubs over the years. Singer, songwriter, guitarist and international recording artist he has done some good stuff over the years.
There was a good turn out fom the Woodman faithful though most jammers weren't there bringing the overall attendance down a tad.
A good opening with Drew Baron sitting in with Roadhouse in order to practice for Satrudays set at the Grove. Drew blew people away with hid slide playing (without a slide) on No place to Hide.
Other great jam performances from Lol Sandford (vocals for once), Danny Gwillim and the Tom Anfield Band
The Saiichi set went well and featured Bill, Roger and Lorna on great form. Best numbers were probably Watchtower and Some Where Down The Road......

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 30 November 2004

Rayners Hotel, Harrow - 19th Nov

Back to London with a bump.
A superb double header with the excellent John O'Leary band was dampened by a realtively small turn out.
Though small, in number, the audience were beautifully formed and gave both bands great encouragement.
A double helping of an on form Jules was enjoyed by all and at the end both bands merged for some effective jamming.....
A good night for music punters

Submitted by Gary on Tuesday, 30 November 2004

The Captain Nelson, Maryport - 14th Nov

A 2 hour drive across from Darlington lead us to a brilliant, friendly, pub venue on the water front at Maryport.
After Sunday lunch was served the place transformed as if by magic into a music venue. A packed house, great performance and re-action form the superb crown (loads of returnees), 2 epic encores and it was along, long, long way home.....
Well done Pumperloaf again for the best dep drunning ever...mega amount of Cd's sold

Submitted by Gary Boner on Tuesday, 30 November 2004

The Forum, Darlington - 13th Nov

A large purpose built hall with fantatsic PA, 3 good sound engineers, and equipped with a large and trendy cafe bar entrance/reception. Lovely big venue, but could we fill it.
Answer was - emphatically yes. The room quickly filled with people who had caught our act at Colne or Skeggy and had been fully inducted into the dark world of voodoo women, epic, death driven, blues metal overkill...
A fantastic audience, lovely responsive, friendly people. Two epic encores and the whole thing made possible by Richard Pumperloaf (sittting in for the bereaved Roger Hunt) on the drums. What a player...And well done to Mike Prendergast the promoter (good guy)
Ceasr's guest appearance on Oye Como Va got him a standing ovation (wish i could make my PRS sound like that). back to the guest house where the Scottish first lady of the tardis (well it is a long scarf) wiped the floor with everybody in the drinking competition

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 21 November 2004

Charters Bar, Peterborough - 6th Nov

For Norfolk to Peterborough, back to 'blues on the barge', where a severley hung over Jules likened the gentle rocking on this moored vessel to the death throws of the Titanic.
The Band again was on blinding form. Shame about the small audience (number of, not their height). Apparently, there was a big local gig and the weather was foul. However, Jules overcame has delcate state (morale - never drink with Scottish women) to deliver the goods as usual and last night's hot streek continued. 4 gigs at this great venue in the book for next year...result

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 21 November 2004

The Cider Shed, Banham - 5th Nov

Nightmare Friday night traffic meant a long haul to Norfolk, but it was well worth it ..
A Lovely Country barn styled venue, with a great music loving audience. A superb pre gig dinner in the on complex restaurant was followed by one of the best performances that Raodhouse have delivered in along time.
A nice guest apprearnce from Tim 'Ceaser' O' Sullivan plus I had some remission from my muslce/tendon disease enabling me to play 'properly' for once..
Our wonderful host Ryan allowed band members to kip in the bar following a decent post gig drinking session and a re-booking for "One of, if not the best band ever seen at the Cider Shed". We'll be back for a pm gig on Sun the 12th December, excellent

Submitted by Gary on Sunday, 21 November 2004

Jam Session, Woodman Wimbledon Park - 4th Nov

Last nights jam signalled the end of our "5 Year Jam Celebration", featuring weekly instead of fortnightly appearances at the Woodman. As a consequences I was expecting a quieter night, but it was not to be. A massed crowd plus Andy Cortes enormous afro made even basic navigation round the pub difficult.
Great guitar playing from Andy, Drew Barron (learn to play fast dude, whats your problem), Saiichi Sugiyama, Jules and Marc A La Appy Francais. Lorna was on tip top form - great stuff from all and her'es to 2 weeks time..

Submitted by Gary Boner on Friday, 5 November 2004

Digital Blues Fest, Crawdaddy Club, Billericay -31st Oct

Nosebleeds all round as the Band made their first ever appearance in Essex.
What a great festival this was, with a warm and appreciative Crawdday crowd, supporting the excellent bill of musicicns and terrific charity cause.
Well done to Ashwyn of Blues Matters and Digital Blues fame for the invite and organisation.
Sandwiched betwwen the Guy Tortora Band and New Blues, we manged to fluff the crowd up into a nicely responsive state. this was all despite the sound of a heard of ghostly elephants stampeding through the monitors (well it was halloween).
Apparently the door is now open for numerous returns to Essex and if this is the kind of event and crowd, then thats very good news, - Gaz

Submitted by Gary Boner on Friday, 5 November 2004

Jam Session, Woodman Wimbledon Park, - 28th Oct

Another great night at the Woodman. Crowd was a little bit thinner after our 6 appearances in 8 weeks, in order to celebrate 5 years of this very succesful session.
I was delighted that in the Roadhouse set we managed to 'nail' both Long Way Home' and scope down 'I Couldn't Get to Sleep' to under 6 mins. This was min order to fir the somewhat inflexible requirements of BBC Radio 2, for our live recording session next week. Overcome with relief I then managed to totally cock up Telling Lies (much to the delight of all the other Band members).
Other highlights for me were the re-appearance of Pete French on vocals (of Ronnie Wood and Cozy Powell fame) who did a blinding set with Jules and Danny Gwillim on twin guitar overkill..
French Marc (Monsieur Le Guerrannic) then added the total panto, jazz, widdle madness for which they are famous - All musicians did well and here's to next week - Gary

Submitted by Gary Boner 0n 29th October 2004 on Friday, 29 October 2004

Blues Matters! Festival, Elme Hall, Wisbech - 22nd Oct

Friday night's gig was the Blues Matters Festival at Elme Hall in Wisbech. Sadly not too many people there, but those who were had a really good time! The stage sound made the gig pretty heavy going but we got there in the end... looking forward to playing there again in December, it's a beautiful room!

Submitted by Jules Fothergill on Monday, 25 October 2004