Road to Hell (2002 Dates) | Road to Hell (May - Sept 2003) | Road to Hell (Current)

27 April 2003 - The Running Horse, Nottingham

We always like to challenge our expectations and tonight this was especially true with the advent of the door charge being offset by the free first drink. Because it was a Sunday evening, with a poor weather forecast and near the end of the month, we weren't sure how many people would make it. To see so many people there was immensely gratifying and we would like to thank each and every one of you.

The first set got under way at a brisk pace and apart from a brief hiatus when Paul's radio pack decided to go AWOL, continued in a similar vein.

The "Guest Guitarist" competition was intense as usual with Paul encouraging plenty of audience members to "rip off a few licks" for the benefit of all.

It's always intriguing to see the reaction of Paul's accomplices (victims) as he approaches them. The reaction usually varies from embarrassment, to flattery, discomfort, and the look that says "If I ignore him, he'll go away!" One of these days, perhaps he will get his comeuppance when he finds a really good guitarist in the crowd and promptly loses his job!

During our beer break, there were some kind comments about what we had played and how well we had played them as well as suggestions about what we might consider playing in the next set or in the future. To those people who asked for a particular track and we didn't play it, we're sorry. Sadly, due to the problems with "the little noise man," (copyright Barry Middleton) the show has to finish at 11:00pm prompt and that doesn't give us much time to cover a lot of ground.

Our second set seemed to pick up energy right from the off and we were soon pouring our blood and sweat into "Johnny B Goode." Paul's guitar trickery seemed to get most people's attention but when both he and Huw stepped off the stage and proceeding to wander amongst the audience, there seemed to be a lot of happy smiling faces who didn't know where to turn. Especially true when Huw decided to chat to Barry outside the venue whilst still playing!

Sadly the dreaded 11:00pm came around too quickly and we had to finish off. You were in fine voice during "What's going on" particularly after Paul forced you to sing "Minnie the Moocha" earlier on in the evening. Sorry we couldn't go on any longer but we will be back at the Runner again soon so come along and see what we do differently next time!

Thanks as always go to Barry and Sally for letting us play for you and for supporting live music through the tough times with noise regs, entertainment licences and other bureaucratic nightmares.

19 April 2003 - The Old Volunteer, Nottingham

This was booked initially as a party so apologies for those of you on the mailing list that didn't get advanced warning of it. We had to keep it a secret up to a point as the person celebrating would have found out about it too early otherwise.

Anyway, as a birthday celebration it was apparently well received! This is what the guilty party had to say by way of an e-mail thanking us
"Thank you Thank you Thank you for an absolutely brilliant night at the Volo on Saturday for my birthday, it was an absolute treat and you all worked your little socks off...The whole pub loved it ; and thanks for the T shirt too ! What more can I say...you're absolute STARS"

To give those of you not there some impression of what it was like, here's our brief review.

We were expecting there to be quite a few people present since Chris, whose birthday it was, and her friends Julie and Ian, are all big fans of live music and have the generosity to come out and support not just us, but other local bands very regularly.

Not only were we scheduled to play but there were also two thirds of the Mick Rutherford band expected. As it turned out, there was also three quarters of Joker present too!

We started off by asking Chris what she fancied hearing and despite the shouting for other tracks we launched with these and took it from there. Since Chris had chosen some storming tracks to start off with, the mood was soon set and it was obvious that the rest of the assembled throng liked it too!

Paul & Huw were soon off the stage area and in to the crowd, Chris being the first person selected to solo on Paul's guitar but others soon followed, each getting a round of applause from the rest of the crowd.

The energy levels were intense both on stage and off and the heat in the place soon had us all sweating together. Can't have harmed the beer sales either!

After our first set, it was time for a brief break and swap over and the Mick Rutherford band, with Paul on guitar, did a few numbers including some that they wouldn't normally have done and had especially asked to do.

Another brief swap over occurred when Paul, after being asked by Paul Westmoreland - Mick's drummer, decided that they were going to play "Something got me started" by Simply Red. Huw was quickly taught the basic guitar part and Paul took over on Huw's 5-string bass. Paul proceeded to rip off an impressive bass solo whilst Huw and the other Paul kept the rhythm going.

Another break ensued when it became apparent that since three quarters of Joker were present, they should play as well. This they did with aplomb including getting three female audience members to add backing vocals to there T Rex songs.

After another short interlude, to allow us to change the gear back into it's original configuration, we turned up the heat still further getting people moving and grooving all over the pub and ending up with a spirited sing along of "What's going on."

Although there was an extended bar, and an apparent police presence to verify it, we had to finish off too soon, despite the cries for more after our encore. Having said that, all three of us must have lost weight from sweating in the heat so perhaps it wasn't so bad after all!

Thanks must go to Lol & Kev at the Volunteer for putting the event on and enthusiastically supporting live music, the members of the Mick Rutherford Band and Joker for playing and last but by no means least to Julie for arranging the night for her, and our, friend Chris

12 April 2003 - The Horse and Jockey, Nottingham

This one was for you Marie!

Our show here had been arranged for some time but gained extra significance when we learned that Marie had become the official licensee of this fine hostelry. With a little bit of a celebration going on at Marie's elevation, there seemed to be quite a lot of new people there ready to party.

To start with, since we were once again playing with our new toys, the audience was asked whether they wanted us to start quiet or loud. Loud seemed to win so that's how things kicked off but we paced it along with some of our quieter, more sensitive material.

Again, during the first set, Paul & Huw set off into the audience and disappeared from view of the people in the main room. The people in the middle bar probably got a shock though finding them in their midst. It was a good job that the sandwiches hadn't been put out by that stage of the evening or the guitar solo could have been very long. You know how Paul likes to keep his strength up during an exhausting guitar break!

After a short beer break, we rocked out some more tunes, including audience requests of "Spirit in the Sky" and "Sultans of Swing." The latter was played more in keeping with the original version in deference to the person requesting it. However, it was funny that during the song we could feel ourselves being drawn towards playing it in "our" way but having to rein our enthusiasm in.

Towards the end of the night, it was good to see more people joining in with the dancing at the front, especially as it meant you had safely negotiated the tables and chairs in your way and all that with no small an amount of drink inside you!

We would like to thank you all for coming once again. We reserve our special thanks however, to Marie and Russ who not only arranged the gig but have wholeheartedly supported our cause elsewhere in the Tynemill chain. The result of this is that we are now booked in for another gig shortly in Loughborough.

5 April 2003 -The Admiral Rodney Hotel, Southwell, Nottingham

It was a good job that few of the people present had seen us before, since tonight was the debut of a couple of new toys for Paul and Huw. Yes folks, Huw's new bass rig has arrived and in an effort to keep up with him, Paul's trusty Mesa Boogie amplifier has been part exchanged for something a little more powerful. ( See the new "Gear page" for full details)

When we were booked for this show, Paul the organiser promised that the audience would be well up for it and he wasn't wrong at all. A first was achieved in having people dancing during the first number and as we got deeper into the night more and more people got into the swing of things. There were some funky movements going on from where we were stood and it was a pleasure to keep you moving.

Because of the numbers of attendees present, the pub had been allowed to remain serving until midnight so we had to pace the show a little carefully. We didn't want you all completely shattered until after we played our last note of the evening. From our point of view, it seemed to work well although judging by the shouting for more at way past midnight, you weren't tired at all.

Paul and Huw revelled in the sound of their new equipment and seemed more reticent to wander off into the audience but Paul broke the ice first and got a few embarrassed audience members to carry a guitar solo and then later on both of them disappeared into the throng. Paul seemed to be gone for ages but could be seen standing on a chair in the middle of the crowd having a great time. Watching everyone turning to him as he played was a real treat.

Our mix of rocked up eighties pop, classic rock, blues and even a 1930's song seemed to hit all of the right notes and we were impressed with your vocal talents during such songs as "Minnie the Moocha" and "What's Going On".

We were sorry that we couldn't have played longer for you but the rules said that we had to kill the music when we did, so if you didn't hear a favourite song and you think we should play it for you next time, e-mail us the details and we will see what we can do.

The band would like to thank Paul for organising the event which raised over £300 for Comic Relief and to Neil and the staff at the pub for going the extra mile and making our first visit so enjoyable.

Mention has already been made by a number of people of a repeat at some point in the future so we hope to see you all again. Why not e-mail your details through and we will add you to the Electronic Mailing List so you can get advance warning when we are next in the area?

9 March 2003 - The Navigation, Newark

What a surprising venue! Not having played here before we didn't know what to expect equipment wise so had brought the "big rig." When we saw the size of the place we thought that we had overdone it a bit but once we were told that you liked it loud, we set the full thing up, squeezing it in to the available space.

The first set started off really well in that before very long people were dancing in front of the stage area. This is the kind of thing we like and encourages us to push the boat out for you (quite apt really, considering that the river was only about a couple of feet away and in full flood!)

Things just seemed to get better and better especially when Paul & Huw set off out into the audience and had their progress slowed by the sheer numbers of people crammed into the place. Once again there were some audience solos played on Paul's guitar and the reaction when Paul and Huw did their opposed flypast and solo between the bass player's legs, was a peach to watch.

After our customary beer break, and we needed it because of how hot it was, we soon had you back and boogying. More and more people joined the dancing throng at the front as we played things like "Addicted to Love," "Sweet Dreams (are made of this)" and "Tainted Love." Can we safely say that you like rocked up 80's pop songs then?

At the end of the night, and after some good audience singing, the cheering for more was both deafening and immensely satisfying. As it was we were really pleased that we were allowed to play a couple more tunes for you.

We would like to say a big thank you to you all for coming out to see us despite not knowing much if anything about us. We really enjoyed our first experience of your favourite watering hole and have already agreed to revisit you again at a future date. Keep your eyes on the web site for details of the date once it is all sorted out. Thanks also go to Karen for letting us play on the basis of one live CD and some phone calls.

An extra special mention should go to our travelling fans, Julie, Christine and Ian who had come all the way from Nottingham just to see us and even had the grace and generosity to buy us beer. You are stars in your own right!

7 March 2003 - The Frog and Nightgown, Worksop

We were keen to play here with our new gear since Huw had got the loan kit from the Academy of Sound which is almost identical to the stuff he is having built for him. Additionally, Robin had got his new drum kit tuned up better than at the last show.

The audience was not large, possibly due to the damp, cold and windy conditions outside (it was chucking it down!) but we could see plenty of rocking potential in them and it was up to us to get them on our side.

The first set started off at a fair pace with some fast rocking material which seemed to get a positive, if slightly subdued, reaction. Slowing things down a bit with a few classic numbers had a similar reaction but what seemed to set things rolling was our version of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" including the now almost obligatory guitar solos from a few carefully selected members of the audience and a running opposed fly past by Paul & Huw.

By the second set, people seemed to be more up for a good time and we started to get people dancing in front of the stage and enjoying the louder pop/rock material that we threw at them. The other factor in our favour was that the stage levels had been adjusted so that Robin could hear the bass over Paul's guitar and this was despite Huw allegedly using a 600 watt amplifier and a speaker cabinet that had until recently been touring with Jennifer Lopez (this last fact alone accounted for the white custom finish on it that perhaps wasn't totally in keeping with the band!)

As it was, the second set finished to much applause and with demands that we play more. The landlord agreed and so a couple more numbers topped off the evening to the approval of all. We would like to thank the landlord for sticking with us after his disagreement with the original promoter, Stuart & Julie for coming and supporting us despite the weather and the rest of you for the Worksop welcome!

28 February 2003 - South Wingfield Social Club, South Wingfield, Alfreton, Derbyshire

Such a small village but what a great crowd!

Having never played here before we weren't sure what to expect and driving to the Social Club suggested that the audience might not be too. We were soon proved very wrong as people filtered into the club. It was good to see so many friends from other gigs along with our travelling fans who had made the journey to be with us on the night.

Tonight saw the debut of Robin's brand new drum kit that had arrived after sustained pressure from Paul and Huw. Since on stage it was so loud, we decided not to mike it up like the old one but afterwards, when it was too late, comments from the audience suggested it could have done with being amplified. Next time, it will be, so watch out!

We had been told that the audience were partial to a bit of rock as well as loads of other stuff so we weren't too restricted on what we played in the first set. The reaction we got was great so it was a bit of a "no brainer" to choose material for the second. As usual, Paul and Huw wandered off into the audience and once again, Paul picked some people to help him with his solo before the two of them took to the dance floor area and performed their famous opposed fly past and solo whilst passing between the bass player's legs.

The second set seemed to get better and better and soon we had quite a number of people partaking of shaking their booty in front of the stage which was good to see. We hope that next time we play for you at the Social Club, you will bring more of your friends and dance yourselves into a frenzy! There are too many people to mention by name so please forgive us if we miss anybody out but we would particularly like to thank Alan for booking us and Paul Westmoreland for helping us with the gear and taking photographs. We hope you like him even more when you see him drumming for The Mick Rutherford Band when they play for you later on this year.

Keep your eyes on this site for details of the next date at the Social Club or better still, send us an e-mail to subscribe to our electronic mailing list and we should tell you.

22 February 2003 - The Talbot Bar, 2 Queen Street, Wrexham

Paul had told us what to expect of the venue and we weren't initially disappointed. It was a shame that it is being closed down but we wish Rick luck in his battle with the powers of evil in getting it back up. We hope he wins big time and rubs their noses in it as we would love to play there again.

The place was full of live music enthusiasts and a few members of other bands so we had to be at our best. The first set was unusual for us in that part way through we were handed a note saying we should crank it up a bit. This was carried out to the extent that Robin could feel the volume through his bass pedal and his teeth! God help him when Huw gets his monster bass stack if that happens again. Paul's amp is bad enough when it starts getting wound up...

During the break, we were all asked to do some AC/DC and some Queen. Sorry about the lack of DC - although Huw and Robin know some of their stuff, Paul doesn't know the words. It is something we will be working on when we get rehearsing again. We did do a Queen number though so at least one of you was satisfied.

The second set was really great as we ripped through some eighties and nineties rocky material and it was great to see so many people dancing, shouting and getting into it. You perhaps don't realise just how much that fuels us up to play for you and it was only the lack of time that prevented us from adding more of that kind of stuff into the evening. Ending up with "What's going on" by the 4 Non Blondes seems to be becoming a bit of a standard and since it proves really popular wherever we go, it looks like it deserves it's place in the set. Thanks for adding some great backing vocals to it. We knew you could do it.

We would like to thank Rick, the bar staff and the security guys for making us feel welcome and being very helpful but most of all, we thank you for enjoying us and asking us to play again in the area. We will see what we can do, so watch this space.

21 February 2003, The Running Horse, Nottinghaham

This gig should have been advertised via lastminute.com since it was only the previous afternoon that we received the call from Barry to play!

Sadly for those people expecting a female acoustic country blues artist they got us, not female (despite Paul's assertion that he was on Thursdays), not acoustic, not country, a little blue and not a solo artist! What greater contrast could you have had? For those people wishing the find out more about Emily Druce, who had developed a throat infection, check out her web site at www.emilydruce.co.uk

Anyway, after asking Barry whether he wanted us to play our more sensitive material or just to do our normal show, the decision was to "do what you do" so we went for it in our usual inimitable style half expecting the people there to disappear. We would like to thank you all for sticking around, letting your hair down and having a party with us.

During the first set, Paul introduced Huw as the foreigner in the band. The problem with this was that he referred to him as an Iraqi so we had better be careful in case the authorities believe we are some fanatical terrorist sect affiliated to al Quaeda intent on destroying democracy by playing loud protest songs.

In the second set, Paul and Huw once again set off into the audience but this time Robin wasn't left on his own on stage since our good friend KenDave (don't ask) was playing harmonica and since he wasn't radio packed, he had to stay on stage. The audience loved the impromptu guitar solos that Paul cajoled from various members of the audience and were surprised still further when after a brief hiatus with just drums and harmonica, Paul and Huw re-emerged having swapped instruments.

With there being a number of familiar faces in the audience, including a roadie from our Millennium Eve gig, it wasn't long before they were shouting for stuff that had not been on the set list. Paul being himself, decided that we would have a go at these so "Minnie the Mooch" and "Something Else" were added to the list complete with some excellent gob harp playing from KenDave. Alice Cooper's "School's Out" seemed to get everyone going for it and finally the track by the 4 Non Blondes was a great way for you all to end the evening singing your hearts out. We thought it was great.

As a night which started out with us worried that we wouldn't fit in and ended with a triumphant sing along we really appreciated your warm, enthusiastic reception. Rest assured, we will be back later on in the year.

We would like to thank Barry for asking us, Sally, Ross & Dan from the pub for supporting us and singing along and in the words of one of our good friends, "we think you were the best looking and sounding audience we have ever played to, you should all be catalogue models and point at things!"

31 January 2003, The Greyhound, Loughborough

On the web site's gig guide, it pointed out that this was our first time here and we were keeping our fingers crossed. We needn't have worried! It was good to see people trekking down from Nottingham to watch us play and get to know the Loughborough crowd. We really appreciated you being there!

Originally, we were told that a support band would be playing before us and as such we had to get there early to set up and sound check. Sadly, the support act had pulled out so we were on our own. In retrospect though, that gave us more drinking time.

The people that were there from the start seemed to be enjoying the rock disco pumping through the room so it was obvious which style of music we were going to be doing and sure enough we went straight into some loud and proud material, Paul demonstrating his mastery of the guitar like the guitar god he has been called in the past.

Reactions were universally positive so Huw joined in again with the trademark wander off into the crowd routine. Those people that hadn't seen this before were delighted, especially when Paul continued his solo whilst crawling underneath Huw. He even extended the concept still further, getting audience members to play the riff to "Smoke on the water!"

The first set seemed to only last about five minutes because we were enjoying ourselves so much so that the "beer break" seemed to drag on. We really were pumped and ready to go.

By the time the second set was under way, the audience had swelled still further and as we launched more classic rock and rocked up pop tunes the area in front of the stage soon filled up with head bangers trashing away happily. We were under instructions that we couldn't stay on too long despite the 1:00am bar so sadly there was no time for any encores despite the clamour raised for more. We know it's unusual for us not to go on longer than planned but as the bar have had complaints about noise, we had to abide with the instructions. We want to play here again so we didn't want to rock the boat.

Thanks to every one of the staff, the DJ and especially to you, the audience. We couldn't have done it without you. Thanks also to the people who signed up to our e-mail notification list. We will be in touch.

We would also like to thank those people who recommended we try another venue in town and who promised to put in a good word for us. We will do our best to get some more gigs lined up since Loughborough sounds like a good rocking place to play.

26 January 2003, Bar Oz, St James Street, Nottingham

Australia Day 2003 was celebrated in typical Beer Monster fashion with the aid of our secret weapon!

Chris Foss, as the secret weapon is known, is an Aussie singer, guitarist, song writer and sometime front man for his own band Tequila Mocking Bird. Tonight though he did a solo voice and acoustic guitar set which was well received, even if Paul was itching to get on stage with him and add a full band to some of his original material!

Since Chris' set had started off quietly, when we hit the stage we started gently since we didn't want to shock the crowd too early. We even had Chris on stage with us for a few numbers that wouldn't ordinarily have been on our set list - if we had one that is!

After a short break due to "technical problems" (the drum pedal broke!) we got back into the swing of things and built the pace up steadily including the now infamous excursion by Paul & Huw onto St James Street. The door staff were most amused to see the two of them "goofing" about before returning into the bar and disappearing into its recesses. Paul even went upstairs to check out who was up there and what they were watching on the big screen!

It was a good job that Gordon, the landlord, had managed to obtain a licence extension since at 10:30, when we were originally going to finish, we were in full stride with the audience shouting at us to play various songs. We apologise if we didn't play your favourite but when the bass player's fiancée demands that we play a song for her, Huw doesn't argue. He's only just moved in so doesn't want to have to move back out, especially as he has sold his old house!

We would like to thank Gordon and Matty from Bar Oz, for having us play. To Chris Foss for supporting us and joining in the general buffoonery and finally to Norval who despite coming out just to watch, ended up being persuaded to play guitar as Paul fancied a go on the drum kit.

Let's hope it's not another 5 months before we are back!

5 January 2003 - The Running Horse, Alfreton Road, Nottingham

What can we say other than thank you to all of our fans that turned out to support us at this short notice gig. You really were appreciated.

With it being only on Monday when we were booked for this show, we weren't sure exactly what to expect by way of an audience but you did us proud and we hope that you were suitably entertained and of course suitably refreshed by the fine ales present!

As promised, we had a few guest artistes up our sleeves and we would like to thank them for their participation in making the evening the success it was. Excellent playing by Pete Marshall, wonderful vocals from Everton, and Mick Lund was his usual inimitable self.

As our official Nottingham start to the New Year, we couldn't have hoped for better. An audience ready to party, beer ready to be drunk, and a venue ready to be "Monstered!" We even had our number one fan back after his sojourn in the wilds of Oxford!

The first set seemed well received and this was despite the fact that we were just warming up. The second set was a real blast and it was great to see so many people dancing, singing along and generally having a good time. Barry has to be commended too for shaking his booty to a couple of tracks. We hope we played some of your favourites in the set.

As a band, we would like to thank Barry, Sally, Russ & co for making us feel welcome, Pete, Everton and Mick for contributing what you do so well and lastly, but by no means least, you guys for coming out and making it so special.

We hope to see you all again soon at the Runner. We will be back; you can rest assured of that!