If you are in the Midlands and up for a good time with some great, local pop-punk bands, head on down to Unplug in Digbeth (next to HMV Institute) tomorrow night at 6:30pm. OxjamBrum will be bringing you a selection of top artists and for £3 entry, along with some tempting drinks promotions, it really is a bargain! All proceeds will go to Oxfam — how much more of an excuse to you need?
Kicking the evening off will be Access To Music’s very own band The Late who are going to show us why they have been named as one of the best bands to come from the Birmingham Access To Music College.

The Late are followed by Tamworth’s fabulous Call Atlantis. The band are currently working away in the studio (as we speak!) so if you want to hear what they have been up to, Unplug is the only pace to be. With new album L’Espirit De L’Escallier coming this Fall, you would be mad to miss out on the opportunity to hear some exclusive previews from the album.

Spearmint 6 will then be bringing you their refreshing pop-punk sound and proving why no-one does pop punk quite like the Midlands. They state that they ‘engage every member of the audience with a high energy performance and a commanding presence’, so get involved!

Kerrang! Radio’s new favourite band Patchwork Grace are also playing for OxjamBrum tomorrow. They are currently making quite a name for themselves within the alternative music scene, not only in the Midlands but throughout the UK. After gaining a fair amount of airplay from Kerrang! Radio, this band is sure to be going places soon. Catch them now, for just £3 and get one step ahead of your friends.

Last but certainly not least are Derby’s very own Down To A Science. This band are always on the road and constantly adding to their solid fan base so OxjamBrum have been really lucky to get the guys to come down and play for us tomorrow. If you are a fan of Paramore, The Starting Line or You Me At Six, you will love love love Down To A Science.

So what are you waiting for? Get down to Unplug in Digbeth tomorrow and let’s raise some money for a fantastic charity!
More information can be found here!

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How many times have you found yourself at a festival, by all accounts having the time of you life, wishing the main man had made at least an 8th day purely for this purpose, yet by day three secretly wished for a shower that isn’t a flying bottle of wee, shampoo that isn’t dry, and a cheeky recovery day by the sea, so that you can have a quick dip and refresh ready for the rave again? For as much as we love festivals and embrace all the snags they might imply – mud, insomnia and anyone who doesn’t reek of last Wednesday suddenly appearing sexy – the dream has always been to do the fun, without the sweaty tents and warm beers we must abide with it. This year, a few short weeks ago, my ravers and I found this dream, in the form of a beachside festival in the heart of Europe, and I can say with most certainty it was phenomenal. From the makers of Parklife, Metropolis and Wax-on, The Warehouse Project and Electronic Music Group bring you…Hideout Festival.

Located on the beautiful island of Pag (that’s “Pag” to you) in Croatia, Hideout 2011 was itself a virgin to the electro-fest scene, and it could only hope that the exciting line-up of D&B, dub-step, techno and dance would transcend the expectations of the 10,000 strong – predominantly British and German – attendees who’d travelled by train, plane, bus and ferry to reach this buried gem. It needn’t have worried. Although many at first looked blank when they heard “Hideout”, this was the beauty of it and for me what made Hideout so appealing. Unlike many better known European festivals, Hideout was off the beaten track and exclusive to the nifty few who managed to get in there this time around, keeping it restricted to the genuine music lovers who went for the sounds not the status. And most importantly it was brand new – a blank canvas for the class of 2011 to deface however we pleased, and oh how we painted…

What you need to know – Croatia, coaches & Kuna

Living up to its name, Hideout’s far-flung location was admittedly a small mission to reach (one taxi, one plane, several buses, a coach, a ferry and another taxi per person), yet this was the only taxing part of the entire event. Once arrived, it was worth the trek, as what welcomed us was a universal sense of being safely detached from reality, on an electronic island of joy, where the road signs danced and the streets weaved a melody. For 3 days from Friday 1st –Sunday 3rd July Pag came alive with crowds of eager and animated dance loving ravees. All thrown together within the sounds of a phenomenal, intoxicating line-up which for the cost of only £70* for all 3 days, made the UKs counterpart festivals like Global and Creamfields blush. All this under a bright blue sky which seemed never to darken. Hideout had ARRIVED.

My friends and I left London at 3.30am (yawn) the Thursday before kick off, and rocked up to the little town of Novalja on Pag approx 16 hours later. No strangers to festivals, we descended armed with hats (which miraculously remained undamaged and present for the entire trip – at the expense of our mobiles and wallets which we failed to keep an eye on), clutching our scrunched up tickets and owning that excited anticipation only experienced when it is 100% guaranteed you’re about to be thrown into a sea of musical brilliance, surrounded by like-minded on an island where the sun never sleeps (apart from on the arrival day when it rained quite a lot.)

Novalja offered the perfect balance between authentic Croatie and holiday maker’s sparkle, the untainted beach lined with restaurants, bars and stores from which to buy our nightly fuel. With the cost of drinks at the festival and across the island coming in fairly cheap (averaging around 20 Kuna for a beer – approx £2.50) it was never going to break the bank, but it also did no harm to stock up in advance, and for this there were several shops scattered in amongst the apartments.

The main beauty of Hideout was the lack of camping required. Although admittedly the camping can be more than half the fun of a festival, it was even more fun to have proper showers every day, somewhere to bask our scorched bodies under air-con and a fridge to put our make-up in. The balconies on which to watch the vivid Croatian sunset also outshone the muddy fields of Glastonbury. Novalja housed most of the accommodation for the festival goers, which varied from apartments exceeding expectations (complete with balcony, clean bathroom and an actual glass cabinet with ORNAMENTS – just like being at Grandmas) to run of the mill hostel type rooms. Being the festival’s first year, the accommodation process was a lucky dip for all attendees (we got lucky) but it did not matter. For no-one was there to sleep.

What you want to know – the DJ’s & The Dance

The festival itself took place on Zcre beach, which is swiftly becoming the San Antonia of central Europe, and is a 5 minute bus ride away from Novalja’s centre. This conveniently meant all carnage could be left at 7am each morning and returned to at 10pm each night once the Hideout fairies had tidied it all away and restocked the bars. That said, the main carnage I witnessed was in the getting ON one of the (very regular) buses to and from Zcre every night. It was like no other bus-anarchy you’ve seen before, and the festival itself appeared timid by comparison. Broken glass, fights, rocks thrown at bus windows…yet one would only expect to see such bloodshed when fighting for something special, and true enough all was quickly forgiven once we had bandaged up our wounds and placed ourselves firmly on Zcre beach, in front of the main stages, with a beer in our hands and the sounds of our favourite DJs burning a painting in our memories.

The festival was spread out across Zcre’s two main clubs, Aquarius and Papaya. Aquarius housed two smaller stages which boasted sets from the likes of Jamie XX, Jack Beats, Friction, Toddla T, Pendulum, Caspa, Shy FX and Andy C – predominantly the place to be for those wanting a bit of nostalgic old-school ravery to the sounds of the DJ’s which saw us through our university days. However it also opened its doors to the House and Techno sounds of huge acts like Nero, Seth Troxler, Damien Lazarus and Art Department.

Right next door was Aquarius’ nightly rival Papaya. As exotic as it’s name, Papaya offered on its outdoor main stage huge acts including techno legend Sven Vath, the magical mixes of Annie Mac and, on a phenomenal final night, the powerful sounds of Erol, Fake Blood and 2ManyDJs. Papaya was for me the preferred arena, not least because of the calibre of acts offered up each night, but also because there is simply nothing like dancing on the sand at 5am, while the sun comes up over a world so far removed from the 9–5 back home and you’re transported into a literal clubbers paradise.

As Ibiza Voice puts it “Nothing beats clubbing outside the (dark, sweaty) box in an exciting new place, everyone knows that.  As such, Hideout seems like the perfectly tasteful way to combine some blissful r&r with that other most important raving.”

I couldn’t agree more. The last time I saw 2ManyDjs I was in the black underground of Sheffield University’s infamous D&B Night Tuesday Club, and I loved it then. But this was small trade compared to the magnitude of their set on the final night in Papaya, where the crowd went crazy for the thrill as they pelted out their mixes that had us lose tack of time and find ourselves at the end of the euphoric sweaty set, wondering where the last few hours had gone. This was needless to say a definite highlight.

The best bits

The beauty of this beach festival? Hideout combines the relaxation and stamina of a beach holiday, with the intense euphoria of electronic club nights and turbo charged festival fever. Consequently, most took the wise decision to turn this 3 day rave into a week long beach holiday, and for the nights either side of the Hideout invasion, there is Kalypso right on Zcre, which offered up beach parties by day and somewhere to warm up our clubbers souls by night.

Also not to be missed were the host of Hideout boat parties taking place every day from Thursday to Sunday. Hosted by Bigger Than Barry, Crosstown Rebels and Digital Soundboy to name but a few, these limited capacity parties offered the opportunity to see your favourite festival acts for a second time, featuring Seth Van, Shy FX, Jack Beats, Art Department, Toddla T and more, depending on your preferred experience. Costing between £20 — £30 for the 4 hour trip and with 10 different parties across the 4 days, it was a necessity.

“Boat Party” to me has always conjured up 18-30s images of people being forced to drink fishbowls whilst stripping and ultimately falling over board in a drunken trance, but Hideouts boat parties were of a different class all together. We risked the Jack Beats party hosted by Deconstruction Records on the Saturday and despite the initial struggle to be on the boat for 1pm (eurgh!), the atmosphere and adrenaline shook our hangovers away before long and there were shrieks of excitement as the boat steered away from the shore and the music started pierced the skies. Beers could be bought with tokens, meaning everyone enjoyed a steady stream of drinks to see us through the afternoon, yet the main focus for the selection of people aboard was the amazing sounds blaring from the DJs set, including an awesome number on the Sax from Manchester’s resident DJ Mike Pickering.

I don’t know what Hideout’s plans are for 2012, but I would bet that it never intended this year to keep itself as hush hush as its name implied, tucked away in its Croatian niche. If anything, it did nothing but contradict its persona, as no festival could have made more noise and drawn so much attention to itself as Hideout did, when it shook the isle of Pag from beach to balcony and left us on the other side in a state of exhausted awe.

If it is game on for next year, get in there fast, because Exit, Benicassim, Sound Wave and Sonar have met their match with this gem. Just don’t play Bruno Mars at full volume on a beach of Seth Troxler fans…we learn something new every year.

Finding Hideout…

You can check out the Hideout website.

They are also very friendly, not only do they tweet you back like your Mums are best mates, but they hold regular Facebook and Twitter competitions offering VIP upgrades, free tickets and other magical treats

Hideout on Facebook

Hideout on Twitter

For more information about Novalja visit the Novalja website.

*Earlybird, standard price £89

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Death Cab For Cutie are set to make history tonight by being the first band to film the first ever scripted, single take video and air filming live.

The broadcast of the production will be streamed live by New Beats Media courtesy of Ustream and in Partnership with Atlantic Records, Bing And Redlaser.

Watch the live stream of the making of You Are A Tourist from 12am Midnight GMT/UK Time)

Long known for their ingenious and imaginative videos, Atlantic recording group Death Cab for Cutie are poised to make history with the companion clip for their hugely anticipated new single, You Are A Tourist. Directed by award-winning film maker Tim Nackashi (TV On The Radio, OK Go, Elvis Costello, Radiohead), and conceptualized by frequent collaborator Aaron Stewart-Ahn, You Are A Tourist will be the first ever live, scripted, single-take music video to be broadcast as it is filmed.

Presented by Atlantic Records, Bing and RedLaser, viewers are invited to watch the production unfold before their eyes midnight on Tuesday April 5th (2400hrs GMT).

As well as the video Bing, the decision engine from Microsoft, will offer exclusive behind-the-scenes photos of the band prepping for the video as well as from the live production itself at www.facebook.com/bing beginning on April 5.

You Are A Tourist is the first single from Death Cab for Cutie’s eagerly awaited new album, Codes And Keys, out 30th May in the UK.

Watch the Live stream now (12am onwards)

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The Eleven 37s play a show with absolute commitment to spreading the most fun funk possible. There will be dancing. There will be the occasional emphatic head bang. There will be the star of the Straywire video, a miniature drum kit from Argos. There will even be crowd-pleasing goodie bags; the band are known to hand out strawberries (yum!), and also provide their own silly string (yay!). You may want to bring a thank you gift. Especially as the show, and all these extra kicks and giggles, is completely free if you get advanced tickets! Everyone is VIP! So get out there. Get psyched, get happy, get funked, because this is a show you don’t want to miss.

The Eleven 37s are playing February 28th at Proud Camden. You can RSVP to the event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=186525868033973

Northern Irelands finest Fighting With Wire have recently announced their UK and Irish Tour, they will be back on the road for their first tour in over a year as they prepare to unleash their new album Bones Of The Twilight in 2011, released on Atlantic Records. Fighting With Wire have also announced they will be selling a new EP entitled I AM URSUS exclusively at all UK shows, giving fans a taster of what’s to come on the new album.

Tour Details:

01/11/10 Stereo, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
02/11/10 The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool, UK
03/11/10 HMV Institute Temple, Birmingham, UK
04/11/10 Cellar, Oxford, UK
05/11/10 Joiners, Southampton, UK
07/11/10 Prince Albert, Brighton, UK
08/11/10 Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Wales, UK
09/11/10 Barfly, London, UK
15/12/10 Scala, London, UK (with Helmet + La Faro)
16/12/10 Club Academy, Manchester, UK
17/12/10 Cathouse, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Fighting With Wire emerged from the ever creative Northern Ireland music scene in 2003, the brainchild of guitarist Cahir O’Doherty (Jetplane Landing / Clearshot) and drummer Craig McKean (Clearshot). An idealistic bunch, they’ve since done what rock bands are meant to do: they wrote a bunch of songs, and took to the road. The last three years has seen them play shows with the likes of Reuben, Biffy Clyro, Million Dead, Seafood, YCNI:M and Future Of The Left, racking up hundreds of miles and honing their live show into a ferocious explosion in the process. After putting out a number of limited edition DIY singles, they took a breather at the end of 2006 and finally started work on their long awaited debut album. Recorded in Northern Ireland and finally completed in mid-2007, Man Vs Monster is a dynamic beast of a record – raging out of your speakers one moment, gentle and intricate the next. All without losing focus of what’s important: the song.

For the last year FWW have been writing and recording their 2nd album Bones Of The Twilight in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters, Deftones) due for release early next year on Atlantic records.

The new 4 track EP I AM URSUS contains previously unreleased material and will only be available at the UK shows, the band are excited about getting back on the road again and working towards the album release in 2011.

8 Bristol Venues — Bristol’s best live music

Some of Bristol’s best live performers are being showcased at this year’s Oxjam Bristol Takeover on the 24th October. With eight BS1 venues each with their own unique style and all within walking distance, the Oxjam Bristol Team is putting on a festival to discover new music talent growing out the biggest city in the South West.

The festival is self funding, with all the money raised via fundraisers that have been happening throughout the summer, including a DanceJam at Cabot Circus, live music at Start the Bus through fantastic performances by Wonderfully Curious Gentlemen & Yes Sir Boss and street performances at the Harbourside Festival. From these three events alone we have raised over £700 from generous donations from the public.

The Oxjam Bristol management team is run by five volunteers, headed by Regional Manager Sarah Gough. “Quality music is our main aim. All the bands involved acknowledge the importance of live performance and we want to utilise them to create a fantastic music festival for the people of Bristol.”

The venues confirmed for Takeover include, amongst others, The Cooler (Rock), Mr Wolfs (Hip Hop) & The Big Chill (Festival Feel) with live dance & after party at Lab.

To learn more the Oxjam Bristol Takeover 2010 & purchase an all venue wristband for just £7 visit oxjambristol.com or search for Oxjam Bristol Music Festival on Facebook. Wristbands also available from Bristol Ticket Shop.

Tickets are available from both of the bands websites.

Want to know more about these two fantastic bands? Then check out the Circa Survive Interview and the album / gig review of Good Old War

It is no hidden fact that during the last few years towns small like Holywell have struggled to compete with larger towns or close by cities. The streets that were once vibrant with people and shops are now struggling to survive. Some people blame large supermarkets for the decline of visitors to the town centre but there are many reasons for the decline. A major factor is the loss of Woolworths which Holywell has never quite recovered from.

There is hope for small towns like Holywell. The very fact that Y Ffin is coming to Holywell shows the ambition and drive of parties involved. There is now a big effort to save Holywell and improve the stature and appeal of the Town.

The festival is sure to bring people from surrounding villages and towns to witness some of Wales’s top artists. With a range of music to be showcased there will be plenty for all ages and will allow diverse interaction between fans of different music genres. The success of the event can be estimated from the overwhelming success of the Cadi Ha folk dance festival which was held earlier in the town this year. The town was full of life and tomorrow should be equally if not fuller of life and excitement as Holywell is rocked by some of Wales’ top talent.

There are several bands performing on the day including Radio 1’s record of the week artist Masters in France. They have recently performed in this years Wakestock festival and are sure to be a great hit at the festival. Other bands include Derwyddon Dr Gonzo, Yucatan, Mr Huw, brigyn, Tacsi and Hufen Ia Poeth.

This is a free event and is taking place in Holywell Tower Gardens between the hours of 12pm and 7pm. Everyone is welcome to join and there are also a need for more volunteers, there is more information on the Y Ffin homepage.

Full Press Release

A Ffintastic free community music festival!

Menter Iaith Sir Y Fflint and Urdd Gobaith Cymru want to get Flintshire rocking at Y Ffin music festival! North east Wales’s answer to Glastonbury is coming to Holywell. On July 24th Tower Gardens will play host to some of the biggest names in Welsh music.
The Welsh Language Initiative and the country’s biggest youth movement are bringing a musical Mardi Gras to Holywell to promote Welsh rock, blues, pop and punk bands. Derwyddon Dr Gonzo, Racehorses, Masters in France, Yucatan and Brigyn are among the bands entertaining the crowds at the FREE festival. The full line up, along with other details, is available at www.yffin.co.uk.

Rebecca Davies, Language and Heritage Officer for Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint said, “It’s no exaggeration to say that we have some of the best bands in Wales playing at Y Ffin 2010. Between them, these band have released stacks of successful albums, and have performed across Wales, Britain, and places as far away as the USA and Japan! They’ve had lots of air play on Radio Cymru and Radio 1, and now they’re here in Holywell. There are no tickets, no entry fees and everybody is welcome. So bring your picnic, bring your deck chair and come down to Holywell on July 24th to enjoy Y Ffin Rock Festival!”

The festival will kick off in Tower Gardens at 12pm, with reggae and blues band Tacsi will followed by infectious pop from Hufen Ia Poeth. A recent addition to the line-up is Mr Huw, whose unique sound challenges musical genre and boundaries. Later on in the afternoon, Brigyn will be playing selections from their three melodic albums, and Yucatan will be filling the streets with acoustic rock described by Radio 1’s Hugh Stevens as “stunning music from a special place”. To get the audience on their feet to end the evening, Masters in France will be playing their infectious indie songs, and Racehorses will be performing tracks from their first album, ‘Goodbye Falkenburg’. Headlining the evening will be Derwyddon Dr Gonzo, a funk and ska band from Llanrug by Caernarfon. The boys are no strangers to the festival scene, having performed in a number of large gigs including at Maes B at the National Eisteddfod. The band is famous for their crowd pleasing, catchy songs and their mischevious costumes!

Gwawr Cordiner, Managing Director of Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint said, “ We want Y Ffin to be a real community event. In order to make it accessible to everyone we decided not to charge an admission fee; but we wouldn’t have been able to do this without the support of Cadwyn Clwyd and the north Flintshire Town and Community Councils, in particular Holywell Town Council, Mostyn, Halkyn, Ysgeifiog and Caerwys Community Councils. Organisations such as Transitions Holywell, Merched y Wawr Treffynnon and Holywell Communities First and many local businesses have been very supportive of our endeavours. Whether through sponsorship, assisted with the marketing or volunteered their services on the day, we are extremely grateful to them all for helping us to bring Y Ffin to Holywell’s town centre.”

Peter Jones, director of the town centre Bell’s Cafe, added “The festival is a good thing for Holywell. Hopefully it will draw hundreds of visitors into the town centre and bring business into the area.”
The event is being organised by Urdd Gobaith Cymru and Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint, with support from Holywell Town Council, Mostyn, Halkyn, Ysgeifiog and Caerwys Community Councils. Cadwyn Clwyd have kindly contributed £7,160 to the project from their Cultural Celebrations fund, which is funded by the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007–2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

More details are available from www.yffin.co.uk or by emailing post@yffin.co.uk.
– ends –

Note to Editors: Photos of some of the bands are available from Rebecca Davies:
rebecca@menteriaithsiryfflint.co.uk
07578716081
01352 744042

Mentrau Iaith (Language Initiatives) are local groups or organisations which offer help for communities to increase and expand their use of the Welsh Language. A Menter Iaith usually works in one county, and reflects local people’s eagerness to make more use of the language. The Mentrau provide advice and assistance to individuals, organisations and businesses and hold various activities to raise the profile of the language.

The Urdd is an exciting, dynamic movement for children and young people. The Urdd was established in 1922 to give children and young people the chance to learn and socialise through the medium of Welsh. It gives the young people of Wales the chance to live vibrant lives through the medium of Welsh, learning at the same time to respect each other and people around the world. The Urdd welcomes Welsh speakers and Welsh learners.

The Live Sets performance with Wyclef Jean is scheduled for February 10 from the Canal Room in New York City, The concert will be both enjoyed by the live audience as well as being streamed live to listeners online at Facebook.com Wyclef.com Crackle.com and myplay.com

In addition to the concert, each artist will provide exclusive interview footage and share his or her own make.believe story to inspire and inform fans from across the world.

About make.believe

make.believe is a platform for engaging consumers with the world of Sony in entirely new ways and across all of Sony’s businesses, from electronics to entertainment to network services.

The make.believe philosophy is simple:

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• www.facebook.com/Wyclef

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Liverpool locals Alan Kenny and Nadeen Kemp have formed Nadal Promotions and have put together four different gigs for James Bulger House, the first one, a 60’s themed night, took place last Friday in the famous Cavern Club on Mathew Street.

First on stage was the all girl band, The Beatelles, who make sure you see The Beatles from a different point of view. Most of the songs are played as you would expect them to be, with the one notable difference of being sung by girls. It’s just a very different experience, but the harmonies are so good and spot on.

The Beatelles played songs spanning the whole of The Beatles career, from the early Twist And Shout and Can’t Buy Me Love, to the really rocking Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey (which, incidentally, is the longest title of a Beatles song) and a truly heartfelt version of Oh! Darling, that made me want to hear the original on repeat. This is what a good tribute band does: it reminds you how good the music is, and makes sure you go straight home and put it on.

How do The Beatelles remind you of the fabness of The Beatles? They change the songs around just enough to make them even more sexy, so the track Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? sounds as inviting as ever, and the aforementioned Oh! Darling is just mesmerising. Helter Skelter is another song the girls have changed and again the changes are brilliant; changes in the tempo of the song, highlighting the lyrics and just making listening to it a totally new experience.

After taking us through the highlights of The Beatles catalogue, the girls ended their set with A Hard Day’s Night, establishing just how good their harmonising and musicianship is. Have a listen on their myspace and see where they play next at their homepage.

Then it was time for another tribute band; The Kinx. The band not only sounded like the Kinks, they actually looked like the guys as well, with all authentic 60’s gear and clothes (including very tight, stripy trousers). As the singer said, the only difference between them and the real Kinks was that this band actually turned up.

Here, as with The Beatelles, the dedication to the music shines through and we were treated to such classics as All Day And All Of The Night, Waterloo Sunset, Sunny Afternoon and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, and many more great songs from the Kinks career. Amazing to think that this band has only been together for two years, the performance was so believable and very enjoyable, you just couldn’t help smiling as the band went into a long jam over the track Lola. The band stayed in character for most of the set, providing a true 60’s feel to the night.

Next on was The Shakers, a really tight sounding band, who many have referred to as the ultimate Merseybeat sound experience, and with good reason!

The charisma and sheer joy of playing that oozes from this band is amazing and you just can’t help singing and clapping along. The set list was a mixed bag of all things 60’s: There were of course the obvious Beatles classics such as I Should Have Known Better, Please Please Me and Twist And Shout, but also songs that Lennon and McCartney gave away for other artists to record, amongst these A World Without Love (Peter and Gordon) and Bad To Me (Billy J Kramer). These songs were given new life and once again reminding us that Lennon and McCartney really knew what they were doing, even in those early days. The set also included It’s All Over Now by The Rolling Stones and Love Potion No 9 and Needles And Pins by The Searchers.

This band is a must see (or should that be hear?!) and if you’re based in Liverpool (or don’t mind a bit of driving) you’re in luck: The Shakers are on every Thursday at The Cavern Pub and every Sunday at The Cavern Club.

No 60’s night would be complete without an original band, and Nadal Promotions got The Undertakers to play a set that truly cemented the fact that the 60’s was a great decade for music. Although there have been some replacements during the years (the drummer in particular looked suspiciously young to have been playing with them in the 60’s) this couldn’t distract the audience’s attention from the fact that this band really knows how to rock. Sure, the voices sounded a bit strained at times, especially during Lucille and Long Tall Sally, but that was really just a part of the experience and the great efforts turned in by the sax player and the lead guitarist were just memorable! Other songs in the set included Hallelujah I Love Her So, Matchbox and The Letter, all good, solid, 60’s hits that got the crowds dancing and singing along.

So how do you round up an evening like that? You put on Searchin’, a band more than capable of delivering the songs from the 60’s era. From the almost sickly sweet Teenager In Love and Daydream Believer to the more rocking Some Other Guy, Money and the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit Bad Moon Rising. We were also treated to the classic When You Walk In The Room and everyone went ahead for a sing a long to both Brown Eyed Girl and Do Wah Diddy. An excellent band to end the evening with and luckily they were more than willing to provide a few encores for the crowd that just didn’t want to call it a night.

Next charity gig will be a Metal Night at The Bumper in Hardman Street on Friday 02/10. Also, there will be an Acoustic Night on 16/10 and a Mixed Bag on 25/10. Further info at Nadal Promotions.