Saturday 30 April 2016

12:OTHERS track #4 + LoGOz gigs!

Well it's the end of another month already folks as we're hurtling through 2016 at an alarming rate! So that means it's time for track #4 of my 12:OTHERS Project. This comes in the shape of "I Could Be So Good For You". This of course is the theme tune to the classic 1980s series Minder which I used to love as a kid and continue to enjoy repeats of it to this day! The original track being sung by Dennis Waterman himself who played Arthur Daley's sidekick Terry McCann in the programme. There's footage on YouTube of a Top of the Pops from 1980 where Waterman admirably nails a Live vocal performance of the song as it hit Number 3 in the charts that year! More recently you may remember the Little Britain sketch show parodying him as if he always assumes he's gonna write the theme tune and sing the theme tune. As he had also sang for TV Shows 'On the Up', 'Stay Lucky' and more recently 'New Tricks'. Anyway that's enough TV Trivia for now! You can download the song for FREE at www.logozworld.com/12-others and will be able to do so for a whole month until the next cover is uploaded on May 31st. 



Also got a few cool LoGOz gigs coming up to plug. On Thursday May 5th we return to The Three Tuns in Gateshead for a headline show through Insangel Promotions. Support comes from Hung Like Jack and All Out Attack. Doors open 7:30pm and it's FREE Entry so get down for a cracking even of original North East punk rock n roll! 





Then the following Monday May 9th we are pleased to tell you that we're back at the O2 Academy in Newcastle. We will be opening the night for successful British rockers The TREATMENT. The band formed in 2008 and over the years have played at the prestigious Download Festival as well as supporting and touring with some of the biggest acts in the world, including KISS, MOTLEY CRUE, ALICE COOPER, STATUS QUO, THIN LIZZY and SLASH. Also playing are Newcastle based Saints of Arcadia. We're on first 7:15pm so get down early it's gonna be a smoker! Tickets for this event are £10 bit of you get in touch with us here we have guest list concessions for £6 . So so let us know if you would like any of these ASAP thanks! Also please help us spread the word for both these gigs on social media etc and keep the LoGOz bandwagon rocking and rolling in the right direction :) Much appreciated! 

Thanks for reading
Cheerz
Peesh x

Saturday 23 April 2016

Library Vibes Solo Gig review 21/04/16

Thursday April 21st saw me perform a gig with a difference. This would be at the Marjorie Robinson Library Vibes event in conjunction with the Newcastle University. To say I was slightly nervous for this was an understatement so it was nice when the big day arrived and the sun was shining on Tyneside on this bright Thursday evening!

We hit the venue just after 5pm and were greeted by co organiser and friend Ms Karina Forrest. With a private room sectioned off for artists only, this was a cool quiet place to limber up and get my groove on before show time. After a little soundcheck just before the first performer it was cool to get my levels sorted as it was the time I'd be singing and playing purely through my Marshall acoustic vocalist combo amp. It was sounding sweet man I'm pleased to say!

We even had time to roll the video camera and capture a few Live renditions in the 'Green Room'. We hope to share these with you very soon! 

As I said earlier this was a gig with a difference, as it was the first time I'd played in a library for a start, and the acts that proceeded me were all spoken word performers. Big respect goes out to John Challis, Catherine Warner, John Gardner and Kathleen Kenny for their chosen pieces.


With the schedule running a little late I took to my spot at around 7pm. The pre gig nerves that had taunted me most of the week were soon forgotten after I introduced myself and breezed into THE BALLAD OF THE DISENCHANTED to enthusiastic receptive applause! The crowd was mainly made up of students, teachers, University workers and a scattering of family and friends. I took full advantage of the respectful library atmosphere and told, sometimes at length, the stories behind some of the songs from my AcoustiCalendar 2015 project. The audience lapped it up and listened intently as my confidence grew by every song! Personal highlights were CHARLIE CIGARETTES, and KEEP YA TIMBER IN AND YA POWDER DRY, complete with my Ashington miners tale and my Great Uncle Jackie Milburn link. Also BROKEN HEART STRINGS almost did exactly that as I really got inside that song and the raw emotion really came out I think. The whole gig was broadcast Live on Periscope via Twitter and had a fantastic response on there too! We also recorded the whole gig ourselves so we're happy to say my whole performance is now on YouTube for you all to enjoy! (video link for this is at the bottom of this blog. Ed) I very much look forward to this and hearing your feedback! I closed the show with OLD PUNKS NEVER DIE with AUF WEIDERSEHEN PET / LIKELY LADS outtro in homage to the great city itself! 

Personally this was a huge step forward for me on so many levels and a massive sense of pride and achievement was felt as we headed out of Newcastle in search of a suitable well deserved post gig pint! Big thanks goes to Karina, David and all the staff at Marjorie Robinson Library. Also thanks to Clemmy Scotswood and Jill Bee and everyone who came and enjoyed this unique experience! 

Also just to let you know I have uploaded some of my Acoustic tracks onto some of my web pages. So please check out www.soundcloud.com/Peesh-uk 

Also www.reverbnation.com/Peesh where I'm at #4 in the North East singer songwriter charts. The more hits and plays these sites get the better it is for me and the higher up the charts I go! Your help and support is hugely appreciated. 

Thanks in advance! 
Cheerz
All the Best
Peesh X 

Watch the whole gig here 

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Solo Acoustic Magic gig review

Sunday April 19th saw me back at The Waterford Arms in Seaton Sluice for a solo gig with Acoustic Magic. The last time I was scheduled to play here the place had an unfortunate incident with a fire breaking out in the kitchen, resulting in the gig being cancelled! Thankfully this time as we rolled up to the venue on a bright sabbath evening, there was no signs of fire engines or burnt toast in sight! Good omens.

Upon entering the establishment and a quick hello to Mel, I was chuffed to see Mr Derek Allen! Long time no see. Derek and I go back a long way, to the days of our early bands, my Junkster to his Clear Blue Skies. He is the founder member of Acoustic Magic and a successful singer songwriter in touring recording duo We Steal Flyers, with Jason Vare (Shaggy). So it was cool to catch up and it was also the first time he would see my solo set. So after we chewed the fat for a bit, before I knew it was time for a quick soundcheck and I was away, kicking the event into action! There was a nice busy little crowd gathering in the live room, as I breezed into set opener THE BALLAD OF THE DISENCHANTED to generous applause. With a limited time of 30 minutes I was really finding my stride when suddenly it was time for my OLD PUNKS NEVER DIE climax. Complete with AUF WEIDERSEHEN / LIKELY LADS finale it was a great ending to a cracking set brilliantly received by a top crowd. Happy Sunday's!

Next up was J Page a young lad I'd never come across before. Playing a mix of covers and originals I was well impressed, along with the rest of the gang. With some cool trigger board effects going on complete with headphones, this boy could really play. A memorable original song about his first girlfriend and now ex wife, stood out for me and suggests J can go from strength to strength. 

Finishing the night off in style was Acoustic Magic regular and prolific live performer Sam Gibson. Playing covers from the likes of The Killers to Bruce Springsteen as well as tunes from his ever increasing back catalogue of old and new material. Sam ended the night with my favourite song of his WANNABE CHAMPION a rousing uptempo foot tapping top track! A fitting end to a brilliant night for me personally and all involved. Big thanks to Mel and Derek, J and Sam, and to everyone who came down to support this and help making it a successful event. You know who you are! 

Thanks for reading.
Cheerz 
Peesh X

Tuesday 5 April 2016

LoGOz & Solo Live Gig Reviews

Friday April 1st saw LoGOz back in Live action at one of our old haunts The Three Tuns in Gateshead. This was supporting local punksters LOADED 44. As we entered the venue and checked in with the gear I made a beeline to the guys for a catch up with Beki and Steve. It had been a while. As we reacquainted and swapped stories etc I jokingly reminded them and myself of the electrical curse of the Tuns haha! You see, over the years it seems to be the only venue where we've encountered the dreaded multi string snapping phenomenon as well as some worrying electric shock treatment! A statement I would come to slightly regret as later on my arse received a slight bite on the cheek, shall we say! 
Soundcheck time. We breezed into NO WIN SITUATION and everything was fine, apart from not much vocals in my monitor, which yet after pleas to the sound guy seemed to fall on deaf ears. Oh and I snapped a fucking string didn't I haha? You should never tempt fate. No big deal anyway. New string strung and we're ready to roll. 9pm showtime and pleasingly a healthy bustling crowd had now gathered. Apart from one local drunkard shouting above everyone else, the good punk punters were looking forward to brilliant night of original live music we were only to happy to be a part of. As we ripped into our set something just didn't seem to be quite right. Paul's guitar amp appeared to be cutting out during the first few songs. So this caused a dip in sound in places and made for a slightly uncomfortable opening to our set. By the time we hit the halfway stage the technical issues were put to one side and I even found time to snap another bastard string haha! It added an extra edgy focus to our set in my opinion with both Paul and me experiencing these minor issues that just often happen onstage and are out of our control. Carlos didn't even notice haha he was locked in drum world and played a tasty blinder. Yum yum. Also at one point someone was carried out of the bogs stretcher like! God only knows what happened there! It was an interestingly strange night. But by the frantic climax of MEXICOLA it didn't matter as the audience were well on our side. More new faces voiced their appreciation as did their fellow LoGOz hardcore. Another successful gig with a difference for the band and a job well done in the circumstances, even if we do say so ourselves :)

So, onto headliners LOADED 44 and it had been years since I saw these guys so I was looking forward to this! The band formed in 1996 so they certainly know their way around a stage. Fronted by the confident attractively striking figure that is Beki. This lass knows the crack. Think Debbie Harry meets Brodie Dalle. And like a modern day cross between Vicious and Matlock, Steve Racket drove the punk energy through the heart of the songs with a tight rhythm section, leaving lead six stringer Dave free to buzz away on the chainsaw guitars. They gave their audience exactly what they came to see! No nonsense in yer face balls out punk rock! They also treated us to some new material which went down champion. As we bid our farewells and headed out of Gateshead we were happy to be back on track and the LoGOz bandwagon was back rolling full steam ahead!

Sunday came and it was time for my acoustic solo debut at Surf Cafe in Tynemouth. We almost missed the intimate venue as we drove past the seaside establishment. Heading into the venue we were greeted by the friendly scouse host Phil who made us feel more than welcome. Stage time was 7:15 and a young southern lad by the name of Jack Rosies was just starting his set. Personally not my cup of tea, but the packed venue certainly took a shine to the laid back soul bearing quiet guitar picking boy. Respect.

Before I had time to take in this refreshingly different atmosphere I was up there sounchecking! No sooner had we agreed I was ready to roll, Phil was introducing me and I was away! I kicked straight into THE BALLAD OF THE DISENCHANTED and it seemed like the unsuspecting folk of Tynemouth didn't know what had hit them! I must admit the intimacy and occasion got to me a tad and the adrenalin fuelled nerves were rushing through me! But I think this only added to the performance. After every song my confidence grew and the cool vibes swept through the room  as the receptive crowd listened and joined in and appreciated exactly what I was doing here. I was beginning to really relax and the banter was flowing and was probably the most story telling I had done in between songs ever with CHARLIE CIGARETTES and KEEP YA TIMBER IN AND YA POWDER DRY particularly going down a storm! It was all over too quickly before I had shot my bolt to be honest! But I knew I had delivered and it was one of the most rewarding solo gigs I've ever played.  All in all, another excellent gig and a step in the right direction. Thanks to everyone at Surf Cafe and all who came to show their support this weekend, you know who you are. Special mention as always to Clemmy and Jill for all their hard work!

That's it for now folks
Cheers

Peesh X