It’s that
time of the week when one clicks on Word and those dreadful words appear “Open
Blank Document”.
When the
brain is Blank too it’s even worse. Very
little gossip, a problem free week, no one to get at via the side door – how bad
is that?
But hang on,
rock God Mick was fifty, and on Saturday I made my way to The Trades, just in
time to MISS the big man singing live on stage with Elvis Pressley, well not the real one, but one that was very much
in the groove of Elvis. There are
pictures though! By way of proof.
Good to see
friends old and new on the night coming along to help Mick celebrate his big
birthday.
Never fear
the night included some great rock music too Mick having invited Led into Zeppelin to join in the festivities. So straight from a chilled set at The Cutlers
they turned up the amps and rocked the Trades once again.
Picture taken by Graham Riches from the RAE Photo Group. More about the Group can be found HERE
A few yards
down the Road at The Bridge, there was another rocking Party going on as Papa Legbus turned up the volume to
celebrate Halloween, an event that many consider to be an Annual treat these days. They were well on form, banging out all the
old favourites – they are if nothing else crowd pleasers, but with a great mix
of original and cover songs.
Brilliant to
literally bump into my old mate and former Masher Phill Hartley along with his
lovely new Wife Mel. Also in close
attendance were Jane and Linda, who are never far away from a PaPa Gig. Linda has thrown in some great pictures of
the night that you can find HERE
Sunday found
The Masher making a rare appearance, live, but not in a venue I’m sorry to
say. Instead I was to be found in The
Performers Lounge being interviewed by the Internet’s equivalent to Robin Day
(you’re all too young) in a Youtube streaming.
We covered a host of subjects ranging from my early days in folk music
on the South Coast right up to the development of RAE and the fantastic
creative base we have in Rotherham from Crafting in it’s various guises, visual
artists and music. Good news stories
about Rotherham that are currently being suffocated by the bad news. If you missed it, bad news, it was recorded
and can be found on The Performers Lounge TV Channel a link to which can be
found HERE By way of a special treat I actually
performed three songs live during the Program – so be warned.
My thanks to
Loota Paytah whose technical skill on Sunday was much needed. Loota is Richard’s partner in crime and via a
really whiz bit of software was able to diagnose and correct the problems that
had decided to plague my system.
Without him there would not have been a show.
More about the Performers Lounge HERE , essentially in a live setting artists talk about their lives in whatever genre they may be in.
October is Black History Month, Rotherham’s main
celebration was held at The Unity Centre which was once a gain a runaway
success, with the venue again being packed out, but not as packed as last year –
which for the Organisers was a real positive.
The picture is work specially prepared by Minx Taylor of Minx designs and Philip Padfield for the event.
It is great
that the Communities in Rotherham came together to mark this event with song,
dance, food and Workshops.
However, it
was one of those weeks when there is a lot brewing and bubbling under the
surface but little to announce as yet.
So little that I’m announcing nothing.
New dates
have been set for the British Council
Active Citizenship Course for the end of November. If you would like to join the Course which is
fully funded. It’s fantastic opportunity
to discover new approaches and Network with active volunteers from around the
World. Email HERE if you want more details.
While on Volunteer
matters the Crisis at Christmas team
have put out a call for people to come forward and help them this Christmas you
can find out more HERE
So coming
up. On Friday, those old bone shakers
Makeshiftz will be shaking a leg at The Chequers at Whiston. I hope Clive will not be too energetic as
he has been suffering from a rather serious back problem for a number of months
– poor old bugger. Get fit soon my
friend.
Live at The
Trades on Saturday has Lovehunter, probably
the best Whitesnake tribute Band in the UK and beyond. This a return visit by demand from you the
Live at The Trades supporters, so I hope to see much head banging going on to
help John Nixon out, and Mick, if he decides to let his hair down.
Saturday
evening also sees that launch of the ALLUVIAN
BIG SHOW 3, which is an Exhibition of work created by what some say are the
very best local artists. The Preview
Viewing and Party starts at 6:00pm and runs until 8:00pm at The Old Market
Gallery. The Exhibition will be open to
view during normal Gallery opening hours.
On Sunday
afternoon The Button Tin is Welcoming The Winter with an event that will
include music, words and food / drinks at the Imperial Building on Corporation
Street in Rotherham. This is bound to
be a popular event so get yourselves down for some Winter cheer. You’ll find details on the November
listings page HERE
It being the
first week in the Month we have the usual add-ons to the normal round of open
mic sessions, most notably the gathering of the rhymers that make up ROMP at
the Bridge in Rotherham on Friday night – not forgetting Play On at The Reindeer
in Sheffield.
A heads up
to the 8th November. Dirty Dylan is due to play Live at The
Trades. At the moment the Police tell
us that the planned EDL march on that day will
not be posing any problems. So no
excuses for not coming into Town for what is a fantastic evening of Dylan
music.
Also check
out the most amazing build up to Christmas that Live at The Trades could find
- from the mini Punk Festival through to
the final authentic sound of the 80’s with Sigue, Sigue Sputnick headlining
with support from The Thurminators and My Perriot Dolls. Tickets for all the shows can be found at The Trades, The Cutlers, and Mezmerize and
if you can’t get into Town Online at the RAE Booking Office HERE
And looking towards 2015 – OMG – we’ve already landed return visits to
Live at The Trades from Chris Slade’s Time Line (the authentic beat of AC/DC :
Manfred Man’s Earth Band ; and many, many more)
+ a return visit from Bon Giovi (definitely
the best tribute to Bon Jovi, Mick, me or the 200 at the last show had ever
seen). More details of the 2015
programme as confirmations come in.
And that’s
it!
Whatever you
are doing in the week ahead, have great fun, support your local artists and
traders, and KEEP IT LIVE.
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