August 02, 2007 \\ Happy Birthday To Us, Happy Birthday To Us...
-704438.gif)
It seems only 15 years ago that Pellethead played their first gig downstairs in Doc Browns in the Boro, and that is cos it was. Because of my bad memory I'm not sure when exactly, but it was near as damnit 15 years ago in September.
We were very nervous, though Shauno said he wasn't due to his thespian training - then when we started playing he froze in one spot for the entire gig, he he. We had been practising for months and months in Studio 64, mainly because when we started we couldn't actually play our instruments. Well, Richie had been tinkering on keyboard for a while, writing songs for Shrug, and I had been teaching myself guitar. But Nick and Shauno were chosen for their personalities alone (plus we thought Shauno would be good for lyrics seeing as how he was a poet).
It had taken us months just to pick a name. "Flowers in the Fridge" was one option that didn't last long; "Rocky Zero Zero" almost happened; "Bundy" was quickly rejected. In the end "Pellethead" came from Shauno's brother who had it as a nickname due to being shot in the head with an airgun in his youth.
So anyway, the day came, it was actually an afternoon. We were playing with a fellow by the name of John McGee. It was his first gig too, but he was on his lonesome and so was suffering even more. To the point where he did songs twice because "I know I can do it better"!
So then the time came, we had suitably dosed up on the Rocky Zero Zero to calm our nerves and on we went in front of a reasonable sized crowd with a lot of friends: Sarah and Catherine were there of course and also luminaries such as Nicky Peacock and Anthony, Rob Shrug and of course, the one, the only Lord Kevin Wall.
We stumbled, we played too slow, we made a ton of mistakes, we said bugger-all between songs, but people clapped and afterwards they said they really enjoyed it. Of course they could have been (probably were) lying. But as a result we got the buzz and we still get the same buzz to this day which is why we continue too inflict ourselves on unsuspecting audiences to this day. We continue to do it – with not any 'proper' success – because we have such a good laugh. We meet people who are sound, in places we would possibly never venture to otherwise, and we just have a laugh. How else would we have met characters like: Bob Mince, Daniel Bibby, Goober Patrol, Evan Knauer, Alycia, Brian Dean Richmond, Pete Dale, Lauren Laverne, Emperor Ming, Brian Stephenson, Oli, FYRers, Henry DARTZ! etc etc?
So on September the 8th in another venerable venue – the upstairs room at The Tavern nee Empire in Middlesbrough - we will celebrate our longevity. We will be giving away CD's of our latest release "Sleepwank" and we have other surprises in the pipeline. And cos we are running the gig we are even going to do a set where we aren't cut short – possibly for the first time in our history! So get yourselves down cos it will be an outstanding evening. And like the legendary Music Collectiive gigs that took place in the same room back in the 80's, the line-up will have 3 bands that sound absolutely, bloody nowt like each other. And that is how we like it! We have special guests and good friends Idiot Savant in their newish expanded luxurious line-up and the brand new power packed, punchy, The Plague to bring us hardcore goodness and ensure that the bottom and top-ends of the spectrum are catered for.
It'll be good, so miss it only if you are a bloody-minded, masochistic fool.
Cheers,
Al P-head- posted by :: pellethead ::
news archives
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
August 2007