Author: Alikivi

LIGHT ‘EM UP with former Lighting Tech & Stagehand Par Can 2/2

/ Alikivi

Part two of the interview with Lighting Tech & Stagehand Par Can. Any other venues you worked at stand out?

Madison Square Gardens – oh Lord above. I did the arena upstairs and downstairs was the Felt Forum. Both times the New York State Circus had cages in the building where they kept animals when they weren’t on the road. The smell…you could imagine!

The Manchester Belle Vue had a similar animal circus thing, I saw Peter Frampton and Parliament there and you got this faint whiff of dung. Like the person in front having really bad B.O.

Wembley Arena was easy enough to get in and out off but back in the day it had a reputation for rubber rigging. I remember putting Queen in there in 1980.

When the ‘fly swat’ lighting pods with follow spots went up and down they weren’t smooth like they should be, they bounced…up, up, up. Same when they came down…boing, boing, boing. Yeah that was rubber rigging.

Philadelphia Spectrum was bad, a lot of iconic venues you read about as a kid it’s disheartening when you find they are horrible places. It was always known as the RECTUM !

There was an arena that The Tubes were doing, might have been Minneapolis? No it was Duluth. Next door was a car museum and next to that was a freezer plant because the place was also an ice rink.

Now they used ammonia to pump under the ice rink to freeze it, it was a whole complex – America is all bigger and better apparently!

After the gig during load out warning lights started flashing, horns started screaming. Next thing everyone’s choking there had been an ammonia leak “Everybody out”.

Fire brigade made it safe but your eyes were burning, you’re choking, felt as if you were gonna throw up from your feet. Not gonna forget that one in a hurry.

Newcastle City Hall

I started at Newcastle City Hall in October 1977 and it was all the older guys who’d been there a while. Then slowly but surely, the Sheelz (South Shields) Mafia landed – Dave Ainsley, Dave Linney, Ian Rylance, Gary Lilley, Alan Armstrong and Kev Charlton who once tried on Phil Lynott’s leather pants and he couldn’t get them past his thighs.

Kev was thin himself in those days. We were rolling around in hysterics it was so funny. It showed how skinny Phil Lynott was.

Colin Rowell was the manager and it was rare for him to just leave us overnight to crack on with stuff – but he knew we’d get up to no good. Rush in 1979 comes to mind.

There was a big plastic bin full of ice cubes lying around so we took it up through the roof into the rigging points which looks onto the stage.

One of the lads was looking for us, Dave Ainsley, he was walking across Rush’s stage which was covered in a lovely white shag pile carpet, he shouted “Where are you” as the ice cubes went flying down on him… never thinking ice cubes from 45 feet up could have knocked out… or worse !

When Thin Lizzy played the City Hall me and Kev Charlton ‘acquired’ some pyro and at 6am went up in the old empty projection room on the roof.

We set alight to the pyro, a white mushroom cloud went up and started drifting towards John Dobson street. We ran downstairs when there was a bang on the stage door.

“Morning officer” we said “Never heard nothing we’ve just been asleep”. Somehow we got away with that one.

Another night Mr Plod visited again about 2am “What’s going on in there?” We’d been on the stage and turned on the City Hall organ thinking we were playing Phantom of the Opera.

Looking down on the stage from the balcony to the ‘Biggest production in the City Hall’ Van Halen 17 June 1980.

One night we found a small tunnel on the side wall panels near the seats. We all crawled along on our hands and knees to see where it went. We ended up in next door’s building – the City Baths.

So obviously we got our kit off and swam about – well what else would ya’ do?  Unfortunately we must have triggered an alarm so we scurried back to the hall with our clothes under our arms!

The tunnel led to a number of turning points and they went on for a fair distance, some were blocked off by a fence. I’m sure they led all over the city. Once we ended up at a fenced off exit all the way in the Ouseburn Valley !  Took almost an hour to crawl each way !!

Back then it was great, so much fun. Nowadays after spending hours putting them together they don’t let the crews watch the show.

We didn’t do it because we were Meccano freaks, we did it because we were hanging around with the gear, the musicians, to see bands we would never dream of paying to see – Weather Report at Newcastle City Hall was one such band.

Me and Kev Charlton were sitting on the drum riser before soundcheck, Jaco Pastorius came in and sat at the drums. Thwack, thwack, leading with the left, leading with the right, giving it six nowt. We were astounded.

Then he gets up and another guy comes in on drums, believe it was Pete Henderson. Then Jaco Pastorius picks up a fretless bass and starts playing. The sounds they created were amazing. Kev and I were mesmerised.

We did follow spots for the comedian Billy Connolly and one joke had me and Kev laughing so much that we couldn’t keep the follow spot steady. Billy said “Geordies, pissed again”! The whole audience turned to look up at us.

What impact did the road have on your life today?

Until 1990 I never saw that career ending, I came back to the UK got married and had a beautiful daughter. But touring for months at a time isn’t compatible to a home life. So eventually got my hair cut and got a proper job – boy have I regretted that ever since.

How did it affect my life? It got me around a lot of the world several times, lived in America, and to this day I’ve still got an amazing amount of friends I met and worked with because of that time.  Some of them, not many, are still on the road today.

Alikivi    August 2023.

Link to 2017 interview –

BACKLINE – interview with former Stage Hand and Lighting Designer PAR CAN | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

LIGHT ‘EM UP with former Stagehand & Lighting Tech, Par Can 1/2

/ Alikivi

For music concerts staged in small clubs or huge enormodomes a crew have to load the gear in, set it up, operate it during the show, break it down and load it all back out again then onto the next venue. And if you’re on tour, repeat that for days, weeks or months.

Newcastle born Par Can was a former stagehand at Newcastle City Hall, on The Tubes touring crew, worked for Bette Midler, Queen, The Cure, and American rock giants Van Halen with ‘the largest production ever in the City Hall’.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the show with Par Can who looks back at his time on the crew.

I guess like every local Geordie kid in the seventies I was football obsessed. Then I heard Alice Cooper’s Caught in a Dream, I’m Eighteen and other tracks from Love it to Death.

Then I started buying music paper Sounds every Wednesday, that’s where I first saw pictures of Alice Cooper – wow what the hell is this?

The Kard Bar in town sold hippie oil, pop and rock posters. With my friends we used to go on Saturday and spend our pocket money.

My parents were fine with my bedroom being covered in Alice Cooper posters, including the ceiling. It was when I put up a picture of the New York Dolls that they got worried!

I can’t say music means everything these days – but it did back then. I used to hang around the stage door at Newcastle City Hall and one day, it was a Mott the Hoople gig, helped a roadie with a piano (interview with Par Can 20 Nov 2017 link below).

I got more involved in music and hanging around the City Hall, so my mother had a word with City Hall Manager Bob Brown.

Then one day in October 1977 I turned up at 9am to work. My first ever stage crew gig paid me £7. The band on that night were Wishbone Ash. Next day was Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet band.

I blagged my way into working for a lighting company in London run by The Tubes manager, after that I ended up following the band on their first ever UK tour.

Newcastle City Hall

Did any venues stand out when on tour around the UK & USA?

Newcastle City Hall is always gonna be the venue it’s where I saw every band I wanted to see growing up, except Led Zeppelin.

But I suppose the only thing that stops Newcastle being the venue is the loading in and out. It was bad back when we did it. It isn’t much better now they have extended the stage door. Why someone doesn’t make that whole load in/out more efficient is beyond me.

There is a beautiful theatre in America, the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, to me that was like the City Hall. The only problem with that one is that the trucks had to reverse down an alley to get to the front door.

If you can imagine two blocks of buildings with the Orpheum literally being the sort of stop gap at the end of the alley. It wasn’t wide enough for two trucks so you had to reverse one at a time.

To load in you had to go through the front doors, through the foyer, turn left into the theatre and then down the space between the seats and onto a ramp leading to the stage. A bad one to load in and a pain in the arse to load out at midnight.

However, it will always be one of my absolute fave halls, ALWAYS a great atmosphere… just like the old lady or even the old Glasgow Apollo.

Par Can on stage at the Glasgow Apollo.

Edinburgh Odeon when that was still open was a lovely place. Trucks loaded in across a backyard then straight onto the stage.

The ceiling of the Odeon was studded with little bits of mirror that looked like star constellations and it had recesses in the walls with statues – a really beautiful theatre. Only 1800 capacity and perfect for The Tubes.

It had a stage door phone which was a direct line to the pub opposite; The Bucleuch Arms.  You would send your order and 10 minutes later, barmaids would be carrying trays of drinks to the stage door.

Birmingham Odeon was a good one although the trucks had to reverse down a sloping alley, not ideal but the theatre itself was fabulous.

Load in was through a door onto quite a big stage. Around 2500 capacity, but another one they went and shut down.

Manchester Apollo was an easy load in load out, didn’t much care for that place, although it was right next door to a lovely pub called The Apsley Cottage.

The Tubes did a series of smaller shows towards the end of ‘81 and one of them was called Uncle Sams in Nantasket Beach in Hull Massachusettes.

The two trucks were parked back to back in front of this three storeyed cube building, the bus was on the opposite side of the street.

We got out the bus went through the doors and oh my God it was like the stairway to nowhere !  It seemed to go on and on. Every piece of gear had to go up this concrete staircase of around 100-150 steps.

The show finishes 11pm you’re tired after a long day and you’ve got to load the gear out – how the hell nobody fell down those stairs carrying amp racks and the sound desk.

Glad I was a lampie – although that was bad enough. There are lots of venues that are horrible but that Uncle Sams has got to be the worst… on second thoughts, Mr C’s Rock Palace in Lowell MA was a REAL toilet… urgh !!

One of the best was the Kabuki Theatre, San Francisco, it was directly opposite the Winterland Ballroom. The joy was it had a revolving stage.

The Tubes did two shows there in September ‘83, MTV filmed both nights. You can watch it on You Tube. You catch me when I had my long blonde hair then, wandering along the stage. Near the intro a phone rings and manager Chopper Borges shouts out “Par Can”! “What” I reply in Geordie.

The revolving stage was perfect for The Tubes. They would be on stage with backs towards the audience, combing hair putting on make-up, then Kenny Ortega the choreographer would shout ‘showtime, showtime’ and the band would line up in their business suits.

The stage would revolve and there is all the gear, as they walked onto the static lip at the front of the stage. What an amazing start to the show…any show!

At the end the stage would revolve and you would see the band starting to get undressed and a curtain would pull across the entire front of the stage. Marvellous.

Read part two packed with more stories from Par Can.

Alikivi    September 2023.

Link to 2017 post –

BACKLINE – interview with former Stage Hand and Lighting Designer PAR CAN | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

CRAMLINGTON TRAIN WRECKERS LIVE EVENT

/ Alikivi

During the 1926 General Strike miners in Cramlington derailed a train of Flying Scotsman carriages pulled by the Merry Hampton engine.

The miners thought the train on the Edinburgh to London mainline was full of blacklegs undermining the strike, unfortunately for them it was a passenger train, no one was killed with only one person injured.

Was it workers defending their jobs and communities, or terrorists? Eight Northumberland miners were sentenced to 48 years for their involvement.

To explain the near 100 year old story an event is booked on Tuesday, October 24 @ 2pm & 7pm, Tyneside Irish Centre, Newcastle.

This will include an illustrated talk by playwright Ed Waugh (Wor Bella, Hadaway Harry, Carrying David), recitations and songs plus a showing of the brilliant 30-minute BBC film (1970) The Cramlington Train Wreckers which features interviews with the surviving four “train wreckers”. It is a historical document and anyone interested in Geordie social history should not miss this.

The joint production between Westoe Miners Banner Group and Wisecrack Productions aims to tell the incredible story of The Cramlington Train Wreckers.

Tickets only £4 via eventbrite

2pm

Register on Eventbrite

7pm

Register on Eventbrite

Alikivi   September 2023

WRITTEN IN THE STARS with author Gordon Parker

/ Alikivi

Gordon was born in Newcastle in 1940 ‘But I spent 22 years in Blyth before moving to Seaton Delaval’.

He was a big sci fi fan in his teenage years ‘I devoured any sci fi books or short stories. Time travel always fascinated me and astronomy was my fanatical hobby’.

‘My favourite novels of all time are ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest’ by Ken Kesey, ‘Catch 22’ by Joseph Heller which I’ve read about seven times, and met him a few months before he died’.

What drew you towards writing?

‘I always had an ambition to write but kept dismissing it as an unachievable pipe dream. I remember ‘Lassie’ films in the 1950’s and was envious of the people who wrote the scripts and could influence the feeling of the audience. I can never remember wanting to be an actor, just to write the words’.

‘Later I struggled with writers like F Scott Fitzgerald and Salinger but admired their ability with words and characters and plot’.

‘I enjoyed the short stories of Ambrose Bierce especially ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’. It has an amazing twist at the end, something I love’.

What do you consider your best work?

‘I think my first novel ‘The Darkness of the Morning’ gave me the greatest satisfaction and became a best seller. I now live a couple of miles from the site of the Hartley pit disaster that occurred in 1862 when 204 men and boys perished. The oldest was 70, the youngest 7’.

‘An old saying came to mind ‘It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good’. I wanted to bring to life a host of fictional characters so the readers might be familiar with their lives, and their deaths would be all the more poignant. Also a smattering of good that came out of all the sorrow’.

What are you working on now?

‘My choice of subject is pretty eclectic. It depends on what suddenly fizzes in my mind. My latest novel, just published in softback and Kindle is called ‘The Priest and the Whistleblower’ and involves a Newcastle based detective sergeant, Jack Shaftoe – far removed from Vera!’

‘Having just finished my latest I’m back to searching for a subject and a plot. There’s a hint in me to write another historical novel, again based locally involving an armaments magnate and stretching from Victoria’s jubilee to about 1920 and takes in WW1’.

Alikivi   September 2023

THE CRACK – with writer Rob Meddes

/ Alikivi

The Crack is a free culture magazine and website providing a valuable service to the North East. Reviews of books, film, stage and music are packed into each monthly edition.

To find out more about the people behind the magazine I got in touch with one of the writers, Rob Meddes.

‘Reading takes up a lot of my spare time now. I review between two and three new novels each month for The Crack. I also love old films, particularly black and white film noirs made between the 1940s and mid-1950s – The Maltese Falcon, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity’.

‘I never set out to be a writer, but stumbled into it through luck more than anything else. I was born in Newcastle and lived here all my life. I’m now 57. I didn’t go to university but on leaving school I did a Youth Training Scheme on computer programming’.

‘I got a job as a programmer but the company I worked for went bust – hopefully not because of my efforts. Then got a job as a civil servant, working at the big site at Longbenton for around four years. I became frustrated at having to do the same thing every day so thought I’d leave and go back to college. The aim? To become an artist’.

‘I did ‘A’ level art and then the Art Foundation course. I was accepted on the Fine Art course at Northumbria University but figured I didn’t want to do another three or more years of that because I really needed a job’.

‘I wrote to loads of different companies to ask if they would take me on, maybe in an admin capacity. The one company that got back to me was The Crack. I did a bit of everything at first – including selling adverts – before moving more onto the writing side of things. That was in 1994 and I’ve been here ever since’.

What changes have you seen since you started at The Crack?

‘What has actually changed most for me is how the magazine is put together. When I started there was no internet, certainly not in our office. Every image in the magazine had to be physically scanned in. Now they’re all digital’.

Have you seem many cultural changes in Newcastle since joining the team?

It’s Gateshead not Newcastle that has seen some of the most compelling big ticket items – Baltic, Sage Gateshead, Angel of the North, The Millennium Bridge. But Tyneside as a whole seems to have become more of a destination for people outside the area who want to sample cultural life in the region’.

What can you see for the cultural future of Tyneside?

‘After 13 years of Tory backed austerity, particularly for the arts, many of our cultural icons are struggling. We’ve already seen The Side Gallery close and The Tyneside Cinema has started to crowdfund. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg’.

‘But often in straightened times, art – in its myriad forms – manages to find a way to bubble to the fore. What hasn’t changed is people’s capacity to get out of the house and go and see stuff, whatever that stuff might be’.

For further info contact the official website:

Art – What’s On | The Crack Magazine

Alikivi    September 2023

NORTHERN CROWN – new album by Durham duo, Lowfeye

/ Alikivi

Original cinematic soundscape musician and producer Alan Rowland and songwriter Carol Nichol have released a new album Northern Crown.

“It’s a mammoth task trying to mix on our equipment set up in a box room at home, it’s D.I.Y. – it’s low fi”.

A toxic mix of Stooges/Springfield/Velvet Underground gave birth to 2017s Pow and 2021s Poor Little Rich Girl. Both sparked with creative energy leaving their third album big shoes to fill.

To find out if they’ve got the right size and same passion I caught up with Carol in old favourite the Centurion Bar in Newcastle’s Central Station. 

“Thing is it’s sad to see storytelling becoming censored in the arts you see it even with comedians now, that is what the album is about. We’re having a go basically”.

“The track ‘Little Vultures’ and the lyric ‘drowning statues’ deals with the people who want to wipe out history instead of preserving it. Just Stop Oil protesters throwing a tin of soup over a Van Gogh painting. What’s that about? He died in poverty”

“They’re targeting big sports events and slowing traffic down stopping people getting to work on time. They’re targeting the wrong people. It’s about the killing of culture. We should rejoice in our culture and celebrate it. You had to laugh when people wanted ‘Delilah’ by Tom Jones banned!”

The album has 11 tracks building slowly and throwing in a surprise or two.

“We’ve got a strong running order and a very diverse range of tracks. The song ‘Bubblewrap’ has a go at middle class privilege, the arts are dominated by them. Not only acting but music, they want you to sing about utopia, sunshine and everything’s alright out there”

“We are banned by the BBC for ‘Snowflake Generation’ which was on our last album, although it was played on Amazing radio in USA and here in the North East on the Keith Newman show on Northumberland Radio”.

“We’ve got the cinematic track ‘Chinatown’ with its 60s Latin vibe and then ‘Starlight’ which gets dark, a woman is in a boot of a car and is going over a cliff – it’s a bit Thelma & Louise.”.

“The track ‘Kiss of Life’ is a dig at politicians during lockdown they had their raucous parties when people couldn’t kiss their loved ones goodbye”.

“Neil Tunstall came in and recorded some bass on ‘Creatures’. A song about man’s cruelty to animals which I hate, again it’s us having a go about what’s going on around us. There’s a lot more grit in this album”.

“On this album we have kept to the cinematic music by including two soundtracks, one is a loose ballsy swagger for maybe a film soundtrack that hasn’t been made yet!”

Film being a theme right through this album. British actor Albert Finney is pictured on the front cover, a still from one of my favourite films ‘Saturday Night, Sunday Morning’.

“My mum got me into the gritty, working class, kitchen sink dramas, films like ‘Get Carter’. The reason why I chose Albert Finney is that he grew up working class and made it big in Hollywood films and turned down a Golden Globe and an O.B.E. He wasn’t interested in all that – he was the real deal.”

“It’s a sort of celebration of working class heroes like Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, these people wouldn’t get into the acting business now, it’s saturated with the privileged, the middle class who pay their way into the industry. We need the working class ethic back in music and acting again.”

“Savage Silence’ was my mother’s poem which I used in a song. I dedicate the album to her as a thank you for influencing me into being creative and introducing me to the golden age of 60s, 70s film and music which I adore. Also to remain true to your creative passion as music is an art, and not to sell out to the manufactured mainstream and the masses”. 

“I really enjoy putting it all together, we love the process, we’re looking at writing new stuff now. We’ve also had two more TV syncs from our soundtracks ‘Bury My Skin’ and ‘One Drop’ used in the second series of Warner Brothers Swedish TV drama ‘Partisan’. (Series 1 & 2 available to view on All 4).

What can we expect from the fourth album?

“Well I don’t write Adam and Eve type Ed Sheeran stuff I don’t think I’ve ever wrote a song with lyrics like ‘I love ya’ baby!”

Alikivi    August 2023

For further info or to buy a copy on CD contact Lowfeye on their social media page: 

 Facebook

Link to previous Lowfeye interview:

A FISTFULL OF MELODIES : Durham band Lowfeye | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

FRIDAY NIGHTS ALRIGHT for New Wave of British Heavy Metal band, Avenger

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In the early 80s Tyneside based Avenger released two albums on the Neat record label – ‘Blood Sports’ and ‘Killer Elite’ both firmly planted the band on the NWOBHM map.

Fast forward to 2023 and their last show was three months ago in Spain at the Galia Metal Fest near Madrid…

“It was a cracking festival just in its first edition” said drummer Gary Young.

Next up is an explosive triple bill of classic NWOBHM on Friday 1st September. Joining Avenger are Spartan Warrior plannng an old school 80s set and an exclusive Venom set from Abaddon.

“I think we’ve played more shows with Spartan Warrior than any other band we know. We have a smooth working relationship with them and that makes touring alongside them very easy”.

“We’ve played with Abaddon too, and been friends with him for nearly 40 years! It’s always an honour to share the stage with him and the lads”.

The three bands will be playing on home turf at Trillians Rock Bar in Newcastle…

“We love Trillians….so much history, so many memorable shows there in the past – both as punters and playing. The place is essential to the music scene’s health”.

How influential has NWOBHM been?

“I think New Wave of British Heavy Metal has been a keystone to how current metal music has developed and that’s recognised by people especially when discovering metal for the first time.”

“When researching a bands history they can identify the whole legacy, for example Metallica were influenced by NWOBHM”.

After 40 plus years the NWOBHM North East Division of Satan, Raven and Tygers of Pan Tang are still breathing fire wherever they turn up.

“How has NWOBHM endured 40 odd years? Simple, the sheer quality of the bands”.

Free night of classic NWOBHM at Trillians Rock Bar, Newcastle, Friday 1st September 2023.

Alikivi   August 2023

Link to 2017 interview with Gary Young, Avenger:

YOUNG BLOOD – interview with Avenger and Repulsive Vision drummer Gary Young | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

MEMPHIS CALLING for Teesside Rhythm & Blues singer & songwriter Emma Wilson.

/ Alikivi

Robert Plant, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Jerry Lee Lewis are just a few names that have recorded in Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis, USA – a new name to be added to that impressive list is Teesside Rhythm & Blues Singer & Songwriter Emma Wilson…….

“Sam Phillips studio breathes, it has an immense presence. The Phillips family have kept the rooms the same. The live room is awesome, huge, beautifully designed, it took me everything to hold it together. I let my emotions out on the recording”.

Her second album Memphis Calling, scheduled for an October release, with first single What Kind Of Love released on Friday 1st September 2023.

What Kind Of Love was co-written by legendary singer and songwriter Don Bryant (Hi Records) and Scott Bomar, who also produces the album.

“Don Bryant collaborated with his then wife, my idol Ann Peebles, on many huge songs such as the iconic ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’. For him to offer me one of his songs and then join me in singing was a dream come true…he is so vibrant and such a great singer!” explained Emma.

“When I asked him how he thought I should perform the song he took hold of my two hands and said “Just sing it honey”.

“The band on ‘Memphis Calling’ are spectacular we have members of the HI Rhythm section Leroy Hodges bass, Charles Hodges organ, Hubbie Turner piano, the greatest drummer in the world Steve Potts and young Memphian cats Joe Restivo guitars, Kirk Smothers saxes and Marc Franklin trumpet”.

“Scott Bomar produced the record and is one of the greatest, he restored the STAX desk that we recorded through, it was just a beautiful experience”.

Emma won 2022s Emerging Blues Artist of The Year in the UK Blues Awards, her debut album Wish Her Well, made the finalist in Blues Album of The Year category in UK Blues Awards 2023.

Pre order link:

https://EmmaWilson.lnk.to/WhatKindOfLovePR

For further info contact the official website at:

www.emmawilson.net

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/emmawilsonbluesband

Alikivi   August 2023

WICKED GAMES with New Wave of British Heavy Metal band, THUNDERSTICK

/ Alikivi

Flag bearers of the NWOBHM scene since the late 1970s and still delivering the goods now include Kev Riddles (Angel Witch/Tytan), John Gallagher (Raven), Rob Weir (Tygers of Pan Tang) and Barry Graham Purkis (aka Thunderstick). Purkis is best known for his time drumming with Samson and an early Iron Maiden line up.

“Samson were one of the first bands to release an album that was considered to be New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. And that was the ‘Survivors’ album” explained Purkis.

“We were looking for support acts to come out with us and guitarist Paul Samson knew a band from south London that he was good friends with, he recommended Angel Witch, so they were put on the bill”.

“We were thinking about a third band, I said ‘Well the band I played with prior to joining Samson was a band called Iron Maiden. Would you be interested in them?’ And Paul said, ‘Yeah, sure.’

Fast forward to August 2023 and Thunderstick, fronted by lead vocalist Raven Blackwing, are releasing a new single ‘Go Sleep With the Enemy (I Dare Ya)’.

Raven Blackwing explained “We wanted to show that the material on the new album follows an altogether weightier vein. Releasing a single from the album that people already know and love when we play it live seemed a perfect way of introducing everyone to our new direction.”

(Single taken from the 2017 album ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’).

Purkis adds “The new single is a tale of infidelity and the wrath of a woman spurned. I wanted to re-visit this particular track by way of demonstrating the heavier aspects of the new band that make up the forthcoming album. I felt this track was the ideal vehicle to do that.”

“With the new album now completed and ready for an October release, the collection of songs on it are the strongest Thunderstick have ever recorded.”

“I’m so lucky to have found the musicians that I now work with especially Raven, of whom I consider to be one of the finest rock singers around. She is the ‘real deal’ both in terms of voice and stagecraft.”

Upcoming live dates:

British Steel Festival Fismes, France, 7th October.

Legends of Rock, Ilfracombe, 10th November.

Thunderstick 2023 line-up:

Raven Blackwing (vocals), Pete Pinto and Dave Butters (guitars), Rex Thunderbolt (bass) and Thunderstick/Barry Graham Purkis (drums).

For further info/releases/photo/video contact:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thunderstickofficial/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThunderstickUK

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/thunderstick.official/

Roulette Records: http://www.rouletterecords.co.uk/

Link to 2020 interview with Raven:

THE LADY WORE BLACK with Thunderstick vocalist Raven Blackwing | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

Thanks to Darren Johnson at Crow Flies Communications.

Check out the full interview with Thunderstick at:

Darren’s music blog | News, reviews, interviews and more. From classic rock to contemporary folk. (darrensmusicblog.com)

Alikivi    August 2023

FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED with New Wave of British Heavy Metal band, TROYEN

/ Alikivi

After re-forming in 2014 Warrington based Troyen have played a number of UK and European festivals but their first bite out of the NWOBHM scene was in the early 80s.

A big impact was made on the live circuit opening for Spider, Girlschool, Diamond Head and a European tour supporting Nightwing.

“We have many memories of gigs in the 80’s” said drummer Jeff Baddley.

“We almost left a roadie in an autobahn service station. We saw him frantically running down the road waving his arms to get our attention. Another time we parked our tour bus in an Embassy drive way – didn’t know that at the time – and were woken by armed guards inside the bus demanding ID”.

“When we opened for Spider they liked our track ‘Crazy Lady’ so much they wanted to buy it…we declined the offer”.

A demo, and first production job for Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies) was released in 1981.

Jeff added “It was a great experience, our good friends Nightwing were in the studio next-door. Gil Norton was great to work with. He was very young and very skilled. We recorded, mixed and produced the four tracks in three days”.

It quickly sold out earning a deal with legendary North East studio Neat records, but the band split before the ink was dry on the contract.

Fast forward to May 2024 – you can never be too early to advertise an event – and after a gig in Edinburgh, Scotland on the 18th, Troyen will be jumping over Hadrians Roman Wall to Newcastle Trillians on the 19th for a night dedicated to the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.

“Our new album will be out in May 2024 so the set will be filled with new tracks off the as yet untitled album, and classic back catalogue stuff” Jeff explained.

Trillians Rock Bar already has a number of NWOBHM events lined up this year. Dates from powerhouse metallers Tytan and Trespass, while playing on home turf and delivering bone crunching impact are Abaddon, Avenger, Millenium and Spartan Warrior.

Not forgetting a night with the now legendary Tygers of Pan Tang – al’ the way from Whitley Bay! Another band who’ve had numerous line-up changes and are still on the prowl after 40 years plus. 2023 has brought a new album and European gigs.

More live dates for Troyen are 2 September, Flames Still Burns Festival, Nuneaton. 6 October, The Carlisle, Hastings. 7 October, British Steel Festival, France and for 2024 so far 20 January, The Cavern, London. 18 May, Bannermans, Edinburgh. 19 May free entry to Trillians, Newcastle with special guests Culloden.

Troyen 2023 line-up – Jeff Baddley – drums/backing vox, Steve McGuire – guitar/backing vox, Mark Nortley – bass, Simon Lind – guitar/backing vox, Sy Davis -vocals.

Alikivi   August 2023

Link to interview with Troyen drummer Jeff Baddley in 2017.

BACK FOR GOOD ? Return of NWOBHM band Troyen | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)