WHITLEY BAY

ELECTRIFYED – new record & new guitarist for Tygers of Pan Tang

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John Foottit was born and bred in York in 1960 and now lives in Darlington with his wife Sandra.

I have been in Darlington for about 30 years.

Is music in the family?

There is no musical history in my family so I am not sure where it has come from. I had a couple of toy guitars as a kid and apparently my mother said I used to play nursery rhymes on one string.

Who were your influences?

Back in the day I loved Hank Marvin and the Shadows and I wanted to play guitar. I broke my ankle at 14 and I asked my mother for a guitar. That was it. The bug was there and I started to learn. I’m self taught and practice for hours. No instructional videos, dvd’s, YouTube etc it’s all by ear and books.

When I started an apprenticeship at 16, I was getting into early Queen, Thin Lizzy, Priest. I was lent an album by UFO featuring Michael Schenker. That was when serious practicing started.

When were your first gigs?

I was in my first gigging band at about 18. Nerve Senta we were called. We just played local gigs in York which had a good music scene back in the day.

I have been in some quite successful bands throughout the years with lots of material on YouTube. Mai Rouge, Change of Heart, Chrome Molly and my own instrumental album called ‘Equilibrium’. It is very influenced by my guitar hero’s Michael Schenker, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, Randy Rhodes and George Lynch.

How did the job with the Tygers come about?

The Tygers job came through knowing Huw (Holding) the bass player who I’ve known a few years. We play in a covers band together and one evening he asked me if I was interested in a guitar position that had become available with the Tygers. I knew a few of the band already through gigging and festivals. They knew me and knew I could play so there was no audition as such. We met and it was mainly about how we would get on as people working and travelling together.

What’s next for the Tygers?

The new album is recorded and the first single comes out on May 4th. It’s titled Electrifyed. As is the album. The album was recorded remotely, due to the logistics of the band being so far apart. Some was recorded in Italy, the Netherlands and back home in the North East. It was completed at Christmas.

The songs were pretty much written prior to me joining but I played all the rhythm guitar parts along with Robb (Weir) and 80% of the leads were mine.

It’s a bit heavier than a lot of the albums but is full of catchy hook lines and still has the character of a Tyger’s song. I think it will be received well by the Tyger’s fans. The people that have heard it really like the single Electrifyed. Did I say it is due out on 4th May!

Any gigs lined up this year?

We have just completed a four day Spanish tour supporting FM. It went really well and I’m starting to bed in with the rest of the band now.

We have three UK shows coming up this week. Shows in Europe for the festival season are arranged and we have a South American tour at the end of May for 10 days.

For more news/gigs/photos/shop contact the official website >>>  Tygers Of Pan Tang – The Official Site

Alikivi   May 2026

TITS UP – New play from Alison Stanley

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“A couple of years ago a young friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer, people think it’s older people who develop this disease, so I wanted to raise awareness of this”.

Alison Stanley

‘Hard’, ‘Life of Reilly’ and ‘You Need To Say Sorry’ writer & actor Alison Stanley has tackled diverse subjects such as autism, sex workers and domestic violence. Her new play ‘Tits Up’ examines the strength of maternal love and the choices women face. 

“Last year I found a lump and experienced the process of going to the breast clinic. Fortunately, my lump wasn’t anything of concern but it did make me think”.

“Even though I was fine I began questioning my own mortality and spent nights wondering what would happen if I had cancer? What would’ve happened to my son who is autistic”.

Alison threw herself into an intensive period of research, she spoke to people who had lived through cancer and heard real stories including from the LGBTQ community who had another perspective.

“I went along to Live Well with Cancer in North Shields where the ladies were kind enough to share their stories with me”.

From here, Alison created a piece that looked at life choices for three different women with different lives united together in their fight against breast cancer.

Alison explains “Tina, Rachel and Rosie are unlikely friends. Tina is a devoted Mam, she can’t understand why ‘bonny bairn’ Rosie wants to put rings through her nose, and Rachel, who lives to work, can’t understand why Tina is content at home and why Rosie doesn’t iron her jeans”.

Alison added “The three characters are very different and would never have met if they hadn’t found themselves having treatment at an oncology ward. The play hasn’t been cast yet, but will be soon.” 

Alison’s last play ‘You Need to Say Sorry’ received good reviews and is now used by Northumberland/North Tyneside social services as a training tool.

“I’m in discussions with Northumberland Police to do the same with them. A lot of police and social services staff came to see the play”. 

Alison also finds time to be Director of Participation at the Whitley Bay venue, Laurels, where her new project is called ‘Pasty, Play & a Pint’. People buy a drink and a pasty and a ticket to see a reading of a script of produced plays and new writing.

“It’s an attempt to open up the theatre during the day and encourage older visitors” added Alison.

‘Tit’s Up’ runs from October 8-17 at Laurels, Whitley Bay. There are some matinee performances and tickets are on sale now via Laurels official website.

Link > Laurels Whitley Bay – Restaurant, Bar and Theatre

Alikivi  2024

YOU NEED TO SAY SORRY –  new play by writer, actor & theatre producer Alison Stanley

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“This play looks at domestic violence, coercive relationships and the perils of on-line dating in older people. When computers are relatively new to you it can be difficult to negotiate the etiquette of ‘facey’ (Facebook) and ‘the gram’ (Instagram)” explained Alison.  

Alison Stanley

“We live in a digital age where meeting and talking on-line is the norm. Everyone seems to have an on-line presence due to the explosion of social media. We talk to people virtually every day and this can be good in combatting social isolation but do we really know who we are talking to on-line and should we be taking information on social media as gospel?”

Alison got the idea to write the play after listening to a group of older ladies…

“They were talking about chatting to people they had never spoke to for donkey’s years – maybe there’s actually a good reason for that! I found it fascinating how they took everything at face value. This produced some great comedic results but also got me thinking about how dangerous this could actually be”. 

More research revealed that older people will put up with unacceptable behaviour much longer than their younger counterparts….

“Sometimes they never complain as they have come from a ‘you make your bed, you lie in it’ era and don’t want to be seen as a failure. The production has comedic moments and that sounds quite odd given the subject matter”.

“The play starts where two main characters are having their first meeting after a spell of on-line flirtation. Their chat revolving around family and virtual situations is funny and relatable. This is in direct contrast to the darker moments we see as their relationship develops”.

Rod Glen

”The roles are being played by myself and Rod Glenn (American Assassin, Emmerdale). I’m really excited about it and Rod will do an amazing job of bringing his character to life”.

‘You Need to Say Sorry’ is on at Laurels, Whitley Bay 7.30pm 14-25 November 2023.

“Laurels is a fantastic little gem of a theatre. It’s an amazing fringe venue that brings theatre into the heart of the community and gives a platform to underrepresented voices”.

Contact the official website for tickets:

THEATRE | Laurels Whitley Bay

Alikivi    October 2023