Big Road Blog

Kings Head Gig

info@bigroad.com — 2008-07-02T14:26:43+01:00

We rolled up early to that cultural centre of Islington the KING'S HEAD theatre and rock and roll bar where our cars performed complex and elegant pirouettes and slaloms parking in Upper street. This was much admired by the locals who said if we played as well as we parked they would come see us for sure. We then crammed ourselves into a tiny corner of the pub and waited for the thespians and their audience to go away so we could start making our favourite redhotbluesrock noise. This we duly did, and the crowd grew and grew until they were dancing fetchingly under our noses .. fans had come from all over the world - Belarus, Italy, Highbury etc - just to hear us! Mark's 'new' 1970 Ludwig snare (at one point repaired with string) was a big hit too .. at 11pm the neighbours were phoning the authorities and we stopped bang on time and with a bang too .. Margo, the friendly and helpful manager, was sorry we had to pack up so early, as were many of our listeners .. must try and get more dates at this really jumping night-spot .. SPIDERFINGERS

SAT April 26 THE LEIGHAM ARMS

info@bigroad.com — 2008-04-27T18:54:51+01:00

After a few weeks off for various reason we got back together at the smallest gig in London, the Leigham Arms in Streatham, where we take up the whole of one end of the place and have to play at whisper levels - that at least is always the intention. Curiously we always end the evening at 100mph with the walls shaking. Mo was sure we would find his new blue bass repulsive but in fact we liked it and it sounded excellent. The whole band sounded refreshed and the audience, made up of old friends, faithful followers and new faces, responded with whoops, the purchase of CD's and an offer of a gig at the internationally famous Streatham Festival this summer .. next stop Cannes and the Carnegie Hall .. Chris

Blues Matters! CD Review

info@bigroad.com — 2008-03-08T14:21:44+00:00

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The Brunswick, Brighton

info@bigroad.com — 2007-12-03T15:25:20+00:00

Scratchers Saturday 13th October

info@bigroad.com — 2007-10-17T18:48:41+01:00

'It's pleasant driving from South London into the heart of Surrey, arriving at The Three Lions as dusk falls. ... It's a really good venue, 'Scratchers', with a very pleasant clientale and the manager, Neil, is a brick! ...Glistening amps (Vox, Fender, Trace Elliot), drums (a gleaming red Yamaha kit I believe) and guitars (a collector's dream of Fenders and Gibsons) all set up and hissing, the backdrop a large screen with England versus France Rugby World Cup semi-final about to take place on it. ...We jacked up the volume and blasted into our own personal 80 minutes plus of endeavour. ... Steve was singing and performing well and above his game like the old pro he is, Mark was slugging his kit like The Incredible Hulk in a bad mood, Chris was sliding his bottleneck up and down like ..... (insert your own analogy) and the bass amp speaker was blowing the back of my strides hard enough to lift my multiple kilos up and off the stage. ...As usual I had my eyes closed for most of the set, but when I did on occasions open the shutters for a snapshot of the audience they were obviously ecstatic. I read that loud volume (it must be harmonious) causes a loss of balance and the brain's attempt to make corrections causes this kind of rapture. ...It has its own dynamic and refined itself into a collection of cleverly chosen and perfectly formed numbers, all killers with masses of great lyrics, and often boasting more than three chords! ... WE deliver 'Keep On Rocking In The Free World' like the leviathon it is. ...And watch this space, we've got Led Zeppelin's apocalyptic arrangement of 'When The Levee Breaks' in the pipeline.'

Scratchers Saturday 13th October

info@bigroad.com — 2007-10-16T22:10:32+01:00

First we all watched the nail-biting semi-final of the rugby World Cup, on the big screen, in which we witnessed England grind ...They were shouting and cheering at Scratchers as if they could be heard ...break, which is great to do as you can really get into it. ...bounced of the wall, the sweat ran, and we really worked up a head of steam, finishing off with an impromptu, rock blues-gospel version of Swing Low Sweet Chariot - which is more or less where it came from in the first place, minus the rock-blues bit - to pay tribute to the the amazing efforts of the rosbifs of old England. ...our three gigs at Scratchers next year - it's always great to play

Jolly Farmers, Purley September 14th

info@bigroad.com — 2007-09-23T08:59:38+01:00

After scattering across the globe visiting volcanoes, dangerous cities and ancient war zones during the (so called) Summer, we met up again at the Jolly Farmers in Purley on September 14th to get going, along with the Rugby World Cup, on another season's puffing, blowing and banging about .. Steve trying out a new 'fat telly' and an amp for the harp, Mo wielding his blue Rickenbacker and me resurrecting the Les Paul from under the bed. Mark was in the groove from the off as he'd been playing regularly in the Drakensburg Mountains all August and, though we were a bit rusty and over energetic in places, we enjoyed the gig as did the audience, some of whom sang along with our obscure repertoire and enthusiastically commented on the numbers and our performance of them. Despite having to decline the invitation to play Aerosmith and 80's or 90's rock we got an encore, sold a few CD's and missed the destruction of England by South Africa - so not a bad night to begin what must be about our 21st year running .. Chris.

Big Road CD review

info@bigroad.com — 2007-05-03T16:50:30+01:00

Their music rarely gets past the 1970s but that should not put you off as they can flit between the bluesy pub rock of the opener, No Other Baby and the Barclay James Harvest style folk rock of Butterfly. The latter of these is one of a few self penned songs amongst many covers of classic and not so classic blues and rock. Sandwiched between these two are the chugging blues of Howlin' Wolf's Howlin' For My Darling and the earthy Do Better Than You're Doin'. They don't try to be Howlin' Wolf and that is a good thing as many have tried and failed. ...Steve Brayne introduces the harmonica for the first time on Help Me and this is very much a 60s British blues song, harking back to when the band started out. Play With Fire is so obviously a Rolling Stones song, even if you didn't know that the songwriting pair of Nanker and Phelge were pseudonyms for the Stones in their early days. ... Again, it's very difficult to cover The Wolf but they've done well this time and this track has the best vocal on offer. Love With A Feeling is a slow Chicago blues with burgeoning bass from Mo Whitfield and shows that they can turn out a good blues when they want to - a highlight. The album closes with the classic All Along The Watchtower and they've tried to go down the Hendrix road rather than the original Dylan way. This is one of my all time favourite songs and if you haven't heard the Hendrix version first then you would be raving about this version - that is high praise, believe me.

Portland Rock Bar, Portland Hotel, Hove, April 28th

info@bigroad.com — 2007-04-29T18:14:28+01:00

Steve's first gig was in a Methodist Church Hall in Portland Road, Hove, and we recalled this momentous event when we played the Portland Rock Bar on Saturday April 28th. An excellent venue - big stage, big sound and lots of faces from the past: ex members of legendary lost 60's band Fox, old friends who last saw us at the renowned and now defunct Bob's Goodtime Blues at the Station Tavern ,Notting Hill and, most notably, Charlie Hooker. Charlie is a world-famous artist and professor of sculpture at Brighton University, so he has come down in the world since he was our first drummer back in the mid-eighties, playing gigs for nothing in backroom bars across South London. He was sad to hear that our original singer, Dave 'Snakehips' Latter, had 'passed over' as Son House would say, and we dedicated Rattlesnake Blues, a song we have always played, to Charlie and Snakehips. The music sounded great, thunderous pounding from the rhythm section, and the audience loved it. The new numbers 'Paint It Black' and 'Eight Miles High' are brewing up nicely, hope we'll be back many times at the Portland .. our next gig there is September 28th. ... See photo's from the night here Catch a flavour of the night below

SAT March 31 THE FOX

info@bigroad.com — 2007-04-02T20:38:33+01:00

The Fox Twickenham 31/3/07: a very cool evening in fashionable Twickenham: the Fox backs onto the River, Eel Pie Island and Pete Townshend's house, a suitable setting for the 60's bluesrock we played. After a quiet start the audience arrived and responded enthusiastically. Apparently a member of the Downliners Sect was present and thought our version of 'For Your Love' was the best he'd heard. The gig takes place in a room which enhanced our sound greatly - warm, swirling and loud without being painful! We'd like to thank everyone there especially Eddie Robinson and wish them luck in trying to keep a real live music venue going.

Mo speaks

info@bigroad.com — 2007-02-16T19:30:35+00:00

Dear music addicts! How I've missed gigging! How I've missed my rocking Big Road buddies! You see I had to go in the Mayday Hospital garage for some recon work and have subsequently been waiting for parts, but will be back for the next gig, subject to a favourable engineer's report. The Burns Bison Bass that Steve mentions in a previous blog is great fun, fabulous looking (see gig photos), has great pick ups (and on the 'wilddog' setting sounds like a blown silencer on a jet, which is good!) but has an extraordinarily long neck (3 extra frets). Add that length to the large wedge of wood left unremoved at the other end behind the bridge and you've got a problem, unless you have twizzle arms and are 7 ' tall. Bass players will know that the nut end is where you want to be for our material and that the playing position with this particular instrument requires the left arm to be stretched straight for virtually the whole gig. An osteopathic issue! So I will return to the Precision and Rickenbecker for the immediate future....no wait....this Burns Marquee Bass I've just acquired seems pretty good....

Scratchers at the 3 Lions 27th Jan

info@bigroad.com — 2007-01-29T19:29:27+00:00

I was visiting our ailing bass player Maurice in Croydon before Scratchers, Saturday Jan 27, and just as we sat down all the lights in the area went out. I set off for the gig through the dark canyons of Croydon's wastelands. At Scratchers Nigel Stanley and his computerised bass stepped in manfully for Mo and put in plenty of strong playing. The audience were responsive and enjoying it, Nigel turned his bass up and all the bleeding lights in the district went out again! I thought 'The hellhound of darkness is on my trail' (ref. ... Mark kept playing though and we sang a load of stuff a cappella - Mona, Let's Dance (??) , Mustang Sally - until our throats gave out and Mark took away my drumstick. We then spent hours crawling about finding our picks, leads, amps in the blackness illuminated by useless wind-up torches. Nigel will be booming again at the Jolly Farmers on Friday Feb 2nd. and I hope the fuses in Purley can take it, Spiderfingers.

Leigham Arms, Streatham, Saturday 13th January 2007

info@bigroad.com — 2007-01-17T20:26:09+00:00

It's always a challenge at The Leigham Arms to see if we can fit in all the gear, have some room to stand and still leave space for the audience, but we love the intimate, club-like atmosphere and the fact that the audience really come to hear some music and show their appreciation. It's like a small, welcoming country pub tucked away in Streatham and there were good few familiar faces there. We managed to extract some wild sounds from the amps in the first set and one or two yelps from the audience too, with Mark and Maurice thundering away as a rhythm section should, and I finally managed to get the sound I've wanted from my new fuzz pedal - fuzz rules. The second set was a raw maelstrom of blues rock, as Chris and I both played through my amp when his packed up after the break! It's amazing what you can do with a Fender Evil Twin. I especially enjoyed trying out different effects from my foot pedals during Chris's solos. The audience was great and it was good to see so many old friends there. We'll be back on March 10th. Steve

Radio play

info@bigroad.com — 2006-12-27T16:40:42+00:00

A happy festive season to all wherever you may be. The very wonderful French radio station Radiogrilleourverte has playlisted a track from our much sought after CD. As you can see from the play list we are in esteemed company ... 3)Homesick JAMES-The blues today- Set a date -Vanguard 4)James BROWN-Golden hits- I got you -Npop 5)Howling Wolf-Off the record- Howling for my baby -Chess 6)Big Road-Blue sonic boom - Howling for my darling -Ttb 7)Big Mama THORNTON-In europe- Unlucky girl -Arhoolie 8)Ike TURNER-Chronological 1951/1954- Old brother Jack-Classics ...10)Ligthnin HOPKINS-BD/CD Christmas blues-Happy new year-Nocturne

Hobgoblin Dec 8 2006

info@bigroad.com — 2006-12-10T14:36:09+00:00

We have been playing this venue in Forest Hill on and off for years. We were well warmed up for this one by doing a boiling gig at the King's Head last week where moisture ran off the guitars. The Hob audience were friendly, very appreciative and in the second set the band really took off, playing loud, controlled blues rock. Our new song, 'Tomorrow Never Knows' from Revolver (1966) is coming on really well, a swirling mass of psychedelia, (if you add up the age of all the numbers in our repertoire you get back to the Norman Conquest). The gig featured Maurice's new Burns Bison bass, a long-horned black beast with an appropriately deep grunt. At the end we played Mustang Sally for our faithful friend Sally, I could hear someone in the audience singing throughout so maybe we were not as loud as I thought. Special thanks to Paul, who has been turning up to gigs every year or two or three since the 80's, makes caustic comments and helps us with our gear. It was good to see his sardonic visage at the front. If we keep playing like this the Ship will sink under the broadside (East Grinstead Dec 23rd). Next year will be our 20th year rolling down the BIG ROAD.

The Churchill Tavern; November Saturday 18th

info@bigroad.com — 2006-11-20T21:52:08+00:00

It was definitely worth a 2 hour drive to get to the gig. Probably one of the best appointed bars I've played at with a fab view across the harbour. We played 3 sets to a warm and knowledgeable crowd. If this wasn't enough the pub served very nice beer too, well deserving of it's inclusion on the best beer guide. A big up to all the people that bought CDs, please say hi if you visit the site. ATB Big Road

The King's Head, Islington London 14th October

info@bigroad.com — 2006-10-16T23:06:23+01:00

The joint was rocking, yes the place was packed! Great funky crowd at The King's Head last night, packed wall to wall, spilling onto the pavement and up and grooving from the first number. I swear they were hanging from the chandeliers (were there really chandeliers?) during Rocking in the Free World and all shouting out the lyrics. We played until 1am and conjured up some wild sounds and still they cried for more....and, but for the Noise Abatement Act, we would have played on. See you there on November 3rd

"Scratchers Blues club" at the Three Lions Farncombe 7th October

info@bigroad.com — 2006-10-09T17:02:16+01:00

Great performance, the band sounded loud and tight after a run of gigs. The crowd were very appreciative, lots of dancing, even the guvnor Neil shaking a leg, a unique and striking sight. Young musicians in the crowd asked a lot of questions about our gear, band history etc and contributed greatly to the leaping about. We sold a few CD's too and drove away under the biggest moon of the year, the Harvest Moon. Check it out on the gig page. Note that some of the audience born same year as our cars..... ...Who do you love? ...For your Love ...6. riders on the Storm ...Rocking in the free world

Wheatsheaf Leighton Buzzard Gig 30.09.06

info@bigroad.com — 2006-10-01T13:44:14+01:00

We braved a long drive to LB but had a great night with an appreciative audience, big up to the Buzzards. Probably the best live version of Tomorrow never knows ever ( you sure? ...Give us your feedback now! Hit the comments button opposite The set list 1) WHO LOVE? ...THIS HIP I DONT WANT COLD IRONS COLD SHOT ...2) COMMIT A CRIME MR FANTASY ...ROADHOUSE BLUES FOR YR LOVE

Leigham Arms Gig 23.09.06

info@bigroad.com — 2006-09-24T12:49:47+01:00

A great night at the Leigham Arms. Despite losing the set list before the gig we managed to deliver a controlled and happening couple of sets to the appreciative Leigham Arms crowd. I guess the original set list will up on ebay for thousands of dollars or something.. Click here for photo's of the gig. Share your bigroadabelia with us. Email your photo of big road to us and we'll stick on the live page and include your dedication! ( subject to scrutiny by the big road legal team) ...Got Love if you want it ...Do it if you wanna ...I don't want no other baby but you