Smiley confirms From The Jam dates

Smiley has tonight confirmed that he will be joining Bruce Foxton in From The Jam for their Autumn tour which will see the band performing an "All Mod Cons" set.  Smiley will start in September (after the Archive summer festival dates)

Dates can be found on the bands website http://www.fromthejam.co.uk/  and as I know the lay out of dates on that page isn't the easiest to follow you can find a friendlier on the eyes version here http://www.rockartistmanagement.com/page/from_the_jam

"Vinyl" delayed

The upcoming DVD release of "Vinyl" has been delayed until the 22nd July however it looks like it will be available directly from The Alarm site a week earlier from the 15th.

Theatre Of Hate added to The Damned Roundhouse date.

Theatre Of Hate will play the Roundhouse in London on Friday 13th of December as special guests to The Damned. This will form part of a short run of gigs for ToH who will be joined by Stan Stammers and John Lennard. Craig is touring with the Mission from the 14th so I am trying to confirm whether he will be involved in these dates.

Tickets for the Roundhouse show are sure to sell quickly so now's your chance! http://www.gigantic.com/the-damned/roundhouse/2013-12-13-19-00

"Vinyl" DVD now available to preorder

"Vinyl" is now available to preorder from Amazon ahead of it's 1st July release date priced at £12.99. Details of the extras that are featured can be found elsewhere on this site and I for one can't wait to see the film again. Order yours now from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vinyl-DVD-Phil-Daniels/dp/B00CVC5B0Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369343396&sr=8-2&keywords=vinyl+dvd

LHS donor drive amongst MPs (the Parliament type not the Mike Peters type!)

Mike Peters has posted a request to all fans to help support a LHS donor drive amongst MP's that LHS are running on Tuesday June 4th. Fans are requested to contact their local MP asking them to attend the stem cell donor recruitment drive and sign up.

You can contact your MP via the web site Write To Them at http://www.writetothem.com/

The template that LHS would like you to use for your letter can be found below :

Dear (Please fill in the name of your MP)

Stem Cell Donor Recruitment Event, Portcullis House - Tuesday 4th June 2013

As a member of your consistency, I am writing to inform you about a great new partnership between British charity 'Love Hope Strength Foundation'  (LHSF) and 'Delete Blood Cancer UK' and ask if you will register as a potential stem cell donor at the Love Hope Strength / Delete Blood Cancer Donor Recruitment event in Room 'R' at Portcullis House on 4th June, and thus provide an exemplary platform to showcase the start of this great work in the UK.

As you may be aware, half the people in Britain who need a lifesaving stem cell donor do not find a match and it is my hope that this new partnership will hugely grow the number of UK donors and significantly improve the chances of patients across the UK and worldwide by having a UK donor.

Delete Blood Cancer UK's age bracket for potential donors is 17 - 55 which also means that most people in Britain are now eligible to become a donor. It's a quick and simple process for those in this age bracket and in good general health and only takes a few minutes - Potential donors can fill in a simple consent form and swab their cheeks with a cotton swab to determine their tissue type. Their details are then stored anonymously on a national register.

It is my hope that you will represent our community, register and further inspire other MP's, individuals and families alike to become potential life savers (and to further raise awareness that being a stem cell donor in this day and age can be as simple as giving blood and in most cases virtually painless).

You may be aware of our joint Party leaders support for the other heartfelt campaigns in the past, for example when the Prime Minister, Ed Milliband and others backed the late Pride of Britain winner Alice Pyne's bone marrow donor campaign in 2011. I hope that on June 4th at the Parliamentary donor drive, aimed at UK Members of Parliament in Room 'R' at Portcullis House between 2 and 6pm, you will find time to join some prominent British musicians, cancer patients, survivors and celebrities in sending a unified message to the whole country and become a potential stem cell donor that day, thus providing a role model for the rest of the house, and for the country and our community.

Love Hope Strength and Delete Blood Cancer are hoping to encourage and support thousands of people in the UK to become potential stem cell donors and to give blood cancer patients in need of a donation a second chance at life.

Love Hope Strength Foundation was begun by Mike Peters who is the lead singer with two internationally renowned British rock bands (The Alarm and Big Country). Mike is also a Leukaemia survivor who may one day need a transplant and after his diagnosis in 2005, he set up LHSF to help support those British nurses and doctors who saved his life. The first LHSF event began with Snowdon Rocks in Wales in 2007 to support the North Wales Cancer Centre where Mike Peters was and still is being treated. That same year the charity was registered in the USA and began rolling out the Love Hope Strength message via musical expeditions to Mt. Everest, Kilimanjaro and Mt. Fuji, building cancer centres in Tanzania and Nepal for those less fortunate than ourselves in Britain, along the way. In 2012, LHSF partnered with Delete Blood Cancer in the USA and began hosting successful donor drives across America. 

In three years, this unique partnership in the USA has inspires 35,000 new donors to join the registry (via LHSF) and discovered over 500 potentially lifesaving matches. Delete Blood Cancer UK, is part of the DKMS Germany family of organisations worldwide which was founded more than 20 years ago around the case of blood cancer patient Mechtild Harf. Her need inspired her husband Peter Harf and her physician Prof. Gerhard Ehninger to set up DKMS to provide a source of donors worldwide for people in Mechtild's situation. Today, DKMS works internationally and has recruited more than 3.8 million registered donors so far and gave 36,000 patients a second chance of life. They won't stop their work until they have found a match for every patient who needs an unrelated transplant.

I sincerely hope that you will consider becoming a potential stem cell donor and support us in inspiring the nation to 'Get On The List'.

Yours sincerely,

YOUR NAME

UK LHS events in a nutshell!

This is a nice poster that gives you all the info you need if you are planning on attending one of the LHS events in the UK this September....I've posted the info before but worth doing again in this format I believe!

Vinyl DVD extras named.

Details are beginning to emerge about what extras will feature on the DVD release of "Vinyl". Videos for "Free Rock And Roll" and "La La La London" (a firm fan favourite) will feature alongside behind the scenes footage, an unseen interview with Mike, Sara Sugarman's video diary and the story of 45 RPM!

Amazon are expected to launch pre-orders from next week and it has also been confirmed that the DVD will be multi region so international fans can get their hands on the film at the same time.

Limited signed SOD posters on sale!

There are a very limited number of hand signed Westworld Weekend posters available at http://kirkbrandondotcom.bigcartel.com/product/new-westworld-weekend-limited-edition-poster

The poster is signed by all of SOD including Craig of course and are all hand numbered, there were 100 done in total so best be quick if you want one of these great collectors items!

New Spear Of Destiny merchandise available

There are a few new pieces of merchandise available from Big Cartel featuring SOD and TOH designs. "The Price" features on both a black and a grey design, there is a crossed spear head 30th anniversary design on a variety of colour T-shirts plus a zipped sweatshirt and the classic TOH "Device" gets a rather nifty camo makeover!

Grab yours today and hope for some nice weather to show them off from http://kirkbrandondotcom.bigcartel.com/

Vinyl coming to DVD

Vinyl has been dated for DVD release for the 1st July but as of yet it will not be getting a Blu Ray release. More info on possible extras etc...when I get them!

Mike to play Vail Rocks!

Mike will be performing at the Vail Rocks event in Colorado on Saturday 15th June which is organised by Love Hope Strength USA. All details can be found HERE including registration info.

In other news tickets for next years Gathering seem to be flying out so early purchase is strongly recommended (see previous posts for details) and check out this newly released video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXHN93TqYos&feature=share

RT-Zed "Zed Hed" Review

Ever since I heard a preview of "You Are Free" during my interview with Steve Grantley earlier this year I have been looking forward to hearing the rest of the "Zed Hed" album. Now, finally, the third album from Steve Grantley's band has been self released and is available via Big Cartel mail order and both Amazon and i-Tunes digitally.

The album certainly meets expectations and on every repeated listen begins to exceed them with ease as the strength of the tunes and song writing manage to burrow into your subconscious. The surprise to me is that there is a real mix on the album which helps to keep it fresh and exciting rather than flowing into one with nothing standing out.

Musically there is plenty for fans of latter day Stiff Little Fingers and The Alarm but it should find a wider audience and if you are into punk or classic rock I urge that you get hold of your copy of "Zed Hed" as soon as possible.

The album opens with the space rock influenced "Invocation" that builds before launching into "You Are Free" one of the early contenders for stand out track of the album. Lyrically the album moves through a range of subjects but this is one of the more overtly political tracks and has one of my favourite lines on the whole album "Video cams and satellites shine down with nephilim eyes". Steve proves here that not only is he a world class drummer but he is also a pretty mean guitarist too!

Highlights come thick and fast "Pretty Ugly" with a lyric you could imagine The Stranglers writing (although not with this arrangement!), "Get What You Want" with a great chorus and hook and the heartfelt "Room No 5" giving the album a suitable radio friendly moment as if any radio stations today still had any balls and faith in new music!

The interplay between the 2 Steves (Steve "Jonesy" Jones being the other half of this project) is evident and some snippets of studio chat hint at the comradely during the recording of "Zed Hed" - check out the beginning of "In The Blood" for instance. With an album this strong we can only hope that this will be the start of more frequent activity for the band and we won't have to wait quite so long for the next album!


Grab yours here...

BIG CARTEL (Physical CD)
AMAZON UK (Download)
AMAZON US (Download)
i-TUNES (Download)

Joe Silva added to 2 International Swingers dates

Joe Silva has been added to the bill for 2 International Swingers dates. You will be able to see him at Club 910 Live in Phoenix on 22nd May and the following night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

The International Swingers announce free gig!

The International Swingers will be playing a free gig at The Guitar Centre on Sunset Boulevard on Saturday 25th May. I don't have any info on how the tickets will be allocated so if you are interested check the web site at http://stores.guitarcenter.com/Hollywood

Gathering Tickets go on sale!

Tickets for next years Gathering 22 have gone on sale! Weekend tickets for the event at Venue Cymru in Llandudno are priced at £78 with a small amount of child tickets available for £39. Accommodation is not included as there will be various hotels used for the weekend but there is a helpful accommodation link for you to find a hotel to suit your needs. Aftershow tickets will be limited and allocated to early bird purchases of Gathering tickets.

The preliminary line up for the weekend is...

Friday 31st January - Red Poppy Stage

Mike Peters & Band - Acoustic in the round

Midnight Special with special guest - Love Hope Strength Stage

Saturday 1st February - Love Hope Strength Lounge

11.00 - Guitar Masterclass with Mike Peters
12.00 - Alarm Mastermind
14.00 - Sixty Minute Q&A with Mike Peters

Mike Peters & The Alarm - 21st Century Stage
Best of the best as voted for by fans!

Aftershow - Love Hope Strength Lounge

Sunday 2nd February

Love Hope Strength Lounge
Love Hope Strength Walkathon to the end of the Victorian Pier on Llandudno Promenade

LINKS
Alarm Store ADULT TICKET
Alarm Store CHILD TICKET
ACCOMODATION

The Mission new album confirmed for September

As previously speculated The Mission have confirmed that their new studio album will indeed be released in September. The album will be released via Oblivion/SPV in the UK and Europe and The End Records in the US and the whole recording process is being filmed for a documentary scheduled for release next year.

Zed Hed released!

Steve Grantley's RT-Zed have released their new album "Zed Hed" today on CD and as a digital download. The CD can be purchased from Big Cartel for £10 at the following link http://www.rtzed.bigcartel.com/product/rt-zed-zed-hed and includes a full colour booklet. If you can't wait or you have already embraced the digital age you can download the album from either Amazon or i-Tunes.

Amazon (UK) £7.49

Amazon (US) $8.99

i-Tunes £7.99

All tracks can be previewed from the above Amazon or i-Tunes links.

"Zed Hed"

1.Invocation
2.You Are Free
3.Room No.5
4.Pretty Ugly
5.Get What You Want
6.Jonee
7.In The Blood
8.She Was Bad
9.Beneath The Shadow
10.Too Far In To Get Out
11.Everything's On Sale
12.Deja Voodoo
13.Premonition
14.11.11