Magna Carta Day – Egham – June 13th 2009
•June 14, 2009 • Leave a CommentNews From The Bridges – JUNE 14
•June 14, 2009 • Leave a CommentMistakes in Animation (MIA) have been busy road-testing their new bass player Jarryd (played a big one in Kingston with the likes of Johnny Foreigner and Hot Club…)
Fleet & Frimley rockers Hold Your Horse Is have a new EP out … the band is currently on their ‘Everyone Runs Faster With A Knife Tour’ and will be paying Staines a visit on 25th JUNE at The Hob…
Speaking of spanking new releases, Cato Street Conspiracy release their new song “Promises, Promises” on June 29th … they are now on the lips of the Chatham citizenry after playing an uber-successful gig with High Frequency in the Chav version of Mecca (Chavcca?) … the Cato Street kids will be playing Staines along with BIG TRUCK on JUNE 28th at The Hob…
Staines firm favourites fiN are warming up to play Glasto (on the Dirty Boots Stage) before hitting STAINES on JUNE 28th at The Hob… they will also be playing the Blastbeat Fest at Hounslow and the MG Fest at Gaydon. Unfortunately, we at ADPONTES have been informed that this years Walton Sound Fest is OFF OFF OFF! It is a real pity, we were really gearing up for it… the promoters tell us that they are deffo hoping to run the fest in 2010 so we must all keep our fingers crossed…
When we last saw ALPHABET BACKWARDS we absolutely loved ‘em so it is good to see that they are back in town on July 2nd … they have a shiny new 6 track mini album available (Kittiwake Records) that you can grab at the gigs…
Shepperton’s honored and favoured sons Loaded Dice have announced that they will be playing this year’s Guil Fest … they also tell us that they are looking for a new ‘image’ (last time we saw them they were in matching waistcoats and crisply starched shirts … they looked like a bunch of freshly hired estate agents) … The Dicey lads will be playing their clean-cut sounds with hardcore/rock act The Jesters Dead (should be an interesting mix) at Staines Hobgoblin on July 5th…
Unbelievable STAINES TOWN heroes Miss Pink Shoes are back playing live … catch them on July 12 at the Hob along with alt rock/ drum n bass maestros Floors and Walls (both bands were transferred over to the Hob after last month’s Sticky’s collapse)… Floors and Walls are also playing the REDFEST 2009 – Redhill Surrey on Jul 25…
Walton Soundfest Cancelled . . . .
•June 11, 2009 • Leave a CommentMessage from WALTON SOUNDFEST …
MPORTANT INFORMATION:
Please accept our appologies, Walton SoundFest 2009 has had to be cancelled, due to circumstances out of our control. We have been informed that due to licensing restrictions we are no longer able to hold this event…
Sticky End for Live Music in Staines?
•June 4, 2009 • 1 CommentSticky End for Live Music in Staines?
Message from STICKY FUNGUS:
I guess by now that most of you (even those that have not yet visited The Club) have heard that Sticky Fungus has closed. That is correct. However…….
The club Had to close as we were informed that the Licensee had been objected to by the local Police and Licensing Authority and insufficient numbers through The Club made it un-viable. That was enough to cause a temporary closure.
Unfortunately, since we have been closed, The Club has been subject to a serious theft. Sound and Light equipment plus fixtures, fittings and Drink Stock with a total value in excess of £10,000.00 was stolen. Some has been returned but insufficient to immediately re-open. The Police are aware of who is responsible and when CID have finished with evidence and video images, those who carried out the theft, will be prosecuted….


With the sudden closure of Sticky Fungus just four weeks after its faltering opening (and let’s not forget that the whole project was on/off on/off on/off more times than a professional stroboscopic light show at a Hawkwind concert in downtown Vegas) together with the total collapse of the Phoenix as a venue, along with the complete dogs dinner at the Dog & Partridge (the latest owners apparently left in quite a hurry … without leaving a gig diary) and it would be easy to assume that the live music scene in Staines is looking shakier than Shakin’ Stevens standing on a lilo in the North Sea.
But that good ole musical equivalent of a soup-kitchen- The Hob (Hobgoblin, Staines) – is still going strong (thanks to the sheer dedication and hard work of those nice folks BUCKLE UP) every Sunday and Thursday (ACE & GRAVITY IS DEAD are on JUNE 7th entry £3) and don’t overlook the Staines Riverside Club. Yes, yes, it may look like your nan’s front living room and have the same atmosphere as a fun-night in at a retirement home in Eastbourne, but they have hosted some magnificent acts there over the years … none more exciting than this week’s headliners – BRAINSCAPE – Friday 5th June entry £3…
And just a few stops down the line at Windsor & Eton riverside you have got the thriving Old Ticket Hall venue – almost on your doorstep. (Jun 12 2009 they host ALOUD OUT for all you Killers and Kaiser Chiefs fans out there)… not to mention The Firestation Arts Centre a short walk down the hill from the riverside station (20th June sees Post War Years + MidiMidis + Vienna Ditto all in their Basement Studio entry £5.)
If you have the cash left, you could take a mini-cab to the ROYAL OAK HAMPTON ( Friday 12th June – Smileys Heros – or Saturday 13th June – Netherworld .) Or pop along to The Barley Mow, Shepperton – a really comfortable pub – who are hosting a classic rock night with local favourites BandX on Saturday 6th June.
We at ADPONTES really hope that Sticky’s can get up and running again (soon) and , if and when they do, we will support them as much as possible …. but in the meantime DON’T GIVE UP on STAINES ….
“Going to stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
And whatever may go
That rivers flowing
That rivers flowing”

staines
live music
rock music
gigs
Feedburn This
UNGUS
Sticky’s Closed ….
•June 2, 2009 • 1 CommentLATEST NEWS from STICKY FUNGUS management is HERE (9 JUNE 09)
ADPONTES-STAINES is just getting news in (via a popular local band) that STICKY FUNGUS has suddenly closed over the weekend !
Keep reading this BLOG for more news and information as it comes in…
Just to remind all LIVE MUSIC lovers out there that the HOBGOBLIN STAINES is still hosting the most exciting NEW ACTS and established MUSICIANS every THURSDAY and SUNDAY evenings – also SUPPORT YOUR OTHER LOCAL VENUES please – BRAINSCAPE this FRIDAY 5th JUNE at STAINES RIVERSIDE CLUB 6, LALEHAM ROAD ….
HMS Pinafore – New Victoria Theatre Woking
•May 29, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I must admit that I was a bit concerned about the choice that Peter Mulloy (Artistic Director, Carl Rosa Opera) had in mind to play the pompous desk-pushing first sea-lord (The head of the Queen’s Naveeee) Sir Joseph Porter in the latest production of Pinafore. Corrie Street butcher Fred Elliott was not a face that I had previously connected with the works of Gilbert & Sullivan. But the 71 year old actor, John Savident, had previously performed in Phantom of the Opera (as well as giving 11 years exalted service on The Street) and has enjoyed a brilliant career on stage, television and in film. In many ways he makes the perfect Sir Joseph Porter. Just the right amount of parody and pastiche.
Gilbert & Sullivan went to painstaking lengths to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the original work, even going to Portsmouth to make detailed drawings of a real quarterdeck to be replicated by D’Oyly Carte. At the time (1878) the operetta was a huge box office success- and so it was with some pleasure that I noticed that the same kind of attention to detail was present (in production) in the new show at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. I was also pleasantly surprised that the theatre was full.
Beverley Klein (Orlovsky: Die Fledermaus – English National Opera and Golde: Fiddler on the Roof – Savoy Theatre) presented a relaxed and rosy bumboat woman – Little Buttercup. Wyne Pencarreg (winner of the Erich Vietheer Memorial Award from Glyndebourne) played an efficiently capable Captain Corcoran. Perhaps baritone Gareth Jones (Dick Deadeye) could have been more forceful in vocal style and – at times- his voice was lost in the huge auditorium at Woking. But Josephine (Olivia Safe) was a pleasant and lightly agile soprano.
The best thing about all Gilbert & Sullivan operas is that they stand the test of time. When Sir Joseph sings “I grew so rich that I was sent – By a pocket borough into Parliament….I always voted at my party’s call” the audience cheered and chuckled. You could not help but be reminded of the ignominy faced by many of today’s ‘Sir Joseph Porters’ in a Parliament scandalised by a bunch of pocket-lining over-promoted junior clerks. Likewise, how many people do you know (family and friends) who, “In spite of all temptations – To belong to other nations – Remain (probably begrudgingly) English Men” ? Almost everyone I know is thinking of moving abroad for the sake of their own sanity!
And so the performance zipped merrily along – and all too soon- we found ourselves at the finale ‘Oh Joy, Oh Rapture. Unforseen’ and the jubilant celebration of right over wrong, good will prevailing over wickedness and a really English kind of muted successful conclusion – in other words a bit confused and bedraggled with everyone facing an uncertain future.
All in all, the show was light and frothy in all the right places but stern and stubborn when required. The choreography (by Steve Elias) was spot on – I particularly enjoyed the lines of pattern – almost like coiled ropes being rolled and unrolled on stage- and the gentler hornpipes, vortices and flourishes. Stage management was excellent and the costumes were efficient and convincing. The lively ensemble proved to have plenty of gusto and moved the show onwards in leaps and bounds.
Very highly recommended – whether you are a Gilbert & Sullivan ‘vet’ or new to comic opera – please try this show…
© Neil_Mach
May 2009
Link:
http://www.carlrosaopera.co.uk/
Next Shows (last in series)- Tuesday 16 June to Saturday 20 June at Theatre Royal, Windsor (01753 853 888)
(This autumn Carl Rosa Opera will be reviving their West End production of The Pirates of Penzance with Jo Brand as the
Sergeant of Police)
Four Wheel Drive – Sticky Fungus, Staines 15 May
•May 16, 2009 • 1 Comment
Four Wheel Drive – Sticky Fungus – 15 May 2009
I have seen this band a couple of times in bars and they were kinda underwhelming… but put that frizz and fizz on a big stage like Sticky Fungus, Staines and – KAPOW – Four Wheel Drive are sizzling sensations.
Strongly influenced by the blues of the South with its virile aggression and hard working honest-to-goodness energy, Four Wheel Drive are not really declaring musical independence or even starting their own confederacy… They just wanna have some fun playing some agreeable rock pieces to a smashed audience.
But ‘It’s not what they do, it’s the way that they do it’, that counts. On a damp Friday night in Staines town I am looking for a bag of excitement and passion. I am looking for a bit of boogie and a whole lotta woogie. And boy, this group fired me up like a stick of dynamite. If you, like me, enjoy the concept of sharing a bottle of acid-mash Tennessee liquor whilst hanging out with some unseemly can-can girls in the back-room bar of some sleazy no-good dive on Bourbon Street, then this band is definitely for you. They put pepper in your pants…
Staines is a long way from Vicksburg, Mississippi and, in our wet world, where we experience fog, flu, fish-cakes, footie, ford fiestas and girls called Fiona we clamor for escapism. We want a dream. A desert. A cactus. A rattlesnake. And a bit of moonshine. And that is what 4WD The Band provided for us at Sticky Fungus last night.
Distortion fuelled guitars (“Distortia” as Rihanna would call it, whilst doing that mad thing with her hands) and rolling thunderous drums were the backdrop to Jamie Lailey’s superb ‘Brian Johnson’ style vocals. Think of that rasping, high-pitched silver shafting energy in AC/DC songs such as “Whole Lotta Rosie” to get the idea of the sound. Lithe Ben Austwick and sleek Paddy Achtelik share the guitar duties admirably, and the quality and vitality of their exciting solos is inspirational. And this was truly a theatre of rock …. it was like having two frizzante haired ax wielding acrobats whirling around the stage in a blaze of psychedelic glory. It was like reliving the early days of Led Zeppelin all over.
The crowd just stood and stared… not in a bad way either… it was through sheer astonishment and wonder. They wanted to focus and to be grateful. Towards the end of the set the Sticky Fungus crowd started to limber up a little but there was still a kinda magic on stage that held the audience in some kind of mysterious hypnotic trance.
The band plays songs like ‘White Lines’ with its chunky chords worn a bit like a hip 1970’s vicar. With thumping bass sound-tracks like those panadol adverts – you know the one with ‘constant throbbing pulsating pain’. And with the twangy southern feel of the muted lead guitars that start to creep into your head and play footsie with your sensitive and vulnerable parts. The band also has Jaggeresque vocals a la Mississippi Delta together with singsong corn-bread chorus lines – helping to underline that their music is from the Great British southern-rock scrapbook. Fuzzy-felt lead breaks are satisfying and accomplished … with ‘sensible’ chugging rhythms from Will Richards on drums (sensible as in your younger sister wears ‘sensible’ shoes when she goes out clubbin’ on a Saturday night)
Other songs are Black Crowes-ish in feel and texture- with accomplished guitar lines i.e. like Black Oak Arkansas or Kentucky Headhunters. Other numbers have funky southern rhythms (and the blues) with yowser vocals similar to ‘Bad Company’ i.e. British Southern rather than ‘proper’ Southern drawl-rock. Other material was staple fare with plenty of classic sounding riffs and sing along verses.
If you are the kind of person who loves Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company / Free and AC/DC, then you are gonna just lurve this band. When I saw Four Wheel Drive for the first time, a couple of years back, I thought that they were a bit like a musical version of a 1990’s Land-Rover Discovery. You know … the one in blue with nylon trim and chipped paint. It does the job- it gets you to work and back and gets you around town – at times it is fun even, it can keep things movin’ on a long hard day – but it doesn’t really make your heart sing and your jiggly bits shiver with excited anticipation…
But after that totally triumphant concert at Sticky Fungus Staines yesterday evening I have to admit that the band has now become a shiny top of the range Hummer softop with an expensive LA chop-shop paint job, screaming flame decals, roaring afterburner exhausts and decorated by leggy babes wearing cut down denims, cowboy boots and tiny polka-dot bras.
God, I love ‘em!
© Neil_Mach
May 2009
Link:
See ‘em next at The Red Lion – Formerly Filthy’s- Twickenham May 23 2009
Abstract Genius – Sticky Fungus, Staines 13 May
•May 14, 2009 • Leave a Comment
“Thankyou for not killing me”
Abstract Genius is a funk hip-hop hardcore ska band from Guildford. They don’t make it easy on themselves (Its A Long Way To The Top -If You Wanna Rock ‘N Roll) and mixing ska with hardcore was never gonna be easy … if you want hardcore then you won’t like the ska elements, and if you like ska you won’t like the hardcore elements…
Add to this the fact these lily-white kids are from the stockbroker belt of leafy Surrey and don’t possess enough angst in them to hurt a fly (let alone participate in a drive-by) and you cannot help but think that they will never be ‘Hurt So Bad’ to be able to authentically play ska-punk… there is a dawning realisation that AG have made a fair few rods for their own corporate behind.
But the results are quite surprising … Abstract Genius took to the Sticky Fungus stage on a Wednesday night with a small crowd (shall we say 40+) of devotees watching on – and stormed the place with their hip-hop vocals, high singing strings, mento semi-acoustic thrumming chords, thumping bass play and squelchy sparkling sax.
Luke, on tenor and alto sax added tension and interest (not least by breaking a glass of Rosé – much to the overwhelming annoyance and personal displeasure of the SF soundman) and played the crowd with a practiced ease – deploying rapid-fire flowing patterns and progressively faster rap formations.
Combine this with Nick’s off beat chops, complete with the kind of singing lead breaks that threaten to singe the air and burn up the available oxygen (‘cos they are being played so high and electrically charged) and you have got one helluva hip-hop ska outfit. Mike’s offbeat lyrical percussion and Ben’s hard work and solid funkster bass-play all added up to a not to-be-missed adventure into sound and rhythm.
The breath control and vocal presence of the raps came across well, but in my opinion, some of the most delicate quality of Nick’s guitarwork was drowned out by crushing low bass distortion. When I was comparing what I heard live last night to the AG recordings (on their singularly good new album) I realised what I was missing. I also noticed that Mike’s backing vocals were almost incomprehensible- in fact Mike was so distant from the main band (being placed about 5 meters to the back of the stage) that he seemed to be almost a session player…. I recommend he gets moved forward in future gigs to get to participate more.
As well as the complete ‘Stand your Ground’ album (played over two halves) the band also proudly showed off their new song ‘The Fine Line’ which demonstrated all that is good about this group – the rhyme schemes, gritty patterstyle blocks of percussion, loopy and sprightly guitar licks and a low thumping bass sound. And with a hard-core edge too!. Jolly good work.
With the alternating and entwining tempos, punk style choruses (plus angry shouts) a clean sax and a lead guitar sound that leans towards such ska punksters as Reel Big Fish etc. I really enjoyed this gig. It was more skafull than the Bosstones and more slap-funky than early Incubus. Get the idea? You should do… catch ‘em live soon or nag them for a copy of their album.
© Neil_Mach
May 2009
Link:
www.myspace.com/abstractgeniusuk
Gemma Lawrence Trio – Staines Conservative Club
•May 13, 2009 • Leave a Comment
The Gemma Lawrence Trio – She’s The Bossa
Under the watchful eye of Winston Churchill the sultry sounds of the Gemma Lawrence Trio trilled through the Staines Conservative Club bar. Gemma Lawrence was giving up her smoky best for a handful of true-blue blue-rinse blue-blood Tory ladies and their senior partners, who gave polite but mild applause. The atmosphere was, in every respect, ‘genteel’.
Gemma is a jazzy blues singer with leanings towards Country. A little bit country and a little bit rock n roll, if you like. In fact, she has recorded a Country album in Nashville with some of Tennessee’s musical royalty – including Gordon Mote. The trio is a guitar based combo, perhaps lacking the heartbeat of percussion at times, but never lacking direction or gusto.
The band includes singer/songwriter and all-round renaissance man Jonny Palmer on one guitar (together with his handy synth) along with Mark Dorsett and his fresh-faced blues-style pickin’ on the other.
But the main focus is on the classy lady Gemma and her slinky voice. Gemma reminded me of Diana Krall, not only in appearance but also in style. Like Diana, Gemma is able to ooze out those husky contralto lows and also the nerve tingling highs. Another piano based singer that came to my mind was Vonda Shepard, perhaps because of the mid-tempo jazzy familiarity of the sounds.
Gemma is very much the ‘band leader’ of the trio, constantly pointing direction and motivating the other musicians, getting things moving if needed or slowing things down when the mood requires. Her voice is strong, dense and smooth as an all-over cocoa butter body rub. Sticky and sweet. It gets right into all those aching places. The Southern U.S. swamplands are dark, mysterious places with hidden depths. And those Southern bars are smoky, sultry and somewhat risky. These are the colours, smells and textures expressed in Gemma’s songs. Deep, deep lows are contrasted against ringing highs and cheerfully sweet melodies.
Gemma’s set started with the somewhat ironic ‘Stealers Wheel’ piece “Stuck in the Middle With You” (possibly more famous these days as a theme from the ‘Reservoir Dogs’.) This song kinda summed up what it was like playing the Staines Con Club on a cool quiet evening in Staines. “It’s so hard to keep this smile from my face…”
The set also included some old favourites like the Hoagy Carmichael ‘Georgia on My Mind’ or ‘Ventura Highway’, ‘Under The Broadwalk’ and even ‘Suspicious Minds’. I particularly liked the upbeat “I Saw Her Standing There” (one of my favourite Beatles numbers) and the Kenny Young / Drifters classic “Under the Boardwalk”.
At times I could have done without the ‘nuts and bolts’ being on show so much. You know the kind of thing, “Another key change now” or “We need more time here” or the fiddling with amps / mike stands etc. In my opinion music, like all craft, should magically conceal the hard work, grease, sweat and effort that goes into making it. The rough edges need to be smoothed out for public consumption. But, maybe I am being too harsh.
Stand out songs for me were the self penned “Always The Same”, a soothing and reliably efficient song (the delivery reminded me of Crystal Gayle,) and the Duffy/Hogarth track “Warwick Avenue”. It is a shame that Gemma didn’t include any Amy Whinehouse in her song-book too but maybe that would have been a step too far for the respectable members of the Con Club!
For funky, jazzy, smooth sounds, the Gemma Lawrence Trio can be thoroughly recommended. Catch them soon at a venue near you or you could see the trio at this years Walton Soundfest.
© Neil_Mach
May 2009
www.myspace.com/gemmalawrencetrio
5 Things – This Week in Staines
•May 11, 2009 • Leave a Comment1.
Superb Hard Rock – Live inStaines This Week

Land of Cain
May 16 2009
Dog & Partridge
Staines
Land of Cain is a four piece rock/metal outfit from West London. Featuring superb guitar work, a pounding rhythm section, progressive strains and thought provoking lyrics the band are becoming
a force to be reckoned with in the UK hard rock scene.
The band started life as “One Bitter Pill” in 2004, with Grant Chambers and Aaron Waddingham in the original line-up, as well as Chris Jones (now of Voodoo Six).
With the departure of Chris in late 2007, Grant and Aaron decided to take the band in a darker and heavier direction, and with the additionof Spencer Dargue on Drums and Chris Jordan on Bass, the band began writing the new material which would later evolve into the songs for their first album
“Collapse the Control”.
The band began recording the album in early 2008 at The Lodge in
Northampton, and hope to be able to release it early in 2009.
Links:
2. Saxy Lady – Jazz Live at Windsor

YolanDa Brown
May 16 2009
Firestation
Windsor
Think saxophones, and most of us will immediately start thinking
of jazz, specifically trad jazz. No bad thing, maybe, as there are few
instruments as stunning as the saxophone and few sounds as effortlessly
beautiful as jazz. YolanDa Brown is someone who has made the instrument
truly her own as a miraculously gifted saxophonist fluent in a whole
lot more than just one genre.
As her two EPs to date, July 2007’s ‘Finding My Voice’ and
August 2008’s ‘A Step Closer’ attest to an artist who takes jazz and introduces it to all sorts: to soul, to R&B and gospel, to loping reggae and soaring Latin. She can take a sound at first emotionally raw and incontestably infectious, and make it sound like nothing else on earth. For the past three years she has performed with some of the world’s most respected artists. Selling out venues like London’s Jazz Café at the drop of a
hat and the recipient of a prestigious MOBO Award, YolanDa is in demand
and it is a great privilege that she will be appearing with her band
here at The Firestation for this very special concert.
Upcoming show:
YolanDa Brown Live In Concert
16.05.2009 20.00 h
The Auditorium – Firestation Arts Centre
Windsor
£10(GA) £9(Conc) £8(Mem)
Links:
www.myspace.com/missyolandabrown
http://www.firestationartscentre.com
3. Powerful Indie Rock Covers – Windsor

The Riots
May 16 2009
Old Ticket Hall
Windsor
THE RIOTS PLAY THEIR LAST GIG AT THE OLD TICKET HALL FOR 2009. We wish them the best in their musical career. The Riots are a
Berkshire based 4 piece band playing up to the minute indie rock covers
by popular names such as Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Arctic Monkeys and
Fratellis as well as a few standards by greats such as Oasis, The
Beatles and The Kinks.
Having built up a collection of toe tapping covers, the band started by
getting their first gig at The Old Ticket Hall in Windsor in 2007. They
have played many gigs since and are currently writing their own
material whilst learning up to the minute covers to keep your ears
smiling
+ DJ PLAYING 80’s &
90’s HITS
- BAR OPEN TILL 2AM
The
Old Ticket Hall Windsor & Eton Riverside Station
5/8/2009 8:00 PM at AXIS
Links:
www.myspace.com/wearetheriotsband
4. Classic Rock Hits – Live at Hampton

Cry Wolf
May 16 2009
Royal Oak
Hampton
Classic Rock Hits
Tom
Farmer (vocals, bass) David Farmer (drums, vocals) Gary Farmer (vocals,
guitar) Pars Evrenos (guitar)… make up the formidable local orginal
material / covers band CRY WOLF.
Described by our ADPONTES reviewer, Neil_Mach, as ” heavy, bluesy,
mature and very, very serious – thoroughly recommended” we
give them a five star rating !
Links:
http://www.crywolfrocks.co.uk/
5. Local Favourite Rock Party band - Live in Staines

Foulplay
May 15 2009
Sticky Fungus
Staines
w/ Four Wheel Drive – Classic Rock
Foulplay are one of our favourite bands here in STAINES band mixing old-time rock and roll and skiffle, through to classics from the glam-rock seventies, big numbers from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and even into modern indie rock territory
May 15, 2009 at 8pm to May 16, 2009 at 2am
Location: Sticky Fungus Music Venue
Street: Elmsleigh Road
City/Town: Staines
Doors open at 8pm. £5 entry. Over 18’s only (ID required)
Links:






