Fatbwoi Live @ The Charter 060612

"i'm gonna start and end in the same place, 
but the journey there is gonna be uhm,... different"

these are the words i opened my set with last week at the charter... it was a return gig, having played there as part of the festival over the jubilee weekend, there was a lot of partying there over the bank holiday so something a lil' more chilled seemed in order...

opened with the chicken, as per my advisory intro... before a short 'zombie suite', one track short of a trilogy but i do think having an electronic AND acoustic zombie trilogy may be taking things a step too far...

there was a second outing for newbie 'luggage', the one with the happy eels vibe (and caught on camera in its early proto-form by stevie), which inspired a rare outing for 'beautiful blues' that was well received all round...

'bullet' drew a promise from stevie to dress up in a cape and boots at my next album launch gig... therefore it is imperative that i get my sh!t together and get the beast recorded...

i did play sunny afternoon on my last visit, but this time it was by request... it still rang true with what i said at the start, i played it much earlier in the set last time - so definitely a different way round :o

closed with the spy music... and the sexy chord - as you do!!

all-in a top night, always a pleasure, nice to meet some friends old and new... 

thanks as ever to stevie for having me over - thang officially shaken (even if in a slightly more laid-back manner)

until the next time, which is FOXTON LOCKS FESTIVAL...

peace-out y'all...

fb

Fatbwoi Live @ The Horseshoe 030612

allo!! is this thing on...?!

so shortly after finishing my set at the charter, i had to dash off down the a43 (with a short burst of up the a43 owing to my navigational ineptness - which we're not going to mention right now) for another slot at the horseshoe in sywell, as part of the jubilee music festival...

opened with the chicken and the dance-moves, as an opening 1-2 combo i am currently quite digging that, before getting a lil' stompy with the one about god (or more specifically, interpretations of god)...

another rare, although seemingly less so if the day was taken in isolation, outing for 'mailman'... before a first ever appearance for new-one 'luggage'... i think i've mentioned that one on this blog before. its quite poppy, with a hint of the eels about it, but its very definitely bwoi...

it went down well, i realised whilst playing it, that it was the first ever time i had played it on an acoustic guitar too... it sounded sweet (imho)...

managed to get a bit of sing-a-long action by dropping the fresh prince over the end of CYHMN, before closing (possibly for the first time ever) with cover/adaptation 'Back In The Day'...

all-in, definitely a top day of musical adventuring, and maximum thanks go out to the wildfire sessions crew for inviting me to play, and also to all the crazy cats that came out to shake a lil' thang - you guys rule!!

peace-out y'all

fb

Fatbwoi Live @ The Charter 030612

word up you crazy cats!! how's it goin'...?!? all good i hope...

hit the stage not just once, but twice, on sunday... and here-in lies the tale of the first outing...

si!! the day's musical adventure kicked off with an appearance at the 3rd Annual Charter Festival, my second as i played last year, and jolly good fun it was too...

inclement conditions meant that the event had been moved inside, but precipitation aside, everyone was still up for a party - which is the way i like it...

opened with the one about the chicken, before ducking into the one with the dance moves and the one where-in i get to pretend to be a trumpet... happy time

dropped a slice of the kinks, in the vague hope that it may bring the sun out... which it didn't...

but such was the cosmic force created by the "positive sun thoughts" inside, that we may or may not have brought a new civilisation into being... one which nestled underneath a flashing sun (which someone rather disparagingly described as a pedestrian crossing - i know who you are!!)... 

the only thing the civilisation is lacking, is a name... (answers on a postcard please)

there was also a rare outing for 'mailman'... i'm not sure when/why/how, but despite the fact that i enjoy playing it, this one appears to have dropped into the "tunes less played" pile, which is something i need to work on...

newbie 'modern condition' was also well received, its slightly slower than the rest of the set, but does seem to be going down quite well... when coupled with mailman, it makes like a 'reflections on modernity' suite... that'll be that zeitgeist getting a shake again...

all-in, a really good evening of music... but then its the charter, and that's the way the roll...

looking forward to playing at the 4th incarnation of the festival too!!

happy time!! 8)

gigs in june

word up you crazy cats!!

just a quick one to let y'all know, in line with my civic duty, all the places that the bwoi can be found and therefore avoided (for the betterment of your health) during the month of june...

busy at the start of the month, with two seperate gigs on the same day, and then it kinda chills in the middle of the month before ending on a high with foxton locks festival... which i am really looking forward to

so its all there for you to digest, in both widget and text formats...and should you decide to shun government advice and come join the bwoi for some thang shakery... well it would be damn lovely to see you!!

JUNE

sun 03 - 3rd Annual Charter Festival, The Charter Inn, Rothwell
sun 03 - Jubilee Music Festival, The Horseshoe, Sywell
wed 06 - The Charter Acoustic Club, Rothwell
sat 30 - Foxton Locks Festival, Market Harborough

JULY

sun 22 - The Artichoke Inn, Moulton
thu 26 - The Golden Lion, Wellingborough 


peace-out y'all

Charter Acoustic Festival AND The Horseshoe... 030612

how do?!

the jubilee weekend is almost upon us, it brings with it a bank-holiday which has confused me (they always confuse me, its like changing year at new year only slightly more random) and as ever, the promise of sunshine...

there has been sunshine... and long may it continue

one thing there will definitely be, is quality music...

and (THIS JUST IN!!)... you can know get yourself not one, but TWO slices of bwoi action too!!!

                        SUN 3RD JUNE - 3RD ANNUAL CHARTER FESTIVAL

                        SUN 3RD JUNE -         JUBILEE MUSIC FESTIVAL 

that's right, its goin' all olympic torch, and there's gonna be one of those one day hyper condensed tour thingies... like the torch relay, but faster - right on!

at about 16.50 on sunday, i shall be shaking that thang at the 3rd annual charter festival!! it'll be my second appearance at the festival, having played last year too, but the charter's always an ace gig...

that one's been arranged for a while... then one email later (well two, if you count the reply) i was booked to play an evening slot at the jubilee music festival at the horseshoe - bwoi on tour!!

i'll be hitting the stage there around 9.30(ish), it may even be a bit darker... but the thang will still be primed, and ready to shake... 

so if ya fancy some quality tunage, and even a beer, it'd be lovely to see you... although only people who make it to both will know whether or not the hot weather forces me to instigate a costume-change-manoeuvre between venues...

just putting it out there...

peace-out y'all

Fatbwoi Live @ The Tollemache Arms 250512

word up you crazy cats!! how's it all goin'?!

took to the stage with the most-excellent wildfire sessions crew on friday night... twas at the tollemache arms in harrington... which has got itself some tight old roads, some beautiful vistas, and a complete lack of mobile reception - a bit of a hitch when you have decided to navigate via the magic of google maps...

but i found it! and it was a lot of fun...

there was two stevies, who both put in sterling performances... an excellent set from abbie hutt, who i first saw over at nbs... and after a brief discussion on the relative merits of 'nandos' and a certain mister sheeran's tune of a similar name, and that mine came first and stevie is convinced he robbed it from me, it was my go...

opened with aforementioned poultry ballad... the reaction to which is always interesting in a new venue, before requesting some dance moves and dealing with the marmite...

the weather basically twisted my arm into playing sunny afternoon, fatbwoi filtered of course, it almost seems wrong not to... and perhaps the complete lack of sun explains why i haven't played it yet this year...

there was a spontaneous 1-800, which never featured on the lil' piece of paper... but i was going down well and i just couldn't help myself... forgot to consider the effects of stomping on a hot evening, and by the end 1x bwoi was damn hot!

always nice when you drop the fresh prince at the end of CYHMN and everyone sings along... it still amazes me to this day, just how many people know all the words to that particular ditty...

its like some kind of national guilty pleasure...

the closer was bullet, by request of mr jones... and who can deny a request like that?!

all-in a really good night... i had a lot of fun, and anywhere with red stripe on draught has automatically got itself a handful of bonus points... thank-you to the two stevies for having me over!

learnt an important lesson too... its probably best not to burst into spontaneous versions of "we're the anchor cows" when asked if this is the adverts... i'm not sure that pretending to be a doo-wop cow whilst standing there looking crazy-haired and sweaty doesn't affect your street cred...

good fun though 8)

until the next time...

peace-out y'all

fb

Fatbwoi Live @ The O.U. 270412

word up you crazy cats!!! y'all good...

took to the stage with with the most-excellent 'monkey kettle' crew t'other night, at the OU in the sunny borough of milton keynes...

bit of a bumper set, which was running a bit late owing to some technical issues during the headliner's sound check... add that to the recently finished quiz next door, and the mission was to get everyone from one room to the next... lady linenwrecker did some fine work in this department (thankyou chica xxxx), as did the voice of the mysterons...

one sotto voce rendition of 'istanbul was constantinople' later, and we were ready to start the party...

it was a bumper set from me... opening with the chicken, jazz-hands and the faux brass section... it was like a triplet fire-punch to the crowd... there was dancing. it was fun...

it was a nice uncluttered stage area, so i even got to throw in a few crazy-legged dance-moves of my own without fear of destroying something valuable... which is always nice!

swung it up with a couple of covers, even dropped a bit of 'fresh prince' at the end of 'CYHMN' - which has had very few outings this year, it seemed to nuzzle nicely into its new mid-set spot... [this does however increase the importance of a post-CYHMN swig of something, as the whole extended chorus thing is a killer, and now there's much further to go...]

then it all got a bit stompy again... before a temporary reprieve for 'modern condition' - really enjoying playing that one at the moment, although i am fighting a bit of a urge to drop octave'd distortion onto the riff bits... 

closed with 'forces'... having been told that no-one in the room had ever woken up and felt like the fate of the world rested in their hands, which  frankly i don't believe for a second...

all-in, a top top night... there was dancing and merriment, and some new friends made...

oh, and did i mention that there was free cake?! you can't beat a bit of free cake...

and the provision of such, when coupled with the provision of free croissant too, made it possible to create a luxury pain au chocolat...

made even better by the removal of guilt for eating too much of the free cake, as a luxury pain au chocolat is only one cake...

peace-out y'all

NEXT GIG - 27/04/12 The O.U. Cellar Bar...

word up you crazy cats...

just a few short days till i shall be taking to the stage supporting 'the bitter suite' @ The O.U. cellar bar, in milton keynes... that's right not only can one get themselves a night of quality music... but its an SU bar too...

***of course, when i say cellar bar, what i actually mean is pavillion, a bit like it says on the poster below with the monkey... its is however comparably easy to find, being located on campus by the cricket pitch - something which is always in need of a pavillion (of sorts)... now back to the random wittering...***

SU, O.U. - that's a lot of u's...

its not the room where i went to my 6th form summer ball and declared ben the "best-dressed worst-dressed fashionista wannabe of the year 1997"... but it is just round the corner...

i shall be shaking that thang at about 19.30... i do believe its free/very-cheap in, so excuses not to come down and have a lil' boogie are obviously limited...

see you there!! i'll be the face-pullin' one with a guitar 8)

Fatbwoi Live @ Sunnyside 170412

"but i guess first up i have to apologise to anybody on this side of the room, as owing to being unable to hear out of 'this' ear, tonight i am only receiving (and therefore also only transmitting) in mono..."

"should be all right if you scooch round a bit though..."

allo!! 'ow the devil are you?!

took to the stage tuesday, to shake a lil' thang at sunnyside, with the wildfire sessions crew...

its an ace venue, not one that i have played before, but i certainly look forward to playing there again...

also playing were KRAB, i really enjoyed their feature-set, where-in one half of the duo did christen his first new guitar for 45 years... which in itself is pretty gosh-darn mind boggling...

immediately before me was a short open mic set from andreas rose... he had some funky bluesy grooves, which he delivered in a nice upbeat style... (i think he 'set the stage' quite nicely for me) - i'll definitely be keeping an eye out for him in future...

and as for me...

opened with the one about the chicken, before lurching off into the one with the dance moves... i quite like this as an opening combo, i think it can be a bit mood dependent whether i go with this or the stompier 1-800 combo... but this way round is currently doing it for me...

and it also leaves a nice lil' "bite me" (brass section included) sized space... before i generally pause, and try and figure out just what the hell is going on...

although, to be fair, that's probably just my 'default' setting...

there was another outing for new-one 'modern condition' too... i really enjoyed playing that one, especially as its moved into the 'live mutations' phase of being... i know it fits because i know its alive...

all-in, a top night... i even forgot that i was only receiving in mono once i got into the swing of things. maximum thanks must go out once more to stevie and the wildfire sessions crew for having me over, and to all the crazy cats who came out to play... i had a  lot of fun... i hope you did too

so, until the next time (270412 @ The O.U. Cellar Bar)...

peace-out y'all

fb

Fatbwoi Live @ Kettering Arts Centre 140412

word up you crazy cats!!

its been a fun (and also hectic) couple of weeks here on planet bwoi... which is, as ever, just how we like it... complete with good friends, thang-shakery, and songwriting - happy time

first up - some of the thang shakery...

saturday 14th was wildfire sessions 1st birthday festival at kettering arts centre... a birthday party like none other, one which the wildfire crew deserved for the quality work they always do, complete with a whole pile of quality tunage...

i caught sets from the legend that is kevin hewick, and budding for-ex trader stevie rigsby (who needs to work on his bartering a lil' bit), as well as my jaike, before dropping some tunes of my own...

opened with the one about the chicken... moved onto the one with the dance moves... as one does, but hereabouts we should perhaps rewind a lil'... for when i took to the stage, i was not alone...

making their first appearance since last summer at the cross keys was the midgetbwoi army, armed with shakers and some funky-ass dance moves...

you have not seen soulful grooving like it (no really - you haven't!!)...

but they (and i) had an ace time, so who can knock it?! there was even a (sort-of) harmony on some of the random bits that they've picked up...

i reckon with the energy expelled by the three of us during that set, we probably could have powered the building for a week - now that's ecologically friendly! 8)

back to the music...

there was a début outing for newbie 'modern condition', which i think went down really well. its a lil' bit slower than some of the others, although still heavily up-swung... fun to play too. its got two riffs, and a lil' bit of "oh dear, what can the matter be?" - fair to say its definitely a bwoi tune...

there was also a first ever acoustic outing for 'wrong', which had previously only ever seen the light of day as an fb5 tune... enjoyed playing that too, without a backing band its a slightly more melodious affair (in that it feels inappropriate doing the shouty bit on the chorus without the bwois behind me) - but all good fun!

finished off with bullet and forces, my dancers exhausted...

all-in it was a really good day, i enjoyed myself (as did the midgetbwoi army) and big love and props go out to stevie and the wildfire sessions crew, not just for putting it on, but for all the work they do year-round providing quality nights at which to enjoy some quality tunes...

thanks guys! and happy birthday

fb 8)

bite me...

word up you crazy cats!!

i hope you had a good easter weekend, and didn't overdose on too much chocolate... me, i was egg free, but did indulge in a bag of my favourite fruit flavoured sweets on saturday - them not being eggs, i didn't have to wait!!

but i am not here to discuss eggs... unless you really want to that is...

no i am here to present a new video, which i found lurking on my memory card...

si! its a version of 'bite me' recorded live at NB's... and personally, i love the camera angle!! its the backstage angle, with a full and glorious view of the fruit machines immediately stage left and very little bwoi... well you can see my *ahem* rear, and my face pops into shot briefly at the end. there's something nice and fly-on-the-wall about it...

so without further ado...

everybody need a little help sometimes... 

peace-out y'all 8)

fb

new dates added...

word up y'all...

just a quick one to let you know about some new dates which have been added to the diary...

first up, i shall be playing at the Wildfire Sessions 1st Birthday Festival on 14th April... that's in kettering, and indoor festival with two stages to celebrate the first year of the wildfire sessions, there'll be over 30 acts and it should be a cracker...

also confirmed is foxton locks festival on 30th June... looking forward to this one as there's some quality musicians playing, and it looks like its going to be a great day out all-in - happy time...

APRIL
sat 14th   - Wildfire Sessions 1st Birthday Festival, Kettering
tues 17th - Wildfire Sessions @ Sunnyside, Northampton
fri 27th    - The O.U. Cellar Bar, Milton Keynes

MAY
fri 25th    - Wildfire Sessions @ The Tollemache Arms, Harrington 

JUNE
sat 30th  - Foxton Locks Festival, Leicestershire

there's a full gig list available via the magic of http://fatbwoi.com/live.html

...its a good site for a mooch. i can heartily recommend it 8)

Jazz Hands - Live @ Musoplex

word up you crazy cats!! how's it goin?! all good i hope...

remember that lil' trip to musoplex way back in january, for an interview and some filming...?! well the music video from that night has emerged from the editing suite, and is now available for your delectation via the magic of youtube... and this blog...

crazy lights, some funny faces, and a lil' bit of counting auf deutsch... educational!!

so without further ado...

Fatbwoi - Jazz Hands Live @ Musoplex

big love, and maximum thanks go out to andy and the abstract reaction video boys for making it possible, and eventually providing coffee in addition to audio visual giggles...

peace-out y'all

Fatbwoi Live @ NB's 280212

mahalo y'all!!

i hope the world is good with you...

took to the stage at NB's last night, to shake a lil' thang with the wildfire sessions crew...

its an ace venue, kind of a cross between a night club and a castle... my initial expedition to find the toilet resulted in me asking a member of staff for directions, then becoming confused when they contained stairs that i hadn't even seen...

opened with the more traditional one about chicken (hannah filmed it - its attached below), before bouncing off in the direction of evangelism and jazz hands...

stevie requested 'land of the dead', as he recently watched 'attack the block' (behr rude star!!) and told some of the people who were down with him all about it...

newbie 'bite me' sounded nice too... the lovely acoustics of the room really bought out the best in the fatbwoi brass section bit at the end... it was like having a quartet on stand-by... (or something)

in short i had a lot fun, and its safe to say that the thang was officially well and truly shaken...

wildfire sessions are always top nights, and big love and maximum thanks go out to stevie for inviting me down to play last night...

i'm not saying anything about the 'fun' i had trying to get out of northampton... its definitely up there with leicester, but as all good storytellers (and some hobbits) say... that's another story

peace-out y'all 8)

fb

Fatbwoi Live @ Broken Amp 270212

word up you crazy cats!! how the devil is it going...?!

things are good one planet bwoi... a lil' crazy - but hey, we wouldn't have it any other way! there's been a couple of bursts of concentrated thang shakery in the last couple of days... and that always makes for happy time 8)

first up was some thang shakery on the hallowed boards of the broken amp...

also playing were Less For Murder, who opened the evenings proceedings with some dark melodic loveliness, a minor equipment malfunction, and some new material to boot... these are two cool cats (although i did think matt was considering battering the amp at one point!), but cool cats - trust me on this...

next up was the retinal circus, complete with pedals and crazy hat...

and then this one... with a request to hit the stage running, and a bit of caffeine in my system, i was easily ready for a bit of stompy goodness...

opened (perhaps controversially) with jazz hands, and kept the stompy vibe going straight into a 1-800/Love Once medley... always need a swig of something at this point...

really enjoyed playing hard... the middle eight on that is proper lovely pop, i may even have to extend it... the verse's are on the tongue-in-cheek nazty (yeah - with a z!) side - but that's how this cat rolls...

there was a bit of time for a burst of 'back in the day' (a lil' ATD/Ahmad inspired 'cover'), wherein the bwoi done rap about growing up in the MK, roundabouts and the like...

before closing on the one about the chicken...

it was beautiful hearing voices around the room joining in with the faux-french intro...

you gotta love that sh!t

it was a bit of a condensed set, hi-speed like they want the rail links, and not completely dissimilar to that double strength squash you get... but as any reader of this (generally quite random) blog will know...

it's all about the cherries and berries!!

peace-out y'all...

Fatbwoi Live @ The Musician 260112

word up you crazy cats!! how's it goin'...?!? all good i hope...

it was proper nice taking to the stage last night for my first gig of the year (and for a while too...) to shake some thang, and open up for the most-awesome magic tombolinos...

and that's not just because the stage is carpeted... (but whilst on the subject, it is a damn nice carpeted stage!!)

it was just nice to shake a lil' dust off the ole' dance moves, grease up the limbs, and play some musics... and i think all-in it went down pretty darn well...

as opening act, my set was quite compact... but i opened with the chicken, before going on to highlight my multi-lingual abilities by counting to six in german (and doing an impression of that bloke in fear factory)...

bullet was well received, i think everyone was happy that (it being january) they didn't have to see me prancing around in the cape... it being january, i wouldn't want to be prancing round in the cape!!

it is a proven fact that leicester is unprepared in-case of zombie apocalypse, and there for it was my preordained civic duty to play Land of the Dead... one day, that song could save your life!!

all-in, a really good night... i really enjoyed it!! and the magic tombolinos were proper jazzed out and awesome... 

big love too, to the crazy cats who came out to shake some thang - made my night!!

so, until the next time...

peace-out y'all!!

being busy... [contrary to popular belief]

word up y'all!! i hope the world is good with you...

just wanted to let you know, that i have been most busy over the last couple of weeks... and not just sitting in the dark in a deep funk about the lame shape of megatron's head...

there's some really cool (and slightly out-there) stuff planned for 2012, i'll have some exciting news on new developments soon - all in, i think its gonna be a blinding year...

there has been recording, writing, mixing... updating, and all kinds of technical tomfoolery... all the details will become clear with time, but here's a lil' look-see at a few of the early ones...

first up is the new-look http://www.fatbwoi.com which has been given a bit of a spring clean/new wardrobe... the new menu is easier to navigate, and there's some secret stuff hidden around the site which can only be found by clicking on pictures and links...

the plan is to add more of these quite soon, once everything's up and running...

so if you haven't been over for a while, then there's no better time than now to go and check it out!!

also there's a couple of new ways to get your bwoi fix...

http://fatbwoi.tumblr.com - lies somewhere between the micro-weirdness of twitter, and the full-on randomness here on planet bwoi... mostly pictures, retro toys, comics, computer games and general brain candy i find whilst searching the web...

and

http://fatbwoiaudiodepository.tumblr.com - blog style audio depository... a bit like delving into a bag of sweets at the cinema as, if you hit the random button, you're never quite sure what you're going to get. there'll be some exclusive stuff posted on here, as well as all the old/new favourites, so keep checking back and sampling the musical tidbits...

peace-out y'all

vote bwoi

word up you crazy cats!! how's it all goin'...?!

need to ask a small favour... can i tempt you into voting for me to support graham coxon on tour?!

all you need to do is click this link, http://t.co/K3JgFjPo ...and log in via your facebook or twitter! its dead simple, and it would mean the world to me! i think graham coxon is the bomb, and the opportunity to support him...

well, i don't think i need to finish that sentence!

i hope the world is good with you...

big love

fb

NEXT GIG 260112 - supporting The Magic Tombolinos, @ The Musician

word up you crazy cats!!

how's the world with you...

its just over two weeks to my next gig, supporting The Magic Tombolinos @ The Musician in Leicester. Fay Brotherhood is playing, and all in promises to be a quality night of music....

personally i'm proper excited about it...

as rob brydon put it, "they do do energetic... they do nuclear"

this is gonna rock...

tickets are £7adv and can be ordered via this handy link - wegottickets

why not c'mon down - shake some thang?! 8)

some dates for your diary...

word up you crazy cats!!

that's right... i'm back! and in line with both my civic and legal duties, i gotta give you a lil' heads up on some of the dates already in the diary for 2012...

you see, 'the powers that be' dictate that i must warn y'all as to where and whence i am to be found... i don't think they like me, but, when it all comes down to it, what the hell do they know anywho?!

these are the places i'll be... can't wait to see you there...

first gig of the year is January 26th, supporting the most-excellent gypsy rock/jazzer types 'The Magic Tombolinos' at The Musician in Leicester... fay brotherhood is also playing, and i reckon all in this is going to be a stellar night... really excited about this one!!

and my love for the broken amp boy's is one of the greatest loves in modern literary history...

                   THURS JAN 26th - The Musician, Leicester
                   -   supporting The Magic Tombolinos £7adv/£9otd - get tickets

                   MON FEB 27th - Broken Amp @ The Adam and Eve, Birmingham

                   TUES FEB 28th - NB's, Northampton

peace-out y'all