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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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