September 30th 2007
Welcome to our seventh newsletter! Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think may be interested in our brand of rockabilly music, and encourage them to surf by the web site (details at the bottom of the page). If you received this by email and the formatting is not working, you can view on-line by clicking here (or if this link doesn't work, follow the link to "Newsletter" from on the "Contact Us" page of our web site).Web Site Update
As there hasn't been a huge amount happening with us over the summer (due to holidays and injuries - see below), we have decided to add a bit more general background information about rockabilly and neo rockabilly music to the web site, so even when we don't have much news of our own to share with you, there's still plenty of interest to read.
So we've already started on a "rockabilly
definitions" page, in an attempt to clarify (for any among you who are remotely interested!)
the difference between rockabilly and psychobilly, boogie-woogie and R&B, punkabilly, drunkabilly and
smellsratherlikeaskunkabilly! It's still a "work-in-progress", but come on over and let us know what you think!
It's bound to start a few contentious debates (leave your comments in the guest book, then everyone can join in!).
Coming soon, various band members will be sharing their thoughts on their all-time favourite rockabilly songs, and their
"ultimate rockabilly band" line-ups. That should start a few arguments as well! First-up is meant to be Bobby,
so he'd better get his finger out (more about that particular digit momentarily...)!
Finally, we also thought we might add some reviews of gigs we've been to see, so the whole scene gets a bit of free publicity.
Gig Update - Retrospective
- Saturday 16th June 2007 -
Crondall Rock'n'Roll Club, Crondall, nr Farnham, Surrey.
OK, Crondall is a bit of a surreal place. Not the Rock'n'Roll Club itself, which is a legend, a haven (is that the right word? How about "Mecca", but not as in Bingo...) for rockers and rockabillies, teds and bikers, and anyone who loves real rockin' music. But the village of Crondall has definitely been stolen from the Twilight Zone and dropped into Surrey in the middle of the night when nobody was looking...It has a post code, so in theory - with the aid of satellite navigation and Bobby's map reading - it should be possible to find the place. Yet however many times we go there, we still always manage to get lost either on the way or on the way back. It's as if it keeps moving, so the road you think takes you back to Reading now leads to Farnham... On this particular visit, Dave's sat-nav was only capable of finding a series of roadworks on the way there, and on the return trip Phil, Bobby and the van full of gear somehow ended up in Farnham (but coming into the town from the opposite side to where Crondall is supposed to be). We have a theory (probably originating from Kev, our self-appointed science expert) that aliens may be involved...
Even if you manage to find the village, that's not the end of the surreal goings-on. Crondall appears to be the archetypal English village - lots of quaint old houses, all built before 1910 and all way outside our price bracket. Very picturesque, very rural, very much the perfect picture of English country life... and very empty. We went for a walk after our sound-check, and didn't see a single person (apart from Andy from "Rockin' The Joint", who'd ridden up to see us - top man!). We did see one local establishment with "free tibet" available; we guessed this must be some kind of local - or possibly inter-galactic - delicacy. We did consider acquiring some to share with Janie as a post-gig snack, but sadly the shop-keeper had also disappeared. In fact the only people you ever see in Crondall are the people who are there for the gigs - all the locals have been abducted by aliens, so that they aren't injured when the aliens move the village around the countryside in the middle of the night. It may sound like a wild theory, but check it out for yourself... the evidence is building, and we expect the national press to pick up on this story any day now. And now we are onto them, we have even started receiving messages on our guestbook from beings from Alpha Centauri...
Anyway, enough of this (although remember - you heard it here first!). What about the gig itself? Well, first things first, Janie & Adi and their team of helpers made us extremely welcome, with cups of tea and sandwiches for us as we set up. The sound-check went relatively smoothly, and before we knew it 9:15 came around, and we were up on stage, tearing into "Ice Cold". As we'd expected, not too many jivers up early on, but plenty of strollers (led by Jan), and as the first set drew to a close, plenty of boppers too, as "Long Blonde Hair", "Jeepster" and "Sexy & 17" tempted Aaron and others up onto the floor.
At this point we'd like to voice our gratitude and appreciation to all those who came to Crondall to see us. Too many to name everyone, but some old friends we hadn't seen for years (with an interesting line in dance moves!), and some new friends we've made at our gigs this year. You all created a fantastic atmosphere that led to a real fun night for everyone there. Also to the dynamic duo, Adi and Robin on the decks (who else?!), who did a great job keeping the audience happy all evening with some cracking tunes (any DJ who plays the Polecats is AOK by us!).
We changed the start of the second set around and kicked off with a couple of straight rock'n'roll numbers that got some of the teds up jiving, and then straight into "Honey Don't" that added more jivers to the dance floor. Following some helpful feedback from various sources, we'd tweaked the sound during the interval and sorted out one or two problems from the first half, and it seemed to be appreciated by those dancing and watching. Sadly, just when we were all enjoying ourselves, we looked at the clock and suddenly realised we only had five minutes left, and four songs to squeeze into that time! It was never going to work, so reluctantly we dropped a couple of original numbers from our planned set list, and finished up with a full dance floor of energetic boppers to "Long Black Shiny Car" and "Lonesome Train". At least, we thought we were finished, but we were brought back for two encores, so the evening for us finished with "Somethin' Else" and a reprise of "Ice Cold", before handing back to the dynamic duo to play out the evening with - as always - an excellent selection of top rockin' tunes.
Top, top night, loved every minute of it (despite the sound problems in the first half).
Photos from this gig, along with club organiser Janie's review, are now loaded up - please check them out on the web site.
Recordings
Not much progress to report this month (err...I think we said that last time!). "Welcome to our World" is still available from the band at gigs, or you can now buy it on-line from our web site. Payment is through the PayPal secure server, so you can pay with PayPal if you have an account, or with your credit card if you don't. Meanwhile, discussions continue on what tracks to include on our new CD, which we plan to record soon...ish! Hopefully we'll have something more concrete to report next time...Band Injury List
It's a good job we didn't have too many gigs over the summer, as the band was plagued by an injury list that would make Jose Mourinho pack his bags and leave Chelsea. Oh, he has? Sorry Sharky!First up, Phil has been troubled by an ailment that made his drumming activities somewhat painful. On a trip to his doctor's, he was informed that he was suffering from "Guinness Elbow", a condition not unlike Tennis Elbow brought on by spending too much time lifting pints! Then, to add injury to injury, Bobby managed to hit is own finger with a pick-axe. If you've ever tried this you will know that it takes quite a lot of effort and is far from easy to achieve, so we guess we should be congratulating the short one, rather than commiserating with him. Thankfully it was the little finger on his right hand; walking around with your middle finger in a splint all summer has been found to start too many fights...
Phyllis the Phishwife
As reported last time (and four months later we still haven't worked out why!), we have secured the services of one "Phyllis the Phishwife", band mascot and resident insane person. She now has her own page on the web site, dedicated to "phast phood establishments" we have come across whilst playing gigs, and phrom now on - iph you'll excuse the smell of chip phat - she will be writing her own column in this newsletter. Those of you who are phamiliar with Phyllis's ramblings will be hoping that there's lots of really important serious news to report on, so there's little space lepht for her "column"...
PHOR SALE
2FT inphlatable kipper. Used only twice. Never gigged. Offers of any sort considered. Buyer collects.
MISSING
Antique gold electroplated 6ft pole with prawn attatchments. Last seen December 2006 while on tour in Sydney.
If anyone knows the whereabouts of this item please contact me instantly. It is an important family heirloom
with enormous semi-mental value...
NEW
Ideal phor cleaning trout etc. New Mr Mussel de-scaling spray with added white wine and cream. Cleans and marinades in one.
WARNING
If you are of a nervous disposition please do not read the above material.
ANOTHER WARNING
If you phind the above material disturbing please avoid reading it.
Ooh by the way I've just got wind of (or phrom?!) some new solar-powered electric eels now available phor order. Should be delivered in the next phew weeks. Let me know if you want some. Very cheap to run and environmentally phrendly.
Must go - have huge crate of sardines to sort. x
Watch the web site or the next newsletter for an update on the plans for the next recording and future gigs.
Cheers
The Predators
Contact Details
Tel: +44 (0)118 978 9852
Web site: www.thepredators.co.uk
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