Cumbrian band No Idea need your votes for Hard Rock Rising 2013

No Idea are in the running to play Hard Rock Rising 2013 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester and you can help support them by voting at the link below 

https://www.facebook.com/hardrockcafemanchester?sk=app_205164529573076&app_data=eyJhcnRpc3RfaWQiOiI3MzA1NDQifQ==

An inquisitive steward at battle of the bands asked drummer Rob Logan the name of the band "Got no idea" was the reply and from that day on No Idea was born.

Cumbrian band, No idea, have been formed for three years now and they won battle of the bands Cockrock 2010

They were main stage at Cockrock supporting  Underground Hero’s and Sham 69
No Idea also performed three gigs at the Blues Festival Maryport 2011

Their range of music consists of taking original songs mixing, twisting and spinning them around. Adding a slice of punk, a pinch of new age and a drop of pop producing nothing less than a cocktail of rock goodness.

This was recently put to the test during the Workington Decades weekend May 2012 When No Idea supported the amazing Toyah Wilcox as well as performing in various other venues during the course of the weekend.

No Idea recently battled it out in the Soundwave Music Competition grand final on January 26.

The group performed in front of a capacity crowd on the main stage of Newcastle’s O2 Academy, which has hosted the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Adele.

They were one of 25 bands to make it through to the penultimate round of Soundwave in October.

They are now in the running to play Hard Rock Rising 2013 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester and you can help support them by voting at the link below

https://twitter.com/Noidea_band 
https://www.facebook.com/noidea.uk

Toyah review - Decades Weekend festival 2012

Saturday night in Workington saw 80's punk princess Toyah perform her first ever gig here and a very packed out Club Ice were the lucky devils to welcome her as part of the first ever Decades Weekend.

Toyah took to the stage clad in a metal dress and a vibrant feathered head-dress and went straight into "Echo Beach". With Toyah's distinctive vocals reverberating around the club, the crowd lapped up every note from this 80's icon. 

With 30 years in the music business, Toyah still gives an amazing performance and it is obvious she still has the same energy and passion for singing as she did when she first started out.

Toyah asked if audience remembered that song and when the answer was "Yeah" from the whole crowd, she replied "Bollocks, you all look about 12 years old" while giggling away. She then got Brainz, from No Idea onto the stage and discovered he was only one when she first released "Echo Beach", proving that Toyah is one of the few 80's UK stars that appeals to every generation. 

Toyah went on to perform some more of her hit singles including, "It's a Mystery" and "Thunder in the Mountains" while dancing around the stage. She gave a fantastic rock performance of "Sweet Child of Mine" and "I Love Rock and Roll". She ended her set "River Deep, Mountain High" as this was the song that very first inspired her to become a musician, so thank you very much Tina Turner, because without you we may not have the legend that is Toyah.

Article posted by Musicmafia

Decades Weekend Festival review - Saturday

Cindy Hoten at The Well 

On entering The Well in Workington, Cindy Hoten was taking centre stage dressed in a blue and white dotty 50's style dress and hair style to boot. 50's style that is not blue and white dotty. With her Rockabilly/1950's style vocals to match her look she definitely brought a bit of nostalgic fun to a very hot Saturday afternoon. She covered tracks by Imelda May, Dusty Springfield and many more. Some of the highlights of her set were "Inside Out" and one of my all time favourites "Son of a Preacher Man"  

She posed for pics with staff and security during set and even took to the street outside to sing to the people passing by. Cindy is a performer who is vivacious and has oodles  of personality through the whole set. It was the ideal way to spend an hour chilling out on Saturday afternoon.

Kaiser Thiefs at Vine Bar 

For a tribute band, there wasn't much similarity looks wise or sound either if I'm totally honest, although lead singer has got a many of Ricky's on stage mannerisms down to a tee. It was just a shame there was no rigging to scale!!They did put their own twist on a few songs, including , "Oh My God" with a hint of reggae towards the end and requesting audience participation it seemed to be a sing a long to Kaiser Chief songs which didn't come to fruition either unfortunately but maybe that was down to the age range inside and they hadn't heard of the original Kaiser Chiefs.  

Although, "Ruby" seemed to have a better reception and drew a lot more people back into the Vine Bar, They followed this with, "I Predict a Riot" and soon everyone was bouncing along with them.

No Idea at Club Ice  

Workington band No Idea take versions of songs, mash them together, twist them on their heads, spin them around a few times, add a slice of punk rock and come up with one hell of a potent cocktail of rock goodness. With lead singer, Sharon's  powerful vocals blasting out the pimped out songs which included, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"  slashed with "I Believe I Can Fly" to an accompanying full on rock ensemble of very talented guitarists including Brainz on bass and Rob "Awesome" Logan pounding out the beats on drums, these mixes are a refreshing change to the usual cover bands out there who stay to the tried and tested method of one song at a time, which now seems a tad boring compared to this lot. 

I mean, who else has ever thought to put Billy Idol and Hannah Montana together and calling it Billy Montana, yes you heard it right. Never thought I'd ever hear "White Wedding" and "Best of Both Worlds" played at the same time. 

I'm not sure if it shows signs of either pure lunacy or genius or maybe a mix of both to keep in with No Ideas novel approach to popular pop and classic rock songs. 

If you ever see No Idea billed on your musical travels, I can only say go to see them as you definitely not be disappointed. Just stand well away from the edge of the stage at the end unless you want to see Brainz hurtling over your head as he dives from the stage in true rock style . That boy is going to need knee pads very soon!!! 

Article posted by Musicmafia

Decades Weekend festival 2012 - Friday review

The first ever Decades Weekend is finally here hear our some of the best bits from day one in a very sunny Workington

Manhattan Skyline @ Chasers

Lively cover song duo with added bongo playing against the backing track doing firm favourites from the golden oldie years including, "Hold Back the Night", "Do You Like Good Music" and a Madness medley to boot including "Baggy Trousers", "Welcome to the House of Fun" and "My Girls Mad at Me".

This medley saw one zealous Madness fan bouncing around the dance floor giving it his best Madness moves. Then it was the bands turn to take to the dance floor, but no dance moves just to serenade a lady in the audience. All in all a good start to our decades fest weekend especially with a little bit of  "Is This the Way to Amerillo" to get everyone up and dancing.

Razzamatazz @ Chasers 

Male and female duo cover band who kicked off their set with, "Love Train" followed by a bit of Deacon Blues "Real Gone Kid", which saw male lead playing the guitar instead of just relying on a backing track. Lively set just a shame Chasers wasn't busy, so more people could have bopped along to some 80's classics. It didn't seem to bother them to much as they looked like they were enjoying themselves anyway. Great personalities that shone through, especially when it came to "Footloose" including the dance moves from female lead and  some damn fine vocals from male lead.  

David Van Day and Sue Moxely aka Rich and Famous @ Club Ice 

Came onto "Give Me Some Loving" then a medley including B52's "Love Shack", Bon Jovi  ,"Living on a Prayer" and Belinda Carlisle's " Heaven is a Place on Earth" and an impromptu Louis Spence impression by David Van Day when it came to "Rolling on The River" by Tina Turner 

Even though there wasn't a huge turnout, it didn't stop David thanking them by saying "It may be a small crowd but you all have big hearts."

At times it did feel a bit like a cabaret act, but it's all done for the entertainment of the crowd, who they love to entertain and always put first in their performances. The duo went onto showcase some of the greatest crowd pleases from the 70's & 80's including "I Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet" and "More Than a Woman" which got a few couples up dancing and twirling around the dance floor.   

Each song saw them both putting their all into it, and you can see their love of entertaining just shining through.  

With a mix of motown, disco, soul, we saw Sue Moxley perform her favourite part of the act, her solo spot where she can unleash the true girlie power from within and also let, to quote Sue, " Lets David have a break to get ready for his Adam Ant impression". Sue's solo medley including " Gimme Gimme Gimme", "Fame" and "It's Raining Men." and saw all the ladies in the club hitting that dance floor with a vengeance, handbags were optional.

When David came back on for his solo spot, it was straight into his 80's medley including the as promised , Adam Ant's "Stand and Deliver",  Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" and "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics. 

Final part of the set saw Sue getting down on to the dance floor to start a congaesque line to, "(Is This The Way to) Amarillo" whcih saw the crowd dancing their way on to the stage to sing the remainder of the song with them, then came "Delilah" with Sue channeling the inner Delilah, complete with a pretty damn good sinister laugh. 

The final part of the set consisted of ultimate Bucks Fizz song, "Making Your Mind Up" and of course, Dollar songs, including "Mirror Mirror" and the ultimate brain itch song "Oh L'Amoure".

   

Article posted by Musicmafia

Decades Weekend preview: David van Day and Sue Moxley @ Club Ice

On the eve of their gig at Decades Weekend, we spoke to David van Day and Sue Moxley about what we can expect from their much anticipated show.

What are you looking forward to most at Decades Weekend?

DVD: Most looking forward to the festival being successful so they can return and play again. My father was from White Haven and he had a shop in the war. But mostly for the audience to enjoy the gig.

Are you playing any other festivals this year?

SM and DVD: We have T Festival coming up in Essex next Saturday. During the summer holidays we mainly do the holiday camps so its quite refreshing for us to do something like Decades Weekend which is all about the music.We may also be doing the Dartford festival but we are waiting to hear about that. Alongside that David and is working on his autobiography "Another day Another Dollar" which is due out soon.

What is the favourite song to perform and what gets the biggest reaction?

SM: The girly medley gets the best reaction when I perform that.

DVD: Obviously the Dollar songs get a good reaction but the 80s medley tends to get a great response from the crowd also.

Do you have any new material in the pipeline?

DVD:Not really mainly due to the fact there is no market for it. We did record a song called "Rich and Famous" for Louis Spence' Show business and we have tried to make that modern and up to date by incorporating rappers such as Styler. 

What can the audience expect from tonight's show?

DVD: Lots of fun in a "party-like" atmosphere where the audience can feel that they can join in with us and enjoy the medleys. We try to cover a vast range including an 80s medley and some old school material. So something for everyone.

David van Day and Sue Moxley will be playing Club Ice tonight as part of the Decades Weekend festival

 http://decadesweekend.com/

Article posted by Musicmafia

Decades weekend festival announced

 Decades is a festival with something for everyone. After watching trade slowly go down publicans in Workington decided to create a festival for all with the expertise of Maryport Festivals and bring the town back to life. We will have music genres such as pop, blues, rock, indie, seventies sixties and eighties. If you cant find something you like then your not looking. Take a trip down memory lane and remember the days of the old school yard, you know you want to. With some old favourites such as The Fortunes, The Fourmost, Billy Walker, The Quireboys and New Amen Corner on the pub trail it will be hard to beat. Then in Club Ice for Toyah Willcox, David Van Day and Ed Tuderpole in the main venue you will be spoiled for choice. Lets get Workington rocking . It will be held May 25th 26th 27th. All venues times and bands will be on the map we hope to have in each public house from 15th April. Make sure you get one and plan your trip down memory lane and back again.

http://decadesweekend.com/

Tickets available HERE

Article posted by Musicmafia