1998 News Archive
Sunday, 18th October, 1998
Late this evening the band returned from Nice in France. They
have been out there for the past week, playing at the Thor pub to
an enthusiastic audience. The week turned out to be rather eventful.
The lads headed out early last Saturday morning (11th October) in
two cars full of equipment and headed through France down to Nice,
after an overnight stay on Saturday night in Dijon. Finally arriving
at the venue on Sunday evening, the band set up straight away and
did their first night's work, starting at 22:00 and finishing at
around 02:00. This was the pattern each night for seven nights.
The lads played for three hours each night and the sets they played
consisted of roughly half their own music and half cover versions.
The crowd responded well to the music and there were a number of
people who came to see BAiT on several nights. Also, a number of
CDs were sold to fans and the feedback from those who heard the
CD and came back another night was very positive.
Off stage, the week provided the ideal opportunity for the guys
to gauge how they could cope living a similar lifestyle on a permanent
basis, and although stress levels did rise at times, the band managed
to return to the UK without killing each other. Julian not only
worked well as the manager, but he and Ian (the band's second manager)
provided a wonderful double act with their sharp, satirical humour.
John became the brunt of many a joke when he managed to get a parking
ticket and then have his car towed away to the local pound for illegal
parking. Despite his protests to the authorities he was condemned
unjustly for a crime he didn't commit and harshly treated by the
French authorities in this dreadful affair. Surely, the Affaire
Chivers will surpass the Rainbow Warrior and Dreyfus
Affair historical scandals in terms of pure, well, injustice
- so there!
Following a tiring but enjoyable week, the band returned back to
Blighty on Sunday, 18th October, arriving shortly after 23:00, having
done a total trip of around 2,150 miles. The band was offered an
open invite to return to the Thor pub at some point in the future,
so watch this space!
Sunday, 27th September, 1998
After their recent recording of six cover versions, the band has spent the last couple of weeks laying down six tracks to be put on CD, with a view to selling these in Nice and at future UK gigs. These tracks have been put into Real Audio format and have replaced the tracks on the MP3 Jukebox page. If you like what you hear, drop us a line and we'll send you a copy of the CD (whilst stocks last - cost £5 each, excluding postage and packing).
Sunday, 30th August, 1998
Following recent events surrounding the bands position with Trevor T, it has been decided that the band will be leaving the partnership and striking out on its own once more as it did last year. The time with Trevor has provided a valuable time of learning for the band, but given the very rare opportunities to record, it was felt that it would be in BAiT's best interest to invest in a recording desk of their own and record in their own time and at their own pace. The band decided to buy a 16 track digital recording desk. This has resulted in a recent demo of six cover versions which will be used as a gig-getting tool in future.
Friday, 17th July, 1998
The 1997 BAiT D.I.Y. album, Propeller Head, can now be heard in FULL on the MP3 Jukebox page. Each song has been uploaded to the server and is available in Real Audio format. This means that each song is about 1 MB in size and can therefore be downloaded relatively quickly. Real Audio has been used precisely for this reason. We feel that the loss of tonal quality is outweighed by the sheer compression of the music into such a small file size, and hey, if you like what you hear, contact us and ask us for a copy. You can look forward to even better material when the new demo is completed.
Saturday, 20th June, 1998
The boys have recently been in the studio putting down the instrumental parts for a demo consisting of five tracks, two of which are BAiT originals and three of which are cover versions. This particular demo is being put together purely for the purpose of getting gigs in the Midlands which require a covers set. At some future juncture the vocals will be put down for these tracks. A future period in the studio may also provide the ideal opportunity for BAiT to put down another couple of their own tracks, which, together with the two on the current demo could be used as a BAiT originals demo. BAiT will be pushing for a time slot sooner rather than later.
Friday, 20th March, 1998
The first BAiT DAY, with the boys embarking upon a mad Friday
full-o-GIGS. Starting out to pick up the gear at 7.30 am (yawn),
they were fully set up and playing on a circular stage at the GRAND
OPENING of CRAZY GEORGE'S in Leicester City centre by 10.30 am.
The passing general public seemed fairly amused and some of them
looked pretty-well entertained as well.
By 3.30 PM the boys were back on the road - after passing another
audition and securing a deal to open a further 12 George's across
the Country..., by the way. After a brief, but welcome stop at an
American Diner at the M42 - M6 Services, BAiT were once again whizzing
North to set up for another - soon to be - regular gig at the Dovecote
Pub (and Club) just outside Stafford.
It was pretty late when everyone got home and sore fingers and throats
were somewhat in evidence.
Saturday, 7th March, 1998
March 7th will forever be used by BAiT as an abbreviation for 'An absolutely amazing practice sesh with quite superlative vibes and synergy' - yes folks... it was a good-un, oh yes indeedee!!
Saturday, 28th February, 1998
Dan and John get the best seats in the house (well church)
to see the musical their partner has written entitled Joshua's Wall.
Andy was commissioned about a year ago to write this tongue-in-cheek
adaptation of the biblical Joshua's story and his run-in against
the walls of Jericho. The 12 song musical came into existence to
celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Andy's local Church and all prophets
- sorry profits - went to help the youth work in the Village. However,
the musical will become part of the growing Fiddler Crab Music Catalogue
- along with Dan's, Andy's and John's BAiT songs, and you never
know... today Headless Cross Village, tomorrow.. BROADWAY!! (PS
that's also a Worcestershire Village).
Click
here to hear a megamix of songs from the show
Monday, 23rd February, 1998
Early this morning,
John's wife gave birth to their first child, a baby girl called Murron Sylvia
Joyce. She weighed in at 6 lbs 11.5 oz. Both mother and baby (and father!) are
doing well and are looking forward to many joyous (and messy!)
times ahead.
February 1998
The BAiTers really begin to settle down into their regular (money-earning) gigs as part of their partnership with the TVRT organisation. The four-star Strathallen hotel has been a regular haunt for the band over the last few weeks.