...I don't know what it is about us and technical problems - maybe I am over-reacting and every band has to cope with the same, but on Saturday as we stepped up for our sound check at The Forum, Tom's entire pedal board failed...
...it took a good ten minutes to get any sound out of the guitar amp by switching pedals around swapping leads for new and old reliable ones and after all that we were left only enough time for an incredibly quick sound check of one verse and one chorus of one song... disappointing to say the least. Jack offered a few words of encouragement, and was impressed by our ticket sales (thank you fans) to say the least. We don't let things like this phase us and we retired to the pub for a spot of lunch...
...We met up with a few of the hardcore fans and family for a quick spot of Dutch Courage and a few wishes of well. But it wasn't long before we were all back at the venue to take in the nights entertainment, the most notable band before we headed back to the dressing room for last minute pep talks and the like were The Symbol of Orion - a rather fantastic thrash band that brought the crowd to the front of the stage in droves and got every body moving almost effortlessly. A great sound and we hoped a sign of things to come. Alas, most of the the other bands on the night struck as as rather mediocre - not bad by any stretch of the imagination and perhaps SoO had just set the bar too high...
...In the dressing room we ran a vigorous line check on Tom's pedals and agreed that we couldn't find anything wrong and kept our fingers crossed it would hold out for the set. A quick change of clothes and it was back to the stage door to catch the end of the rather excellent Nessus Red before taking to the stage ourselves. At that moment, I'm not ashamed to say, the nerves kicked in. I suddenly felt a wave of nausea permeate my entire being as I stepped out on to the stage - but I was surprised at how quickly the feeling was replaced by anticipation and excitement as I jacked in and tuned up...
...We opened with our début single Against The World and it went down a treat, the crowd went absolutely ballistic, and it wasn't until this point that I realised how many fucking people were in the audience - the number of people had easily trebled since we were last in the auditorium! Awesome...
The second track was to be M0N£Y, but for some reason none of us on stage could hear the synth intro which made the start of the track quite stunted and awkward, in the end a shout from Tom to Dan of 'Fuck it, GO!' launched the track in to full swing, sans synthesiser... and despite it's stuttered start the crowd got in to it and the final chords prompted another riotous applause and cheers for more...
... the crowd favourite had to be sing-a-long number 'Electricity' which was as good that day as it's always been!! We had been working hard on all the vocal harmonies and it appeared to pay off - seeing absolutely mesmerised faces in the breakdowns and smiles and dancing in the chorus - was a great feeling...
...We ended the set with Seven Tears, a moody but uplifting song that builds up to a guitar shredding outro... the crowd looked on with amazement as we "tore the stage down" (yes that IS a quote) for the last 60 seconds of the 20 minute set...
- Matt Fuego (to be continued...)
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The Fuegos / Blog
Emergenza UK Final 2011 (part 2)
...suddenly it was all over, and we were left to pack up as the crowd continued to cheer and Jack and Claudia struggled to count the sea of arms that were voting for us to be considered as the best band by the five judges... an awesome feeling, that unfortunately was quickly replaced by memories of mistakes made as the adrenaline slowly ebbed from my body...
...I watched Filthy Whisky who immediately followed us on my own (certainly my favourite band form the rest of the competition), and to say they nailed it would be a massive understatement... The rest of the evening I was haunted by the mistakes that I thought could have cost us the contest, and firmly placed FW as the favourites to win in my mind...
...After some other great performances from Red Ax Jam (the craziest band I have ever seen, superb!) and The Krimsons (you are awesome, thank you!), then a special guest appearance for Josh Beech and The Johns, I had almost forgotten about the competition altogether and was enjoying the music, the company and the beer - until of course it was time for the result...
...Shades Beneath and Disrupt the Skies were called back on stage first for 6th and 5th places respectively. The best drummer of the night was then announced and it went to none other than Dan Fuego... so proud! In 4th place were the Krimsons, best bass player went to Disrupt The Skies... Red Ax Jam placed third and also picked up the award for best guitarist (I think - I was quite drunk by this stage...)...
...The Fuegos and Filthy Whisky were then called on stage to announce 2nd place and confirm the UK champions... it was an horrific experience, and that sick feeling made an unwelcome return. Finally, after what seemed like an age, the words came out from Jack's lips in what seemed like slow motion "...in second place... The Fuegos". My heart sank. For a second it felt like the world collapsed around me and that everything the band had been working for had been taken away. But looking round at the boys from FW and remembering their performance I knew that the best band on the night had won. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged by all and I wish the best of luck to Filthy Whisky, they are genuinely really nice people as well as excellent musicians - bring it home for England you glorious bastards, we are counting on you!! I truly believe that you can win the world final if you play like you did at The Forum, i truly do...
...I said goodbye to The Forum that night with a heavy heart, and it would be a lie to say that not winning has tainted my memory of the day. But I will say this: I love my band even more because of that gig in Kentish Town, and The Fuegos' Fans cannot be measured in their passion, support , dedication or number - thank you one and all - every single man on that stage and every single person that cheered, clapped or smiled brought a tear of joy to my eye, and for that I will never forget you...
- Matt Fuego.
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Emergenza UK Final 2011 (part 1)
...I don't know what it is about us and technical problems - maybe I am over-reacting and every band has to cope with the same, but on Saturday as we stepped up for our sound check at The Forum, Tom's entire pedal board failed...
...it took a good ten minutes to get any sound out of the guitar amp by switching pedals around swapping leads for new and old reliable ones and after all that we were left only enough time for an incredibly quick sound check of one verse and one chorus of one song... disappointing to say the least. Jack offered a few words of encouragement, and was impressed by our ticket sales (thank you fans) to say the least. We don't let things like this phase us and we retired to the pub for a spot of lunch...
...We met up with a few of the hardcore fans and family for a quick spot of Dutch Courage and a few wishes of well. But it wasn't long before we were all back at the venue to take in the nights entertainment, the most notable band before we headed back to the dressing room for last minute pep talks and the like were The Symbol of Orion - a rather fantastic thrash band that brought the crowd to the front of the stage in droves and got every body moving almost effortlessly. A great sound and we hoped a sign of things to come. Alas, most of the the other bands on the night struck as as rather mediocre - not bad by any stretch of the imagination and perhaps SoO had just set the bar too high...
...In the dressing room we ran a vigorous line check on Tom's pedals and agreed that we couldn't find anything wrong and kept our fingers crossed it would hold out for the set. A quick change of clothes and it was back to the stage door to catch the end of the rather excellent Nessus Red before taking to the stage ourselves. At that moment, I'm not ashamed to say, the nerves kicked in. I suddenly felt a wave of nausea permeate my entire being as I stepped out on to the stage - but I was surprised at how quickly the feeling was replaced by anticipation and excitement as I jacked in and tuned up...
...We opened with our début single Against The World and it went down a treat, the crowd went absolutely ballistic, and it wasn't until this point that I realised how many fucking people were in the audience - the number of people had easily trebled since we were last in the auditorium! Awesome...
The second track was to be M0N£Y, but for some reason none of us on stage could hear the synth intro which made the start of the track quite stunted and awkward, in the end a shout from Tom to Dan of 'Fuck it, GO!' launched the track in to full swing, sans synthesiser... and despite it's stuttered start the crowd got in to it and the final chords prompted another riotous applause and cheers for more...
... the crowd favourite had to be sing-a-long number 'Electricity' which was as good that day as it's always been!! We had been working hard on all the vocal harmonies and it appeared to pay off - seeing absolutely mesmerised faces in the breakdowns and smiles and dancing in the chorus - was a great feeling...
...We ended the set with Seven Tears, a moody but uplifting song that builds up to a guitar shredding outro... the crowd looked on with amazement as we "tore the stage down" (yes that IS a quote) for the last 60 seconds of the 20 minute set...
- Matt Fuego (to be continued...)
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HMV Forum - 2nd July
Well, well, well... the 2nd of July is less than 3 weeks away now and to say that things are hectic in Camp Fuego would be a bit of an understatement... not only are we rehearsing hard for the Emergenza final but we've been busy doing other things too...
G, Tom and Matt Fuego have all been working hard at Church Lane Studios to have MON£Y ready for release before the big day, so all you Fuegans can finally download the bugger before coming to see it live... and well, it's NEARLY ready now!!
Matt and Dan Fuego have been working closely with NM3 designs in order to produce some super quality merchandise for you all... t-shirts, CDs, patches and so on... check them out on the website!!
Also our label have been helping us out in terms of securing the necessary finances to pay Steve Honest another visit in The Church, Hoxton to record our very first official EP... yes that's right, after the summer the Fuegos will be taking a break to do some writing and recording.
The music videos for Against The World and MON£Y hinge largely on audience contributions so please keep your submissions of pictures and video coming in please guys - email them to thefuegos@live.co.uk
as always, thanks for your ongoing support!
- Fuego out
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The Friday Forum - 3rd June 2011
The Fuegos were invited to join Jordan Thomas, Alex Watson, Jade Brightwell and Silent Dave on Recharged Radio's Friday Forum to perform a live session - and although Dan Fuegos viral labyrinthitis was causing him more than a little disorientation we manage to point him in the general direction of the drum kit and get him sat at it - the guys in the studio seemed to think we may have just about gotten away with it too!! The podcast will be available to download or listen to online from rechargedradio.com very soon and I await it with just as much anticipation as you...
The Fuegos would like to say a big thank you to Jordan, Alex, Jade, Dave and Steve Honest for making the night go so smoothly - we had a great time!! Also we met some really cool people off air, James, Tony, Justin, Jamie to name but a few... thanks for the beers and the company!!!
- Fuego Out
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Emergenza Semi Final - 25th May 2011
We played a half hour set in an equal billing show for the Emergenza Festival battle of the bands Semi Final at Camden Dingwalls last night, and it was fucking awesome!!
The Krismons and Filthy Whisky played before us, and they were tough acts to follow, the vocal talents in both bands are literally amazing and have to be heard to be believed, I assure you that these guys need to be checked out, so get yourself to the final for another chance to see us and these two great bands, amongst others. Tickets will go on sale shortly I am sure!!
Probably the best organised event we have ever played, the sound, lighting and stage management were excellent and we even had a little backstage area to get naked after the show... good times. Jack, as ever was the host with the most and we look forward to working with him again in the Final on the 2nd July...
Thanks to all who came to support us and the ever growing army of partisans - we love you and we couldn't do it without you. - Fuego out.
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MON£Y?
well it seems that the 'minor' delays were not so minor and yet more technical and scheduling difficulties have plagued our next release so far it has pushed all the members of the band almost over the edge.
Originally planned for a release in time for teh royal wedding on reverb and a general release on the 23rd (within plenty of time for our Dingwalls gig on the 25th May) it has been pushed back potentially for another month and we are now looking at a mid-June release - but I'm not saying any more than that (I think it's me that keeps jinxing it!!)
More importantly this week sees us play at the Emergenza Semi Finals in Camden... and quite frankly I am now starting to shit it. We've sold all the tickets we're going to, invited all the muso's we can, and have written the best damn songs we could. It is now as they say - out of our hands. Hopefully we've done enough to make it to the final on the 2nd of July... give me 48 hours and I'll let you know how it feels to be on the other side!! - Fuego out.
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M0N£Y - 23rd May 2011
Well after a few minor production delays it looks like our next single is going to be ready for release on Monday 23rd May, just in time for our Emergenza festival semi final appearance at The Dingwalls in Camden, so make sure all you Fuegans get to tourdates.co.uk to download it, don't worry I will send a gentle reminder in a week - maybe we'll take this one to #1!! For those of you who haven't been keeping track our last release, Against The World, is currently at #5...
As promised all of you who have joined our mailing list and created a reverb account will be able to listen to the new track before it goes on general release... you lucky things - feel free to give us your feedback!
We will be back in the studio in June to record Electricity then hopefully Secret Police and a brand new one too... yes, NEW! This awesome weapon will be unleashed live on the 25th in Camden so make sure you don't miss it.... What can all this recording after such a long period of absence mean? Well probably an upcoming EP... but you didn't hear that from me. - Fuego out.
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The Workshop - 21st April 2011
Technically our second show of the summer season, this one was based in the heart of Shoreditch. The road trip bar hosts The Workshop in its cosy downstairs area, a small stage and low ceilings made this the kind of intimate gig we love... The show was run by Hot Vox, massive thanks to James who put the thing together, and a quick shout out for our sound man Roger...
A fantastic turnout for all of the bands gave the whole event a great atmosphere with superb support for all the acts.
Cash for cars were on fire and got the ball rolling after a short acoustic introduciton to the prcoeedings... heavily distorted vocals and pounding guitar and drums cutting through the crowd and getting everyone moving.
The Great Gatsby were up next with a unique take on a classic rock and roll sound. Perfectly executed and full of energy these guys poulled off a great set - my personal favourite was Charlie which they closed the set with. A big thanks to them for letting us borrow a cymbal stand too!!
We headlined the night and thought we were a fitting close to such a rawcus event and we certainly didn't want to let up on the accelerator as we opened with Money... The set was an absolute corker to play to such an energetic crowd, and the guys and gals dancing at the front were just fucking mental - superb! We closed as usual with our single Against The World, and after cheers for more rounded off the evening with a cover from The Clash.
Thanks to all who attended and are now spreading word of the revolution, and of course thanks to all of you who came back to Camp Fuego and wrecked the place after the show!
See you all in May - don't forget to buy your tickets from our online shop @ www.thefuegos.co.uk/shop
- Fuego out.
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Church Lane Studio - 19th April 2011
Most of the master tracks are now recorded and ready for mixing here and at Scream Studios in Croydon.. Just a few more vocal tracks to go and we are ready for mixing... looks like our next release WILL be ready for the royal wedding street party... phew! This will be available as an exclusive to our fans for the first week of release from www.reverbnation.com/thefuegos, just our way of saying thanks - Fuego out.
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Music Unleashed - 17th April 2011
Camp Fuego is buzzing with excitement this morning as we learn of news coming in from the front line. One of our many sources entrenched in the battle field has got word back to HQ that our single, Against The World, was the highest new entry, at #16, in the Music Unleashed Chart this week (the original unsigned singles chart in the UK, run by the good people at tourdates.co.uk in association with Recharged Radio). Click the link if you don't believe me!
http://www.tourdates.co.uk/unsigned-chart/17-apr-2011
This chart is based on internet plays, ratings and downloads from the TourDates website - so for a limited time only you can download the single from there for free, just make sure you give us a rating!! Help us keep this momentum going brothers and sisters of the revolution!
- Fuego Out.
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