Touchline Newsletter

We're getting there - the Lurgi is finally giving in and going away. Didn't go quick enough for us to see The Rapiers on Saturday night though. Well, that's not exactly true...this gig was an "advance ticket only" affair and we left it until we knew that we were well enough to go before phoning for tickets - only to be told that it was sold out :-( To be honest, it had been sold out for quite a while but I think we would have got in if I'd been quicker sorting the tickets out. I could have also tried the "don't you know who I am" approach but normally two things happen when I try that...... 1) They answer "no". 2) They answer "yes...and that's why you're not coming in!!" I know a few people that managed to get tickets, so I'm sure they will tell me all about it and what a great night it was. Yeah.....thanks guys...... Thursday we did manage to venture out though and went to The New Crawdaddy Club to see The Billy Walton Band, supported by WT Feaster. I know a few people that liked WT Feaster more, which I can understand as they were more of a straight "Blues Band" and as The New Crawdaddy Club is a Blues Club.......:-) I much preferred The Billy Walton Band though and I think they are really in great form at the moment - Blues, Soul, "New Jersey" Rock etc was all played during their brilliant set. A couple of days later they flew back home to New Jersey and I hope all the power was back on when they returned home - which it wasn't when they left :-( They come back to the UK in January for another tour where their dates include Skeggy....I'll be there :-)....and The Touchline....strangely enough, I'll be there as well!! The Touchline gig is on 1st February - tickets are on sale now, so don't miss out. As I said last time, only three more gigs left for 2012 which are Slim Chance (7th Dec), Aba Queens (21st Dec) and...... Friday, 23rd November - Larry Miller Guitarist Larry Miller is undeniably one of the must see blues/rock acts. He is famous for his exciting, mesmerising guitar playing and rip roaring shows in the UK and around Europe, bringing his unique showmanship and energy to every performance.

He holds the record for the most encores at The Cambridge Rock Festival, returning the following year to a capacity crowd and a standing ovation. If you like Rory Gallagher, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore or Hendrix, you'll love the guitar pyrotechnics of Larry Miller.

Larry Miller has released 6 albums, all of which have had critical acclaim. The latest being ‘Unfinished Business' which has had rave reviews. One journalist in his review announced "Unfinished Business is the business" and Classic Rock magazine wrote a glowing review of the album, giving it a top five star rating saying "He's the fieriest, fruitiest, ballsiest blues rock guitarist you'll ever likely to hear". http://www.larrymiller.co.uk/index.htm £10 Standing Tickets are available online at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/182947 (seats are sold out) or ticket reservations at http://touchlinelivemusic.co.uk/tickets/ticket-reservation-request-form/ I'll probably be at Riga on Saturday to do the lights for Purple Zeppelin and before that at Roots Hall to watch The Mighty Blues play Rochdale. A 4-1 win last week away to Torquay - who would have thought it? Lets home that kind of form continues. By the way Southend are playing Hullbridge next Tuesday evening in the Essex Senior Cup - things could get messy!! :-) We've got a really busy week next week as well, but that's for the next Newsletter. Hope to see you on Friday, if not before. Take care, Dave - Movie Star, promoter, booker, lighting engineer, smoke machine hell raiser and chief Tea Boy to the stars. www.touchlinelivemusic.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/touchlinelivemusic www.radiocaroline.co.uk

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Touchline Newsletter

We survived another Cambridge Rock Festival :-) I think most people seem to agree that CRF 2012 was the best one yet and I hope that the people that I bumped into that are reading this will also agree. Didn't go? Oh well, I suppose you're pleased that you didn't because of the rain. Trouble is, all the music at The Cambridge Rock Festival is under cover and if anything a little bit of rain is a good thing, as it brings in all the people lazing about in the sunshine closer to the bands. Oooops....you got that wrong!! Still if you made the big mistake of not going to CRF 2012, it's best that you don't make the same mistake and not come to see Be Sharp this Friday. I mean, to make two decisions like that in one week.....well, I ask you!! As I've said before, if you've never heard of them I guess they're one of the best bands you never heard of!! If you like a band that includes three of the best musicians you've ever heard, that play brilliant original material (including the stunning "Five Miles Above") and covers by the likes of Steely Dan, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Ry Cooder and Little Feat then this band is for you....... Friday, 10th August - Be Sharp Be Sharp is a steaming guitar based trio that performs a diverse and interesting choice of songs.

They cover a lot of different styles, all the way from Jimi Hendrix through to Steely Dan and they also include some excellent original material.

The band is widely known for it's great dynamics and powerful delivery.

Coming from a background of touring and recording work as sidemen for several well known artists, the unit was formed in the early 90's to enable them to play the music they loved - all of the time!!

Since then the band has continually delighted audiences, both with their live shows and their quality recordings. http://www.besharp.co.uk/

£10 Tickets available online via http://www.wegottickets.com/event/168195 (standing) or http://www.wegottickets.com/event/175258 (seated) or ticket reservations at http://touchlinelivemusic.co.uk/tickets/ticket-reservation-request-form/ I'm off to see The Roy Mette Band and The New Crawdaddy Club on Thursday so if I don't to see you there, I hope to see you on Friday. Take care, Dave - aching promoter, booker, lighting engineer, smoke machine hell raiser and chief Tea Boy to the stars. www.touchlinelivemusic.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/touchlinelivemusic www.radiocaroline.co.uk www.cambridgerockfestival.co.uk

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Touchline Newsletter

Those who are on the mailing list got an email regarding gigs coming that started "Is there already a "you" shaped dent in the sofa?" I think that was a dig at me as since The Olympics started, I've hardly moved!! I haven't moved for 2 main reasons...... 1) I love watching The Olympics 2) I'm saving my energy for The Cambridge Rock Festival :-) Yep The Olympics are great, but you can't beat live music in my opinion. If you're watching The Olympics on TV, you can watch it anytime nowadays on iPlayer, etc but once you've missed attending a live gig, there's no chance of a repeat - well, not unless you're friends with Dr Who!! So, tomorrow we're off to The Cambridge Rock Festival to be with bands such as Focus, Stray, Caravan, It Bites, Snakecharmer, Mostly Autumn, Adrian Nation, John Otway, Panic Room, etc and hopefully we might even see some of you there. If not, we hope to see you on....... Friday, 10th August - Be Sharp Be Sharp is a steaming guitar based trio that performs a diverse and interesting choice of songs.

They cover a lot of different styles, all the way from Jimi Hendrix through to Steely Dan and they also include some excellent original material.

The band is widely known for it's great dynamics and powerful delivery.

Coming from a background of touring and recording work as sidemen for several well known artists, the unit was formed in the early 90's to enable them to play the music they loved - all of the time!!

Since then the band has continually delighted audiences, both with their live shows and their quality recordings.

£10 Tickets available online via http://www.wegottickets.com/event/168195 (standing) or http://www.wegottickets.com/event/175258 (seated) or ticket reservations at http://touchlinelivemusic.co.uk/tickets/ticket-reservation-request-form/ Don't forget what I said about watching The Olympics - you won't want to miss a band as good as Be Sharp :-) Take care, Dave - getting ready for some backstage debauchery, promoter, booker, lighting engineer, smoke machine hell raiser and chief Tea Boy to the stars. www.touchlinelivemusic.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/touchlinelivemusic www.radiocaroline.co.uk www.cambridgerockfestival.co.uk

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Touchline Newsletter

What a great weekend. We went to The Acoustic Festival Of Britain at Uttoxeter Racecourse as part of the backstage crew for the main stage. Got there on Thursday - the day before the Festival really started - and left on Monday morning....tired but happy :-) The weather couldn't have been better and it was great to meet up with some of the people playing there that's I've not not seen for a while - like Glenn Tilbrook, Ian McNabb, Trevor Burton (The Move), Tracie Hunter, Gwyn Ashton and Danny & Ben (Thunder). The star of the Festival was probably Adrian Nation who ended up playing at least 6 times on various stages over the weekend and lending Katrina (ex The Waves) his guitar for when she played the main stage. Why? Well, Katrina's got a very clever car that locks itself if left unattended and unlocked for a certain amount of time. A great idea if it's in a car park and you've forgotten to lock it, but not great when you've just left it to do something and it locks itself with your guitar in it....and your car keys!! The AA were called and the poor man spent ages in the boiling sun trying to get the car open. Where's a car thief when you need one? Thankfully he got the car open in the end and the crowd out front must have wondered what had happened when the cheer went up backstage :-) You can see Adrian at The Touchline on 28th September when he will be supporting Chris Difford. Highlights of the weekend? Too many to mention really but see The Move again for the first time since 1968 and singing along to "Blackberry Way" backstage with Ian McNabb and Sue Marchant.....meeting Mike Peters from The Alarm and Big Country (what a lovely bloke).....hearing the sick bag story for Danny & Ben.....having a boogie backstage to "Walking On Sunshine", only to find out that I was being filmed and then told it will be on all over Facebook (not found it yet though!!)....seeing T Rextasy playing in a packed out beer tent and just having a great time with great people. We've already been asked to do the same thing next year so we're counting down the days!! Loads of photos are on my Facebook page if you're interested and some nice contacts were made/rekindled for people that might like to play at The Touchline :-) This week were off to see Paul Rodgers & The Deborah Bonham Band on Thursday, then Friday it's The Roy Mette Band at Riga and on Saturday we're doing the Mud Run. Thanks to those of you that have sponsored us, but it's not too late if you haven't and still want to......just go to http://www.justgiving.com/dave-kitteridge/new. If we're not buried in the mud somewhere in the Thames Estuary we'll then be at The Hullbridge Sports Club for the pro celebrity/Arsenal football match on Sunday with a Touchline Live Music stall handing out loads of flyers and selling tickets to gigs coming up. Hopefully we'll see some of you along the way, but if not our next Touchline gig is.... Friday, 29th June - THE ZZ TOPS The world's number one ZZ Top tribute band.

"They are the closest I've seen"- Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top.

"They're great! Just like the real thing!" - Mick Taylor.

The band nails the look, the sound and the overall vibe of the Texas trio with the beards, the cheap sunglasses, the fuzzy guitars, the outfits and all the moves!!

Performing Gimme All You Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, Tush, Legs, Under Pressure, Cheap Sunglasses, Jesus Just Left Chicago, La Grange, Rough Boy, Just Got Paid, Blue Jean Blues, Waiting For The Bus and more.

£10 Standing tickets available online via http://www.wegottickets.com/event/160914 or ticket reservations (seats & standing) at http://touchlinelivemusic.co.uk/tickets/ticket-reservation-request-form/ Take care, Dave - frantically searching YouTube, promoter, lighting engineer and chief Tea Boy to the stars. www.touchlinelivemusic.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/touchlinelivemusic www.radiocaroline.co.uk www.cambridgerockfestival.co.uk

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Touchline Newsletter

Oh, come on.....give us a break!! After last weeks Newsletter, the bad news just kept coming. The Mighty Blues have to spend another season in League 2 and then we were informed that complaints had been made about a couple of advertising boards we have in Hullbridge, as apparently they are distracting to drivers. Now it might just be that I'm an old fashioned driver, but I tend to look at where I'm going when I'm driving and not what's going on through the side windows!! Those boards are meant to be seen by passengers and passers by, which is the only time I see things like that. Mind you when I'm a passenger in a car it normally means that I've had a drink, so I'm normally pleased with myself that I've actually achieved putting on the safety belt let alone trying to read posters that are going past!! But, then the penny dropped - I bet it was Simon Cowell that complained. Yep, he heard that people in Hullbridge were actually going out and enjoying themselves instead of staying in like the rest of brain washed Britain to watch his crackpot TV talent shows. Sorry but you've been rumbled son, and you can tell that to your Strictly Dancing, Big Brother and all the other rubbish TV cronies as well :-) Also somebody that I've been working with to put on a gig at The Touchline hasn't exactly made things easy and then due to the actions of one person, hours and hours of time spent on advertising - and not a little amount of money - was completely thrown down the drain. At that point the doubts started to enter my head - why am I bothering doing this? But then Friday night arrived, Richard Digance walked through the door, said "We've met before haven't we?", sound checked and then put on an hilarious - and sometimes very moving - 2 hour show to a packed out Touchline. Ah, THAT'S why I bother doing this :-) On Saturday we went to The Roundhouse at Dagenham to see Stray. Hopefully we can get this excellent band to The Touchline in 2013. Due to the cancelling of The Rapiers we've got quite a gap to our next gig, but there are some things going on at Hullbridge Sports Club that we're not involved with if you would like to attend. You never know, you might even see us there at a couple of them.... 3rd June - Pro Celebrity / Arsenal football game 8th June - Charity Comedy Night 16th June - Hullbridge Festival featuring The Rat Pack and Jackie Wilson Says We're still gonna be busy though. Next weekend we're off to work at The Acoustic Festival Of Britain. We'll be looking after people such as Joan Armatrading, The Move, Glenn Tilbrook, The Animals, Ian McNabb, Stackridge, Gordon Giltrap etc. It's a tough life but somebody has to do it and I'll let you know how we managed to cope when we get back :-) Meanwhile, here's our next gig at The Touchline...... Friday, 29th June - THE ZZ TOPS The world's number one ZZ Top tribute band.

"They are the closest I've seen"- Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top.

"They're great! Just like the real thing!" - Mick Taylor.

The band nails the look, the sound and the overall vibe of the Texas trio with the beards, the cheap sunglasses, the fuzzy guitars, the outfits and all the moves!!

Performing Gimme All You Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, Tush, Legs, Under Pressure, Cheap Sunglasses, Jesus Just Left Chicago, La Grange, Rough Boy, Just Got Paid, Blue Jean Blues, Waiting For The Bus and more.

£10 Standing tickets available online via http://www.wegottickets.com/event/160914 or ticket reservations (seats & standing) at http://touchlinelivemusic.co.uk/tickets/ticket-reservation-request-form/ Hope to see you all again soon. Take care, Dave - off to find festival trousers, promoter, lighting engineer and chief Tea Boy to the stars. www.touchlinelivemusic.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/touchlinelivemusic www.radiocaroline.co.uk www.cambridgerockfestival.co.uk

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Radio Caroline Birthday Bash

Fed up with listening to the manufactured famous for five minutes wonders on National Radio? Then tune into Radio Caroline while it celebrates it's 47th Birthday. "Not the same as it's not coming from a ship" I hear you say. Ah, well there you're wrong - for 11 days at least!! For that period of time they are broadcasting live from The Ross Revenge - and, if you live in the Essex & Kent area you can pick them up on the old Medium Wave at 531kz. What do you mean "I remember them", "are they're still going" and "Who?" The Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force on 14th August 1967. This closed down all the "Pirate" Radio Sations that were broadcasting, except one - Radio Caroline. And Radio Caroline is still broadcasting today. OK, there's been a few gaps in the transmissions - the Mi Amigo sinking didn't exactly help the cause!! Ah, but does it still play all that 60's stuff all the time? Nope - you're just as likely to hear The Killers and The Fleet Foxes as you are The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Although if you do want to hear the best - and worst!! - of the 60's and 70's then tune in at 9pm every Tuesday. There are no play lists as such - the DJs play what they like, which means you won't hear Rap, Boy Bands, Girl Bands, what is now known as R'n'B, Old Skool Electro, Breaks, Drum'N'Bass, Garage, Dirty House UK, Hip-Hop, failed X Factor / Pop Idol / Big Brother Contestants, "D" list celebrities etc, that the mainstream radio station DJs are forced to play. Not heard one of your favourite records on the radio for ages? Then get in touch with the studio by phone or email and ask them to play it. If the DJs can fit the song into their show, they will. You're in a band and want to try and get your music played on the radio? Then send your CD to Radio Caroline. Don't forget, Radio Caroline was formed because the BBC and Radio Luxembourg (the only stations around at the time) wouldn't play records by certain artists managed by Ronan O'Rahilly. So Ronan decided that if he couldn't get his acts records played on those stations, he would start his own. One of those acts was Georgie Fame. And how do you listen to Radio Caroline? If you've got Sky then tune into channel 0199. If not, you can listen on the internet by going to http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/. Also go to this site to find out more about the stations history, who the DJs are, the schedule, buy merchandise, join the support group, etc. Go on, give it a go. What have you got to lose?

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