Shedmen babble

11th July 2010

Well what to say? We played Peelstock last night - for those unaware, this is the annual outdoor gig organised by the friends of the Tommy Clucas Memorial Fund.

Despite the weather being cloudy and intermittently rainy, it was a great event with a number of top local bands performing. We went on at 8.15pm and had taken the prior decision to play 45 minutes of high octane, non-stop, raucous fast punk plucked from both the 70’s and more contemporary artists in the same genre. It all seemed to go down well, with a fair few on the moisten dance floor singing and bopping away to The Shedmen in the open air. The organisation, set up and stage was absolutely superb and we can’t thank the organisers enough for the hard work they put in to make it such a memorable occasion

 

20th June 2010

So a quiet year for us so far. With 3 of us away for TT fortnight, it is the first time in many years that we have not been out and about during the festivities and gracing the likes of The Creek, Jaks and Bushy’s tent. Summer is traditionally our private party season and we have a couple of those coming up in the not-too-distant, along with a slot at Peelstock, and a MGP appearance at Jaks. Feeling a little rusty, we had a bit of a rehearsal this week, and started picking off some older songs to re-introduce for the parties, producing a dischordant evensong of “Hurry up Harry”, “Down in the tubestation at midnight” and “Psycho Killer” ringing out in the early evening Kewaigue sunshine.

 

2nd April 2010

We have been confirmed for Peelstock this year. This is to be held on 10th July at Peel Football Club in aid of the Tommy Clucas Memorial Fund. Looking forward to it already - please support this event as it is a great cause.

 

7th March 2010

Great gig at Jaks last night. Celebration of Bozstar’s 50th birthday, and a lovely atmosphere from start to end. Apologies to any Oasis fans in, there was some unnecessary business at the start of “Live forever” but the band recovered well!

So onwards and upwards. We have another gig lined up, upstairs at The Rovers. First time for us at that venue, so will be a new experience. More to come on that in due course. Meanwhile, we really need to organise a rehearsal, but more importantly, the next band lunch… think we might go Italian this time  - can’t beat a lunchtime calzone… ciao!

 

23rd February 2010

Finally, we get this year started at Jaks on 6th March. We have had a few issues outside the band including surgery, work commitments, sloth and apathy. It was so bad that it took us until late January to get our first band lunch organised - a rather fine plate each of fish and chips at a well known new diner in town... and we all noted that there was no “F” in plaice. Rehearsals have also been scuppered by the reasons listed above, and so it is unlikely that we will yet bring the joys of Magazine to the set list  -  one day Pablo, eh? So, the Jaks gig also represents a huge milestone for the band -  our aging singer reaches the magical age of 50. We are advertising this gig as his 50th birthday party  -  on the basis that there will be a fair few in there anyway, and it will mask the fact that he doesn’t have that many friends. We would be delighted to see as many people as possible turn up for the gig  -  even if it is just to bring him a Saga brochure and provide him directions to the local whist drive. Hope to see you all there

 

1st January 2010

So here we are starting another year. Things have been rather quiet for the band of late. We played a gig in early December at Amber, and invited the young band “We found Wally” to play a support slot, and very well they played too. They were semi-finalists at the recent Battle of the Bands, and look great prospects for the future. We have another enforced break coming up due to an unforeseen operation for one of the band, so another sabbatical awaits, pending another comeback at Jaks in early March. Hope to see a few of you there then. Happy New Year!

 

25th October 2009

It’s been a while, but the good news is the Sheds have started rehearsing again (again?) - the bad news is that the Sheds have started rehearsing again. There are a couple of gigs coming up in December, so we thought we better re-acquaint ourselves with our ramshackled set list. Regular cries of “how does this one go again?” and “It starts on D… as in Dickhead” were heard from the studio as we stammered through 90 minutes of forgotten memories. Another couple of sessions and we will be tickety-boo!  

 

2nd August 2009

With three quarters of the band backing CLF at a wedding last night, we now come to rather a long sabatacle. There are a number of reasons for this, around health, work commitments, holidays and so on. We have a rather special private function to play at Christmas time, however until then, The Sheds are somewhat out of commission. We are in the meantime pursuing a potential acoustic option, but this may take a few weeks to get off the ground. In the meantime, we hope to see a few peeps around the town, and if you bump into any of us in the street, say “Hello Shedman!”

 

13th June 2009

1st June saw the band being featured in the local publication “Banter”. We gave an insight as to what it is like to play the Tent during TT week. We would urge all local followers of the music scene to get hold of a copy, and buy the mag each month -  available from all good newsagents. It’s a right riveting read, and always features articles on bands making a name for themselves on the island.

 

TT over for another year, and as ever, much to savour from this year’s festivities. Warming up at Jaks in practice week, a raucous last half hour at The Creek on the Tuesday of racer week, a well attended beach gig at Port Erin on the Thursday, and then the big one at Bushy’s Tent on Senior Race Day.  That Friday night gig was something else. A great atmosphere, a lively crowd, a strong performance from the band, and the gig being beamed live across the worldwide inter-web. Of the last three years playing on Senior Race Night in the tent, this was by far the best, and the whole band had a great time. Thanks to all who came down to our gigs over the TT festival and joined in the fun.

 

So what happens next, you may ask… how do you follow that? We have a few private parties in the offing and they are always a bit different, so roll on the summer

 

24th May 2009

TT is almost upon us. We had a warm up night at Jaks last night. What a fantasic atmosphere it was in there. The place was chokka at 9.30 when we went on. We had CLF on drums with us, as Sean is away, and the boy had a good night  -  having brought the majority of his work colleagues with him, which helped boost the attendance tremendously. There was a little disruption to our second set, when a regular follower of the band (no names mentioned, lets just call him Mike!) took a couple of tumbles on to the stage, and did his best to take the band down with him. Fortunately, only a cut lip and a few bruises ensued, but I guess we are grateful for the attention, and the interaction on stage, even if it was a little physical!

 

So TT beckons, with a follow up gig at Jaks during Practise Week, (with CLF once again providing drum support) followed by our usual program of Creek, PE Beach and the magnificent Bushy’s beer tent. Click on the red TT logo for details.

 

13th April 2009

Last night we played the Oskar’s Dream Charity night at the Old Friends Association. It was a fine old night with many acts turning up to do a turn. We weighed in with 45 minutes of high octane commercial punk, not before we had witnessed a new band on the block, “The filth and the fury” who appeared to be playing all the songs we either play, have played, should play, or were due to play later that evening. A quick re-arrange of the set list was in order, so that we didn’t repeat too much of what had been heard already!

 

The highlight of the evening was seeing our old friend Doylie winning a Shedmen t-shirt in the charity raffle. Now this was not any old t-shirt. It was actually worn the night The Shedmen first played Bushy’s tent  on the 8th June 2007. We naturally expected him to take it home and frame it, but not old Doylie, He had it on faster than you can say “Sweet Home Alabama” which he actually got up and sang at the end, with a few other musicians to top off the night. You can’t say fairer than that!

 

Next stop Jaks on 23rd May  -  we know it’s a long way off but  less is more on the gig front. It’s true to say that The Sheds have had more lunches this year than gigs, and we can be seen regularly in Route 66 enjoying a burger-fest

 

5th April 2009

It’s all been a bit quiet on the Shed front so far, during 2009. This has been down to a succession of holidays, trips across and work commitments, none of which have been connected to the band. We came back from hibernation on March 27th with a rip-roaring night at The Bay in Port Erin. It had been over 3 months since our last gig, but it was as if we had never been away. All the old favourites came out and we even managed an impromptu snippet of The Chain, to greet the new F1 season. Yes indeed, if the crowd want us to play a request badly enough, you can rest assured that the band will play such requests… badly enough.

 

Our next stop is a charity gig on Easter Sunday, in support of Oskars Dream, we will be there along with many other top IOM acts so come on down. We will be featuring surrogate drummer, CLF which will make for an interesting time, as he is keen to play our songs as close to the original as possible - something we all struggle with most of the time!

 

1st January 2009

Happy new year

You’ll notice (possibly) that the site has had a bit of a re-vamp. We’ve bought in a few more arty black and white pictures and removed one or two historic pages that weren’t getting the hits  -  notably the links page. A few things lined up for 2009  - some gigs still to be confirmed. Keep checking the “Next Gig” and “2009 Schedule” pages as they get updated regularly

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