Happy new year 2023

2022 Round-up. 2023 Preview.

Having had such a great 2022 I thought I’d do a little round-up of what The TR5’s got up to, and what we have got to look forward to in 2023.

So, here goes……

2022 started for us with a little low-key gig at Finn’s local pub. It was standing room only with some unfortunate people not being able to squeeze in and see us. It was a great start to the year though and a sign that we were destined for bigger and better things. Next up followed gigs in Farnham (where over-excited people danced on the tables), Basingstoke (where we arrived early to rehearse up several new songs for our sets), Woking, Liphook, Woking again (with our friends Nefarious Picaroons supporting and Little Al DJ’ing) before finishing the first 3 months of the year with a packed-out support slot to the wonderful The Hawkmen at The Star in Guildford. We were growing all the time, in stature and indeed in confidence.

April saw us gig in Blackwater before a little road-trip down to Hastings to play at the magnificent Hastings Beatles Day event at the lovely (and big!) White Rock Theatre. This was memorable for Roger Daltrey from The Who being in the audience. As we came off stage the organizer bounded into the dressing room to exclaim “You’ll never guess who’s in the audience and has been intensely enjoying your set, Roger Daltrey from The Who!!” Sure enough, when we had packed up and got out into the main auditorium there he was. What an honour to have him watching us rock. We then continued with gigs in Badshot Lea and Binfield (where we fought with a ‘disco’ in the room next door!!) before April came to a finish with a support slot to The Jam’D at the world-famous 100 Club in London. An amazing venue and such a great feeling to take the stage there.

In May we recorded some new tracks at a studio in Bracknell for forthcoming vinyl releases on Ridgemount Records (out in 2023!) and we played gigs in Tadley (with the amazing Johnny Marvel’s Blues Groove) and returned to the club in Farnham where we had played our debut gig in 2020. We started June and the festival season with main stage festival appearances in Grayshott and Merrist Wood before squeezing in a care home gig and finishing the Jubilee bank holiday weekend with a main stage headline set at the Bracknell Festival which saw a whole field of dancing (including yours truly!) June then finished with a main stage appearance at the Rock Bottom Festival in Marlow where our whole set was broadcast live on Marlow FM.

July continued with main stage festival appearances in Haslemere, Bisley and Aldershot intertwined with marquee gigs in Churt and Farnham (another event with a lot of dancing on tables!) By this time, we were really in our stride and wooing audiences wherever we went. Next came a little gig before an outdoor cinema for Rusty and Lucky and continued with fabulous festival appearances in Newbury, Tilford (possibly the largest and best crowd we have played to so far) and Farnborough with an impromptu set at a private party in Normandy in there as well.

Then came a support to our friends The Jexit (all the way from Japan), another festival in Tilford (followed straight after by an awesome photoshoot with some vintage cars) and a rabble-rousing set at a Princes Hall charity night in Aldershot before returning to Basingstoke and an outdoor Harley Davidson event in Reading. Then came a festival in Tongham and a social club in Guildford as we drew September to a close.

By this time, we were writing more original songs and adding them in to our sets to great acclaim. Another step up for The TR5’s! In October we were delighted to play at the awesome Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues night in Wardour Street, London. A club that has now been running for over 40 years and has been played at and attended by everyone from Meghan Markle to Paloma Faith and Jarvis Cocker. A night that normally only has 1 band on saw 3 bands take to the stage (friends of Gaz’s being added to the bill) so it was almost 1am when we took to the stage but that didn’t put anyone off, the place was still packed and rocking. What a night! We also played the main room of a great rock ‘n’ roll club in Shepperton in October.

As the end of 2022 drew nearer, we again played with The Jam’D (at the lovely Harlington in Fleet) and were delighted to play on board Paul McCartney’s recently refurbished 1972 Wings Tour Bus, when it was exhibited for the first time at the NEC in Birmingham. What a day that was! The year finished with another jam-packed gig (excuse the obvious pun!) supporting The Jam’D in Southampton. It was a fitting finale to a fabulous year!

So, what does 2023 have in store……

Well, a return to Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues, a support slot to the mighty Dr Feelgood in Guildford, a club gig in Winchester, great music events in Bordon and Farnham, a pub back-room gig in Tongham, a festival gig in Winchester, a 60’s night in Bracknell, a support to another Jam-tribute in Kensington, a community café gig in Woking, an all-day Ukrainian Fundraiser in Reading, Alfold Rock & Blues Festival and a festival in Elvetham Heath. We then head to Liverpool for a whole weekend of gigs in August as part of the incredible International Beatleweek. This will see us support former Beatle drummer Pete Best & his band at the Casbah Club as well as playing several gigs at the Cavern Club, a party at George Harrison’s childhood home, the barbers in Penny Lane and whatever else we can fit in while we’re there. Our accommodation is booked and we’re chomping at the bit to get there. The culmination of 4 years hard work.

We then have a beer festival in Sherfield-On-Loddon and a gig at the prestigious Dublin Castle in Camden (supporting our friends The Collective AKA) in September and October to look forward to.

So, at the time of writing that is what we have confirmed for 2023.

The vinyl releases will emerge this year on Ridgemount Records, so that is something to look forward to. We will also be shooting a video for the popular Bopflix Sessions on YouTube, which will see us reach a huge amount of new people. There will be more gigs as well…… we still have possible gigs with John Lennon’s original Quarrymen, a Smiths tribute band, more Jam-tribute bands (their audiences seem to like us) and returns to some of the great festivals we played in 2022 yet to confirm. It is sure to be another fabulous year for The TR5’s.

Happy new year. See you out there!

- Lucky

Wings Bus, NEC Birmingham

Wings Bus, NEC, Birmingham - Saturday 12th November 2022.

Back in the days of the first UK lockdown (2020) I was trying to think outside the box and look at different ways to promote the band. We had only really started just before the lockdown (doing a few gigs) before everything ground to a halt. I didn’t want the band to lose the small amount of momentum that we had built up with our first few gigs.

So, when I read an article online about Paul McCartney’s 1972 Wings Tour Bus being rescued from rotting away, I was most intrigued. The person who had bought it (the wonderful Tom Jennings) fully planned to restore the bus to its former glory and get it back on the road. There was a postal address in the article. I decided I would send a nice letter and a CD of TR5’s tunes expressing our interest in the bus and offering our services to play live music at any events the bus goes to. I didn’t think much would come of it.

However, not long after sending the letter I received a phone call from Tom, he was overjoyed to receive the CD and personal letter and he loved what The TR5’s is all about. We talked for ages, mainly about his plans for the bus and how he was going to have a stage on the top deck for live music at events. Perfect. We kept in touch.

Fast forward 2 years and Tom has been keeping me up-to-date with the progress of the restoration of the bus. He tells me it will be ready to be exhibited at the NEC in Birmingham and he would very much like The TR5’s to be a part of the event and play on board the top deck. Fantastic. We agree on which day we will be playing and the ball starts rolling.

We start the advertising and as the day nears, we’re contacted by our friend Logan Paul Murphy-The Beatles Boy, a very talented 16-year-old lad from Cumbria who I have played on my Lucky’s Lost Beatles radio show several times. He’s had the foresight to contact the bus owner to ask if he can play on board as well. Tom says it’s okay with him but he needs to check with us first. We say this is absolutely fine as the times he wants to play won’t interfere with ours and he can even play a song or 2 with us if he likes. We discuss ideas for songs he can sing and settle on at least one great choice. We’ll rehearse it on the day we say.

The day arrives and Richey, Finn and I set off nice and early with a car load of equipment. We’re taking some PA bits just in case. Tom has told us that there is a PA there but we want to be sure nothing gets left to chance. A very painless and full-of-banter 2-and-a-half-hour journey ensues (with only one comfort break) and we arrive at the NEC. Eventually. After being sent from one entrance to another we finally make it to the door in which we can unload right near the bus.

Ted has arrived at the same time as us and Rusty is already here so we set about quickly unloading and saying our hellos to Tom and some of the bus restorers. Everybody is really nice. It’s quickly noted that we won’t actually use our speakers although we can plug our mixer in to what is already there to play through that. We set about setting everything up.

With everything plumbed in and fully working we have a quick run-through downstairs with Logan of the song we’ve decided to play with him and then we’re on. After months and months of hard work from all concerned, we’re off and running, playing live on top of Paul McCartney’s 1972 Wings Over Europe open top tour bus! We’re loving this.

But……….then we’re told to turn down. There are other exhibitors nearby and as it wasn't possible to do a soundcheck we have to be considerate with the volume. It takes a little while, but after a few adjustments the sound is balanced, the band settle in and we are told that the sound is perfect, so we go a'rockin' and a'rollin'. We’re playing 3 sets today of all songs that are related to the Beatles, be that actual Beatles songs or songs that they covered in their early days. People are stopping to listen, to dance and there are literally thousands of people milling about. This is great fun. We reach the end of the first set and Logan steps up to sing “The One After 909” with us and what a great job he does too. Excellent.

We then clear the stage and Logan does a set on his own while we’re having our photos taken around the bus by our resident photographer Mark. We do actually get to watch some of Logan’s set but it’s clear he’s having trouble projecting the sound from the top of the bus because of the volume restrictions. It’s a bit different with a band but his guitar and voice are just getting lost on their own. He battles on though, and the crowds love him. He takes a break.

He then decides not to do his second set on top of the bus, instead he serenades people who have come to see him standing next to the bus. Up close and personal. This goes down great and he generates a crowd of people all singing and clapping along. Great stuff.

Logan then heads off to another gig and we chill out before our 2nd and 3rd sets. Well, I say chill out, we’ve actually found some Triumph stalls so we set off to have some photos taken with the only TR5 in the building. They’re rare y’know!

Then it’s back to sets 2 and 3 and now that the levels are all sorted, we get on with doing what we do best, having fun on stage and putting on a show. We play longer, just because we can and because the crowds are stopping to appreciate what we do. Tom even tells us afterwards that some people who had sat downstairs during our set had remarked “This bus is really rocking!” However, all good things come to an end and before we know it, we’re done.

We mingle around the bus before we start packing up and we meet people from all over the world – Wales (Swansea), Australia (Perth) and from all corners of the UK. We get asked for a lot of business cards as well, so we duly hand them out. So much good is coming out of today, we’ve had an absolute blast playing on board this historical bus, we’ve been honoured in fact. We do like to do things a bit differently and the memories of this fab day out will linger for a long time.

Richey, Finn and I then enjoy more banter on the journey home, still buzzing from everything that has happened.

Thanks to all concerned. Definitely a day out The TR5’s won’t forget.

- Lucky

Weyfest, Tilford

Weyfest, Tilford - Saturday 20th August 2022.

Sometimes when you’re a gigging band everything falls into place. It’s so lovely when it happens. This gig was one of those occasions.

Weyfest has fast become one of our areas biggest and best festivals with its family friendly, dog friendly ethic with a wide array of local and international talent on offer across several stages. Not to mention the great range of food and drinks stalls.

Last year we were lucky enough to be asked to play the indoor Rustic Stage (essentially an acoustic stage) by acoustic curator Vic Cracknell. We had an absolute ball closing the Saturday night. They even had to turn people away from seeing us.

Fast forward to this year and we are delighted to have been upgraded and booked to play on the larger outdoor Old Kiln Stage. This is a delightful stage tucked into the woods.

Sandy and I arrive first on the day with honorary TR5'er Poppy Popstar (our 14-month-old Cavapoo). We have a little mooch around, grab a coffee and a copy of the programme and proceed to set up seats in front of the mixing desk in the Old Kiln Stage area. It’s pretty busy.

The rest of the band arrive and we share Zeros (alcohol-free beers) while we wait to get set up and play. The quality of acts at Weyfest is always good and Jana Varga, who plays while we set up backstage, is no exception. A fabulous voice.

Then it’s our turn. We set up in the blistering sun and we’re ready to rock. By this time the crowd in front of the stage has swelled to bursting point. It’s absolutely packed! We start early so as not to keep the crowd waiting and boy, are we glad we did.

The crowd just goes for it, right from the start! There’s singing and dancing as far as we can see and it’s no exaggeration to say that everyone in the field is grinning from ear-to-ear and enjoying what we do. Us included. We’re on cloud nine.

But then disaster strikes! Richey’s amp goes down. He’s fiddling with it and several tech guys appear from everywhere trying to help out but it’s not coming back to life. Thankfully the band that are playing after us offer to lend Richey an amp. So, while he’s getting that in place Rusty pulls out an off-the-cuff acapella version of Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” to keep the momentum going. To say she has the crowd eating out of her hand would be doing her a disservice. The crowd simply watch in awe with spontaneous clapping starting to take place. Finn and I join in with that while the amp is swapped. Then, when Rusty has finished the applause is deafening.

Sometimes when equipment fails it can break a gig, but Rusty’s quick thinking and great vocal powers has absolutely made this one. The audience are totally on our side.

We finish our set and the cheers and applause seem to ring out forever. There’s no time for an encore unfortunately, but we have had simply the best gig so far of our short career.

Playing the long game while we are building up our following and the awareness of The TR5’s is proving very fruitful 😊

- Lucky

100 Club, London

100 Club, London - Saturday 23rd April 2022.

As followers of The TR5’s will know, I host 3 different radio shows on 2 radio stations. Whilst doing this I get sent and get to hear some great new music now and again. This happened with a studio project called Bus Stop Lovers. I got sent the first album. This is the originals project of one Dave Fletcher, lead singer of Jam tribute band The Jam’d. I played some Bus Stop Lovers on my radio shows, I played some Jam’d too. Dave and I got talking. I saw that The Jam’d had a gig coming up at the legendary 100 Club in London. “Any chance The TR5’s can support?” I asked, it being a very prestigious venue that we would love to play at. Dave checks out our Facebook page and comes back straight away, “Yeah, I don’t see why not” he says. We’re in!

Valentine kindly agrees to give me a lift to Finn’s house on the day of the gig. We load up and head to the rendezvous point. Upon arriving we are greeted by Finn in his work clothes. “I’m off for a quick shower” he says. Valentine and I unload his car and he heads off. Richey arrives soon after. We start to load his car up and Finn arrives back, fully dressed and gig ready. We’re just about to drive away when our exit is blocked by a local fire crew. They’re investigating the huge fire on the ranges behind Finn’s house. They say it’s significant but they have it under control. That explains all the smoke outside my house 2 miles away!

We hit the road and despite the odd recalculation of the Sat Nav we’re soon on the familiar route of the A3 in to London. The journey is smooth and painless until we get nearer to the centre of town and then we just slow right down to a crawl. The joys of driving in Central London! It takes us about an hour and a half all told but eventually we find the stage door entrance to the venue. We’ve arrived just after Ted too.

We’ve already been warned about the 3 flights of stairs to get down to the venue so we know what to expect as we unload the cars. Richey and Ted head off to their allotted car parking spaces as Finn and I lug the stuff down. The Jam’d have finished their soundcheck so we say hello to soundman Phil and set about setting stuff up around The Jam’d’s gear. The stage is nice and long so we decide the best place for Ted to set up his drums is at the end. We’re taking a break from our normal 3-1-1 formation to go for a 4-1 set-up with Finn just behind.

We really are walking in hallowed footsteps at this venue. I chat with the guys from The Jam’d and it really is such a pleasure to meet another band who like a bit of banter and who have a great sense of humour. We love that! Within 5 minutes we’re all taking the mickey out of each other! This is going to be such a great evening.

Rusty soon arrives and we run through a couple of quick songs to soundcheck. Straight away the sound is great. Phil clearly knows what he is doing. With everyone happy we take the chance for photo opportunities. We pose on the stage in front of the big 100 and then outside the front door under the 100 Club sign. Ricky and Patti take the photos and we’re well chuffed with how they look.

There’s still an hour before show time so, as everyone else decides to go for food, Richey and I decide to head to a local pub for an alcohol-free beer and to keep an eye on the football scores. His team is playing. They draw 0-0. My team had won 3-1 earlier in the day so I am happy. The pub we’re in is heaving but it was good to find a seat and chill out away from the venue for a bit.

Richey and I then head back to the gig. We’re greeted by a queue of people waiting to get in. It’s not quite time for the doors to open yet though. We sheepishly walk past them and make our way down the stairs and in to the venue. Security guys greet us and furnish us with wristbands and we head to the bar again before hanging out in the dressing room briefly for more banter with The Jam’d (honestly Dave, I didn’t turn your fan up to 2!) Not really ones to enjoy hanging around backstage we head out front again to witness a steady stream of people coming down the stairs and in to the venue. Before we know it, the place is packed.

With everyone back and fed and watered it’s time for us to take the stage. We go straight in to ‘Hello World’ and we are really rocking. I look around from the stage to a sea of people smiling and loving what we do. Each song we play is greeted with huge roars of approval. There’s lots of dancing too. The Jam’s music was inherently built on 60’s sounds so it is no surprise that the audience are loving what we’re doing. We’re loving this too!

With time running out I realise that we’re going to need to drop a song from the set, the last thing we want to do is overrun our time. I shout across the stage “Let’s go on to ‘Do You Wanna Dance’ “. Ted just looks at me blankly. Ah, of course, he’s got his ear plugs in. I sidle across the stage and explain the plan. Everyone else is made aware too. ‘Do You Wanna Dance’ really rocks, the whole place is rocking now and the applause at the end of each song is almost deafening, even with ear plugs in!

We finish our set with ‘Slow Down’, it’s an old Larry Williams song that The Beatles covered (we play their version really!) but The Jam recorded it on their debut LP as well. It’s a real crowd pleaser. The place is really rocking. I’m dripping in sweat too (No, Dave from The Jam’d, I didn’t turn your fan up to 2!) but that’s it! It’s all over. We’re on a tight schedule tonight so there’s no time for an encore. We depart the stage to huge cheers of approval.

With everything packed and out of the way, we settle down with more alcohol-free beers to watch The Jam’d. Many people approach us to say how much they enjoyed our set, we’re really buzzing, this whole place is really buzzing.

The Jam’d hit the stage and go straight into ‘In The City’ and what follows is a set of Jam songs played with power and passion by a band that clearly loves the band that they are a tribute to. As the only known Jam tribute band on the circuit with a brass section their choice of songs includes some not often heard classics like ‘Tales From The Riverbank’ and ‘Just Who Is The 5 O’ Clock Hero’ (dedicated to John Weller on the anniversary of his passing). The banter in-between the songs is plentiful and the whole set has been a real pleasure to witness from start to finish. Amazing.

Richey and Ted then head off to get the cars and then we set about loading our equipment out, up the 3 flights of stairs! We’re still buzzing though, so we don’t care!

The venue has pretty much emptied out at this point so we say our thanks and goodbyes to soundman Phil and the guys from The Jam’d. “Aren’t you going to stay and help us load our gear out?” asks John from The Jam’d. “No” I say straight-faced, “We’ve done ours”. Oh yes, the banter has been good tonight!

With that, we’re out of there. Our first gig at the one and only 100 Club is done. Let’s hope we can do it again sometime. Finn and I jump in to Richey’s car and we’re back out in to the London traffic. It’s heading towards midnight now as we crawl past Carnaby Street and there appears to be an inordinate amount of people still out and about at this time of night. Many of them are scantily clad females causing Finn to remark “Blimey, it’s like Newcastle”!! We crawl past the stage entrance of the London Palladium too. Outside which there is a lot of people hanging around. “I wonder what’s been going on at the Palladium tonight” I muse in the car, “Dogging” says Richey. Finn and I guffaw and the tears of laughter roll down my face. Classic. What an excellent night all round.

- Lucky

The Star Inn, Guildford

The Star Inn, Guildford - Friday 4th March 2022.

In 2021 we had some great support slots (Dr Feelgood, Showaddywaddy, Geno Washington) so it is really good to be able to continue 2022 in that same vein. Having released our debut double A-side 7” vinyl single of 2 original tracks (Mr Lucky / Rock ‘N’ Roll Good Times) in December 2021 it was great to be announced as the support act to the superb up and coming rock ‘n’ roll / soul band “The Hawkmen” at The Star in Guildford. A great, proper venue on the gigging circuit. This was something we always felt we could do, be a functioning covers band but also an originals band with kudos as well. They seem to be blending together effortlessly currently.

In the lead up to the gig Ted puts together a banger of a 45-minute set list and we start to look forward to what we think will be an amazing gig. Lucky plays tunes by “The Hawkmen” on his rockabilly radio show too. We’re well up for this. Advance ticket sales have been very good as well.

Finn and I arrive first, just as soundman Nick pulls up too. He recognises me from many years back. It’s going to be one of those nights I think as promoter Chris and I used to put on gigs many years back as well.

Finn and I start to unload as Richey arrives and we load all our gear in while Nick goes about setting up all the stage microphones. “The Hawkmen” are already here and have set up on stage. They’re just milling about, killing time. We say hello and head off to get a round of drinks in. Finn’s friends arrive just in time to make the round and they settle down in the bar. Richey and I head back to the gig room and are soon joined by Ted.

“The Hawkmen” soundcheck and sound amazing, their live set is going to be just as amazing as their recorded stuff we think.

Then it’s our turn to soundcheck and Rusty arrives just in time. We run through a couple of numbers (with Finn having to change over leads) and then we have to abandon the soundcheck because Chris needs to open the doors. There’s a lot of people waiting to get in. We’re pretty happy with the soundcheck though. We jump off stage to greet the people filing in, there’s a few who have come specially to see us. We like that. There’s even a couple of guys here who were at our Woking ‘village hall’ gig a couple of weeks back. This is great. We’re picking up fans all the time.

Stage time comes and we go for it. With Ted’s well written set list it isn’t long before people are dancing and singing along. Opener “Hello World” really grabs people’s attentions and we have them right where we want them. Lots of great banter on (and off) stage ensues throughout the rest of the set and, despite having to cut some songs for fear of over-running, we have had the greatest time. We’ve played really well. We’re very happy. We leave the stage to huge cheers and lots of applause.

Equipment duly stored away, brows well and truly mopped and thirsts definitely quenched we relax in the audience, ready to watch “The Hawkmen” do their stuff. They don’t disappoint. 3 Very talented musicians and the fabulous lead vocals combine to create an effortlessly cool mix of rockabilly and northern soul and they leave the crowd breathless with their energy. There’s no airs and graces with these guys. They clearly love what they do (as do DJ’s like Craig Charles) and they’re very good at it. This shows. Great stuff.

Post gig we buy vinyl and cd’s from “The Hawkmen” stall and we wish them well for the rest of their tour. Tonight has been superb all round.

- Lucky