End Of Year News 2011
Well it’s that time again folks! Another year over for us and everyone is getting ready for the annual festivities!
It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for us this year, and all things considered we’ve had another fantastic and successful year of gigging the pubs of Portsmouth and surrounding area’s.
2011 was our busiest year so far, performing no less than 34 times which brought our running total to 75 gigs! Needless to say, at some point next year, we will be celebrating our 100th performance. In anybody’s book, that ‘aint bad for a group of ‘fugleys’ that started out as a joke!
What’s even more encouraging, is the fact that we have 19 bookings for next year already, and that’s without some of our regular jaunts who have yet to contact us.
BAND NEWS
The biggest piece of news that affected the band this year was the leaving of our bass player, Jock “Kerrangutang” Matthews. He was with us for just over two years and decided that the increasing popularity of the band and subsequent bookings that followed were too much for him. He left to dedicate more time to his family and, word has it, has found himself a place in a ‘less busy’ Foo Fighters tribute band. To be fair, that style of music combined with his bearded rock look would suit him better and we wish him well for the future.
Needless to say, Jock leaving during the height of the summer did cause problems initially, but in true Kneeslider style, we managed to fulfil every gig and didn’t make any cancellations. We’d like to thank Mr Chaz Collett (who is always our first port of call but was extremely busy himself this year) and Andy Sills (known within the bikers as “Gendrix” - The Ginger Hendrix), for filling in on some last minute gigs.
Our biggest thanks however, along with sincere appreciation goes out to one Mr Jonathan Mackay of the recently disbanded “Cessna’s”. After a couple of practise sessions, Jon “Handsome Man” Mackay stepped in and did a superb job playing the bass at a fair few of our gigs. We soiled him, but our efforts to take him on full time were in vain due to him having other future plans with his former band mates. His loyalty is commendable and we respect his decision and wish him every success.
Speaking of fill-in bass players and The Cessna’s in the same paragraph, let’s not forget that guitar hero Mr Andy Gray of the Cessna’s also stepped in on a whim and did a fantastic job thumping the bass for us on one occasion. Being pushed out of his comfort zone and swapping his six string for a four, we soiled him too and by his own admission, he was “tempted” but declined an unofficial offer.
During this transitional period, we didn't really get the chance to learn as much material as we had hope as our saviours of bass were working hard to learn a fair few songs to keep us going. Interesting enough though, 2011 saw 12 new songs being filtered in bringing our new song count to nearly 70!
After a couple of further auditionees, we were contacted by Mr Neil Bertram via an advert placed with joinmyband.com. Neil is your typical “old school” muso with a wealth of gigging experience and fits nicely with the rest of the band. Bass talent aside, his sense of humour and ability to fart wherever he is without remorse qualified him to join us full time! Neil brings with him a unique style of playing which gels well with both Andy and Harley, and some fresh song ideas for the band. Please join us in welcoming him to the band and introduce yourself next time you see us.
So, what else has happened in the world of Kneeslider during 2011? Well, Andy, being the petrol head that he is, has finished rebuilding a further three more vehicles in his fifteen strong fleet; Beanz landed himself another management job and is doing well; Wayne has lots of new sound equipment to play with but the biggest news by far this year is that the baby of the band has finally tied the knot. Yep, sorry to break it to you ladies, but our very own chunky hunky Harley “Angus Jr” Elkins has married his beloved Heidi and is no longer on the menu!
Another highlight of ours this year was the successful mini-fest we organised in aid of the Rowans Hospice. Nicknamed “Loonies @ Loomies”, we provided live musical entertainment at Loomies Café with three other bands. Good friends of ours The Paparazzi; Gravel Rash and The Cessna’s.
Raising just shy of £1000 for our nominated charity, all members and helpers volunteered their time freely to support this worthy cause, and all proceeds from merchandise sales was also donated to The Rowans Hospice.
Leon and Jane, proprietors of Loomies Café allowed us to use their premises on August Bank Holiday. A bouncy castle was on site to entertain the children as well as face-painting in addition to a motorcycle reaction testing rig for the two wheel lovers amongst us.
CHARITY NEWS
The day started early with most of the bands and crew arriving at 8am. The weather looked dim but as the morning rolled into lunchtime, the weather favoured us. A lot went on behind the scenes to make this day possible and after a few teething problems with sound equipment all was well received by a large and supportive crowd. The Paparazzi kicked off with an hour of Mod and Brit-rock anthems, followed by Gravel Rash with their forty minutes of Contempory Alternative Rock. We, Kneeslider went on third with an hour of classic rock & punk and the last performance not only of the day, but for the band itself was The Cessna’s delivering over an hour of their finest covers. During the course of the day, each band member as they came off stage signed a T-shirt proudly worn by Mr John Baker and this was auctioned off.
Overall, the day was a success and we’d like to thank the following people for their support of the day: The Paparazzi (Darren, Murph, Si, Rich & Tim), Gravel Rash (Wulf, Sam, Fizz, Shaggy & Tom), The Cessna's (Tim, Andy, Robbie, Jon & Rich), Leon & Jane (Loomies Café), Access Legal (Brake reaction testing kit), Derek Pearce (Compere and providing the mobile stage care of Six-O-Transport), Simon & Cheesy (Deejay Si Entertainments sound equipment), Kimberley Mackey (Face Painter), John Baker (Photography), Wayne Barnett (Sound Technician), Kerry Hines, Sara Hill, Dil Drackett, Krissy Gray, Shirley Barnett, Pauline Hines (Charity Collections & Raffle Donations), Big ’n’ Bouncy (Bouncy castle) and most of all, the biggest thanks by far needs to go out to everybody who turned up to show their support. Not only for their favourite bands, but for dipping into their pockets and donating. Be it friends, family, fans, or inquisitive passers by, it is down to you that the day was a success! For that, we thank you all.
Watch this space people
we have had many enquiries already as to whether we will host another in 2012!
If we do, we’re counting on you to make it even bigger and better than before!
Aswell as our own mini festival at Loomies, we also appeared at two charity events at The Plough & Barleycorn this summer.
One was a biker day in aid of the Rowans Hospice, the other was a two day event raising money for Samuels Fund, a young local lad with Cerebral Palsy. Playing alongside other bands, both events proved successful with Jody & Claire of the Plough raising substantial amounts of cash for both causes!
We also made a guest appearance at the Bordon & Whitehill Town Partnership Christmas Fayre at the beginning of December. Again, this was well received with the possibility of future events in the area.
GROUPIE NEWS
In addition to our regular loyal followers, we have picked up even more new friends along the way this year.
Not only have these people taken the time to come and talk to us, they’ve attended gigs regularly which automatically qualifies them to be included on the Heroes & Groupies page of our website.
We’d like to welcome the following people who have joined the Kneeslider community this year:
Richard Bolton; Dian Sellers; Simon Thomas; Derek, Julie & Jo Pearce; Andy Gray; Darren Lewis; Muph Davies; Robbie Wilkes; Llew & Geoff Freckelton; Emma Holland; Nick Kelly, Marc Douglas and Sophie Tee!
We understand that publicans are busy and rarely return phone calls to bands. To be fair they probably get hundreds of bands trying to book dates with them.
Most of the pubs we play have either called us to cover a cancellation, or have had us recommended to them. Unfortunately, quite a few of the pubs we have visited to try and secure further gig dates have either forgotten about us, or changed ownership and not heard of us yet!!
That's where you come in!
For over a year now we have been running a little incentive called “Knees-Up”.
In simple terms, anyone who secures us a gig in a pub to which we get paid, will earn a free drink from each member of the band. That’s five free drinks to get you started on your night out! Ideally, the pubs we’re after are the ones where we've played before and despite promising, have never called us back, or new venues offering live entertainment.
We have made this process even easier now with the introduction of our mobile phone friendly website, plus lots of promotional material added to the main site which can be downloaded.
Did you know that if you have an internet enabled smart phone such as i-phone or Android, that you can go into a pub, with our new mobile website, check our availability and book us online there and then without needing to contact anybody? Awesome huh!
If you drink in any of the following venues, save our App as a favourite on your phone and give it a go! - Free booze if you succeed!
The Admiral Drake Portsmouth, The Jolly Sailor Portsmouth, The Portsbridge Cosham, The Green Posts Hilsea, The Castle In The Air Fareham, The Vine Gosport, The Golden Eagle Southsea, The Wheelwrights Havant, The Swan Woolston, The White Hart Gosport, The Woodman Purbrook, The Pelham Arms Portsmouth, The Tap Portsmouth, The Barley Mow Gosport, The Coach & Horses Hilsea, The Fountain Chichester, The Globe Chichester, The Pheonix Southsea, The Bird In Hand Fareham, The Brass Monkey Fareham.
Contact cards, posters, postcards etc are all available for download on our main website. Simply look for the “Free Beer” logo and click it! - Demo discs can be provided if necessary but by far the best promotion is word of mouth. If you've seen us play before, we need you to nag your landlord or landlady. It's the only way!
WEBSITE NEWS
Now with over 11000+ visits, our award winning website has seen another overhaul this year. With easier navigation and clearer content we feel we have dramatically improved the visitors experience!
When was the last time you checked it out? Visit www.kneeslider.net and tell us what you think! Why not leave us some feedback?
Keeping up with the times we have also launched a faster loading mobile phone version for those who browse on the move. Built with simplicity and promotion in mind, it offers the “bare essentials” including band information, gig schedule, previews, song lists aswell as online booking and availability checking.
Got a smartphone? Visit www.mobile.kneeslider.net and check it out!
Another pioneering idea is our very own QR code.
You may see this on gig posters and other promotional material such as cards etc and it has proved to be a valuable tool.
People can scan this code with their phone and be directed directly to a connection hub containing all of the various internet links about us. Got a smartphone? Go on try it and scan the code - you'll be impressed!
Realizing that not all of our community have internet access, 2011 also saw the introduction of our SMS gig update service.
Simply text “W9TM9” to 60777 and you will receive free notifications direct to your phone!
Well ...... We think that's about it!
Thanks for taking the time to have a look and read our update! We hope you enjoy reading it, and don’t forget, if you’d like to feedback anything about our performances; our websites or communication methods, please feel free to contact us either through the site or directly at info@kneeslider.net. There is also the option to contact band members individually on a personal level should you wish to do so!
Even if you don’t make use of our updates, there may be someone out there who would, and hasn’t heard of us yet!
Please continue to spread the word about……
KNEESLIDER
All that remains, is to thank all of you who have continued to show your support for us, whether you're an avid gig goer, a friend of the band or just simply liked us on Facebook, we appreciate and love you all and look forward to seeing you in 2012!
Have a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!
Beanz Harley Andy Neil Wayne
Kerry & Shirl
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