They played on words, too!

When we early Shads fans got our hands on the group's first LP ("The Shadows" - 1961), we were amused and delighted by some of the track names:  "See You in My Drums"; "Nivram" ("Marvin" backwards), "Shadoogie" and "Theme from a Filleted Place" (think "Summer" and "Plaice"). The Shadows' name games would continue over their recording career with titles like "Stars Fell on Stockton" (not Alabama), "Rhythm and Greens", "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Arthur" and many more.

Here are Pete and Graham {fooling around at rehearsal), "Strato-nising" on that fishy "Theme". Polka Time!
 
  

Tracking our covers...

 

Here are a few more covers of early Shadows' tracks (1960-62)  - once again captured live and "in the rough" on Al's pocket recorder during a garage rehearsal:

Always wun for a pun...

 

While eagerly awaiting some more rehearsal trax from Alistair, decided to have some PhotoShop fun with our images. OK, the Strat's a bit oversize but had to cover up a Lee Enfield 303 being held by Capt. (Betti) Mainwaring. Also, Garry's not that short and Al's not that tall.

Wonder if this pic will help get us some RSA club gigs (or get us blacklisted forever)?

Have a dekko at my new 'deco'

 

GG here. Just had to share a visual of the gorgeous amp that arrived at my place, today, from down-country. It's not quite new, but it's nowhere near as vintage as the styling might suggest (built in China, 2009). It's also rather large for a 1 x 12-inch speaker combo amp, and incredibly heavy - like, heavier than some 2 x 12-inch amps I've owned (roadie recruitment underway).

Epiphone, known today as a quality sub-brand of Gibson, was originally a musical instrument-manufacturing family business that started in Turkey in 1873 and moved Stateside with the owner-operator in 1903. It started manufacturing very good and quite unique-looking guitar amps in 1935. Seventy years later, in 2005, Gibson Labs introduced the E-series lineup, which included this Triggerman 60W DSP 112 - all with distinctive deco/retro cosmetic styling.

Rich, powerful and handsome, you could say it's the great GATsby of Gat Amps (now, all I need to go with it is a 'red Ford').  

"Yeee...hawww!"

  

So, the other day, at a Shadz rehearsal in the "Garriage" (Garry's garage), Alistair plonked down this little hand-held recorder amidst the amps and drumkit - no mixing desk, no placed mics, no balancing or post-mixing/fixing...nothing. Here's one of the tracks we were working on - in fact, it was our first attempt at this 'stampede' called "Big Boy" (Welch/Marvin) from The Shadows' 1961 debut album..

"In the Country"

 

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, MAY 10-12, 2013

Karen Davy Band at Bay of Islands Country-Rock Festival, featuring the "rhythm section" of The Shadz (Al, Garry, Graham), working with Karen, Linde Walker (Backing Vocals), Keri Betti (Harmonica-playing frontman of Indigo Blue) and Ken Strong (Lead Guitar, Vocals and Musical Direction). We were comfortably accommodated at the Haruru Falls Resort, checking-in Friday afternoon ahead of our first gig - later that evening at Hotel Tanoa Paihia.

Haruru Falls from the deck

First gig (Friday. May 10, 2013) at Hotel Tanoa Paihia

The weather forecast for the weekend had been "rain, rain, rain" but it was wrong. In fact, after cresting the Brynderwyn Hills, the only weather problem some of us encountered was sun-strike making it hard to see the road ahead to the Bay of Islands.

Saturday dawned sunny and mild as we assembled/set-up in front of the Information Centre at Paihia Wharf for a 2-hour stint (9.30-11.30 am), which went very well. Good audiences all morning, and even a photo-journalist from the Northland Age/Northern Advocate, so we had a photo featured in the papers' website slideshow.

Karen, Ken and Graham at Paihia Wharf (Sat. morning), captured by Northland Age photographer

Karen Davy Band (lunchbreak photo-op) at Paihia Wharf, Sat. May 11, 2013.
Standing, l-r: Graham Gibson, Garry Betti, Karen Davy, Keri Betti, Alistair Taylor
Seated: Linde Walker, Ken Strong

 The weekend's third gig involved driving to Opua, a car-ferry crossing to Okiato and a short drive on to Russell, where we performed at the grand ol' Duke of Marlborough Hotel. Then, all the way back to Paihia to get ready for.
.
...Paihia Pacific Resort Hotel, where we were set to follow that great entertainer Dennis Marsh. Our band really "hit its straps" in this gig - just felt tight-and-right.

Paihia Pacific (Sat. May 11, 2013).
L-R: Alistair Taylor, Keri Betti, Linde Walker, Garry Betti, Karen Davy, Ken Strong, Graham Gibson

 
Sunday evening at the TMO Sports Bar (ex-Cruza Bar) was supposed to be our final gig, but we managed to add one more performance at the "musos' wrap" party at Haruru Falls before joining in the general "jam session". All in all, a great weekend (with splendid weather).

Haruru Falls Resort "wrap party" (Sun. May 12, 2013)

Belated Update:

 

Amazing what you can fake with PhotoShop, eh!

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2013
 
The Shadz+Shane performance at the Blockhouse Bay 'End of Summer Blues' Festival went really well (and went down well, according to crowd feedback), It was a blast having Shane (complete with pink jacket made for him by the Sir Cliff NZ fan club a few years ago) working with us on a great set of Cliff & Shadows numbers.



SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Next up was the Variety Artists Club day/night show, 'Shakin' the Chev' at Pt Chevalier RSA. The afternoon kicked off with a rousing rock'n'roll dancing session led by a rocking 'no-name' band which just happened to feature all four Shadz members plus songstress Karen Davy and her collaborator Ken Strong (guitar/vocals/musical direction). No prior rehearsals, just a full-on jam that felt and sounded great! First "name" act of the day was the irrepressible, always impressive Marian Burns with a typically crowd-pleasing set.

Then came the formal set by the Karen Davy Band (Karen plus Ken Strong on lead guitar and vocals, Linde Walker on BVs, and Shadz members Alistair Taylor on bass, Garry Betti on drums and Graham Gibson on rhythm guitar). After an intensive rehearsal programme, this was a valuable dress rehearsal for the band's upcoming appearances at the Bay of Islands Country-Rock Festival (10-12 May).

After a quick-change for three of us, The Shadz+Shane stepped out for our set. This was really well received and we got a lot of very positive comments afterwards. Once again, drummer Garry Betti was working overtime, anchoring the first three bands and staying on to power Indigo Blue, which was the next act on the bill. Finally, Shane & Band rocked the show to an after-dark close. Excellent event and a useful fund-raiser for the VAC.

"Move It!" - Shane & The Shadz "Shakin' the Chev" (frame capture from compressed video clip)

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, MAY 10-12, 2013

A couple of weeks later, Garry, Al and Graham were on the road to Paihia to perform six gigs as members of the above-mentioned Karen Davy Band. More on that, and a few pics, to come...     

 

Sha-Sha-Sharing the spotlight

 

We decided that, since the legendary vocalist 'Shane' is gonna be on the Blockhouse Bay Festival bill - with his own band - we should invite him to perform some :Sir Cliff" numbers with us. And, being a big Cliff/Shads fan, he agreed. So, we've had a couple of workouts and it sounds great! If you're going to Blockhouse Bay Primary School for tomorrow's (Sat. April 6) "End of Summer Blues Festival", make sure you catch this at around 4.30 pm:

 

"Whau!" There is a cure for the Summer's Gone blues...

In between photo-ops, The Shadz have been rehearsing hard for our third* hit-out of 2013, as part of the entertainment line-up for the Blockhouse Bay (Auckland) 'End of Summer Blues Music Festival', set to "rock the Westies" on Saturday, April 6 at Blockhouse Bay Primary School. Also appearing are Shane, Indigo Blue and many more acts - all with a local connection. Hope to see you there!

*We started 2013 bright and early with a loooong, HOT day's/evening's work up north at the '2013 Matakohe Music & Arts Festival' (in home territory for our bassman Alistair) on Saturday, January 5, in the beautiful grounds of a restored 1890s villa - now a home-stay. Besides appearing as The Shadz, we backed longish sets by Paul TT, Karen Davey and Tom Sharplin. Garry, as drummer for both The Shadz and Indigo Blue - whose powerful set gave at least three of us some welcome respite - was on-stage almost non-stop.

*Gig #2, on Friday, Feb. 15, was a little closer to home but still north of Auckland city limits  - a mainly outdoor wedding on a stunning riverside estate at Matakana. By bridal request, Pete and Graham strapped on acoustic guitars and trilled versions of Lenny Cohen's 'Hallelujah' and Chris Knox's '(Love) Not Given Lightly' for the ceremony on the lawn. Then, back to the amps and PA on the patio of the magnifique Provencale-style mansion, where we rocked the young and old guests through the sudden rain and on until 'round midnight - even though the disco guy was supposed to start much earlier.

 First photo-sesh: Thursday 14 March 2013

 

"EYEZZZ...

 ...FRONT!"

 Alistair Taylor (Bass), Peter Wallace (Lead Gtr), Garry Betti (Drums), Graham Gibson (2nd Gtr)