Tasty 'Tango' TV teaser

'Shane & Shadz Surfari' rolls on - Mangawhai Tavern

Tux return - back to Silverdale RSA

Back on the 'Planet' and helping Kidney Kids

Wood'n'hearts

Tom-tom Betti & The Heartstarters?

Happy Birthday, Shane!

Rockin' in the isle!

Waiheke Island recalls NZ's favourite '60s TV pop show with a lineup of legends.

The gig of all Mothers!

Fantastic, packed, rockin' Mothers' Day gig at The Boat House, Riverhead Tavern, Auckland on Sunday, May 11, 2014. Shane, Peter Wallace, Graham Gibson with excellent support from last-minute ring-ins Mark (bass) and Richard (drums), Looking forward to returning to this classy, picturesque venue in the near future!

  

"Rockin' the Planet"

Episode 1 of the new TV music magazine show fronted by Shane Hales - featuring The Shadz + Shane; and Karen Davy and Ken Strong of "Dreams - the Fleetwood Mac Experience" (incl. Shadz bass guitarist Alistair Taylor and drummer Garry Betti..

Won't you let us take you on a Sea Cruise?

Shane-Shadz 'Surfin' Safari' rocks'n'rolls on...

This Sat. 'Hitz at the Citz' - Tauranga

"Rockin' the Planet!"

The Shadz helped Shane get his upcoming music TV show ready to roll with a 60-minute set at the Auckland Commerce Club on Friday 21 March.

Also on the bill for the first show in the series were Karen Davy and Ken Strong fronting "Dreams - the Fleetwood Mac Experience" with our own Alistair Taylor and Garry Betti on bass and drums.

Here are a couple of pics from the event...

Shane/Shadz show shoot

The Shadz will be helping Shane get his new TV music show rollin', this Friday night.

Also featuring - in front of an invited live audience - our good buddy Karen Davy fronting "Dreams - the Fleetwood Mac Experience", complete with costumes, set, lighting effects and a brilliant tribute band led by guitar man Ken Strong. 

Edited excerpts from these two 1-hour live performances will appear in the first programme of the series. For anyone who'd like to join the audience (dancing encouraged), here's how to get there... 

 

Back in the Bay!

Good day, Ruby Sunday!

Congratulations to The Shadz founder/leader/drummer Garry Betti and wonderful partner/soulmate Laurelle on your 40th (Ruby) Wedding Anniversary.

 

Everyone enjoyed being part of your celebration at yesterday's sun-blessed party and star-studded jam session.

 

Here's to many more happy anniversaries!

"Let me tell you, baby, it's called Rock'n'Bowl!"

SSShhh...

"The Lion" sleeps tonight, but come next Saturday...

 

"Sha-BOOM!"

Doin' the 'Hoki-Koki' (this's what it's all about)

Another weekend, another road trip - looking forward to spending a couple of days beside beautiful, friendly Hokianga Harbour. Think it's safe to say that we won't be putting our "left and right arms and legs in" sports coats and black trou on this occasion.
 

  

More gigs of memories

With two highly enjoyable and successful 2014 events - Matakohe Music & Arts Festival and Whangamata Club - already behind us, Shane & The Shadz sure are starting the year with a 'SH'BANG!' Here's the currently confirmed upcoming gig list, as at Jan. 14:

Sat. Jan. 25:        Private function (outa town)

Sat. Feb. 8:         'Soundgarden', Kohukohu, Hokianga Harbour

Sat. Feb. 15:       'The Lion Rocks', Piha Bowling Club, Piha Beach

Sat. Feb. 22:        Matakana Hall, Matakana

Sun. Feb. 23:       'WoofStock' SPCA Musos' Bash, Silverdale RSA

Sun. March 2:       Orewa (tba)  2.00 - 2:30 pm

Sat. April 12:         Entertainers Club show, Citz Club, Tauranga

Over the hill...

Bye-Bye, Phil...

R.I.P. Phil Everly (1939-2014)

On Friday, January 3, 2014, another tall tree toppled in the steadily thinning forest of true rock'n'pop trailblazers with the death of the younger of the legendary Everly Brothers. Phil was just a couple of weeks short of his 75th birthday.

Like The Shadows, The Beatles. The Hollies, Simon & Garfunkel, NZ's own Bill & Boyd and many more artists and groups, we members of The Shadz were strongly influenced, and instructed, by the songs, the harmonies and the guitar stylings of Phil and Don Everly. Our current repertoire features several of their greatest hits, hopefully rendered with the respect and integrity that they so richly deserve.

Already, you can find hundreds of tributes, biographies, retrospectives, YouTubes, you-name-it, on the Web. So, we'd just like to say: "Thanks for the music and the memories, Phil Everly. Rest in peace."

In 1972, Albert Hammond recorded, as an album track, a powerful, heartfelt ballad that he had co-composed with Mike Hazlewood. The following year, 1973, Phil Everly was the first artist to cover that song and release it as a single. Then, in 1974, his version inspired the cover by The Hollies, which would go on to become a major and enduring hit. Here, with arrangement by Warren Zevon and production by twangy guitar hero Duane Eddy, is Phil's sensitive rendition of "The Air That I Breathe"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_QB9iAzvsY   

Spotlight on The Shadz...

  Play 'Apache Match'. Pick your moment to start the music below, and see
how closely you can line up the music beat with the spotlight sequence.

(Or, click on the pic above to go to Shadz member bios.)

  

Hoppin' to the beach!

 

No sooner do we get home from the Matakohe Music & Arts Festival (Sun, 5 Jan.) than we're back on the road again - this time, south-east and over the Coromandel Range to surfside Whangamata, home of the legendary annual "Beach Hop" events.

We're really looking forward to this gig because the town should be still packed with summer holidaymakers and the Whangamata Club is also home to one of NZ's most active and enthusiastic rock'n'roll dance clubs, the Coastal Rockers.

The New Year begins here...

Matakohe 2013: Tom Sharplin backed by Shadz members plus Karen Davy (vocals), Ray Eade (bass), Peter Wood (piano), Keri Betti (harp)

How to get there: After Kaiwaka, heading north on SH1, turn left before Brynderwyn Hill onto SH12 to Dargaville. Proceed through Maungatoroto and Paparoa Village. After crossing two single-lane bridges, watch for Matakohe Kauri Museum sign. At entrance to Matakohe East Rd, turn hard left into Barlow Lane. [Click maps to enlarge]

 

Westward Ho-Ho-Ho!

And, that's it for the year. Shane & The Shadz rounded out 2013 with a "Christmas Party" gig at New Lynn RSA, in West Auckland, last Saturday night. Great turnout at an excellent venue.

Time now to change some strings, slip into some shorts, eat, drink and be Merry with family and friends, see in the New Year and get relaxed and ready to hit the road north for our first 2014 outing - a return to the Matakohe Music & Arts Festival - on Sunday, 5 Jan.
 
The Shadz (Garry, Peter, Alistair & Graham) and Shane wish you a very Merry Christmas, a pleasant break and a Happy New Year!

 

BoP-along capacity!

Sellout success

 

Last Sunday's Entertainers Club 'Christmas Showcase Concert' in Tauranga was a blast - for Shane & The Shadz and, going by patrons' reactions and feedback, for all who were lucky (early) enough to score a ticket. 

For, we've just learned that a lengthy queue of hopefuls had to be turned away at the door to the Citz Club because the upstairs venue was packed to legal capacity before our three-hour show kicked off at 5pm.

 

Hopefully, we'll be back in the BoP (Bay of Plenty), soon, and those who missed out on a wonderful event will get another chance to bop-along to our renditions of classic Cliff Richard & The Shadows favourites.

JRO (jiving room only)

They even ran short of chairs! Fortunately, a goodly proportion of the capacity crowd were up on the dance floor throughout the show, so it's likely that some chair-share activity occurred.

Thanks to the Entertainers Club for inviting us, the organizing crew for the sound, and everyone who so enthusiastically sang, clapped and danced along. We can't wait to do it again.

Hokianga Garden Party!

A mecca for local Hokianga musos and visiting entertainers: Bruce Walker's idyllic 'Soundgarden' at Kohukohu

"For Auld Slang Rhyme, my dear"

(Apologies to Robbie Burns. Note: No "Burns Marvin" guitars were used in the making of this commercial.)

 

This British TV commercial cleverly played on the popular adoption of "I'm 'ank Marvin" as Cockney rhyming slang for "I'm starvin'". Enjoy!

  

"We're going where the sun shines brightly, going where the sea is blue..."

One down, two to go. Hope you can join us at one of these pre-Christmas events. First up - beside the sea in sunny Tauranga:

• Sun. Dec. 15 - from 5.00 pm

  Shane & The Shadz Christmas Show
  
  Entertainers Club, Tauranga
  (Venue: Citizens Club, 170 13th Ave)
  facebook.com/taurangaentertainersclub

• Sat. Dec. 21 -  from 8.00 pm

  Shane & The Shadz Christmas Party
  
  New Lynn RSA, Auckland
  Email Shane: muzikman@xtra.co.nz
  
  

Wow!

"Strat-a-Claus" dropped in (Photo Credit: Marian Burns)

What a brilliant day at Lloyd Davis' Te Kowhai "rock'n'roll ranch", today! Tom Sharplin, Larry Morris & Band, Brendon Ham & Band, Che Orton, Jodi Vaughan, Marian Burns, Tim Armstrong & Band, Shane & The Shadz, classic American cars (and a few Brit classics, too) galore.

Lotsa fun, happy people and all-round good spirits, with weather and music to match. Thanks to Lloyd, family and friends for organising and hosting it. Thanks to Shane Hales for getting us involved. And thanks to all who attended, especially those who made the trip from Auckland and other distant points. Let's hope that this is a harbinger of the spirit of Christmas 2013.

Here comes "Strat-a-Claus" (Christmas countdown)

"Strat-a-Claus" or "Santacaster"?

"You're gonna find us...out in the country", this afternoon, helping Tom Sharplin, Larry Morris, Brendon Ham, Che Orton, Tim Armstrong and others rock the Waikato. Then, we're off to bop the BoP before wrapping up our first year as Shane & The Shadz with a big festive blowout back in the 'hood. Hope you can join us at one of these events.  

• Sun. Dec. 1 - from 1.00 pm
  

  Lloyd's Xmas Bash
  703a Te Kowhai Rd, Te Kowhai
  Lloyd Davis Panelbeaters (07) 847 9575
  

• Sun. Dec. 15 - from 5.00 pm

  Shane & The Shadz Christmas Show
  Entertainers Club, Tauranga (Venue: Citizens Club, 170 13th Ave)
  facebook.com/taurangaentertainersclub

• Sat. Dec. 21 -  from 8.00 pm

  Shane & The Shadz Christmas Party
  New Lynn RSA, Auckland
  Email Shane: muzikman@xtra.co.nz

Shadz member bio - Graham Gibson

See all 4 Shadz member bios on a new page

Graham Gibson

"Bruce" Gibson

(2nd Guitar/Vocals)

"My dad was a swing band pianist so, at age 10,  I was "encouraged" to learn piano and theory. Then, at 14, I discovered 5-Minute Books and taught myself to play basic ukulele and guitar. Next step - a couple of local, acoustic "skiffle" groups formed with neighbourhood kids in St Heliers Bay, Auckland. The second group, fronted by Roger Skinner, went electric and morphed into a 2-guitar/bass/drums outfit called 'The Versatones', which became very popular and always had work.
 
"We were resident showband/danceband for three consecutive major Christmas-New Year beach carnivals (Red Beach, Orewa, Ohope Beach) and, in 1963, enjoyed a 6-month residency at Auckland’s popular Shiralee nightclub. We also served as the 'Pepsi Showband', playing events to promote the newly launched Pepsi-Cola brand.

"After five successful, enjoyable years, this group amicably disbanded in 1964 when Roger took up a proposal to form a full-time Mersey-style group ('The Pleasers') and the rest of us focused on our somewhat neglected university studies. A short-lived reunion in 1964-65, with a new lead guitarist, saw me taking on lead vocals. I did some session work for Viscount and briefly played rhythm guitar with the 'Graeme (Gray) Bartlett Combo' at the Monaco before lapsing into playing for party singalongs. Moving from journalism/PR into advertising in 1975, I would spend the next quarter-century as a copywriter/creative director and prolific writer, producer and commissioner of TV/radio jingles. I also created, scripted and produced a host of music-driven, choreographed, themed shows for dealer conventions and new product releases, featuring celebrity performers. After managing an international ad agency branch in Singapore, I returned to Auckland in 1986 and later set up my own corporate event production business.

"In 1993, following an advertising stint in Jakarta, Indonesia, I drifted back into band work when the original 'Versatones' reunited (as the 'ReVersatones') for a mate's 50th Birthday party. This led to gigs for similar functions, performing as 'The Young Once', and to playing in the house bands for Roger Skinner’s annual '60s Musos Bash events. Early in 2009, I was invited to join the newly forming 'North Harbour Rockers Band' on lead guitar/vocals. Over the next five years, we were busy performing danceable covers at RSAs, Rock’n’Roll clubs, private functions, country-rock festivals and charity events around Auckland, Northland and the Bay of Plenty.

"In late 2012, Garry Betti called to say he was holding auditions for a "Bruce Welch" to complete a Shadows tribute band lineup. How could I resist this chance to come full-circle to my rhythm guitar roots and play the music I've loved since first seeing Cliff Richard & The Shadows perform live at the Auckland Town Hall in 1961."

Click to see all 4 Shadz member bios