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Friday 1st
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Shellshock with support from The Donns |
Worcester band 'Shellshock' formed in october 2004, when the four members - whose paths had crossed many times on the local circuit - decided to join forces. Each band member had been a regular on the local music scene for quite a few years with various outfits, all playing original material. however when it became apparent that rock stardom wasn't to be, the guys drifted away from the scene and took up 'proper jobs'!!! As all four band members had only ever played in 'original material' bands, the mutual feeling was that it would be great to play songs they had always wanted to play, but had never had chance to, and so a lively covers set began to develop. With a determination to avoid the cliche tracks that band after band churn out, 'Shellshock' have always taken chances with not only their song selection, but also their interpretations of songs and this policy has clearly paid off, with the band nurturing a unique sound, and set list. www.shellshockband.com Will Munn says "The Donns are a young five-piece ska-punk band who play with shit loads of energy, loud buzzing guitars, battered drums and an added touch of sax appeal that makes you want to get up on your feet and skank the night away." and the Redditch Advertiser says "An exhilarating mix of pop, punk, rock and ska, the band have been playing practically non-stop this summer as more and more promoters realise that this is one band guaranteed to get the party started. If you like to pogo, pirouette or simply dance around like a loon, The Donns are the band for you." www.myspace.com/thedonnsworcester £4.00 ticket and £5.00 on the door |
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Saturday 2nd
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My Generation
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MY GENERATION are a group of extremely accomplished rock musicians that have built up the current brilliant WHO show which includes all the classics you would want to hear from Tommy, Quadraphenia, Who's Next & The Who Live At Leeds including: Baba o riley, Pinball Wizard, Young Man Blues, The Real Me, 5:15, Who Are You & Won't Get Fooled Again, with hits from the 60's inc: My Generation, Pictures of Lily, Substitute, I Can't Explain & The Kids Are Alright. They are enjoying great success with this show & have gone from strength to strength performing in venues & festivals throughout the U.K. www.my-generation.biz £8.00 ticket and £10 on the door |
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Sunday 3rd
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Gwyn Ashton's Open Mic Night
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This is to be the first of what will hopefully become a long residency for Gwyn to be held on the first Sunday of every month. Gwyn is an amazing player himself having played onstage with the likes of Mick Fleetwood, Hubert Sumlin, Marc Ford, Jon Paris, Canned Heat and opened for BB King, Buddy Guy, Rory Gallagher, John Hammond, Johnny Winter, Robin Trower, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Van Morrison, Pat Travers, Jeff Healey, Tony Joe White and many others. Gwyn Ashton's one-man-band solo show is a blend of alternative blues and swamp boogie, all played on his resonator, lap-slide, 12 & 6-string guitars, harmonica and a homemade foot stomp board. If you want to play drop me a line at openmicnights@marrsbar.co.uk £3.00 Admission |
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Monday 4th
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Available For Private Hire
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Tuesday 5th
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Available For Private Hire
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Wednesday 6th
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Jamming
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Free admission before 10.30 and £1.00 after |
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Thursday 7th
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Pepperbox, The Rase and The Culprit
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Formed out of a working mans aristocracy and all that is English and beautiful. It's a far stretch from imagination and even harks back to the psychedelia of yore. Providing a set of classic pop/psychedelic tunes reminiscent of early Pink floyd, Davy Jones and the Lower Third, Syd Barrett and other 60s influenced pop. But essentially we dont have a clue as to what we do, and ergo, nor should you. www.myspace.com/thepepperbox DAAAAAAAAAN Greenaway is a singer songwriter from the Midlands who just happens to have a great band to help him bring those songs to life. They are four different people with four different views and influences which is one of the reasons their music is so hard to pigeon hole. You have a listen and see what you think. www.myspace.com/raseuk Formed in June 2005 from the ashes of previously established bands, ...The Culprit have wasted no time imprinting their mark on the British live scene with an explosive and professional stage show. This 4 piece take influence from many genres; metal, rock, drum & bass, hardcore and others. They say, "It can be as heavy as you like, but it's got to have a hook." A true DIY ethos is paying off having just completed their third self produced E.P: 'The Stable Sessions Vol.1'. This is their Bulldog Bash warm up gig. www.myspace.com/theculprit1 FREE ENTRY with DRINKS PROMOTIONS |
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Friday 8th
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Doctors Orders and The Bravo Boys
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Doctors Orders formed in 2005 with the aim of playing good time bouncing blues, the result is just that. Doctor's Orders' music, while it could broadly be described as blues, is an eclectic mix within that genre, combining funk, rock, r&b, jazz and swing to produce a varied, up-tempo set. Many of the covered artists are familiar, ZZ Top, Dr. Feelgood, Fleetwood Mac (of course), Johnny Winter, The Blues Band, Them, The Allman Brothers Band, (the inevitable) Garry Moore, Louis Jordan, Robben Ford and many more, but Doctor's Orders generally tend to avoid the more obvious "done to death" numbers in favour of songs which, although well known are perhaps not heard as often. The set includes a spattering of instrumentals featuring excellent guitar work from Jon Bridger and Martyn Davies which, while delivered with great flair and skill never fall into the trap of self-indulgence. The band is completed by the rock-solid rhythm section of Dave Wiggins on bass and Chris Houghton on drums. www.doctors-orders.co.uk www.myspace.com/doctorsordersblues The Bravo Boys are a fun time rock n roll band and have been playing gigs all over the uk for almost 10 years. There set includes all the classic 50,s rock n roll standards in a high energy paced show. Lead singer Jim Bravo leads the Bravos with his own style of cool , he was handed the King of Rock n Roll crown when Elvis left the building and wears it well. The legendary Gaz la Bass on the slap bass as always slappin that bass until it bleeds. Jamie May on drums high energy and sheer power - how does he do it? We don’t know. And last but not least the man voted the least likely Brad Pitt look alike 2008 Mr Bob on guitar - he is a legend in the world of Rock n Roll. Be prepared to dance, holler, and scream the house down. Tickets £5.00 (available from band members) |
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Saturday 9th
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Nomad '67
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NOMAD 67 are a young 3 piece band that are here to lead the "NEW GENERATION OF ALTERNATIVE ROCK". The band have been together for 3 years now and in those 3 years they have crammed in hundreds of gigs ranging from British bars and venues to major festivals in Switzerland, Holland and many other areas of Europe. Nomad 67 have earned a great reputation as a must see live band. Many members of the audience have described the live experience as controlled chaos! The band have recently received a great amount of record label and industry interest. This is the calm before the storm. With the new improved line-up, Nomad 67 are ready to explode onto the music scene. www.myspace.com/nomad67 £4.00 ticket and £5.00 on the door |
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Sunday 10th
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Chris Helme (ex Seahorses frontman) |
Chris first appeared in the public eye fronting John Squire's post Stone Roses project, the Seahorses. Releasing their debut album, Do it Yourself, in 1997 it went on to top the UK album charts and was followed by a string of internationally successful singles, Love is the Law, Blinded by the Sun, You Can Talk to Me and Love Me and Leave Me. After three years of touring the world, and playing with some of the biggest acts in music, including The Rolling Stones, U2, Oasis and Beck, the band called it a day in 1999. Chris says 'Sometimes it just feels good to strip it back to where it all began'; and believe me he's telling the truth. www.myspace.com/chrishelmesolo £6.00 tickets and £8.00 on the door - TRUST ME ON THIS ONE |
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Monday 11th
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Available For Private Hire
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Tuesday 12th
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Available For Private Hire
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Wednesday 13th
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Jamming
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Free admission before 10.30 and £1.00 after |
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Thursday 14th
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Epsilon Red, Free Kilos and The Irony
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Free Kilos are a heavy band from the midlands. Thrash metal combining heavy riffs with melodic hook lines for your listining pleasure. Freekilos are back in action with new vocalist and strongest line up ever and ready for tourin. www.myspace.com/freekilos Epsilon Red are a rock band. Call them old-fashioned, but they prefer music that has melody, and lyrics that don't insult your intelligence. Here is a review by Andy O'Hare from The Friday Session on BBC Hereford & Worcester: "I thought I caught a twiddly Bitchpups-like start to one of Epsilon Red's ditties. This threepiece are all from Worcester but admit to differing influences. This compromises into a rocking blend that comes across as mature, original and intelligent..." www.myspace.com/epsilonred The irony have been involved with an independant film which was released in April of 2007. The film is called Suburban Skies and was filmed in the states. The irony provided all the songs for the soundtrack as well as some of David's solo stuff. www.myspace.com/completeirony FREE ENTRY with DRINKS PROMOTIONS |
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Friday 15th
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The Bellies
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The Bellies are the worlds (Fattest) greatest Soul band ever! Classic Soul R'n'B played in a bang up to date style and with a tonne (about Ten Tonnes) of crazy antics and humour! The Bellies are about to start their Full Fat World Tour and all dates will be confirmed shortly but remember.. "Once you've had fat you won't go back!" That is just one guarantee from the hardest (Fattest) working band in the world! Lots of bands have re-invented the backbone of the music industry time and time again keeping the sounds of Soul alive however it would be hard to find another band that do it like the Bellies do. www.thebelliesonline.com £4.00 ticket and £5.00 on the door |
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Saturday 16th
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Joanne Shaw Taylor
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For the last couple of years, Joanne Shaw Taylor has been busy redefining the meaning of the cliché, "plays like a girl"..... How did you spend your summer vacation when you were 17 years old? She spent hers touring Europe with the super group D.U.P. with fellow band members Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Candy Dulfer (Prince) and Jimmy Cliff. If you can imagine the love child of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Dusty Springfield then you are beginning to get a feel for Joanne's mixture of fiery guitar playing, sultry vocals and 100% pure soul. But unlike many other young phenomenons's, she has quickly developed a résumé to back up the hype. Born and raised amidst the steel works of Britain's Black Country; she picked up a guitar and got turned on to the blues as a very young teenager. Dave Stewart first discovered Joanne when he saw her perform at a charity gig hosted by UB40 at the tender age of 16 and his reaction was as follows..."I have played with all sorts of blues musicians all over the world such as R.L Burnside and Jesse-Mae Hemphill. I heard something I thought I would never hear....a British white girl playing blues guitar so deep and passionately it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end!!! Not only was I in total shock but it took me a good few minutes to ask her how long she had been playing like that ? "A few years" she replied "how old are you now" I asked "sixteen" she said. I woke up a few seconds later on the floor". Check out www.myspace.com/joanneshawtaylor Ticket £5.00 and £7.00 on the door |
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Sunday 17th
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Rory Ellis
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Rory Ellis has performed at many major festivals in Australia over the years including Port Fairy Folk Festival, National Folk Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival and just recently completed his third tour of the UK in 2005 performing around 120 shows in 7 months. He performed at festivals such as Larmer Tree Festival, Fylde Folk Festival, Southsea Festival, Middlewich Festival, Broadstairs Festival, Great British R&B Festival and many more as well as venues all over the UK including Londons famous Borderline, The Spitz and The Garage. www.myspace.com/roryellis65 £4.00 a ticket and £5.00 on the door |
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Monday 18th
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Available For Private Hire
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Tuesday 19th
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Available For Private Hire
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Wednesday 20th
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Jamming
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Free admission before 10.30 and £1.00 after |
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Thursday 21st
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BSN 420, Blue Radio and JoePatroni.
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Once upon a time (more specifically a thursday night in Wolverhampton) 3 friends were partaking in their usual chill session. On this particular thursday Roach said something which made Ladystix and Dog sit up and listen, he said... "We should start a ska band!" "Yes!" shouted Stix, so enthused she was, she continued "and I'll play drums!" (Bearing in mind she'd never picked up a pair of sticks before). The first gig was exciting and nerve-wrecking but they were loved. They practiced and practiced until one day - they were asked to play the Marrs Bar, and so the story continues... www.myspace.com/bsn420 Blue Radio are an acoustic hipo hop out fit who not only promote their music but promote other artists aswell, because they believe in working with others to make music and share ideas. They've set up a local midlands project and plan to play a number of gigs show-casing these talented bands and individuals. You should really have a lsiten to their myspace site.. www.myspace.com/blueradioworcester JoePatroni took a decade to come together. Finally formed in January 2008 by former B*Movie Heroes / Yo Yo's mainman Neil Phillips and [spunge] bass stalwart Chris Murphy. 10 years of friendship and threatening to work together became a reality after Neil's move home to Worcester from hedonistic Manchester coupled with Chris's return from Cheltenham within weeks of each other. The pair had seen .......and what will be left of them? drummer chris Wemyss playing for one of his many side projects, Girls on Film, 2 years previously and his name was the first to come up when discussing possibilities. Both knew that this next generation Bonham fit the bill perfectly. Combining straight ahead, no frills, down and dirty rock with a whole lot of heart and soul made the songs flow from hard and aggressive one moment to delicate and fragile the next. www.myspace.com/joepatroni FREE ENTRY with DRINKS PROMOTIONS |
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Friday 22nd
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BBC H&W Intrroducing .. Will Dance For Chocolate / Jamie Knight / The Amateurs / Claire Boswell / The Fallout Theory / Dan Greenaway The Brazilians / Flo Rowland / Meg |
To kick off the Worcester Music Festival H&W Friday Sessions are broadcasting live from the Marrs Bar between 7pm and 10pm. Featuring Kidderminsters Meg who have been described as "Sounding like a cross between Grandaddy and Pavement with analogue keyboards creating a Pac Man fighting Weezer over a Lo-Fi groove". Meg draw on influences from a weird collection of bands ranging from the mainstream to the obscure and have fashioned a sound that Pete (from And What Will Be Left Of Them?) described in the NME as 'playing music at a slight tangent to the universe'. Also on the bill are amazing singer writers Jamie Knight, Dan Greenaway, Claire Boswell and Flo Rowland as well as full band sets from local bands Will Dance For Chocolate, The Amateurs ("The Amateurs have a thirst for perfection and it beams from every note that they play…" and The Brazilians (playing the first of two gigs tonight) and almighty rock, punk emoThe Fallout Theory. This is going to be an awesome gig that you can watch live, or hear BBC H&W or listen again via the website. For more info and updates, news and comments go to www.bbc.co.uk/fridaysession or www.worcestermusicfestival.co.uk FREE ENTRY |
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Saturday 23rd
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Little Hell Fire Village Fete Alldayer AWWBLOT / Gamble Gamble / Brontosaurus Chorus (+ more tbc) |
The Little Hellfire Club is Worcester's best club night and has been "bringing clatterpop to the kids since 2006!". The annual Village Fete Alldayer is an excellent opportunity to see some of the greatest bands both Worcester and the UK has to offer - all in the style of a Village Fete! All ready booked are bands including local indie pop heroes And What Will Be Left Of Them?, clatter racket pioneers Gamble Gamble and London based indie orchestra Brontosaurus Chorus. It also looks likely that there will be a healthy dose of bands from the NME's 'Best Midlands' scene also on the bill! PLUS!!! Bat the rat competition! Tombola! Eating competitions! Prizes Galore! Bunting literally everywhere! Egg and spoon races! Sack races! Three legged races! Plus a lot more surprises from our compere James Perry that he'll probably just be thinking up on the spot! Not to be missed! 4pm - Midnight. For more information and updates go to www.worcestermusicfestival.co.uk FREE ENTRY |
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Sunday 24th - - 1.00pm until 7.00pm
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WSRP Showcase from 1pm until 3.30pm 1147am from 4pm until 7pm |
Staff and students past and present of Worcester School of Rock and Performance will be getting together for a performance and reunion at Marr's bar. Anyone who fancies a Sunday afternoon rock variety performance, or who wants to find out a bit more about WSRP, should come along and have a listen. Should be a fun afternoon." www.wsrp.co.uk or www.worcestermusicfestival.co.uk James Perry brings the 1147am club to The Marrs Bar for the festival. No headliners, no egos, just some of the finest and most entertaining local performers in the area. FREE ENTRY |
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Sunday 24th - - 8.00pm until 6.00am
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Northern Soul All Nighter
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From now on, all our Northern Soul All Nighters will be held on Bank Holiday Sundays and from 8 until 1am there will be a more classic Northern/Motown feel to the music and as the time gets on the music will get rarer and rarer. If you are not into the hard core Northern scene then you can leave before 1 am and get £5.00 back - or you could stay on until 6am and hear some good old school Northern Soul at it's best. £10.00 Admission (£5.00 back if you leave before 1.00 am) |
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Monday 25th
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Available For Private Hire
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Tuesday 26th
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Available For Private Hire
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Wednesday 27th
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Jamming
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Free admission before 10.30 and £1.00 after |
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Thursday 28th
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Undercurrent
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A new night in the making..... check website regularly for more details. |
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Friday 29th
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Expedestrian and Cape Of Good Hope plus special guest Theo |
Expedestrian formed in October 2004. A band made up for local musicians that had all left bands and were looking for something different. Almost four years on they have just completed their self produced debut album 'Audio/Visual Aid' (About bloody time lads). The album has taken three and a half years to complete, due to development in the band and access to free studio time! To speed things up they brought in Paul Miro of Apes, Pigs And Spacemen to help with the final stages of mixing and mastering. This also brought another dynamic to the album's sound and layout. Finally completed and ready to be released, Exped have decided to host there launch night at here! With a decent amount of gigs at the Marrs Bar already under their belts, tonight will be a no let down. Exped are joined tonight by fellow friends The Cape Of Good Hope and one man band Theo. www.myspace.com/expedestrian ...and now Ladies and Gentlemen, with jarring guitars, complex rhythms, £ucked up time signatures, and the employment of a mirage of different musical styles, I give you - The Cape Of Good Hope.. www.myspace.com/capeofgoodhope £5.00 on the door |
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Saturday 30th
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Stephen Murray Benefit Gig
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On Friday June 22nd at the AST Dew Tour BMX Dirt Finals in Baltimore, MD, UK's legendary rider Stephen Murray took a horrific fall on the final set of the dirt section while sending a double back flip. Stephen has received career ending injuries to his spinal cord and vertebrae. Unlike the NFL or other major professional sports which have unions that provide funds to athletes who are injured, BMX has nothing like this. BMX however is much more like a family than any other sport. Now is the time we need to reach out and support one of our family members like never before. The injuries that Stephen sustained are no doubt going to affect him for a life time. Medical bills alone can reach astronomical dollar amounts. As a BMX community we have the power to help him. Stephen is a young 27 years old and is the financial provider for a wife and two young children. www.myspace.com/ukmurrayjam www.myspace.com/murraystrong £5.00 ticket and £6.00 on the door |
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Sunday 31st
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Christopher Rees
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Recorded entirely alone over six days in a tiny 200 year old cottage on the top of a mountain in Mid Wales, Alone On A Mountain Top is the polar opposite to the orchestral polish and drama of The Sweetest Ache. Drawing from the rustic traditions of Americana, country, delta blues, gospel and rock'n'roll, it became an unexpected success in the UK with major support from MOJO, UNCUT and Janice Long on BBC Radio 2 as well as opening the doors to international touring. The album garnered international distribution throughout Canada, Benelux and New Zealand where Rees toured with such fine company as Willard Grant Conspiracy, William Elliott Whitmore, The Deadstring Brothers, Mark Eitzel, Kelly Joe Phelps, Freakwater and more. The third album by Christopher Rees was released August 2007. It features a duet with much loved American singer Victoria Williams as well as other special guests like singer Becky Newman (The Hot Puppies) and French singer Charline Rose (Calexico, Giant Sand). It showcases several sides of his impassioned song writing, covering everything from soulful country and folk to raucous delta blues / rock and heart rending ballads while comfortably balancing raw and rustic acoustics with sophisticated and sublime strings to create his best work yet! www.myspace.com/christopherrees £4.00 a ticket or £5.00 on the door |