Recreating the sounds of the sixties
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Recreating the sounds of the sixties |
NEWS & EVENTS
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WELCOME TO THE NEWS AND EVENTS PAGE This page will be used
to provide a quick guide to the latest Gigs, new
additions to the web site and messages from the band.
LATEST NEWS Looking back on 2023 and forward to 2024 What a year it has been for the REVIVAL family, while we have played some fantastic gigs and met many wonderful people, the illnesses that have befallen two of our members has made this a very difficult year for us all. As you will have read elsewhere on this site, Geoff's stroke came as a shock to us all and while our thoughts and concern was for Geoff's recovery, we also had commitments to fulfill, which without our leader, musical director and ticket seller looked like Geoff's absence might just prove too much for us to overcome. We were extremely fortunate to find a lead guitarist to stand in for Geoff while he recovered and his future involvement with the band became clear. Andy Tarr has become an integral part of the band within a very short time and his total commitment to Revival. He has played a huge part in the band being able to continue performing at the level expected by you, our audience. The second blow came just hours before we were due to host our first Christmas party on November 25th, when Ken was taken to hospital with a suspected stroke. A hurriedly convened meeting was held and we concluded that we had no choice but to put on the show, as we had no time to let our audience know that the party was cancelled. The following hours, right up to show time were spent rehearsing and working out who could sing which song. It has to be said, that the changes in personnel that Revival has experience over its lifetime probably saved the day. Kevin, who replaced Bryan on his retirement, has fronted many bands, taking the role of lead vocals. Our latest recruit Andy, has also performed that role. Jim and Alan have usually provided backing vocals but are both capable singers, able to deliver a song or two if required. There had never been a time when this pool of vocal talent was more welcome. As some of you will know the show went ahead and from the comments on the night everyone had a great time, the most common comment being "if this had been the first time seeing the band we wouldn't have realised the lead singer was absent and would have wanted to see the band again". Bouyed up by the response we decided to plan for the next party on the 9th December. By this time Ken was back at home and doing well. In fact we had a feeling that he may have been able to make a brief appearance. Sadly the medics felt this was not wise and we performed again as a five piece. New Years Eve was the next real test, as we play four sets at this party to take the evening past midnight. This required the addition of a further 15 numbers to be shared out between the band. Again we had hoped that Ken would be with us and perform some of the songs. Medical advice again prevented this although we were delighted that he joined us to celebrate New Year and of course make some comments about our performances, all positive I might add. That brought to an end a very difficult year for the band. We acknowledge that it was not nearly as difficult for us as it has been for those that have been so unwell and their respective families. We remain in touch with everyone and wish them a speedy and full recovery. There remains a place on stage for Geoff should he eventually be fit enough to join us again. Regardless of this, we have agreed that Andy is now a full part of the band and will remain with us, even if and when Geoff returns to play again. As for Ken, we miss him as our front man, his vocal ability and on stage presence cannot be replicated by any of us. His health is of utmost importance and we have agreed to continue as we are at present, until such time as he feels able to retake his place front of stage.
We hope you all have a safe, peaceful and healthy New Year and we have the great pleasure of playing for you in 2024 ******************************************************************************************
For those of you who are not aware, we broke the news in June that our Lead Guitarist, Geoff, had suffered a stroke and would be out of action for the foreseeable future. We are pleased to be able to tell you that while he is still quite unwell, Geoff is now back at home with his family and continues to make steady progress with his recovery.
The Life of Bryan On Saturday 27th May 2023 Mapperley Social Club was a sell out as we celebrated the "Life of Bryan", with a 'Y' as he would constantly point out! The evening was also a chance to raise money for two charities dear to Bryan, Hayward House and Cancer Research UK. Everyone connected with the Band gave their services for free and the gig raised the fantastic sum of £1,500 to be shared by the charities. While the evening was a huge success and achieved everything we had hoped for, the lead up to the gig and the performance itself was particularly difficult for the Band. Just three weeks before, we had the devastating news that our leader, guitarist and mate, Geoff had suffered a stoke and was in the QMC. A Band meeting was called and with Geoff and Peggy's blessing it was decided to continue with the event, with Jim taking on the task of playing lead guitar. It must be said that the work Jim put in to step up to the mark was incredible, and contributed in no small part to the huge success of the evening. We are pleased to say that Geoff is making a slow but steady recovery, and we know that your thoughts are with him as he makes his journey back to health. It is Geoff's wish that REVIVAL
continues to perform, and as such we will be honouring all of our existing
bookings. We are delighted to tell you that our search was rewarded when we auditioned Andy, who is not only an accomplished guitarist but more importantly a really nice guy. With Andy on board we are working hard to put programme together that contains the many favourites we are expected to play, while making the most of the talents of each member to bring something new to the stage. We are able to confirm that we will include a couple of Shadows numbers. To those of you who have sent messages of support following the gig on the 27th, thank you, it means a great deal to us all. Geoff has been told of the success of the evening and the reaction of those present, and he sends his thanks and best wishes to you all. He has also been made fully aware that Andy is deputising for him and he has wished him every success.
******************************************************************************************************************** BRYAN As you will have seen on our home page, we are mourning the loss of our dear friend and former band member, Bryan. We are putting on an evening
to celebrate Bryan's life and to raise money for Cancer Research UK and
Hayward House, who's staff took care of him in his final days. Time marches on and while we are not any younger, we are determined to continue bringing the Revival brand of music to you for as long as we possibly can. Creating live music has many challenges and requires hours of behind the scenes work to put on the kind of performance that has become our trademark. With this in mind, we have decided that the process of selling tickets for our gigs is becoming too onerous for us to continue asking one band member to take on. For that reason, after much deliberation, we have decided to use an online ticket company to sell our tickets for us. We understand that this may present some initial difficulties and that not everyone will be happy with this decision. All we ask is that you give it try and see how it works out. We will be happy to receive any comments you may have with regards to your experience of this system. Please talk to us at the Gig or use the contact details found elsewhere on this site. We have chosen a local company,
Gigantic Tickets to be our agent. Alternatively, Mapperley Recreation
and Social Club have agreed to help and also sell tickets if you would
prefer to call in and buy them from there. To use the on line service type
in Gigantic Tickets to your browser and access their web site select the
Music option and search for Mapperley. (or
click this link) ********************************************************************** Thank You In our last update on this page we were planning for a year full of uncertainty. So far everything has gone better than we could have imagined. The dance at Mapperley in May was well attended and as we had restricted ticket sales to ensure plenty of space for everyone to feel comfortable, we were really pleased that so many of you were ready to have a night out and fill the dance floor. Having booked the Bonington Theatre so far in advance for our Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon performance in September we watched the, initially very slow ticket sales with a degree of anxiety, wondering if for the first time we would have to cancel a show. We need not have worried, true to form you didn't disappoint us and Saturday night sold out with very few seats left for Sunday. As always we all enjoyed the performances and meeting everyone as they left the Theatre confirmed how much everyone present had also enjoyed themselves. Putting on a show in a theatre environment over two performance takes a great deal of preparation and rehearsal, not to mention the energy required to perform for almost two and a half hours on two consecutive days. The stream of wonderful comments from everyone as the left the building made it all worth while. While we had our equipment set up at the Theatre we took the opportunity to have a fresh set of photographs taken for use on the website and other publicity material. Sunday morning found the Band along with photographer Greg and the Theatre lighting engineer, Peter, back on stage smiling for the camera before a quick trip home for lunch and then back for the afternoon performance. You'll find some of the new pics on the home page and elsewhere on the site. We have also had a number of enquiries and bookings for private functions through the web site and from people who have seen us live, this has been very encouraging and while we are deliberately taking on less work as we all get older, it is great to know that our music is still in demand. The Christmas parties on Friday the 9th and Saturday the 10th at Mapperley Leisure and social Club are once again attracting a lot of interest with tickets selling out for both nights. We have a Birthday party and an event in Derby to play at before the Christmas parties which we are looking forward to and we are delighted that once again we will be ending the year at Larkhill retirement village. This is a private New Year party, open only to residents and their guests. This is always a very enjoyable evening with a full dance floor and an audience of people who really know how to enjoy themselves. As we now begin to look forward to another year, once again it is difficult to predict what will be in store for us. One thing is certain though and that is while we can all put on a show and people like you are willing to support us and share our music, that is just what we we do. We are pleased to say that we have had a number of enquiries for us to play at events next year most of which are at an early stage and yet to be confirmed. We do have two dates for a return to the Bonnington pencilled in along with a couple of potential dates for early Christmas parties. Once we firm up our plans, you will be the first to know! We hope to see you in the near future but in the meantime thanks for reading this and take care.
******************************************************************************** Looking
forward (February
2022) Having approached the New Year with a certain amount of caution, uncertain as to how the restrictions on performances would be enforced, we have now confirmed a number of events for which tickets will soon be on sale. We are also delighted to report that we have received a number of enquiries to play at private celebrations, some of which have yet to be confirmed. It would seem that confidence is returning with more people being prepared to begin the move to a new normal! The details of the performances
that are open to everyone are provided on the Tour
Dates page of this site but to whet your appetite here is a run down
on what we have planned. May 28th we are at Mapperley Sports and Social
Club, always a favourite with a great dance floor. September 24th and
25th sees us back at the Bonnington Theatre, Arnold for Saturday night
and Sunday afternoon shows for those that enjoy watching and listening
to Revival as we take you back to the 1960's. The early Christmas parties,
yes we are back to two again for this year, will take place on Friday
9th and Saturday 10th December at Mapperley Sports and Social Club when
we hope you will join us to set the festive season off on the right dancing
foot! ******************************************************
CHRISTMAS
PARTY ***************************************************************************************************************
Covid 19 Latest from
the Venues.(September 2021) We now have confirmation that
all the bookings in the diary can go ahead. This is the news we have been
waiting for! If you are unable to be at this year's party, for whatever reason, please try and join us next year, when we hope to, once again, be playing to a full house. ************************************************************************************************ Rehearsals Continue (September 2021) As restrictions have been eased our preparations for a return to the stage have continued. Having said that, we are not yet certain as to exactly what remaining restrictions will be in place for our forthcoming gigs, if any. For that reason we will be including them on the Tour Dates page but cannot include ticket details until confirmed by the venues. Jim's barn at Woodborough has continued to be our home for the past few weeks and great progress has been made in bringing together some new and not so new material for the upcoming performances. I must point out that the "new" is still really old!! just not previously in a Revival set.
The whole Band together at the latest rehearsal, this may be one of the last before the barn is demolished. This may be good news for some of the Woodborough residents. If we have disturbed your Saturday's we really are sorry! We look forward to catching up with you all once we get back on the road, we start with a private function and then move on to the Bonington Theatre for a Saturday night and Sunday afternoon performance and we will once again celebrate Christmas with our party at Gedling Sports and Social club. As mentioned before we are not yet aware of any restrictions on numbers or the requirement to be double jabbed or have a negative test to gain admission. Things used to be so simple! Once we sort all of this out we will update the web site and of course the Boninton Theatre will be putting out its own publication with forthcoming events and ticket details. Please continue to stay safe and we hope to see as many of you as possible in the near future. ********************************************************************************************************************* Rehearsals Begin (May
2021) Welcome to the latest News from the band. We hope that you have all stayed safe and well and are looking forward to a future with fewer restrictions, allowing us all to enjoy live music once again. In preparation for better times ahead, while following the Government guidelines, the band had its first face to face meeting since we said our goodbyes following our 2019 Christmas party at Mapperley Social Club, 17 months ago! While we have been in regular contact throughout the pandemic, completing the recording of our latest CD and recruiting a new member to replace Bryan following his retirement, while also generally checking up on each other, this was a special moment when five of the six members of Revival were together in one place, along with their instruments and in Ken's case voice and microphone.
Kevin had clearly been working
very hard, because Foot taper rang out as if we had never been away. We
worked through an extensive list of Revival favourites with long and creative
discussions about how we would arrange particular vocals with our new
line up and detailed rehearsal to determine how they would sound. Ken, Geoff, Steve, Jim, Alan and Kevin
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2021 Update (March 2021) It's been a while
since we brought you the latest from the band, mainly because like every
other non essential worker, we have all been following the rules to stay
safe ready for the moment when we are allowed back on stage! We do, however,
have some news that we are keen to share with you. Firstly our new CD,
'Pearl' has now been duplicated and we have copies available to sell,
to anyone who is interested in buying our latest effort.(contact Geoff
who will post one out to you) The recently published Government road map would suggest, that providing the data continues to move in the right direction, restrictions will be removed later in the year and we will be performing once again, we can't wait. All provisional bookings will then be confirmed. The dates have
been added to the tour dates page as 'Provisional Booking' simply as a
guide for anyone wishing to book us for their event. We hope you have all managed to stay safe and look forward to seeing you back on the dance floor, or in your seat, helping Ken out by singing along to those great songs from the 50's and 60's later in the year. ________________________________________________________________________________ What a year we have all had! We
could not have imagined as we said good night at the close of our Christmas
party in December 2019 that we would not be performing again for over
a year. The good news for us and we are sure when you see and hear us again you will agree, is that Kevin is now our Bass man, his vocals are excellent, and he has worked extremely hard throughout lock down to learn a huge chunk of Revival's repertoire. The restrictions that we have all been under this year have meant that we have yet to have a full rehearsal with Kevin and also been unable to arrange a professional photo shoot to update our pictures. Thanks to some nifty camera work by Kev's wife and the magic of 'Photoshop' we have now included him on our home page picture. More information about our latest member can be found on our 'Meet the Band' page Work on the cd is now completed, having been worked on remotely with files being transferred back and forth to Steve for him to add to the mix. This has been a very different experience for us all, the energy we draw from each other whether on stage or in the recording studio adds that something that just cant be described or reproduce when singing or playing on your own. Fortunately the bulk of the recording was done together prior to everyone's world being turned upside down, so each track retains that initial feel of us being together. We are really happy with our efforts which will be titled PEARL, in recognition of our 30 years of music making. The track list has been chosen by Ken and is based on the first set the band ever played back in 1990. Once venues are able to host audiences again and the six of us are allowed to meet in a rehearsal space, we will be back performing for you. We will all be a year older and not quite as tight as we were before this long lay off but our enthusiasm for performance will be as strong as ever so we really hope you will stick with us and make the next year of Revival the best ever, when ever that new year starts! We hope that you are all remaining safe and well and we really are looking forward to making music for you once again.
Any future updates will be posted on the Home Page. ____________________________________________________ Bryan set to retire
after 30 years (March 2020) A Happy New Year to you all from REVIVAL (January 2020) It
has been a while since the "Latest News" had any news for you.
This is partly because we have had a few challenges with the web-site
but mainly because life in and around the band has remained pretty much
business as usual with nothing to report. _________________________________________________________________________
Revival are delighted
to announce the addition of a matinee performance for the Sunday following
the Saturday evening concert on 29th September. BACK TOGETHER AGAIN (December 2017) Revival have now completed
two performances with the whole team back together. On stage that old
familiar feeling returned and we had a great time, with our leader back
where he belongs. We are now looking forward to the last two gigs of 2017 and preparing for 2018. Everyone connected with REVIVAL would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks again for all of your support throughout this year. Ken, Geoff, Bryan, Steve, Jim and Alan __________________________________________________________________ Further update (November 2017) We are delighted to report that Geoff has continued to make steady progress and will now be returning to the stage for the December 2017 performances. The first of these will be at Woodborough Village Hall on December 2nd. Completing a full REVIVAL gig of over
two hours on stage is both physically tiring and mentally exhausting.
In recognition of this, the Band has been determined to help Geoff manage
his return in such a way that he not only enjoys the experience but does
nothing to set back his recovery. _______________________________________________________ Saturday 25th November (2017) was the final appearance as a five piece before the eagerly anticipated return of our leader in December. The venue was Beeston Victory Club and the event was unusual for Revival, in that although tickets had been on sale prior to the evening, it was expected by the promoter that most people would pay on the door (but would anyone turn up we wondered)! In 27 years together this was the first engagement undertaken through an agent and the first as a part of the entertainment programme of a well established social club. Our sincere thanks to all of you who braved the cold and turned out to support us. It was reassuring to see so many familiar faces and rewarding to show what we can do, to so many who were experiencing an evening with Revival for the first time. The venture turned out to be a huge success thanks to a great audience who kept the dance floor full all night. This has been a difficult chapter in Revival's history, the success of the band has been in no small part due to the great relationship between all concerned both on and off the stage. To continue without one of our number has been quite a challenge, on a personal and musical level. Without the dedication and hard work put in by Jim to take on the responsibility of playing lead guitar in Geoff's absence, we would have been unable to have continued and would have had no choice but to let down many people who had booked Revival for their special event. Our sincere thanks Jim. With Geoff fit once again, we can now move forward with the whole gang back together doing what we all do best, setting the scene for a wonderful Christmas through the fabulous sounds of the sixties. _________________________________________________________ As reported in our last
update Revival were unable to perform at the Arnold Carnival (2017) due
to the sudden Ill health of one of our members. We are pleased to tell
you that Geoff, our lead guitarist and musical director is making good
progress with his recovery and is hoping to be back on stage before the
end of the year. Get well soon Geoff, we all miss you _____________________________________________________
Mayor of Gedling Charity
Evening Friday 23rd September
(2016) found the band at Mapperley Sports and Social Club playing to a
full house, supporting the Mayor of Gedling in her fund raising for Nottingham
University Hospitals NHS Trust. Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund 2016/2017. It was a pleasure to
play for such an appreciative audience and we hope to see as many of you
as possible again over the Christmas period when we will be holding our
two Christmas parties. ********* The Tour Guide records the series of
Gigs that have been played this year including another successful return
to the Bonnington Theatre. It may seem a bit early and I'm sorry to remind you, that "that" time is fast approaching! There will be two Christmas parties again this year, both of which will be held at Mapperley Sports and Social Club. Tickets for these ever popular evenings will go on sale later in the year. Ken recently came up with a list of songs that have never been recorded by the Band but which he thought should have been. Work has already begun in the studio and the first of these are now taking shape. All we know at this time is that the Album title will be "ENCORE" but more than that is anyone's guess. Watch this space and we will keep you informed of progrees on this latest project. Finaly a return to the Bonnington in March 2017 has been confirmed and details will be announced once tickets are available.
* * * * * FROM LAST TIME Another year has drawn to a close and once again the New Year was welcomed in at Lark Hill retirement village near Nottingham. This was the fourth year that Revival have had the genuine pleasure of playing for this wonderful audience. A New Year gig is hard work for any musician, at least one extra set and a late night, way past Ken's Cocoa time!!! The warmth shown to the band by those celebrating and a continually full dance floor is a huge reward for the extra effort. The reaction that we get from you, our friends, at each performance continues to amaze and encourage every one of us. In 2015 we played twice at both the Bonington Theatre and Mapperley Social Club, where the band was delighted to meet so many of you who were at a Revival gig for the first time. We hope you enjoyed the experience and will consider joining us again this year. There are a large number of you who we are pleased to see supporting us each time we play. You are always in our thoughts when we are selecting the material for our next performance. Leaving in the numbers that everyone expects to hear, while including ones that people have told us are their favourites and then bringing a few surprises into a programme that can only contain around 45 songs, is a very difficult balance . Fortunately for the rest of us this is Geoff's department, as our Musical Director and so the rest of us just do as we are told! Seriously, we do hope that we are continuing to play the music that you want to hear. It has been said many times but playing live music really is about you, our audience and the band continues to work hard to perfect each song and deliver the best performance possible completely live. We occasionally mention the fact that all the mistake that we make are "live". Some have asked why we mention this. The point that we are making is that we do not use any backing tracks or pre recorded loops, as they are called, to enhance the sound being created on stage, everything you hear is created live in front of you by the musicianship or vocal ability of the six members of Revival. As it is a live performance, every one of us could make a mistake and from time to time we do. This, in our opinion, is part of the attraction of a live performance as no two gigs are ever quite the same and the element of fear is ever present! As a final thought new gear continues to arrive on stage as each of us strives for the best sound we can possibly create. The "Silver " album described elsewhere was such fun to make, that plans are now being made to get together in the recording studio and create another CD. So on we go into another year, looking forward to every performance and rehearsing hard to maintain the Revival reputation for great live music. Have a great year and we hope you will say hello at one of our gigs.
New CD was released
on 19th September. ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS It's hard to imagine that Revival have now celebrated 25 years since the formation of the band. The history of how the Revival began and its evolution, was recorded in a News Letter in 2010. For those who have discovered the band more recently, the story can be found by following this link (2010 News Letter). The "Silver" celebrations have continued with an evening of dancing at Mapperley Sports and Social Club on Friday 4th September where a fantastic audience filled the dance floor and created a party atmosphere. Saturday 19th September
found the boys back at the Bonington Theatre, playing to yet another a
full house. To see so many people spending their Saturday night with Revival
is a humbling experience. It was great to see so many long term fans and
also so many new friends in the audience. It was clear from those that
were spoken to as they left the auditorium that they had had an enjoyable
night and the reaction during the performance was fantastic. Revival would
like to thank everyone who turns out to support the band wherever they
play, without you none of this would be possible.
Ken, Geoff, Bryan,
Steve, Jim and Alan.
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