|
Home Gigs News Gallery Contact Biographies Fan's Page Links Guest Book
|
|
|
|
Archive This page is about the history of Purple and what has gone before including former band members, news, dedications etc
MARCH 2007
Please get along to Homelands on April 7th to show support for the ROCK4 MACMILLAN concert, it is a fantastic cause & is again being hosted by Steve Monk who as I am sure you all know has had a bitch of a fight with the local council who wanted to shut the place down & drive the kids onto the streets & straight in to the arms of exactly the sort of people we don’t want them mixing with !
JANUARY 2007
Purple to hold auditions to fill the keyboard position from mid-January. Anyone interested please contact Lee.
December 2006
Electric River play Charity gig at ‘ the Man of Kent’ Ashford on the 23rd December 7.30pm Donation Entry.
THE HARRIS HOSPICE,BRIAN MATTHEWS MEMORIAL CONCERT Went incredibly well, huge turnout & much money raised for the hospice,big thanks to all who came & a huge thanks to Wolf & the Zinc Alloy biker club, top guys one & all. Dvd will be available in spring. Speaking of dvd’s the Rockathon concert is now available & is dedicated to Brian with proceeds to the hospice. £7 +p&p email for purchases.
Thanks also to the three great bands that played with us, DEAD SEED (http://www.myspace.com/deadseed) excellent band who play The Worlds End in Camden every Sunday,well worth going along to see them.
BLACKTOOTH, great guys & great musicians, again keep an eye open for them .
CERBERUS, together for 18 years & travelled from Luton & Sheffield to play this concert, we cannot thank them enough.
Enormous thanks to DAVE CLARKSON who travelled down several times from sunny Hull to rehearse & then perform the gig with us, that is quite simply staggering & speaking of staggering thanks also to Gavin Matthews for performing BLACK NIGHT so well & to James for doing his Dad proud with the firewood making!!
Also I must express my admiration & gratitude to our special guests Jayne Clarkson performed ‘fields of Gold’ with Mark & brought a collective lump to the throat, sheer brilliance, Tom Whitlock from the UK’s leading WHITESNAKE tribute band ‘SNAKEBITE’ who bounded on stage to sail away through BURN with John & the guys & of course Gavin & James for BLACK NIGHT.
And I mustn’t forget Lisa & Bernie of the Loaded dog without whom we wouldn’t have been able to do it at all.We hope to be back soon under altogether different circumstances.
13th November 2006
Only 4 weeks to go to The Harris Hospice Brian Matthews Memorial Concert to be held at the Loaded Dog (see Gigs page for more details). Also Purple have just announced that they will be playing at the next MacMillan Concert at Ashford Rocks next April 2007. Follow the link for more information www.ashfordrocks.com/macmillan
END OCTOBER 2006
ROGER GLOVER A charity art exhibition has been organised to raise vital funds and awareness for The Linda McCartney Centre this November. The exhibition will be taking place between the 20th and the 24th November 06 in the main entrance of The Linda McCartney Centre based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital from 9am until 5pm daily.
A painting for the exhibition has been kindly donated for auction by Roger Glover, Bassist with the world famous Rock Band Deep Purple. With over a 100 million albums sold with Deep Purple or as a producer of bands like Status Quo, Rainbow, Whitesnake etc, Roger Glover is undoubtedly one of the most successful bass players of the hard rock scene and also a very talented artist.
Roger Glover's painting, ‘Compassion’, is being auctioned to raise funds for The Linda McCartney Centre.
Visit http://www.yourcentre.org/news.html to view the painting in the news section under the heading ‘Charity Art Exhibition’.
The auction is now OPEN! If you would like to place a bid on this unique auction item you can in one of the following four simple ways:
Place a bid at the Art Exhibition on the auction flyers provided.
Place a bid online: send an e-mail to yourcentre@rlbuht.nhs.uk with the subject heading 'Glover Painting auction' and place your bid and contact details in the body of the e-mail.
Place a bid by calling the Fundraising office on 0151 706 3153
Attend the Linda McCartney Centre Cancer Benefit Gig Night on Sat 11th Nov 06, Room 2, Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool and place your bid on the auction flyers provided. Doors 7pm, bands 8pm. 5 bands taking part including Sim Jones, violinist of Gillan’s Inn fame and David Domminney from The Dean Howard Band. http://www.cavern-liverpool.co.uk/cavernclub/dates/CCdates_nov2006.htm Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/22003D21B20C5160?artistid=951202&majorcatid=&minorcatid= Tickets also available from The Linda McCartney Centre.
The auction will be running until 24th November. The winner of the auction will be notified close to that date.
Happy Bidding!
For more information about the auction and gig please contact Simon Wood at the Fundraising office on 0151 706 3153.
IAN GILLAN Ian Gillan, legendary lead singer of world famous Deep Purple, has kindly donated a signed copy of his, as yet in the UK, unreleased book 'SMOKE THIS!’ (The warblings, rants, philosophies and musings from the singer of Deep Purple') and a signed 2006 TOUR POSTER to be auctioned to raise vital funds for The Linda McCartney Centre. Both items are signed by Ian Gillan, Dean Howard, Michael Lee Jackson, Randy Cooke and Rodney Appleby.
Ian Gillan was the Jesus Christ Superstar, and co-wrote Smoke on the Water (one of the most popular songs of all time) among dozens of other hits. He has played to tens of millions of fans, and sold over one hundred million records. He IS the voice of rock and roll, and has inspired generations of singers.
Ian Gillan's tour poster and book are being auctioned to raise funds for The Linda McCartney Centre. The auction is now OPEN! If you would like to place a bid on either or both these extremely unique auction items you can in one of the following ways:
Place a bid online. Send an e-mail to yourcentre@rlbuht.nhs.uk with the subject heading 'Ian Gillan auction'. Please state.which item/items you are bidding for, your bid amount and contact details in the body of the e-mail.
Place a bid by calling the Fundraising office on 0151 706 3153.
Attend the Linda McCartney Centre Cancer Benefit Gig Night on Sat 11th Nov 06, Room 2, Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool and place your bid on the auction flyers provided. Doors 7pm, bands 8pm. 5 bands taking part including Sim Jones, violinist of Gillan’s Inn fame and David Domminney from The Dean Howard Band. http://www.cavern-liverpool.co.uk/cavernclub/dates/CCdates_nov2006.htm Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/22003D21B20C5160?artistid=951202&majorcatid=&minorcatid= Tickets also available from The Linda McCartney Centre.
The auction will be running until 24th November. The winner of the auction will be notified close to that date.
Happy Bidding!
go to http://www.yourcentre.org/news.html to view items at 'The voice of Deep Purple lends his support' in the news section
With thanks to Ian Gillan and Dean Howard for kindly making this auction possible.
For more information about the auction please contact Simon Wood at the Fundraising office on 0151 706 3153
OCTOBER 2006
NEWS NOW CONFIRMED SEPTEMBER 2006
PURPLE to continue playing live in 2007,decision not taken lightly but although things will be scaled down somewhat we will be honouring Brian’s memory in the best way we can by keeping this tribute alive in & playing the classic music he helped shape. ASHFORD ROCKS host a MACMILLAN CANCER night on October 7th, ( see link for further details) http://www.ashfordrocks.com/macmillan.htm Be advised that as STEVE MONK is behind this it will be nothing short of a brilliant night & we need as many people there as possible. Far too many good folk succumb to this insidious disease & any money raised will go to help finding a cure. Now we obviously have a vested interest in this because of Brian & although PURPLE are not playing (we were asked but for obvious reasons we can’t) John is going to be making an appearance on stage with EQUILIBRIUM for a little known DEEP PURPLE tune, ‘SMOKE’ something or other I believe !! Just be there ! It will make a difference !!!!! Mark Dawson is now officially a member of PURPLE, as I am sure most of you will know , Mark is a long time friend of both Neil & Brian & comes to us with the highest of credentials. He has been in the music business all his life & owns one of the finest studios in London too ! (check out the links page for GOLDDUST STUDIOS & be prepared to be amazed at the clientele !) He is also a veteran of the NWOBHM, from stints with LEGEND & others ,I wont reveal anymore here you will just have to wait for the biography to appear. Be sure to check out the new ‘shop’ page as there are some goodies to be had including the IAN GILLAN ‘GILLANS INN’ album amongst others & I am proud to be able to offer the DERVISH album from 1982 ‘SOME MONSTERISM’ this is a MUST HAVE !!! Buy it & marvel at the NWOBHM & in particular one BRIAN MATTHEWS simply awe inspiring guitar playing, trust me this is absolutely staggering. Ok well that’s all for now, I will again pick up the regular bulletins.
JULY 2006
There will be a formal announcement on the future of purple in due course but for now our only concern is for Brian’s family, please feel free to leave a message of condolence in the guest book.
JUNE 2006
There will be a report about Brian soon but we would like to thank Mark Dawson for agreeing to stand in for the gigs in June. We also have to greet Chris Teeder too whilst we are at it here, Chris comes to us with the highest of reputations having been a member of Phil Hilborne's band & also an occasional busker with Nicko McBrain too !! There will be an in depth June diary entry coming soon where I will (hopefully) be able to give some news on the important things. Purple would also like to thank everyone who has sent their best wishes, emails and cards to Brian - all of which have been passed on.
MAY 2006
It is my SAD duty to report to you all that our esteemed banjo player Brian's health has still not improved but has in fact worsened! so much so that we have had to cancel all gigs in May - well postponed is a better word I think as the relevant people from these venues have been incredibly understanding & sympathetic Kate, Dave & Steve. Cheers guys.
April 2006
In between the hours of 2am on Sunday 2nd April and lunchtime of Monday 3rd April, Ashford based tribute band Led By Zeppelin had their rehearsal room broken into, and the following equipment stolen: PA 2 x Peavey impulse 1015 1000 watt speakers 2 x Warfdale 12" 500 watt speakers 1 x Peavey effects unit 1 x Yamaha effects unit 1 x multi verb effects unit 1 x Samson S-com stereo compressor 1 x Audio Tecknica 1400 series UHF Wireless mic system 1 x 6U rack 1 x Berringer MX 3282A 32 Channel Mixing Desk (Note we have the power supply for this) 1x JTS Drum Mic set 2 x Shure SM58 Mic's Plus various Thomman Mic leads
Bass Gear 1x 8U Custom flight case containing the following: 1 x 1/2U AKG Wireless guitar system 1 x Korg DTR2 Tuner 1 x SWR SM900 Bass Amplifier 1 x Hartke 5000 Bass Amplifier 1 x PL350 Soundcraft monitor Amplifer 1 x Emenence 2x15 600 Watt wedge monitor
Drums Gear 1x 12" Peace Paragon Tangerine Sparkle Tom 1x Peace Slim Jim Phantom Brass Snare Drum
Please note that THIS WILL NOT STOP ANY FUTURE LED BY ZEPPELIN PERFORMANCES.
Any help that anyone can give to recovering this equipment will be appreciated.
Any information that is given which leads to a sucessfull conviction and/or recovery of the stolen items will be rewarded. If you or anyone has information please report it to Ashford Police Station on (01233) 611055, Quoting crime ref: JZ/2312/06
Paul Lawrence - Led By Zeppelin
15th January - Purple are to record some new tracks in May, these SONGS will be recorded at ROGUE STUDIOS London, the same studios where Dean Howard recorded VOLUME ONE & the best bit is that DAVID DOMMINNEY (DHB) will produce. Now we think this is pretty cool because Dave also produced VOLUME ONE including the track SMOKESCREEN… (Keep up) this is the track sung by none other than IAN GILLAN himself !!!! Purple would like to reinforce our full support for the charity ‘POOL OF LIFE’ & will no doubt be performing at one of the events organised by the SKOUSEKETEER during 2006 in aid of BREAST CANCER RESEARCH.
11th January 2006 - Purple would like to announce that Richard Day has now left the band to move onto to other things and we would like to welcome Alan Nelson as our new keyboardist. Full details of Alan will be on the biography page shortly but the band would like to welcome him onboard and look forward to the first gig together as MKIII on the 4th February at the Carlisle Hotel.
December 2005 - Early December Purple were asked to do a TV pilot show in London with Danny Robins from Radio 1. This was very exciting for the band particularly as Dean Howard (ex- T'Pau guitarist amongst other things) was also there and although it was a long evening, it was well worth it. We will keep you posted as to the outcome. The show is due to be shown to C4 very shortly.
December 2005 - Purple are now very pleased to be associated with The Dean Howard Band who supported Deep Purple on their 2004 tour.
Tickets can be purchased from the Booking Office at The Stour Centre Ashford, telephone number: 01233 639966 Breaking news: Well its been a very hectic week in Purple towers and at Ashford Rocks, but all the hard work is beginning to pay off. We can now confirm that we have some very special guests playing at the Rockathon, The Dean Howard Band who supported Deep Purple on their last tour in 2004. Also added to the bill is The Sharpsters and The Bloodhounds. So come on, it promises to be a great day/night so get purchasing those tickets. Don't forget its all in a good cause Purple in conjunction with Ashford Rocks are proud to be part of the Children in Need "Be Who you Want to Be" 2005 campaign to help children of the United Kingdom in their battle against substance abuse, child prostitution, bullying, sexual abuse, illness and HIV, homelessness, disability, self harm and many more. Remember these children are living on your doorstep, not thousands of miles away so please help us to support them by giving generously, buying a ticket to the Rock-a-thon, or sponsorship. Below is a clip from the Ashford Rocks website which says it all.... "Ashford Rocks ! is proud to announce a Mega Bash in Ashford's Stour Centre on Saturday 19th November. Running from 3pm through to 11pm this event will be the first of it's kind to be held in the Stour Centre for many years. The whole event is in aid of the BBC's Children in need appeal. Featuring both original bands and Tribute bands confirmed to play so far are: Purple (The South East's best Deep Purple Tribute) Led by Zeppelin (One of the countries foremost Led Zeppelin Tributes) My Life in the Making (The Godfathers of the Ashford Rock scene) Sizen (An awesome progressive rock band you have just got to hear them) Electric River ( A bunch of young and very talented musicians from around Ashford) Vampyres Kiss ( Our very own All Girl Gothic Rock Band ) This is not the running order so don't read anything in to the order they are listed in . And there may well be more ........ Please tell all your friends and enemies to come along and support this event, it's all for charity and will only cost you £10 for the whole show. More details very soon. We are also looking for sponsorship for this event as it is going to cost to put it on, we are having to pay for the Hall, PA, Security and Public Liability Insurance and it doesn't come cheap. So if you know any one that would like to support this event by means of some sponsorship please put them in touch with me. Already donating their support via sponsorship are: Emetco - Electrical supplies Ellingham Industrial Estate Mark Pantony - Lighting Equipment Maidstone" -- Another good cause that is taking place in aid of Breast Cancer and organised by our very good friends in the North (alright skally). We are all touched by this, it needs stamping out.
"The charity benefit gig is at the Cavern Club on friday 25/11/05 for the breast cancer charity 'Pool of Life'. 'Pool of Life' are affiliated to the Linda McCartney Centre and are members of the International charity 'A Breast in a Boat'. Tickets are £5 and are available from The Cavern Pub 0151-236-4041 in person or by phone, Radio City Box Office 0151-256-5555 in person or by phone, on line at www.ticketline.co.uk, South Bohemia Art Gallery Smithdown Road and on the door on the night. The Dean Howard Band are headlining. Dean, a former member of T'Pau, has also worked with Ian Gillan from Deep Purple and Bad Company. Dean's band supported Deep Purple, Peter Frampton and Thunder on their 04 UK tour and have recently supported Graham Bonnettt of Rainbow fame. Also playing are The Latch. Their vocalist Lee Latchford Evans( ex Steps member), who is at present on channel 5 on wednesday evenings taking part in Commando VIP, is now a proficient rock singer and is very much a member of the band, not a solo artist with a backing band. Garden State 78 are also performing( the vocalist and drummer are also members of The Dean Howard Band). Two Liverpool bands are also taking part: the very popular Susan Hedges and The South Bohemia Band. Actress Margi Clark is the patron of the charity and she will be present on the night to introduce the bands and talk about the charity. The charity are seeking new members to join their dragon boat team who have had or presently have breast cancer. The idea behind the charity is as follows:To help people who have had breast cancer understand that they can lead full, active lives despite the physical limitations imposed by this disease. To improve the quality of life for people who have had breast cancer while research is being done to find a cure. To raise awareness about breast cancer and to encourage the pursuit of a cure. The following link will lead you to information on the international charity, Abreastinaboat, that 'Pool of Life' are part of: http://www.abreastinaboat.com/index.htm"
|
|
|
