Focus Youth Theatre Final Fling

Focus Youth Theatre Final Fling:

Back in August 2010, Michael Giller suggested to B&B that it would be fun to put on a gig together with ArtGruppe, Columbo, MG and Le Mat - seeing as we'd all been around the local music scene from the early 80s, either as groupies, musicians, or both! I talked it over with Roy and he suggested the Focus Theatre as a venue, he'd played his first gig there with The Windmills as had many other bands at that time. When I went to Focus to book it up, I discovered that the centre was being knocked down to make room for a new Tesco and its car park, so our reunion gig became the final Focus gig ever!!!

I had such trouble trying to get the posters done, I have no publishing package and James Parry was sending me drafts which my email was shrinking - anyway, the posters/flyers were simple, stark and reminiscent of the gig flyers from the mid-80s which was handy.

I went fly posting for the first time in 20 years too, it was exhilarating and fun - until I discovered that TOTS had covered my £1.25 each posters almost immediately - posters+petrol+glue+heartache = doesn't bare thinking about!

There is no longer the Pine Bar at Focus, or any bar for that matter so I bought some soft drinks and me and my middle daughter bagged up some sweets to sell on the day to try and raise a few extra £s for the funds.

About 60 people paid on the door and another few had tickets already, Hayley and Tim were fine doormen and Emilia, Rhiannon and Lola did a super job selling refreshments.

Michael Giller came on to his intro music in a heavy cloud of smoke, he played a mixture of his own songs and covers, including The Smiths.. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.

ArtGruppe did their summery indie pop thing with a couple of new songs thrown in, Now and Ugly Boy Ugly Girl - a more upbeat and heavier set than usual.

Columbo rocked in a souly sort of way - Rob growled and high kicked his way through and energetic set of northern soul and mod classics.

Le Mat were heroes of mine when I first started going to Focus Youth Theatre, I used to play their album over and over again and giggle if ever I saw them out and about. I spent my pocket money on tickets for their Focus and Queens shows. They say you should never meet your idols....
Le Mat's set started off brilliantly, they played songs of the aforementioned album and a nostagic rush filled my veins - the singer had changed quite drastically but the overall look remained the same. Sadly, supporting Duran Duran back in the day had caused personality shifts and after an unfortunate powercut, which Andrew Holley managed to single handedly rectify within 15 minutes, the band, the sound and the set deteriorated quite rapidly. The audience were polite and understanding on the whole but the show had taken a wrong turn - Le Mat ended up overrunning half an hour, sadly not leaving any time for Paul Tunkin to finish the afternoon with a dj set.

I am so glad to have been a part of the final Focus Theatre gig -big thanks are owed to all the bands and helpers for giving up their time, gear and talent to make the afternoon happen... it is much appreciated and I enjoyed being a tiny part of the building's long and rich musical history.

B&B Hallowe'en Hoot

On the 31st October, 2010 from 2pm-6pm B&B's will be holding their first hallowe'en hoot!!
We're all dressing up, bands, audience, relatives, friends, children, pets - it should be a memorable afternoon, featuring live music from:

Weird Gear -electronica, synth-pop
Clare Blackman - beautiful Joplin-tinged folk
ArtGruppe - indie indie indie pop
St Huck - Stones to the Stooges, grumbling garage
Steve Hooker - Rock 'n' Roll!!!
Reilly Peacock - Fabulous alternative sounds, making their B&B debut!!

Michelle and Wendy are hosting another free afternoon of live music in the B&B tradition, in the big room upstairs at The Railway Hotel. Southend-on-Sea - colouring fun for children and super music for the rest of the gang - dressing up prizes for adults and children alike - woo-hoo!!!

La Belle et la Beat presents....

Farewell Focus Final Fling

A couple of months ago Michael Giller suggested to La Belle et la Beat that we all do a gig together for old timers' sake, Columbo, Le Mat, ArtGruppe and himself - seeing as we've all played or groupied in various guises at Focus Youth Theatre, it seemed like the perfect venue to host the party!!!

Michael Giller played briefly in Rare Pleasures with Jake Shillingford and Mal Campbell but Promised Land was his own creation, he later played in No Matter What.
Rob Moore from Columbo sang in many bands who played at Focus from '85 onwards, Hang 10, No Matter What, Stud 100.
ArtGruppe have their own local band history; Roy was in The Windmills (signed to Matinee Records and who played their first ever gig at Focus), Michelle was founder member of Wednesday's Child and later Marnie (signed to Jungle Records), Wendy was in Tortoise Shout and Jay appeared at Focus in Skin of Da Mother.

Our headline band are local legends Le Mat who were formed out of the ashes of Southend's The Leapers.

When I went in to book the theatre, I was told that it was no longer for hire as the Centre was being closed down to make way for the new Tesco and its car park, I was assured that a new Youth Centre was being built behind the Post Office in Short Street. The managers agreed to let us have it though, after a bit of persuading because it was for a special reunion type event.

So the day is getting nearer, the Farewell Focus Final Fling is next Saturday 9th October; because The Pine Bar no longer exists and there is no alcohol allowed on the premises we decided to make it a family friendly afternoon gig, in the Belle et la Beat traddition - 4pm-7pm then all off to the Railway Hotel to continue the party, hoorah!!!

Tickets are £5 because the theatre is so expensive to hire!!!

Hello blogworld, things are a little hectic at B&B HQ - there is a lot going on Sept/Oct... for ArtGruppe/Belle et la Bete/Community....watch this space!!!

Belle September 2010

September 5th 2010 - this month's B&B is an all acoustic afternoon of live music - 6-8 (tbc) gorgeous acts spread over the afternoon - mellow music and entertainment for all the Belle et la Beaters.

ANNE CLUNN makes her B&B debut, followed by BRIAN THE DANCER, he's been to rock school over the summer so we're expecting a special set for his return performance!!! SIMON DEE will play his 12string acoustic and sing some well known covers for us. IAN TREHERNE is also making a return visit to B&B - he's been flat-out producing art work for various exhibitions and commissions around the town so it'll be a nice change to hear him play guitar. CANDELABRA will be playing their eclectic and varied set of original songs and finally FLAM JAM, (aka Paul and Ian) will play out the afternoon with their beautifully crafted flamenco guitar pieces - traditional and original!!

TBC - Ashley and Ray's folk inspired BLUE IN THE FAITH and SOUTHEND UKULELE ORCHESTRA.... watch this space !!!

Looks like it's going to be a great laid back, mellow and tunetastic afternoon. Because the music is all acoustic this month we'll have the children's colouring and craft in the main room with the singers - see you all on Sunday from 1.30pm,

Michelle and Wendy xxx

belle et la beat 25th july 2010

it's that time again, the line-up has changed and mutated about six or seven times now; we overbooked, lost a couple of acts, were undersubscribed and now there's too many people on the bill but they're all wonderful and we can't leave anyone out (:

so the Beer Garden B&B is:

ashley jarvis - comperes...
DARREN JONES
MIKE FROM THE ENDS
ARTGRUPPE
ST HUCK
BAND WITH NO NAME AS YET
SOUTHEND UKULELE ORCHESTRA
LUCKY STRIKES

no idea how we're going to fit them all on, maybe we'll all have to play at the same time, but it's going to be a wonderful afternoon. I hope the sun shines for our first outdoor Belle et la Beat... can't wait!!!

April's B&B

Sunday 25th April:

A 2.30 kick off with ArtGruppe was swiftly followed by a B&B debut performance from King Bandit, aka Justin.
King played a 20 minute set of original material, this was his first gig in 10years and all the songs had been extra-specially written for the event!

Carterhaugh returned to B&B this month bringing their blend of folk and rock... frock? Kerry's sonorous tones and a textured rhythm section.

At 4.30pm Foreign Legion took to the stage, they were great, full of energy and beans! Matt has a very distinctive voice along the lines of Reef and Jordan and Tom provided a solid punchy back-beat!

Columbo ended the afternoon with a mixture of original songs and covers, from classic soul to The Who... they were fab as always and the high kicks made my day!

Thanks to all our brilliant helpers and wonderful audience people, can't wait 'til 6th June for the next one,
ciao Bella Beaters xxx

Masks

At 7.30 this morning we received our first blow-out text... sadly, for various reasons, one of our bands couldn't make today's Belle et la Beat and neither could our lovely compere, Ashley Jarvis.
Delicious PR were wonderfully helpful and sent round an email asking for a last minute stand-in but we were already half-way through the day when the offers started arriving.
It didn't matter though.....

Lost Harbours played a beautiful, ethereal and sometimes chilling set. Their songs are a little like Gregorian chants overlaid on waves of flute, guitar and and other less identifiable noises.

We were thrilled to have The Abrahams play today. John Bennett writes warm, summery songs and his guitar playing appears effortless.

Sadly Facade couldn't make it along.

ArtGruppe played a variation on their usual set. We did our Bunnymen cover, Pictures on My Wall and seven of our own songs. The audience were fab and clapped in all the right places.

At 5pm, 10 minutes before they were due to go on, The West Brothers arrived. Whilst they set up we gave out prizes for the mask-making competition and drew the raffle.

The West Brothers brought along a full band line-up including drums, electric guitars, and a West Sister on acoustic and backing vocals. They were great, Steve Miller-y, bluesy, a little rocky..... not at all the acoustic, banjo, blue-grass combo that we'd seen so many times at the Preview!!!

Brilliant day!!! Ian did a cracking job on the sound desk and Christopher was wonderful with the children's arts and crafts.

We are really looking forward to the next one on Sunday 25th April.

The Abrahams......

We are delighted that the Railway Hotel love having us on their premises and so we have settled on doing these events every six weeks! Extra dates mean more room for local bands as well as out-of-towners, hoorah! We are just in the process of confirming the March line up and here's what's happening so far.....
The Abrahams is the brainchild of John Bennett, he plays beautifully crafted songs performed in a rich acoustic style. John played at Glastonbury Festival with Coal Porters in '93, he played guitar with Grand Drive in '94 and joined the High LLamas and signed to Sony Records shortly afterwards. High LLamas toured Britain, Europe and the USA. One of the highlights of their career was being Love for one night, Arthur Lee's backing band, at the Garage in Highbury!!! John supported Pavement on an 11 night tour and guested on guitar for them too. Radio appearances included sessions for Mark Radcliffe and Steve Lamaq. Recently John has been performing with The New Giants, a Neil Young, REM-esque vibe. John informs us that, 'with a little encouragement I can be lured into performing Love or High LLamas songs.' This is The Abraham's first date with us and we're really looking forward to it!..

7th March Belle et la Beat

I haven't been on here for a while, I've had my head turned by other things the last few weeks but it's all positive stuff. I've been to lots of gigs and have also been working on the ArtGruppe demo...

Our next Belle et la Beat event is on Sunday 7th March, 2.30 til 5.30. We tried to go quarterly but The Railway asked if we would do a few more so here goes....

7th March - ArtGruppe + Lost Harbours + The Abrahams (we are just waiting on confirmation of two other acts) - I'm trying to come up with a crafty theme for the kid's room, any suggestions welcome!

The year is unfolding quickly though, 6th June will be part of the Southend Fringe Festival, Bearcraft will be headlining. The Fringe is an alternative forum for arts/crafts/music anyone with an idea can register an event to be held in June.

September 5th will be our Family and Friends' End of Summer Party, featuring all local bands and a big blow out to celebrate the children going back to school after 7weeks off! (:

filling up the year!

We've made it mid-way through January - the sky was full of bright shiny sun today and the world was a good place to be!

January 31st - the line up has been confirmed for the next Belle et la Beat:
2pm - Blue in the Faith , our super compere Ashley Jarvis and Ray Charman play traditional folk songs but also a few more modern and unexpected surprises.
2.40 - New Subjects - are John Thorpe's brainchild - a funky-soul rap and guitar duo.
3.20 - Phillious Williams - Southend's favourite purveyors of Heavy Western, beautiful songs with an audible edge.
4.00 - ArtGruppe - harmonies, melodies and heartwarming tunes on a back drop of indie-pop beats.
4.40 - St Huck - play anything from the Stones to the Stooges, rocky-garage/punk - featuring Kim and his congas!!!

I have obtained some silver card and glitter glue from a local outlet and am looking forward to making some rocket and space-based pictures with the children in the little room. I am in the process of trying to persuade my daughter and Rai Rai to do some face painting - watch this space!

The 1st birthday, the future and beyond...

We are in the process of confirming the line-up for January's B&B, our 1st birthday.

I really enjoyed co- organising and performing at the events last year. We put on the first B&B last January at The Ship in Leigh, I did a duet with Wendy and celebrated my 40th birthday the same evening. Tumbledryer Babies opened the night and Phillious Williams and his daughters concluded it.

After a couple of Saturday night do's at the Ship, we tried the piano bar upstairs at The Railway Hotel in the Spring. In the summer we experimented with a B&B at the Cobham Lodge in Westcliff, Ashley Jarvis compered and 52pound test did a solo acoustic set, it was great to see Becky singing again after so many years. The gig went well but the venue wasn't quite right. We had a long hard think over the summer hols and came up with the idea of Sunday afternoon gigs where we could take our children and the audience could also bring theirs.

So far the Sunday afternoon B&Bs have been brilliant, well-attended, no injuries so far - hightlights include... Liz Bentley, Columbo, The Phrogs and of course, Artgruppe, but all the acts have been fab.

Dates for 2010 -
Jan 31st-StHuck (acoustic), Artgruppe
April 25th - Carterhaugh
July 25th
October 31st

Hope to see you all soon xx

Beat VI (cont.)

Yes, so after man-handling the playdough, I decorated stars and angels with the gang in the small room and we hung them on the fireplace. Flam Jam provided a perfect flamenco-ey backdrop, mellow and cleverer than anything I could ever play.
Our childroom supervisor (and my lovely daughter) Hayley had to be rushed to A&E with a shocking asthma attack, may be it was induced by all the excitement of the Belle et la Beat, or possibly brought on by cat fur and fags. She is on the mend now, thankfully. Super Jo took over and I was able to pop my head in the door to watch...
Richard Moore (aka Bearcraft). He did clever things with an electric guitar and keyboard. He made a fabulous sound, so much going on for just one man - I really enjoyed the songs, more intricate than pop but groovy too.
After taking the spotlight and drawing the raffle (hightlight of my day) we made room on the stage for Southend's finest garage and soul band, The Phrogs. It was a rare treat to have them play as their last gig was almost exactly a year ago at a private party and prior to that, about ten years ago. I love the Phrogs and Dave Dulake is probably my favourite live drummer of all time - I could watch him play for hours. The Phrogs brougbt back happy memories and they went down a storm.
Andrew Holley took over on the sound desk, setting up the PA and running it all afternoon and for that we are extremely grateful, Wendy played some vibey sounds between the bands and Rachel Holley did a fantastic job passing the Solomon heirloom, Horrace the hedgehog - we managed to collect enough £s through donations to pay for the flyers and the arts and crafts in the children's room, thank you everyone for being so generous.
Can't wait til the next one on the 31st Jan - just sorting out the line-up now...... watch this space.