Appearing at your local village hall...

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Gob
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Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Gob »

it's always like this in Wales...

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He may be used to selling out huge arenas, but Robert Plant thought nothing of performing in front of 200 at a surprise gig in a community hall.

The former Led Zeppelin frontman joined two bands at a charity show in Monmouth to a crowd of invited guests.

The event was a tribute to his friend, Pat Moran, a former Plant co-producer, who died of a rare dementia in January.

Lifelong fan Darren Martin, 45, said: "It was amazing - he's a rock god and he was playing in a village hall."

Plant, 63, delighted the small crowd at the Bridges Community Centre in the Monmouthshire town with songs from his Led Zeppelin days as well as tunes from his solo career, including the hit Big Log.

His appearance on Saturday 9 July, and his decision to play Led Zeppelin tunes, was all the more special as Plant has refused to reform with his old band, despite playing a one-off show at the 02 Arena in 2007.

Mr Martin added: "It was a real honour to be there and he chatted with the audience afterwards."

Mr Moran, 63, who worked as an engineer on Plant's first solo album, and engineered and co-produced his second at the nearby Rockfield studios in Monmouthshire, died of Pick's Disease in January and the event was a fundraiser in his memory.
Scratch band

Organiser, Mr Moran's brother Brian said: "It was very kind of Mr Plant to join in - Pat would have been very proud.

"Mr Plant was even kind enough to sign a T-shirt which will be auctioned on eBay this week."

The event has so far raised £1,500 for the Pick's Disease Support Group, with more expected from the eBay sale.

Also performing were two bands - Welsh band Hobo - and a scratch band made up of musicians associated with Mr Moran and Rockfield Studios, who played under the name of the Rockfield Allstars.

They included Verden Allen, (ex-Mott the Hoople), Dave Edmunds, (Rockpile), Ray Martinez (Spring, Gypsy), Martin Chambers (The Pretenders), Neville Farmer (BBC producer), Paul Martinez (various bands), Dave Charles (producer and various bands).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-sout ... s-14272122
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Sue U
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Sue U »

a scratch band made up of musicians associated with Mr Moran and Rockfield Studios, who played under the name of the Rockfield Allstars.

They included Verden Allen, (ex-Mott the Hoople), Dave Edmunds, (Rockpile), Ray Martinez (Spring, Gypsy), Martin Chambers (The Pretenders), Neville Farmer (BBC producer), Paul Martinez (various bands), Dave Charles (producer and various bands).
That's some scratch!
GAH!

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Gob »

Gob wrote:it's always like this in Wales...

See what I mean?
Charlotte Church has been thanked by charity organisers after treating villagers to a surprise performance in the Vale of Glamorgan.

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The scarlet-haired singer, 25, sang for a small crowd of 60 at a strawberry tea event on the green in Dinas Powys.

Accompanied by her boyfriend Jonathan Powell, she sang five songs while crowds tucked into cream cakes and scones baked by the Women's Institute.

The event raised more than £1,400 for Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern.

Charlotte moved to the area soon after her split with Gavin Henson, 29, last year.

Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern chairman John Fanshaw said: "There was a tremendous atmosphere during the afternoon. Everyone went home feeling they had attended something very special.

He thanked Charlotte and Jonathan for "being so supportive of our charity".

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South Wales Central Assembly Member Chris Franks said of the event, earlier this month: "We were thrilled to welcome Charlotte Church and Jonathan Powell to the strawberry tea.

"Their musical contribution made the afternoon an unforgettable occasion.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

Liberty1
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Liberty1 »

I watched a cool concert last night on Austin City Limits, can't remeber the name but they were good and the musicians spaned 3 generations. The lead guitar and singer were younger, the drummer was the lead singer for Foo Foghter and on bass, keyboards and slide guitar none other than John Paul Jones. He is stupid good.
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way. Mark Twain

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The Hen
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by The Hen »

No one comes to Canberre. Even if they are touring Australia and have to either fly over us, or drive through us.

And when they do come here, they charge and exorbitant price for their company ... to make up for the fact our theatre is same and doesn't fit the numbers in they want.


:(
Bah!

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Sean
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Sean »

So did Charlotte sing Black Dog?
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Gob »

meanwhile, on the underground, the quality of buskers improves....
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She's used to belting out songs in front of thousands of people in venues like Wembley Stadium and the Royal Albert Hall. But yesterday, Katherine Jenkins gave commuters and tourists a thrill with an impromptu free 'concert' in Leicester Square tube station. Going undercover for a feature with London's ES magazine, the Welsh mezzo soprano disguised her blonde hair with a brunette wig.

And instead of the glamorous couture she usually performs in, Jenkins looked like a struggling musician in her ripped jumper, jeans and boots. With a cap on the ground for her busking session, the 31-year-old sang a collection of covers and tracks from her new album, including Break It To My Heart, and ended up raising £16 for charity. Despite her disguise, many commuters soon recognised the singer and many were moved to tears as she hit the high notes.

After her final song, she was met with applause by a small assembled crowd and signed autographs to those who recognised her. Although having lived in London since her student days at the Royal Academy Of Music, Jenkins admits she rarely uses the Underground these days and doesn't have an Oyster card.She told the Evening Standard: 'I was really really enjoying myself. On the initial first note I thought "Oh god, I don't know how this is going to work out", it was quite an operatic number and I wasn't sure how it would be received.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... z1eaVKydxn
her in her normal work clothes..

“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

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Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland has given a gold disc to be sold at auction to help a village hall restoration fund where he grew up.

As a child Buckland lived in Pantymwyn, Flintshire, where the hall was the focal point for community events and birthday and Christmas parties.

Now, as a member of one of the world's biggest bands, he has given the committee restoring the village hall a disc marking 100,000 album sales.

It is to be sold in London in July.

"This is an incredibly generous donation from a very special son of Pantymwyn," said village hall committee chair Chris Johnson.

"We cannot thank Jonny and his family enough for their fantastic support and we hope the disc will do very well at auction."

The disc marks 100,000 sales in Germany of the band's latest album, Mylo Xyloto.

Buckland, whose family moved to Pantymwyn, near Mold, when he was four, started playing guitar as a young boy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-nort ... s-17852085
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

TV star wows Pick's Disease benefit show

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For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

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Raised a few bob..
Coldplay gold disc auction nets £562 for Pantymwyn hall

A Coldplay gold disc auctioned to help restore the village hall where guitarist Jonny Buckland grew up has raised £562.

Buckland, who lived in Pantymwyn, Flintshire, as a child, was alerted to the cause by his parents, who still live in the area.

He donated the disc, which marks 100,000 sales of the best-selling band's latest album, Mylo Xyloto.

The Pantymwyn hall work will cost over £43,000.

Organisers said they were a few thousand pounds short of the target.

The disc, which was sold by auctioneers Bonhams in London on Tuesday, was part of an entertainment auction which included Coldplay frontman Chris Martin's Yamaha CP70 piano, although that was not part of the Pantymwyn fundraising.

Bonhams had expected the disc to attract plenty of interest from Coldplay's huge following.

Katherine Williams, senior specialist in entertainment memorabilia, said before the sale that not many Coldplay-related items had comes onto the market.

"I think that's because they keep a lot of things and auction things off or sell them for charity themselves," she said.

Buckland's family moved to Pantymwyn, near Mold, when he was four. He attended Ysgol y Waun in Gwernaffield and Mold Alun High School, where he studied A-level music.

He started playing guitar as a young boy and met fellow Coldplay members during their first week at University College London in the mid-1990s.

The village hall committee say Buckland used the hall with other youngsters for parties and plays while he was growing up.

Plans for the hall - which is used for concerts among other community events - include a new roof, walls and doors.
Christmas plays

Chris Johnson, the village hall committee chairman, said Coldplay had already given £10,000 to the fund through the band's grant-giving foundation.

"We started getting some donations and then the fundraising was circulated to everyone including Mr and Mrs Buckland [Jonny Buckland's parents], who got in touch and said we would be hearing from Coldplay," he said.

"When he [Jonny Buckland] was living here, he was in Christmas plays in the hall - he's familiar with it and still has a soft spot for the village and hall.

"It's great that someone who is famous and doesn't live here still thinks about us."

The disc, which features the signatures of all four band members, was a gift from music giant EMI to Buckland. It marks 100,000 sales in Germany of the album.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

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Not content with just appearing at the local village hall, they now want to run the village!

The rock band Muse have been invited to help run their Devon hometown's council for a day.

Teignbridge District Council Leader Jeremy Christophers said he met the trio, who come from Teignmouth, after they carried the Olympic torch in the area in May.

Mr Christophers said the scheme was in the planning stage but the "invitation had been well received" by the band.

Muse has not publicly commented on the offer.

Mr Christophers said: "We've got some arrangements to make between now and when it happens."

A council spokesman said it had not yet decided what the trio would do for the day.

Mr Christophers said: "The band's new album is centred around energy depletion on the planet and I'm really hopeful that we can do some work with younger people about this. I'm hugely excited by the prospect."
For those of you who do not know them, here's an aptly named track;

“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

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A mini rugby team from Cardiff can claim the loudest shirt in the country, thanks to sponsorship by veteran rock band Def Leppard.

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Rhiwbina under-10s teamed with the band through one of their coaches, Richard Proctor, who does artwork for them.

Rhiwbina, nicknamed The Squirrels, are predictably nuts about their jerseys sporting a logo which has won admiring glances from opponents.

The band love it too and have signed a shirt for the team to put on display.

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Lead singer Joe Elliott said he was delighted to sponsor the team "because Richard is a long-time friend of mine and he works closely with the band".

"When he told me he needed a sponsor, I jumped at the chance, only afterwards did I realise it was a rugby and not a footy team!" he added.

The band, from Sheffield, are big football fans and follow the teams of their home city, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, but are less familiar with rugby.

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But Elliott is more than happy with how it turned out.

"Like all things with our logo on it, I think it looks spectacular," he said.

"I'm not sure it's going to guarantee a winning team every week though, but at least they will look cool."

When the rockers wrote one of their most famous hits, Animal, it was probably not Squirrels they had in mind - but the partnership has turned heads.

Rival teams have done a double take when they have spotted the famous logo on the Rhiwbina jerseys.

Mr Proctor - whose son Lucas, nine, plays for the team - said: "They don't take it seriously - they don't believe it.

"They'll say, 'that can't be right - what, THE Def Leppard?' We do get a few sideways glances. Even if we lose we still think we look the best!"

Mr Proctor, a long-time friend of Def Leppard's Rhondda-born tour manager Malvin Mortimer, has recently returned from Las Vegas with the band.

"I was working with the video team and filming and shooting bits for the website," he said.

"I took one of the jerseys out with me and got them to sign it. We want to get it framed and put it in the clubhouse."

He hopes that next time the band tour the UK, there could be a treat in store for the youngsters in the rugby team.

"When they're on a UK tour, they normally play the Cardiff arena," he said.

"The next time that happens we will take the boys out to meet the guys and get photos. They're very responsive to all that."

Def Leppard formed in 1977 and have sold 100 million records worldwide.

Perhaps their best known album is Hysteria, released in 1987, which topped the US and UK album charts and has sold over 20 million copies.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

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Hollywood actors George Clooney and Matt Damon surprised staff at a Cambridge gym by turning up to play basketball.

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Clooney and Damon are filming scenes at the Imperial War Museum Duxford for World War II movie, The Monuments Men.

Liane Shadrack, Kelsey Kerridge gym manager, said Damon booked the basketball court for Sunday lunchtime.

"They shot a few hoops but I did feel a bit bad throwing them out after their hour was up," she said.

Film crews have been in Cambridgeshire since Friday working on scenes for Clooney's movie based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, by Robert M Edsel.

The film tells the story of a group of art experts chosen by the US government who risked their lives scouring Europe to retrieve artwork stolen by the Nazis.

The cast includes Daniel Craig, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville and French actor Jean Dujardin, who won an Oscar for his role in The Artist.

Miss Shadrack said: "We got a call on Saturday night to say Matt Damon wanted to come along in about five minutes' time to work out in gym.

"So we just let him in, and he got on with it."

Afterwards he asked if the basketball court was free the following day.

"We were completely booked except between 1pm and 2pm, but he said he'd take it," Miss Shadrack said.

Damon turned up with Clooney and two other men, and spent the hour "shooting hoops", before Miss Shadrack said she had to inform them their time was up as others were waiting to use the court.

"They were very nice, such lovely people, and they posed for some pictures and chatted with people, but they didn't say anything about the film they were making," she said.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

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A primary school band will play to a slightly bigger audience than they are used to on Saturday night when they open a show for Robert Plant.

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The former Led Zeppelin frontman agreed to let Y Storm perform after hearing of their success at one of Europe's biggest youth festivals, the Urdd Eisteddfod, in May.

The band members are pupils at Ysgol OM Edwards in Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd.

Plant's band will headline Forest Live in front of 10,000 people.

The father of two of Y Storm's band members is Liam Tyson, guitarist with the The Sensational Space Shifters which tour with Plant.

One of Tyson's sons, Osian, is a guitarist, while the other, Guto, plays the drums.

Tyson said the gig at Cannock Chase Forest, Staffordshire, was a natural progression for Y Storm after all their hard work and Urdd Eisteddfod success.

He said he asked Plant for a "favour" to see if the children could play at one of their gigs and he replied "of course" straight away.

"He knows they've been in a band, he's seen the progression over the years. He knows they've won the eisteddfod, and he champions all things Welsh, so it was the next step to do," Tyson said.

Despite his links with Plant, Tyson said the band had earned the Forest Live gig on merit.

"For their age they'd give anybody a run," he said.

"They're on the gig because they've done well over the years and they've progressed and progressed and they've kept progressing."

Y Storm write their own material and will be performing in English and Welsh at the concert.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Sue U
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Sue U »

"They're on the gig because they've done well over the years and they've progressed and progressed and they've kept progressing."
Prog rock, then?

ETA:

Concert footage:

GAH!

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Gob »

You can't beat the classics!!

Duck walk even....

I wonder if there's any link to their Welsh stuff.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Gob
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Re: Appearing at your local village hall...

Post by Gob »

So you turn up for your village cricket side, only to find you're bowling to Freddie Flintoff.*

Which is when I tell him he’s not being straight. Because I know he’s been back playing for his old club, St Annes. “Oh,” Flintoff says as he winces, “I knew this was going to come up.”

It was one game – against Morecambe in the Northern Premier League. Flintoff’s 15-year-old son, Corey, played in it too. “They haven’t got a pro this year and the Thursday night before the first game they were struggling for numbers, and I said: ‘Look, if you’re stuck I’ll put my kit in the car.’ I turned up at Morecambe and I’m playing. So the captain says: ‘Where do you want to bat?’ I said: ‘I’d like to go last, please.’


“He tried to talk me into going to No 4 and in the end we agreed on 7, which was probably a couple too high. I got three and then I left one from the left-arm spinner and it was an arm ball and it clipped off stump, so I got off as fast as I could.”

For all his happy-go-lucky bluster, Flintoff was too good, too recently, to enjoy playing without preparing properly. “If I’m playing I like to practise, but I was going out to bat expecting absolutely nothing, thinking: ‘If I do anything well it’s going to be an absolute fluke,’ and I didn’t like being in that position.”

Some people would have done it just to play on the same side as one of their children, but Flintoff says: “I’m always worried that it’s going to put more pressure on them, when I just want them to get on and enjoy it. Anyway, after a week at work, my good time’s become just sitting in a chair watching my boys play. I really enjoy that, much more than the thought of not being able to move for two or three days afterwards if I play myself.”

Flintoff doesn’t mention it but he agreed to become St Annes’ president, too. It is good to think about him coming back to his roots in cricket like this, after all these years watching him drift away and into gameshows and gimmick TV. Talking of which, I ask him what his friends at St Annes think of the Hundred. I know that if their opinions are anything like the ones you hear at some other clubs, the answers will not please the PR who is hovering in the corner.
* Flintoff, is the ex England cricket captain, he played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all rounders, a fast medium pace bowler, middle order batsman and slip fielder. He was consistently rated by the ICC as being among the top international all-rounders in both ODI and Test cricket.

“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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