The Valuable Fools' News page

Picnic in the Park

Sunday 18th July
Quite surreal and wonderful, the Fools being introduced by Stuart Maconie (of BBC Radio 2 fame) this afternoon at Warley Woods. I'm stll peed off that my guitar string broke, but had a good time and glad that the weather held off. Two new songs aired too. Our first duet in "Gone" and "Big Dumb Song", with it's big dumb riff and words attcking the stupidity of making us all pay for the banking crisis. Grrr! The people we spoke to semed to like it and the more guitar based direction we've been taking.

Set: 1976 Anyway, Echo Beach, You, Gone, Big Dumb Song, Mr Soft, I Can't Get To Sleep, Lost And Found, Walls, Heroes.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Rockin at The Robin!
An absolutley brill night supporting legendary 70's prog-pop band Stackridge. They became The Korgis in the 80s and had a hit with "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime". So our first support to a name and our first at The Robin. We were a bit nervous but played well and despite being squished at the edge of the stage we looked fairly balanced. Our set was a sort of "best of" really and went down well with the Stackridge audience as well as those who came to see us. We got some great compliments from audience and Stackridge alike and we gained some new fans with sales of our album. A fab night!

Set: The Vine, 1976 Anyway, You , Winter Song, Don't Get Me Started, Lost And Found, If I Can't Go To Sleep, Walls, Pretty Little Head.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Acousticity at The Dog
......Hey ho, we came to the Dog in Bearwood last May and enjoyed it, so we
came back. Paul joined us on viola and Millertronics (as well as organising
the evening!). We had some support, even from as far as Malvern and despite
my heavy cold it was a pleasent way to spend a Sunday night. Ali did "Time " brilliantly again, (this time I played in the right key; which helped!) and the hand drum returned. I played around with some dynamics and Steve grooved away heroically. We opted to put a few new ones in there as well as some old faves like "Beautiful", which we hadn't played for ages. We got some nice comments after and hope to return there.

Set: The Vine, 1976 Anyway, Strange Love, Beautiful, Bringing The Blue Sky
Back, Mr Soft (cover), Falling Down, I Can't Go To Sleep, Time (cover), Walls, Don't Get Me Started, Pretty Little Head

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Worcester - Keystones Bar

Back to Worcester and a new venue for us The Keystones Cafe Bar; seemed like an underground chapel, but a decent venue. We were supporting Chilli Peppers sounding Spoonfedz (a nice bunch of lads). Good to see our lovely and loud Polish friends there giving us enthusiastic support. We seemed to go down quite well with the rest of the audience too. We debuted our new song "I Won't Forget Her" with lead vocals by Ian. Musically it's a bit of an affectionate tribute to under-rated 70's band 10cc. There were a few jazz moments here and there in the set, but I think we went down well. We're due to start recording soon by the way, so some of these new songs may work there way onto the site.
cheers
Mark

Set - The Vine, 1976 Anyway, Ice and Fire, Pretty Little Head, I Won't Forget Her, Lost And Found, If I Can't Go To Sleep, Walls, Inside, Don't Get Me Started.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A rockin night in Brum for a change.
The last time we played the Actress and Bishop it was last December and a grand total of 5 people turned up, which caused me to approach this gig with some trepadation! But I think we were pleasantly suprised by a much better turn out this time and also the sound guy had given us a good mix.
So our first real gig without Paul fiddling around and we rocked by giving Warwick more guitar space to do his wonderful widdly bits! You may see me playing more electric guitar in future, so don't say I didn't warn you. It's been so long since I played it, it's practically stuck to my wall!
We played some newer songs too, like "Ice and Fire" and the soon to be classic "If I Can't Go To Sleep", which went down well
We drew a decent score on the applause-o-meter and many thanks to covers band Kiiro for having us along.

Set: The Vine, 1976 Anyway, You, Winter Song, Ice and Fire, Pretty Little Head, Word Up (Cameo /Gun cover), Lost And Found, If I Can't Go To Sleep, Walls, Run Too Far, Inside, Don't Get Me Started.

Friday 9th October 2009
Acousticity in Worcester

Well at last a gig. A lovely venue The Firefly with it's mellowed out candles and comfy vibes. Lots of young (and I mean young!) talented other folks played, so we were the Dad Rock for the night! Still, the lovely Flo Rowland said she enjoyed us, as did Radio Worcs pundit Andy O'Hare and although some of the talent took their mates home with them as soon as they had fininshed, we did get an audience.
I had some "jazz monents" as I struggled to remember some words and we did an impromptu "Don't Get Me Started", which we hadn't rehearsed. However, it went fairly well. We debuted our new pop/rocker "If I Can't Go To Sleep ", Paul joined us and it was lovely to hear Waz on acoustic guitar too!

Set - The Vine, 1976 Anyway, You, Ice and Fire, Walls, If I Can't Go To Sleep, Don't Get Me Started.

13th September 2009
Tea Break Over!

Well we're back dear reader after our summer hols and I have to report that there've been some changes. Our renowned viola player "Proff Firestick" aka Paul Miller has left the band as far as full blown electric gigs are concerned. He has said he's willing to do the acoustic side of things as and when, so maybe we havn't seen the last of his wonderous skills? It's a pretty sad turn of events. Paul will continue to work with Electric Shed, Prussian Blue and Colin Hall. However, I wish him well, Paul has been with us since the early days; sad to see him go.

So for now we continue albeit tentativley along the path of deciding to record songs that we've played but haven't recorded yet. We'll see if that leads anywhere.

As for gigs, well what does it take to get a gig in Worcs or Brum? Constant contact with several venues have lead to nothing. I've either been fobbed off with "we're full to Christmas" or "ring back " and of course the "promoter" is never in. So I'm not sure where this leaves us? We may try other venues or just carry on recording and try later. You'd think that a BBC session would count for something? Alas it seems not. So if you're in a band and want another act on the bill, please give us a mail.

On a more positive note we do have another rinky dinky tune for you which we're knocking into shape as a classy pop/rocker. It's called "If I Can't Get To Sleep" and hopefully you'll get to hear it soon.

11th July
BBC Radio Live Session.

radio session band photo

Well then this was a turn up for the band! We got our first radio session, after much effort by yours truly. We were on the Friday Session on BBC Radio Worcs. A great experience and a bit of a bizarre interview. Presenter Andrew Marston kept going on about 9 years, which made us sound a bunch of lazy rockers. The reason we've only done 2 albums in 9 years is logistics and lack of time really folks. The sound guy cut off the first warblings of "You" and presenter Andy pushed the wrong button during "Lost and Found". Oh and my acoustic guitar is inaudible on the play back, but it all sounded great in the studio (wonder what happened?).

ali at BBC

Songs : You , Lost And Found (set 1) , Walls , Winter Song (set 2).

We also recorded 1976 Anyway for broadcast during the next show.

21st June 2009
The Wishing Well, Bromsgrove.

Our debut in Bromsgrove and at the Wishing Well. Strange pub, as the stage is in the middle, meaning your playing to two halves of the same room. The bar side semed to be content to let us be background music, but the other side- wow, what a good crowd! Audience particiaption from the off! This kind of gig is a joy to do and it was great to get some compliments (one punter reconed we were a "Breath of fresh air" to most bands . Others admired Mr Millers equipment (ooh er) and clapped along and attempted to dance to "Lost and Found" (in 7/8 fact fans to 6/8 to 4/4 in 3 minutes). Paul offered the winning lady a drink! A very hot night for all of us ,we played for nearly 2 hours with a short break and were exhausted by the end. Somehow we summoned up the energy for an unexpectedly demanded encore. Ali bopped all night and sang her second only lead on "Here Comes The Rain Again". Paul sonically exploded at the appropriate points (and played onstage darts!), Ian pummelled away and Steve kept the groove. Waz had a shed load of lead to do on this one and every solo was great. All in all a great night out!

Set: 1 - The Vine, 1976 Anyway, Echo Beach (cover), Because The Night (cover), Don't Get Me Started, Ain't No Sunshine (cover), Falling Down ,Children Of The Revolution (cover), Walls , Inside.

Set 2 - Pretty Little Head, Word Up (cover), You, Here Comes The Rain Again (cover) ,Winter Song, Do Anything You Wanna Do (cover), Dancing In The Moonlight (cover -Thin Lizzy), Lost & Found , Mr Soft (cover), Run Too Far, Heroes (cover), What I Want, (encore) Hungry For Your Love

31st May 2009
The Roadhouse, Stirchley.

Well a fairly swift return to one of the best venues in Brum - The Roadhouse, supporting fab covers band Starving Dogs (kudos to them for a great set by the way). Whether it was because of the final of "Britain 's Got talent " (absloute twaddle in my opinion!), or because it was at the end of a holiday week, it was less of a crowd than before. However, still a respectable turn out and some new faces to play to. Also we got some some very warm applause for our set. So a pretty good night out. We had to cut short our rocking set, due to time , but Waz wailed his guitar and Ali shook and shaked, whilst Paul fiddled away. We finished with a blazing "Inside".

Set : The Vine , 1976 Anyway , Because The Night (Patti Smith cover) , Pretty Little Head, Ice and Fire, Falling Down , Run Too Far , Inside.

5th May 2009
The Dog Pub

Paul promoted the gig. As a small acoustic evening it went well; we got some new faces in the crowd and it also saw the debut of Ali doing a lead vocal, as we covered Tom Waits' "Time". I first heard the song sung by Hedi Talbot and thought that it would be a good one to do at some point. Ali did great and she also brought along a hand drum. It's the first time we've had one of those in the line up since Dawn in the early Fools' days. Some nice compliments from the audience too about the lyrics, which was great.
Sterling support came from Dan Hartland and Dan Gallagher who both deserve a wider audience.

picture of Fools at The Dog
line up: Mark Winters (vocals, guitar), Alison Bann (vocals, percussion, drum), Paul Miller (viola), Steve Elliott (bass)
Set: The Vine, 1976 Anyway, Strange Love, Mr Soft (cover), Falling Down, Bringing The Blue Sky Back, Time (cover), After the Waltz, Pretty Little Head, Ice and Fire, Walls, Don't Get Me Started, Hungry For Your Love.

April 10 2009

Wow! Dressing rooms, a stage with monitors, a sound guy who knows what he's doing and most of all a lively and attentive audience.
Our debut at this fab venue was one of our best gigs, mainly because of all the above factors. We even had some friends come along who hadn't see us for years.
We gained some new converts and tried out two new songs. "Lost & Found" is a mix of prog, courtesy of Ian's "In in 7" cry and a 4/4 hook with some 6/8 in it. Personally I blame the recent Prog doc on the Beeb for all this, but it works! "Ice and Fire" was written a few years back and has been dusted off with a sniny new coat and looks set to become a good one. We did have our "jazz moments", some of them by yours truly (cough!), but this one was a real confidence booster that we all needed. Happy Easter to you.
Set: THE VINE, 1976 ANYWAY, DO ANYTHING YOU WANNA DO, DON'T GET ME STARTED, WINTER SONG, YOU, FALLING DOWN, MR SOFT, ICE & FIRE, WALLS, BRINGING THE BLUE SKY BACK, LOST AND FOUND, RUN TOO FAR, HEROES, INSIDE. WHAT I WANT.

January 2009

The Valuable Fools wish you all a Happy New Year. And what spendid news to start the year. Hearty congratulations to Mark and Elaine on the birth of their daughter.

November 29 2008

Our debut gig in Waz's hometown of Worcester, secured with a lot of effort and so it was good to see quite a good turn out. The Marrs Bar is a well known Worcs venue and some names play there, so it felt good to play a place where there was a reputation for live music. We had a good time. However, because of a "won't share my kit" incident (by t'other band), Ian lugged his kit down and set up in front of the other kit. This actually worked very well, as people could see Sir Rusbo sing and it gave him his Kevin Godley moment! Ali and I even indulged in a bit of onstage choreography (cough!) and mananged without our "cheat sheets" - so a bit of a landmark gig really! Due to a spillage incident (I must remember where my pint is in relation to my guitar!), we had to cut a bit of our set time wise, but we fairly bounded along, bopped about, wigged out and got some very warm applause. We're still up on the BBC Radio Worcs website too, which is good!
Set: The Vine, 1976 Anyway, Do Anything You Wanna Do (cover), Winter Song, Don't Get Me Started, Bringing The Blue Sky Back, You, Falling Down, Inside.

November 6 2008

Radio play on BBC Worcs We got played on the BBC Introducing show on Fri 31/10/08. They played "The Vine" about 10 mins into the show It's on the listen again till tommorrow.
We are also on their website.
May give us a bit of profile before our Marrs Bar gig later this month.

November 2 2008

"Played to crowds of 100s played to 1 or 2..."
The above, dear reader, is from one of my fave songs by The Waifs, called "A Brief History". It chronicles the development and struggles of that band over the years and today it seems highly appropriate. There are times when you do all you can. Put the publicity in all the right places, contact as many people as you can and talk to mates about your gigs. You have definite commitments to turn up from folks and then - the day arrives and your audience is a lot more selective than you'd have liked! So it seems that Fireworks parties, rain or whatever, conspired against us last night to reduce our audience down to a dissapointing turn out. So what can you do? You can feel sorry for the punters who missed the wonderful Dan Hartland and fab Anorakula (and ourselves). As a band, you can of course either let it get you down and play a dispirited set or you can carry on and rock out regardless. We chose the latter. Ali got her cello out to begin proceedings as we started out in a gentle mood with "Stay" and then progressively got more louder as the night went on. We played a blinder and we debuted our arrangement of that old Eddie + The Hot Rods number "Do Anything You Wanna Do", sung by the ever talented Mr Rushbo. (who with Paul had already played an hour with Anorakula. No wonder he was a puddle of sweat by the night's end!). Waz did sterling guitar work, Ali danced around and sang wonderfully and Paul did some pleasing sonics. Steve (with new pedal effect) and Ian kept it all tight at the back. Towards the nights end we even got some dancers and it was good to gain a few new converts to the cause and get encouragement from people who hadn't seen us before. Normally I'd be "the glass is a half empty" guy, but I'm trying to get some encouragement from the feedback we got. Set: STAY, WINTER SONG, DO ANYTHING YOU WANNA DO, THE VINE, 1976 ANYWAY,DON'T GET ME STARTED, IT MAKES ME WONDER, ECHO BEACH, YOU, BRINGING THE BLUE SKY BACK, INSIDE, FALLING DOWN, RUN TOO FAR, HEROES, WALLS, WHAT I WANT.

The Fools- big in Montreal?
Well, shows what a little bit of audacious networking can do! Our first radio play outside England, in Montreal courtesy of London Cafe, every Tuesday night on CISM 89,3 FM...for more info, visit www.geocities.com/cismlondoncafe Thanks to Mel for playing "1976 Anyway".
this is the link to the podcast

September 24, 2008

ARTSFEST REVIEW
Our first date back after our summer break and we did indeed ROCK in my opinion. In fact we'd been to the venue before at a previous Artsfest, but the new funky Yardbird had a decent sound guy and PA, so all was nice and clear and a bigger stage too. Ali shimmied and shook, Waz rocked big time on the guitar solos and Paul's viola flourishes rounded the songs out. Sir Rushbo and Mr Steve underpinned it all sublimily and we sounded tight as a gnat's proverbials. As with most Fests, some people stayed, some stayed a bit and then moved on. However, we got a compliment from one guy who never saw us before, who told me he thought we were better than the acts on the Kerrrang Stage! Praise indeed!
Set: The Vine, 1976 Anyway, Don't Get Me Started, You, Winter Song, Run Too Far, Inside.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

BBC Radio play for "Winter Song"!!!
Forgot to mention that we got airplay for "Winter Song" on BBC WM introducing. Thanks to any of you that texted the show to request us. Brett Birks tells me they have loads of CDs a week, so competition even to get area radio play is very fierce.Please keep texting your support to the show on thursdays 7 -10pm on BBC WM.

14th July

Picnic in the Park. read article...

14th July

Launch Gig is a success. read article...

Much needed news update. read article...

Excellent news to start off with, that our Ella had a baby girl on Friday evening. Mother and baby are doing well.

What a weekend! There is another new arrival. Alison gave birth to George on sunday
Congratulations to both.

NEWS ARCHIVES

Picnic in the Park