A weekend to remember!

A trip back to the UK from Spain is not unusual for me, but this week’s adventure is worthy of special mention. Some months ago, Bootleg Counterfeit Sweet were booked to appear at the Yesterday Once More 70’s festival in Brean, Somerset, on Sunday 23rd March. My partner Miki discovered it coincided with the weekend my beloved Derby County played our arch-rivals Nottingham Forest at home, and she very kindly gifted me a ticket for the game. Following this our gig was brought forward to the Saturday – catastrophe! But… all was not lost. It emerged that due to TV scheduling, the game would be played at the unearthly hour of 12.15. I quickly calculated that I would be able to attend the match, run to the train station, and jump on a train down to Bristol, there to rendezvous with our guitarist Mike and continue on to the gig, arriving in time to perform. To this end DCFC were very helpful and arranged for me to leave my bass guitar with security at the stadium, so I could grab it on the way out! But more about that later.

I arrived for my flight from Alicante in good time on the Thursday afternoon, and having cleared security, made my way to peruse the screens to get an idea of if I had time to grab a coffee before boarding. Oh, I had time all right. So much time, I could have grabbed the coffee in Brazil. Looking up at the screen, under the ‘Expected’ column it said, inexplicably “00.35”.  It took my brain a while to get around this. Finally, with a sinking heart, I realised that, far from departing at 17.40, my flight wouldn’t even arrive in Alicante until a full seven hours later!

As I slumped down in a chair, I ran through this in my mind: The flight time is only 2 hours 20 minutes from the UK, so where the hell was the plane? Given that this was all happening while MH370 was missing, it was, I thought, a pertinent, if ultimately unspoken, question. It transpired that ‘technical problems’ with the original plane had led to them searching a replacement, which clearly, they had yet to succeed in doing. However, given the ongoing tragedy in the Far East, a long wait is preferable to an endless one.  For our troubles, we were furnished with (gasp!) a €10 voucher with which to fill those long hours with comestibles of our choice. My voucher stretched to a sandwich, a coffee and a cookie, and even then I had to add 50 cents.

Official confirmation, as if I bloody needed it, that I had landed in the middle of the bloody night.

To cut a very long story short, I eventually touched down at East Midlands airport at 1.45am local time. I waited an hour, then caught a bus into Derby, which deposited me in a wind-chilled, deserted and darkened metropolis at around 3.30am. I walked the 4 miles to my Dad’s house in Mickleover. Call me daft, but I can’t countenance paying more money to enjoy the company of an East-European taxi driver on a 4 mile journey than it has just cost me to fly the 2,000 miles from Southern Spain.

The following day, I attended a meeting at the iPro stadium, home of Derby County, relating to a matter which I will expand on in later posts here. Friday evening I had a lovely time with my Daughter, her partner and my Grandson when I took them out for a meal at an American diner. Upon returning back to my Dad’s place, I also managed to fit new pick ups and bridge to my bass guitar before going to bed, and prayed it would function at the gig on Saturday night!

Saturday morning, Dad and I headed down to the stadium, for this, one of the great local derbies of English Football. To Derby and Forest fans, there is no bigger game than this one, fuelled by years of passion, and the unique love-hate relationship between the clubs, who have shared managers and players alike over time. So much so, that every time these two great clubs play each other, they compete for The Brian Clough Trophy named after the legendary man who managed them both, and gave both of them their greatest achievements. Today, they were managed by our ex-manager the reviled and diminutive Scot, Billy Davies, and we were managed by their ex (albeit short-lived) manager , Steve McClaren.  The last time the two clubs met resulted in a 0-1 defeat for us, and also in Nigel Clough losing his job. What would happen today?

Dad enjoys the moment

As I took my seat in the stand, the roar of the 33,000 washed over me, filled me up. Pride, sentiment, nostalgia and passion welled up inside me. A Football stadium is a modern Church. This is where we heal the hurt. The attendance today was the fifth-highest in the land, including the so-called ‘big boys’ in the Premiership. This town lives and breathes its football, it always has.

From the off, we were all over them. Within minutes we were 1-0 to the good, and the signs were there that Forest, inexplicably, were just not up for it. We ran them ragged, notching up a 5-0 win, Craig Bryson scoring a hat-trick, Johnny Russell a sweetly hit strike and Jeff Hendrick yet another. I had witnessed history. Until that day, no living Derby fan had seen a player score a hat-trick against Forest. It was our biggest win over our bitter rivals since 1898, when Derby and England legend Steve Bloomer scored a hat-trick! To complete the beautiful symmetry and humiliation of our neighbours, within a day Billy Davies had been dismissed as manager of Nottingham Forest. They say revenge is a dish best served cold.

I fairly flew out of the ground at the final whistle, grabbing my bass from security, and jumped on the train. Fast track to 8.30 that evening and we took to the stage with Andy, a drummer I’d barely met, who handled the tricky BC Sweet show with aplomb, and we had a storming night. We drove back to London that night and spent Sunday rehearsing a new project. I just had time on Monday to do some voiceover work with Mike before heading up to Stansted for my thankfully on-time flight back to Spain.

What an enjoyable, productive weekend it was! Now it’s time to work on the songs we made a start on on Sunday in rehearsal, and also re-acquaint myself with the Witch Cross set as we prepare to play the Very ‘Eavy festival in Holland in April.

Kev Moore

Down by the Seaside…

Last week, I headed once again to the UK and mixed business with pleasure, taking in an England U21 international at Derby’s iPro stadium with my Dad, and in fact having a bit of a road trip with him down to Great Yarmouth on the East coast, where he witnessed me performing with Bootleg Counterfeit Sweet (Formerly B.C. Sweet) at ‘Yarmageddon III’ – the Legends of Rock Festival 2014. “I don’t know how you do it, Kev” he was moved to say following our 90 minute set which I took to be praise!

The gig was electric to be honest. The band has been through some upheavals of late, and injury has prevented us from installing our new drummer, but Martin ‘Magic’ Johnson stepped into the breach magnificently and powered through the show with barely a foot, or indeed a stick, wrong.

Martin holds it down…

Marc, who runs the band ‘offstage’ was visibly relaxed as we move into the next chapter of B.C. Sweet. I’ve never seen him smile so much on stage! this was due in no small measure to the professionalism exhibited by Martin as he battered away behind us.  Of course, we are blessed with a canon of pop classics that is the envy of many bands, songs from Chinn and Chapman and Andy Scott that represent the very best of 70’s glam rock. We are a rock band, and try to deliver all the songs with the power and punch they deserve. If we can do that, the iconic status of the hits does the rest, the crowd pumping their fists in the air, and singing along word for word. It’s a bleak old place in the Winter, Great Yarmouth, but the sun was out at Legends of rock last week. Thanks to everyone for making it a night to remember!

Next week, a repeat performance, as I fly again to the UK, to attend the Derby v. Forest East Midlands clash – Come on you Rams! -and then literally run out of the stadium to catch the train down South to perform once more with B.C. Sweet at the ‘Yesterday Once More’ festival in Brean Sands. Get ready to rock!

Kev Moore

Diamond is a band’s best friend…

Last weekend saw another jaunt Northwards and an appearance at The Diamond in Sutton-in-Ashfield for Bootleg Counterfeit Sweet. The Diamond is an unassuming venue, yet one steeped in music history, some of the great rock bands of the last few decades have trodden its well-worn boards. We rattled off the Sweet canon in fine style, energized by our fans, some of whom had travelled from as far afield as Jersey for the gig. The people who put this kind of commitment, effort and expenditure into supporting what we do are the lifeblood of any band, and we salute them!

Playing a venue so close to my hometown also gave me a chance to catch up with family too, so that was cool.

2014 will see B.C.Sweet step up its on the road activities – see you further on up the road!

Kev Moore

Bootleg Counterfeit Sweet in Brean, Somerset

L-R: Mike Koch, Kev Moore, Marc Pearson

Just back from a whirlwind visit to the UK to play with B.C. (Bootleg Counterfeit) Sweet. It’s always a blast playing with the guys, and a privilege to play the amazing Chinn/Chapman catalogue that propelled The Sweet to stardom. Our band has a long and chequered, and frankly troubled history, formed out of the ashes of the late Brian Connolly’s Sweet, continuing for a decade or more as B.C. Sweet with ongoing member changes until we were forced to change the name somewhat due to various external pressures. Well, from my perspective, it doesn’t matter what it says on the tin, this band kicks major ass, and you won’t hear a more in-your-face rendition of the Sweet catalogue.

The crowd at the annual Yesterday Once More festival at Brean were phenomenal as usual, wonderfully appreciative and a pleasure to play for.

Expect to hear more from us in 2014!

Kev Moore

Trevor Bolder R.I.P. The Bass is a little quieter tonight….

I never met Trevor, though it was close-run thing. We were sharing the bill at a festival in Banja Luka, Bosnia in 2010, he with Uriah Heep, me with BC Sweet. We were appearing on different days and as luck would have it, we were scheduled to fly from Sarajevo to another show in Germany before they arrived.  I know Pete, their ex-lead singer, and I was eager to meet the band – one of the stalwarts of British Rock. A band that defy the odds, particularly around that time, when they released the superb ‘Wake The Sleeper’ album.  According to Andy Warhol,  everyone gets their ’15 minutes of fame’, but it’s a testament to the esteem in which he was held that he got ’30 minutes’- not only a lynchpin of Uriah Heep for many years, but also one of the iconic Spiders from Mars that contributed so much to Bowie’s (in my opinion) most classic albums “Hunky Dory”, “Ziggy Stardust” and “Aladdin Sane”. Those three albums were a huge part of the musical backdrop to my youth. 62 is far too young. Another musical hero gone, and the bass is just that little bit quieter tonight.

R.I.P. Trevor

Kev Moore

Triple Whammy – On the road with B.C.Sweet, Witch Cross & Christie

It’s that time of year…and I’m about to embark on a whirlwind of gigs for three of the bands I play with, all in the space of a few weeks!  Firstly, I’ll be driving along the southern coast of Spain next Thursday to Torremolinos to perform with B.C. Sweet as part of a 70’s week there.

Witch Cross @Heavy Metal Maniacs, Holland

Then, some days later, via the UK, it’s the turn of Witch Cross, as Mike and I fly to Copenhagen for rehearsals and a show in the band’s spiritual home of Hillerød to launch the new album Axe to Grind. The day after, we perform in Sweden. I fly home for a few days, then its back to the UK to appear with Christie at the JFest in Leeds on June 6th!

Christie in Germany

Never let it be said that the life of a musician is dull!  See you all out there on the road somewhere!

Kev Moore

BC SWEET @ Toppers – PICS!

Here’s a couple of shots from our recent UK gig. It was the debut for our new backdrop, featuring our new logo that I designed recently. For the musos among you, I’m playing my recently-acquired Music Man Bongo bass. When this model came out, I didn’t like it at all, but the shape kinda grew on me, and this particular version – the ‘Stealth’ is a real beauty. It feels like I’ve been playing it for years!  I leave this one in the UK, because ‘economy’ airlines charge more to fly my bass than to fly me! In fact, if you want to hear me ranting about flying, check out my Want Some Moore?! site – where you can hear my recent broadcast for Spain’s BayRadio.

Kev Moore

The 70’s celebrated in Great Yarmouth!

 

 

This weekend saw me head back to the UK on a four day visit, taking in seeing relatives, friends, and musical associates (some of them a combination of all three!)  I saw my son Corey, who has played on my forthcoming Blue Odyssey album, and Jeff Christie, who I’ll be working with this weekend.I also spent some time with Saxon’s Graham Oliver, who kindly previewed the latest mixes of the forthcoming Oliver/Dawson Saxon album – and I can tell you, it’s all killer, no filler!

Spent a little time with my Dad and sis, and on the day of the gig in Great Yarmouth, met up with my old mate Stef Cybichowski, who also plays drums on several tracks on Blue Odyssey, and Nick Grice, brother of British R&B legendary vocalist Jess Roden – reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ of music, and exciting developments with his brother’s legacy.

The show was fun, and edgy, as we had Paul Bailey standing in for Mike on this particular show, but he did a sterling job. I came home with a killer of a cold, so I’m trying to keep myself ‘awake’ to run through the Christie show for this weekend!

Backstage with Gold Radio DJ Dean Martin (no really, that's his name)

Kev Moore