We take January off, as usual, to learn some new tunes and to do some day job stuff and then back at it in February with a gig called “Cover Stories” where we are joined by Junkyard Dogs, 3MO, Dr Alibi, Jack Card and Solarbird to play in remembrance of Thom Belk and in support of the Thom Belk Foundation. We were supported by the chaps at BSM Sound and the event was put on by Salisbury Live. A lively audience made for a great night and Thom Belk’s presence was definitely felt. We all miss him greatly. Thom passed suddenly on Boxing Day 2023 and we are all still feeling his loss very sharply.
March is a busy month for us and we start off with a familiar venue – Qudos in Salisbury. We choose to launch some new songs fully to the world and we are treated to a few roars of appreciation. At one point the singing from the audience was louder than Amber. Which is impressive!
We also played a corporate function at The Stones and then played our first gig at the Angel Inn in Andover. What a great place to play!! Lovely people and a fabulous audience. We played two sets: Break Cover – the music you love rocked up, which absolutely got the crowd jumping and a full BC/DC set, which the audience were absolutely captivated by, and drew some amazing comments. Our favourite being “I don’t listen to the music of AC/DC but I would listen to that!”
The first gig of the Easter weekend is our tenth anniversary of playing Salisbury Live gigs at the Salisbury Rugby Club and we celebrate by taking our BC/DC set out for the first time in Salisbury. We have to follow an established Led Zep tribute act but we get great feedback and it serves as a warm up for more gigs in the year. We also get to play Durrington Club on the Easter Saturday.
For April we get to return to the Barford Inn. First time back for a couple of years and yes we do play more AC/DC tunes than usual as this is the pub that really kicked us off on that journey.
For the last Public Holiday in May we get two gigs. First, Break Cover get to play at Salisbury Rugby Club for a friend’s dad’s 80th Birthday Party. Music all afternoon and then us in the evening with maybe a little preview of the tunes for tomorrow.
The day after the Birthday party we transformed into BC/DC for Salisbury Live’s Laverstock Live, where we played between two massive showers. Huge shout out to the committed people who tolerated the rain so we could be wonderfully loud at them.
With summer season in full flight, we start June with a return to Qudos and so nice to see some familiar faces and some brand new friends too. Always a hot one and in June especially so.
A week after and the weather holds for Party on the Pitch in Calne. This is an all day family festival with proceeds going to Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Massive props to the organisers of this – it is an amazing event. Great bands, great atmosphere, great entertainment for everyone, great sound, great audience, great facilities – it was a great day. Can you tell? Really something, and apparently the best attendance ever so congratulations all and thanks for having us!
At the end of June, summer fully arrived and for the first time since 2020 (just before COVID) we are back at the Collingbourne Beer Festival. Just in time, summer has arrived! On a beautiful bucolic British summer’s day! 400 people sat in the sun enjoying a tremendously well organised event until 9pm when we come on and make a lot of very well received noise. Great people and fantastic compliments. What a lovely bunch of people live here!
A private party in July sees us introduced to probably the best pizza van in the world. Shout out to Gia at The Box Pizza! We had a lovely evening with hosts that know how to look after a band and a very fun audience. This is our second gig in Mere and we would be happy to come back!
We then return to Figglefest for the fifth (?) time and this time as BC/DC. Safe to say that went down well! SO many lovely complements. Our favourite being “well that was 45 minutes of pure joy”. Sound from Steve and the BSM guys was exceptional and the hard core audience who braved the weather were really something. A superb day!
August sees us return to the Wiltshire Motorcycle Rally held around Salisbury Rugby Club. Some beautiful bikes, lovely people and an incredible Front Of House sound from All The Kit. The summer continues!
For the August Bank Holiday we return, for the eighth time, to The Bear Inn Beer Festival. This time we take Break Cover and BC/DC. The weather gives us a break and people turn up! And they give us a fantastic gig! The BC/DC stuff goes down a storm and is the best it has ever sounded. Although three hours of music is a test. Terry enjoyed the costume change too!
That same Bank Holiday sees us make another return. This time we are back at Shrewton Cricket Club Beerex at their swanky new grounds. The all new facilities allows us to turn up a little louder and a very enthusiastic crowd let us know that they agree. What a fantastic night. we definitely need a day off after these two amazing events. We must also say a great big Break Cover thank you to Mr David Matthews who was able to stand in on bass at the very last minute as our Dave was unable to make this one. With 24 hours notice and a gig of his own to do in the middle, he learned the songs and did a cracking job on the night. Thank you Dave!!
August was a month of going back to places we have been before. So to round out the month… a return to Qudos. We had an excellent evening as the energy in the room was so very good. What a great vibe that was! The band was sounding on fire again and that was born out by the many compliments at the end of the night. Qudos is always great for seeing faces both familiar and brand new!
We continue the theme of returning with the first of two gigs in the Swift Half at Bath Rugby Club in September. The first is a friendly before the season starts in full so it wasn’t too busy. Still a fantastic night with a crowd ready for all the dancing and sing along.
The second gig at Bath Rugby Club is the following week and the first premiership game of the season and that saw the numbers increase. This venue is rapidly becoming a band favourite. The audience participation is off the scale!
The first gig of October is our last Qudos gig of 2024. Terry and Simon play without amps and the audience don’t seem in the slightest put out. With the volume a bit more sensible the bar staff are able to take orders and the customers seem to enjoy the band more. Remember, the more you drink, the better we sound.
Sadly our planned gig at The Angel in Andover was cancelled due to too much Covid. After Covid has its wicked way with us in October we are back in November with a few gigs. Hooray! On Friday the First is a 40th Birthday Party at Salisbury and South Wilts Sports Club almost 5 years to the day when we played on their balcony for the fireworks display. This one though was a private affair and was jolly good fun!
The day after, we support SLADY, the all female SLADE tribute act, as BC/DC at the Rude Giant in Salisbury and oh mama is the noise mighty. BC/DC get to play at volume and it goes down a storm!!
A few thank yous for our gig at the Snow Bar in Guildhall Square, Salisbury. Thank you to the team running Snow Bar, you were the most gracious hosts and really made us feel welcome, it was a pleasure to play for you. Thank you to Salisbury Music Agency for booking us here. Thank you to the magnificent audience at the Snow Bar we could see you joining in from the front to the back, incredible. Thank you to Dave for stepping in on bass again as Dave was unable to join us for this one. What a wonderful evening, so much dancing, singing along and audience participation, we could not have asked for a better night. Thank you! More pictures to follow.
At the very end of November we play to a packed Durrington Club. The weather may have been awful outside but it was warm and full of love inside! We played until late to a packed dance floor that kept asking for more. Thank you for being such a wonderful, full on, participative audience!
A short run of gigs in December starts with supporting charity Kickstart FC at their annual award ceremony. Once again Dave M steps in as our Dave is not available. Also, Amber is poorly with the flu so Set 1 is all Terry and then for Set 2 we have Bandeoke as members of the audience come up and sing with us. Absolutely brilliant. Some legendary moments were had.
Dave A is back as we return to The Stones for a corporate celebration later in the month. 175 people absolutely up for it from the start. Even the one guy who thought it was a bit loud.
And so we play our last gig of 2024 back at the Snow Bar in the Guildhall Square in Salisbury. A few technical hitches and it takes the band a little while to find our groove and then BOOM we are off. The staff at the Snow Bar are extremely kind hosts and look after us extremely well again. The audience, quite rightly, choose to celebrate being alive for another year by having an absolute ball, thank you. Here’s hoping the Snow Bar returns in 2025 as they absolutely nailed it.
