SpideWriter

Part 2 of Interview with Micko Westmoreland of Micko & The Mellotronics (June 2026) Sooty,  a glove puppet, star of  children's television show that ran from 1955 on the UK's national TV channel BBC TV until 1967 and then on the commercial-funded channel ITV until 1992, is an unlikely cover star for Micko & The Mellotronics third album, The Trinity .  The glove puppet, with its (her?) permanent expression of a naïf surprised by life, features on front and back of the new CD cover.  Micko explains that the pictures, painted by his first teacher, Jacob Cramer at Leeds College of Art, feature Sooty because the puppet's character is " in   some ways, the essence of innocence. Art Work Garry Barker "On the front cover Sooty is accompanied by two other more ethereal glove puppets, two mashed deities.  A weird threesome, reflecting the album title, The Trinity. The reverse cover shows Sooty being raised in two hands above the head of a  sor...

Zero BPM (Beats Per Minute) Drone Festival The Church Piano Bar, Redwell Street, Norwich NR1 This was less festival, more celebration.  There was the popping of corks for the ‘soft opening’ of Norwich’s latest live music venue, converting St Michael at Plea, smack in the heart of the city, from an evangelical tea, cake and event venue into a dedicated ‘quality’ jazz and blues venue.  There was also champagne metaphorically cracked open on the hull of Zero BPM (Zero Beats Per Minute) to launch an enthralling drone music mini-festival, which I hope can be expanded to be run over a couple of days in the not too distant future, whether in St Michael at Plea, or any other setting. The Zero BPM concept is excellent.  Stimulating, challenging, provocative and food for thought and subsequent conversation.  It would be fun to have more time to talk with performers, organisers and other audience members about what has been played and heard.  The i...

Vieira and The Silvers Headline Show at The Waterfront Studio, Norwich   Rock'n'Roll Brothers and Sisters, Rock'n'Roll! Friday 12 th  June 2026 It’s been a while since I saw Diogo Vieira take on a crowd, toss and hurl them around a venue, wipe the floor with them, then put them all through the rock’n’roll mangle to complete the job.     That was when Vieira and The Silvers blew away the Red Rooster Festival from the main stage in June 2024.     Sadly, Red Rooster has had to pack up the big tent for good, but a lot further down the A11, Vieira and his band have continued to blaze a trail on stages round London and south, reinforcing their reputation as one of the most exciting live bands in the land.   The Silvers have always existed with a fluid line up, with Vieira working with various combinations, adding, then taking out, then adding a saxophone, a duo of backing singers, then a trio, then none, more guitars, fewer guitars and a changing cast. ...

Front Seat Drivers The Holloway, Norwich, Friday 24th April 2026 It is not good form to post twice in a day, but this is an emergency.     I have just got home from The Holloway , a small grass roots venue that barely lets a night go by without something different going on.   It’s always worth a visit.     Tonight, not really thinking much more than it’s Friday, don’t stay in, go somewhere, I grabbed a couple of tickets and met Sean The Cyclist of Sean Cycles (at your home bicycle repairs and servicing) at the top of St Lawrence Steps, for a trip to the increasingly popular basement music hotspot. Upstairs, there is really cool bar, (bottles and cans only), bookshop and magazine display and retail area.  The books are on the fascinating end of the interesting spectrum.  On display, available for immediate purchase are tomes on music, politics, folklore, witchcraft, various belief systems.  I don’t think the stock has been assembled...

Spend Time with Fast Money Music Having made it to The Shacklewell Arms in Hackney in good time for the gig, I was glad of the opportunity to have a brief chat with Nick Hinman , the driving force of Fast Money Music .  It is Hinman’s catalogue of songs which have just been released on the album  Fast Money Music, but he has got a powerful band together to put the meat on the rock and roll skeletons of his lyrics, featuring "gratuitous saxaphone" balanced by really clean, sharp guitar playing laid over some stonking rock.  Fast Money Music getting set up at The Shacklewell Arms, London E8   A gentle-natured man, Hinman strikes me as the sort of songwriter, singer, frontman who needs the occasional gentle reminder that he has written some great tunes and can put on a rocking show.  Only he and his nearest and dearest will know whether I am in the right about this.  Never mind, how he gets to the stage and the studio is his challenge, but I am...

  IST IST and The Youth Play at The Adrian Flux Waterfront, Norwich 9th April, 2026 IST IST all about having a good time, all the time (Pic: Creative Arts Photography)   The IST IST band is back from their extensive European tour and their first UK stop was at The Adrian Flux Waterfront (a UEA Student Union managed venue, sponsored by a locally based specialist vehicle insurance broker) in Norwich.  Ironically, the IST IST journey into the vibrant heart of East Anglia, required them to get a replacement van after a challenge about its suitability for English roads from some uniformed bureaucrats.  The headline act only made the gig with 45 minutes to spare.  This did not unduly phase them, nor the audience, who were all pretty relaxed about things, as is mostly the way in Norfolk. I have mentioned before how supportive the locals are of opening acts, so it was no surprise to see so many people listening attentively to The Youth Play play. ...