Article by Lyndsey Oliver 
With the New Year comes new problems. All your favourite bands will be turning in to lend their hands to the wonderful world of touring, but you trot along to your local bank, enter your pin number, and what’s that on screen? Insufficient funds. Looks like you’ll be missing that big night out at the local discotheque. All your friends have already arranged the night, and most of them have bought their tickets in advance, so how can you avoid having to miss out? Luckily here at Stoke Sounds we’ve thought about it long and hard and come up with an (almost) surefire way for you to enjoy that big night out but without pockets full of cash.
STEP 1: PREPARE. Bands don’t suddenly appear at a venue! They tend to announce a date, sell tickets, and then play. The key is to watch out for when a band are visiting your local venue so that you can sort out a plan early.
STEP 2: GET A JOB. You could always try for bar work at an establishment that tends to host a ton of gigs. They’ll need more staff on busy gig nights and an extra pair of hands could be welcomed. Not only could you get to watch all of your favourite gigs, but you’ll also get paid – result!
STEP 3: VOLUNTEER. Not everywhere needs extra staff, and you might not even be old enough to work on a bar, so you need another plan. Head on over to the bands Myspace page and keep your eyes out for bulletins asking for Street Team members. Once signed up you’re usually emailed or posted some stickers and posters to put up in the local area. On the night you’ll be required to march around the venue asking for email addresses or could even be asked to lend a hand on the merch store. You will sometimes be rewarded with a place on the guest list, and all your hard work will be rewarded.
STEP 4: BLAG. Put simply, the bigger the band the harder it will be. You could try hanging around town during the day in the hope to catch them checking out the area. You could locate their tour bus and hang around hoping to ask them directly for a free ticket. No matter what remember to stroke their egos, and not to sound too desperate. You could however try to be as inventive as possible, sneaking into a venue, posing as a crewmember, bargaining with door staff, whatever you feel comfortable with. Blagging isn’t for everyone though; you’ll need to be confident and able to hold your nerve.
STEP 5: SURF. Get yourself over to their official website and sign up for the newsletters. Bands like to reward fans with intimate gigs from time to time and you’ll simply have to pay to get there. Or with current broadband speeds getting higher, streaming is getting easier too; so many bands will showcase a live gig for free on sites such as Myspace, YouTube and their own personal websites.
STEP 6: GET LUCKY. The venue’s website, local radio stations, local newspapers, all run promotions from time to time and the bigger the band the more likely the chances of a competition. Try to judge which publications will be the most likely to champion the music that you are into and pay attention to them. Save their email addresses, add their numbers to your phone book and keep your eager eyes open.
STEP 7: BUDGET. However the only guaranteed way to get into your favourite gigs is to buy tickets. Try to budget and keep some money aside every month to put towards them. Remember that festival tickets tend to go on sale between February and April so you’ll need to budget throughout the whole year. If you’re stuck not being able to go to a lot of smaller gigs then festivals provide an excellent opportunity to see hundreds of your favourite bands over a couple of days, and works out at pretty good value too.
With mega tips like these trying to beat your recession blues, you’re guaranteed (almost) to have much more of a musical year.
Review by Danny Hill 
New English Social are, for the moment, former Rough Charm members Will Abercombie and Ashley Leese. The pair are currently looking for extra members, a lead guitarist and a bass player, with the possibility of another guitarist to take rhythm from Will, who would like to focus his duties on singing.
‘With The Rough Charm it was more shouty, indie, punky stuff.’ commented Will. ‘This new project will be more alternative and layered so I can actually sing in me own voice. I just hated the thought of being known as “just another Libertines/Arctic Monkey-ish” type band that every one forgets about after a few years. I rate the New English Social as capable of bigger and better things…’
2008 has been a tumultuous year for Will and The Rough Charm - a year that showed such signs of early promise being one of the six bands signed by the SONS record company, famed for having four of their bands simultaneously in the top five of the independent charts earlier this year, an accolade that heralded comparisons with Manchester’s Factory label of the late-eighties/early-nineties. Since then, however, things took a turn for the worse. SONS blamed financial reasons for their inability to sustain their bands’ assault on the charts, leading gasps of expectation into reversible huffs and puffs of frustration. In my opinion, people can say what they like about SONS, as they often do, but for those few weeks music lovers from across the entire country - and beyond - had their eyes on Stoke-on-Trent’s burgeoning scene. No mean feat, that.
So, as you can probably understand, making the decision to break away from SONS and The Rough Charm couldn’t have been easy for Will and Ashley. ‘It was pretty much my decision split the band up and I’m glad I did it,’ said Will. ‘We all still get on and if the other lads start new projects they’ve got my full support.’
These are comments echoed in the first of the tracks from New English Social’s new acoustic EP, “So“, its lyrics a veiled message that Will has no regrets - “Stand alone I need no more - no you won’t silence me. And I’m so not sorry for all I’ve done…” Will’s ability to carve up a decent tune is in no doubt, but reflected here is a songwriter growing up and looking forward. The raucous anthems of The Rough Charm have been supplanted by a more mature approach, a maturity that belies songwriter Will’s twenty years.
The next track, even better than the first, “Take No More” had me reaching for my CDs in confusion, such is the similarity between Will’s voice and playing style and now-retired local songsmith Andy Gower. So much in fact I had to eject the CD to check I was listening to the correct one. The sprightly and infectious choruses and mid-bar refrains could easily slip into Gower’s collection. Purely coincidental, said Will. The pair, in my opinion, will never be remembered as classic singers. But neither will Noel Gallagher or Paul Weller. For what they lack in range they add up for in the energy and passion in their delivery. And, of course, their songwriting ability. The comparisons are obvious.
On the strength of these two songs, it’s certainly worth checking the New English Social out in the not-too-distant future.
Listen New English Social
Review by Danny Hill 
Photo by The Shadow
The Capellas are the latest local band to sign to the SONS record label, but given their MySpace profile page offers no band member names, the only one I can offer you is lead-singer’s Oliver Hawthorne. Starting proceedings early on is never an easy task, with so few people around to entertain, but The Capellas did an alright job of it. They have a rich, melodic, meaty sound coming from their five-piece section. The lead-guitarist, equipped with a Fender Telecaster, did well merging some well-timed riffs along with the rhythm player’s classic cherry-top Gibson Les Paul. 'Take A Walk' is a superb example of their indie/rock heritage, drawing obvious comparisons with some of the genres earlier pioneers such as Oasis and Jesus and the Mary Chain. There are some impressive Page-inspired solos and riffery in 'Another Big Star', whereas 'The City Lies' displays the sheer excellence of the bass player. The five lads spent a great deal of energy in their set and it translated well to their audience, some of which were obviously staunch followers. They left the stage in The Sugarmill to great applause.
Johny Wood (that’s right, one N) you could be forgiven for thinking is the name of one band member. Not so. Johny Wood’s name is taken from singer Jan Rodziewicz’s neighbour, a refined English gent. Music-wise, Johny Wood offer something a little different to The Sugarmill, the awesome lead-guitar work of Jay Heath presenting influences from ‘60s bands like Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. Dave Wood on bass guitar and Ben Cooper on drums complete the line-up. 'Poker Face' had flashes of Lenny Kravitz springing to mind, although Liam Gallagher seeped in too, but only with regards to singer Jan’s menacing, rasping vocal and haughty stage presence. The band took the audience through a collection of fine songs - 'Dancing', 'Keep The Faith' and 'It’s Not Over' earned almighty cheers from the appreciative crowd. And again, like their predecessors The Capellas, the band had more than their fair share of support on the night. With gigs approaching in the new year at The Norfolk Inn and the Old Brown Jug, it may be worth catching them.
I’ve probably seen The Black Apples perform on more occasions that I dare remember. What strikes me is that they’re either sometimes distinctly average, or they’re very good. Last night it was the latter. As soon as lead-guitarist/singer Musso wailed into the opening bars of 'Consider This', you knew it was going to be a good show. The energy and passion that goes into The Apples shows are seemingly relentless. With the second number, 'Leave Before My Time' melding so flawlessly from the last it was a job to hear the link. As the night progresses, with any Apples gig, the audience not only gets the treat of hearing their substantial collection of foot-tappingly good material, but they are also taken along a journey of Musso’s obvious infatuation with the Blues too, throwing in the occasional cover from the likes of Robert Johnson or Muddy Walters. The Apples’ ability to brand this old material with their own distorted, eclectic style is commendable given the multitude of bands and artists that have tried and failed in a similar field before.
Always one to get the crowd on their feet and on to the dance floor, 'Hypnotise' started its familiar riff, earning great cheers. It’s also with this great song that The Apples epitomise what they’re about, bass player Jamie and drummer Joe flowing fiercely and purposely in harmony. 'Buy Me A Ticket' and 'Rollin Tumble' follow shortly after, and The Apples are cheered on for two encores, finishing with their catchy anthem, '1,2,3'.
All in all, another great night in the Sugarmill.
Listen
The Capellas
Johny Wood
The Black Apples
Review by Steve Dean
Photos by Simon Bamford
A large and expectant crowd greeted The Decision as they took t
o the stage to begin the evening’s proceedings, and as usual they did not disappoint. Having reviewed them only recently, it is enough to say that they were even more confident than when I last saw them; and their fanbase seems to have grown considerably as well, judging by the screams and yells as they came on. Ben West displayed his impressive flair for soloing and drummer Liam Kaye and bassist Rob Melville more than adequately backed him up. Of all the Stoke bands, The Decision are well up there on the list of those showing the greatest promise.
The Imperfectionists also have a fine guitarist in Jaime (no surnames available on websites) and all in all, the whole band; bassist/singer Ellis, drummer Liam and later addition JJ on bass while Ellis just sung, gave a most creditable performance. Despite the audience appearing to intermittently lose interest, each number was very well received. Although their main influence comes from the classic rock school, the funky piece they played when JJ took the stage for the fifth number sounded very tasty and showed a different side to the band altogether. Finishing the set with some hard driving rock, they went off to great applause. As with the outfit before them, they showed great promise indeed.
Maybe This Friday are something else again. 
With a female vocalist and much more in the pop/rock vein, Maybe This Friday put me very much in mind of Blondie; the songwriting style included. Lois Stevenson has a fascinatingly similar voice and just as much power. From some angles, she even looks a tad like her (in her heyday, I might add). Shades of Clare Grogan and Altered Images shone through occasionally as well. All this isn’t to say they don’t sound original though, the songs I heard tonight had a definite character of their own. Looking like they are having the time of their lives, this very mobile outfit waste not an inch of the stage and put on a fine show - obviously, performance is something they pay much attention to. I loved the bass line in the opening number and overall the band has a set chock-full of fine compositions. I also enjoyed the nice acoustic work featured in some of them. I can’t help thinking that Lois and the rest of the band; Tyler Henry and Callum Barlow on guitars, Matt Forrester on bass and drummer Jack Watson may have a very big future in front of them. As with the previous bands, they have great, great, promise. Listen:
The Decision
The Imperfectionists
Maybe This Friday
