January and February – the band take off from gigging to get the new line-up fully in place and to get some new songs in the set as 2018 didn’t present many opportunities to do that.
March and the full force of Break Cover is back in play with gigs in Romsey, Alderbury, Cosy Club and a surprisingly very hot night in Qudos.
A sad ending to March as Ken Jones, our sound man since November 2013 leaves us to spend more time with his motorbike, dogs and family. Probably in that order. Thanks for all the great times Ken – you will be missed.
April is off to a great start as we help the Charlie’s Star Launch event raise £8,500 for their charity while having a great night with everyone in 80s icons fancy dress.
April also sees a gig at a new venue for us – the Greyfisher just outside of Salisbury
May’s first gig is a beautiful wedding for some lovely people down in Sandbanks. The weather was fantastic so we got a posh picture taken at the posh hotel. Did we mention it was quite posh?
Next we are in North Wiltshire with the Celtic Crew MCC at the Talbot Inn, Calne for the first time on a warm Spring evening. This is our first time at this lovely venue and a terrific crowd urged us to play nearly into the next day with three encores. Great place – terrific people – amazing night.
Late May / early June sees us in Qudos and at a new venue – The Radnor Arms. These gigs are notable as Terry unveils his new Gibson Les Paul, Simon shows off a new Music Man Guitar and Craig has new drums to show off. New gear but still the same great sound.
Outdoors for the first time this year (mid-June) and it’s great to be playing our third Beerex at Salisbury Arts Centre. Also, our first time on their outdoor stage. While Rich was off enjoying being up North (thanks to Lea for helping) – down here the weather behaved, and the crowd didn’t!! Lovely fun audience and a great stage / sound system. Top fun all round.
June also sees a very memorable day indeed… the National Armed Forces Day in Salisbury. As a local band with military connections, we were absolutely delighted to be asked to support this and we got a slot on the Friday afternoon. The weather could not have been better and to play on that enormous stage with that brilliant sound system was indeed a total treat. A huge thank you to all involved – professional sound and stage management guys made it all very slick. Proud to support our Armed Forces!
July saw a wonderful weekend at Ebblefest where we got to run the sound for Just Becuase, The Badger Blues Band, Common Confusion and The Lyte Brigade. And then finish the night with a wonderful 2 hours with the enthusiastic and wonderful audience.
That same weekend was a beautiful return to the Music In The Park event at Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury. A wonderful setting which the weather helped make even more special for all those that attended.
Late July we get a call from our good friends at Qudos asking if we can step in at the last minute as they’ve had a band drop out due to illness. It was a wet Friday before the end of the month so with low expectations but wanting to help our friends out we agreed. 24 hours later we had one of the maddest, jumpiest nights we’ve had in Qudos. An absolutely amazing crowd that was up for it from the first song. We only got a couple of pictures but what a night. Thanks Qudos once again!
And so, with very heavy hearts, we enter August, the last month with the unique talents of Craig Butler providing vocals and drums for the band. The good news is it’s a big month with lots more that our normal “2 a month” appearances. The first weekend is a double with an early gig at Boscombe Down Rec Club and a last-minute stand in gig at the amazing Firsfest. Previous band member Andrea gets to take photos for the whole weekend, and we get some cracking shots!
As August finishes we say goodbye to Craig at Fun In The Field and Shrewton Cricket Club – after seven glorious years and over 200 gigs . It’s always hard to say goodbye to band members but especially hard when it’s one of our founding members.
We have said goodbye in the long and heart felt posts on here and on Facebook so now it’s time to get on with a whole new sound and a whole new chapter of the band. Hold on to your hats – this is gonna rock.
October 12, 2019, and we are back in the game. A tremendous gig at The Talbot Inn in Calne where the audience were up on their feet almost from the first song and urged us on through four encores! Welcome to the band Mr Paul Batchelor – it’s great to have you and that was a mighty fine start!
Also, in October as part of the relaunch, we got to play on “home turf” at Qudos in Salisbury. A fantastic night but my golly was it hot! However, we are now officially relaunched. Now with three lead singers we are taking the female fronted rock covers band to a whole new place. We are: Amber Coleman – Lead and Backing Vocals; Rich Watts – Lead and Backing Vocals + Bass Guitar; Terry Taylor – Lead and Backing Vocals + Lead & Rhythm Guitar; Simon Dickenson – Backing Vocals + Lead & Rhythm Guitar; Paul Batchelor – Drums and Percussion
The end of October and beginning of November sees a couple of special gigs. The first, a full on Fancy Dress night at Figheldean for the Save Our Woods campaign at Halloween and then the week after Salisbury’s Firework Display at the Salisbury and Southwest Sports Club. A huge thank you to Lea who depped for Rich whose work decided he needed to go on a last-minute trip. Special mention to Tel who ran the sound for the Fireworks event including Spire FM’s MC Craig Hicks and the music for the Fireworks. Such a clever man.
November continues with a rather splendid Salisbury Live Goes Rural Fundraiser at the Alderbury Sports and Social Club. Lots of bands and lots of people. Awesome!
November comes to a close with a wonderful return to the now renamed Bishop’s Mill for our annual Hootenanny. This year in aid of Mencap and with opening acoustic acts from Just Because and Georgina Agombar. As usual we are joined by some truly amazing, talented, Salisbury musicians and the reception from the audience was electrifying.
Whilst all of that was going on we also managed to sneak in and place in the top 3 of the Salisbury Music Award’s Best Covers Band category. Thank you all so much for nominating and voting for us again this year. With the complete change in the band sound, it means an awful lot to us that you took the time to place us in the Awards. Thank you.
December 2019 finishes up with a gig in Qudos which is wonderful as ever followed by a quick trip to the Red Rover at Wellow. We all thank you so much for your support in 2019. Not the easiest of years but with your support we made it through. Now… on to the Roaring Twenties! (This was written in December 2019 when we had no idea what was round the corner!)
