I think it was our cowbell-hitting guitarist before he knew what key it was in. He felt that giving it a name like that gave it some class

Personally I'd have gone with a G-string pun but that's just me

I've really been slacking with this thread recently, but it's updated now with another gig near the end of April. Another Camden venue (because Camden is awesome), although I don't know the Bullet Bar at all.

Bullet Bar, Camden Town, London - April 20th @ 8:30pm

Isn't Camden where Noel Fielding and Amy Winehouse are from?

Best or luck and it's good to see the venues are coming in still.

Yup, Amy definitely lives in Camden, not so sure about Noel though.
But then Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Orlando bloom and Madonna all have houses just a few minutes from me as well.

I keep inviting them for tea, but their lawyers insist they're not coming

Well last night's gig was pretty much a washout. We played to a grand total of about 20 people, most of whom just happened to be in the pub and weren't even paying attention.

Not helped, of course, by the fact that once again 2 of the 4 bands supposed to play didn't show up, so we didn't even have their fans to make it look busy.
I hate pub gigs like that, they make it feel so pointless.

Alrighty, let's see what we've got here.

The Cavern gig was pretty good. Our slot got screwed around and as such we didn't play to the 2 coachloads of people the earlier bands brought with them, but there was still a decent amount there. And y'know, it's the Cavern.

Next comes the Surface Unsigned competition next Sunday (6th April) where we'll be relying on crowd votes to get to the next round. The info is in the OP if you're interested. I'm sure I can dig out the postcode if you want to find it

Which brings me to how you guys can help. No matter where you are, you can pimp our band! The Road to V competition is yet another battle of the bands thing, and we want you to open a webpage to register hits on the website. The winners get to open the 2008 V Festival. Mmm, festival...
That's it. Open the page, let it finish loading, close it again. Repeat ad nauseum.

The link: http://www.roadtov.com/profile/44656

You can sign up to vote for us if you like, but you don't need to if you can't be bothered. We just need the hits to try and get to the top of the Most Viewed list!

So tell your friends, neighbours and anyone who'll listen to get clicking!

Surface Unsigned 2008, Round 1.

The Boston Music Room, 178 Junction Road, Tufnell Park, London, N19 5QQ.
Sunday 6th April. We're on at 9pm.
Of course there's a frickin tube strike that day, but meh.

Poster attached because I'm too lazy to type any more

Isn't there a date missing?

Yes there is. Bah. Added now. I might edit the poster later

Been waiting for a 'clean' recording of your stuff for ages....
"Set me Free" is bloody good!!! Where can I get a download...couldn't find a torrent for it anywhere!

btw, ask the organisers to change the date for the unsigned gig..I'm working on 6th April and wont be able to make it!..
Or...maybe give The Carling Academy on Cowley Rd, Oxford a bell, and see when they got a slot free

Really good stuff! Quality music you guys are making there.

Btw, i've clicked that link about 10 times (you can pay me later).

Quote from Bladerunner :

Been waiting for a 'clean' recording of your stuff for ages....
"Set me Free" is bloody good!!! Where can I get a download...couldn't find a torrent for it anywhere!

That's not me singing, it's the old singer. We still have no studio recordings with the current band on, but we're working on it

And thanks jibber, much appreciated

Well, we're officially through to round to of Surface Unsigned 2008!

Last night's bands were a mixture of various rock styles, from indie and ska to classic and (let's be honest here) metal. But the actual level of talent was pretty high. Some bands were good, but let down by a particular thing. Like a crap singer or a really irritating guitar tone. Overall though, I have to say I've played among worse.

Last night's final standings for the qualified bands:
Albany Down: 385 points Woo! We rock!
B'Na: 337 points
Feud: 152 points
Soul Parade: 123 points

We scored the most musician votes and had a massive number of text votes as well. From the results you'd think we walked it, but none of us were sure we'd even rank.
Read the event review here.

So I hope to see as many of you as possible in Camden's Purple Turtle venue for the second round, once we find out when it is

Forgot all about this thread, so here's the latest pimpage and gig updates.

Plus a nice attached image to promote the most important one... because why the hell not?

Well the gig last night was amazing fun. And we pulled off every rock cliche in the book, from a topless drummer and me with my shirt open to our guitarist playing the final solo behind his head - and we had a f*cking great time doing it

And obviously the audience enjoyed it too, because we were the first band called through to the next round as well. Yay us!

Semi-finals, baby!

We're also playing in Kingston on Thursday but I don't have any details on that one yet.

Quote from Dajmin :

Well the gig last night was amazing fun. And we pulled off every rock cliche in the book, from a topless drummer and me with my shirt open to our guitarist playing the final solo behind his head - and we had a f*cking great time doing it

And obviously the audience enjoyed it too, because we were the first band called through to the next round as well. Yay us!

Semi-finals, baby!

We're also playing in Kingston on Thursday but I don't have any details on that one yet.

good luck!

Thanks Time to pimp the next round of Surface Unsigned!

The competition has entered semi-final stage and the 14,000 bands who applied have been whittled down to just 84. We are ranked #12 in the Southern region and #19 in the UK, so there's still everything to play for.

August 5th
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London @ 8:30pm

Anyone who can make it and wants to vote for us is more than welcome. The venue holds 700 so there's no shortage of space. The venue is 18+ I think. Tickets are £7 and that'll let you in to see 6 or 7 bands, so that's only £1 each! Bargain! Text vote info is in the OP.

Highlights from the last round can be seen here.

New gigs added.
15th July (tonight) in St Albans. And you just know I'm gonna get lost on the way tonight.
3rd August in Covent Garden.

Free DVD also available for download via the official site featuring our fantastic show-stopping top scoring performance at the last Surface show. We had a lot of fun. The sound mix isn't perfect, but it's not too bad at all.

Yet another gig added. I'm exhausted, I tell ya

2nd October, The Horn in St Albans. Another Battle of the Bands semi-final.

Free DVD download link also added to OP. Get it here. It was a good show too, everyone had a lot of fun.

You rock, thats right!
Great sound you have there.

Camden Town's Bullet Bar on September 20th. It's a late one, with us starting to play at 10:30pm, so make sure you can get home if you come along.

Not that anyone does, but I keep trying

Last night at Club Criminal was a bit of a waste of time. About 10 people in the place, which was pretty much just the other 2 bands and the bar staff. Thankfully the place is tiny so it didn't look quite as pathetic as it could have, but I can't help thinking it was a waste of time.

Alrighty, here we are.

I've been given permission from our manager to give away FREE TICKETS to tomorrow's event at The Dome in Tufnell Park, north London. That's a saving of £8 to all of you, and all you need to worry about is getting there in time (8:30pm).

So if you're in the area and interested (and old enough to get into a bar or have a decent fake ID*) ask for Albany Down's singer (my name's Paul but the band has 2 of us) at the door and I guarantee you free entry with a shiny gold-embossed ticket on the condition that we can count on your vote

How's that for a great deal, huh?

* I do not condone the use of fake ID but if you have one I can't stop you using it. I won't ask, you don't tell. Sorted.

Last chance now!

I'm about to head over to the venue in preparation for tonight's show. Prepare for massive disappointment if we don't get through and total hyperactivity if we do

I'm still giving away our £8 tickets for free, so come along if you're in the area.

Regrettably we didn't get through last night.
That said, we did get a good response, even from the people who weren't there specifically to see us. I saw a few people I didn't know raise their hands to vote for us when we came off stage, so that can't be bad.
But our (20-ish) people were eclipsed by the 6 zillion who turned up to see the winning band. They turned up just as they were about to start so it was a given that they were going to win that one. Unfair really, and I think they should lock the doors just after the first bands starts to make sure that everyone who wants to see a later band does have to sit through the earlier ones too, but I'm not sure that'd work out for everyone.

That said, there is still a chance we can get through on a Wildcard vote, which happens after the round votes are all in. The industry judges can pick a handful of bands from all rounds who they liked but didn't get through on votes alone.

Thats always the same with these crowd votes in rock clubs, it's been going on since I was a nipper and leaping off stages to the tune of breaking ribs and regrets over having gone commando.

I do hope you get the wildcard as I like what i've heard and I want to be able to put the "oh yah Dajmin is an old friend of mine, we're that close..." story next to my "I got punched by Bruce Dickinson" one.