Monday 31 August 2009

Twisted Wheel do Oasis proud at the Milano Urban Festival 30/08/09 (by Jane)

48 hours before the start of the Milano Urban Festival, came the news that Oasis had finally called it a day. Not exactly a surprise, but it did throw the festival into jeapordy, who would they get to be a good enough headline act at such short notice, and if indeed the festival itself could go ahead.
Just before I boarded my (budget airline) plane, came the news that everything was ok and that Twisted Wheel would be performing at the festival.

What can I say... Milan - a beautiful city with beautiful people (not counting certain taxi drivers tho) and beautiful posh hotels!

The day of the festival, saw a rather damp & cloudy start, but finding a local newspaper, I could not believe the headlines - Deep Purple to replace Oasis! Now, I never ever thought that I would EVER type these following words - Twisted Wheel supporting Deep Purple - who would have thought it???An hour before the lads came on stage, the sun came out, and boy was it hot. Much like the reception the Italian crowd gave the Wheel as they took to the stage, infact the whole place irrupted as they stormed into their first number 'Lucy The Castle'. All around me, people were singing along, and fans down at the front of the barriers jumping like crazy for Jonny's attention - which they duely received. Having left their own instruments back home in Blighty (due to the fact that they were playing a festival in Aberdeen the day before), their hired kit just about managed the job, infact, no one knew any different, as the lads know their job so well.

Twisted Wheel set list

'Lucy The Castle'

'Bad Candy'

'Shes A Weapon'

'Strife'

'Circus'

'Let Them Have It All'

'Oh What Have You Done'

'You Stole The Sun'

'We Are Us'

'Turnaround'With a different set today, I was totally surprised and impressed that they included 'Circus', they hadn't played this live for a very long time, but it was really good to hear it again. With Jonny telling the crowd ' oh quello che Lei ha fatto' the whole place went mental, and this is an understatement! The crowd surged forward whilst singing along, even mosh pits sprang up in several quarters of the audience, I even lost one of my shoes (twice) - the song in question was 'Oh What Have You Done'. The pace continued with crowd favourite 'You Stole The Sun' with Jonny saying back in England he'd be hearing the chants of 'wwwhheeeelll', to which the Italian crowd obliged. Oh my word, people falling on the floor, pushing n shoving, they certainly know how to enjoy themselves over in Milan.

all pix and txt by jane

Next up, 'We Are Us', with the whole place jumping and screaming, I was just taken aback as the crowd knew every word, once again. I can honestly say that Italy loves Twisted Wheel.

As the lads normally finnish with 'We Are Us', another surprise, 'Turnaround' was their last number, with a totally different arrangement, so different, that I wouldn't have recognised the song but for the usual opening chords. Definately need to hear this again, so Thursday night at the Monarch in Camden for the Radio NME gig would be perfect lads..

I must say, coming over to Milan, I honestly didnt know what to expect from the crowd, but the evidence was clear, they so loved Twisted Wheel and doubtless they won over many Oasis fans with their excitement and energy, with many, many people saying that Twisted Wheel are infact the NEW Oasis..!

Keep it up lads

I'd Just like to say that I was also impressed by Tom Meighan (Kasabian) as during their performance they dedicated 'Club Foot' to Twisted Wheel....

('Strife')

(Jonny's stage dive during Deep Purple's set)

Now, if you missed Twisted Wheel's fantastic performance in Milan - they are on tour in a few weeks time - check out their tour details in the side column on this site, with direct links to buy tickets... see you there.....

Jane xx

Twisted Wheel (photos) at Wizard Festival Aberdeen 29/08/09

Sunday 16 August 2009

Jonny Brown Acoustic set @ Movers & Shakers Festival, Jamm, Brixton 15th August 2009

At the Movers & Shakers All Day Festival, Jonny Brown was the headline act on the acoustic stage.
Having previously been to the Jamm at Brixton, for a Twisted Wheel DJ set way back in April, it was great to be back in this venue. Many people had made their way to the festival purely to witness Jonny's acoustic set, hence the venue was heaving by the time he took to the stage.
First up was the mega tune 'You Stole The Sun' which saw the crowd errupt into action, everyone singing along, dancing (even on table tops), and standing on the sofas for a better view.
Followed by the wonderful 'Bang of the Beat', and classic 'early' Wheel tunes 'Racket' and 'Smash It Up'. A special rendition of the fantastic 'Tell The World' took the crowd's breathe away, Jonny hadn't played this song for quite some time, so this was most certainly one of the rare occasions to hear it - only played as a special request I might add.
SET LIST
'You Stole The Sun'
'Let Them Have It All'
'Bang of the Beat'
'Racket'
'Smash It Up'
'Bad Candy'
'Strife'
'Tell The World'
'Oh What Have You Done'
'We Are Us'
Once again Jonny Brown shows what an adaptable front man he is, with this magnificent acoustic set.
And a reminder to everyone who has never been to one of his sets - they are UNMISSABLE..!!
jane
xx

Jonny Brown DJ set @ Proud Galleries, Camden 14/08/09

Through the cobbled streets of Camden Market, on Friday night, revellers made their way to Proud, to witness another epic DJ set by Twisted Wheel's front man Jonny Brown. Never one to disappoint, Jonny took to the decks at midnight for his two hour set spinning classic tunes from the 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s. Starting with the enigmatic Iggy Pop and his 'Lust For Life' with those imortal lyrics 'Here comes Johnny yen again.....Well, Im just a modern guy of course, Ive had it in the ear before .I have a lust for life, cause of a lust for life.. ' Moving on to classics from The Beatles, The Clash & The Smiths (amongst others, or course). The place was buzzin' for those who didnt attend - where were you??.. you missed a good 'un.

Thursday 13 August 2009

Get your tickets for theTwisted Wheel October/November 2009 tour NOW..!!

Make sure you don't miss out on Twisted Wheel's Headline Tour 1 Oct 2009 - Fibbers, York
2 Oct 2009 - The Bullington, Oxford 3 Oct 2009 - Rock House, Derby 15 Oct 2009 - Arts Centre, Colchester 16 Oct 2009 - Audio, Brighton 17 Oct 2009 - Cavern, Exeter
29 Oct 2009 - King Tuts, Glasgow 30 Oct 2009 - Tunnels, Aberdeen 31 Oct 2009 - Dexters, Dundee 1 Nov 2009 - Velocity, Dunfermline 6 Nov 2009 - Masque Theatre, Liverpool (Music Week, Liverpool) 7 Nov 2009 - The Kasbah, Coventry

12 Nov 2009 - Kubar, Stockton 13 Nov 2009 - Sugarmill, Stoke on Trent 14 Nov 2009 - 53 Degrees, Preston Tickets available now

USE THIS LINK TO BUY TICKETS http://www.seetickets.com/see/event.asp?e%7Cartist=TWISTED+WHEEL&nartist=null&resultsperpage=20&filler1=see&filler2=art-srch&orderby=date

Monday 10 August 2009

Twisted Wheel article - Sony Magazine Issue 5

Inspirations.
TWISTED WHEEL

This Oldham three-piece have been hailed as the next big thing, with their raw, punk-tinged rock. What inspired them to set the Wheel in motion?

Record that changed your life..
Photobucket
Rick The Beatles' Abbey Road for me. My dad introduced me to it when I was about 12 or 13. The band seemed to be doing whatever they wanted, and it worked perfectly.
Adam Happy Mondays, Pills n' Thrills and Bellyaches. It hedonistic music and it made me want to be in a band myself. It's one of those albums that you can put on again and again. I was about 14 when I heard it, and I felt I could connect with the band - it fitted in with what me and my mates were up to.
Jonny Oasis (Whats the Story) Morning Glory? Before that I was into The Beatles and Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin, y'know, stuff that I found in my dad's cupboards. Whats The Story was the first album that made me feel like I could do it myself. I'd go out into the fields near where I live and write songs. I never kept any of those tunes. I should have done... we could be using them now!

Best gig you've ever been to...

Rick The first time I saw Oasis, at Lancashire County Cricket Club. I was about 15 and it was the biggest gig I'd ever been to. It was amazing - their setlist had about 20 of the best tunes Id ever heard and had grown up with.
Adam Not exactly a gig, but when I was 13 or 14 I went to Ozzfest in Milton Keynes. It was madness. Black Sabbath were headlining - that was pretty good. Being that old and going to something like that just blew your head off.
Jonny Ive seen loads of great gigs, and Ive seen Oasis about 20 times. The best Ive ever been to was the Buena Vista Social Club at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. This isnt like a normal gig venue, it's more like a theatre. There was all this Cuban music playing and everyone got up off their seats and started dancing. There was a real rebelliousness about it.

Favourite album cover... Photobucket

Adam Ian Dury, New Boots and Panties!! I love the feel of it, and the inner sleeve with all the photos of Ian and the other band members. I was about 12 when I first started listening to it, and my mum would always shout at my dad for playing it because there's loads of swearing on it.
Rick I think the best one ever is The Clash's London Calling with Pennie Smith's iconic cover picture of Paul Simonon smashing his bass on stage.

Musical era you'd most like to visit...

Adam the mid 70s when punk was kicking off. It would have been great to have been there, and better that the hippie thing that went before it, which dragged on and then fizzled out. Punk has left a solid legacy.
Jonny I agree - its the sould of the thing, that whole sense of not giving a damn, going off and making it in a band. You didnt have to be a technically gifted musician, as long as you could express yourself. It was more about passion than anything else.

Favourite place to write music...

Jonny If I'm on my own then its in my bedroom, shut off from everyone. I wrote some good stuff when i was on holiday - I find if you go away you can look back and get a different perspective on what's been happening. I went to Majorca on my own and it rained for the whole two weeks. I was in this little room next to the reception area, and having to play quietly brough something out in the music.

Music Idol...

Rick Paul Simonon. I read somewhere that he dressed The Clash. I dont know whether that's true but if he did, he pulled it off, and his basslines were pretty dubby, too.
Adam Ian Dury again, because he was so unorthodox and wrote some mad lyrics.
Jonny Joe Strummer. He played with more passion than anyone and he got his political message across - it's hard to do that. When he was singing he'd just throw things in, a bit like
Bowie going off into his own world. Joe would go into 'Strummer World'!!

Photobucket

Song you fell in love to...
Adam Not sure.. 'English Rose' by the Jam.
Jonny You can interpret it as being about going back to your roots - I dont necessarily see it as a love song.
Adam It could be about a woman or it could be about your country or about a soldier away at war. Its what you want to make of it, like all good music.
Photobucket interview by Tim Southwell

Saturday 8 August 2009

Twisted Wheel are Paul Weller's favourite up-and-coming band (The Times Playlist 8-14 August 2009)

The Times Playlist Magazine August 8-14 2009
The world as listed by the former Jam frontman
Most respected musicians
Roger Daltry (with whom Weller performed a duet at the Hop Farm festival in July)
~
John Coltrane
~
Paul McCartney
~
Ronnie Lane (The former member of the Faces and the Small Faces)
~
Clem Cattini (The drummer for the 1960s band the Tornados)
~
Twisted Wheel My Favourite up-and-coming band. They've supported me on tour
~

janexx

Jonny Brown Acoustic Set (& DJ Set), Bar Bliss, Leigh 07/08/09

With what seemed like an endless 230 mile long traffic jam along the M5/M6, I was glad to see the town of Leigh's signpost - at long last.
Bar Bliss is where it all started for Twisted Wheel a couple of years ago. Jonny (& Rick's) old band, The Children were due to play here, but, unfortunately, split up, days before the gig was scheduled, but Jonny, being true to his word, made a triumphant return last night with a rip roaring mega long acoustic set complete with crowd surfers, followed by another (now) legendary DJ set.
Tickets for this gig had sold out weeks ago, so there was no point in just turning up and hopeing to get in, that was never gonna happen. As it was a sell out, the place was packed to the rafters, with the out door stage situated at the rear of the venue, in the decking area. The night started off at 8.20 with Catfish & The Bottlemen, followed by Shallow Call, Romanov and the brilliant Danny Mahon. With the crowd packed tightly into the space, everyone jostled for good position to see Jonny take to the stage at 10.20 with chants of WWWWHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL.

Photobucket

First up, 'Shes A Weapon', whereupon the crowd went mental, dancing and singing, this was gonna be something special..... Set List 'Shes A Weapon' 'We Are Us' 'Bang of The Beat' 'Let Them Have It All' 'Racket' 'Smash it Up' 'Bad Candy' 'Strife' 'Bouncing Bomb' (with special guest Danny Mahon) 'Big Issue' 'One Night on the Street' 'You Stole The Sun' 'Oh What Have You Done' encoure 'Lucy The Castle'

Photobucket

Yes, Indeed, Jonny's acoustic set was something special. It didnt matter to the audience it was just Jonny and his guitar, to them, it was another brilliant Twisted Wheel gig, with crowd surfers and the odd beer flying now n' then. The great Danny Mahon joined Jonny on stage for 'Bouncing Bomb' which went down a storm. The bouncers really had to struggle to keep the crowd in check.

The 45 minute set came to an end, with an unexpected encoure of 'Lucy The Castle', Jonny obviously enjoyed himself, just as much as everyone else in the crowd. An awsome night of classic hits, proving once again, the front man of the Wheel is not to be missed.

Photobucket Photobucket all txt and pix by Jane Following on from Jonny's triumphant acoustic set, came one of his now legendary DJ sets, featuring the sounds of Manchester with a heady mix of punk.

Photobucket

Your next chance to see Jonny play his acoustic set will be at the Movers and Shakers festival, at the Jamm, Brixton, on Saturday 15th August, last few tickets are available using the link below

http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_london&query=detail&event=334007&interface=

you will also get to see Danny Mahon, Jersey Budd, amongst others

be there, or be square

(for more information on Danny Mahon: http://www.myspace.com/dannymahon)

jane

xx

Manchester Evening News 'Must See' - Twisted Wheel are going full circle 07/08/09

Manchester Evening News 'Must See' article: 'TWISTED WHEEL ARE GOING FULL CIRCLE' Gig - Twisted Wheel, Leigh, TONIGHT An urban tale is being given a happy ending tonight. Because at Bar Bliss, in Leigh, a band that began inside its jazzily painted walls is coming back as musical kings of 2009. We're talking Twisted Wheel, of course, who performed their very first show there. It was Jonny Brown's previous band, The Children, who were booked to play, but after they split up only days before the gig was set to take place, Jonny offered to perform with his new band. His 'new band' were bassist Rick Lees and drummer Adam Clarke, two fellow Oldham lads who shared a passion for live music, Led Zeppelin and perfecting the Manc/Gallagher swagger. The Children split for two reasons: Jonny, then a bass player, was writing songs he couldn't accommodate, and (Manc ego? Check) because he felt it was time he took the lead. 'I started jamming with Adam and Rick and we just wanted to rock out; just simple songs, fast and to the point' he told CityLife. 'At the time, there weren't bands doing that: it was all Editors and Interpol, using lots of effects. We wanted to be the opposite of that' Their debut album - We Are Us - * couldn't have spelt that out in fiercer terms. Predictably, the media (perhaps expecting modern pop bands to compose concertos instead of punk songs) kicked the band where it hurt, but their tours kept selling out and the high-profile support slots kept coming. Around two years (and endless phone calls later), Twisted Wheel are back to play a setting they're no longer familiar with. After spending the spring supporting Oasis and now sitting on the eve of an autumn tour supporting Paul Weller, the Wheel are rubbing shoulders with rock royalty. Which only makes their gig in Leigh - in the clean Night & Day of the 'burbs - an even more exciting proposition. So exciting, in fact, that the gig sold out in super-fast time. If you have a spare ticket, CityLifers, we can only recommend putting it on the life insurance until you manage to flog it outside. Bar Bliss, 42 Kings St, Leigh, tonight, SOLD OUT *debut album as we all know is Twisted Wheel. xx

Sunday 2 August 2009

Twisted Wheel at Kendal Calling 09 01/08/09 by Jane

This year, Kendal (more like Penrith) Calling took place at the Lowther Deer Park. A fantastic (but muddy) setting for this little 3 day music festival. The deer had obviously de-camped some miles away to quieter pastures. The festival comprises of 6 stages, the main stage - where Twisted Wheel's latest epic performance took place. High up on the bill (second only to the headliners The Zutons) the lads took to the stage at 7.15 to a huge crowd and chants of 'Wwwhheeeellllll'. The audience were loving it, and so were the lads, as you could obviously see they were enjoying themselves, as they delivered one of the most superb extended sets so far this year, comprising of both old and new material, that go together seemlessly Twisted Wheel set list

'Lucy The Castle'

'Bad Candy'

'Racket'

'She's A Weapon'

'Strife'

'Let The Have It All'

'Whats Your Name'

'One Night on the Street'

'Smash It Up'

'Turnaround'

'You Stole The Sun'

'Oh What Have You Done'

'We Are Us' (extended version)

All pix and txt by Jane