The SKAMP Blog

Skamp party

2011-10-02T11:52:00.001+01:00

Four members of Skamp enjoyed a few drinks last night. Mark, Steve, Clare and Rob attended. Rob brought along his new ukulele and wowed us with some tunes. He's only had it 5 minutes and already is a master. Steve finished off the eve with a bit of card magic that blew us away. Still can't work out how it did it...

Skamp secure Harley-Davidson gig

2011-06-22T14:39:00.002+01:00

That's right Skampsters. Thanks to Cathleen and her husband, who are members of a local owners club, we've been asked to perform at next year's get together. We gather they like Rock music so there should be plenty of 'Route 66' and 'Born to be Wild'. We'll post some photos when after it happens.

Party band Skamp hit Pensford

2011-05-15T11:06:00.004+01:00

We all eventually found the venue, with Adam ending up in the middle of nowhere, and discovered a force ten gale blowing through the farm site - it was chilly! The good news was that the sound limiter didn't activate until midnight so that helped. The highlights: Bare chested men singing an All Blacks song, two disco divas took the stage to sing a medley of... erm hits, lots of crazy dancing and a tasty pig roast. Thanks for a great night Charlotte and Dan and all the best for the future.

Skamp's new profile pic on the web

2011-05-01T11:55:00.004+01:00

Although the website is old, we now have a new band photo which you can view on our website at www.skampmusic.com

Skamp perform in Monmouth

2011-05-01T11:40:00.005+01:00

It was a beautiful sunny journey to the edge of Wales for Skamp on Saturday. We performed at David and Susie's wedding party at the Priory, an old church building in the heart of Monmouth. We had a few issues on the night though: Rob was suffering with a cold, I scratched my car wing mirror and our flood lights stopped working - AH. Despite that, we loved our minced beef and mash supper, Sultans of Swing as requested by the happy couple and the local town pub. Big congratulations to David and Susie, thanks to Kevin for feeding us (see pic) and thanks to the weather for not raining.

New songs on the way

2011-03-23T10:13:00.002Z

Well Skamp have been busy learning some new tracks, one of which is The Feeling "Never Be Lonely" which we're really excited about. We're also looking to record some new tracks over the next few months plus design and build a new website - so watch this space.

Skamp's first gig of 2011 helps raise £8000 for charity

2011-02-06T12:56:00.002Z

Well thanks to Lucy and Steph for organising the charity ball in aid of Gloucestershire County Association for the Blind, which at last count raised about £8K which is brilliant. We're always happy to help a good cause. One of the highlights was meeting the onsite photographer, and so Skamp took the opportunity to get some well needed publicity shots - can't wait to see them.

Skamp secure new wedding function booking

2011-02-05T15:37:00.002Z

Having just about recovered from Christmas, Skamp are back and looking forward to 2011. We have had a bit of a break but managed to learn 3 news songs. It was also great to meet Chris and Kim (see pic) this week and we look forward to playing at their wedding in September.

Skamp secure new Monmouth booking

2010-12-14T10:28:00.003Z

We're still getting some interest for next year even though it's nearly Christmas. Thanks to David for booking us for his wedding party in April. We've also been busy learning some new tracks and we hope to do some recording over the Winter months, which is always great fun. Anyway, have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year from Skamp.

Skamp's very own Adam 'Ant' Watts goes 40

2010-10-07T13:36:00.004+01:00

Skamp as you've never seen them before

Not 1, not 2, not 3 BUT 4 Freddys

On Saturday night in a small village hall in Overbury, Gloucestershire, people from far and wide came to celebrate Adam's 40th birthday. The theme was 70s/80s rock icons. Would you believe it! Having spent hours choosing my Freddy Mercury costume, Rob the singer turned up with exactly the same outfit. Not only that, but Skamp's old drummer arrived... you guessed it! AND there was another chap who went one step further and plumped for the leotard Freddy outfit. What a crazy night.

Skamp cleanup their act!

2010-10-02T18:13:00.003+01:00

Last week enough was enough. Having struggled to organize our band lockup successfully, we finally pulled out everything from the garage, threw the rubbish away and neatly put everything back so we could get easy access. See here the results.

SKAMPs first afternoon wedding gig!

2010-09-21T12:51:00.000+01:00

SKAMPs first afternoon wedding gig! Great party for the happ... on Twitpic

Well we did our first ever afternoon wedding gig in Painswick - what fun. Katherine and Jayne looked gorgeous and so did their house and gardens. It took until our second set to get the party goers up on the dance floor, but they made up for it by doing some crazy dancing. The weather was warm and sunny, the food and cakes were good - what's not to like. All the best guys for the future.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp at Sudeley Castle

2010-09-13T09:41:00.005+01:00

Clare and Steve got married at Sudeley Castle near Winchcombe over the weekend and were blessed with some nice weather. We had to sneak around the back of the marquee so we didn't disturb the guests which was fun. We faced the bar area that looked like something from Buck Rogers as it glowed different colours throughout the evening. Skamp rocked. The guests got drunk and danced all night. Result.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp perform with married-man-to-be

2010-08-28T09:16:00.007+01:00

Last Tuesday, Skamp rehearsed with married-man-to-be Dan, backed by his dad on guitar. We're performing 3 numbers with them, quite unusual for us, but hey... we go with the flow. We'll be seeing them in a few weeks and I'm sure it will be great fun.

Skamp perform at Louise & Rob's Wedding, Bowden Hall Hotel, Gloucestershire

2010-07-24T14:44:00.004+01:00

Arrived at Bowden Hall in good time in the afternoon to setup. A smaller space for us to fit into than we're used to but against all odds we squeezed in close. Don't Stop Believing by Journey was the first dance - it went down well and I'm sure we'll keep this one in the set. The wedding goers were up for a party and we rocked until 1am. It was a fun, tiring, hot, sweaty night. Many thanks to Louise and Rob and the hotel for looking after us. All the best guys.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp Audition for Sally, Adam and Ethan

2010-07-09T09:23:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Sally, Adam and new baby Ethan for coming to meet us on Tues. Skamp were a little bit rusty as we've been busy recently with non-band activities. It didn't take long though for us to warm up and perform some of our hits, as chosen by the audition trio. Despite our best efforts to rock out, we didn't wake little Ethan. In fact he seemed to like it and busted some moves in his carry cot. We'll see these guys again next year in 2011 at the Great Tythe Barn, Tetbury. Once again, thanks guys.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp, Pump Room Charity Ball, May 31

2010-06-03T10:22:00.002+01:00

Skamp don't usually perform on Sundays but as this was a Bank Holiday weekend, we made the exception. The party goers danced all night long and even cheered when we got on stage. Thanks to Judith and her team for inviting us to play and sorting us a dressing room. We took a quick lineup of our footwear as we were almost all wearing pumps - come on Clare sort it out!

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp, Emily & Bryan, Wedding, Leominster

2010-05-24T13:21:00.006+01:00

What a beautiful day it was, probably the hottest day of the year so far. I volunteered to drive the 'Skamp Van' to the gig. My co-pilot was Steve (Keys). We had no air-con so it took a while to cool down using the old fashioned open windows trick. The venue was lovely. A converted farm with a marquee in the back garden. We were treated to a slap-up supper + wine, in the parents dining room - lovely. All the party goers danced all night and gave us four encores - brilliant. Many thanks to Duncan and Alex (parents) who made us very welcome and good luck to Emily and Bryan.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp, Help the Heroes Charity, Gloucester Rugby Club

2010-05-24T13:15:00.005+01:00

Well what a great night was had by all. It was a late start for Gloucestershire function band Skamp. Eleven pm, so it was an extra long set until after midnight. Many thanks for Richard for organising the event and singing a number with us, namely 'Addicted to Love' by Robert Palmer. What was unusual was that the party goers were probably 6 inches from Rob (vocals) face - a little too close perhaps? Oh, bye the way, the new drums sound great.

Help The Heroes

2010-04-19T21:18:00.001+01:00

Skamp will soon play our 2nd gig of the year on 1 May for the Gloucestershire Rugby Club to help raise money for Help The Heroes. I'm particularly looking forward to christening a new drun kit. Watch this space.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp, Audition with Hayley & Shane

2010-03-24T09:43:00.003Z

It was great to meet Hayley and Shane, and Shane's parents last night, and we'll be playing at their wedding in June 2011 at Kingscote Barn in Tetbury (sorry we had to squeeze you in to our basement studio). They are so organized - in fact I think they have booked everything already!

Audition with Dan & Emma

2010-03-24T09:37:00.004Z

Big thanks to Dan and Emma for popping to see us a rehearsal. Skamp will be entertaining their wedding guests in September at the Chase Hotel, Shurdington. Apparently Dan's father is a keen guitarist so no doubt he'll be up on stage with us.

Haiti update

2010-03-10T13:02:00.002Z

Skamp had a storming night at the benefit concert and a sizable crowd turned up to watch us. We managed to raise around £600 from the evening so big thanks go to Andy Gladwin who provided some 'up-close' magic, The Howlers, who performed a storming opening set of rock covers (featuring our very own Ad Watts on bass) and to our last minute DJ Marky-mark who took over from DJ Malc who was on sick leave. Thanks to The Front Rooms who hosted the event plus Darren for sorting the sound out for us. There should be some photos on the way soon.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp, Haiti Benefit Concert 5 March, Cheltenham

2010-02-11T09:20:00.004Z

We've all seen the awful images of the Haiti earthquake disaster on TV. Skamp have decided to organise another charity gig (our last one was for the Tsunami charity) to help raise some much needed funds for them. The venue is The Front Rooms, The Strand, Cheltenham www.thefrontrooms.com and it should kick off around 8pm. Our good friend Malc Manero will be spinning some 70s tunes, plus we have a special guest lined up. It's only £5 to get in, so come along and help support us.

Gloucestershire Party Band Skamp, 50th Birthday Bash, Horsley

2010-02-11T09:13:00.005Z

Hello again. It's was our first gig of 2010 and what a blinder. Thanks to Jon and Lynn for inviting us to play. The evening was suitably themed as a 70s and 80s night with everyone wearing fancy dress. The walls were also covered in colorful images floor to ceiling (it must have taken ages). Skamp had a great night and everyone in Horsely did to. What a great way to kick off this year.

Xmas gig news

2009-11-23T13:16:00.001Z

Hurrah! Skamp have just secured a last minute gig at the Pitville Pumprooms,
Cheltenham for a local internet company. We'd better start learning some
Christmas songs - watch out Slade here we come!

Another successful audition!

2009-11-17T23:00:00.002Z

Great to meet Alex and Duncan who had travelled all the way from Leominster to audition us for their daughter's wedding next year. Luckily for us they liked what they heard and we got the gig! Hopefully their daughter, Emily and future son-in-law Bryan, will agree in the night. The happy couple are obviously very trusting!!

Pitville Pumprooms, Cheltenham 24 Oct

2009-10-30T17:33:00.004Z

We always enjoy performing here as the staff are always very nice to us. Colin and Jaqui looked very happy to be married and seemed to enjoy our rendition of Whitesnake's 'All I want, all I need'.
The guests were really up for a good night and danced from start to finish and only stopped for the rather tasty BBQ. Another great gig from the Skampters. This is just about our last gig this year so watch this space for new song updates and other info including news on our photo shoot and recording some new songs. TTFN.

Chavenage House in Tetbury

2009-09-06T18:11:00.006+01:00

The venue... well a bit of it

Rob, Clare and Ad tuck into cheese 'n' crackers

Probably the oddest changing room we've ever had - a church?

What a great venue, probably the best acoustics we've had for a while. The first dance (Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars) went down well. The crowd were up for a good night and danced for most of it. We had a lovely spread for our break, cheese 'n' biscuits and Port - very nice. Thanks to Richard and Helen for booking us. We had quite a few enquiries for gigs and gave out a few business cards - lest hope we get some gigs from it. TTFN.

Pump-it-up-on-de-dancefloor

2009-08-27T13:11:00.003+01:00

On Tues 25 we met up with Colin and his wife to be, who are getting married and having there reception at the Pump rooms in Cheltenham. It's another gig secured for Oct and best of all it's local. Sorry no pics this time as Steve forgot to take one with is flashy ipod phone... ooooh.

We also tested our rehearsal PA that Rob bought. It was a thumbs up from the gang on that one. We won't need to worry about packing the gear up every time we have a gig. Ace!

Wedding, Puesdown Inn Sat 15 Aug

2009-08-20T12:47:00.004+01:00

What a super venue. The stage area was looking good with the black sky and starry background and to top the cake we had the classic chessboard dancefloor. We had a few problems with the electrics but when sorted it all worked a dream. Rob and Vicki (groom and bride) looked great and seemed to enjoy the evening. Skamp were on form and kept the crowd screaming for more. Pizza and bacon butties for supper and ipod favs until 1am. We even got told to turn the noise down from a village 3 miles away - I bet The Who didn't have that. What a crazy night.

Hello All

2009-08-08T20:47:00.001+01:00

We haven't updated the blog for a while. We're still here getting ready for next weeks gig. Plus I wanted to just say that Ive finally managed to crack my digital workstation. It's taken a while but finally it's working. Who said computer music was easy?

SKAMP-STOCK

2009-07-19T20:42:00.001+01:00

Superb gig for Jonny & Liz in Pilning on Saturday night. They turned their garden into a mini festival site! Great party with great guests who didn't want to stop dancing! Same time next year?

Ad rocks ahead of next Gig

2009-07-14T21:51:00.001+01:00

At long last we've found a rockier version of Duffy's "Mercy". We spent tonight learning it from scratch. If you're at our next gig you'll love it. With thanks to Third Degree and The Ministry of Sound.

SAS Gig Update - ouch!

2009-07-06T13:05:00.001+01:00

We've just had a lovely thank you card from Jill & Steve who we played for in Hereford. Apparently one of the Scottish guests danced so hard to our music that she broke a small bone in her foot! I knew we were good, but not injury inducing!

Amy & Matts First Dance

2009-07-06T13:01:00.001+01:00

Hurrah! They got hitched and we got the gig. if you search the blog you'll find a picture if Amy & Matt when they came to audition us. Their venue was the beautiful Homme House near Ledbury. Gorgeous. Great night, but very hot!

Army Barracks, Hereford, 27 June (2 of 2)

2009-07-01T13:21:00.004+01:00

Cheers from SKAMP! We do love our Bolli!

Now we know who we are even after 10 glasses of sparkly.

Steve poses as a butler, while a camera pass ensues.

It's wedding number 2 for this weekend and it's a hot one. Unusually we all went separately to the venue. It was quite exciting as we got signed in by security, had our id pass + photo and then went in convoy to the officers mess. After setting up, we were treated to a slap-up steak'n'chips supper washed down with a small glass of champagne - nice! People took a little while to get going due to the hot evening and the fact they'd been drinking all day. Luckily Rob's voice lasted well considering he'd just recovered from a throat infection - well done son! Another successful evening and SKAMP lasted the double gig weekend.

Cripps barn, 26 June (1 of 2)

2009-06-29T13:28:00.012+01:00

The party goers GET DOWN!

Er Rob, what are the chords for The Birdie Song?

The international sign for "do you want a beer"

Well it was a Friday gig, which we don't do many of these days, and the evening was fine and dry. We've played the venue a few times and it's always great. We had a nightmare because we forgot the PA leads so one of us had to dash off and get them - DUH! The evening went down well and the groom sang a couple of tunes with us - the crowd loved it. It was cheese and crackers at dawn and we stood around the fire outside to chill out before the drive home. Great night. One down, one to go.

Wedding, Powderham Castle, Exeter, Devon

2009-06-12T13:17:00.010+01:00

The band changing rooms

SKAMP tuck into supper

Where's the band?

Rob meets the happy couple

Well we finally made it to Devon after contending with 3 traffic jams and a huge detour because the M5 was shut. It was a beautiful day and luckily the van had air-con. With minutes to spare, we setup, drank lemonade (rock and roll), met the bride and groom and sped off to our hotel. We had a lovely supper, Rob had 'cocktail of the week', then we zoomed back to the venue at the castle http://www.powderham.co.uk/. It turned out to be a short one as time ran out. We all enjoyed it though and went back to the hotel for a Skamp party. That's as much as I can remember....

Sally & Chris First Dance Rehearsal

2009-05-19T23:04:00.002+01:00

We are now getting started on Can't Take My Eyes of You......Crikey there's lots of chords in that one!!!! but starting to sound good after the 20th time we ran through it , well done guys ! Should be pucker for Sally and Chris' big day on the 26th June at Cripps Barn.

2009-05-10T18:01:00.002+01:00

Skamp on Tour at Clearwell Castle.

The most interesting gig ever

2009-05-04T09:48:00.017+01:00

Well what an interesting action packed gig we had on Saturday at Flagstone Fm in Condicote. Just for the record we had free beer, tennis, snooker, cats (x3), cheesecake, bails of hay, foxes mints in the porta-loo, cold wind and a crowd that wouldn't let us stop playing. Thanks to Heidi and Adam!

Here's Rob walking into our dressing room.

This is cat no. 1

SKAMP with cat no. 1. Nice aerial Rob!

Supper... yum!

Adam + beer = broken wall

Some of SKAMP playing tennis.

Heidi and Adam dance around a giant cymbal.

Quick rehearsal

2009-04-28T20:55:00.005+01:00

As we were short on time and the main gear was in our band lockup, we did a practice in full acoustic mode. This is us having a run through of 'In your light' by John Allen that we played at Clearwell Castle.

I can see "Clearwell" now the gig is gone....

2009-04-26T22:29:00.009+01:00

See what I did there? Pic shows the start of last night's fantastic gig at Clearwell Castle in the beautiful Forest of Dean. It looks like everyone is ballroom dancing but they're not! This is at the start of the gig when we did a few laid-back tracks to warm up the crowd.

Here's the outside of the castle

This was the amazing disco booth (looked better with the lights running)

The crowd were great and didn't stop dancing from 8 til midnight!! We had a brilliant night. One of the best gigs in a long time. For those of you that also like your rock trivia, the room we were playing in was once a recording studio and rehearsal space where bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath used to come to for inspiration. So that's why we rocked!

And another great audition night!

2009-04-19T19:44:00.002+01:00

You can tell we're getting into our busy season now. A successful first gig of the year last night and last week another audition for our gig this weekend. It's at Clearwell Castle and we're all looking forward to playing there. We've also got a good challenge on our hands to add a third set and a new track. Better get practicing!

Audition Night

2009-04-19T19:37:00.002+01:00

Great to meet Amy & Matt who have booked us for their wedding this summer. Sounds like their guest list is full of dancers which suits us fine! We jammed a couple of new tracks tonight after a few weeks off. Now gearing up to our first gig of the wedding season next week. Jack Johnson is sounding sweet.

First gig of 2009

2009-04-19T18:11:00.011+01:00

We kicked of our first gig at Cotswolds Water Park for Rob & Angela on form. The band played well considering Rob's bad throat. The first dance went down well, a song by Jack Johnson - I'm sure this one will stay in the set. We're looking forward to our next gig in Gloucestershire next week.

The Eagles have landed

2009-03-18T08:33:00.004Z

Well we've finally managed to play the Eagles hit, 'Life in the fast lane' all the way through. It's sounding pretty good, so hopefully we can peform it at our next gig. Next week it's a Jack Johnson number... well, we are better together.

Finally...

2009-03-13T13:44:00.002Z

Ha, finally got round to signing up.

So we're off for a band nite out at the Shong Long Thai restaurant in Cheltenham tonight and possibly some enebriated pole dancing afterwards.

Watch this space for follow up piccies.

Audition Night

2009-03-03T21:43:00.002Z

Another successful audition. Thanks to the lovely Georgie & David who have booked us for their Christmassy wedding in the North Cotswolds. They have some musos in the family so we're looking forward to a good jam on the night! We always love having people in to hear us as it gives us a chance to get to know them before the gig. They can also decide if they like what we do or not - which they did tonight! (despite me forgetting the key to the first track we played.....)

Studio.....done

2009-03-03T09:52:00.001Z

The studio is finished! Need to get a few new cables and tidy them away a bit. Still plenty of software issues to resolve but that's part of the fun, isn't it?!

The Killers live at the NEC

2009-02-28T21:42:00.001Z

Stunning gig. If you ever get the chance to see them live take it. Great band, great show. We do Mr Brightside better, though...

Blog with the best

2009-02-25T17:29:00.002Z

Wow! Not only do I get to blog for the first time but I'm invited to blog with the best... Skamp that is......

Well here's a big hello to all skampsters from Rob-on-the-vox...

Cheers m'dears

The Studio...

2009-02-23T23:18:00.000Z

The Studio is taking shape. A couple of wiring issues and it'll be ready.

BPE Summer Gig

2009-02-15T09:10:00.003Z

At last we've managed to secure the party for BPE at Cafe Rouge in Cheltenham. It's gonna be tight setting up in time for 7pm but it should be a great night. Thanks to Hannah for organising the details.

Back to it

2009-02-10T15:02:00.001Z

So, after a week of snow and cancelled gigs it's back to rehearsal tonight....as long as Ads isn't snowed in. Will hopefully have a bash at Life In The Fast Lane. Trouble is there'sno keyboard part and it was my idea to do the track. Damn. Oh well, a bit of piano might make it sound nice. If not then the bongos might get a bashing.

Snowed in for the second day

2009-02-06T18:52:00.003Z

Yes it's been a cold few days on the west side of Cheltenham. I've been working from home and managed to find a few moments to customise the Blog. Check out the the new header... nnnnnnniiiiiiiccccccceeeeee.

Steve's Studio

2009-02-06T17:45:00.001Z

No gig and new carpet just fitted so I nervously attempted to see if my careful calculations for the woodwork in my long awaited little studio were right......they were! Real World eat your heart out!

Gig off!

2009-02-06T11:04:00.001Z

Gig postponed due to.....snow! Still bucketing it down here and gig is in Bristol where it's also bad. Sensible but at least we can have a snowball fight now!!!!

The White Stuff

2009-02-06T10:33:00.002Z

You can never rely on the British weather. Tonight's gig has been cancelled due to heavy snow. Just look at my back garden!!

Uh oh...

2009-02-06T09:51:00.001Z

Not sure the gig will happen tonight for snowy reasons. Will have to make snowmen instead.

Getting the next song sorted

2009-02-05T16:19:00.002Z

Just learnt "Life in the Fast Lane" by the Eagles, time for a lie down!!

I wonder if any of the others have learnt it ?? Please say yes !

Gratuitous keyboard shot.

2009-02-04T06:58:00.001Z

2009-02-03T23:15:00.003Z

This is our first post on the blog after a really good rehearsal. We're getting ready for our first gig of the year at a private party near Bristol. We managed to lock down a couple of new tracks and knock the dust off some old ones!

We also, at long last, managed to find a key that suited us for Duffy's excellent "Mercy". We've been playing it for a while now but it never seemed to sit quite right - but now it rocks. For those of you that are interested we're doing it in F. The original is G.

Here's a pic of tonight's rehearsal in Clare and Rob's basement studio in Cheltenham. The home of SKAMP....