Coventry Music Museum curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
Arches Venue
The Arches Venue is very much back in business thanks to their community and partners, and with that, they present their highlight events of 2023 all the way through to October.
From the Ascension and Fat Lip festivals, to UB40 tribute Johnny2Bad, to A Band Called Malice and Hawklords, the Arches Venue is ready to rock ‘n’ roll into a new era. Are you?
Tickets are now on sale for all gigs.
Please support this amazing venue, who are making a great job of putting on high quality live music on in the city. Visit tickets247.co.uk/page/archesvenue for tickets to all gigs which are available now.
Man Made Moon
Leamington-based band Man Made Moon are getting quite a name around, and with the release of their new EP it’s not hard to understand why.
The band is happy to straddle many music styles (Indie, folk, rock, pop, and everything in-between).
Formed in 2015, they released their debut single ‘Lets Grow Old Together’ in 2016, and have to date released four singles and their acclaimed EP ‘The Tourist’.
With a growing reputation that has seen them support members of The Bluetones and Ocean Colour Scene and have live performances and songs played on BBC Introducing, Touch FM, and BBC Radio to name but a few, they continue to draw accolades from near and far.
The new EP opens with the magnificent ‘Dear Love, Dear Life’ with a lovely atmospheric build and onto a killer chorus, it’s all pretty hypnotic, well-played and well sung.
Track two is ‘Let the Good Time Rolls’ with its clever guitar intro and then it’s a change of sound with ‘Guide Me Home’ and its acoustic intro another great song.
‘Day Trips to the Moon’ is just a lovely song with a great set of wistful lyrics and last but by no means least ‘Back in the Big Time’ closes this superb EP perfectly with another well crafted song with a cracking organ-filled build.
Up The Rollocks
Well this past week, every corner I turned there was that name ‘The Rollocks’, turns out they are something of a Cov supergroup comprising of former members of such local greats as Luna and The Moonhounds, Resurrection Men, Shanghai Hostage and Superhooch.
Some pedigree there with a line up that boasts Chris ‘T-Wurz’ Worsley , Aimee ‘Tina Tennents’ Goodall , Murry ‘Muzzle’ Walsh, Martin ‘Motion’ Hudson- and Zeke ‘Zeke Street’ Martin. The new EP is imminent entitled ‘Up The Rollocks’ and the EP was recorded and mixed at The Moonbase, Coventry produced by Jon Webb and The Rollocks.
The band describe themselves a bit like this: “Formed in 2022, The Rollocks have since taken the Coventry music scene hostage with their raucous and sassy, glamorous-but-gritty, psychodelic hard rock experience that simply cannot be matched.
“Bearing a wide range of influences such as Tina Turner, Black Sabbath, Etta James, Iggy Pop, Motorhead, Aretha Franklin and Sex Pistols to name a few.
“In the short space of a year, The Rollocks have sold out local venues and have an ever-increasing fan base containing people from all walks of life.
“Their songs are ferociously hook-laden and catchy.
“Their performances are wild and hypnotic. Their members are working-class artists who demand to be heard.”
