Well that was Christmas and a very happy 2009 to you all.

 

Let’s go right back to 19^th December and The Thornz. Really nice to see them back in action. A bit quiet on the audience front but things perked up as the night went on.

 

Thirty Year Itch put in their usual quality performance on Boxing Night but unfortunately didn’t pull anywhere near the turn out that we’d hoped for. Disappointing for ourselves and the band.

 

Racing Cars and The Iguanas on the following Monday was even more manic than previous years. With the band mixing the sound from the stage  (anyone notice the difference ?) I elected to spend most of the night down in the bar . Every year we feel extremely guilty that our friends and regulars are forced to endure the hoards that put in one appearance a year at the club but the financial benefits  are far too good to overlook unfortunately. Were the band any good ? ….don’t ask me !

 

More top photos from Glow at this link

 

http://www.freewebs.com/southwalesbands/photosfromthegigs.htm

 

The Alliance thankfully brought things back to normal on the 2^nd with a cracking night of  heavy rock. The band  put their own stamp on some familiar and not so familiar material and impressed a crowd that are maybe a touch jaded with the classic rock genre. A rock solid rhythm section , twin lead guitars and a singer blessed with a huge voice The Alliance will certainly be a band that we’ll see again in 2009.

 

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2008 - what a fantastic year at the District!!...THE WORRIED MEN, PURE FLOYD, CARVIN JONES, JUICY LUCY, SIX TON BUDGIE, 30 YEAR ITCH, SPIRIT OF SANTANA, PANAMA RED, TROUBLESHOOTERS, VINTAGE REBELS, ADAM BOMB, CELTIC PRIDE, ROSIE WALTERS BAND, LUNATIC FRINGE, BIG MAC'S WHOLLY SOUL BAND, THE DOPEY'S and STRANGERS OF A KIND were some of my personal favourite gigs of the year - with the highlights being exceptional performances from THE JOURNEYMEN, THE BREW, ADAM BOMB and finally seeing the legendary MAN who were breathtaking... THE THORNZ were a great way to round off the year and as usual they unleashed some top-quality Indie/Alternative anthems (great KINGS OF LEON cover)... this year started with a bang with an excellent Hard Rocking debut from THE ALLIANCE who reeled out some wonderful (and unexpected) songs from THE MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP and CHRISTOPHER CROSS (via SAXON) - a powerful lead vocalist in the Dio & Dickinson vein and brilliant twin-guitar harmonies... a superb start and here's to the rest of 2009... :)

Good to see positive remarks for Strangers Of A Kind. They had a pretty bad press last year and hopefully with Daemon's influence we'll see them in the near future