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Our band is called TWIN LIZZY and is a Thin Lizzy tribute band.
(Somebody was asked last week what kind of music we played and gave
the reply "I think they are a SLADE cover band '!!). The
formation of the band began in January last year when Taff (Guitar),
John (Guitar), Roger (Bass/Vocals), and Paul (Drums) decided to form
a band called EASY STREET to play pub gigs. We played the usual rock
stuff eg. ZZ Top, Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, Thunder etc. We started on
the road on March 13th last year and it soon became obvious that
every time we wanted to choose any new songs to cover it would turn
out to be Thin Lizzy material which was chosen. Somebody jokingly
suggested the idea of doing all Thin Lizzy songs, this was taken
seriously by the rest of the band members and before we knew it, hey
presto ! Done.
At this time we were still known as Easy Street which did not exactly
suggest Thin Lizzy or rock music for that matter as one club thought
we were a country and western band (Until we hit the first chord of
Jailbreak, then they realised that we would not be playing many Dolly
Parton songs that night). To be blunt we needed a new name more in
keeping with the material and all four of us and many more Friends
thought long and hard for a name which would connect us to Thin Lizzy
in some way or other, Preferably with the name Lizzy in the title.
Some suggestions (and reasons for their exclusion) were: Fat Lizzy
(crap), Thin Lizzie (too close), Bizzy Lizzy (Well known plant) etc.
This went on for weeks until we went to a birthday party and one of
our drunken mates staggered past us and casually slurred the now
famous phrase "Eeeeeaaarr" (long pause, stagger, slurp,
burp, fart, surprised look, longer pause) "I fink yer should
call yerselfs TWIN LIZZY geddit'?? Eh! TWIN LIZZY Eh? Eh? Any friggin
good?" (daft drunk grin, wobbles off, slips, disappears into the
crowd). You could have heard a very small pin drop quite a short
distance. Thus Twin Lizzy was the name and the drunken friend (JED)
has been credited on every flyer handed out at every gig ever since.
We have (without the aid of agents or external help) played 150 gigs,
113 in 1996 starting on March 13th and the rest this year. We try to
cover a wide range of the Thin Lizzy era starting from Whiskey in the
Jar to Chinatown and pride ourselves with the accuracy with which the
songs are delivered. We do not have any road crew, it's not that we
don't want some, it's just that there's no room in our crappy van to
fit anyone else and we enjoy humping one and a half tons of gear from
the room to the van to the venue back to the van and back to the room
every night. It's great ... NOT. We mix our own sound to produce a
very powerful and punchy sound at a comfortable volume to attempt to
replicate the attack and dynamics of Thin Lizzy and strive to obtain
the same type of sound in every venue from the smallest pub to the
largest venue (Outdoor). We actually rehearse in our Drummers house
in the front room with complete P.A system, drum kit, Amplifiers etc.
We think that his neighbours must be one of the following:
1.Deaf
2.Dead
3.Drunk
4.Dead Drunk
5. Considering legal action
Band Members, functions, and claims to fame:
Taff (Guitar, Ex Stateline) is well known for his big hair do and
beer drinking skills. Champion stool diving certificate level 3
(After heavy drinking bouts only).
Paul (Drums, Ex Blues Doctors) is renowned for eating capabilities
and getting in the way when you're carrying something which weighs
500 kilos. Can roll a fag with 1 finger in a dark van at 75 mph on a
bumpy road. He also has big hair hence Taff and Paul are commonly
known as the BOOK ENDS.
Roger (Bass, Ex Heritage) is quite good at packing one and a half
tonnes of equipment into a tranny and not giving a toss about much
except playing bass and singing. Also good a being tall (6'4")
and getting us lost on the way to gigs. (We find this odd since he
drives a truck for a living).
John (Guitar, Ex Tantrum) good at making gadgets and fixing things.
Nicknamed 'Wilf' (After Mad Professor Wilf Lunn). Every band should
have a Wilf. You get the picture, BANG (flames etc.) and two minutes
later, with the aid of double sided tape and a bent nail, you're back
in business.
We go out and play with the intention of creating a good atmosphere,
entertaining the audience, and having a laugh. We manage to achieve
these three things the majority of the time and look forward to
playing every gig no matter what the distance or venue size. We don't
take ourselves too seriously (except for the music, that HAS to be
right), we don't have a single ego to share between us, our favourite
occupation is taking the piss out of each another and we are all
barking mad with a capital WOOF.
We have put every penny we have earned back into the band to improve
the show, the results of this are that it now takes us 2 hours to set
up where it used to take 15 minutes. The result of this is that in
the space of 11 months we have gone from a 500 watt PA and 8 coloured
garden security lights to 3500 watt PA, 38 lights, Mirrored Logo
(lights up!!), Drum riser, Backdrop, fireworks blah blah blah ~00 wee etc.
A header to one of our flyers now follows, the contents of which are
perfectly true. Here it is.
A typical day on the road behind the scenes with Twin Lizzy. Tour bus
(Tranny van) arrives at the hotel (our house). Equipment truck (same
van) is loaded with gear and the band travel in the Limousine (same
van). The pre-planned detailed route is carefully arranged and
scribbled onto a ripped up fag packet. En route, important details
are discussed such as: Venue capacity, Stage size, and location of
the nearest chippy. It is vitally important to take at least two
wrong turnings and ask locals for directions in an effort to totally
baffle the driver. The fag packet is then thrown out the window.
After several miles and a few bouts of "we should have gone
left" etc. we arrive at the gig. The equipment is loaded into
the venue and arranged in a totally random fashion making setting up
impossible. Five minutes later, the equipment is moved from this
location into the correct room and again strewn about haphazardly in
a marine assault course. Sound engineers (the band) then plug wires
into holes, twiddle some knobs and say "one two testing one
two" down the mikes for a bit before going to the bar to await
the assembly of the drum kit. The lighting rig is then erected,
tested and carefully adjusted to cause the band to be totally blinded
during the show. A selected batch of extra wires are then laid across
the stage in an attempt to ensure a near fatal accident during a
guitar solo. The P.A system is then finely tuned to produce ear
splitting feedback as soon as anyone moves, the pyrotechnics
(fireworks) are arranged so as to ignite and completely torch
anything within a 3 metre radius and finally the last step is to
strategically stick a few bits of gaffer tape here and there to make
it look good.
In case you use part or all of this and you need any more information
or any embarrassing details, please do not hesitate to contact us. We
are normally in some pub or other so if you start phoning them
starting in the centre of Sheffield and working in alphabetical order
in a clockwise direction, sooner or later you'll reach us.
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