Final Line
Musical Genre/Type: Rock
Formed: 1987
Martin Reece (vocals)
Simon Hall (guitars)
Richard Ross (bass)
Ade Cheshire (drums)
09/08/87
Final Line
Jabberwocki
A5
New Age Gypsies
The Rathole
Tamworth Herald – 22/05/87
MORE details have filtered through about the new Atherstone band, the Final Line. The group who made their Atherstone School debut last week, have been practising together for some time and have now built up an extensive repertoire for some 15 members. The band is made up of Martin Reece (vocals), Simon Hall (guitars), Richard Ross (bass) and Ade Cheshire (drums) and they say their music ranges from melodic ballads to punk. Personally, I find the new rock revival in Atherstone very exciting. More bands are emerging from the town than ever before and than can only help Atherstone itself and the Tamworth music scene as a whole.
Tamworth Herald – 29/05/87
Finally just a series of one-liners on the local scene…former Freight Train drummer Gavin Skinner recently had an audition with Easterhouse whilst his brother Donaled recently had the world’s shortest haircut…Catch 23’s single release party will take place on July 3 at the Arts Centre where they will be joined by Wolfsbane who will play a set of cover versions…new local band Jabberwocky are hoping to make their Tamworth debut soon and have already lined up their first out-of-town show…the Final Line’s first gig in Atherstone a fortnight ago went down very well indeed according to my ‘spies’ over there…Soil Brothers man Malcolm Hallett has just got engaged and MUSICBOX would like to wish him every success. Will Soil Brothers singer Steve MacNamee be next to go I wonder…former Orange singer Anice Byfield has left the Coventry band she fronted before Christmas…Tamworth’s oldest rock institution The Magnets are all set for a major revamp with a new name and a new sound…and last but not least do you know that bat-eater Ozzy Osbourne once visited the Rathole to see a gig? It is absolutely true but I bet no-one knows WHICH gig…
Tamworth Herald – 19/06/87
SNIPS
Final Line have added a new keyboard player to their line-up. The group, who hail from Atherstone have recruited Helen Tracey who is set to change the band’s sound away from their more rock-orientated feel. The band should make their Tamworth debut at the Arts Centre section of this year’s rock festival.
Tamworth Herald – 17/07/87
TAMWORTH ROCK FESTIVAL has been given official council backing – and the countdown to four days of pop fun is now under way.
A full meeting will be held this Sunday at the Tavern in the Town for all the for all the bands involved to really get the festival feeling flowing.
This year’s festival was given the fullest support by Tamworth Borough Council at a meeting last Thursday of the recreation and amenities committee. Councillors representing both Conservative and Labour, praised the festival’s unique achievements and ensured that the ‘show would go on’ as planned.
Once again the now established Tamworth Rock Festival format will feature tow exciting nights of new bands at the Arts Centre, and then two long days of outdoor rock and roll in the Castle Grounds.
It all starts on Friday August 28 at the Arts Centre when The Final Line, The Sexy Pistols, Emma Gibbs Loves Badges and the Pakistani Brothers team up for a bizarre evening of entertainment and then the following night the Arts Centre stage welcomes The Jim Crows Blues Company, New Age Gypsies, Bankok Shock and The Conspiracy.
Then on Sunday, August 30 and Monday August 31, the Castle Grounds will come alive from 11am to 8pm to the sound of no less than 18 of the top local bands in the area ranging from old heroes like Wolfsbane and Breaking Point, new heroes like The Great Express and fetch Eddie and unknown heroes like Platinum Hi and Jabberwockie.
We will give the final line-up in next week’s MUSICBOX nut all the bands involved MUST attend Sunday night’s meeting to hear where they play and when.
The meeting at the Tavern on Sunday night will not only discuss future planning and organisation for the festival, but will be a vital fund-collecting point. As a reminder, all the bands who are playing at the Castle Ground’s section will need on Sunday to pay £6 per member. That way the festival is the Castle Grounds is kept free for all spectators and ensures that the Tamworth Rock festival is unique. I mean, can you imagine Status Quo PAYING to play at the Reading festival.
Would everyone – bands and organisers – please get to the meeting by no later than 7.45pm on Sunday night as there is a chance of a major photo-call. The meeting will then be the official launching pad for the Tamworth Rock festival 1987.
Musical policies will be worked out to put to the Tamworth electorate and hopefully they will vote for the festival in massive numbers!
Tamworth Herald – 24/07/87
HERE IT IS the final line-up for this year’s eagerly awaited Tamworth Rock Festival again the Festival throws up an amazing range of old and new acts covering just about every musical genre possible. Many of the names will be familiar to most local rock fans but some will be new to everyone.
The tasty mixture offers the possibility of one of the finest festivals yet, so here it is the full blow-by-blow agenda of what your eyes and ears will witness over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Friday August 28: Tamworth Arts Centre, 8pm, Admission 50p. Emma Gibbs Loves Badges, The Sexy Pistols, Pakistani Brothers, Stranger Than Life.
Saturday August 29 (Tamworth Arts Centre, 8pm, Admission: 50p) The Final Line, The Jim Crows Blues Company, New Age Gypsies, The Ferocious Apaches.
Sunday August 30: (Castle Grounds 12 midday – 7pm, Admission: Free) (In this order) Kubla Khan, The Searching, A5, World Intelligence Network, Catch 23, Rape In yellow, Zealout, Platinum hi, The Great Express.
Monday August 31: (Castle Grounds, 12 midday – 7pm, Admission: Free) The Pink Tomatoes, Future Field, Shellshock, Jabberwockie, Wolfsbane, Fetch Eddie The Baby’s Gone Blue, Depth Charge, Ruffian On The Stairs, Breaking Point.
That’s a grand tally of 27 bands covering everything from punk to pop, synthesisers to sickness and power to purity. The whole festival bandwagon is now well on the road so get ready for a T-shirt, poster and sticker blitz as the town’s musicians prepare for their biggest weekend of the year. The Tamworth Rock Festival represents everything that is positive and strong about the local music scene and if the enthusiasm so far generated by the event is anything to go by, get set for a rock and roll extravaganza.
Tamworth Herald – 14/08/87
Final line/Jabberwocki/A5/New Age Gypsies – The Rathole
YES, an intriguing, divergent night this. Proof positive that new bands are emerging and appearing all the time, and yet more evidence that Atherstone is producing more musicians per head of population than just about anywhere. Anyhow, the facts and figures…
The Final Line
There isn’t a lot I can say about these because I didn’t see a minute of their set. Opinions varied afterwards but according to fellow Herald scribe they were ‘sort of loud, danceable and very good’. Seems reasonable.
Jabberwocki
Not really my cup of tea all this. Jabberwocki were clearly aiming for an early Seventies sound, the sort produced by the likes of Family, which is about as alien to my culture as eating lizards. The best bits were the double usage of female talent, Dave Caswell’s musicianship, the unusual instruments and a song called ‘I Don’t Remember’. The worst bits were an overlong drum solo which outstayed its welcome, a complete lack of onstage identity and presence and the fact that Jabberwocki were playing to totally the wrong audience. It all reminded me of the New Seekers actually. Anyone remember those anarchists?
A5
Back with a bang. A5 have re-emerged from their lay-bys to produce probably their finest new collection of songs to date. The band’s usual experimental ideas have now been joined by a gritty aggression which works on several musical levels. Guitarist Pete Fulleylove has developed a meandering Edge style sound, while Bassist Chris Edden has tuned his bass to that wonderful old Jean Jacques Burnel feel which carried the whole thing superbly well. Several fine numbers were revealed and I was left with the distinct impression that A5 could well be the (surprise?) hit of this years festival. Highly recommended noise makers.
New Age Gypsies
Whole lotta Zeppelin. The New Age Gypsies will feel well satisfied with this set which completely won over an admittedly very biased audience. It reminded me of a mixture between pre-punk rock (aka Zeppelin) and post-punk rock (aka the Cult) and this mixture proved curiously palatable even to those like me with (relatively) short hair. Steve ‘Gong’ Haddon is a charismatic, lively singer with a powerful voice and another mention must go to Rich ‘Houdi’ Hudson who clearly enjoyed testing and teasing his audience with his cocktail of axe-attacks. A band who will always have a market and who you will like better the longer your hair is.
Tamworth Herald – 28/08/87
A rip-roaring weekend of rock
YES, IT’S HERE AT LAST! After all the months of planning and preparation, Tamworth will this weekend unveil it’s biggest and best rock festival ever.
Over the next four days no less than 27 bands – not to say alternative poets, disc jockeys and general eccentrics – will combine their talents to give the town’s pop pickers a week to remember.
Tonight (Friday) the whole event kicks off with an action-packed Arts Centre show to be followed on Saturday night with another night of new bands at the same venue. And then on Sunday and Monday, Tamworth Castle Grounds will be taken over for 16 hours for a massive live extravaganza of music covering 18 varied and exciting groups from all over the Tamworth and Atherstone area.
It all adds up to four hectic, juicy days so here is a blow-by-blow account of what to expect, where to expect it and where not to go if you want to avoid it!!
Tamworth Arts Centre
WELL WHAT A START. For just 50p you can get to see five totally different bands who represent just about every form of musical extreme in this little old scene of ours. Heading the lot our The Wilsons who have been added as late festival funmakers and should provide many moments of bopping delight. Joining the Wilsons are the brash barmy boys known as The Pakistani Brothers, the all-new all-electric Stranger Than Life, the arrogant and animated Oliver Reed Combo and another late addition The Parade. That is five potentially explosive acts for less than the price of a Curly Wurly each. Be there early (8pm) ‘cos it is going to be full.
Tamworth Arts Centre
ANOTHER case of sheer daylight robbery when just 50p once again gets you masses of good original music. The Conspiracy, Tamworth’s new alternative hopefuls make their eagerly awaited Arts Centre debut and are joined by the rocking, rollicking blues of Jim Crows, the powerful mid-Seventies attack of New Age Gypsies, and the passionate and highly-tipped indierockers Ferocious Apaches. The fifth band on the line-up is still to be confirmed as there is a possibility that The Final line may have split up. If that is so, new Burton FM soundalikes Vienna will be slotted in as special guests so whichever way you look at it your ears cannot fail! Remember it starts at 8pm and get there early.
Tamworth Castle Grounds (11.30am-7pm)
AND SO, to the main course. Once again the festival will be sited at the top of the Castle Grounds, just in front of the tennis courts and once again it will all be totally FREE.
You will see no less than nine bands on Sunday and a further nine on Monday with the only sort of rock uncatered for being that horrible stuff that breaks your teeth at Blackpool. It all begins at 11am when the Reverb/Buttercup disco blares into action and then 90 minutes later the first band – Kubla Khan – hit the stage. This oh reader, is what happens next…
KUBLA KHAN (12.30) – A new and enthusiastic rock band with a slant to the mid-Seventies and wicked sense of humour. Should be very good scene setters.
THE SEARCHING (1.05) Another relatively new act whose own brand of rock searches across a broad spectrum enveloping influences that include The Damned and the Cure.
The A5 (1.40) – A tremendous unit who are improving all the time and have now acquired a harder more distinctive sound. Aggressive, tuneful and toe-tappable.
WORLD INTELLIGENCE NETWORK (2.15) – Totally fab, leather-jacketed bunch who manage to Cope with being compared to Cope all the time. WINners.
CATCH 23 (2.50) – Youthful, fanciful popsters with hope in their hearts and electricity in their blood. They make great pop music. It’s as simple as that.
RAPE IN YELLOW (3.25) – Like Moses, this band have spent a long time in the wilderness and now return with a commanding set. They play original, whimsical Sixties based pop music.
ZEALOUT (4.00) – Another new band who walk on the Atherstone side of life. Zealout play broadly based rock music and regard this show as their first major introduction to the world.
PLATINUM HI (4.35) – Zooming all the way up from London this combo (who feature former Tamworth fave Rob Rea) play colourful metal music with brash style.
THE GREAT EXPRESS (5.10) – Concluding Sunday night’s revels are one of Tamworth’s hottest properties. The Express have already raced to the top of the league with their power charged, energetic and unusual creation. A great end to a great day.
Tamworth Castle Grounds (11.30am-7pm)
MRE MIRTH, music, magic and majesty on offer today with some of the best sounds outside of my record collection. As with Sunday, the bands will appear at roughly 40 minute intervals so you should never be very far away from something you are REALLY going to like. Here is the day’s itinerary so get your Filofax out.
FUTURE FIELD (1.05) – A new intelligent AOR based rock band with a host of ideas and several accomplished local musicians. Soothing music for the fun.
SHELLSHOCK (1.40) – Pure, unashamed heavy metal from a band whose enthusiasm is a refreshing as Brew X1 in the Sahara. Loud, proud and metallic.
JABBERWOCKIE (2.15) – Original unit who play music like of which Tamworth has never seen before, multi-instrumentalists overflowing with notes and notions.
WOLFSBANE (2.50) – The kings, the bosses, the boys. Wolfsbane’s dictionary definition is ‘everything that is good about heavy metal music’. They’ve got the LOT.
FETCH EDDIE (3.25) – Clean, loveable pop music which is as pure as the average Vestal Virgin. Ace tunesmiths who could set the afternoon alight.
DEPTH CHARGE (4.00) – One of Tamworth’s old favourites with new life and a new line-up. Look out for guitarist ‘Tanya’ (See rock festival t-shirts for more info on that!)
RUFFIAN ON THE STAIRS (4.35) – Commercial pleasing soul sounds from a band who combine the best of Tamworth and Lichfield. Promise to be quite special.
BREAKING POINT (5.10) – Longstanding heroes, who combine the powerful with the passionate and have been sorely missed from our stages of late. But absence makes the heart grow fonder they say, so get set for some nostalgic cheer.
So that’s the whole line-up. In betweens each band you will see and hear djs, comperes and poets like Buttercup, Edward ian Armchair, Dave Hewitt, Kevin McGough, Bue, Rikk Quay et al and there may also be some surprise guest celebrities popping up as well. In the event of rain over Sunday and Monday there may be alternative arrangements but you must be at the Castle Grounds to find out what they are.
Whatever happens this is Tamworth’s biggest musical event of the year and one which every music-loving person from 6-66 should enjoy immensely. So clear your weekends, clear your heads and get set to be bombarded from every possible angle by every possible sound.
*Festival t-shirts will be available tonight Friday (£3.50) and programmes at a mere 25p).
Tamworth Herald – 14/08/87
Final line/Jabberwocki/A5/New Age Gypsies – The Rathole
YES, an intriguing, divergent night this. Proof positive that new bands are emerging and appearing all the time, and yet more evidence that Atherstone is producing more musicians per head of population than just about anywhere. Anyhow, the facts and figures…
The Final Line
There isn’t a lot I can say about these because I didn’t see a minute of their set. Opinions varied afterwards but according to fellow Herald scribe they were ‘sort of loud, danceable and very good’. Seems reasonable.
Jabberwocki
Not really my cup of tea all this. Jabberwocki were clearly aiming for an early Seventies sound, the sort produced by the likes of Family, which is about as alien to my culture as eating lizards. The best bits were the double usage of female talent, Dave Caswell’s musicianship, the unusual instruments and a song called ‘I Don’t Remember’. The worst bits were an overlong drum solo which outstayed its welcome, a complete lack of onstage identity and presence and the fact that Jabberwocki were playing to totally the wrong audience. It all reminded me of the New Seekers actually. Anyone remember those anarchists?
A5
Back with a bang. A5 have re-emerged from their lay-bys to produce probably their finest new collection of songs to date. The band’s usual experimental ideas have now been joined by a gritty aggression which works on several musical levels. Guitarist Pete Fulleylove has developed a meandering Edge style sound, while Bassist Chris Edden has tuned his bass to that wonderful old Jean Jacques Burnel feel which carried the whole thing superbly well. Several fine numbers were revealed and I was left with the distinct impression that A5 could well be the (surprise?) hit of this years festival. Highly recommended noise makers.
New Age Gypsies
Whole lotta Zeppelin. The New Age Gypsies will feel well satisfied with this set which completely won over an admittedly very biased audience. It reminded me of a mixture between pre-punk rock (aka Zeppelin) and post-punk rock (aka the Cult) and this mixture proved curiously palatable even to those like me with (relatively) short hair. Steve ‘Gong’ Haddon is a charismatic, lively singer with a powerful voice and another mention must go to Rich ‘Houdi’ Hudson who clearly enjoyed testing and teasing his audience with his cocktail of axe-attacks. A band who will always have a market and who you will like better the longer your hair is. |
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