We would like to say Happy New Year and thank you to you all and especially those who continue to support !daft! so amazingly well. We have made some great new friends in 2011 and had some amazing experiences and despite the effusive and often OTT nature of these kind of messages, we truly are grateful for having the opportunity to play for you and to see you so regularly. We can never look past our core group – Allison, Kim, Louie, Kelly, Jamie, Claire, Kevin (and all your gang), Caz, Tania, Adam, Darren, Ellie, Su, Alexandra, Sophina, Ann, Sarah, Mr. James O’Brien, Steph, Gordon, Louise, Paul, Melissa, Frank, Michelle, Dionne, Sonya, Geoff, Cazz, Jim, Rob, Tony, Mickey, Kirsten, Sarah, Mark, Mandy, Jo, (I should never have made this list!), Laura, Laura, Sharon… you know what I’ll leave it there but if I missed you I am just being dense. All you guys come along regularly so thank you and please always feel welcome to do so. We also need to make a special mention of Doug and Annie who have provided first class sound, light and stage services to us again through 2011. They make a lot possible for us which wouldn’t otherwise be so thank you very much Doug and Annie! Lastly, our wives without whom we wouldn’t be allowed out of a weekend. It’s often a bit of a b*gger being in a band with weekends and home life being impacted but our better halves continue to be incredibly supportive so as always, thank you ladies!

Some highlight gigs for us in 2011 were May time with Bill Wyman, what a day that was! The sun was out, the event packed, loads of youngsters performing along with X Factor names and of course, an original Rolling Stone! Halloween at Smokies was another great night with such efforts made by all and great pics from Aimie and Nick (facebook.com/nickwildphotography), we really enjoyed that one! Always nice to get dressed up!! We also really enjoyed Dec 17th Christmas Gig at the Keller, Bracknell. It was a really busy night with lots of friends there and overall felt like a really good gig. In between we have had the chance to attend some simply jaw-dropping weddings with some really genuinely lovely clients. Playing the huge ball room at Pinewood Studios was a night to remember as well as bashing out Killing In The Name (client req!) in a marquee at gone midnight in leafy Sunningdale. It was great to play for the Williams’ for Gary and Lisa’s wedding too down in West Sussex, a rare opportunity to see some good friends and celebrate with them at the same time. To all our wedding clients, thank you very much for having us and we hope married life is treating you well!

Our gig diary for 2012 is packed, we literally haven’t been able to fit in everything we want to do. We’re aiming for mainly Saturday gigs in 2012 in an effort to maintain a manageable schedule and we will be returning to many of the usual venues you currently find us.

Lastly we end 2011 on a bit of a low as our beloved drummer Darren leaves the band in order to enjoy the quiet life, real ale and Werther’s Originals!! Tonight’s New Years Eve gig at Smokey Joes will be his last planned gig with !daft!. We once again reiterate our thanks to Darren and know we, or you, will not have seen the last of him . In 2012 Phil James will join as !daft!’s drummer and in turn we welcome Phil to the band.

I think that’s it! Have a wonderful New Years Eve everyone and see you in 2012!

Love,

Graeme, Gary, Adam, Nick and for the last time, Darren x

We are sad to announce that our great friend and drummer, Darren, will be leaving !daft!. His last planned gig with the band is this New Years Eve at Smokey Joes, Maidenhead.

Whilst this may seem short notice we have been aware for past couple of months and have been busy working away in an effort to try and fill the inevitably large hole that Darrens going to be leaving behind.

Darren joined !daft! as good as 10 years ago and in that time has played 600+ gigs with the band and has rightfully become an incredibly valuable and loved member of the group. He has always been known for his hard hitting, power rock drumming style and he has unquestionably contributed to helping !daft! become one of the most well known and popular cover bands on the Thames Valley circuit. And for that we will be forever grateful.

There are no hard feelings at all in this split and it’s all incredibly amicable. Darren has simply decided that the time has come to take a break from the relentless schedule of gigging and live music to instead focus on work, his lovely wife Melissa and some other personal projects.

If the transition to our new drummer is successful then we expect that New Years Eve will be Darren’s last gig with !daft!. If you would like to see him in action one last time and perhaps shake his hand then you need to get along to the Bier Keller, Bracknell on 17th December 2011 or to Smokey Joes Roadhouse on New Years Eve.

Darren will always be in our dep pool and it’s very likely we will get to perform with him again in the future but for now there is nothing I can say on behalf of the band other than a massive, massive “thank you” to Darren for a decade of good, honest, loyal and quality service to !daft!. It’s been absolute pleasure old friend, we will miss you immensely.

Click here to read about !daft! new drummer Phil James.