Valued staff member Tanya was celebrating her 30th birthday this night and looked absolutely amazing. A typically fantastic night at The Horns,Watford, loads of great people, great atmosphere and a pleasure to play there! Thanks to Pam and all the staff!

The Horns, Watford, 17th February 2012

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A great night at Reading O’Neills. Thanks to Vicki Kerby and all the Oxford ladies, Louie, Steve, Neil, Kim, the superstar Lee Aaron and Cindi and all her gang for coming along! Sad to hear of Whitney’s passing afterwards though, it’s always the same, only the good die young. RIP Whitney x

O'Neill's, Reading, 11th February 2012

85 Photos

You may have heard recently about a bill cleared by the House Of Commons relating to live music performances in small venues, and you might be wondering what this actually means and how it affects you, or your local community. In a nutshell, it’s a good thing. Here’s why.

In 2003 the Licencing Act was passed meaning that all venues regardless of size or purpose, who wanted to put on live music, needed permission from the local authority to do so. The application process was slow, troublesome and costly. The primary purpose of the Act was to counteract the relaxation in drinking laws which brought about an expectation that there would be an explosion in the amount of live music taking place. The Licensing Act 2003 also placed a greater responsibility on those who are licensed to sell alcohol to show how they intend to promote the four licensing objectives: public safety, the protection of children from harm, the prevention of public nuisance and the prevention of crime and disorder.

The reality of course was that a huge number of venues ceased all live music and the painful licence application process merely served as an additional nail in an already closing coffin in the British pub and small club industry. The actual end result was less music venues, less work for musicians, less value for venues to offer and less access to local talent and live music by the general public. Having seen a boom in the last decade with Summer Festival and large scale concert attendances, this Act seemed to directly hamper the ability for the general public to enjoy a pastime they are clearly quite fond of. In addition with the closure of up to 40 pubs per month in the UK,  the Act made life even more difficult for the trade and was never going to produce positive results or perception.

The Fix

On January 20th 2012 a motion was passed to scrap the Act allowing the live music scene to re-establish its creative and often spontaneous nature in the UK. Don Foster MP, responsible for lobbying the change, said

“Private members’ bills are rarely passed, and it’s even rarer that they do so with the unanimous support of every MP as happened today. The current system has had a deadening effect on the performance of live music in small venues. At the moment, the landlord of a small pub could face a big fine and imprisonment for letting a customer play a piano without a licence. The support received this afternoon from all MPs from all political parties just goes to show how important live music is in our country and the overwhelming support for changing our obstructive licensing laws. We’re now only one step away from the Bill becoming law and creating an even more vibrant and successful live music culture. This will benefit hundreds of small pubs, restaurants, schools, churches and community halls, and strengthen the British music scene immensely.”

This change in the law is undoubtedly a great thing for live music overall and we are grateful to Don Foster and those who voted in favour of removing the red tape around simple musical performances.

You can help by letting your favourite venues know that they can also now host live music, licence free. They can look upon live music once more as not only entertainment but as a significant value-add to their business.

You can let bands know of somewhere you recommend and lastly, make sure that you take the time to go and enjoy some of the highly talented local musicians and bands in their natural habitats. Get along to a gig! You can find our gig diary here if you would like to join us!

Check out www.lemonrock.com for live music listings in your area.

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

It’s Christmas Eve and hopefully you are all ready to enjoy some family and friends time.

From the !daft! camp it’s a very Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you all, thank you so much for your continued support, we greatly look forward to seeing you in 2012 with our new drummer, new songs and fresh new faces.

Have a wonderful and peaceful Christmas x