Latest Scoundrels News
- ThuMay 24th
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Our new video. This was a lot of fun. I think it shows.
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I was born on the streets of London,
I was raised by the river Thames,
From the leafy charms of Chiswick Park,
To the V1 battered brick of Mile End.
I was schooled by the streets of London,
She imbued me with her history,
From the growing flames of Pudding Lane,
To the gospel of the BBC.
Chorus
So London be good to me,
And I’ll be good to you,
I don’t think you ever want to change,
Your London point of view.
I was raised on the streets of London,
I see figures through the walls of fog,
I see the shape of the ripper as he runs amok,
‘Neath the shroud of the Whitechapel smog.
I was taught by the streets of London,
Felt the heat of the Brixton riots,
Saw William Wilberforce become a tour de force,
And change the slave trade in 1833.
Chorus
So London be good to me,
And I’ll be good to you,
I don’t think you ever want to change,
Your London point of view.
Ben ring out your bells,
It seems the time has come to chime,
See London’s bear-skinned soldiers,
Marching in a line.
And if there’s trouble,
Then we’ll all stand up as one,
Draw on that bulldog spirit,
Of 1941.
I’m inspired by the streets of London,
Just as Hendrix was in times before,
It’s where Mick and Keith began to cut their teeth,
As the crowd grooved on the Crawdaddy floor.
I’m in love with the streets of London,
I was carved by it’s winter chill,
I did the r’n’b scene,
Saw Clapton, Mayall and Green,
I was amazed at just what I had seen.
Chorus
So London be good to me,
And I’ll be good to you,
I don’t think you ever wanna change,
Your London point of view.
So London be good to me,
And I’ll be good to you,
I don’t think you’re ever gonna change,
Your London point of view.
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- TueMay 22nd
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Rest assured that I love you girl,
Woah you complete my world,
I really love you girl.
And I know that if I was you,
Woah then I’d love me too,
You see I’m just too good to be true.But there’s only one of me,
And there’s not enough to go round
Can’t you see.
Pardon me for being so cruel,
But the general consensus you see
Is that I fucking rule.And I’m only nice when it suits me…
Chorus
Hush now baby don’t you cry,
My heads stuck up my ass
And I wanna die…And I never thought that I’d act this way,
The way I act today makes me feel ashamed.
And I know that I may have lost my way,
May have been led astray,
But I’ll make it right some day.And I know my girl that my ego grows day by day…
Chorus
Hush now baby don’t you cry,
My heads stuck up my ass and I wanna die…Loading...
- TueMay 15th
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Gig Reviews…
Arcade Empire, Pretoria
http://www.athousandguitars.com/2012/05/sexy-sultry-rock-and-roll-from-englands-scoundrels.html
http://samusicscene.co.za/2012/05/hunters-debut-down-south-tour-bringing-you-uk-band-scoundrels/
The Assembly, Cape Town
http://www.20summing.co.za/?m=8&idkey=958
http://texxandthecity.com/2012/05/review-scoundrels-at-assembly
Pre-gig and post gig, Town Hall, Johannesburg
http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/music/2012/05/03/just-a-bunch-of-scoundrels
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- SatMay 12th
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We’ve just returned from our 3 week tour of South Africa, and what a time we had. It really was incredibly special, we’re really lucky to have had that opportunity. We’ve had such a great time gigging in some incredible places, with some great bands and meeting some awesome folks. We really can’t wait to return!
We’ll continue to post all the amazing things we saw and did whilst out there but in the meantime have a gander at this interview we did for MK TV’s Studio 1 programme…
SOUTH AFRICA THANKYOU SO MUCH
x Ned\Genie\Billy\G
http://mk.dstv.com/2012/04/28/studio1-onderhoud-met-scoundrels/
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- TueMay 8th
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We’re sad to say that the final gig of our amazing South African tour is this evening at Aandklas in Stellenbosch.
We’d like to thank all the amazing people we’ve met on the way who’ve made this trip so special. We’re truly blessed to have had this opportunity and will miss it greatly.
We intend to return as soon as possible and take in even more of this amazing country. Till then…
Much love,
Ned/Josh/Billy/George
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- SatMay 5th
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What a time we Scoundrels have been having in South Africa so far. We’ve almost been here for two weeks so far and have well and truly fallen in love with the country.
Starting off in Johannesburg we played two gigs, firstly an impromptu acoustic gig at Katzy’s Jazz Club then the following night our official South African debut at Town Hall. It was a great way to start the tour, a loud, sweaty gig with a great and receptive local crowd.
After more press and radio sessions we left Johannesburg and headed out to Pretoria for a gig at Arcade Empire. We also had the chance to meet Braai Boy, a man clad in red spandex who’d been “braa-ing” (BBQ ing) every day for three years. Such was his legend that he even had his own brand of sausage.
The next gig saw us take the scenic
route towards Bloemfontein. It was incredible, we saw Zebra, Kudu, Wildebeest and Cape Buffalo and were welcomed with open arms by the wonderful people of Bloem and Mystic Boer.Post Bloem we drove 12 hours to Durban by the sea. As most pallid, pasty Brits do we headed immedeatly to the beach for a swim and to get sunburnt. Looking like fresh beetroots we played a corking gig at Live The Venue and headed out the next day to Grahamstown.
Our trip to Grahamstown was meant only to be a cultural sojourn but 10 hours into the 12 hour journey we called ahead to see whether any place could have us to play at late notice. Champs duly heeded our call and after sourcing a couple of amps and a microphone cable we played a dirty, scratchy, lo-fi gig that we’ll never forget. We had such a laugh wedged up like sardines on the smallest of stages.
The next day we checked out the Settler Museum and headed towards Plettenberg Bay. We arrived into Plett in time to do some radio and organise another impromptu acoustic gig. The gig itself was a minor disaster, we had to run our equipment through the same small monitor and we sounded like the musical equivalent of dung. Not to worry though. With heads held high and informing the small crowd gathered that we were not in fact called “Scoundrels” and not in fact from the UK to throw them off the scent we retired to bed.
As I write we’re on our way via Knysna and Hermanus to Cape Town at The Assembly this evening. Should be a right Ol’ cracker, and we can’t wait to see you all there! And if not tonight then at our last gig of our South African adventure on Tuesday at Aandklas in Stellenbosch…
X Ned, Genie, Billy and G
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- FriApr 27th
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Check out this interview and session we did at CBS Studios in New York for Streetdate.com…
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South Africa tour is going amazingly well! Played our first gig in Johannesburg last night at Town Hall. Onto Pretoria this evening.
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- TueApr 24th
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Hello all,
We’re delighted to say that our “Sexy Weekend” EP is out now and available to buy on iTunes. Grab yourself a copy now! We all like to think it’s rather good, but we may of course be slightly biased. Still, well worth having a listen, here’s the link…
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/sexy-weekend-ep/id518814177
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- FriApr 13th
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Tickets for our forthcoming shows in South Africa can be bought at the link below y’all. Hope to see ya there!
http://www.webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=379456856
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- TueApr 3rd
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We’re delighted to announce that on April 22nd we Scoundrels will be headed south for a three week tour of South Africa. We can’t wait, it’s going to be an awesome experience, and we’ll cover 3,500km of land taking in some amazing places and playing some incredible venues. Hope to see some of you there!
Dates are:-
26th April - Town Hall - Johannesburg
27th April - Arcade Empire - Pretoria
28th April - By Die Dam - Vaal Dam
30th April - Mystic Boer - Bloemfontein
2nd May - The Live Venue - Durban
5th May - The Assembly - Cape Town
8th May - Aandklas - Stellenbosch
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Check out this interview we did with the amazing @charliepresents from Teabreak.
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- WedMar 28th
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Hello y’all, we’ve put together a wee video of our recent time in Austin, playing at South By Southwest Festival. It features “Bon Temps Rouler”, a tune from our upcoming “Sexy Weekend” EP due out on 23rd April. Hope ya like it!
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- WedMar 21st
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We’ve just got back from Austin, Texas having had the most awesome week there. Was a fookin’ blast, such a great city with an incredible music heritage and venues everywhere you look. We played six gigs at some of Austin’s best locations, the best of which was our official showcase at Cedar Street Courtyard following 80’s legend Thomas Dolby.
We were lucky enough to see some great bands live too, the highlight being Lee Fields who played after us at ND Studios. Other highlights included seeing Alabama Shakes, Band Of Skulls and Andrew Bird and eating our own bodyweight in BBQ at Stubbs.
Austin really is a special place, and hopefully we’ve turned many more people onto Scoundrels after playing there. A huge thankyou to all who came to our gigs, and hopefully see you there again next year!
x Ned/Genie/Billy/G
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- FriMar 2nd
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We’ve got one more week of working in our studio of 4 years in Fulham. We’re sad to say goodbye to a place that has been our home for such a long time but it’s definitely time to move on to new pastures. This is our new place, or “The Womb” as we like to call it. We intend to turn it into a totally inspirational space, sharing it with creative people of all vocations, photographers, artists etc etc. We’re building from scratch, installing a killer live room and studio, invoking the vintage spirit of old legendary studios like Chess and Muscle Shoals. We can’t wait…
x Ned/Genie/Billy/G
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Good people, we are delighted to today confirm the news that we will be travelling to Austin, Texas to play this years South By Southwest festival. We can’t bloomin’ wait, only two weeks till we head out. For the listings of our gigs whilst out there check the link below. Hope to see y’all there…
x Ned/Genie/Billy/G
http://scoundrels.fm/index.php#4
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- TueFeb 21st
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On arrival we became acutely aware of the fact that our paper bags wouldn’t quite cut the mustard in South Louisiana, and rightly so. After a few bemused looks we were promptly kicked out!
We want to send all our happiest Mardi Gras wishes to y’all and especially to all our good friends we made in Cajun country, South Louisiana, we miss you all dearly.
x Ned/Genie/Billy/G
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Meet the band
Lead Vocals, Guitar
Lead Guitar,
Vocals
Bass
Drums,
Vocals
The band: Ned, Josh, Billy, George
The suburbs of London are a long way from the swamps of Louisiana, and crossing the musical space between is the stuff that dreams are made of. But sometimes, when you concoct the right potion of talent, work, and magical circumstance, you will find that those dreams can come true. This is the story of Scoundrels, and how they got there.
For Ned Wyndham (25, vocals/guitar), Alex ‘Billy’ Hill (24, bass) and Josh Martens (25, drums) the journey had inauspicious beginnings. Being friends since their schooldays, they already shared the first magic ingredient to band chemistry, and a shared a love of 50s soul, roots, doo wop and classic rock led them all to London’s LCCM music college where they were able to hone their skills, putting on rootsy nights at Notting Hill Arts Club and The Troubadour and recruiting the final piece of their band jigsaw George Elliot (20, guitar) along the way. “College equipped us and it helped with our confidence,” admits Ned today, but they will admit that then, only two years ago, they had tendencies to play hour-long single-song jams peppered with renditions of the Batman theme. They picked their name simply “because it was better than Carpet Lickers.” Nothing wrong with that of course, but the real dream at play was to find and authentic British version of the kind of the kind of blues that existed in their record collections and their imaginations. And when they managed to do that, they would find things moving faster than they could ever have imagined.
Being enterprising types, the band had compiled a list of industry figures to which to send their demo. And in a moment of brilliant serendipity one of the first (in all likelihood one of the only) people to take the time to listen to it was the A&R legend of Sire Records, Seymour Stein, the man responsible for the careers of no smaller names than Madonna and The Ramones. The dreams of these four English boys then became the business of this American heavyweight who had a plan for them, as Ned explains:
“Within Seymour’s mind he came up with this idea, because he heard Cajun-ny vibes in there, and he waxed lyrical about South Louisiana, the scene and the music there, how it was this melting pot of blues, gospel and soul. He goes down there every year to get his musical hit. He said ‘you guys have got to go soak up the music and work in some of the fantastic studios they have down there.”
A few weeks and feats of management money-making magic later, and the band were on their way to their Beatles-In-Hamburg moment. They flew to the town of Lafayette (population 60,000) and were collected by a long-haired roadie with one tooth called Hart, who drove a 22-foot Lincoln Continental called the Cream Puff, accompanied at every stage by “a slightly bedraggled old stripper.”
There, they slept on a houseboat in the Louisiana swamps, lived on a diet of Crawfish and Gumbo, watched two or three bands every night, most of which invited them up onstage with them and gorged themselves on a diet of zydeco jazz, blues and modern rock. And by day they laid down the songs that were growing and evolving with every minute, growing rich in the Louisiana spirit. Some tracks, most obviously ‘Louisiana Song’ were written out there, but as Ned remembers “all the songs were played a certain way at home and every single one of them, when we got out there, was played a different way. One of the things was laying back on the groove. Everyone was so laid back, it was infectious the way they played beats out there.”
The sessions at Studio in the Country and La Louisianne might have opened out their music, but the warmth and hospitality of the people there had an effect on a band raised on the uptight London music scene that will stay with them forever. And this was not even to be the end of the Scoundrels American adventures. After six weeks in Louisiana they headed to Chicago to work with Steve Albini, whose organic approach of letting bands do things for themselves gave the record another flavour again.
The cat-loving lo fi impresario and cult rock Godhead left another indelible impression on the foursome. “He’s a really clever guy who knows so much about so many different subjects,” offers Ned, “he was a proper eccentric but really friendly. He wears a boiler suit to the studio with pens in his top pocket, round glasses and spiky hair. He’s very clever and quietly dry. After all the recordings he’d come and hang out and watch TV.”
Taking songs born from a British sensibility and stirring in two distinctly American approaches, Scoundrels’ debut mines a virgin sound. And saying a lot for the band’s unique identity, it is not immediately apparent which songs came from which sessions. The songs speak of youth and love and hope and hopelessness, putting an arched spin on the myth of sex and drugs and rock’n’roll.
‘Red Riding Hood’ puts a sexy, swampy spin on the predatory subtext of one of our most popular fairytales. ‘All On My Own’ channels the most legendary of bluesmen in a timeless tale of lost love, while the louche ‘Sexy Weekend’ is as satirical as it might sound self-indulgent. “I suppose a lot of the lyrics are a bit tongue in check. Some of them are ideas, some of them are true, some of the have bits of truth in them. I guess they are naturally quite English.”
So would the band really class themselves as Scoundrels? “It’s nice to have a certain amount of ambiguity about stuff like that,” laughs Ned. Without being purposefully offensive, we’re just a little bit cheeky maybe. We’re well-meaning scoundrels perhaps. We always have the best of intentions.”
A film documenting the making of the album by director Wyatt Garfield may be able to answer that one a little more accurately. But that the band have come up with a record that lives up to all of the classic rock rebellion they set out to encapsulate is undeniable.
Scoundrels Gig Dates
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Sat Jun 2
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Sun Jun 3
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Mon Jun 4
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Wed Jun 6
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Thu Jun 7
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Sun Jun 10
Past Gigs
2012
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Tue May 8
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Sat May 5
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Wed May 2
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Mon Apr 30
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Sun Apr 29
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Fri Apr 27
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Thu Apr 26
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Sat Mar 17
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Fri Mar 16
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Fri Mar 16
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Thu Mar 15
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Wed Mar 14
2011
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Sun Dec 18
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Sat Dec 17
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Sat Dec 10
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Fri Dec 9
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Mon Oct 24
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Wed Oct 19
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Wed Oct 19
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Tue Oct 11
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Sun Oct 9
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Sat Oct 8
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Fri Oct 7
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Sat Sep 17
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Sun Sep 4
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Fri Sep 2
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Thu Sep 1
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Sun Aug 21
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Tue Aug 16
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Wed Aug 10
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Fri Aug 5
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Tue Jul 19
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Sat Jul 16
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Wed Jul 13
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Sat Jul 2
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Fri Jul 1
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Thu Jun 30
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Sun May 22
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Tue May 17
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Thu Apr 28
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Thu Apr 7
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Tue Apr 5
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Thu Mar 17
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Sat Mar 12
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Sun Mar 6
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Fri Mar 4
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Mon Feb 28
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Sun Feb 27
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Wed Feb 23
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Tue Feb 22
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Mon Feb 21
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Sun Feb 20
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Sat Feb 19
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Fri Feb 18
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Thu Feb 17
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Wed Feb 16
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Mon Feb 14
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Wed Jan 26
2010
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Sat Dec 11
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Tue Dec 7
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Mon Nov 1
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Thu Oct 21
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Thu Sep 2
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Fri Jul 30
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Thu Jul 29
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Wed Jul 28
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Sun Jul 25
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Sat Jul 24
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Fri Jul 23
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Thu Jul 22
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Wed Jul 21
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Sat Jun 12
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Fri Jun 11
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Thu Jun 10
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Wed Jun 9
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Tue Jun 8
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Mon Jun 7
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Sun Jun 6
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Sat Jun 5
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Fri Jun 4
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Wed Apr 7
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Tue Mar 16
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Sat Mar 13
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Sat Mar 6
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Sat Mar 6
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Wed Feb 17
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Wed Jan 27
2009
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Sat Dec 12
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Thu Dec 3
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Wed Nov 11
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Thu Oct 29
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Wed Oct 14
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Wed Sep 23The Fly
The Fly Bar, 36-38 New Oxford Street, London -
Fri Sep 11
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Tue Sep 1
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Sat Aug 15
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Fri Aug 7
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Wed Jul 15
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Thu Jul 2
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Sat May 16
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Tue May 5
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Sat Jan 3
2008
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Wed Dec 31
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Fri Apr 25
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Mon Apr 7
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Fri Mar 28
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Wed Mar 26
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Thu Feb 28
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Sun Feb 17
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Sun Jan 27
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Sat Jan 26
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Fri Jan 25Scoundrels Present..... & Hoodoo Hop with Kingsize & Morrisson Steam Fayre
The Troubadour, Old Brompton Road, London 2007
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Mon Dec 31
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Sun Dec 9
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Tue Dec 4
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Wed Oct 24
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Thu Oct 11
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Tue Oct 2
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Sun Sep 30
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Sun Aug 26
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Fri Aug 24
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Thu Aug 9The Fly Bar
The Fly Bar, 36-38 New Oxford Street, London -
Thu Aug 2
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Sat Jul 7
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Tue Jul 3
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Sat Jun 30
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Fri Jun 29
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Fri May 18
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Fri May 11
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Tue May 1
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Sat Mar 31
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Tue Mar 6
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Sat Feb 17
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Thu Feb 8
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Fri Feb 2
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Thu Jan 25
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Thu Jan 18
2006
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Tue Dec 5
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Thu Nov 16
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Fri Nov 10
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Sun Nov 5
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Fri Nov 3