Take five musicians, a mandolin, melodeon, various guitars, a keyboard, bazooki, flute, whistle, sax, bass guitar and drum kit. Mix together with some great roots music from England and around the world, a sprinkling of tunes written by the band and a generous helping of rock.
You've now got the recipe for Pass the Buck, the Bournemouth based English Ceilidh band playing a wide range of music in their own dynamic danceable Pass the Buck style.
Pass the Buck was a storm - best turnout of the season and a smashing dance.
Geckoes are in the front rank of the bands on the English Ceilidh scene. Evolving out of the country dances of the British Isles, Europe and America, the style of dancing is typified by its exuberance and Geckoes' music has all the energy and style that it takes to fill a floor with hundreds of delighted - if somewhat sweaty - dancers.
Geckoes are a favourite attraction at dance clubs and regularly bring their exciting music to major folk festivals including Sidmouth, Towersey, Warwick, Whitby... and many others.
"Another one of the more deceptive English Ceilidh bands, not loud and no drums but playing with a style that can leave you considerably exhausted after a handful of dances. They have a nice touch and play the tunes with a good lift tempting you to dance quite a bit more energetically than planned. It was also the case that a number of tunes were on the fast side - it wasn't the classic "music with holes" giving space and time for improvisation. In particular the most excellent Old John Peel/Tom Cave pair cries out to be played at a schottische-able speed...." (webfeet)
The Eelgrinders are one of England's most innovative contemporary acoustic groups who perform an exciting programme mixing new and traditional music played on traditional and modern instruments. They are now gaining a well-deserved reputation for their original compositions reflecting the diversity of the British musical landscape. Eel grinders music has been featured on Radio 3's Late Junction program. Expect elements of classical, traditional and jazz, with richly textured arrangements and sumptuous and powerful harmonies executed with a sparkling virtuosity.
The Eel Grinders have over twelve years experience playing for dance, specialising in both British and European traditions.
"A large and powerful body - too complicated to itemise - who have gravitated from a diary filler at Cecil Sharp House Knees-Ups to a first choice, scene-stealing, headlining, barnstorming ceilidh band." (footworks)
("4 for the Day" is a new and energetic band taking English tradition with a hint of French flavour onto the dance floor. Fiddle, 'cello, melodeon, percussion and maybe even hurdy gurdy!)
This Dance in Nursling and Rownhams hall
The Megabop on Saturday 9th December 2006 will be at the Rownham and Nursling Hall, Nursling Street, Nursling, just off J3 of the M27 (and not at the Eastpoint Centre).
- September 10th Golconda with Pete Reese
- October 8th Woodpecker Band with Nick Walden
Oxford's popular barn-dance band
The Woodpecker Band is an established ceilidh/barn dance band well known in the south of England for its coverage of festivals, large regional ceilidhs and smaller local events. The Band has a large repertoire of traditional and modern dance music, mostly from the British Isles, but also including music from other countries. The band's unique sound is a product of traditional and modern elements of music and style fused with a solid electric rhythm section giving the band an easily identifiable contemporary edge.
- November 12th Kings Band [musicians from King John's Morris Men] with their own callers
- December 10th Chalktown with Sheena Masson
...underpinned by conga driven percussion and double-bass, with driving guitar work completing the rhthm section...now add the melody, lead by the melodeon and complemented by intricate guitar harmonies...you're listening to Chalktown - high energy sound that you can't help but dance to!
As a fresh and very danceable ceilidh band, Chalktown's style combines the various folk, rock and jazz influences of its members to create an extremely danceable sound. The band draws on its wealth of dance music experience with ex-Gas Mark 5 members Michael Davidson (guitars) and Rob Gifford (percussion) joined by Paul Scourfield (melodeon) and Trevor Lines (bass).
"Good for the feet !!" (Folk Roots Magazine)
Spring 2005 Saturday 8 January
2005Pass the Buck with Jennet Lambert Make your New Years Resolution to join PASS THE BUCK & Jennet Lambert for the first MEGABOP of 2005. Bournemouth based dynamic 5 piece PASS THE BUCK (mandolin, melodeon, various guitars, a keyboard, bouzouki, flute, whistle, sax, bass guitar and drum kit) play some great music from England and around the World, mixed with a sprinkling of tunes written by the band, in their own energetic, rocking, danceable PASS THE BUCK style.
Jennet will call some of her own dances as well as lots of favorites, so join Jennet and the boys for a great night of dancing.
Saturday 12 February
2005Casterbridge Band with Ruth Thompson Took Whitby Folk Week by storm last year You may not have heard of the Casterbridge Band (formed in 2003), but you are likely to know some of its component parts very well. Virtuoso fiddler and expert instrument-maker Colin Thompson was with Tim Laycock's 'New Scorpion Band' for many years, until he found touring was taking him away from his beloved Dorset - and workshop - too much. He has been accompanying Graham Moore on occasion since then, working with Gill Redmond (Megabop co-organiser) who is playing her 'cello in this new venture. Guitarist (and singer) Will Ferris has also been involved in Graham's ventures for many years - you might remember Dick O'The Banks and his work for the RSPB heathland show with Lucy Roberts and Ray Sargent. Clarinettist Penny x (we'll find out her surname eventually!) completes the line-up.
Saturday 12 March 05 Stömp with Gordon Potts Stömp are a high-energy English Ceilidh band who draw their music from the whole of the British Isles, Scandinavia and beyond. A huge range of traditional and contemporary sources comewall together to create great slabs of English rhythm to cross the generations and fill the dance floor. Scan Tester and Walter Bulwer rub shoulders with The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Steely Dan meet Steeleye Span in the repertoire of a band whose very name derives from an ancient English word for dance. Flute, concertina and skirling fiddle surf a wall of driving guitar, bass and drums to create an evening of marches, polkas, hornpipes and schottisches that’ll leave your audience clamouring for more.
Saturday 9 April 05 Jabadaw with Peter Bearon "A band whose star is very much in the ascendancy"--- Bob Adams Jabadaw play folk dance music in a contemporary style. Most of our repertoire comes from the English and French traditions, with a small (but growing) number of self-penned tunes. We are based in and around Manchester, England.
Martin Kiff's Review:
Jabadaw play either English Ceilidh or French/Breton events - if you are lucky you'll get a bit of both, a bourrée in the middle of a ceilidh or some close-to-the-ground tune for a what a few minutes before had been an English Dance.Generally a softer approach than, say Cock and Bull, a little fuller sound than the Eel Grinders, and swing by the bucketload. A Webfeet five star seal of approval.
Saturday 14 May 05 Bismarcks with Will Hall This one will be at Winchester as part of the folk festival. The Bismarck Herrings - just "The Bismarcks" to their friends - are a stomping little trio who play the very best traditional English tunes in an inimitably bouncy fashion.
The Bismarcks were formed in 1996 when the two burly gentlemen Ed Rennie (melodeon) and Gareth Kiddier (piano) decided they'd like to play English dance tunes for people to jump about to. Nina Hansell (fiddle) heard a recording of them practising and agreed there and then to play along - and the rest is folklore.
Autumn 2004 Saturday 11 September 2003 Rufus Return with Pete Reece
Please note: this dance and this dance only will be at the Nursling and Rownhams Hall, Nursling Street, Nursling, just off J3 of the M27 - tell everyone you meet in the street!! There is not a bar at this venue (but an off licence is across the road).An English Ceilidh Band with a decided sense of light and shade in their music. Very few bands manage to vary the character and pace of tune convincingly during a dance, bringing in lighter phrasing for example, or slowing the music down. Rufus Return manage this very nicely. The majority of bands do only seem able to speed up an tune and wind up the excitement through a dance. They are, if anything, slightly on the 'rock ceilidh' side of the spectrum of styles and an exception to the Accordion Rule. Quoted from Martin Kiff's Webfeet
Saturday 9 October 2004 English Rebellion with Sue Coe English Rebellion - a new English Ceilidh band! English Rebellion is a brand new line-up - but its members are solidly rooted in the English playing tradition and between them have over 100 years of playing in high-class ceilidh bands all over the country. The line-up includes:
- Mary Barber - Fiddle
- Mike Pinder - Fiddle, Mandolin
- Nick Barber - Melodeon, Horn, Recorder
- Anahata - Melodeon, Anglo Concertina, Cello
- Mary Humphreys - Electric Piano, Banjo, English Concertina
Saturday 13 November 2004 Bursledon Village Band with Hugh Rippon Bursledon Village Band had a new Wild Goose CD "Straight From The Fingers"in 2002. The latest collection of current favourite tunes, most are traditional English, but Dave Ingledew composed a couple and there's even a French Canadian reel (samples on the BVB website eventually). You can be sure of a good selection of these and some old favourites tonight, played with the Band's usual flair and verve. see also Mike Raven's Comments
Saturday 11 December 2004 Bedlam with Nikki Hampson M27 MEGABOP - CHANGE OF VENUE FOR CHRISTMAS DANCE
The Megabop on Saturday 11th December 2004 will be at the Rownham and Nursling Hall, Nursling Street, Nursling, just off J3 of the M27 (and not at the Eastpoint Centre). Map is on the back of our current green flyer. The band is still Bedlam, which will be great.
My apologies for this unscheduled change - there was a booking error by the Eastpoint Centre and if you turn up there you will find a panto in progress!
The Nursling Hall is jolly good, though (we used it back in September) but there is not a bar ... bring your own "refreshments" (ahem!).
Pass the word, please!
See you there,
Pete (of "Gill and Pete", M27 megabops 01425 476350)
See Patrick O'Donnell's Greenmanreview which I am not allowed to reproduce without permission!
Autumn 2003-Spring 2004 Saturday 13 September 2003 Belshazzar's Feast with Fee Lock - ceilidh caller in the 'English Ceilidh' style Paul Hutchinson and Paul Sartin formed Belshazzar's Feast in the Autumn of 1995 after meeting in the now-defunct Life of Reilly. Their eclectic tastes and influences combined with high standards of musicianship are brought to bear on material ranging from Playford tunes from the 18th Century to Scandanavian waltzes, Music Hall songs to their own compositions. Together they have performed on radio and television, at concert venues - notably at the South Bank in November 1997 - clubs, festivals and village halls both in the UK and abroad. Belshazzar's Feast have released three albums, One Too Many, Drop the Reed and John Playford's Secret Ball, all from Wildgoose Records where there are further details.
Saturday 11 October 2003 Bedlam with Nikki Hampson See Patrick O'Donnell's Greenmanreview which I am not allowed to reproduce without permission!
Saturday 8 November 2003 Bursledon Village Band with Gordon Potts Bursledon Village Band had a new Wild Goose CD "Straight From The Fingers"in 2002. The latest collection of current favourite tunes, most are traditional English, but Dave Ingledew composed a couple and there's even a French Canadian reel (samples on the BVB website eventually). You can be sure of a good selection of these and some old favourites tonight, played with the Band's usual flair and verve. BVB's usual website had disappeared as at July 2003 (now back), but try Mike Raven's Comments
Saturday 13 December 2003 Peeping Tom with Hugh Rippon With added value of strings section! Peeping Tom, or occasionally the 'Peepers' are highly regarded, playing exceptionally tight and powerful music, a Rock Ceilidh band with a precise and uptempo beat. Easy to dance to, particularly for newcomers, but perhaps lacking a certain swing. Headline a number of festivals and always produces a cracking good dance. [Martin Kiff - Webfeet].
Saturday 10 January 2004 Chalktown with Chris Pitt (not Nick Walden as originally stated)
...underpinned by conga driven percussion and double-bass, with driving guitar work completing the rhthm section...now add the melody, lead by the melodeon and complemented by intricate guitar harmonies...you're listening to Chalktown - high energy sound that you can't help but dance to! As a fresh and very danceable ceilidh band, Chalktown's style combines the various folk, rock and jazz influences of its members to create an extremely danceable sound. The band draws on its wealth of dance music experience with ex-Gas Mark 5 members Michael Davidson (guitars) and Rob Gifford (percussion) joined by Paul Scourfield (melodeon) and Trevor Lines (bass).
"Good for the feet !!" (Folk Roots Magazine)
Saturday 14 February 2004 The Kings Band Musicians from the Southampton-based King John's Morris Men
Saturday 13 March 2004 Pass The Buck with Jennet Lambert
Take five musicians, a mandolin, melodeon, various guitars, a keyboard, bazooki, flute, whistle, sax, bass guitar and drum kit. Mix together with some great roots music from England and around the world, a sprinkling of tunes written by the band and a generous helping of rock. You've now got the recipe for Pass the Buck, the Bournemouth based English Ceilidh band playing a wide range of music in their own dynamic danceable Pass the Buck style.
Jennet Lambert just loves calling for Pass the Buck (well she's married to one of them!). So come and join David, Paul, John, Mark and Danny at the Mad March Megabop!
Saturday 10 April 2004 Swedish Band Orust with Mats Melin Orust is a Swedish band playing the music of the county of Bohuslan, western Sweden, which has much in common with English and Scottish traditional music - they do lots of hornpipes, or Engelska as they call them, which are quite familiar in this country. Bags of energy and award winning musicians, something a bit different ... but ... the dances will be mainly English! We met Mats Melin, a Swede living in Scotland, back in the summer when Gill Redmond and Goran Premberg (the fiddle player with Orust) were touring together. Mats is a great dance teacher and is familiar with Swedish, Scottish and English dances.
Saturday 8 May 2004 ASHA with Gordon Potts
(Note change from Cock & Bull due to double booking). Fresh-minted for the new millenium, Asha is the result of a collaboration to put together a compelling concert and ceilidh band with an eclectic feel. Pete Lockwood’s signature synth, sax and drums are layered with Jackie Allen's fiddle and Peter Lubbock's guitar to deliver funky rhythm, soaring melodies and lush harmonies.
2002 Saturday 12 January 2002 Asha with Fee Lock Fresh-minted for the new millenium, Asha is the result of a collaboration to put together a compelling concert and ceilidh band with an eclectic feel. Pete Lockwood’s signature synth, sax and drums are layered with Jackie Allen's fiddle and Peter Lubbock's guitar to deliver funky rhythm, soaring melodies and lush harmonies.
Saturday 9 February 2002 Bedlam with Nikki Hampson See Patrick O'Donnell's Greenmanreview which I am not allowed to reproduce without permission!
Saturday 9 March 2002 Bursledon Village Band with Dave Hunt Bursledon Village Band have a new Wild Goose CD "Straight From The Fingers". The latest collection of current favourite tunes, most are traditional English, but Dave Ingledew composed a couple and there's even a French Canadian reel (samples on the BVB website eventually). You can be sure of a good selection of these and some old favourites tonight, played with the Band's usual flair and verve.
Saturday 13 April 2002 Dancing Ledge with Martin Jardine The Spirit of Celtic Music: Pete Minkey (flute, banjo and mandolin), Clive Cunningham (Derry fiddler and singer), Carol Wippel (keyboard) and John Wippel (melodeon and on other occasions, caller), joined tonight by Clive Jennings (bodhran and sometimes hammered dulcimer) and Gill Redmond on 'cello sitting in on her own megabop! Another of the very best local bands, from the Dorset side of the region and worthy successor to the well-known IQ40, they will make you dance like the waves on the Ledge itself. Celtic music, like most forms of traditional roots music, is not easy to play well; but when it is performed by the best exponents it has a compelling intensity that excites and is difficult to resist.
"As a caller who appreciates the humanity in folk-dance rather than precise footwork, I'm always aware of bands who can really make a dance event "get cooking". The band's sound must make people want to move, even before the caller's decided on the next dance! One such outfit is Dancing Ledge. Taking their name from part of Dorset's World Heritage Coastline and with Clive Cunningham on Fiddle, John Wippell on Melodeon, Carol Wippell on piano and synthesiser and Pete Minkey on Flute, Tenor Banjo and Mandolin., this band delivers a brilliant "fat" sound; seething with rhythm. Be there at the Megabop: you'll love it!"
Raymond Sargent
You might also be interested in Mike Rogers' short story Dancing Ledge.
Saturday 11 May 2002 Whapweasel with Mick Brooks Take 2 melodeons, 2 saxophones, an electric cittern, keyboards, an electric guitar, a bass guitar and a set of drums. Mix with a generous measure of rock, a rich ration of roots and a pinch of ska, and you get - Whapweasel. Dynamic, eclectic, original and - most importantly - danceable, Whapweasel have played at many premier ceilidh events over the last 3 years, including sidmouth, towersey, whitby, chester and bromyard festivals; made numerous ceilidh club appearances throughout the country; and worked with some of the best callers around.
Summer Break
Saturday 14 September 2002 Chalktown with Sheena Masson ...underpinned by conga driven percussion and double-bass, with driving guitar work completing the rhthm section...now add the melody, lead by the melodeon and complemented by intricate guitar harmonies...you're listening to Chalktown - high energy sound that you can't help but dance to! As a fresh and very danceable ceilidh band, Chalktown's style combines the various folk, rock and jazz influences of its members to create an extremely danceable sound. The band draws on its wealth of dance music experience with ex-Gas Mark 5 members Michael Davidson (guitars) and Rob Gifford (percussion) joined by Paul Scourfield (melodeon) and Trevor Lines (bass).
"Good for the feet !!" (Folk Roots Magazine)
Saturday 12 October 2002 Pass the Buck with Jennet Lambert THIS MEGABOP WILL BE AT WICKHAM COMMUNITY CENTRE Since the band's last Megabop in January 2001, you may have danced to Bournemouth based 'Pass the Buck' at Winchester and Christchurch Festivals or even listened to them in concert at Wimborne. The combination of a Bass'n'Drum rhythm section, a multiplicity of lead instruments including Melodeon, Keys, Sax, Mandolin etc. together with Jennet calling dances from all over the place will bring you an evening that you won't forget in a hurry!
John Brookman (Melodeon, Guitar, Vocals), Paul Benjamin (Flute, Keys, Sax, Whistle), David Lambert (Guitar, Mandolin, Bouzouki, Vocals), Mark Baynes (Bass, Guitar, Vocals), Danny Pearson (Drums) and, of course, caller Jennet Lambert - please don't misspell her Christian name - it is of Lancashire origins.
THE ABOVE MEGABOP WILL BE AT WICKHAM COMMUNITY CENTRE (Mill Lane - click for map)Have a laugh at: Johnny Pops' Song Don't pass the buck - pass the legislation!)
Saturday 9 November 2002 Belshazzar's Feast with John Turner Paul Hutchinson and Paul Sartin formed Belshazzar's Feast in the Autumn of 1995 after meeting in the now-defunct Life of Reilly. Their eclectic tastes and influences combined with high standards of musicianship are brought to bear on material ranging from Playford tunes from the 18th Century to Scandanavian waltzes, Music Hall songs to their own compositions. Together they have performed on radio and television, at concert venues - notably at the South Bank in November 1997 - clubs, festivals and village halls both in the UK and abroad. Belshazzar's Feast have released three albums, One Too Many, Drop the Reed and John Playford's Secret Ball, all from Wildgoose Records where there are further details.
Saturday 14 December The Bismarcks with Will Hall The Bismarck Herrings - just "The Bismarcks" to their friends - are a stomping little trio who play the very best traditional English tunes in an inimitably bouncy fashion. The Bismarcks were formed in 1996 when the two burly gentlemen Ed Rennie (melodeon) and Gareth Kiddier (piano) decided they'd like to play English dance tunes for people to jump about to. Nina Hansell (fiddle) heard a recording of them practising and agreed there and then to play along - and the rest is folklore. Since then, The Bismarcks have played for ceilidhs, clubs and festivals all over the country - and have been the driving force behind some darn good sessions too.
Greenman Review2003 Saturday 11 January The Casterbridge Band with Ruth Thompson You probably won't have heard of the recently formed Casterbridge Band, but you are likely to know some of its component parts very well. Virtuoso fiddler and expert instrument-maker Colin Thompson was with Tim Laycock's 'New Scorpion Band' for many years, until he found touring was taking him away from his beloved Dorset - and workshop - too much. He has been accompanying Graham Moore on occasion since then, working with Gill Redmond (Megabop co-organiser) who is playing her 'cello in this new venture. Guitarist (and singer) Will Ferris has also been involved in Graham's ventures for many years - you might remember Dick O'The Banks and his work for the RSPB heathland show with Lucy Roberts and Ray Sargent. Clarinettist Penny x (we'll find out her surname eventually!) completes the line-up. Saturday 8 February Stocai with Nick Walden Chris Walshaw - pipes / flute / whistle; Heather Horsley - keyboards / flute / whistle; Dave Jolly - melodeon; Sheena Masson - concertina / bassoon / flute; Kevin Adams - fiddle / mandolin / mandola; plus new member Adam Bushell - percussion. A strong theme running through Stocai's music is the amount of newly written material. As well as borrowing tunes from well known musicians such as Cliff Stapleton and John Kirkpatrick, all of the band write tunes and so the problem has been what to leave out. Apart from that, the band's influences are eclectic and diverse; you will hear also French, Irish, Quebecois, Scandinavian and good old English tunes, all moulded into a style of Stocai's own.
Such is the range of instruments at the band's fingertips that the sound can vary from delicate woodwind tracery through to the full broadside (the acoustic equivalent of Spinal Tap's 'eleven').
And the name? It is taken from the tune title `Polka Sean Stocai' from The Late Night Band, so best ask them!
Read Martin Kiff's Review
Saturday 9 March Alterations with Henry Morgenstein Alterations changes to match the dance! We take you to New England for a dance party: fast jigs and reels with attitude. Be prepared to experience contra madness! Led by Judith Cooper on the fiddle, Alison Ellacott on the make with accordion and bass, and Meg (It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing) Winters on guitar. Mike Green may join us on mandola if we can get him out of the bar, and if you see two fiddles on stage at once, one of them is probably being played by Jane. You've probably seen us all before at Sidmouth Festival, or somewhere between the Lounge in Shetland and the Town Hall in Totnes, but this time we mean it! See you there. Henry Morgenstein has been involved in Contra Dance since about 1984, and now describes himself as a Contra Dance Gypsy. He taught in New York and Michigan for many years, but also found time for two year-long exchange visits to the UK. Henry and his wife Jacqui now spend part of each year in the US and part in the UK, but almost all of it is spent dancing!
(Information and comments in this entry are quoted from London Barndance Company)
Saturday 12 April The Woodpecker Band Oxford's popular barn-dance band The Woodpecker Band is an established ceilidh/barn dance band well known in the south of England for its coverage of festivals, large regional ceilidhs and smaller local events. The Band has a large repertoire of traditional and modern dance music, mostly from the British Isles, but also including music from other countries. The band's unique sound is a product of traditional and modern elements of music and style fused with a solid electric rhythm section giving the band an easily identifiable contemporary edge.
Saturday 10 May Rufus Return with Nigel Barrell An English Ceilidh Band with a decided sense of light and shade in their music. Very few bands manage to vary the character and pace of tune convincingly during a dance, bringing in lighter phrasing for example, or slowing the music down. Rufus Return manage this very nicely. The majority of bands do only seem able to speed up an tune and wind up the excitement through a dance. They are, if anything, slightly on the 'rock ceilidh' side of the spectrum of styles and an exception to the Accordion Rule. Quoted from Martin Kiff's Webfeet
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