Tag: Dorset
*(Paler Shade of Black), Agatha’s Garden, Weird Science, Cat Brain Farm – Rooftop Hotel, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK – 10th May 1986
*The Ramones, The Prisoners – Poole Arts Centre, Poole, Dorset, UK – 8th May 1986
Paler Shade of Black, Atrox, Suicide Pact, All The Glory – West Indian Club, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 19th September 1985
Diary entry: Last (Atrox) gig in Southampton. Went really well.
12th Feb 2021 – A Thursday night, no less. Not being too familiar with Southampton after having only been there a couple of times, we often got misdirected by the locals, whether by accident or folks not appreciating these scruffy young punks in their city.
We did establish many lifelong friendships from these times though. The West Indian Club was a magical place (in my mind now) though I had no real idea of the workings of organising shows or even understanding how sound was mixed in a live situation. I just stood on the stage and shouted as loud as I could and hoped I could be heard. Folks seemed to enjoy it, either way.
*Atrox, Rich Waitland – Cornwall Hotel, Dorchester, Dorset, UK – 30th August 1985
Diary entry: Atrox played Dorchester – it was really bad.
Cottage Industry – Merley Bird Gardens, Wimborne, Dorset, UK – 15th August 1985
18th Dec 2022 – Merley Bird Gardens was exactly as its name. There was a courtyard outside the entrance building and I probably came at the invitation of our local youth club leader (guitarist in the band), looking for new things to do and perhaps even meeting new people. I don’t know where the rest of the audience came from. I still didn’t really understand how things around me worked but I do remember there being lots of pretty and exotic-looking girls here though I was still retarded by my ego and shyness, an ugly punk with a bad attitude constantly smoking rollups until they tasted like cabbage. Needless to say, I didn’t talk to anyone but enjoyed trying this ‘new thing’, though for the last time.
*Virus, Blare, Atrox, (Bad Noise), General Belgrano and the 368 – Greyhound, Bridport, Dorset, UK – 2nd May 1985
15th Oct 2022 – A quick search for this venue indicates the Greyhound Hotel is in the centre of town and is now a Wetherspoons. My memory though is of a shack behind a pub out in the countryside somewhere.
Atrox, Disciples of the Elder, (A poet), Other Side Of The Fence – Cornwall Hotel, Dorchester, Dorset, UK – 15th March 1985
28th Aug 2022 – Disciples of the Elder, I think was Andy Andersen’s band at the time. I had tried previously to get a band together with him called Violent Rubbish or possibly Satan’s Children (which I self-tattooed on my left wrist) along with Justin Butler on bass and Simon on drums. We had one practice at Justin’s school somewhere in Hamworthy but never got it together for another as we had few transport options and all lived in different towns.
This was my first show singing with Atrox, having finally begged my way into my favourite band and convincing them that having two singers wasn’t a bad thing. It was pretty unusual at the time. I say singer but I always correct myself to say, vocalist. I was so stoked to be up on stage with my new friends and in a band that I considered far superior to Andy’s.
Other Side Of The Fence was Rich Waitland’s band I believe and a couple of years later he would play a small part in my life in another band (Hate That Smile).
1994ever 