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Born in April 02, AUF have grown into one of the hardest-working bands in the South West. Material ranges through pop, indie, classic & modern rock, delivered with aplomb, acuity, and a side order of cheese. With stunning vocals, a rock-solid rhythm section and a gorgeous, talented guitar player who writes their copy, this is rock like it should be played – foot on monitor, tongue in cheek, and Angel Up Front.

29-02-2016 – Furry

Yo homeys! [Editor’s note: I think he means “Hello”]

Well, more mad fun in the world of rawk’n’roll. Friday night, and the King William IV in Bath turns out to be a small pub, with only-just-enough-room to set up in, provided that Ben and I don’t mind both each playing hidden behind a PA speaker, and provided that they’re not actually using the pool table which is right next to where I have to go.

They are (inevitably) using the pool table all night, so I find myself trying to play solos whilst ducking under the back of a pool cue, simultaneously making sure the bumblewit poolies aren’t treading all over my pedals every time they try to take a shot. READ MORE

22-02-2016 – Anover Birfday!

Goooooood morning!

Another weekend, another fantastic time…. Friday night, and since it’s my beautiful Dem’s birthday, we have persuaded her to come along with us to the Cat & Wheel, with daughter Lil as an escort. (That’s not in the sense of “working as an escort”, you understand, just “escorting Dem”. I mean, the extra cash always comes in handy, but everybody needs a night off now and then…)

Anyhoo, my lovely two were just into their second pint, and the kit was just about set up, when our ol’ pals John & Adam rolled in, and in true chivalrous fashion took charge of supervising the girls’ alcohol intake for the evening – with extremely successful results. READ MORE

15-02-2016 – Silly Rock

What ho!

Well, another weekend in rawk’n’roll, another triumph of amiably bumbling about and somehow managing to overcome technical difficulties despite astronomical ineptitude…

Friday at the Trout started off none-too-well, as I discovered on setting up that my amp foot switch has suffered a nervous breakdown and so I have lost one channel of my amp. Never mind, at least it still makes a noise, it just means I’ll have to think about what I’m doing a bit carefully. Ben, meanwhile, has also lost his volume-boosting ability due to a cable failure – thus the pair of us spend the gig fiddling with our knobs a little more frantically than usual. READ MORE

09-02-2016 – Of Cupcakes And Nipples

Hey peeps!

Well, if you weren’t there on Saturday, you missed a mighty fine night up at the Queen Vic in Stroud – despite the foul weather, there was plenty of fun to be had, with lots of silliness and dancing around. We were especially pleased to see some ol’ chums show up, and I was quite touched by how many were concerned for my health, after having read last week’s little missive.

I think the highlight of the evening for me was when Rosa, by way of announcing our next song (which is a moderately dreadful number originally by Katy Perry, but which Ben and I have done our best to turn into a grunge metal slag heap), asks the audience to see if they can guess, “Who has previously performed with cupcakes on their nipples?” READ MORE

02-02-2016 – Valves

Yo homeys!

Well, that was fun; as it happened, we ended up playing 2 gigs this weekend, since we got a call to cover a cancellation on Friday at the Red Lion in Paulton, way down in deepest darkest Zummerzet. We were set up at one end of the pub, while the bar and all the punters were down half a flight of stairs; having played this kind of set up before, we knew that it was going to be hard work dragging the punters up the stairs to join us. As it turned out, it took us until nearly half way through the first set before Rosa succeeded in bullying them to come up and start enjoying themselves. READ MORE

25-01-2016 – Mountaineering Again

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye…

Right, that’s enough of that. Now, pay attention at the back there, for this debriefing of our last expedition, in which we attempted to summit the tricky South West Face of the Rum Bar in Chepstow.

Ben and I arrived first, and made base camp with the van at the car park nestled in the foothills of the venue. Since our Sherpas had failed to arrive, it was left to the two of us to empty the van, sort the equipment into the two categories “We absolutely can’t do without that”, and “I’m not carrying that bloody thing up those stairs if I don’t have to”. READ MORE

18-01-2016 – Birthday’s, Beards and Bassists

Hey gang!

Now, THAT was a fantastic weekend. After a nice warm-up gig on Friday (well, we had to do something to warm up, it was freezing!), Saturday dawned fair and bright, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself another year older, and still not dead.

After a day mostly consisting of lounging around and eating pie, it was off down to the Anchor in Bishopston, where there was a fine turnout of old chums, and everybody had an absolutely marvellous time; there was much singing and dancing along and some very impressive head-banging. READ MORE

11-01-2016 – Oh The Sprain

Hola!

Another cold, wet weekend, another gig…. This time we were at the lovely Railway Tavern, the fabled court of Queen Amy of Fishponds, for a rather busy night, as it turned out.

Being a pillock, I’d managed somehow during the week to sprain my left wrist, and also tear off half a fingernail on my right hand; this basically rendered playing the guitar somewhat painful, and so I found myself trying to coax sounds out of it without actually touching it. I guess, thinking about it, that I could have tried using my teeth instead, but I’d only get accused of Hendrix plagiarism, and besides, I have to go to the dentists on Wednesday. READ MORE

04-01-2016 – 2015 Review

Happy Noo Year folks!

Okay, this seems like an appropriate time to have a quick look over our artistic achievements over the past twelve months – so here’s what I’ll do. From each month, I’ll pick out the most interesting AUF news headline, and we’ll see who falls asleep first. You have to remember, this is quite apart from the regular everyday silliness, which encompasses a broad spectrum, from drunken audience comedy dancing / falling over / nudity, to fits of hysterical childishness from us, to peaceful games of Travel Scrabble in the middle of a busy disco. And, sometimes, we even play music as well… READ MORE

21-12-2015 – Scrabble, Dance & DJ

Well, it’s getting very close to that special time of year; and you need to ask yourself – have you been naughty or nice? Knowing you lot, best prepare for the worst, I’d suggest…

We had a hugely entertaining time on Friday at the New Crown Inn in Bath – lovely little pub, very friendly, and made us feel massively welcome. The landlord in particular seemed very enthusiastic, playing air guitar with gusto (it’s an Italian table sauce) for most of the second set, and joining in our impromptu game of Blind Man’s Buff after we’d packed up – which started when we threw a coat over Rosa’s head, and only finished after some ten minutes of giggling when she had to be caught just before plummeting down some stone steps… READ MORE