People of Earth

Having been watching your puny planet for some years now, we, the Thargzoids, have decided that we can no longer bear to witness your pathetic and incompetent attempts at self-governance, and have duly decided to take over control directly.

The consequent enslavement of the human race will be effective immediately, and is, of course, entirely for your own benefit.

Accordingly, one of our sleeper agents, who until now has been placed undercover on Earth to observe you, will emerge to assume complete control of the day-to-day running of the planet. READ MORE

Wassup dawgs!

And welcome to another fun-packed episode of the mighty Angel Up Front’s weekly-ish gig alert/vanity publishing exercise…

The gig last Friday down at the Crab Apple in Clevedon was vastly improved by the presence of some old chums we haven’t seen in far too long, so a big shout out to Scotty, Wendy and the rest of the gang, and we have made a definite arrangement to catch up with them again in a few weeks, at a gig we’re particularly looking forward to. You’ll be hearing about that one in due course. READ MORE

Mornin all!

Well, gigging for 2023 is now officially underway, and as joyous and chaotic as anybody could wish for!

We rolled up at the Crown in Staple Hill at the allotted hour and were pleasantly surprised to find the pub was jam-packed full already.

Ah, the footy is on, that explains it. Fortunately, the delightful bar staff have made sure that the corner where we’re to set up has been kept suitably clear of customers, so once we’ve shimmied all the kit in, we can get ourselves organized, punctuated by the occasional burst of shouting as somebody on telly scores a bullseye, or whatever it is they do. READ MORE

Ahoy there shipmates!

We trust you all had a suitably splendiferous festering season, although for me at least, it is but a distant memory.

But then again, so is yesterday, and so is my drive in to work this morning. In fact, it’s not even a memory at all. I’m not entirely sure how I got here. Perhaps an alien abduction scenario is afoot. I wonder if I should call the local paper and alert them… (Although they currently have many exciting local stories already. A couple of days ago – and I swear this is true – they reported that a man was fined £588 for dropping a fag end in Thornbury High Street, as witnessed by one of the council’s “street enforcement officers”). READ MORE

Hohoho ahoy!

Right, that’s my one grudging acknowledgement of the upcoming festering season out of the way*.

And, since we’ve already given you the updates from the last couple of gigs, we’ll plough right on into the exciting news of our next (and final, for 2022) date…

Friday 16^th – Cat & Wheel, Gloucester Road
Back down by the Arches, and seeing as it’s nice and local for her, our Abby has gleefully announced she will be aiming to imbibe her way through as many drinks as people are prepared to buy her. Meanwhile, those of us who are cursed with having to drive will have to make do with festive joy as a spectator sport. (Until we get home, at any rate, and can start laying into the seasonal mulled turpentine…) READ MORE

Yoho ahoy!

My, that was an eventful weekend.

Friday’s jaunt to Newport went off rather well – in no small part thanks to delightful barmaid Kelly, who directed us to somewhere relatively close where we could unload; she even threw herself into a parking slot when it opened up to save it for us, and then insisted on helping us carry all the kit in. Another pleasant surprise was that not only do they have a nice-sized stage but there is also a house PA and lights all set up and running, so much less heavy stuff to drag in. READ MORE

Top o’ the morning to ye!

Well, I’m happy to report we had riotously good fun at the Railway last Saturday; we had dancing and singing galore (why they were singing “galore” I don’t know, we don’t play it), and – even taking into account the usual “Right, this our last number” lie, several more encores than we intended. In fact, we’d already turned the PA and amps off, when it became clear that the crowd weren’t going to stop requesting another, and we found another song down the back of the sofa, had a quick conflab to work out what key it was in, and rebooted all the kit. Rather to my surprise, we all actually remembered it. READ MORE

Borag Thungg, earthlets!

In this week’s thrilling instalment, your AUF rock’n’roll heroes find themselves in a local venue that, for some reason, we’d never played before.

The King Billy (we’re on first name terms now), in Staple Hill, turned out to be a large pub on the main drag; easy load-in access, handy parking, and best of all (bless him!) a doorman who insisted on helping us carry all the heavy gear in.

So far, so good! Kind doorman assistance was particularly appreciated by Ben, who, it transpires, has this week knackered his shoulder and put his back out. We know he’s just moved house, so we naturally assume this was the result of some heavy furniture-moving escapade. READ MORE

Hola amigos!

Just a r-e-a-l-l-y short missive this week, as I forgot to write one, and I’m currently supposed to be doing something else….

After a peaceful gig-free weekend*, it’s time once again to unleash a raging apocalypse of rock on an unsuspecting audience…

Saturday 12^th – The King William IV, Staple Hill

It’s known to its friends as the King Billy, but as we’ve not been here before it seems a trifle presumptive on our part not to use its formal title. It is royalty, after all.

They seem to have bands here on a fairly regular basis though, so at least they should have some idea what to expect… READ MORE

Well, hello there!

Apologies for this missive being rather short – basically, I forgot to write it and only just remembered last minute.

So here is the briefest of bulletin reports on the latest gig-going activities…

Last Thursday at the Royal Oak started a little quieter than the previous time, but, as usual, it livened up towards the end. And, as ever, we try not to let anything stand in the way of us having a good time. Particularly Abby, who, having managed to inveigle a lift there and back from Stuart, was free from the limitations of those pesky drink-driving laws, and rewarded herself with a particularly potent pint of cider on arrival. READ MORE