(The Band In The Sand)

- Disturbing The Peace Since 1994! -

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www.bedrockband.com
bedrock@bedrockband.com
PO Box 1225 Oranjemund Namibia

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No 5/2002 07 July 2002

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CONTENTS

1. Editorial

2. Stop Press

3. Some (More) Useless Facts About Bedrock

4. This Edition’s Recommended “Read”

5. On The Turntable

6. Our Website Tip

1. EDITORIAL

It’s always sad starting off on a low note, however, it would be remiss of me not to commence this edition with a mention, and salutation, to John Entwhistle. To the uninformed, John was the Who’s bass player who died this week at the age of 57 from a heart attack. As a total Who devotee I have many hours of Who video footage – without ever seeing them “live” – and John has always been like a pillar of rock at the back, holding the whole thing together, generally unsmiling, sober, serious and totally professional in his approach to his art. His playing style was, of course, unique and he was incredibly quick on the neck…just watch him in any performance of Tommy!! Anyway, John, our thoughts are with you and, hey, go rock those bunnies up in heaven!!!

Shoo, well, we’ve been through a busy patch and it sure don’t look like it’s going to ease up either. No matter. BEDROCK is durable, if noting else. It’s a mixed bag of “news” that we have for you in this edition, from our non-productive talent search to an extremely productive equipment search. Before we get into those issues, I would just like to appeal to you all to support the local music in your neighbourhood – your local pub musician, your high school band playing in public for the first time at the matric dance, your local musos – amateurs still – who are harbouring dreams of a future in the world of entertainment, your local music society, am-dram and school plays, folk clubs, music evenings and professional shows. They need all the support they can get, irrespective of their status. Please get out there and support whenever and wherever you can – and don’t hold back from providing constructive criticism.

2. STOP PRESS

BEDROCK Go The Trio Route

With the band’s recent bid to recruit some more musicians to their line-up haven’t failed dismally, the band have decided to limit themselves to a three-piece for the period that Mike Millad is away. That’s basically until last August. Although it wasn’t the band’s preferred choice, they have operated as a trio before with some success. The guys are presently reworking their material – as well as adding a whole host of new songs – so that they deliver what you want to hear. The rock world, after all, has a proud of history of producing incredible three pieces from Cream, Grand Funk Railroad, Taste to ZZ Top. One thing is for sure – the band are sure that you won’t be disappointed with what you hear so keep an eye out for our next gig to decide for yourselves!

BEDROCK’s Studio Project Delayed

Due to the number of commitments BEDROCK have had – individually and collectively – they have decided to take their time over commencing the recording sessions for their forthcoming album. The guys are still writing and preparing new material and the next CD promises to be a masterpiece compared to their previous releases. The production, for a start, promises to be of the best quality yet and all the guys are extremely excited about what lies ahead. Listen out, meanwhile, for their new songs which are being played regularly at all their gigs.

50 Minutes Of BEDROCK

Those folk who were present at the band’s last Don Esteban gig were treated to another “first” for the band – an entire set of exclusively BEDROCK material. Kicking off with a real ripper from their forthcoming CD, What Crap Is That?, the pace just didn’t slow down for almost an hour as the band gave a full display of their song writing prowess. Now that took some doing, didn’t it?

BEDROCK Still Waiting To Rock Rosh Pinah

The band’s much awaited Rosh Pinah debut turned into a bit of a damp squib after the organizers of the BEDROCK gig found that the venue to be used had been double-booked. It was a pity that they waited until the band arrived in RP before breaking this news to them. Anyway, the band’s promoter in that area, the Big62, tried to make amends at extremely short notice but, despite his earnest efforts, the options just weren’t worth pursuing. These efforts were, in themselves, quite challenging – especially after the Bassman had his camera confiscated and had to walk through a “ring of fire” to retrieve it from a group of over zealous security guards! Don’t worry, guys – we only wanted to photograph ourselves! Having survived this (and other) hurdles, the BEDROCKERS retired to the Rosh Pinah club where they were able to regain their collective breath with some quality Tafel Lager. We warned you that life on the road was exciting!! And so, BEDROCK are still awaiting their Rosh Pinah debut which, incidentally, is presently being negotiated again.

BEDROCK Bolster “Back Line”

As if we aren’t in enough debt as it is, BEDROCK have been shopping for equipment again. It may be hard for non-musos to understand, but one of the most vexing thing for another band is its sound. BEDROCK have slowly improved their equipment over the years to the point where there’s been a pressing need to improve their “back line”. For the uninformed, that’s basically the PA system. The process started a few years back when the band acquired their Peavey SP5 speakers, however, the problems with monitors have persisted, as has the lack of a full, bassy, sound to the band’s output. Fear no longer – these issues have now been addressed with the acquisition of a pair of brand new Peavey bass cabinets, as well as leading-edge monitor technology from DB technologies. The difference this equipment has made is frightening – look out for the improved sound at our next “live” gig!!

3. SOME (MORE) USELESS FACTS ABOUT BEDROCK

v The band established their web site in December 1998. Since then, 15422 visits have been made to the site.

v The site is maintained by Kenny and Pete. Kenny takes care of the technical stuff which is too complicated for Pete’s simple mind to contend with. On the other hand, Pete handles most of the mind because Kenny, being a draughtsman, is limited to drawing lines and shapes and is not allowed to touch text!

v The site presently receives about 400 visits a month which generates some 3500 “hits”, a “hit” representing a page visit.

v Of the 400 visits a month, a quarter of them come from referrals.

v 18% of the visits result from direct entries of our domain address (www.bedrockband.com)

v Just over 2% of these visits originate from the Google Search facility.

v Of these search queries, 3,25% enter “Bedrock” as the site they’re looking for. The next most popular entries made in tracking down our site through a search facility are “Guitar rigs”, “Rocky” and “Na Na Na Lyrics”. Each of these probes accounts for 2,44% of the traffic locating our home page.

v Most visits to our site take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays – in that order.

4. THIS EDITION’S RECOMMENDED READ

Tight Lines – Robin Auld (Published by Compress).

My initial disappointment at this not being about Robin’s music career was soon tempered by his incredible sense of humour. The book is an interesting one and is, I presume, largely allegorical in nature. It confronts many of one’s fears about Africa although – especially if you are “Honky”. For those of us that have been around for some time, most of these issues and “fears” have long ago receded from our list of priorities or concerns. Apart from Robin’s unique and dark sense of humour, his writing has wonderful pace to it – the dramatic pages of the story are gripping and sweep along at breakneck speed. I would not suggest that this book is for every one – it is very vulgar in some sections and most of the violence is extremely graphic. The book has many themes that come through it – estrangement from friends, changing values within one’s own value system, the insecurities and frailty of man and the goodness that can often come from the most unexpected of quarters. I would certainly like to see more work from Robin, if only to see how broad the scope of his writing could be. And I will continue to look forward to one telling us of his expansive career in music – maybe he’s saving that one for when he’s closer to “retirement”!

5. ON THE TURNTABLE

The Best Of Black Sabbath

A fine compilation of the band’s many well known songs although, as usual, it would seem impossible to include all such a band’s greatest works on a double CD. With the huge media exposure Ozzy is presently enjoying with his MTV sitcom, Osbournes (not to mention his annual Ozfest), the release of this recording is probably very well timed. Accompanied by a useful booklet of the band’s history, I’m sure all Sabb fans – whether they posses the original recording or CD themselves – will enjoy this glut of heavy rock as the band weave their way from Black Sabbath via Planet Caravan and NIB to Supernaut and Snowblind. Enjoy it.

Jools Holland – His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra and Friends

Jools is, of course, a very well known personality in the field of British entertainment and this is a really fun recording featuring, essentially, his orchestra. The most enjoyable part of it is listening to the arrangements that have been prepared for a variety of artists who make an appearance on the recording. Many of them perform standards from the days of yore with many voices being almost unrecognizable. The opening song, Seventh Song, is performed by a bluesy Sting. There follow another 21 tracks featuring such milestones as George Harrison performing Horse To The Water, Mark Knopfler with Mademoiselle Will Decide, Mica Paris and David Gilmour with I Put A Spell On You and Mick Hucknall with T-Bone Shuffle. Good stuff!

Wired Up - Various

If you’re no longer in your youth or are out of touch with what today’s young rockers are listening to, this would serve as a wonderful introductory package. There are 20 cuts on this release featuring many of contemporary rock’s biggest names, from Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Staind, Blink 182, Slipknot, POD to Puddle Of Mudd. Not only will you blow you teenage kids away when they find you have this one in your collection, but your geriatric friends will be amazed at your ability to keep up to breast with modern music!

5. OUR WEB SITE TIP

www.badcompany.com

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BedRock - The Band in the Sand

http://www.bedrockband.com

mailto:bedrock@bedrockband.com

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