PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER

The Carlton Club

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

This time last year it was keyboardist Guy's double 30th birthday. And would you believe it... this year our traditional February appointment with The Carlton Club falls on singer Howard's double 28th (and a half).

What more reason to head down round our way (true Oasis fans may spot a clue as to one of our many new songs there...) ?

LLANGOLLEN, NORTH WALES

The Hand

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Our Manic May starts here, at the gateway to North Wales, before we hop back over the border for two dates in England, returning to Wales at the end of the month...

OSWESTRY, SHROPSHIRE

The Plough

PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER

The Con Club

LLANFYLLIN, POWYS

The Old New Inn

WHITEFIELD, MANCHESTER

The Coach & Horses

DO THEY KNOW IT'S SUMMER TIME ?

As the world gears up for the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, we'll be giving it the full celebration as The 1985. Can you get any more Eighties than this?

LLANFYLLIN, POWYS

The Old New Inn

ROUND OUR WAY

With the UK going mad for Oasis this summer, take a brief break from the 90s as we bring The 1985 back to our manor...

OSWESTRY, SHROPSHIRE

The Plough

WE PLOUGH ON

Back for our second gig of the year at Oswestry's home of live music, this time in our Eighties guise...

LLANGOLLEN, NORTH WALES

The Hand

LLANFYLLIN, POWYS

The Old New Inn

LLANFYLLIN, POWYS

**REVIEW**

The Old New Inn

IN WITH THE INN CROWD

"Simply the best!"

No, we didn't play that (lead singer has an aversion to Tina Turner). it was the verdict of regulars who'd been coming to watch gigs at The Old New Inn for years. And who are we to argue?

Teardrop Explodes' Reward may have opened our set to a handful of punters, but by half-time this classic pub-rock back-room bar was swingin' baby.

Come the second half it was (not very much) standing room only for a set of bangers, right through to a rocked-up Last Christmas. Well, we were  only an hour away from December. As for all that dry ice, it only lasted for soundcheck, as we went full Spinal Tap setting off the smoke alarms for an hour.

But not even that could cloud a storming debut night in Llanfyllin.

OSWESTRY, SHROPSHIRE

***REVIEW***

Ro-Loz Nightclub

INTRODUCING... THE 1985

Well, what can we say? If you weren't there for our first outing as The 1985, you don't know what you missed.

We were still rocking and popping at 1am. That's all you need to know...

OSWESTRY, SHROPSHIRE

***REVIEW***

The Plough

FRANKIE SAID…

Make love, not war.

And despite the rozzers turning up opposite to deal with some Oswestry aggro outside (on the one night we didn't play I Predict A Riot... tuh!), our all-Eighties show proved a nostalgic love-in, as we rolled back the years with everything from Bananarama to Van Halen, and all things in between.

And d'ya know what, it was so good it made us think... (see 2nd November, above)

Tonight also marked the final gig for bass player Pete 'Boss' Hogget. It was a blast, Boss. Take it easy and catcha somewhere rockin' soon.

LLANWDDYN, LAKE VYRNWY

***REVIEW***

Llanwddyn Community Centre

THE KIDS WERE ALL FREE

Oh my! So this is what The Beatles had to contend with.

It was only supposed to be a bit of fun, but our decision to throw in a Taylor Swift number resulted in the first reported case of Crisismania, as the Young Ones bayed for more, more, more.

Fortunately we satisfied the older brethren's desires with the antidote called Comfortably Numb. Followed by a chaser of Whole Lotta Rosie.

Another cracking night lakeside.

LLANGOLLEN, NORTH WALES

***REVIEW***

The Hand Hotel

RAISE YOUR HANDS

Oh what a night! It was a first visit to the gateway to North Wales for us, and to be honest we were expecting a low-key introduction to the good folk of Llangollen.

Not a bit of it. With the crowd rocking in the aisles from song 1, we couldn't help but feed off the enthusiasm for our helping of top-pop nostalgia and rear-kicking rock 'n' roll toons.

By the time we got to our AC/DC-infused encore, there was little of the house left to bring down.

And a special mention to our new, self-appointed tambourinist. She wasn't taking 'no' for an answer...!

PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER

***REVIEW***

Carlton Club 

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

We came, we rocked, we conquered... in the face of an army of over a hundred Crisis fans. What a night.

If you can remember it, you weren't there. To be honest, it's all a bit of a blur for us. Although we do remember new lead guitarist Dr Bob blowing the socks off of everyone in his thrall.

Handily, there is video evidence, however. It's on our Facebook page if you want proof. Click below to see what you missed / forgot...

PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER

**REVIEW**

Carlton Club 

HATS OFF FOR THE HAT-TRICK

Back at the Carlton for the third time in 12 months, we were blessed with one of our best crowds of all-time, mate. And they were rewarded with a first run-out for the mighty Greg ‘The Force’ Forster on drums.

Not only that, the night was notable for the swansong of longstanding guitar great, Pete ‘Woody’ Wood, who delivered his usual array of knock-out solos as a parting gift. We will miss him greatly, as both a friend and significant, on-stage other.

With hooting and hollering from the start, and eager dancers pulling shapes from the get-go, things really kicked into overdrive in Set2, from floor-filler opener Town Called Malice through to final encore Gimme Some Lovin’.

Don’t Look Back In Anger and Don’t You (Forget About Me) worked their usual magic on the Manchester crowd, while sing-alongs I Predict A Riot, 2468 Motorway and 500 Miles had the entire room on its feet.

With uber guitar ledge Dr Bob already on board and setting his frets on fire in rehearsals, our very next gig will be back at The Carlton in February 2024.

We can hardly wait to play to our Prestwich friends again.

FORKFEST, POWYS

**REVIEW**

Fork Handles Farm Shop, Llangedwyn

DID YOU DIG IT?

An outdoor festival on August Bank Holiday weekend? Visions of a sweltering day under globally warmed skies…

Err… no. Instead it took the combined efforts of the wonderful Forkfest team, and eight bands rocking hard throughout the day to keep temperatures and spirits up, as the rain (mostly) stayed away, such that by early evening the atmosphere was positively balmy.

We came on in our favoured spot, second from top of the bill, and from the first chords of One Way Or Another the crowd was with us, dancing, singing and cheering.

Venus and Gimme Some Lovin’ had mad pogo-ing, All These Things had everyone declaring their soulfulness, and when we slowed things down briefly for Heroes, the strains of the Bowie classic echoed out across the borderland hills.

Speaking of Heroes, Forkfest marked the last appearance of drummer Ash. We wish him well.

OSWESTRY, SHROPSHIRE

**REVIEW**

The Plough

BACK IN TOWN

We’ve long been looking to establish ourselves on the Oswestry music scene, having played there once, pre-pandemic. Not least because of the many personal links with the town.

So, it was with enormous pleasure that we finally found ourselves on stage at The Plough. And judging by the positive reception, it was a long-overdue return.

After a few months re-tooling our setlist, several new songs got an outing, from the synth pop of Enola Gay to the heavy rock of Whole Lotta Rosie via our progged-up version of Video Killed The Radio Star. Not forgetting old faves such as Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Two Tribes and Town Called Malice.

One online review was our favourite: “Fucking Marvelous!”. Plough, we’ll be back!!

PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER 

**REVIEW**

Carlton Club

feat. very special guests, The Tripping Triplets

HASTA LA VISTA, BABY

They wanted us back, and back we came, kicking off with Town Called Malice  to fill the dance floor from the off. And things got even more heaving in set two, which featured new entries from Springsteen and The Proclaimers (yes, that one). Rumours of a return in the autumn are nothing if not confirmed. The 9th Sept to be precise. Details to appear above once ticket arrangements have been  finalised.

LLANWDDYN, LAKE VYRNWY

**REVIEW** 

Llanwddyn Community Centre

HARK NOW HEAR

The combined might of snowfall, sub-zero temperatures and the World Cup (with its inevitable, penalty-hinging conclusion) didn't prevent a good vocal crowd from descending on Llanwddyn to join us in firing the starting gun for Christmas.

Three years on from our 'So Here It Is Nearly Xmas' tour appearance , we returned with our Covid-interrupted 'It's Only Just Begun' follow-up sporting a few new numbers from the likes of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Simple Minds,. And after a couple of hours of rocking around the virtual Christmas tree, throwing in a couple of curve balls from Wham! and Slade helped us see out the set with a festive, sing-a-long bang.

With the hall's heating in fine fettle, it all left us with a nice warm, yuletide glow, as rumours of an autumn return in 2023 started to circulate.

PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER

**REVIEW** 

Carlton Club

HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY!

Wow! What a comeback... of Lazarus proportions. Our second appearance at Prestwich's Carlton Club saw us pack in four times as many punters as the time before (we can't remember the exact date). And my how they loved it.

Buoyed by more Bowie and Floyd, the baying throng even sucked a second encore out of us, as Don't You Forget About Me echoed late into the Mancunian air. And they won't. We've already been booked to return in February 2023.

WREXHAM FEAST

**REVIEW**  

Llwyn Isaf,

CHEERS AND BEERS

Thousands flocked to Wrexham Feast over the weekend of 25-26th September and The Crisis were honoured to close out the festival of food with a double set on the Sunday. It was our longest show since lockdown, giving us the chance to stretch out a bit, with the likes of Wish You Were Here, All These Things     and Gimme Some Lovin’     coming back into the set.

As the delicious smells of gourmet nosh washed over the crowd, we settled in for two hours of high-energy classic pop rock. One Way Or Another     (by Blondie, you One Direction fans), proved a perennial favourite while Rocks     went down such a storm that lead singer Howard had to leave the stage mid-song to receive a gift of a crate of craft beers from one happy fan. Cheers!