2023 was a weird one. We started with a gig in April, for Gerry Watkins and The Moonlight Eclipse project. Then the jinx set in again. A gig at Brown Street in Salisbury had to be cancelled when Steve, our drummer, collapsed after the sound check, and was taken in to hospital. He was eventually diagnosed with Kidney and Bladder stones. This led to a long lay off. Steve got operated on, and was on the road to recovery, when Rob dropped the bombshell and quit on us.

It didn't take too long to replace Rob. Steve was originally our guitarist back in 2007, but a personal issue led to him being unable to fill the role permanently. So we turned back the clock, and moved him to guitar. A new drummer was recruited in the form of Danny Silvers. Danny was in a band in Calne with Mark and Steve back in the 1980s and 90s. He is also the drummer with popular local covers band Homer. After about 3 months of practice, we started to sound like a band again, which is probably just as well, because our gig at The Castle in Swindon was looming.

November 11th 2023 arrived, and our first gig with the new line up. If practices were anything to go by, then all would be fine, and they were. Although, on paper, we had two sets of about 35mins, we managed to eek out the required 45mins for each. The venue were happy, we were happy. The next chapter of this band had just started.....

Hot on the heels of the Castle gig, was a return to the Cotswold in Cheltenham. This came about, due to Shaggy pinging emails around, telling promoters and venues about the Castle gig, and that we felt ready to hit the road again as a gigging band. The only date where the venue had a free night, and we were all available, was November 24th. Unfortunately, our jinx struck again, and the gig had to be cancelled due to Marks car developing an alternator fault on the day of the gig. He and I are the only drivers in the band, and the cheapest van hire we could find was £169.

2024 got up and running with a few practices, then a gig at our favourite venue, The Cotswold Inn, Cheltenham. The gigs kept coming, slowly and steadily, with us playing new venues, festivals and charity shows. We adapted a song called "Social Disease" from one of Marks old bands, Mayhem, due to an old member of that band sadly passing away, as a mark of respect. We were due back in the studio in late December, but Mark's shoulder operation put that on hold until early 2025