Author Archives: Tim Hall

Panic Room 2013 UK Tour Dates

Panic Room's Christmas gig at Bilston Robin 2 on 2nd December 2012

In danger of getting buried in the news about Paul Davies’ departure from the band is the news that Panic Room have some UK tour dates in spring and early summer.

  • April 19th – The Stables, Milton Keynes
  • June 28th – The Flowerpot, Derby
  • June 30th – The Scene, Swansea
  • July 5th – Arts Centre, Norwich
  • July 12th – Robin 2, Bilston
  • July 13th – Sound Control, Manchester

Nice to see them play a gig in Swansea for the first time in a while, in a new venue. Previous shows at The Garage had been poorly attended due to lack of promotion by the venue, let’s hope The Scene is a bit more on the ball and they get the sort of attendance they deserve in the their home town.

As previously stated, Morpheus Rising guitarist Pete Harwood will be standing in on lead guitar for these dates. Morpheus Rising themselves will also be the support for the five dates in June and July.

Pete Harwood of Morpheus Rising at The Robin 2 in Bilston, 4-Dec-2011

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Paul Davies leaves Panic Room

Panic Room's Christmas gig at Bilston Robin 2 on 2nd December 2012

Press release from Panic Room

Dear friends, fans, and followers of Panic Room…

We are deeply saddened to have to make the announcement today that Paul Davies – our lead guitarist – will be stepping down from the band as of this time.

We know that this will come as a huge shock to everyone; and indeed, it is a very sad time for us all.

Paul has not just been our band-mate, but our best friend too, for many years.

But, the time has come where Paul feels he must step away from Panic Room, for personal reasons; and we, as his close friends, must accept and respect any decision which he makes, fully and with nothing but care and admiration for him.

Paul is simply a stunning musician, with a talent as deep and true as his heart; and he has been with us on this journey since the very beginning. He is a brother to us, and so it is just not possible for us to put all our feelings into words right now.

But, we hope you will all join us in wishing Paul the very best for the future, as we send him our love, support, gratitude, and sheer awe at everything he has achieved and created.

For those of you who are coming to see PANIC ROOM play live this Spring / Summer, fear not – we will not be cancelling any of our Tour Dates, as we wish to honour each commitment and not let anyone down.

So, we are pleased to announce that our good friend Pete Harwood – of the band Morpheus Rising – will be ‘depping’ with us on lead guitar for the next few gigs. We are incredibly grateful to Pete (and of course his band-mates) for agreeing to play some shows with us, and for being such a huge help at this most difficult of times.

View PANIC ROOM Tour-Dates

PANIC ROOM also plan to record our 4th studio album later this year, with recording sessions booked for August onwards.

But, we wish to allow ourselves – and our loyal fans – enough time and headspace to take stock of everything and to readjust, before we commit to finding a long-term ‘replacement’ for Paul.

So, we intend to write and record this next album as a 4-piece, then possibly add some ‘special guest’ guitarists to the mix, each bringing something new and positive to our music.

We are looking forward, and keen to create another brand new musical ‘world’ to share with you, as we have with each of our past albums.

As a band, we have always strived to create and move through new areas and musical adventures all the time, and standing still has never been an option for us. This is equally true today.

Each band has its own ‘journey’, and ours has been an amazing experience so far… Like any kind of journey though, there will be unexpected detours, obstacles and changes along the way. But you have to hang in there – keep your eye on the ultimate destination you’re aiming for, and keep on moving.

Sometimes, not everyone will make it to the end of the journey; they might make a different turning of their own, and move down a path which leads them away. But, you know that you wouldn’t have got to where you are now without them being a part of it…

And for us, Paul will always be a part of the reason that Panic Room are where we are today.

The next few weeks will be very intense for us all, as we plan, rehearse, and work on a multitude of things to make this next Panic Room chapter as successful as it deserves to be…

But we are committed to making both the Live shows and the next album absolutely spectacular, and you know that we never like to disappoint!

So we hope that you will join us every step of the way, as we brave these rough seas over the next few weeks… because your amazing support and devotion has always kept us afloat; and right now, every ounce of that is something we will draw strength from.

With love, light, and a million stars to guide the way…
from Anne-Marie, Jon, Gav & Yatim. *x*

Not really much I can add to that. It’s come as a complete shock to me and no doubt to many other fans. Unlike some of their peers Panic Room had kept a stable lineup for some time, and I’m sure that’s been one factor that’s made them such a tight live band over the last couple of years. Paul will be a very hard act to follow

Panic Room's Christmas gig at Bilston Robin 2 on 2nd December 2012

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Not sure what to think when I ask at the merch stand at the gig whether they’ve got the band’s latest album, and they reply “Get it from Amazon”. Ended up buying it at HMV…

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Postie has just delivered an album by a band named after an O-gauge Hymek…

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All Your Song Are Belong To Us

If machine translation ever achieves perfection, it would  take all the fun out of things like this:

Lammi Bars and Hämeenkoski apply Cypriots kähinöissä was used, among other things, an ax and muovikuulapyssyä.
Häme police said Lammi and Hämeenkoski youth elvytteli Friday morning fight in the village back to life the old tradition.

First, pools of people were Hämeenkoski tough guy by a young man. The dispute was the subject of an online music service to use.

- Still do not have detailed information about the dispute reasons, but the use of Spotify, it had begun, Inspector Ilkka Iivari says.

In this situation, threatened, and one window was broken. Lammi Bars car ammuskeltiin muovikuulapyssyllä. After the episode kind of puddles left their villages of origin.

Häme Touch the kind of went after to explore the mystery of the broken window. Lammintausta supermarket in the center of the yard crews encountered again. Now threatened, such as an ax. Police release, the event was also a “catch up with other textiles.”

The situation ended with one hot young men tried to drive the car Hämeenkoski cover types on. From major injuries were avoided. Car hit a little to one young person, who left the hospital in order to check for dents.

According to police, the composition of the teams is not yet fully known. The main factors that are known to the police. The youngster age of about 18 years.

- It should be remembered that the villages of winning, the assizes disappears. Häme police recall in a statement.

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Cambridge Rock Festival 2013 – First Bands Announced

Olivia Sparnnen of Mostly Autumn at the 2012 Cambridge Rock Festival

The Cambridge Rock Festival have announced the first few bands for the festival on 1st-4th August.

  • Thursday: Cregan & Co, The Pure Floyd Show, Are You Experienced.
  • Friday: Bonafide, Hazel O’Connor, Eddie and the Hotrods, Split Whiskers, Walkway, Luna Kiss, Loveless Luck
  • Saturday: The Quireboys, Caravan, Deborah Bonham, Pat McManus, Pearl Handled Revolver, Cornerstone, Afterlife.
  • Sunday: The Animals, Magnum, Mostly Autumn, Ben Poole Band, Hekz, Attica Rage.

It is a little “usual suspecty” this year, with most of the top acts on each day all having played previous festivals, in many some cases multiple times. One noticeable thing is that there’s nothing remotely “prog” on the main stage scheduled against the CRS Stage on Friday, avoiding a repeat of last year’s unfortunate clashes between It Bites & Focus on the main stage and Winter in Eden & Kyrbgrinder on the CRS stage last year.

As for Mostly Autumn, I know I’m a fan, but somehow it wouldn’t be quite the same without them. They do have their detractors amongst festival regulars, and at least this gives them something to moan about. No sign (yet) of Stolen Earth or Panic Room, but plenty more bands still to be announced.

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Get a feeling there’s something wrong with the music world when tribute bands are playing arena tours.

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If Journey were British, he would have caught the midnight rail replacement bus…

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2013 Classic Rock Society Awards

Yatim Halimi

Congratulations for Panic Room’s Yatim Halimi for being voted best bass player at the Classic Rock Society awards, and also for Riversea as Best Newcomer. Both are very well deserved.

Alison Henderson posted the full list of winners on her Facebook page. The list does seem a little less predictable that some years, although Magenta still did very well, and Mostly Autumn seem to win best band every year.

Best gigMagenta
Best newcomer- Riversea
Best trackLovers End Pt 3, Moon Safari
Best keyboard playerMike Varty
Best bassistYatim Halimi
Best drummerHenry Rogers
Best guitaristChris Fry
Best albumBeneath The Waves, Kompendium
Best male vocalistDamian Wilson
Best female vocalistChristina Booth
Best bandMostly Autumn
Unsung heroJon Patrick
Outstanding ContributionAndy Tillison.

I think it needs to be recognised that the CRS awards celebrate the UK grass-roots rock scene in the UK, which is why you won’t see higher-profile artists like Steve Wilson, Opeth or Rush, or many US or Euro prog bands. Yes, you could criticise the awards for parochialism at times, or the way that some artists win year after year, which is why I applaud John Jowitt’s decision to rule himself out of contention this year.

Still, I’ll take this over The Brits any year.

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Races and Fantasy RPGs

There has been some discussion of late over whether the concept of traditional Tolkien-via-Gygax fantasy races is inherently racist. Are orcs really racist caricatures of black people?

Unfortunately, the internet being the internet, it’s been the most shrill and uncompomising voices that got too much of the attention, and things turned predictably ugly.

Which is why Jim Henley’s thoughtful post on the subject is most welcome.

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