The Riffs News
Blatent plug:
The Tenerife Property Video Blog - 666907255, Avenida Juan Carlos 1, Los Cristianos, 38660, Santa Cruz De Tenerife.
Paloma Beach Apartments - Holiday Rentals in Tenerife - 922750410, Avenida Juan Carlos 1, 43, Los Cristianos, 38650, Santa Cruz De Tenerife
Holiday Apartments Tenerife - accommodation in Tenerife - 922753602, The Heights, Calle Rodeo, Los Cristianos, 38650, Tenerife.
May 2008:
Some new songs for the masses to download:
Fool For Loving You - The ultimate getting over your ex song.
Jimmy 711 - Aethist rant
The Object Of My Affection - exactly what is says on the tin
All of these are from our work in progress concept album.
Comments and critiques welcome: webmaster@liveandloaded.com
November 2007:
The band remains on hold as I try and recover from my hand and neck problems, Wes and I continue to record original songs together - the results of which can be found in the audio section.
New songs include: Call to Arms, Dead Ill Or Dying, Nothing To Say and The Ballad Of El Jonno
August 2007:
Unfortunately my hands now seize up whenever I play guitar or type (hence few updates) so the band has had to stop for the minute.
Wes and I managed to finish of recording a song we started in January called Squeeze Me, which can be downloaded from the audio section.
We now have a myspace site http://www.myspace.com/theriffsoftenerife
6th June 2007:
Last month we found a new bassist called Andres so the band is now back on track, I'm now back on guitar with Wes and Jon G on drums.
We played 2 gigs in May for 18-30's and Freestyle, both were at Pleasure island in Las Americas.
Myself and Wes played 2 well received acoustic gigs in The Polygon and The Trap Door in the last couple of weeks.
3rd April 2007:
Wes & I will be playing 2 gigs this week, Joe Regans on Thursday and The Polygon on Saturday, be there or be square.
19th March 2007:
After 2 succesful gigs in Joe Regans over the weekend, Wes and I will be playing there again this Thursday at 9.30pm until midnight and then on Friday at 9pm at The Trap Door in Los Cristianos (Edificio Guayero next to La Golosa ice cream parlour).
14th March 2007:
Wes and I will be playing some acoustic gigs at Joe Regans this Friday 16th March at 9.30pm and then on St Patricks Day this Saturday at 3.30pm. Joe Regans is at CC Pasarella just past El Mirador, and before PAradise Park in Los Cristianos.
We've been focusing mainly on songs with prominant backing vocals, so expect lots of Byrds, early obscure Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel then add some Stones, Oasis and some new bands into the pot and hopefully we have a nice gig.
3rd January 2007:
Wes and myself will be doing an acoustic gig in The Polygon on Paloma Beach on Wednesday 10th January at 9.30pm.
This will be the last gig any of us do for a few months as I am going under the knife 2 days later to treat my carpal tunnel problem.
3rd December 2006:
The Riffs are on hiatus. Gary has made the decision to give up his part in the band due to the pregnancy of his longterm girlfriend Yessica. Having spent 8 years playing in bands with Gaz I know that I will miss him most.
In the meantime I will be having an operation on my hands for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, something that has dogged me for a few months now. That should see me out of action until March or April time.
Gary leaves quite a big gap in the band, not only was he a competent guitarist and singer but also a moody bastard who constantly made me feel like I was in Oasis.
Gaz, it's been fun.
Meanwhile Wes and myself continue to record our own music, check back for updates and new additions.
It would not work to carry on as a three piece, the plan is for me to revert to guitar and find someone else to play bass guitar, so if that sounds like you, then please get in touch with us. Failing that we'll consider guitarists and I'll stay on bass. You don't need any equipment, I've got plenty of guitars and basses...
1st December 2006:
Sunshine Bar gig cancelled.
28th November 2006:
The gig at The Sunshine Bar has beenput back to it's original date of Saturday 2nd December at 9pm.
15th November 2006:
The gig at The Sunshine Bar has been brought forward to Saturday 25th November at 9pm.
1st November 2006:
Played the last of our 2 gigs at Shenanigans last night and although the bar was fairly quiet we had a great time and played what we consider to be one of our best gigs yet.
Next scheduled gig is 2nd December in The Sunshine Bar which is about to be opened in Los Cristianos in the same building as The Bluebell and Lazy Fox.
October 30. 2006:
Gig at Shenanigans last night went pretty well, the crowd
seemed to take to us
it was an enjoyable nights work, we return there on Tuesday night for a
Halloween gig.
In other news we have a new gig for our calenders; Saturday 2nd December in a new bar (yet to be christened) in Los Cristianos. The owner of the bar is Katie, the lady who gave us our first ever gig back in 2005 when she was running O'Callaghans at the Apolo Centre - we look forward to working with her once again in her new bar.
October 24. 2006:
New gigs announced: 28th October and Halloween 31st October both at Shennanigans at Patch, Las Americas.
October 18 2006:
Played The Polygon at Paloma Beach for a Birthday party, went very well despite the drum pedals spring snapping again! Luckily it was repaired (ok, ok - botched) within a few minutes and we were able to continue, the set included Valerie by The Zutons and our enore was something special - we played Chelsea, a song written by me just a few months ago. It went down really well and the response was excellent - we'll be playing it again I'm sure!
Meanwhile there are a couple of new songs which myself and Wes have written in the Audio section - "Tattoo" and "Landlords Lament".
October 1 2006:
Quick update, we played our first wedding last night which went very well - nice gig ina swanky restaurant in Arona - seemed to impress quite a few folk.....
You can download a load of original songs in the Audio Section including Chelsea and It's A Feeling.
Next gig is the Polygon on October 21st at 9.30pm.
September 10 2006:
For those of you in the area this week we're at Planet Football in San Eugenio on Friday night at 10pm and then the following Tuesday at Bonkers bar on Pleasure Island.
August 26 2006:
New original song "Deconstructing Paradise" can be found in the Audio Section. Comments welcome.
The gig in The Polygon went well last night, first playing of Roadhouse Blues, see the set list page for full details.
August 22 2006:
Classic roof top gig ala Beatles at Joe Regans, the police came and stopped us after just over an hour. That looks like our last gig there as it looks like the police have got in in for poor old Connor.
Never mind, we've got a gig at Planet football on 15th September and we've also been aproached by a pretty big and well known bar in Las Americas so things are pretty damn good.
August 20 2006:
The gig at Brujas was one of our best yet, should have some photo's and audio to come from that soon. Meanwhile we have another venue arranged: Planet Football in San Eugenio, Las Americas. We'll be playing there on Friday 15th September and probably every Friday thereafter.
Next up is Joe Regans tonight at 9pm then the Polygon this Friday.
August 16. 2006:
Having completed gigs at Joe Regans (6th, 8th and 15th August) our sights are now set on Brujas on Friday 18th, Joe Regans on Sunday 20th, Polygon on Friday 25th and Joe Regans on Tuesday 29th August.
Gary is away on holiday in September so there will be no gigs until mid to late September.
July 26 2006:
More gigs confirmed at Joe Regans; Sunday 6th August, Tuesday 8th August, Tuesday 15th August, Sunday 20th August, Tuesday 29th August.
July 22 2006:
Confirmed gig at Brujas, El Fraile on August 18th.
July 20th 2006:
Unconfirmed upcoming gigs should include: Shenanigans, Murphys Law, The Polygon, The Trap Door and Brujas in El Fraile. Watch this space for confirmation.
July 18th 2006:
The Polygon gig was as ever, fun and relaxed, this was a gig we were asked to play for someone's birthday. We played for 2 hours to an overcrowded Polygon, with people having to sit or stand outside the bar. Set list can be found here.
July 16th 2006:
The gig at Joe Regans was a strange one, we played to yet another packed out crowd, the first set was a little shakey to say the least, Jon G had been ill and we had a speaker problem which unsettled us - never the less the second set was a complete turn around and we pulled off another great gig.
July 11th 2006:
Upcoming gigs: Sunday 16th July 2006 at Joe Regans bar in CC Passarella, Los Cristianos. Then 2 days later on Tuesday 18th July, we're back at the Polygon at Paloma Beach in Los Cristianos.
July 2nd 2006:
The hits just keep on coming, another great gig last night at Joe Regans bar. Went very well to a packed out bar. We played for two hours and will be back there every 2nd Sunday. See gigs page for a list of future gigs.
June 28th 2006:
Played a gig at Club La Costa in San Eugenio Alto, it went very well again......we've now got an established fan base who come along to every gig which is nice to see. Set list is on the set list page.
Next Gig: Joe Regans bar on Centro Commercial Pasarella in Los Cristianos, Sunday 2nd July ay 9pm.
June 5th 2006:
The Polygon gig went down very well again, plenty of people were in to see us- we did a 2 hour gig and played 20 songs.
These gigs just get better and better. New photos from the Shenanigans gig are uploaded to the Photo Gallery.
May 29th 2006:
We're playing in The Polygon this Monday 5th June at 9.30pm, if you're in the area please come and see us. We will be returning to The Polygon again on July 18th and sometime in between those dates we'll be playing at Murphy's Law in Torviscas Alto but it is not yet confirmed exactly when.
May 22nd 2006:
Tonight we did a gig in Shenanigans bar in Patch, Las Americas - this was probably the most gruelling gig we have ever done. We played 2 and a half hours with no break, in total we played 32 songs (see setlist page for full details) including 4 new songs which we had never played; Hotel California by The Eagles, Proud Mary by CCR, Radar Love by Golden Earring, Johny B Goode by Chuck Berry.
Although I don't think we are what the bar was looking for, for me the gig was a big success, firstly we took on the mammoth task of playing a ridiculously long set with no break and pulled it off, even though we trudged a bit in the middle, secondly we pulled off some tricky new songs, thirdly on the basis of that gig we have earned another gig at another bar, fourthly - and most importantly we now have a fan base! A mixture of friends, family and just all out fans are now coming to every gig we play and the feedback has been very, very good.
On the downside, we got a bit of an ear bashing for the vocals not sounding particularly clear in certain parts of the bar but then I don't think the resident duo The Looney Tunes sounded like they do now after an hour an half of their first soundcheck in there - it takes time baby.
April 27th 2006:
We managed to record a few songs which were played live in rehersals, pop accross to the audio section to download "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks, "You Will You Won't" by The Zutons and "Revolution" by The Beatles.
April 19th 2006:
We did the gig in The Polygon and it went down a storm, the whole place
was rammed with residents and holiday makers alike, there were people standing
outside because of the lack of space inside! We started off with some Beatles
numbers and then went on to play 
over
20 songs including You Really Got Me by The Kinks, Alabama by Neil Young,
Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Brown Sugar by the Rolling
Stones and much more, for a full list of what we played click
here.
During Freebird's guitar solo the whole pub gave us a standing ovation, which was pretty damn cool. After the gig we had scores of people telling us how much they enjoyed the gig, drinks were bought for us but sadly no groupies....
Pictures from the gig can be found over at the Photo Gallery.
April 2006:
Gary, Wes, Jon G and myself will be peforming a one off gig at Paloma Beach (Los Cristianos) in our local The Polygon under the name "The Riffs" (I'm sure that's been done before.....nevermind so had Loaded.....) - the gig will be our first since September and it will take place on Wednesday, 19th April 2006 at 10pm after the Champions League Semi final.
The gig is part of a welcome night for the new co-owners Chris & Maureen. A free buffet, cheap drinks, good music and a damn good larffffff are all on the menu. Everyone welcome so if your'e in the area, pop in and have a listen.
We're hoping this gig will rekindle our desire to go out and get some gigs, so watch this space for updates.
March 2006:
A year on from our last gig as Loaded I thought I'd write a little entry to the site. The Beatles band soon started playing a broader selection of songs by request of the bar we were playing in - in many ways I liked the idea of just playing Beatles songs but I guess the change was inevitable. We played 3 gigs in Flanaghans in Patch with a varied set but prior to that all of our gigs had just been Beatles songs.
Things ran into the ground around September after we had a "Loaded-esq" moment in Flanaghans, since then we've had difficulty getting together in the same room once a week but when we have things have been good, Gary seems to have fallen out with the Beatles and now refuses to play any more than about 4 of their songs, I guess we did over do it with listening and playing their stuff - I kind of miss the restrictions of it to be honest.
I am trying to re-record all my songs, the originals are all either badly recorded, badly played or badly sung so hopefully with a little help from my friends (it's a Beatles you see?) I can get through them all, in the meantime hop across to the Audio Section to hear "You Or Somebody Like You", my first recording with Wes.