Three Pressed Men: Gig List
Forthcoming Gigs
If you'd like Three Pressed Men to appear at your
club, festival, party or whatever, please
get
in touch. Also - if you're looking for a barn dance or ceilidh
band, then please take a look at the TRACTION
web pages.
Fri. 12th - Sun 14th Oct 2007
The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury and other venues
We've been asked to do two spots during the weekend. We'll be hosting the
lunchtime session at The Bell, 12:00 - 3:00, Saturday, and we're
closing the final acoustic concert on Sunday afternoon in The Long Room
which is upstairs in The Mill Arts Centre. The concert starts at 12:00
and we're on at about 4:15pm.
Reviews of Recent Appearances - the band's perspective!
Sat. 19th May 2007, 7:30pm
Part of the "Cowley Feast" Festival
John Bunyan Baptist Church, Cowley, Oxford
The Ark-T Centre presented an evening of home-grown
music, featuring a wide variety of styles, including jazz, pop and world
music. We be added our own take on the English Tradition. We thought we'd
do a 30 minute set in the middle of the evening, but we were asked to finish
off the show and to play for longer. For further details about the
Ark-T Centre, email: mail@ark-t.org or see the
Evolving
City web-site.
Sat. 9th June 2007, 7:30pm
St Martin In The Fields
nr Coventry
We had a great evening! The concert was the climax
of a day of activities at this church, and we rounded off the evening with
a 45-minute set, following an acoustic pop group and a gospel choir.
For more information, contact Graham Clark (graham998@btinternet.com) or
check the church's web site.
Fri. 20th July 2007, 8:30pm
Upstairs at The Port Mahon, St Clement's
Street, Oxford. Admission £4 (£3 concessions)
Once again, we were asked to do an extended turn at our local club (which
incidentally is still one of the best in the district). Details
of this and all the club's events from pamcooper@hotmail.com.
Sun. 2nd July 2006, 8:00pm
"Readifolk" - The Reading Folk Club
The Clifton Arms, Gosbrook Rd, Caversham
This is a delightful and intimate club, held in a
very "snug" bar. Quite a few people squeezed in with us and our concertinas.
Details from the club's web site,
or from Anne Bingham on 0118 931 6586.
Fri. 12th May 2006, 8:00pm
The Crabshell Inn
Kingsbridge, Devon
We were invited down to sunny Devon by concertina maestro Nigel Sture.
Support from Nigel & Les Oden. Admission £5. Summer Comes Soonest
in The South, and it was a delight to relax in the sun on the quayside
beforehand. The concert went well, too, and we learnt a couple of new songs
that have now found a place in our repertoire. Contact Nigel
Sture, 01548 561975, for full details, or the Crabshell Inn on 01548
852345.
Fri. 5th May 2006, 9:00pm
Killingworth Castle, Wootton
on the B4027 near Woodstock
"To welcome in the summer,
"To welcome in the May-oh!"
We had just about recovered from our May Day exertions in time for
this appearence. We're delighted to be invited back so soon. There were
lots of chorus songs and everyone joined in!
Fri. 3rd Feb 2006, 9:00pm
Killingworth Castle, Wootton
on the B4027 near Woodstock
We were rather pleased to be invited to play at this long-established folkie
pub. This was our first appearance, and thanks to everyone who turned up
to urge us on. We had enough chorus songs to last the evening (just)! We
have been invited back (see above), so the regulars must have liked us.
Fri. 16th Sept 2005, 7:30pm
Part of the "Cowley Feast" Festival
John Bunyan Baptist Church, Cowley, Oxford
£5.50 (£3.50 concessions)
The church was set out cabaret style for the evening. It's a very
pleasant venue - quite arty with potted plants, big hanging drapes etc,
and an unconventional shape. We think it has a very good acoustic.
The Cowley Feast is a week long festival celebrating the culture and
community of Cowley. Re-launched after a break of more than 40 years, 2004's
Feast featured dance, concerts and gigs, exhibitions, a flower festival,
historic walks, a tennis tournament and art workshops with results displayed
in people's front gardens. The 2005 festival built on the previous year's
success, working with voluntary groups, churches, local businesses and
shops, the City and County Councils, pubs, sports and industry. For further
details email: mail@ark-t.org or see the
Evolving
City web-site.
Sun. 14th Aug. 2005, 7:00 pm
10th Anniversary Session
Victoria Arms, Old Marston, Oxford
Well, there weren't actually enough dancers present to stick to our plan
to start with some morris dancing, so we went inside for some singing and
playing in the Cromwell Room(!). We had contributions from several fine
singers, including Sue Brown and Lorraine Irwing, and the Wadworth beers
were as good as ever.
Sat. 16th July 2005, 7:30 pm
10th Anniversary Concert
Corner of Oxford Rd and Temple Rd, opposite the police station.
Well, well, well... 10 years? It doesn't seem possible, does it? Three
Pressed Men first appeared in public in the summer of 1995, so we thought
it would be a good excuse for a little celebration. Once again, we made
good use of Dick's church hall. The hall was almost full, and we had a
great time. The first half was mostly older songs and tunes, from the first
two albums, while in the second half we did things that should be on the
next one (but no promises when it will be available!)
Sun. 27th June 2004
Beckley Village Open Day
Beckley parish church, 2:30pm, 3:30pm
& 4:30pm
Every two years, this Oxfordshire village opens
up its school, church and many private houses and gardens to raise money
for the parish. We played in the church and we did three performances during
the afternoon of about 30 minutes each.
Sun. 24th April 2004, 5:00pm
Oxford Folk Festival
Town Hall, St Aldates, Oxford
The first Oxford Folk Festival was a great success,
with several national stars supported by many of the local heroes. We were
programmed at the same time as Irish super-group Lunasa, but even so we
had a good audience of 50 or more. We kept the chatter to a minimum and
squeezed 6 very varied songs and tunes into our 30 minutes.
Sun. 7th March 2004
"Falstaff" by
Antonio Salieri
Theatre Royal, Bath
Well, what do you know? Falstaff had another airing,
and the real musicians of Bampton Classical Opera asked us to repeat our
performance with them, which, of course, we were delighted to do. As they
say in the theatre, For One Night Only, By Popular Demand.....!
Bampton Classical Opera is a pukka opera company
and has been showered with glowing reviews from all sorts of serious newspapers
and magazines. Here's what Opera Now said about Falstaff in their November
2003 issue:
"There isn't a company in England with
as sharp a sense of fun as Bampton. Season after season they dig up rare
gems, served up with canny wit, visual deftness and a musical spring that
make them one of the high pleasures of an English summer."
More details can be had from Bampton Opera by
e-mail.
Sat. 13th December 2003, 7:30 pm
Corner of Oxford Rd and Temple Rd, opposite the police station. Admission
free.
Another charity concert at Dick's church, in aid of the HEEDS Mobile Clinic
project, in Tamil Nadu, southern India. (See his personal
website for more details.) They have surpassed their target
of £7500, thanks to the generosity of Dick's parishoners.
Once again the hall was full - we had to put out extra chairs! Three
Pressed men presented their usual engaging mixture of songs about sinners
and saints, love and lust, life and death, leavened with a few dance tunes.
Given the proximity to Christmas, we subjected a few carols to the 3PM
treatment!
Wed. 5th November 2003, 8:00 pm
The White Horse Folk Club, Highworth
The Fox Inn, Swindon St, Highworth, near Swindon, Wilts.
We were invited back for a second visit to this friendly,
completely acoustic club. The evening was a little sombre to begin with,
since Bill Bailey, who ran the club for many years, sadly died the week
before. However, the room was full, we gave it our all, and it turned into
a memorable occassion.
The club will continue on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday
of each month. Please go and support them. The fox is by the junction of
Swindon St (A361), Brewery St (B4019) and Shrivenham Rd (B4000). Here's
a map.
There is parking at the pub.
Fri. 26th September 2003, 8:30 pm
Upstairs at The Port Mahon, St Clement's
Street, Oxford. Admission £3.50 (£2.50 concessions)
We were delighted to be invited to do another evening at our local club
(which incidentally is one of the best in the district). We had been working
on one or two new numbers to go with the old favourites, which seemed to
go down very well. Details of this and all the club's events from pamcooper@hotmail.com.
We were delighted to meet a few more concertina players who had come over
from the Concertinas@Witney weekend.
Fri. 25th & Sat. 26th July 2003, 7:45 pm
"Falstaff" by
Antonio Salieri
in The Deanery Gardens, Bampton,
Oxfordshire
A bit of a departure for Three Pressed Men, this
one! We played the part of a village band, in the opening scene of Salieri's
adaptation of Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor. The production
was set in the 1940's, so our concertinas and melodeon were just the ticket.
Friday's performance went faultlessly, but on Saturday the heavens opened
about an hour before curtain-up, so cast and crew hurriedly moved everything
from the garden into the church, and the production was "semi-staged".
Despite the rather reduced space, it all went off really well. There is
talk of a "revival" in Bath in 2004. Watch this space ...
Bampton Classical Opera is a pukka opera company
and has been showered with glowing reviews from all sorts of serious newspapers
and magazines. The one we like best is from The Times: "The epitome of
opera-in-a-garden." We just hope we didn't embarrass them (and ourselves)
by over-playing the rustic musician bit. (As if!) More details can be had
from Bampton Opera by e-mail.
Sat. 15th March 2003, 7:30 pm
Folk Evening at The Town Hall, Wallingford
In aid of the St Leonard's Church, Wallingford, restoration
fund. All tickets sold well in advance!
We joined Pete Orton (who is screamingly funny) and several other performers
for an evening of music and comedy. We had expected to do two sets of about
20 minutes each, but ended up doing nearly twice that. We closed both the
first and second halves and were cheered to the rafters! That was the second
such event, and no doubt there will be more in the future, with or without
Three Pressed Men. For more details please contact Pete Orton on 01491
832028, or e-mail him at peter.orton@environment-agency.gov.uk
Sat. 26th October 2002, 7:30 pm
Dick Wolff is the minister of this church. He took
a sabbatical from the end of November 2002. He spent a month with a Lutheran
church in South India which indirectly runs a number of social projects
with the most deprived members of the community : orphans with learning
disabilities is one group. There's also a grain bank and credit union
etc. Most of the money raised at our concert went to help Dick's work with
this project. Further information can be found on his personal
website.
Mon. 22nd April 2002
Herga Folk Club, Harrow, Middlesex
This was our first visit to this illustrious club,
but we think it won't be our last. We were really looking forward to it,
and they gave us a great reception. We caused a bit of a stir by lining
up all five concertinas and Dick's melodeon at the back of the stage before
the gig! This meant that, during the interval, we had to give an impromptu
workshop on the differences between the instruments and how they are played.
Would any festival organizer like us to do it again?
The club meets every Monday in the upstairs room
of the Royal Oak pub in Peel Road, Wealdstone, Middlesex. To find out more
about the club, see their web
site or telephone Bob Hambleton on 01923 672590.
Sun. 23rd June 2002
Readifolk / Caversham Charity Folk Festival
The finale of the weekend festival is a concert promoted
by the Readifolk folk club. Top of the bill was Johnny Coppin, ably supported
by Three Pressed Men and a bluegrass band called Blackjack. We started
the second half with half an hour of songs and tunes. Mark managed to play
a different instrument on each number!
2001
Oxford Folk Club, 10th August
Beggars' Fair, 14th July
Readifolk, Sun 10th June
Malta International Folksong Festival, Thu.
17th - Sat. 19th May
Cheltenham Folk Club, Fri. 11th May
Rose & Crown, Oxford, 20th March
2000
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this page updated 16/09/2007