A SPECIAL NIGHT WITH THE PAT MCMANUS BAND AND ANDY POWELL OF WISHBONE ASH AT THE SPRING AND AIRBRAKE - BELFAST


THURSDAY THE 14TH OF APRIL 2011,SEES ANDY POWELL A FOUNDING MEMBER OF 'WISHBONE ASH',JOIN 'THE PAT MCMANUS BAND' AS THEIR VERY SPECIAL GUEST AT THE SPRING AND AIRBRAKE - BELFAST

PAT MCMANUS AND ANDY POWELL FIRST MET IN 1982 WHEN PAT'S FORMER BAND 'MAMA'S BOYS' WHO WERE JUST STARTING OUT AT THIS TIME,AND THE ALREADY VETRANS OF THE ROCK WORLD 'WISHBONE ASH' PLAYED ON THE BILL AT THE 'LISDOONVARNA FESTIVAL IN IRELAND.'MAMA'S BOYS' LATER WENT ON TO JOIN 'WISHBONE ASH' ON A TWO WEEK TOUR OF THE UK..

THE TWO MENS PATHS CROSSED OVER THE YEARS,BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL MARCH 2009 WHEN ANDY JOINED 'THE PAT MCMANUS BAND' AS THEIR SPECIAL GUEST ON THE 'LEGENDS TOUR' IN FRANCE,THAT THEIR FRIENDSHIP WAS REKINDLED.PAT AND BAND MEMBERS BASSIST GORDON SHERIDAN AND DRUMMER PAUL FALOON,GOT TALKING TO ANDY AND ASKED HIM TO JOIN THEM FOR A FEW 'FRIENDLY' GIGS IN IREALND IN AUGUST 2009,AND ANDY GLADLY EXCEPTED.ANDY RECIPROCATED LATER THAT YEAR BY ASKING PAT TO JOIN 'WISHBONE ASH' FOR A SHOW IN EDINBURGH.SINCE THEN THERE HAS BEEN A FEW MORE SHOWS IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND,WHEN THE GUYS CAN GET SOMETHING TOGETHER IN THEIR BUSY TOURING SCHEDULES.SO IT'S A REAL TREAT TO HAVE ANDY JOIN THE 'PMB' GUYS ONCE AGAIN.

THIS WILL BE THE FIRST EVER GIG THE TWO GUITARISTS HAVE DONE TOGETHER IN BELFAST AND WITH TWO SUCH EXCEPTIONAL GUITAR PLAYERS IT PROMISES TO BE A REAL WINNER.A FEAST OF NORTHERN IRELAND'S PAT MCMANUS NEW AND OLD MATERIAL AND SOME OF THE GREAT 'WISHBONE ASH' CLASSICS.THIS SURELY HAS TO BE ONE FOR THE DIARY.

ALSO ON THIS NIGHT 'THE PAT MCMANUS BAND' WILL BE LAUNCHING THEIR NEW CD 'WALKING THROUGH SHADOWS'.

SUPPORT ON THE NIGHT WILL BE FROM MILLION $ RELOAD A TOP NORTHERN IRELAND ACT WHO ARE UNDERTAKING A TOUR OF THE UK WITH THEIR NEW RECORD LABEL POWERAGE

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WE GOT TICKETS (LINK BELOW ) AND WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM KATY DALY'S FOR £10 BEFORE THE EVENT AND A SMALL AMOUNT OF TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR FOR £12

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/106643

PAT MCMANUS WAS BORN IN DERRYLIN CO.FERMANGH,GROWING UP IN A FAMILY STEEPED IN TRADITIONAL MUSIC.BOTH HIS PARENTS ,JOHN AND VALERIE PLAYED TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND ALSO TOURED IN 'THE STARLIGHT DANCE BAND',SO IT WASN'T LONG UNTIL PAT SHOWED AN  INHERENT INTEREST IN PLAYING MUSIC.STARTING OUT ON THE FIDDLE AT 5 YEARS OF AGE,HE APPEARED ON TV BY THE AGE OF 7 AND BECAME A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY BAND.BY 11 YEARS OF AGE PAT STARTED ALSO PLAYING THE GUITAR,WHICH WOULD BECOME HIS MAIN INSTUMENT DESPITE WINNING NUMEROUS FIDDLE CHAMPIONSHIPS DURING HIS TEENS.

AS HIS OTHER BROTHERS JOHN AND TOMMY GREW UP,IN TURN THEY EACH JOINED THE FAMILY BAND,BUT THE BOYS FINALLY BROKE AWAY TO FORM THEIR OWN BAND 'PULSE'.THIS SOON TURNED INTO THE NOW LEGENDARY IRISH BAND 'MAMA'S BOYS',WHO ENJOYED A 14 YEAR CAREER TOURING,RECORDING AND PLAYING ALONG SIDE SOME OF ROCK MUSIC'S GIANTS,INCLUDING:DEEP PURPLE,THIN LIZZY,SCORPIONS,RUSH,BON JOVI,WISHBONE ASH,HAWKWIND AND SO MANY MORE .PAT'S COMPOSTION 'NEEDLE IN THE GROOVE' IS NOW MARKED AS AN ALL TIME CLASSIC,ALWAYS REQUESTED ALL OVER THE WORLD STILL TODAY.

IN 1994 PAT AND JOHN'S BROTHER TOMMY PASSED AWAY AFTER A LIFE TIMES FIGHT WITH LEUKAEMIA.IT LEFT THE BROTHERS UTTERLY DEVASTATED AND IT TOOK SOME TIME BEFORE THEY COULD EVEN THINK OF PLAYING MUSIC AGAIN.FINALLY THE GUYS GOT TOGETHER AND 'CELTUS' WAS FORMED.THE BAND WERE QUICKLY TAKEN ON BY MUFF WINDWOOD AT SONY RECORDS AND THE NEXT 6 YEARS WERE SPENT RECORDING AND TOURING WITH 'CELTUS' A ROCK AND CELTIC MUSIC FUSION.THERE WORK WAS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED AND WON THEM MANY FANS AND AWARDS,THE MUSIC SOME SAY IS JUST STUNNING!

IN 2001 PAT CHOSE TO RETURN IN IRELAND.HE CONTINUED TO WRITE FOR TV AND FILMS,BUT WANTED TO RETURN MORE TO HIS TRADITIONAL ROOTS.SO FOR A WHILE HE WORKED WITH LOCAL MUSICIANS ON THE HISTORY OF FERMANAGH'S MUSIC AND ALSO WITH THE COLLECTIVE 'ERNE RISING',TRAVELLING TO PERFORM IN BOTH THE USA AND EUROPE.
FINALLY HE DECIDED HE WANTED TO GET BACK TO ROCK AND BLUES AND FOR A WHILE WORKED WITH 'THE PAINKILLERS',THEM AFTER DOING SOME STUDIO WORK WITH ROBIN ROBYNS FROM THE BOB SEGER BAND,JOINED UP WITH SLIGO BAND 'INDIAN' FOR RECORDING AND TOURING.PAT THEN FORMED HIS OWN BAND 'HIGH VOLTAGE' AND IN 2007 FINALLY RECORDED HIS OWN DEBUT SOLO ALBUM 'IN MY OWN TIME'

SHORTLY AFTER THIS TIME PAT RECRUTED FRIENDS,POWERFUL TYRONE DRUMMER PAUL FALOON AND THE LIVELY DUBLIN BASSIST GORDON SHERIDAN TO HIS BAND,BOTH WHOM HAVE A SPENT A LIFETIME AS PLAYERS,THE BAND NOW BEING TITLE SIMPLY 'THE PAT MCMANUS BAND'.THE THREE MEN HAVE NOW COMPLETED NUMEROUS EUROPEAN TOURS,FESTIVALS AND MADE A FURTHER 2 STUDIO RECORDINGS AND 2 LIVE DVD'S.THE 3RD 'WALKING THROUGH SHADOWS' HAS A RELEASE DATE OF MARCH 2011.THE BAND CONTINUES TO GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH,WITH PAT FINALLY BEING RECOGNIZED AND HERALDED AS THE IRISH GUITAR HERO HE IS.

PAT HAS ALSO RECORDED AND WRITTEN FOR MANY OTHER ARTISTS IN ALMOST EVERY MUSICAL GENRE,INCLUDED 'TRICKY' OF MASSIVE ATTACK(PLAYING VIOLIN AND PIANO!!)SAM FOX - 'TOUCH ME' AND 'SPIRIT OF AMERICA',SMOKIE,WISHBONE ASH...AND SO MANY MORE.HIS WORK AND WRITING ARE ALSO REGULARLY TO BE HEARD IN MANY TV PROGRAMS AND FILMS.

ROCK RADIO NI INTERVIEWED PAT RECENTLY AND THIS CAN BE LISTENED TO BY VISITING ON THE FOLLOWING LINK AND CLICKING ON BALATTY INTERVIEW PAT MCMANUS

http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/listen-in/live-sessions-player.html

ANDY POWELL

ANDY POWELL WAS BORN IN LONDON'S EAST END,BUT GREW UP IN HEMEL HEMPSTEAD,ENGLAND.HE FIRST STARTED PLAYING GUITAR AT THE AGE OF 11,BUT UNABLE TO AFFORD A NEW GUITAR,MADE HIS OWN 'LES PAUL' STYLE COPY.HIS FIRST BANDS INCLUDED LONDON BASED BANDS 'THE DEKOIS' AND THE 'SUGAR BAND'

IN 1969 AFTER ANSWERING AN ADD IN THE 'MELODY MAKER' HE JOINED 'WISHBONE ASH',AT THE SAME TIME AS FELLOW GUITARIST TED TURNER AND SO THE TWIN GUITAR SOUND OF 'WISHBONE ASH' WAS BORN.'WISHBONE ASH' ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF THE MAJOR INNOVATORS OF THE TWIN HARMONY GUITAR FORMAT AND ANDY HAS BEEN VOTED ONE OF THE TOP 20 GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME.AS WELL AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GUITARISTS IN ROCK HISTORY.HE IS ALSO CHIEFLY KNOWN FOR HIS USE OF THE 'FLYING-V' GUITAR.

DURING HIS CAREER FROM 1969 TO PRESENT,WISHBONE ASH RECORDED MANY,MANY ALBUMS SOME OF WHICH ARE REAL 'ROCK' CLASSICS,INCLUDING 'ARGUS','THERE'S THE RUB' AND 'NEW ENGLAND'.TO THIS DAY ANDY CONTINUES TO LEAD,RECORD AND CONTINUALLY TOUR 'WISHBONE ASH'.WHO IN 2009 CELEBRATED 40 YEARS OF 'WA' WITH A DVD FILMED IN LONDON,DURING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT.A NEW CD IS DUE FOR RELEASE.