mohair fans

The Final Gig

2007-10-01T07:42:00.002-07:00

Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Build Up

My first reaction when I heard that Mohair were to play a final gig before splitting was that I had to be there, I wasn't sure how I was going to get there or where I was going to stay, but that would sort itself out.

I applied to the boss for a pass and she agreed with the caveat, 'As long as it doesn't cost a fortune!' Hmmmmmmmmm!

Cheapest form of travel had to be the train, didn't it? Wrong! Return from Greenock to St. Albans was £130. Maybe I could just drive? I worked that out to be roughly £70 in petrol and a long and tiring couple of days, not ideal. So try the old favourite, EasyJet!

Glasgow to Luton...£45 return. Sold!

It's then only a ten minute journey from Luton airport to St.Albans after that.

Travel sorted, now I had to worry about getting somewhere to kip after the gig. I don't

need five star, although that would have been nice, so I asked Pete if he could recommend somewhere handy. After a couple of days he replied saying that Tim could put me up for the night. Brilliant, and right in my wife’s price range ;-))

With all that booked and arranged, all I had to do now was wait and try and arrange to meet up with some of the regulars from the board. Surely with this being the final gig there would be a good turnout. Over the intervening weeks nearly all the regulars confirmed that they were going to be in attendance. Notable exceptions being Angela, who would be in France, ChrisS who had a prior engagement in London and Nic and PoptartGirl who were stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic. So all in all it was shaping up to be a memorable night.

The Journey

Friday 28th September and I have to go into work in the morning, there are a few things to tidy up before I can head off. With these out of the way I head home at lunchtime.

I feel apprehensive before the boss drives me to the airport. I'm not sure why, when I've gone on trips like this before I'm usually excited and looking forward to it. I'm an

experienced traveller and not usually phased by travelling on my own. I'm sure the feeling will pass. Get to the airport about 2:20 for my 4 O'clock flight, plenty of time! I head up to the bar and grab a pint and settle down in a comfy couch and read my book.

Due to the fact that I'm travelling light, I checked in online a couple of days ago, this

means I can turn up at the last minute for the flight. So at 3:15 I head through to security only to be told that 'my scanners broke and you'll have to go down and check in at the check in desks as normal' ****!! Now I'm struggling for time, the EasyJet check in is

in Terminal 2 at Glasgow Airport which is 10 minutes walk from security. I make it in 5 minutes and check in as normal then have to run all the way back again to find the same girl still on the security desk with a working scanner!! (*&%&*&%$£*&^%) Modern technology, don't you just love it.

I eventually get through security and to the boarding gate with about 5 minutes to spare.

And there was me thinking I had all the time in the world.

Once on board, the flight was smooth and quick and we touched down in Luton at 5PM. I had done some research online prior to the trip so I knew that there was a free shuttle bus from the airport to the train station, I used the bus and then a 10 minute trip on the train brought me to St. Albans. Again this is where the internet comes into it's own. I had used Google Earth to have a look at the layout of St. Albans and knew that the venue was just round the corner from the station, so I was sitting at the bar of The Horn by 6.

The Build Up

Looking around I could see that the bar was quite busy, I couldn't work out if this was the normal Friday evening 'pint before going home' crowd or were there others like me who were there early for the gig. I also couldn't help wondering if there was anyone there from the forum, maybe thinking the same as me. I called Aidan (Tour manager) to find out when they would be getting to the venue and he told me they were stuck in traffic and should only be 10 minutes.

The first to arrive was Tom and we said hello and had a beer, he them introduced me to the guy sitting next to me at the bar, 'Stevie, meet KosmicStu.' Typical, I'd been sitting next to one of the guys I was supposed to be meeting and didn't realise. The rest of the band arrived along with Aidan and Matt, aka Bumbag. Matt, was the guitar tech on the road with Mohair for years before getting a 'real' job last year. I'd met him several times over the last couple of years and it was good to see him again.

Everyone was in high spirits and really looking forward to the gig and Pete mentioned that they'd been working on a lot of material over the past couple of days and the set would contain a few surprises. Excellent! I'd been hoping for some older and less well known material in the set. He wouldn't divulge any secrets though but did say he was sure I'd enjoy the set.

While the band and crew were getting fed, myself and Stu had a look through 8 of Tom's scrapbooks. He'd noticed them in a cupboard that morning and thought I'd like to see them.

He was right.

The books go way back to when Mohair started in 2001. There was everything in there. Newspaper clippings, tickets, passes, posters, everything related to the band. One newspaper clipping in particular caught my eye, it was from The Greenock Telegraph in Nov. 2005. This was the story I'd read in my local paper that first got me interested in the band. After reading the piece in the newspaper I went to the website and had a listen to the tracks on there at the time then went to see them play the following week. The rest as they say is history. Strange to find it in Toms scrapbook.

The other thing that greatly interested me was the alternative covers for Small Talk. Tom must have gone through 30-40 alternative covers before he got to the one that was used. All of them are preserved in the scrapbooks. Some of them are just plain awful, while others are fantastic. I'd like to get a hold of those books for a few days and share some of the material with you, it's very eye opening.

I’d arranged by phone earlier to meet up with Martin Carpenter (carps), I’d booked two tickets and only needed one, Martin required my spare for a mate of his. He duly arrived and we introduced ourselves and sorted out the ticket. I was happy to be able to help out carps as he was the guy who sent me the only missing link in my Mohair collection. I had been scouring everywhere trying to get a copy of the SLIDE EP by Trooper when Martin sent me his copy. He didn’t want payment so it was good to be able to pay him back.

At this stage myself and Stu headed through to the back room where the gig was to take place. It was quite a small hall but it looked like a proper venue. You could tell there had been hundreds of gigs in the place. Pete later mentioned that they had played there about 70 times under different guises over the years.

The band, Aidan and Matt were setting up the gear and going through a brief sound check, they were careful not to give anything away about the setlist for later.

Once this was sorted Tom invited myself and Stu to have a look through some boxes of stuff they had brought with them to sell. ‘ Help yourselves to anything you like.’

Wow! It was like Alladins cave.

As some of you may know, I like to collect as much Mohair stuff as I can and certain things are very difficult to get a hold off, as mentioned earlier, the Trooper CD’s are like gold dust, also there is the never released version of EOTL backed with Bubble on the M1 label. No wonder they are so difficult to track down, it looked like Tom had kept them all to himself. Boxes and boxes of them, all this time gathering dust in his mothers attic. Stu and myself were like kids in a candy store. The stuff we left behind was then going on general sale at knock down prices. Don’t be surprised if some rare Mohair material appears on eBay over the coming weeks. (Not from me I might add.)

By this time the place was starting to get a bit busier and Stu’s Dad had turned up. Turns out his Dad is ‘GreenDave’. I think I may have been told this last year in an exchange of emails with Stu but it had slipped my mind.

Also around this time Lee (h4rfy) arrived with his wife Nicky as did Angela’s daughter Corrie with her husband. (Forgive me, I can’t remember his name). We all had a right good blether about this, that and everything. Also as I’m sure you can imagine the wee voddy’s were flowing good style by this stage. Hic!

I headed out from the back room for some air and bumped into a pair of yellow crutches in the main bar. These belonged to Vicky (vicki79), she was there with her fine Scottish boyfriend Iain (Iain Mc). We had a chat and introductions were made to everyone else. We now had quite a good gang considering no one knew anyone on the way in. We also hooked up with the one and only Aaronhammer, gig recorder extraordinaire and his brother Luke. (LukeH)

Last of the expected faces to arrive was Robin (Going2Lose) with his girlfriend Debs.

More drink was bought, more nonsense talked and things moved closer to showtime.

It was amazing to meet up with Robin at last. We have been in regular contact over the past year, first through the messageboard and then through MSN. We’ve done a lot of work on our fansite mohairfans.com Robin is responsible for all the great graphics you see on there. We are currently working on another project for later this year or maybe next year. We’ll let you know ;-))

Vicky seemed to be under the impression that I’d promised her champagne tonight, I don’t know where she got that impression, did no one tell her I’m Scottish. I hate national stereotypes as a rule but I was willing to let it go this once. As it turned out however the bar had none anyway. I did try, honest……

Lots of photos were taken by everyone, including someone who took our picture and tried to sell it to us for £4 each!! Aye right!

The bar and the back room were filling up and we all took up a spot front and left of the stage, right next to a monster speaker, (I would come to regret that later) and before long the lights went down.

The Gig

By the start time the venue was jammed full, I’m not sure about the capacity but there must have been 300 people crammed in. This was my 7^th Mohair gig and I’ve seen them play everything from 20 people to thousands at the SECC. Although this was quite a small venue, the fact that everyone was there purely to see Mohair made for an electric atmosphere.

The band took to the stage to a tumultuous roar and launched into Octopus Chunks, this set the tone for the evening, a kind of greatest hits set.

Almost every time I’ve seen the band play it’s been pretty much the same set list, i.e. Small Talk. Not this time though.

You could tell from the off that everyone was really up for it. The crowd and the band. After blistering through Octopus Chunks they followed on with Little Voice and then a reworked version of Life. The crowd were loving it and the cheers between each song were deafening. Another blast from the past followed with a brilliant rendition of Bubble which the crowd lapped up. More old material was to come. After a raucous version of Talk Of The Town we were treated to Kansas City $1.09. I don’t know the last time they played this live but it’s been a while. It was evident that the rehearsals of the past few days was paying off big style. Disarray and Everything I Want followed before heading back in time once more with a trio of ‘oldies.’ True Light Colours, Getaway Car and Superstar. The band were on top form and mixing it up nicely between old and new, fast and slow. The crowd were loving every minute of it. I’ve not seen a crowd so involved in a gig in a long time. Singing along, clapping, hands in the air, the whole bit.

It was evident also that the band were really having a great time. I don’t know whether it was because the pressure was off, ‘this is the last one just enjoy it’ or because the crowd were so obviously on their side right from the off, whatever it was it worked.

They were building towards a crescendo over the last few songs, Stranded, La Song, Keep It Together (Pete’s trumpet playing getting a huge roar) and then, ‘This is our last song.’

It had to be End Of The Line and the place erupted and I think every single person in the hall was singing along and the noise was incredible. The band stretched the song out as far as they could but eventually had to finish. The noise the crowd made was more like 3000 than 300. The band left the stage after several waves to the crowd. Of course that was never going to be enough on an historic occasion such as this. After a couple of minutes of the crowd chanting their name, back they came for a final time as Mohair.

They had 4 more songs to go and they were awesome, first up was Bombshell, this was a song I’d hoped they would play and it didn’t disappoint, then we had another golden oldie in Brown Eyes Blue and then surprisingly (for me anyway) Damned If You Do. Surprising because I still think of this as a new song due to the fact that’s its never been released anywhere, and I thought they may have held this back for the new project. It’s a cracking song and it was great to hear it. That finally brought us to the last ever Mohair song. It really was no surprise to hear the opening to Thin Air.

When you listen to the lyrics it really is the most fitting song to finish with.

‘we just want to stay together’, ‘we don't have time for this’ and ‘high time for a change’ It really was quite emotional and there were a few tears shed in the audience.

When they finished they took a bow and left the stage to the strains of ‘We’ll meet again’ playing over the PA.

Aftermath

The group of us who were standing together made our way back into the bar and got a few drinks in and dissected the set, the general consensus was ‘Awesome!’

Personal highlights for me were Octopus Chunks, Bubble, End Of The Line, Bombshell and Thin Air. We all hung around for ages talking and drinking and having a laugh. We even had a couple of games of pool with Vicky deciding to use her crutch instead of a cue with predictable results.

We were introduced to Tom’s younger brother, (Badgerboy) and it’s not hard to tell that they are related. Two peas in a pod springs to mind. We also met up with the mighty Sybil after the gig finished and introduced ourselves, she was also on the lookout for Champers but as mentioned earlier, there was none. She had to make do with a JD & Coke.

I had a chance to speak to the members of the band formerly known as Mohair after the gig and they enjoyed it as much as anyone and they were all very upbeat about the future. Here’s hoping.

Just before Tom left myself and Aaron managed to get the 4 boys together for one last Mohair group shot. A historic picture indeed.

With that everyone started drifting off. Tim and his girlfriend Emma (Who I’d met earlier) were heading off and as I was staying with Tim, I was off as well. This was when I noticed that standing next to the speaker all night was a mistake. They were talking to me on the 10 minute car journey to Tim’s and I couldn’t hear a word. My ears were still buzzing next morning, making hearing difficult.

Saturday

After a fine breakfast served up by John, (Tim’s Dad) & Josie (Tim’s sister) myself and Tim headed down to unload the van at their recording / rehearsal studio. Aidan was waiting for us and we unloaded the van and left all the gear in the studio for the next time. It really is a great wee set up they have. Two rooms, one is a relaxation area with pool table and couches and stuff and the other is a studio. Fully soundproofed with a mixing desk and recording equipment, a brilliant place to go in and make a lot of noise and record anything of interest that comes out. They have this place for the next couple of years so hopefully more great music can come out of there before too long.

After that it was the parting of the ways, Tim headed home and Aidan dropped me in Watford and went to drop the van back at the rental company. I made my way back home via Watford, St. Albans and Luton airport, finally getting home at 11:40 on Saturday night.

All in all a very tiring, but rewarding two days. I met up with a great bunch of people who I’d only ever spoken to on the message board before, saw a brilliant band play a blistering gig and generally had a great time.

Huge thanks to everyone for their kindness, particularly Tim for putting me up, and here’s hoping we’ll all meet up again sometime soon. Apologies to anyone I’ve forgotten, I met so many people that night I’d be surprised if I haven’t missed someone.

Ladies and Gentlemen THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE.

All Photos Here

Mohair - Final London gig.

2007-09-10T01:24:00.000-07:00

Mohair have played there final London gig.
Wednesday night saw the boys at Cargo where they produced the usual blistering set.
As I write this there is only the final gig in St. Albans at the end of the month to come and then it's done. :-((

Aaronhammer was there and he reported an excellent night with the highlight being an emotional version of Thin Air.

Full Setlist:

Little Voice
Talk Of The Town
Life
Dissaray
Down In The Dumps
Everything I Want
Stranded
Thin Air
Keep It Together
End Of The Line

As can be seen, there is a distinct lack of new songs in that list, we can only assume that these are being saved now for the new project.

The first video clip of this gig is now online.
Click on the link below for Stranded

Stranded at Cargo - 5th Sept 07

Thanks to SHILLINGFORDS for the clip.

This Is The End Of The Line

2007-08-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

News Flash from Mohair.

Dear all

After 9 years, hundreds of gigs and much laughter and happiness it is time for the good ship mohair to pull into the harbour for one last time. It will then be broken up for scrap and the old sea dogs will be returned to their loved ones for a jolly good scrub.

We feel mohair has gone as far as it can and it is time to lay it to rest. We will look back on the years and be forced to smile as we watch the videos of our various adventures around the world. We can listen to the hours of music we have created together and we can remember the familiar faces that greeted us wherever we went.

The forthcoming dates will be the last mohair gigs and we plan to add a VERY LAST gig somewhere as a fitting send off.

The four of us are still as strong a unit as we ever were and we don’t intend to end our musical journey together just yet. The future brings new things, much of which we haven’t worked out yet. Suffice to say, keep a look out.

All that needs to be said now is a massive thank you to everyone for their unwavering love and support. You don’t know how much it has meant to us over the past few years.

It’s a shame that we feel stranded in the middle of nowhere but that’s life. However, we aren’t in disarray, we intend to keep it together and create something new out of thin air. The little voice inside tells us to pick up the broken pieces and to stop-start again. We hate to drop this bombshell but ladies and gentlemen……….this is the end of the line.

Love

Alex, Pete, Tim and Tom

New Songs - New Videos

2007-08-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

Just to let you all know that Aaronhammer has uploaded 6 new videos taken at The Horns gig from Sat. 4th July.
Tracks are:

Scars
Damned If You Do
Serial Monogamist
Pop Princess
BFI
Down In The Dumps

All videos are downloadable.
Enjoy

Manchester Review

2007-08-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the break in service, I've been away on holiday.

Just come across a review for the recent gig in Manchester at Night & Day.
Positive review but it does raise similar questions as were raised on the forum.
Have a read.

Octopus Chunks EP

2007-07-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

You'll have to be quick, but there is currently a very rare Octopus Chunks EP for sale on eBay.
This is almost as rare as the Trooper singles that were on there recently.
Good Luck.

Link

Mohair and the PSP

2007-07-10T02:29:00.000-07:00

The UK playstation site has an interview with Pete and access to some Video TourDiaries currently on their site.
The interview can be read here
You have to register to access the videos, unfortunately I do not own a PSP therefore cannot register and do not know if these are new Video Diaries or existing ones. If you can access them let me know.

Thanks to Matt for the heads up.

EOTL @ SXSW

2007-07-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Our good friend 'Baldy Neil' has posted another video from this years SXSW performance.
Again the sound quality is excellent.

EOTL

Cheers Neil

Live @ SXSW 2007

2007-07-03T02:18:00.000-07:00

Another video has appeared on You Tube of Mohair performing their showcase set @ SXSW back in April. Excellent sound quality of this.

Life

Rare CD's on ebay

2007-06-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

Two extremely rare Trooper CD's have appeared on ebay today.
For those of you who are not aware, Trooper was the name Mohair used for a few years before changing to Mohair.
They released two CD EP's in very limited quantity.
As you can imagine these are now extremely hard to find.
Both CD's are for sale from a Canadian dealer, though be warned, they are very expensive.
Have a look:

D.A.V.E EP

SLIDE EP

More diary stuff

2007-06-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

No sooner has the 2nd installment appeared but No 3 is now online.
This episode covers the bands mini tour of Germany with The Holloways for British Music week.

As always if you are subscribed to the mohairfans.com podcast on iTunes, the video will be available there in the next couple of days.

YouTube

UK Video Diary Part 2

2007-06-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

The 2nd installment of Mohairs Uk (& Monaco) video diary is now online.
It can be viewed on YouTube here.
The episode should be available through iTunes tomorrow.

New Photos Online

2007-06-17T02:17:00.001-07:00

There is now a photo gallery online of Mohairs recent acoustic gig at Mr Kyps.
Head over and have a look.
Pics

Happy Birthday Tim

2007-06-13T03:37:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to Mr Slade for today as the band make their way to Sweden to play at the Hultsfred Festival on Friday.

Have a good one mate.

New Videos online

2007-06-12T03:38:00.000-07:00

Good quality video of 2 new songs from Saturdays Nambucca gig have surfaced on YouTube.
Have a look here:

BFI
Serial Monogamist.

Thanks to Aaronhammer for the upload.

Janice Long again

2007-06-11T05:44:00.001-07:00

Last weeks Janice Long Session is now available to download in bitesize chunks rather than one large file.
Go Get !!

Mohair on Fox Boston Breakfast

2007-06-10T14:57:00.001-07:00

Back in March, Mohair appeared on the breakfast show on Fox Boston.
Video of both of the songs played are now available to view on YouTube.
Enjoy.

Stranded

End Of The Line

UK Video Diaries

2007-06-09T17:16:00.000-07:00

As the UK tour continues, enjoy the first of the new UK tour video diaries.
View on YouTube here
or download through iTunes here

Tour latest

2007-06-08T03:31:00.000-07:00

Setlists below for the last 2 nights gigs.
The band have been on top form despite playing to less than full venues.

Newcastle Academy 6th June 2007

Life
Little Voice
B.F.I.
Talk Of The Town
Had Enough
Stranded
Keep It Together
End Of The Line

Glasgow The Arches 7th June 2007

Life
Little Voice
B.F.I.
Talk Of The Town
Serial Monogamist
Stranded
Had Enough
Keep It Together
End Of The Line

Newcastle & Exeter updates

2007-06-05T03:16:00.001-07:00

Two bits of news:

The gig on Wednesday 6th in Newcastle has been moved
from Academy 2 into
Academy 1
which holds 2000 people so no excuse now about not being able to get a ticket!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secondly we have added an 16yr old and under show on
SUNDAY 10TH IN EXETER
Doors open at 2pm and show finishes at 4pm

You must be 16 years old or under to get in
The venue holds 450 and tickets are already selling fast so get in quick

The venue is called The Exeter Phoenix
BOX OFFICE 01392 667080
BRADNINCH PLACE GANDY STREET
EXETER EX4 3LS
http://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/

Tour starts Tonight

2007-06-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

Don't forget that mohair's brilliant new single 'Talk Of The Town' is still on sale on very limited edition vinyl and via download through iTunes and other usual channels.
The vinyl can be bought at the following stores:

NORMAN RECORDS
ROUGH TRADE LIMITED
ACTION RECORDS
REFLEX
FIVES RECORDS & TAPES
DAVIDS BOOKSHOPS(LETCHWORTH)LT
SPILLERS RECORDS -GRAMBAND LTD
SISTER RAY LTD
AMULET RECORDS
ADRIANS RECORDS
JMF RECORDS
ATOMIC SOUNDS
BEAT BOX RECORDS
WEST END RECORDS
TRACKS MUSIC LIMITED
CAVERN MUSIC SERVICES
SQUARE RECORDSTHE RECORD SHOP LTD
REVEAL RECORDS (A TRADING
JUNO RECORDS LTD
KEY MAIL ORDER.COM LTD
SELECTADISC (LONDON) LTD
J.G.WINDOWS LTD
TEMPEST RECORDS LTD
HERRICK WATSON LTD
TRACK RECORDS
VALHALLA
AVALANCHE GLASGOW
DAWSONS MUSIC LIMITED
RECORD SAVINGS
RAPTURE ENTERTAINMENT LTD
ROUND SOUNDS LTD
SOUND HOUSE
S.T.RECORDS,
NUMBER 19 LTD
ROCKERS
ACORN RECORDS
LEWKS MUSIC

The vinyl version also contains a brand new song 'No one gets the better of me'

And also don't forget to get your tickets for the tour, starting tonight, details below:

Tuesday 5th: Birmingham The Rainbow - Tickets.
Wednesday 6th: Newcastle Academy 2 - Tickets.
Thursday 7th: Glasgow Arches NME Night - Tickets.
Friday 8th: Doncaster Leopard - Tickets.
Saturday 9th: London Nambucca Tickets.
Sunday 10th: Exeter Cavern - Tickets.
Monday 11th: Manchester Day and Night Club - Tickets.
Friday 15th: Sweden Hultsfred Festival

Thats all for now...

New All Ages gig.

2007-06-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

Mohair have added an afternoon all ages acoustic gig to their current tour. Details below:

Thanks to Mrs Brightside.

Mr Kyps Acoustic set.

2007-06-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

Mohair produced a storming acoustic set last night at Mr Kyps in Poole.
They were on stage for approx. 70 mins and played a total of 17 songs including old and new songs as well as several covers.
Full setlist:

Life
Talk Of The Town
Getaway Car
LA Song
Shadows & Doubts
Sleep
Stranded
Disarray
Being Around (Lemonheads Cover)
Flesh & Bones
Ella May
Thin Air
Keep It Together
End Of The Line

Encore

Our House (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young cover)
Stone Rollin Willie
Kiss My Ass

Hopefully I'll be able to bring you some photos from the night at some point soon.
In the meantime here is the gallery of pictures from the last Mohair gig at Mr Kyps in February.
Pics.

Session now available for download

2007-05-31T05:39:00.001-07:00

With thanks to Harfy, last nights session is now available for download.

Head over here and fill your boots.

Janice Long Session

2007-05-31T04:43:00.000-07:00

The band performed a storming 3 song set last night on the Janice Long Show.
Listen again here.
Tracks played were:

Down In the Dumps
Talk Of The Town
Had Enough

They also spent some time talking about new material and their time in the US as well as Toms upcoming nuptials.
The full session will be available for download in the next day or so.
Watch this space for details.

Janice Long Session Tonight

2007-05-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

Don't forget that Mohair will be live in session tonight on the Janice Long show.
The show starts at 00:30 and the band will be performing new material.
Well worth a listen.