A moment...

Saturday 11th March at The Caernarvon Castle, Camden. Disappointingly not actually a real castle, we were forced to make a quick costume change from the Jester gear we'd spent so long getting into. This was by far the biggest gig to date for The MüVs, a crowd of a couple of hundred beefed up by 44 die-hard MüVs fans who braved Camden High St on a dark Saturday night. My old man resisted the temptation to return to his rogue days of youth when offered all kinds of mind altering substances on the short walk from Camden Town tube - I'm so proud.

That's not to say his mind hasn't been altered by a recent long haul trip around the world's top destinations. Shanghai, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia to name but a few, he came back with some wild ideas about Buddhism, large rocks and a couple of fashionable cotton baseball caps. Far from improving my standing within the Chav community, these have surprisingly been the source of some outrageous ridicule - can't for the life of me think why...
A huge succes all round. Thanks to everyone who made the effort but a special shout out (innit) to the sales team who are single-handedly keeping The MüVs in clean pants by flirtaciously shifting EP1 units:
And then we had the after-show party. An evening of well mannered frivolities which ended as the birds began to sing and the sun cast a murky shadow over a thousand empty cans of strong lager and beat it's heavy fist upon my sore head. Please note Dave Phunk nursing man of the night Julian at Canning Town tube the morning after - he needed 'a moment.'
A couple of nights before the Camden gig we did something a bit special. Follow this link to view and/or download The MüVs debut live webcast, there's going to be more of this to come and if you click to subscribe it'll automatically be downloaded to your iTunes library. We've been dogged by technical problems bringing this to the web so please let us know if you're having any problems - Mum, don't worry I'll give you dedicated step by step instructions. Oh, and you might well need quicktime to view it, it's free and you can get the latest version here.

Next gig is Monday 27th in central London, look forward to seeing you there.

Dick Whittington

We had great fun at Brodies, Canary Wharf recently. Although first impressions might suggest otherwise, I am NOT in fact being accompanied by the Hulk on keys - this is Barney moments after he's spotted a camera, stopped playing and come right over to put his arm around me and pose for the snap...also note me maintaining complete composure and not pissing myself laughing one bit. An on stage chemistry was born between (and often during) numbers, notable for Barney coming to terms with the death of his pet hamster (was killed at the wheel). 'That Boy' was re-worked to include a musical round (first one since primary school) and 'Chav Song' changed key for an electrifying mouth organ solo - sweet. Set list:

1. I've only got eyes for you (but you should see what I've got for your sister)
2. Jealousy
3. True Love
4. That Boy
5. Haunting Me (including hand clapping)
6. The Commuter
7. Honey
8. Chav Song

The city bonus boys and girls (just doing my bit) were out in force and were generally well behaved, paid us no small amount of attention and were kind enough to offer some words of encouragement and thanks once we were finished. The first act on did have to contend with a real rude b*st*rd who insisted on coming on stage during a song, walking between performer and microphone, waltzing off behind the stage curtain only to appear stage left sticking money into the fag machine before doing the exact reverse to return to his seat. I nearly choked on my pint (but then remembered how much I'd paid for it and decided that I'd get better value for money simply swallowing). Here are some more photos:

Camden on the 11th March is but a week away. This will be The MüVs biggest gig to date, both in terms of venue and number of punters coming to see us - all of you can expect a great night and if anyone else is keen then please let us know.

Came across this recently, thought I'd have a go myself:

The Commuter - The MüVs
UK chart position: approx. number 1 July 2007

jOnnO (vocalist-guitarist-cool dude, The MüVs): I'd been in London just over two years trying to make a go of the band. I'd moved here after reading a book called Dick Whittington which describes the streets being paved with gold. I can't remember the author's name but he was definitely full of shit because everywhere I've walked here, the streets have been paved with greasy fried chicken. Once I'd discovered this it became clear I'd have to get a job - I got one and soon graduated from a pushee to a pusher in terms of tube travel. I became fascinated by my fellow commuters - why was nobody talking? Worse still were the looks of disgust thrown at tourists who didn't understand this aspect of tube etiquette, how dare you disturb our daydreams with your idle chatter and intent study of the underground map ("the girl with a smile who is not a commuter"). My own daydreams were turning to nightmares as the realisation of a lifetime commuting under somebody's armpit slowly began to dawn on me. I'd already decided to write a song to describe this but wasn't getting anywhere until one morning I recognised some graffiti on the Victoria line and realised I must have been on the same train before (..."caught the same train, yesterday"). From there I started to imagine introducing myself to everyone on the carriage and what I'd say to them but then again, I'm just a commuter - what more is there to say. Some songs seem to write themselves and this one took a grand total of about 30 minutes. I've still not said a word to anyone but often find myself humming the chorus in my head, I find it helps.

You can see the video for The Commuter here