Big Country reform with Mike Peters on vocals

Legendary 80's rockers are to reform and have announced 4 shows to take place in January 2011. More may be added.

The band exploded onto the scene in 1983 with anthemic songs such as 'Fields of Fire' & 'In A Big Country' which were culled from their classic debut album 'The Crossing' which sold several million worldwide. They followed up with a number one album 'Steeltown'. They released 8 studio albums all of which entered the Top Ten and released 28 singles 5 of which were also Top Ten.

Approaching their 30th anniversary the band are lining up concerts to prepare for a period of celebration that will embrace their past. Tragically, co founder Stuart Adamson passed away in 2001. A traumatic time for all connected in Stuart's life but it is a great way of remembering him by performing songs live that the band played for the 18 year period their existence spanned.

Tony Butler says 'To play again as Big Country was something that was only going to happen if we could find someone who could compliment the band and sing the songs in the way they need to be sung; with heart and soul. Mike Peters from The Alarm has stepped in to fill the premise for a few shows. It's about time the songs got another airing, and we think Stuart would be pleased too'.

The new line up consists of -

Tony Butler - Bass Guitar and Vocals
Mark Brzezicki - Drums and Vocals
Mike Peters - Vocals and Guitar
Bruce Watson - Guitar and Vocals
Jamie Watson ' Guitar.

Dates are -

January
Wednesday 5th Newcastle O2 Academy
Thursday 6th London Islington O2 Academy
Friday 7th Birmingham O2 Academy
Saturday 8th Liverpool O2 Academy

All shows are on sale from Saturday 11th September @ 9am via www.gigsandtours.com or on 0844 811 0051. Tickets are priced £20 regionally (£22.50 London).

The band's official website www.bigcountry.co.uk will be selling tickets from today ' Wednesday 8th September.

TNT

TNT Biography

TNT was founded in Trondheim, Norway in 1982 by ex The Kids singer Dag Ingebrigtsen (vocals), Ronni le Tekrø (guitars), Steinar Eikum (bass) and Diesel Dahl (drums).


Their debut album (TNT - 1983) was somewhat special since the lyrics were Norwegian. It is still rated as a classic album in Norwegian music history.
Steinar Eikum left the band after their debut album and was replaced by Morty Black. Dag Ingebrigtsen originally wrote the lyrics for their next album in Norwegian. Before recording the album he left the band and was replaced by American singer Tony Harnell. Harnell made new lyrics in English, and their next album, Knights of The New Thunder was a kind of breakthrough for the band. They got a hit with the musicvideo made for Seven Seas.
Tell No Tales (1987) was the big breakthrough for the band. They made success, especially in USA, where they hit the Billboard Top 100 charts. They toured USA and Japan. Internal problems in the band resulted in Diesel Dahls departure. He formed his own band, TinDrum. 

Ken Odiin replaced Diesel as drummer and in 1989 the band released Intuition. Some disagreements on the progress in the band resulted in a pause. Ronni le Tekrø and Morty Black formed a hobby band called Bad Habbitz, who played cover songs og Thin Lizzy as well as the band Vagabond.
In 1992 a new album called Realized Fantasies was released. Ken Odiin quited the band after the release of Intuition. The new drummer was John Macaluso from New York. He quited the band after disagreements during the Japan tour and formed the band ARK with Tore Østby.
Another pause followed before they released the album Firefly in 1996. New drummer was Frode Hansen from the band Jack in A Box. After some concerts in Norway and Japan, Tony Harnell left the band to form his own band called Westworld.
A year later Harnell rejoined the band and they released Transistor in 1997. Despite a new album the band did not tour and Harnell left the band again to keep Westworld alive.
In 2003 the band released a greatest hits album called The Big Bang. Following the release the band started working on new songs. Diesel Dahl returned to the band and they released an EP called Taste. The following year, in 2004, they made the album My Religion.



Morty Black left the band in 2005 and was replaced by Sid Ringsby for a short period. Ringsby played bass on their next album, All The Way To The Sun, and was replaced by Victor Borge shortly after.

Tony Harnell left the band again in 2006 and the live album Live In Madrid is his second last performance with TNT.

The search for a new singer gave results. English singer Tony Mills (ex Shy) joined the band. After a creative period in Ronni's studio the band made lots of new material which resulted in the new album called The New Territory.

The new TNT lineup is:
Ronni le Tekrø, guitars
Tony Mills, vocals,
Diesel Dahl, drums
Victor Borge, bass

source : www.TNTTHEBAND.com

Queen

Queen are an English rock band formed in 1969 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor, with bass guitarist John Deacon joining the following year. Queen rose to prominence during the 1970s and are Britain's most successful band of the past three decades.[1]

The band is noted for their musical diversity, multi-layered arrangements, vocal harmonies and incorporation of audience participation into their live performances.[2] Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll.[3]

Queen had moderate success in the early 1970s, with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at the Opera the following year that the band gained international success. Since 1975, eighteen of the band's albums have reached number one on numerous charts around the world. Since 1973, they have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and numerous compilation albums.





Following Mercury's death in 1991 and Deacon's retirement later in the decade,[4] May and Taylor have performed infrequently under the Queen name. Since 2005, they have been collaborating with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers, which has led to Queen recording their first studio album in 13 years.

Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English hard rock band formed in Hertfordshire in 1968.[4] Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock,[5] although the members of the band have always refused to label themselves as heavy metal[6]. The band has also incorporated pop and progressive rock elements [5]. It was once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest band,[5][7][8] and it has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.[9][10][11][12] Deep Purple was ranked #22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program.[13]





The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus. The 1968-76 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. [14][15] Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured: Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass guitar) and Ian Paice (drums).[8] This line-up was revived from 1984-89 and again in 1993 before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable. The current line-up including guitarist Steve Morse has been much more stable, though Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member.[16]

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band that formed in September 1968. Led Zeppelin consisted of Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals, harmonica), John Paul Jones (bass guitar, keyboards) and John Bonham (drums, percussion). With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin is regarded as one of the first heavy metal bands.[1][2] Their rock-infused interpretation of the blues and folk genres[3] also incorporated rockabilly,[4] reggae,[5] soul,[6] funk,[7] classical, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, pop, Latin, and country. The band did not release the popular songs from their albums as singles in the UK, as they preferred to develop the concept of album-oriented rock.[8]



Close to 30 years after disbanding following Bonham's death in 1980, Led Zeppelin continue to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success, and broad influence. The band have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide,[9][10][11][12][13] including 111.5 million sales in the United States[14] and they have had all their non-compilation studio albums reach the U.S. Billboard Top 10.[15] Led Zeppelin are ranked No. 1 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.[16] Rolling Stone magazine has described Led Zeppelin as "the heaviest band of all time" and "the biggest band of the 70s".[17]



On December 10, 2007 the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited (along with deceased drummer John Bonham's son Jason) for the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 in London.