MUSIC IN MANCHESTER
	(Manchester Bands Section)
	INTERVIEW WITH RAGWEED MANCHESTER ROADHOUSE  9/5/00

A small packed venue;  an exuberant crowd.  Okay, so you are first on at 8:30, supporting a band called Void (formerly called Cecil)  but the Monarch in London  is up for it.    The atmosphere is contagious, this is definitely what you want and you want some more of it.  The adrenalin and beer continue long after the crowd has gone, and you have to face the long drive home, but you don’t mind, you have enjoyed it and will live on the experience for weeks to come.

Cut to 24 hours later to the Roadhouse in Manchester. A sparsely attended event, you know almost everyone in the crowd, and your hangover is beginning to kick in.  It’s a good job you have last night s experience to remember.  Such are the vagaries of rock’n’roll and this has just happened to Ragweed.

The drummer, Gary, has just walked across the empty spaces and is still trying to get to grips with how you can go so quickly from one emotion to the other, detailing to me how the band are viewing the future with renewed hope.

This 4 piece from the Bolton area are hoping that some of the fruits of their  18 months of hard labour will start to pay off.  Their deceptively laid back and `rope them in ensnare them’ style betrays the bands root of Punk (vocalist Johnny), hard rock (Gary), Jazz  (bassist Jamie) and anything going (lead guitarist Damien)

With a neat line in self mocking humour - check the song titled `He’s Got the Biggest Headphones’ - they nevertheless are determined to `make it.’    A change of management has coincided with opportunities for relatively higher profile gigs such as one with the BBC outdoor events and possibly the Castlefield Waters Edge weekender

They play again in Manchester towards the end of May, and this time they are hoping for a better turnout
 

CD single:   Catching Fire      Released on X-records.  X-CD 001

x-records  44 Bridge St.  Bolton,  Lancashire  BL1 1EG
TEL: 01204 384 579            FAX:    01204 370 214

For a different review of this gig see       

Manchester  Bands	A-D	E-H	I-L	M-P	Q-T	U-Z
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