News Archives
November 10, 2004
1. It is with regret that we announce the departure of Michelle.
Unlike the usual “artistic differences” and personality issues, this came down to UK visa restrictions. Duane’s working-holiday visa expires in April 2005 and cannot be renewed. Unless he can persuade his employer to obtain a work permit for him, we’ll be heading back to Perth by mid-2005.
Unfortunately, Michelle’s commitment to her family, friends and career ties her to Manchester and would not be able to move to Australia, should we have to return to Australia. As a long distance relationship is unlikely to work for us, we felt that it was in everyone’s best to act quickly and pursue our musical futures separately.
Michelle has made a significant contribution to the band. She joined us at a difficult time – after the departure of Alitia and Uwe – and made it possible for us to continue as a band. Michelle’s positive spirit and cheerful disposition always made her great to have around, and her great voice, energetic performances and friendly nature have won the band more than a few fans. We thank Michelle for her contribution and wish her the very best for the future.
2. On a brighter note, we are delighted to announce the addition of Fiona Creaby into the fold.
Like Michelle, Fiona is a natural performer with a phenomenal voice and an engaging stage presence. Fiona’s past credits include fronting Manchester band Liquid Sky at the 2004 Bloodstock Indoor Festival in Derby. Perhaps most conveniently, Fiona is willing and able to move to Australia with the band, should it become necessary. We welcome Fiona into the band.
3. We are acutely aware that our debut album has been “in progress” for some time, and that many of you are patiently waiting for it. We have been delayed once again. We have begun writing and recording 3 new songs for inclusion in Alone as we feel that it is necessary to showcase Fiona’s vocals. It just seems a little strange to have a lead singer who will not be featured in a debut album.
As soon as demos of the songs are available, we will make them available on our website for download.
In the meantime, if you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail us at info@theshadowplay.com
Best regards
Duane, Guy and Linus
September 11, 2004
Wednesday 15th September @ 12.00AM - Tune in for our interview / acoustic set on BBC GMR 95.1 & 104.6FM (Greater Manchester).
You can also tune in online from anywhere in the world - http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/ Just click on "listen live" and then select GMR.
Our next gig:
Wednesday 15th September
Supporting Happylife @ Rockworld (65 Oxford Rd, Manchester) ph: 0161 236 9971</
Doors open at 8pm
Cost: £4 advance from www.ticketline.co.uk or 0161 8321111 or £5 on the door with NUS or £6 for everyone else
Line up: ROADSIDE / SHADOWPLAY / HAPPYLIFE
August 6, 2004
Our next gig will be Sunday 29th August at Jabez Clegg (2 Portsmouth St, Manchester)
Admission: £4.00 for 9 bands. First band on at 3.00pm
LIQUID SKY / STRAIN / ALLERJEN / SHADOWPLAY / TENSILE / LAP / RAZORWIRE / ENEMO J / DWELL
More details to follow.
August 3, 2004
Our next gig will be Sunday 29th August at Jabez Clegg (2 Portsmouth St, Manchester)
Bands on the bill so far are as follows:
LIQUID SKY (hopefully!!)
STRAIN
ALLERJEN
SHADOWPLAY
TENSILE
LAP
RESONATE (possibly)
And a couple of others still to confirm....
More details to follow.
20th July 2004
G’day! Howzitgoin’?
First, we’d like to say thanks to all who came to see us at Jabez Clegg (Manchester) on 13 June, Talbot Hotel (Stoke-on-Trent) on 25 June and The Soundgarden (Manchester) on 17 July. Our next gig is on 29 July at the Night and Day, Oldham St, Manchester.
We’d also like to say thanks to all who have e-mailed us with really positive feedback. Keep ‘em comin’ ;-)
Okay, now down to business…
1. A lot has happened since the last newsletter. Most significantly, we are extremely pleased to announce that we have a new lead singer – Ol’ Blighty’s very own Michelle Adamson.
Michelle’s great to hang out with. Thankfully, she’s also got a fantastic voice, an uncommon charm, a positive spirit and an endless supply of energy – basically, all the hallmarks of a great lead singer. Actually, Michelle’s also got a great radio voice… hmmm… Anyway, Michelle’s bio and photos should be up on the website soon.
2. But wait, there’s more! Also joining us for our live sets is Jon Craven, guitarist with Liquid Sky, one of Manchester’s finest metal bands. We are honoured to have Jon on board... well, on stage. Jon’s very much a gear junkie, a bargain hunter and a professional eBayer. In fact, he’s turned me into a bit of an eBay addict! Anyway, two guitars definitely sound better than one live! By the way, Jon isn’t bad company either.
3. Just in case you’re wondering, no, we are not a seven-piece band with two lead singers. It is with regret that we announce the departure of Uwe and Alitia from the band. We wish them the very best for the future.
4. We’ve started working on a few new songs and hope to roll them out in the not too distant future. We won’t give too much away as this stage. In fact, I don’t think Michelle has even heard them!
5. We’ve received lots of e-mails about the album recently. Well, it’s close to completion. Duane and I are now almost completely deaf from mixing the album, but we are really happy with how it’s sounding. Unfortunately, we’ve had some problems with the PC over the weekend. We hope to sort that out very shortly and will let you know where and when the album is available.
6. We’ve also been receiving requests to play gigs in various cities and towns. We would love to play in your town. If you’re able to, please send us some contact details of promoters and bands in your area and we’ll try to organise a gig there. Also, thanks to those who have already provided us with contact details.
7. We will be updating the website with new band photos, bio, news, etc. shortly.
We hope to see you at one of our gigs!
Linus
July 15, 2004
Upcoming gigs:
Saturday 17th July 2004 at The Soundgarden, Manchester - Blackfriars st (at the bottom of Market St where it crosses Deansgate)
Thursday 29th July at Night and Day (Oldham St Manchester)
DAY WITH MARY / SHADOWPLAY / THE MAGS + guests £4
May 1, 2004
Our next gig will be Sunday 13th June at Jabez Clegg (2 Portsmouth St, Manchester)
These are the bands in their order of appearance (Liquid Sky headlining):
LIQUID SKY
SEVEN YEARS DEAD
GONE TIL WINTER
SHADOWPLAY
GRIPSHIFT
HAUNTED SCIENCE
KARMA
SOUL RETRIEVE
HALCYON
Doors open: 2pm
First band: 2.30pm
Admission: £4
Come and support some of Manchesters finest bands!
April 11, 2004
Click here to check out our latest demo review thanks to Jason of metalreviews.com
"This is a very impressive debut for the Australians. I’m looking forward to hearing more from Shadowplay in the coming future!" 81/100
Jason - www.metalreviews.com
February 20, 2004
CHECK IT OUT - Three full length mp3s are now available for download on the Audio Page. New photos from recent gigs coming soon.
January 21, 2004
Check out our latest review of the "Alone" Album Demo reviewed by Nat Whitham of Gigs Unlimited UK.
"Everything you could want from an album of the year contender is here in abundance." 5/5
Nat Whitham - www.gigs-unlimited.co.uk
December 17, 2003
News in brief:
1. Upcoming gigs:
22/01/2004 @ Jabez Clegg (2 Portsmouth Rd, Manchester) with Kill Your Creation, Verm & Fallen (Doors open 8pm) £3.00
03/02/2004 @ Night & Day (26 Oldham St, Manchester) with SevenYearsDead supporting Uniting The Elements £3.50
10/03/2004 @ Dry Bar (28 - 30 Oldham St, Manchester)
2. Our previous gig: 12/11/2003 @ Night & Day (Manchestser). Thanks to everyone who came to support us.
3. We're off to Scotland for Christmas.
Now the details...
Since our last update, we've had our debut gig in Manchester (Night & Day, 12 Nov). It was a pretty good night for us and it was great to get back into it. We'd like to thank everyone who came to support us. Thank you!
One of the bands on the bill that night was local band SevenYearsDead. Those guys rocked! Very "Pantellica", with a hint of Black Label Society. They are really nice guys too.
We've also recently been made aware of another band in Manchester. Liquid Sky is fronted by a female lead singer and (according to a local promoter) are quite similar to us. From what we've heard, these guys are pretty good.
Our next gig is scheduled for 22 January 2004 at Jabez Clegg (2 Portmouth St, Manchester). It should be a great night. We will keep you updated on other bands that will join us.
As for other band (non-music) matters, not content with freezing our ti... ummm... ears off in Manchester, we thought we'd go one better and spend the Christmas long weekend in Scotland - Inverness (north-east of Loch Ness) and Ben Nevis (Britain's highest mountain). It'll be the first white Christmas for most of us.
A little bit of trivia:
1. We'll be driving through Perth (Scotland) en-route to Inverness.
2. While it'll be about 40°C in Perth (Australia) on Christmas, it'll be about 40°F (less than 5°C) in Perth (Scotland).
Until next time, "have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."
October 10, 2003
You awright?
It’s been a while since our last update, mainly because we really had nothing much to report… No, we haven’t been slacking off, yes, we’re still sticking it out in Manchester.
We’ve all got jobs now and are settling in pretty well. In fact, we’re settling in so well, we’re almost locals now, you no wot ah mean?
Anyway, after a month of (intermittent) rehearsals, we’re finally ready to gig again. For those of you who remember, our last gig was in April 2003, supporting Voyager at their CD launch in Perth, Western Australia.
Our UK debut is scheduled for 12 November 2003 at NIGHT & DAY (26 Oldham Street, Manchester). We are on stage at 9pm followed by bands BDV, NIXON and SEVEN YEARS DEAD. Tickets are £3.50 at the door.
If you’re new to ShadowPlay, we’re brilliant. If you’ve known us for a while, we’re still brilliant ;-)
Seriously, if you’re new to ShadowPlay, check out our sample MP3s. If you like what you hear, please come along and see us.
ShadowPlayers
July 27, 2003
We have arrived in Manchester, UK!
We left Perth in winter so that we could have summer in the UK, but looking out of the window now, you wouldn’t think it’s the middle of summer. The sky is grey, it’s constantly raining and people are walking around in thick jackets and beanies.
Our instruments should arrive in late August / early September, so we aren’t in a position to rehearse or gig yet. This actually works out well, as it gives us time to settle in, get jobs, do a little sightseeing, check out the local music scene, etc. We hope to start gigging in October / November.
As for our debut album Alone, we have decided to re-mix a few songs before releasing it. As we were trying to complete mixing and mastering before moving to the UK, we had to rush through the mix. Although the result was pretty good, we feel that there is still room for some improvement for some of the songs. Unfortunately, this can only be done when our gear arrives from Australia. As the mix we have currently is pretty close to mark, we don’t expect that it would take too long to finalise the mix.
In the meantime, please check out the samples in the Audio page, which includes one full-length song, Alone.
Last Update: April 3, 2007.
