aka Marc Almond / James Beaumont / Ben Ellis / Mat Hector / Neal X

No-one forgets their first romance, not even The Loveless.

Serving up the songs that awoke their delinquent desire for snaky tunes played in seamy dives, The Loveless are back where they began – pledged to the pulp appeal of garage rock. An outcast tangent of rock ‘n’ roll – garage swaggered on the margins, giving a terse voice to all the full moon boys and girls in black leather waiting for the night to begin.

In Garage Land, love is never easy and sometimes it’s twisted, as ‘Dark Side’ so adroitly demonstrates. The Loveless could be accused of being a covers band but they are so immersed in the smouldering tension of the material, it fits them like a second skin.

Sired by Marc Almond, whose voice evokes a million shades of darkness and delight, and guitarist Neal X, a revved up exponent of classic riffs, The Loveless are augmented by Iggy Pop’s on tour rhythm section, Mat Hector and Ben Ellis, whilst Hammond maestro, James Beaumont, commandeers the keyboards.

As well as playing live, The Loveless have been recording the material, The Kink’s moody ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’ rubbing shoulders with The Sorrow’s ‘Take A Heart’ at Dean Street Studios in the heart of Soho. Despite the insidious nature of gentrification that has made the area a theme park of its former self, Neal X swears the ghosts of old Soho make their presence felt in the twilight hours and in the grooves of The Loveless’ version of Smoky’s ‘Hot, Hard & Ready’ (NB not the insipid UK Smokie but L.A’s sizzling Leather-cladlad Smoky.)

Unburdened by record label intervention means The Loveless can do what they want, how they want, when they want.

All My Thorns are a band with a history stemming back to the early 90s

Taking inspiration from the goth / metal bands of the time they formed in Preston, Lancashire, UK as a band called In Soma Dawn after a long break away from music Drew Freeman and Korovin Sutch joined three other musicians to form the band Sometime The Wolf in 2017. Quickly putting their stamp on the scene again with their progressive new age goth – metal sound

With atmospheric live performances up and down the country and across Europe and the release of the Never Wake EP the band soon had people wanting an album

One year later, it was released, the album called From Here And Earth, recorded in Cambridge by Steven Carey (The Eden House) and Simon Rippin (Nefilim, Fields of the Nephilim, The Eden House) the album was a huge success and took the band on a journey up to 2021 were it became apparent there were differences in the way the band wanted to move forward. This led to Drew Freeman & Korovin Sutch forming All My Thorns with Alec and Mick joining soon after

The band honoured the gigs which has been confirmed pulling together a set featuring tracks old and new. Gigs in Morecambe, Leeds and London were brilliantly received

Going forward the band is currently writing new material and pre-production is well under way, the possibility of a two-part album has been talked of and is an exciting possibility. With recording and live dates taking shape quickly 2022 is being looking good

Balaam and the Angel, from Cannock, West Midlands. formed in 1983, Initially the band self-released a series of EP’s and an album entitled Sun Family via their own Chapter 22 label and played on three tours with The Cult, culminating in an iconic appearance on the Channel 4 music programme, The Tube. This caught the attention of Virgin Records, who signed them and released their debut album, The Greatest Story Ever Told. It peaked at No. 67 in the UK Albums Chart in August 1986.They toured in the United States with The Mission, Kiss and label mate Iggy Pop

A second guitarist and the first non-sibling, Ian McKean of Twenty Flight Rockers, was added to the band in 1988. The band began to move away from gothic rock music styles into a sound that had more in common with hard rock. With their new-found style, they recorded the album Live Free or Die. This was soon followed up in similar style when they recorded Days of Madness, before leaving Virgin Records. Their song ‘I’ll Show You Something Special’ appeared on the soundtrack for the film, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. During this period, they toured the UK with Aerosmith and played many headline tours around the UK with appearances at Reading Festival

They have been playing selected dates over the past 10 years both their own headline shows and as guests to The Mission, Fields of the Nephilim an appearance at Kirk Brandon’s Westworld Weekend in 2021

They are back and keen to bring their always special live show to everyone again, they recently released their first live album entitled ‘That’s Not The Real World’ on their own label Chapter 22 Records

Formed from the ashes of legendary post/punk outfit Getting The Fear, Into A Circle AKA In2a0 was founded by members Paul “Bee” Hampshire and Barry Jepson in 1985. Barry was prior to being in Getting The Fear a founding member of Southern Death Cult.

Supporting Nico at their first ever show, the duo’s genre-twisting sound and striking aesthetic (Bee clad in a clear-plastic junkie spacesuit by Vivienne Westwood designer Murray Blewitt), Bee & Barry made an impressive mark from the moment-go. Signing to the Arcadia label, Into A Circle issued their debut single “Rise” soon after which featured backing vocals from Rose McDowall (Strawberry Switchblade), which shot straight to No. 5 position in the UK Indie Singles Chart.

Signing to Abstract Records in July 1986, Into A Circle released the Top-20 Indie Chart denting ‘Inside Out’ EP, which featured input from Billy Morrison (who would later go-on to play guitar for Robbie Williams, Black Sabbath and Billy Idol).

The band released their trail-blazing debut album ‘Assassins’ in 1988, co-produced by Larry Steinbachek of Bronski Beat. Exploring themes of literature, theology, animism, sex, and spirituality, the album charted at No.7 in the Indie Charts and harvested the singles “Forever” (ft. Rose McDowall) and “Evergreen”, both of which also dented the Top 10.

Working with Viv Albertine (of The Slits) on an MV for “Evergreen”, Into A Circle also began incorporating further visual projections into the live gigs that followed. With additional guests including ‘Crass’ collaborator Annie Anxiety and Rose McDowall, Into A Circle embarked on their final tour in Autumn of 1989.

Breaking a 33 year hiatus, in 2021 Into A Circle have announced their long awaited return to music. Reforming for a very limited and exclusive series of shows, with the added promise of new material too, fans of the noir new wave band will be able to catch the original line up of Bee and Barry back together in 2022.