Sid Worth Memorial Tribute Show – Scratch plate, John Verity & Max Milligan, The Vibe, Pippa Fleming and The John Verity Band.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2. Friday 13th May 2005.

By Tyso

Scratch Plate , was first on stage and I have to say I was very impressed with their sound. They sound a lot older then they look and if one wasn’t paying attention it would be easy to assume they had been playing together a lot longer then they have. The set mainly consisted of covers from bands such as AC-DC, Pixies and Sum-41. They did have a couple of their own songs that fitted in well with the covers they were playing and it’s easy to see where their influences lie. Their youth and inexperience did show through a couple of times with a couple of mistakes but I think everyone (including themselves) was enjoying the show too much to care. I think they would have benefited from the bassist or guitarist stepping up to the mic. to provide some backing vocals to give the band that extra something. All in all a good band to watch and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them on the Esquires stage in the future.

From one generation to the next, John Verity & Max Milligan , took to the stage to show the young whippersnappers how it’s done. They played an amazing acoustic set that showed what comes with experience and years of practice. They played a number of classic rock songs that were taken well by the crowd. Not really much more to say about these 2 apart from if you haven’t seen them, then I urge you to check them out the next time you can. They finished the set with what I think was the best performance of the evening. Take another little piece of my heart by Dusty Springfield played to perfection.

A quick 10-minute break later and it was The Vibes , turn to entertain the crowd. The band consisted of a super drummer, excellent guitarist, spot on bassist, keyboard player that was enjoying himself too much and a female vocalist that gave the band a unique sound. They played cover songs from AC-DC, Evanescence and Jump! By Van Halen (Excellent!). These guys have obviously been playing together for a long time and the whole set was well practiced and performed.

Next up was Pippa Fleming. She played a couple of songs, Weak by Skunk Anansie and My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne. Both songs were well played and a joy to listen to. You go girl!

The John Verity Band , finished the evening’s entertainment off with a typically bluesy set. Wasn’t really my cup of tea but still enjoyable to listen to some quality musicians playing music they love.

All the bands played extremely well and I believe £100 was added to the Sid Worth fund which will be used to help out local talent, so well done to all that made the effort to be there.

Reviewed by Tysoe for Bedford Metal.

Rob Vernon from The Sid Worth Memorial Fund has sent the following information -
“Well folks, Sidney's birthday gig went very well.
Thankyou to all who attended, helped, gave their services for free, and generally ROCKED the night away.
I took a few pictures, and the initial 'rushes' are now available (here) There were many other photographers doing their thing, and the final pics will be available soon, on the SWMTF website. www.SWMTF.org.uk
If you have any pics that you would like us to include, please mail (lo-res, 60k max per pic!) to me, and I'll submit them to Mike MacKechnie, who's our web-wizard.
The next gig is at the early planning stage, with a provisional date of Friday, September 30th. 2005.More news, as they say, later!
Once again, thanks for your contributions.
Initial figures indicate that we raised £183, after expenses... which, considering we tried NOT to make a profit, is a stonking result!!
Cheers
Rob”