break

Broke.

So Phil has his fingers in a bind..trapped between 2 beer kegs..crushing the bone..putting his bass lines to rest for a month or so.

Means we're done gigging for 2009 now.

So thanks to everyone who put us on, bought a record, bought a t-shirt, played the record, wore the t-shirt, fed us, got fed up with us and to all the bands who played with us. This year has been amazing.

2010. Here's to more gigs. To vinyl!

TA
xxx

Gayest post ever

WORST MEAL EVER.

So we had a gig out in Mighty Horncastle - the most incredible middle of nowhere in England. We were meant to play a festival in Skegness which got scaled down to a long night in Horncastle. We arrived at 7 to unload..found out we were playing at midnight.

What does one do in Horncastle to kill 5 hours? Well, go for dinner like a bunch of Lords.

Upon dismissing the Curry House, 3 pubs and the Chinese we settle on an old school looking restaurant boasting locally sourced produce and a nice price to match.

It was'nt a huge place, as we entered a party of around 6 were seated and served their meal. We waited in the lounge area and ordered our drinks..and waited..and waited..and listened to the numbing Elbow album as it looped endlessly on the in house speakers. We were handed menus, ordered and waited.

An hour passes and we're seated and served a meal which merits comparisons to day old hospital food, prison rations, food prepared by the dead for the dead. We were the only other people in the place and the food took over an hour to limp to our table, as dead and flavorless as the Elbow album we endured on loop 3 times over.

S.Y.F.(Stuff Your Face)

HHRRRUUUUUGGG

BLERG

Overcharge us? YOU WHAT

The Dump

It was poor. POOR I SAY.

Then the bill arrived. Trying to overcharge by £10. A wonderful cherry on top of a veritable metaphorical Ice Cream Sundae of joy and well prepared food.

Suffice to say - we did NOT tip, not one penny.

The gig went well, after all that fanny-ing around. I got to play on a huge Iron Maiden style drum kit with 100000 toms, which gave Houses on The Hill chance to grow into the true modern challenger to Run to the Hills' glory.

Got to bed around 4am. Bring it on.

!El fan de Numbero Uno!

Custom Job:

shove it in

Comin Up

Free.

Nottingham.

Nov 14th

Foul Mouth

waking up to this felt GOOD!

So we made it to Falmouth - which took some 5 hours on the road. Got a stunner of a gig at Jacob's Ladder Inn.
We normally play on a bill with a few other bands..bash out a half hour set..pack up and go on to the next gig. This was different..we were the evening's entertainment..and the packed out pub would not let us stop...our lives were at risk! It took the complaints of an old woman down the road to finally put a end to things.
Cheers to Marc of The Heathenz(www.myspace.com/marcheathen) for demanding more and more. And more. Falmouth got a good 1.5 hours of Wickets (And even Knife Cutter). Family and friends even made the gig. Wild. Props to Carson..brother wicket..taking your music as far as possible from home can go either way..this one was worth the drive!

After the gig we were whisked off to a WWF Wrestling themed party - straight outta an episode of Skins - Joe did us proud by almost immediately getting in the ring and getting a knee to the face. It took an hour of us being there for the party to die on it's arse...outdoor lighting got trashed and the only supply of music blew up.. the party went from Skins..to Bins..

So we headed back to our harbor front lodgings for booze, smokes and spotify..(DWEEBS)

After a breakfast by the harbor (as I said--DWEEBS) we hit the road..for Bristol..

Tracks from the Bristol Fleece gig - - now on the ode myspace. CHECK IT.
Thanks to Rich at The Fleece for sorting that - tidy work.
Lengthy, thrilling anecdotes in next posting!

Holiday by mistake

A lot of this...

A dollop of this....

A round up of this...
London - Friday
Rushed like mad folk as we left Nottingham...hit London for 8..played our set at 8.30. Thanks in HUGE AMOUNTS to everyone who made the effort to come and see us..no matter what time you made it. We played a blinder and had a blinder seeing the night out. We got to re-unite with our old running mates, Wagstaffe (http://www.myspace.com/wagstaffe), from when The Wickets first began - nearly 10 years gone.. - they may of 'retired' but they're keeping the dream alive in London.
We headed out Saturday morning for some breakfast and had the pleasure of seeing some good ole' boys attempt to replace a broken window in the Cafe only to put a huge crack in the replacement glass.

Incredible scenes. Hilarious..lot's of 'For FUCKS sake' and fag breaks.

Onto Falmouth...stories to follow...

I'm tired of Bro-Mance

A weekend in the van..

Maybe we'll shower..maybe we won't

Maybe we'll talk...grow..bond...maybe we won't..

BUT at least..Doomriders--Lewd Acts--Dan Deacon--Major Lazer--Madrudergrind--Creedence!--FlyingBurritoBrothers!--Maiden! READY TO GO!

-------------------------------

Thursday 15th - Doncaster - Leopard
Friday 16th - London - Hope + Anchor
Saturday 17th - Falmouth - Jacob's Ladder Inn
Sunday 18th - Bristol - Fleece

-------------------------------

Mucho Anticipado!*

-------------------------------

New badges - check



*Possibly racist made up Espanol!

brutal truth

Wow, some week.

We all got flu. Phil fell down some steps and destroyed his back. We had 3 gigs cancel (Manchester, Doncaster and the epic Fantasy Island Festival - rescheduling for Feb '10 - fingers crossed!). Warin's amp head valves blew and needed replacing. I need to replace bass drum and snare drum skins. My ride cymbal has a crack in it.

Just pack up, move on and try again...


But it ain't all grumps and trumps..we had our first gig in Nottingham in over 6 months..and it was epic. Alright the Captain, Apparatus of Sleep and Union Station Massacre brought it ten fold to a packed out Speakeasy crowd. It was amazing to play a home town gig and have our minds blown from the reaction we got. WILD.

Autumnal

Details on a super loud Nottingham BIG ANIMALS party to cap the year will be announced shortly.
It'll be a stunner, get reet pissed and swear at nuns like.

Sound Advice

home towner

Open all hours

BULLSEYE!

we're gonna need a bigger boat

SEPTEMBER
FRIDAY 25th - Sitwell Tavern - DERBY

OCTOBER
SATURDAY 3rd - Rouges - HORNCASTLE
MONDAY 5th - Night and Day - MANCHESTER
TUESDAY 6th - The Old Bell - DERBY
WEDNESDAY 7th - Speakeasy - NOTTINGHAM
THURSDAY 8th - Leopard - DONCASTER
FRIDAY 9th - Primrose - LEEDS
FRIDAY 16th - Hope and Anchor - LONDON
SATURDAY 17th - Jacob's Ladder Inn - FALMOUTH
SUNDAY 18th - Fleece - BRISTOL
WEDNESDAY 21st - Black Market - WARSOP

NOVEMBER
THURSDAY 12th - The Bigge Venue - REDDITCH
SATURDAY 14th - Chameleon - NOTTINGHAM
SATURDAY 28th - Unleashed Festival - SKEGNESS


+ a few more TBCs...

Details on a NOTTINGHAM BIG ANIMALS SOIREE* soon!



*fancy word for "A loud PissUp"

The Sheff

We made our way back to the Redhouse in Sheffield for Pizzas and gigging.


Had a sandwhich



Got approved by Phil


S.O.F.'d* during one of the support acts.


"Donate bands here.." HA. haa.


*Stuffed Our Faces

Last orders at the 7Eleven

So we got given a slot thanks to Jamie of Rouges/Tripswitch fame.

7Eleven in Grantham has now closed down, we got to play on it's last day. We even got to play with Satan's Mineons..it's been an eternity since we've shared a day making noise. What fun!

We had an arms folding contest..

But were unable to decide a winner..

We argued with our agents...

"SVEN, GET ME OUT OF THIS HELL HOLE"

Larfed AND Joked!

Even played loud without being told to turn down..

This may not be the first time we've gigged on the last day of a venue (RIP Peggars) but the rumors are a new venue is being opened in Grantham that will triumph over all evil.

Props as usual to Jamie for the gig.
FULL DETAILS OF OUR SLOT UNLEASHED FESTIVAL at SKEGNESS FANTASY ISLAND TO BE ANNOUNCED HERE V.SOON!

HOT

The Chipotle Smoked Tabasco sauce?

IT'S THE SHIT!

BOOM!

Maybe it's not that clear in this picture..but we got back from playing Sheffield the other night and this was burnt out at the bottom of our road. Tires melted and the bonnet spiked up - - after it BLEW UP.

Like we did in Sheffield.

Natch.

We live in hot and dangerous times!

Boston - Axe+Cleaver

Wicket? Solo gig? --- Amazing gig - - amazing venue..we were listed under 3 different names, Wicket, Wickets + The Wickets! PROPS!



British towns love their one way systems...seems we always get to the city on time but spend hours trying to navigate our way to a centre hidden away, impenetrable due to one way madness.



PROPS to The Rusty Trombones (myspace.com/therustytrombonesmusic) for swinging by and playing a blinding support slot. In return they've given us a slot supporting them in Derby on 25th September at The Sitwell Tavern. WORD!

24/7 HC RnR

When they ask - we can attest that we are full timers. Rock and Roll never sleeps!

'Big Sofas' - Out now.

Custom Job

FRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAY

CANCEL!

So the Manchester gig lined up at Joe's Bar last night got cancelled..last minute...via text message..just as we'd loaded the van and were hitting the road.

Harsh.

Apologies to anyone who was going to head out.

We're trying to sort getting back to Manchester as part of one of our upcoming tours in September or November, so once we know - YOU WILL KNOW!

Who cancels by text?

NO PROPS AWARDED.

Alcohol + Gravity = Injuries..

So I (Daniel England..Wickets drummer) am a moron. We get back off tour..get gearing up to sort more dates and get back on the road, make more music..and I got distracted by cheap booze and trees..



Being in trees is great



Falling out of trees sucks. Especially when you land on your head.

Well, I'm on the mend. Have not forgot how to drum, so this bodes well as we hit Manchester tomorrow night and continue the Big Animals onslaught on the UK.

We've got a few more gigs coming up including The Old Bell in Derby on the 21st August.

We're finalising dates for spurt of dates in September as well as sorting another jaunt for October AND November. Why slow down?

Picked up another run of T-Shirts which will be on sale at gigs ONLY.

I also got some new pics back from the July tour developed from actual film and everything, granted I've now scanned them in and will be posting them online (this time on our myspace) but you gotta keep the FILM photography dream alive..despite most of the photos being poorly lit or out of focus..it matters not! The feeling is there!

STAY WELL PEOPLE!

Props of the week go to the stranger who picked me up of the floor and got me to Casualty. SIR I owe you a pint, a copy of our album and my life! Choose wisely!

To continue please insert £5

Well we're a few weeks into Big Animals being out and things are going great and THANK YOU to everyone who's bought a copy in one way or another.

PROPS to you all!

We've got these sweet flyers/posters made up which are going to be plaguing your eyelines online and in reality for the for-foreseeable future.

Ponder..

August is bringing some one off gigs across the UK including a Nottingham based launch gig.
September is going to take us back on the road for another extended jaunt.

ONWARDS!

Shout out to The Human Targets (which includes Dave of The Wickets - on Bass duties) who just recorded live to tape at Mesters. It already sounds amazing so keep an eye out for when that gets released later in the year. -- myspace.com/thehumantargets --

SNAZMUNDO

These bad boys can only be obtained at gigs or by accosting us in the street.

Unlike our NEW ALBUM - which is now on sale in Nottingham's own HEAVY SOUNDS. As well as www.mesters.co.uk/shop.php

Awesome-ness.
Today's PROPS award to Clint aka HEAVY SOUNDS - www.theheavysounds.co.uk - PROPS!

LANDAN

We made the midnight drive post Brighton to London - collected keys from one side of Brixton for a flat on the other. Making our way in as loudly quiet as possible we had lodgings for yet another night. Sellouts..punks..all of the above and none at the sametime..

Dave fired up the pasta and Ragu bought in earnest earlier the eve and Borat made it's way to the DVD player. Everyone got a bit over eager with the Habanero and the Chili beer had to wait another night as it was just too much to consider...

Someone had to make the monster effort of awaking at 8.30am to put money on the meter to keep us out of a ticket..Phil decided that we write names on paper and draw from a hat. Phil's name was drawn and we all agreed what a good idea his system was.

Maximum stay was 4 hours even after paying on the meter so it was a comparatively early start considering Borat kept us up til 4am.

So we had a few options to kill time with a van and London at our disposal. Free parking was the priority and it would seem to only place you can park for free is Supermarket car parks, so after sitting in Brixton traffic for over an hour we landed at out first stop of the day..Tesco. The least favorite of all supermarkets I think. We had brunch in the van and as it hit about 1pm we thought we'd hit the venue up, with London traffic a 2 mile drive would take at least an hour. It did.

We unloaded gear and found..another supermarket car park. This time Islington's own Sainsbury's, situated immediatly next to a Waitrose! I mean come on! London has it down!

Scratchcards and more food killed the time until we had to set up at the Hope + Anchor. London's premier venue!

We were fortunate to be once again inundated with familiar faces who made the journey from near and far to check the set. Which went great. The biggest crowd of the tour without a doubt. We tore the place apart. Loud and Proud.

Strangely London were the least receptive to buying albums. The sound guy loved it but couldn't spare £5..the rest of the crowd took free badges with little to no reluctance, but not a single album shifted to new faces. So props to Matt Kirk who essentially drove down to London to buy a copy! PROPS!



Photos courtesy of Matt K.

That's that. We drove home. Unloaded the gear and were all tucked up in bed by a calm 4am.

NEXT!

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us. Old and new faces, it's been the realisation of an epic 12 months (+8 years) to get this album out to the world. Thank you to everyone that bought a copy and to everyone who helped to get us where we've been and where we're going!

DAY FIVE

Hit a signal/battery blackspot so I'll be condensing the last two days of the tour into one MEGA POST.

Divulge..

Awake in Norwich surrounded by an epic record collection - a lot of 'Big Money Items' we're informed. We scarper and make haste to The Waffle House - Norwich's premier Waffle venue, run with aplomb by our host, Big Phil's brother, Nigel. Certified legend!
We have the breakfast of our lives and hit the streets of Norwich to find a record store.
We did more than find a store..we found Soundclash, an awesome independent store selling a mix of punk/indie/jazz/electronic - everything you could want really.

Props to Soundclash - they took a copy of the album to sell in store without hesitation. Legends!

So off to Brighton - shorts on - stocked up with snacks + beers..the drive was long but the sun was out.

It would appear the entire female population has moved to Brighton - mabye it was just being in a van for 5 days with only other Wickets for company...

We find our home for the night The Hope with no trouble but have to keep the noise down when loading in because of constant complaints from the neighbours apparently..
TOP TIP - don't move into a flat immediately behind a music venue and complain about the noise...

The music of the night ranged from bands wanting to sound like the Decemberists..to Bright Eyes..to Arctic Doherty's to Alainis Morrisette covering 4 Non Blondes tracks..

We stuck out..in a good way and managed to shift a few records..one to the sound guy and one to someone who didn't even see us..but liked the look of the record and could only pay in Australian Dollars..turns out 20 Oz Dollars is worth about 9 quid..result!

We made our excuses and left into the night..a midnight drive up to London......

Day Four-and theres so much more..

So we totally crashed out after the gig in Sheffield, our big talk of wild chili infused super beer turned into pizza fueled food comas..

We awoke refreshed atleast..

The morning was spent restringing guitars..fixing the ripped out plug socket on the 5150 guitar head..

We had to be in Horncastle for 7 so as the drive was only an hour or so we had a day to kill..
First we had to find a shop selling drum skins..the snare needed work..

Funded with alopmb by the wondrous Nikki McKenzie a suitable skin was procured..no help from Reverb..staffed by Sheffield's finest..it's drums supplies a mere graveyard and the staff not far from death themselves, offering the helpful advice that there are NO OTHER music shops in sheffield.
Within ten minutes we were at another music shop in Sheffield.
Skin sourced we were off to Meadowhell to catch a matinee showing of Bruno.

Overall it averaged a 4/5 from the band, essentialy Borat with another character, flimsier plotting and a hit to miss ratio in the wrong direction. Big laughs though and better than most tosh out there..

Dave--harshly scored it a harsh 2/5--but has since been found quoting it..so it may raise to a 3/5 before the week is out.


Sheffield is hilly--Licolnshire (Home of Horncastle-our destination) is flat.

What does this mean for our gig?

We hit Horncastle around 7..to find the venue locked up and us listed as The Wicket.

Within a few hours the flipside of all our expectations is blown away!

Highlight of the tour so far is the summary from the Wickets camp.
Excellent support in the shape of Speke - who managed the task of being a band that actually sounded anything close to us-Props! They even had a song with the riff from Lovestar in-wild!

They rocked--and we played to a room of people who truly dug and got the sound! It's a result to say the least.
Future gigs are promised and we wish Rogues a big thankyou for an amazing night..
They followed our set with a hardhouse DJ promised to go til 1am atleast..Wasted Wednesdays apparently.

We had to make our way to Norwich as we were promised a roof for the night at Phil's bros pad.
Claimed to house an immense vinyl and record player collection..
This proved to be true..
All will be revealed in tomorrow's blog!

SCRATCH CARD RESULT OF THE DAY
Wicket-£1 invested-NO WIN
Warin-£1 invested-NO WIN
Phil-£2 invested - NO WIN
Dave-£2 Invested - NO WIN
Shag-£1 invested -£1 WIN!

Love in the time of Swine Flu

DAY THREE
An early start. Back in Nottingham briefly to swap the 2 vans the hire company fobbed us off with for the one van Jugganaught known in the trade as The A Team Van. It's a 6 seater beast with room for all our gear and the rest.
The morning brought an early start for Joe in the daily scratchcard bit for financial solvency. 9.15 yielded a one pound win dissolved into a new card and no repeat luck. Onwards!

The road to Sheffield brought some boozing, some sun and Major Lazer on the speakers. Front and back with bluetooth for your phone..which we have not figured out how to turn off so every time James makes a call it interferes with the system..

We had lodgings for the night at the Quine's Sheffield residence but had to wait for Ben to arrive with the keys..so we spent the afternoon in the garden hoping it was the right house..but not to bothered either way.

Once all parties had merged with loaded up supplies for the evening's frivolity - including a 10.7% Beer that claims 'made from real chili peppers'. It does not state which member of the Chili Peppers or if it's a combination of all 4.
Review to follow in the morning on that..

The Redhouse-A tidy little venue containing one room and one stage and an outdoor patio area thing. All very tasteful.

Bands featured were Girl's Last Chance - who had the bold move of headset microphone wearing drummers and waistcoat + no shirt wearing singer. Pop punk malarky.

Zombie Headhunters fucking brought it though! Check them out if you can-they are on the road for the next week at least. Punk at it's best. They dropped a Misfits cover..so dig that.

We took to the stage to a hometown crowd (or journeyed up the M1 for the privilege) made up of Captain Cor Blimey, Mesters CEOs and other assembled associates. Props and thanks to you all, it made it a killer gig and set us on our way to the 2nd half of our jaunt.

Tomorrow we tackle Horncastle, which is famous for being the one place on our tour NO ONE has heard of.

SHOUT OF THE DAY
Goes today to Guinness the Cat - Redhouses cat in residence, who spent the first hour of the night sat on the tour waiting for punters. Wild.

Fully loaded with snacks and supplies

DAY TWO

After a night of Ryan Adams infused trivia, Phil and Dave trekked out to get new tattoos whilst the rest of us headed to Asda to load up. We missed the veggie breakfast by 10 minutes. Devastated.

To ease the pain I bought a £1 scratch card which yielded a £4 win. Which was immediately put back into circulation by way of 2 £2 scratch cards. As is the rule of the scratch card. Anything less than a tenner buys back scratch cards to the value of previous win. This time, it did not bring a bigger prize. But we continue our daily pursuit of millions.

So we bid farewell to Newcastle, Phil and Dave bottled it on the tattoo front but are said to be booked in for a future appointment at our host Kerry-Anne's parlour.

So we made our way south towards the sunny sights of Hull. We were interrogated by the highway patrol whilst make a quick stop at a random service stop, he either thought we were bringing in illegals in our van or that we were 'Traders'. His assumption was correct, but we fooled him into thinking we were a band. The sucker.

Hull arrived around the same time we did. Ringside! Hull's premier venue, apparently. The pole in storage next to the stage unfortunately did not feature, but we are assured it is used at least once a week. What a treat that must be.

Down came the rain and on came INCUBATED. A dose of Helmet inspired HullRock. We hope we can sort them a gig in Nottingham soon, as they were above bar, nice one gents.

We hit the stage, making our way through the crowds - we almost hit double figures! The gig was a battle. My drums collapsed, my pint was spilt, Warin's guitar got frisky with it's pick-ups meaning he lost the use of a number of strings..despite natures best efforts we prevailed as victors.

Records sold! T shirts sold! EPIC.

SHOUT OUT - -
Forgot the give props to the young gent at the Sunderland gig who put off going to casualty to tend to his BROKEN ARM to catch our set in full. He even bought both albums and a shirt! PROPS TO YOU SIR!

So we've swapped our 2 van convoy for a 1 van juggernaut and make our way to Sheffield. Scratch cards have already been bought by Joe at a record 9.15 this morning. Sorry to report. No Win.

We continue....

In The White Room

Day one.

We hit the road at a leisurely pace. Joe and Dave bought a scratchcard each to no avail.
We decided to buy one each a day, surely that would balance out, bound to.

After a riotous stop over at services halfway up the A1, where the car park was a veritable hotbed of stag parties and driving away without Dave. Hilarious.

So we made it to Sunderland and spent at least an hour trying to navigate the square mile of the city centre's one way NIGHTMARE. So we find the venue and totally broke some traffic laws to park up outside.

The gig kicked off - I think we hit double digits on punters...3 acoustic acts of varying Kings of Leon covers through to some Smiths numbers....until we kicked things off. Suffice to say the people that caught the set we're digging it. We sold records! We sold T-Shirts! We got some new contacts + friends! Thanks Smiffy - an awesome night.

A good start to the first week of life with 'Big Animals'.


THE DAY'S SUMMARY
Props of the day go to Dave's mum for an excellent Cheese Queef. Consumed by us all equally.

ON SALE NOW

Avaliable on the road in - Small-Medium-Large-XLarge

AND!

Girl Fits-Small-Medium

At all upcoming gigs

£7

Get them while stocks last!

DAY ONE

Got the van - - oh wait..got the VANS -

Hire company decide they won't hire us the van we dropped the huge-o deposit on and give us 2 vans instead. Still mega..and still going to make rock history..

Here's a pictorial summary..

What a LOAD! Let's hit the ROAD!