Old Tavern, 24th December

A cracking way for the band to end 1999. Many BLACKFIRE T-shirts were on display in the crowd and it's always a boost to get such an enthusiastic response for our original material. One guy said we had made his Christmas and the boss said it was their busiest night for three weeks. And we even sold some more T-shirts!

 Western Coach House, 11th December

BLACKFIRE fulfilled their promise to come back quick and give them a Christmas gig. And did they ever respond! The tracks off of the forthcoming album went down a treat and the place erupted at the end of the night. Moshing and slam diving were most definitely on the agenda, as was the BLACKFIRE reply to Cliff Richard's festive record. Everyone who survived the gig seemed to have had a good time and I feel certain we'll see them all again soon...

 George & Dragon, 27th November

Another packed venue where it was a nightmare to get the gear set up. But when we did the crowd went completely bonkers mental! Perfect's microphone stand was sent flying, people fell into Thumper's Drums, the Plant Man was nearly crushed under a p.a. speaker and the Marquess was hoisted up to the ceiling, trampled on and generally abused. One of those nights you really wish the gig had been recorded on video. And they are very keen to have BLACKFIRE back!

 Kings Arms, Kingswood, 6th November

The place was so packed with people that we had trouble getting the gear in. Once these problems were overcome BLACKFIRE got down to another hard rockin' night, which included some very vigorous audience participation - see those microphone stands go flying. And Thumper nearly got a bit vigorous himself when they wouldn't serve him a pint after the gig :-)

 Western Coach House, 23rd October

Another cracking night at the Coach House. Everyone who has ever been to the pub must have a BLACKFIRE CD by now but we always seem to sell more every time we play here. Our thanks go to Mad John for filming the gig - a man who is not frightened to follow the exploits of the band, even when the Marquess ventures out onto the main road in the middle of a song...

   Robin Hood, 3rd October

Back up the motorway to Gloucester. Historically something always goes wrong when we play the Robin Hood, normally equipment getting lost or blowing up, or the band getting caught by speed cameras on the way to the gig. But for some strange reason everything went very smoothly this time. However, what happened after we stopped playing? We couldn't meet the demand and sold out of CD's. Now that's the sort of problem BLACKFIRE can live with!

 Trout, 25th September

The crowd were so excited by the thought of BLACKFIRE playing that one woman was actually sick just before the band took to the stage! Miraculously nobody was hurt during the gig, despite the best efforts of the Marquess when he sent his microphone stand into the audience. One of the lights did take a dive a few numbers in but managed to miss everyone - blame the people who asked for Perfect's guitar to be turned up to the sort of volume that could cause seismic damage. All things considered, another good rockin' night.

 Old Tavern, 18th September

A wet, miserable night, so it was nice to be greeted by a packed pub. Unfortunately Perfect injured his back lugging the amps in through the crowd, so he ended up being more stationary on stage than normal! That aside the gig went well with some enthusiastic audience participation - you couldn't really call it singing :-) And Psycho Bitch carried on whipping and didn't seem at all inhibited by her recent engagement...

 Kempton Park, 29th August

Bit of an odd one this - a gig at a race course! BLACKFIRE were actually booked as the band for a party at the end of a big charity cycle ride that finished up at Kempton Park race course. Unfortunately the organisation of the event didn't seem to be as good as it could have been, but that's rock and roll. Still, they gave us our own coach to get there in style and the Marquess got to see a lot of blokes wearing lycra!

 Horseshoe, 22nd August

A gig that proved Downend knows how to rock on a Sunday night. It certainly didn't take long for BLACKFIRE to win over a new crowd and everything went really well until the encore, when the Plant Man's bass gear decided to commit suicide on stage. But then, no one ever said that BLACKFIRE were kind to their equipment...

 Stones Cross, 21st August

A fun return to our main Midsomer Norton outlet - the venue where punk never died! BLACKFIRE slammed it to them good once more and the landlord said it was the best he had ever heard BLACKFIRE play. And he should know, he's seen the band enough times!

 Western Coach House, 14th August

Before we had even finished setting up the band the juke box was playing most of our set - this is obviously a pub that has some idea what to expect when BLACKFIRE come to town. As an added attraction to the band and the A & S Lighting road show the pub even laid on a buffet for us, although they had to pretend that it was for this girl's birthday :-) The new single "Save the Bristol Brewery" got a rousing response and a crowd who had come over from Wales want to book BLACKFIRE to play on the other side of the Bristol channel. But if we do, will they let us back into England?

  Robin Hood, 8th August

A nice drive to Gloucester in the pouring rain - so much for the summer! Still, the welcome was warm at the Robin Hood where they appreciate BLACKFIRE's particular brand of rock mayhem. It was a shame that we ran out of time (curse those Sunday opening hours) but a whole bunch of punters said that BLACKFIRE are the best band they have ever had there, so that was alright. Of course, I have no idea how drunk these people were...

  Olympia, London, 3rd August

Not a bad little venue! BLACKFIRE belted out "Save the Bristol Brewery" to a crowd of mostly journalists and people from the brewing and pub trade. Perfect then consumed much ale.

  Full Moon, Saturday 31st July

People had been saying that the Full Moon was dead, but we had a good crowd and a good night there. Support was from a brand new band called the "Pist Sexols" who all looked somehow familiar :-) We also had the novel experience of bouncers stopping people from getting up on stage with us - and it's a brave man indeed who'd try to stop Mad John when he's going for it! BLACKFIRE also trolled out yet another new song, so new in fact that we haven't settled on a name for it yet...

  Cornubia, Saturday 24th July

This was the official launch of the single "Save the Bristol Brewery" and what a day it turned out to be - glorious sunshine and playing on the open air rather than some dark, smokey pub or club. Not BLACKFIRE's normal scene at all. Two television stations turned up to cover the event (BBC TV & HTV) as well as the local press and the new song was played three times by popular demand, with growing audience participation. The pub sold out of Courage best and we sold out of T shirts & CD's - Save the Bristol Brewery!

  Kings Arms, 9th July

Nice big traffic jam held the band up on the way to this one, so BLACKFIRE had to set up in double quick time. Just as well we didn't have the full lighting rig because this was the most hot & humid day of the year so far, making it one of the sweatiest gigs. The new single got a sneaky preview play and met with the approval of the crowd.

  Moon Juice Club, 19th June

This was a late nighter in Midsomer Norton. BLACKFIRE played between two sessions of chart music to a club populated largely by drunken teenagers - and where's the harm in that! They could be the BLACKFIRE fans of the future...

  Old Tavern, 29th May

A great sweaty gig - lot's of people, lot's of dancing and loads of perspiration! For a venue that normally seems to have mostly blues bands they certainly go mad when BLACKFIRE are in town. Thanks go to Andy Gibbs for his photography.

  Clipper, 23rd May

One of BLACKFIRE's rare forays into daylight, this ended up being a bit of a private party for mates of the band. As soon as BLACKFIRE stopped playing everybody left! Still, it was a novel way to spend a Sunday afternoon and was a good example of the true rock n' roll lifestyle - play a gig Saturday night, party on, then crawl out of bed and play a gig on Sunday afternoon. The Marquess also took this opportunity to prove that he can't skateboard...

 Trout, 22nd May

Apparently they had been looking forward to the return of BLACKFIRE since our previous performance last year. Zipping through a set of mostly old favourites the Plant Man sampled the joys of married life whilst the Marquess caused more damage than the audience. Thumper injured his knee with his own drumstick (don't ask how) and Perfect tried out the delights of gigging with a Telecaster. It seems that the good people of Keynsham can't wait till BLACKFIRE's next performance - well, they'll jolly well have to.

 Western Coach House, 8th May

Plant Man's last gig as a free man! In honour of his impending marriage BLACKFIRE churned out a barely rehearsed version of "Viva Las Vegas" which went surprisingly well - helped by enthusiastic vocal assistance from members of the crowd. The A&S lighting boys tried out some more new toys in a concerted attempt to induce epilepsy and everyone got hot and sweaty and had another good gig.

  Robin Hood, 2nd May

The night started off in quite an exciting fashion - part of the drum kit got left in Bristol by mistake and a high speed dash from Gloucester was required to get it in time for the gig! Once BLACKFIRE were actually up set and ready to play everything went really well and they even waved some more money at the band to do an extra encore. BLACKFIRE (being the highly principled artists that they are) of course accepted... Sell out? - where do we sign?

  Stones Cross, 24th April

Any gig where the crowd gets up and dances to the sound check is going to be good. Audience participation was high (as is normal at the Stones Cross) and it was a refreshing change to have some women undressing in the crowd... Some bloke took a spectacular dive over a monitor and ended up sprawled between Perfect and Thumper, who was busy trying out his new cymbal. Plant Man broke his bass (as he usually does when we play the Stones Cross) and the Marquess looked like he had been painted in camouflage when he finished rolling on the floor. And that was just in the first set.

  Bear & Rugged Staff, 27th March

Novel features of this gig included a load of lights and a bloke with a video camera turning up half way through the evening and possibly the most drunken crowd BLACKFIRE have ever played to. Perfect added another speaker to his guitar amplification, Plant Man turned up his bass, Thumper drank loads of Guinness and the audience poured beer over the Marquess. What a waste of good beer... It also took ages to get the gear out at the end because nobody seemed to want to go home. Special thanks to the bloke who got the mike and shouted "Who wants another one from BLACKFIRE" when we had already started packing up!

  Lord Rodney, 20th March

Back to Basics for this gig - a down to earth (and somewhat "herbal") pub where the preference was for those punk numbers. Perfect tried out his new (ridiculously loud) Marshall amp and the Marquess was savaged by the pub's Jack Russell - that's the dog, not the cricket player! BLACKFIRE also tried out a couple of new original songs - you'll be hearing more of those over the next few gigs.

  Fleece & Firkin, 27th February

A big night supporting Spear Of Destiny, with a very large crowd filling the Fleece. BLACKFIRE took advantage of this to lay it on the line once again in our normal manic fashion, and the call for "more" from the crowd at the end of the set was mighty! The good engineers & p.a. at the Fleece gave us a great sound and it all seemed to go jolly well. 

 Old Tavern, 25th February

Nice to see a good contingent of pretty girls at this gig! BLACKFIRE T-shirts and requests for punk songs seemed to be the order of the day. The Marquess got kissed by a couple of admirers (both MALE!) and the landlady described the gig as "a real eye opener..." Still, they've booked BLACKFIRE for three more dates, so they must have liked it.

 Western Coach House, 6th February

First outing of the year for the infamous BLACKFIRE light show, courtesy of A & S Lighting. Steady first half, which included a few numbers that haven't featured in the set for a while. Second half got progressively crazier - we were told that we absolutely must finish at 11pm and we did. However, three encores later the crowd were still baying for more! The "just printed" BLACKFIRE T shirts also proved very popular.

  Kings Head, Bath, 29th January

The whole bar we played in at the Kings Head is about the same size as the stage of the Fleece, but this didn't stop BLACKFIRE tearing the place up. Just one fight in the crowd and a few spilt pints, but by God it was a hot and sweaty one. Perfect played yet another new guitar, the Marquess cleaned the floor with his face and Thumper looked like he had taken a shower when he emerged from behind his drums. Oh, and Plant Man turned up with his head shaved (well, nearly).

   Fleece & Firkin, 26th January

Middle of the bill appearance for BLACKFIRE at this premier Bristol venue. Interesting contrast of bands - First one sounded a bit like the Beautiful South and the last one was guitar "Brit Pop" with BLACKFIRE "bastards from hell" in the middle! I think you can work out for yourself which was the wildest band of the evening... They have a really good p.a. at the Fleece so we had a great sound and a good gig - just a shame that the set was limited to 40 minutes.

  Robin Hood, 10th January

A debut at this large Gloucester venue - the funniest moment was when BLACKFIRE arrived. The staff took one look at the band and said "I hope you don't play punk, if you do everyone will leave" Well that's a red rag to a bull, so BLACKFIRE of course opened up with some punk and they loved it! Never compromise - it seems to work for us...

 Stones Cross, 9th January

Great to see lots of new faces in the crowd at one of BLACKFIRE's favourite rural regulars. Plant Man managed to completely wreck his bass (just what does he do to it?) and had to carry out some emergency repairs, but apart from that the year got off to a good start. Plenty of audience participation including singing, dancing and people offering to take their clothes off - but why is it only men that want to undress in front of the Marquess?