2003 - THE ANNUAL REVIEW

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January sees our first gig of the year, playing our debut show out of town with the wonderful Northern Exposure promotion company (cheers Barney and Rick). The venue, the Star and Garter, Manchester, is just round the corner from Piccadilly station in the red light district. Think dilapidated version of the now defunct Hallamshire (before renovation). A grimy, dirty but truly wonderful place. Despite being first on we play to an enthusiastic crowd, thanks to the heroic ticket selling exploits of Simon and James. There's nigh on 80 people there and turns out to be a wholly worthwhile gig, but whose that familiar face with us (left)? None other than Goldblade front man and punk-rock rebel-rouser John Robb! Pretty decent kebab stop in Glossop on the way back too. Honorary shout out to Gazza M who makes the trip over the Pennines to see us.

February brings a big home town gig at one of our favourite Sheffield venues, The Boardwalk. Playing top of the bill, with those likeable boys The Moon and the excellent Groucho from Manchester, it's a top night. We pay tribute to Joe Strummer (on the very stage he first stepped out on with The Clash) in the shape of a cover of London Calling. The gig even gets a favourable review on the BBC website  (not too sure about the Mr Majelka comparisons though). EP3 picks up three reviews, high praise from Penny Black via John Clarkson and in the Sheffield Telegraph thanks to Martin Lilleker, with more muted praise from Drowned in Sound.

A month later in March we step out at another fave venue, The Deepend, again to enthusiastic crowd. It's a Wednesday and on route to the venue to sound-check I get out my copy of NME to read and lo-and-behold we get EP3 reviewed by Holly Hernandez ("The Repomen, tow them away now please") in her now defunct Demo Hell section. Did I say reviewed? That should have read ripped to shreds. We laugh it off an have a ball at one of Sheffield's more unique venues.

Come April and we're back over in Manchester again at the Music Box. The first band on the bill pull out, the second band from Manchester bring no one. Overall a bit of a comedown after our last excursion but we witness one of the best bands we've seen all year - the excellent Fuss from Leeds. Plus John Robb shows up again, which is nice.

May turns out to be our busiest yet. We're in Yellow Arch studios recording tracks for EP4. We lay down the main tracks for Moonlight Driving, The Finest Line and Delta Blues and complete Songs they never play on the radio which is destined for new indie label Slow Noir's Sunset: False compilation LP. The recording goes well. This time though we bring three of the four tracks back to our home studio to do the overdubs - something we spend the next four months working on! Meanwhile we still manage to slip in a couple of gigs - a fairly run-of-the-mill show at a sparsely populated Casbah and a trip up the M1 to Leeds to Joseph's Well to gig once more with the ever-fantastic Fuss.

June and the next few months are quiet on the gig front, our efforts mainly spent working on the three tracks recorded in May, plus a wholly home recorded acoustic version of Untethered. The recording is slow but productive, Ric extending his repertoire to the sax (on Moonlight Driving) and the mandolin (on The Finest Line). Meanwhile EP3 is still picking up a few reviews here and there - another complete slagging from Jacky Hernandez, sorry, Jacky Hall in Sandman, balanced out by high praise from Pete Mella at L2SB. Wouldn't life be boring if we all had the same views!

July sees us emerge briefly for an acoustic gig at The Point with Trap2 and The Moon. Their music license mean its only two on stage at a time which makes things interesting. Meanwhile, BBC North's Raw Talent show play Lauren Bacall and invite us on for a live session in August. Having practiced furiously for a month or so the day finally comes round. We play three songs live in the studio (Lauren Bacall, Eno's Needles in the camel's eye and Songs they never play on the radio) and get interviewed by Alan Raw. Thoroughly nice chap he turns out to be too - Richard Mather e-mails in to win the Repomen goody bag! 

September comes around and we're madly trying to finish of the mixing for EP4 and get the artwork sorted out. Enter the professionals, Lyndon Hobson and our own multi-talented James Hughes. Lyndon does a great job mixing lead track Moonlight driving and the artwork (left) looks pretty natty too. The Slow Noir LP is out and picking up reviews - Songs they never play on the radio gets singled out by Losing Today's Mark Barton and Melstars webzine for praise, meanwhile we, possibly, get a slagging-off in reviews in Italian and Spanish.

October and it's single launch time at The Grapes. It's packed out as support comes in the shape of a solo slot from arather inebriated Jonjo McNeil and the excellent Ormondroyd. It's a jolly old night despite James snapping the drum pedal, shame Simon Makin in his Sandman review didn't think so! Two new songs make their debut - the quirky Outta here and the Cure-esque and as yet untitled Turkish song with Ric on lead vocals. In a matter of weeks we play with Ormondroyd again - this time at The Casbah. We play one of the best gigs of the year and thanks to Lyndon Hobson the sound is tip-top. Pennyblack's Olga Sladeckova comes all the way up from London to review the gig!

November is quiet as James is on his travels. Pennyblack's John Clarkson says very nice things about EP4 - it's first official review - and we pose round town on a very cold November evening on our first official photo shoot. Indie Sheffield interview us for their year anniversary as, apparently, we were the first band they ever featured!

We burst back into life in December. Simon and Ric play an acoustic set at The Lescar at Ormondroyd's X-Mas party (James is in Dublin and I'm laided-up in bed with the flu). It's freezing but goes OK as they are accompanied through the whole of their set by a mystery violinist. Next, on to what has to be the gig of the year, a gig supporting The Undertones at the Casbah. It's a complete sell-out and despite being first on just after 8pm the place is pretty damn full. With hardcore Repomen fans from as far and wide as London, Oxford, Grantham, Worcester and Leeds it's a night to remember. We play one of our tightest sets of the year and with Lyndon behind the mixing desk again, the sound is crystal clear. John and Damon O'Neill (fortunately!) don't witness our cover of Big Decision but I very sadly get my Undertones and That Petrol Emotion CD's signed...well, what the hell! Then we watch in awe as The Undertones rip through thirty new wave classics (earlier Rotherham's Fights were pretty good too). Someone nicks our rider but The Undertones kindly offer us some of their beer. What top blokes. A night none of us will ever forget.

Finally, to round the year off nicely we get perhaps one of the best reviews we've ever had,  Mark Barton at Losing Today praising EP4.

...and that was 2003. 

Thanks to everybody that helped, supported and cheered us on along the way last year.

Big shout outs to Lisa, Dora, Helen, Rachel, John Clarkson, Olga Sladeckova, Mark Burton, Paul @ Indie Sheffield, Lyndon Hobson, Robin Downe, Pete Mella, Martin Lilleker, Chris Wilson, Casbah Mark, Jonjo McNeil, John McNamee, Gary Malton, Mark Spraggon, John Robb, Chris Woods, Rich Mather, Brian Pell, John Evans, Jodie B, Uwe S, Nicky and Dave, Paul and Teresa, Ruth and Scott, everyone at Yellow Arch, all at Raw Talent, The Fuss and the Ormondroyd boys....and to anyone else who came to our shows and bought our CD's.

And so on to 2004.....watch out for EP5 later in the year and more live shenanigans. 

Denzil Repomen.