Wasted Youth

Link in bio for our shows in Northampton and Manchester this weekend. The Black Prince in Northampton on Friday, July 5, is the place to be for our post-election, post-punk, psychedelic-garage, pit-stop. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that we’ll be celebrating Labour in and the Tories out in what promises to be a near landslide victory. Personally, I think the old anarchist slogan ‘it doesn’t matter who you vote for, the Government always gets in’ has more than a grain of truth in it and generally sums up my thoughts about mainstream politics. Whatever your political persuasion (within reason!), we’d love to see you, your family, friends and loved ones, at our gig this Friday in Northampton. Admission is £15 and tickets will be available on the door. The next night, which is Saturday, July 6, Wasted Youth play ‘Yes’ in Manchester as part of the ‘Original Innovators’ series of gigs currently taking place. UHR are our special guests for the evening and DJ Gino Silano will be playing some fab and groovy tunes for our discerning audience. Admission is only £10 and I’ve been told that some tickets are being kept for those who prefer to pay on the door. These two gigs are our last until late September, when Wasted Youth will be playing their last shows this year at The Prince Albert in Brighton and The Piper in St Leonards (near Hastings). One bit of bad news is that West Wickhams, one of our favourite support bands, have had to cancel at short notice. Good news is that Gary Lammin (TV actor and ex-Cocksparrer guitarist) has agreed to fill in for them. A loveable geezer with plenty of charisma, you will not be disappointed. All merch, including CDs, Vinyl, T-shirts, tote bags etc will be on sale at the Northampton and Manchester gigs. See you there! HAPPY MUSIC FOR HAPPY PEOPLE Wasted Youth London

We had such a blast at the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham on Thursday and would like to thank everyone for making it such a great night. I thought we played well and the audience was fantastic, I think I can safely say that no-one went home disappointed. Big smiles all round and I’m still feeling slightly dizzy and out-of-sync some 36 hours later! It’s always great to meet friends old (Ads!) and new (Erik!) at the gigs and Brum was no exception, and I find it crazy (but welcome) that so many of the audience travelled miles and miles to see us; from Devon, Scotland, South London, Bristol, and loads more, it’s truly humbling. A very special thank you to @stripsearchtramp , their blend of post-punk/surf and psychobilly rock and roll really got the evening going in great fashion. By the time we came onstage things had really warmed up and we all felt that it would be a belter, and it was! Birmingham, we’ll be back. HAPPY MUSIC FOR HAPPY PEOPLE Wasted Youth London

Birmingham here we come! Wasted Youth play at the Hare & Hounds this Thursday, June 13, and we hope to see you all there. This will be our first gig in Brum since supporting PWEI (@pwei_official ) back in October last year and if the reception is anything like then, it should be a fantastic evening. Admission is £15 and doors open at 7.30pm. Ticket link in bio. Special guests are Strip Search Tramp (@stripsearchtramp ) a local band and friends of WY, and I’m told the venue is ‘pure rock ‘n’ roll’, so it’s all looking good and proper for a sweaty night (even if the temperature is well-below average and everyone’s wearing a hat, gloves and scarf!). Wasted Youth are back in the recording studio on Saturday/Sunday and are working on the rhythm section and guitar parts and possibly laying down some vocals. I must say that (so far) everything is sounding great and we are realistically looking at a late 2024/early 2025 release date. Keep watching this space for more info. 📷 @petermcdonnellphotography HAPPY MUSIC FOR HAPPY PEOPLE Wasted Youth

London you never let us down and The Moth Club was ample proof of that (if any were needed). We had a large and up-for-it audience and the venue didn’t disappoint, we absolutely loved it. Everything was going smoothly (for a WY gig!) and according to plan, and we were just bringing Survivors to a climactic ending, when all of a sudden the house lights came on and I was made aware that an ‘incident’ had occurred at the back of the hall. I asked if there was a doctor or a nurse in the house but remained unsure of exactly what had happened. A few seconds later, I learned that someone had tripped over, bashed their head on the ground and was now laying unconscious on their back. Understandably, everyone had stopped clapping and yelling for an encore by now out of respect for the situation and the poor bloke on the floor. I later found out that he gashed his head quite badly and needed to be accompanied to the local hospital to get stitched-up. I was told after the gig that alcohol had played a large part in his falling over so heavily. At least he never felt any pain due to the anaesthetic-like effect of alcohol, the pain comes later! It was (briefly) a bit of an anti-climax to an otherwise splendid evening, however, we persevered and played one encore so everyone went home super-happy, band and audience alike. (Continued in comments)

As if you needed reminding...Wasted Youth’s only London gig this year is this Friday at The Moth Club in Hackney. Link in bio for tickets. Admission £18 (in advance or on the door). Special guest is @jamieperrettmusic (and band) and the world famous DJ Brad Hall. Please tell your friends, enemies, family, lovers, ex-lovers, children, acquaintances and anyone else you think might be swayed (or suede). Happy Music for Happy People Wasted Youth London

Just under a week to go until our first (and last) London gig of 2024, which is at @mothclub in Hackney, on Friday, June 7. This is followed by our gig at the @hareandhoundsbrum in Birmingham on Thursday, June 13. Link in bio for tickets. We’ve been busy beautifying London with posters. If you spot one (there’s lots more), take a pic and we’ll put it on here. This will be the first time we’ve played The Moth Club, and so many of you have told me that it’s one of the best small gigs in London, that I’m truly fired-up and excited to be playing at this beautiful venue. It’s certainly one for fans of lux interiors (Cramps fans welcome) as it is still decorated with the original working men’s club paraphernalia, such as the charming plaque which reads ‘All CHILDREN TO BE OFF THE DANCEFLOOR BY 9.30pm’. The back wall is lined with a handful of popular, comfy booths, but you’ll have to get there early if you wanna to bag one of these for the evening (doors open at 7pm), as they always prove to be hot currency! Very special guest for the evening is the wonderful @jamieperrettmusic (and his band), who take to the stage at 7.45 (till 8.15), and the fab and wunnerful DJ Brad Hall, who will be spinning his selection of groovy tunes and tuneful grooves for your enjoyment. …And Birmingham, we’ve not forgotten you! Following the fantastic reception you gave us when we supported PWEI in October 2023, Wasted Youth have been keen to return to Brum for a headline show. The Hare & Hounds is a well-established live music venue and we hope to see lots of you again, you won’t be disappointed. Not only will you have the pleasure of seeing and hearing our full-set but you’ll also get a terrific local support band, Strip Search Tramp, who open up the evening with their brand of chaos, confusion and charm to the waiting hordes! Originally, we had Thee Acid Tongue as special guests but unfortunately, they’ve had to cancel at short notice, so thank you @stripsearchtramp Merch will be available at both gigs, including the new T-Shirts, Tote Bags, Records and CDs, and lots of other bits and pieces. So, until we meet again…carry on breathing. HAPPY MUSIC for HAPPY PEOPLE

To all those that made it along to Wasted Youth’s gigs in Tunbridge Wells and Bristol, you were incredible! We met and spoke to so many lovely people and had such a blast that I’m still buzzing and smiling some 48hrs later. I expect tomorrow will be like when you get back from a great holiday, a bit down and a bit out-of-sync for a few days, but luckily the vibes and recollections of the weekend keep will keep me afloat until normal service is resumed. I’m so glad that we had the foresight to book good some weather for our little trip, much better travelling and arriving in glorious sunshine than the freezing cold, relentless rain and wall-to-wall greyness that accompanied our recent jaunt to Sheffield. Perhaps we’ll only play in May, June and July from now on! Tunbridge Wells felt very much like a private party, the promoters, Frank and Phil, had booked Wasted Youth to play at their birthday bash as they had first seen us when they were just fifteen, and now, forty-four years later, they wanted to dance and sing along to all their favourite WY tunes! I’m including a link to footage of the encore, which gives some indication of how much fun we had, including an unplanned stage invasion (OK then, a mini-stage invasion) and unrehearsed backing vocals, and I loved it. /769632626/videos/731233342419030/). Bristol was another fantastic evening and I met lots of people that I’d met when we played there last year (and the previous year with The Furs). I must admit that at first I thought that there were only a few people to see us but that was because I’d not looked into the large and crowded beer garden out back. By the time we hit the stage, everybody was inside and ready to let loose, and although it was crowded, there was just enough room to dance and express oneself. It was very hot and sweaty but you didn’t seem to mind, and we certainly didn’t, and once again, thank you for your continued support and encouragement, if we didn’t have you then we wouldn’t be able to keep doing this. (Continued in comments)

Moth Club gig is selling really well so get your tickets pronto and avoid disappointment, you’ve been warned! Link in bio

Three days to go until Wasted Youth play The Forum in Tunbridge Wells @twforum (Thu 9/5) and The Thunderbolt in Bristol @thethunderboltbristol (Fri 10/5). Link in bio for tickets. As usual, we’re really looking forward to playing live and hope that word has got around (beyond FB and Insta) to as many people as possible, please share this post and tell others to come along, we really need your support if we are to continue our extravagant, exotic and expensive lifestyles! You can decide. Wasted Youth’s other gigs this year are at The Moth Club in London @mothclub (Fri 7/6), The Hare & Hounds in Birmingham @hareandhoundsbrum (Thu 13/6), The Black Prince in Northampton @blackprincenn (Fri 5/7), YES in Manchester @yes_mcr (Sat 6/7), The Prince Albert in Brighton @theprincealbertbrighton (Fri 20/9) and The Piper in St Leonard’s, Hastings @thepipercalls (Sat 21/9). These will be the only gigs this year so try to get along to at least one of them, or even two…or three? How about all of them? Tickets for all shows are now on sale. We’ve been recording when not gigging this last month and I must say that it’s going pretty damn well. There are still guitars, synths and percussion to put on, and no doubt some experimental touches and flourishes, but it should sound wonderful when it’s done. We’ll be mixing with a name producer but I’m not at liberty to say who that is at the moment. I’m not even sure whether it’ll be a 12” EP or an album yet as it depends not only on our funds but also the quality of the finished tracks. We’ll see I guess. The probable release date is sometime later this decade…by which time our audience will have reduced somewhat due to natural wastage…seriously though, we’re hoping for later this year.

Not long to go before our next 4 shows in Tunbridge Wells (09/05), Bristol (10/05), London (07/06) and Birmingham (13/06). Link in bio for tickets. 📸 @anouschka_thunderbaby And now, the next chapter in Wasted Youth’s beginnings... “A few weeks later, Nick had borrowed a Vox Continental organ, a large, popular keyboard in the early 60’s but a bit of a curiosity by the 80’s. Still, we thought it looked good and it sounded very different to the type of keyboard used by most bands. So, here we were, five eager ‘youths’ without much musical ability but more than making up for this with real passion, sheer determination and 100% commitment. We asked Terry Murphy if we could use the basement of The Bridgehouse pub to rehearse for a couple weeks, or at least until we found somewhere of our own. After some deliberation, Terry agreed (how could he refuse, the bass player was his own son!) on condition that we used it to practice and not as party central! Of course, we were over the moon and spent the next day getting all the backline set-up. We tried lots of different formations but eventually settled for a U-shaped set-up, which allowed us to hear each other much better than the conventional straight-line approach. One thing I already had was a pair of 100w Vox PA columns, which I’d bought for my first school band ‘City Kids’ but had not been used since the band folded. They were gathering dust in my shed but still worked perfectly, so we got our friend Spam (Darren’s cousin) to collect them and drop them off at The Bridgehouse. This was the last piece of the jigsaw and we couldn’t wait to hear what we sounded like at full-blast! We’d already played our debut gig and although it went well, the five-piece Wasted Youth felt more like the real thing and we all took things a lot more seriously from this point on. (Continued in comments)

Just over two years ago Wasted Youth played their third gig since reforming and what a gig it was! We were special guests of the Psychedelic Furs at the Royal Albert Hall in London, a bill which also featured the impressive Jah Wobble. It felt great to play in this iconic building and we were surprised to find that quite a few of you had forked out a lot of your hard-earned money just to be there. It was a magical evening. Wasted Youth only played for 35mins (we went five mins over our allotted time!) but felt that we more than justified our appearance on that stage and were all of the opinion that we wanted to continue gigging, such was the reception and reaction of the lovely crowd. The only thing stopping us from committing to more shows was my health and whether I could manage all the travelling, late nights and hard-work that playing on a semi-regular basis involves. After all, most of us had full-time jobs and other commitments that we had to juggle with, but as they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way. I reassessed my situation properly just after our show at The PowerHaus in Camden in May 2022, and decided that this was something that I enjoyed doing and wanted to carry on doing while I’m still able to, which nicely leads to… Now, almost two years later, Wasted Youth have played in major cities and towns all over the country, and are just as eager to take our sound wherever there’s a demand. The next gigs on our itinerary will be Turnbridge Wells and Bristol in May. Link in bio for tickets. We look forward to seeing you all very, very soon. HAPPY MUSIC for HAPPY PEOPLE

Bedford Esquires audience you were truly amazing on Friday night and your noisy appreciation and enthusiasm helped to make the evening a truly memorable one for Wasted Youth. You were behind us from the get-go and as we fed off your positive vibes, our confidence grew and grew. You could tell we were enjoying ourselves by the broad smiles on our faces and the contagious love and warmth in the room. Once again, a special night was had by all in a fantastic venue. Bedford we salute you! The only negative thing was that I didn’t notice the steps in the venue when we first arrived and fell flat on my front, twisting my ankle and bruising my knee and elbow in the process. I felt pretty shaken up afterwards but with the help of some painkillers (the legal kind!) and the care and attention of the Wasted Youth entourage, I managed to put the accident behind me. My ankle was/is very swollen and I ache today like I knew I would, however, adrenalin masked (most of) the pain and I managed to complete the whole set with only a grimace or two belying the discomfort I was in. Heartfelt apologies to anyone that came to see me stage-diving and performing the Iggy-like gyrations that I’m well known for, maybe next time? As if that wasn’t enough, I was still contending (along with at least half of the population it seems) with this cold/virus thing that I’ve had for ten days. But, ‘the show must go on”, and indeed it did. Good news is that we’re playing at the Black Prince in Northampton on Friday, July 5, and that’s not far from Bedford is it, so please come see us again come along come back for more. More about upcoming gigs, merch and all things WY in the next post. So, it’s ‘Bye Bye and Cheerio’ from us till next time!