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New
releases
It is thought at the moment that the new new
Pendragon studio album will be recorded and released some
time in 2004. Nick is currently still writing and arranging songs
for the new album.
The 2 most recent releases, currently available from Pendragon are:
• Live At Last And More live
concert DVD
• Acoustically Challenged acoustic
CD
Both CD and DVD came out on 1st May 2002. The DVD is multi format
(which means that it is in NTSC format, but is also playable on
any modern PAL machine). Both items are available from the
Pendragon items' page by mail order. The CD features an extended
multi media section. And the DVD features include an interview with
Nick Barrett, and the rare promotional video for 'Saved By You'.
Compilation
album
The Pendragon compilation CD album, The History
- 1984-2000 is still available from us (see the
Pendragon items' page), by mail order. For anyone just discovering
Pendragon, it is the best album to get into start with - and for
collectors too, it is a must! It contains 10 tracks and the best
material from all the studio albums, including 2 specially recorded
acoustic songs and 1 video clip of "The Last Waltz".
Live
shows
Thanks to all those people who came along to support Nick and Peter
on their Pendragon Unplugged Tour in March
and April 2003 with Arena. As Clive was touring with Arena
and promoting their new album, and Fudge was busy with runinng his
own business, Nick and Peter felt that it would be a good opportunity
to further promote the "Acoustically Challenged" cd. As
it turned out, the guys got a very full sound for just 2 acoustic
guitars. But for those of you interested in those sort of things,
the unplugged set list was:
And we'll Go Hunting Deer
Paintbox
Dark Summer's Day
King of the Castle
A Man of Nomadic Traits
The Voyager
plus an occasional medley version of parts of Black Knight and Alaska,
and the first cover version Pendragon have done since their rendition
of Slade's "Merry Christmas Everyone" back in the old
Marquee days - a version of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love"
to finish their set with each night. For more details on the Pendragon
Unplugged Tour, please see Peter
Gee's Tour Diary.
There is no tour planned now until mid 2004,
depending on how the new studio album is progressing. But
there is currently talk of a one off London show in November 2003
at the London Astoria 1, which would be part of a 2 day "progressive"
festival to be held there. We will bring you more news on this,
as soon as we have it, and as soon as everything is finally confirmed.
The
new studio album
Nick Barrett is currently writing and arranging songs for the
new Pendragon studio album, which is likely to be recorded
sometime in early 2004. There is no working title as yet for the
album. However Nick believes that the next album will see Pendragon
break new ground, and take the band onto a whole new level. There
is no confirmation as yet on where the album will be recorded. But
it is likely that once again, much of it will be recorded at Nick's
own studio, with the drums probably being recorded at Clive's Thin
Ice Studios. Nick now has his new Pro Tools Computer system and
is using it to write and to arrange the new songs. What he has played
us so far sounds great! It sounds as if it is going to be a very
uplifting album, after the introspection and Pink Floyd style moodiness
of much of the last album, NOTW. We believe that probably between
one third to a half of the album has so far been written or has
ideas mapped out for. We are hoping to get Nick to write a bit of
a studio diary once the album has more of an overall shape to it.
Band
members' movements
NICK
BARRETT - is currently writing and arranging new songs for the
as yet untitled new Pendragon studio album.
The new album is set to be very dynamic and uplifting in style,
and something of a change from the pattern of the last 3 studio
albums. As usual, Nick prefers to make sure that he is completely
happy with the material before anything is released and place the
emphasis on quality, rather than quantity. But we think that the
album will definitely be worth waiting for!
CLIVE NOLAN - is currently finishing off work on the first
Arena DVD, which was filmed live in Poland during their March/April
2003 Contagion Tour. The DVD will have lots of extra features and
will be visually very impressive. It is set to be released sometime
in the autumn of 2003.
FUDGE SMITH - has been involved in a potential La
Host reunion album and tour. As yet we don't have any more
details on this, but Fudge has been back in touch with members of
his original band about a reformation of some kind. Fudge has also
just moved back to East Anglia, his original home area, which is
where the other ex-La Host guys are, so this could be a real possibility.
See Fudge's website
for further details
PETER GEE - is currently recording his
third solo album, (as yet untitled) due for release some
time in 2004. He was originally hoping to rerelease his first album,
"Heart Of David", at the end of 2002. However financial
constraints have meant that currently Toff Records cannot afford
to put out this re-release. Peter hopes that it still might go ahead
at some stage - but it is unclear now when HOD will come out. On
the new solo album Peter has so far recorded the drums with Steve
Christey (Jadis), and is currently working on putting bass parts
down on tape. He is also hoping to get Simon Clew (A Million Blues)
back to do the vocals on this third album. Work on the album has
now been put on hold for a few months as Peter has just moved house
and is busy working on that! He also needs to upgrade his recording
software to Pro Tools before much more work on the album can be
completed. But he promises that he will get there in the end!
Spring
tour diary 2003 by Peter Gee
See live reviews
in the TOUR section.
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