The Viking Mad March Party - Review

The Viking Party – Review

First off, what a weekend!, Secondly, thanks to everyone who made it a weekend to remember. Staff, artistes, Julie and most of all those you came through the door with the party attitude!

Friday night kicked off with the wonderfully bubbly Mr Alan Gregory. Alan has a very up to date country repertoire that kept the dancers and listeners very happy throughout the night. Highlights were Cabo San Lucas, No More Cloudy Days and White Rose, although I could have picked any song as Alan gives every single one his all. Alan has a very good following on circuit and justifiably so and is already booked for 2010.

The second band appearing on Friday was meant to be Raising Cain. However due to medical reasons they pulled out just 4 days before the event. However these things happen and Cajon Moon were the replacement act. These guys had only been to The Viking once before in the last 5 years or so, and took to the stage immaculately dressed and performed a great mixture of up to date and country classics. They played them extremely well. In fact as good as any band we’ve had on the main stage. Drawing fine applause from the crowd I’m pleased to say that they were more than just a worthy replacement and it wont be long until they return to play The Viking again.

The night finished off with Alan getting up on stage with Cajon Moon for a Jam session (one of the advantages of having a drummer). It finished off the night in style.

Saturday morning saw a rather early but busy start to Julie ‘KATZ’ Murray’s first line dance session. Amongst the dances taught today were ‘Catch me if you can’. Penned by Audrey Watson. It’s a fun Irish style improver dance to the music ‘Catch me if you can’ by Hugo Duncan. It received two thumbs up from the dancers.

Next was ‘Mojo Rhythm’ a great Rob Fowler dance to a non-country track, ‘That’s how rhythm was born’ by Wyonna Judd. Again two thumbs up for this fast Charleston style dance!

The third dance was the hardest dance of the day, but to what I think is the best piece of music I’ve heard this year. ‘Footsteps of our Fathers’ is a great dance by Kate Sala to the music of the same name by Pat Green. (Yes him of wave on wave fame, but don’t let that put you off). I hope this dance takes off so I can play the music each week.

‘Dreamboat’ was next up. Written to a very bouncy Boney M track called ‘I saw a boat on the river’ Robbie M. Hickie has penned a dance to it that may just take off around the country. The Viking crowd enjoyed making ‘waves’ to this dance the whole weekend (and some even wore armbands, just in case they fell overboard!).


To top today’s session off, Julie walked through ‘No more cloudy days’ choreographed by Alan Burchall if a very popular dance on the circuit that is being picked up by most bands.

Saturday afternoon saw Harrison County take the stage. Chris has very accomplished vocals that do justice to his set list. He even had the courage give a superb acoustic version of Three Wooden Crosses. Chris and Jimmy have play list that is deeper than most thanks to Chris’s voice and Jimmy’s talents on the pedal steel but the rhythm guitar, mandolin and fiddle. Their relaxed approach, make this duo ideal for any night of country or line dance.

Saturday Night and two duo’s were performing tonight as Nadine Somers was replaced by Vegas 50/50 to play along side Brushwood. Joe Mitchell joined Andy Saphir and were Vegas 50/50 and they provided a superb 2 sets of country-dance music. Joe’s voice must have liked the southern air as every tune he sung sounded as sweet as candy! Someone who will be returning to The Viking in the future I’m sure.

Brushwood was the other duo on the stage tonight. This duo never fail to give the dancers and listener what they want. Plus a Jam session at the end of the night saw all four on stage keeping the dancers and listeners happy.

Another early and busy start on Sunday saw a full dance-floor for another helping of Julie ‘KATZ’ Murray. This mornings dances were:
‘Romeo and Juliet’. A great dance by Gaye Teather dance to Love Story by the currently ‘wonder kid’ of US country music, Taylor Swift. Think this one may be a chart topper.
Absolutely Positively is a pop line dance by Kim Ray. Written perfectly to fit the tract Absolutely Positively by Anastacia. Not too sure on this one from the music side of things, but the dance is doing very well across the country, so it may grow on me too!
The third dance was ‘Make my day’ by Francien Sittrop. Another pop dance to the Pussycat Dolls version of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps. This popular dance is being danced on dance floors all across the UK, and is set to be there for at least the rest of the year.
And we had a guest instructor this morning. Lesley Michel who runs ‘Timezone’ in Walthamstow with her husband Paul, took the stage to teach ‘Toes’. A cracking little dance by Rachel McEnaney to the fun tune Toes by The Zach Brown Band

After the morning’s workout, Live music was provided by Darren Busby. It was a wonderful afternoon, warm weather and an even warmer atmosphere inside thanks to two mighty fine sets from Darren. He’s not only a great singer, and a nice bloke but some photos on the internet show him doing the housework too! He’s like a first class postman, he never fails to deliver!

Sunday Night saw two very fine trios take to the stage after Julie had walked through yet another another dance – Rodeo Blues by Kate Sala, alongside reviews of all the weekends new dances (so far!) Muddy Boots and Texas Tornadoes gave the listeners and dancers over four hours of live music. Both bands having very broad and deep play-lists, the vocal talents of Muddy Boots and the energy of Pete, who fronts Texas Tornados, meant this was a classic Viking Party night. We were lucky to have 6 very different and very talented musicians on the stage and the audience and dancers benefited.

Monday and sadly it was the last day of the party. However, another strong showing from the hardened line dancers meant Julie had another busy morning. Dances this morning were ‘Secret Giggles’ a danced penned by Julie herself to ‘She Says’ by Take That, Wanna Be Elvis by Rep Ghazali, and finally she taught the very popular
‘Moonlight Kiss’ a dance by Maggie Gallagher to a bouncy number by Raul Malo of the same name, for those that had seen the dance being done over the weekend and were bursting to learn it.

Julie performed heroically, teaching a dozen dances to suit all abilities and tastes. Well done.

Monday afternoon saw the close of the party with two cracking bands. The Thrillbillies never fail to entertain. Dave and Ed provided a great set of music, plus their own blend of humour kept the crowd entertained and smiling all afternoon. Singing songs from their new album, The Thrillbillies have this knack of connecting with an audience. They certainly did that this afternoon.

Henry Smith’s Country Band had the pleasure of finishing off the party. It was great to see Henry and the Boys back on the stage at The Viking. If Henry cut himself he would bleed country music the boy is like a fine wine and gets better and better with age. He also has the help of some of the most talented musicians behind him as well! I don’t think there’s a better 5 piece. Henry new album is fast becoming a best seller and it’s obvious to see why.

Well that was it. Another Mad March Party over for another year. But wait; don’t forget our NEW Red Hot Country weekend in June. Tickets on sale now!

March 14th - Double Header Review

Comic Relief Double Header

The first double header of the year coincided with our Red Nose Day fundraising efforts. It was a great atmosphere with great dances from Julie, great music from Broadcaster and Kay D and quite possibly to longest raffle in history.

Julie kicked off the day at 1pm with 3 hours of line dancing. It was mostly a review of the dances taught over the last three weeks plus the addition of a fun dance for the day that Julie has especially written to the comedic parody of Leonard Cohn’s Hallelujah. Comedy Dave from the Chris Moles Radio One Breakfast Show (well done Chris for getting up that mountain) had sung a version about an Indian Take-a-way called My Lamb Bhuna. The dance went down as good as the dish does in a top restaurant. The afternoon session included a short raffle that raised £80 for the fund.

On now to the evening and Live music from Kay D and Broadcaster. The later doing an hour set each side of Kay D. There’s no doubt about it, Broadcaster seemed to have found another gear of late and are producing as good a sound than any other duo one the circuit. They also keep both listeners and dances happy. It was great to hear them sing everything from Rascal Flatts to Tracy Byrd for the country lovers and dances like Human Dancer and Little Red Book to keep the floor full through the night. As well as having a pair of fine voices, their ability to make the guitars sing complimented each other in every song.

Feedback from both the floor and the seats was extremely positive and if you haven’t seen Broadcaster for a while, go now, they will not disappoint.

Kay D first appeared on our stage last year. She had an hour slot in our Peter Dula Support Day. She took everyone’s breath away with her very accomplished performance. So it was only right that we invited her back for an evening slot. This very young lady (still in her teens!) has a voice and personality way beyond her years. Kay’s performance included classics like Blue Roses and Carlene Carter’s Every Little Thing to current female standards Closer and a splash of Gretchen Wilson. It is incredible to think that Kay D can perform like this at her tender age. I think she could be destined for great things in the future.

The longest raffle in the history of raffles also took place. It was so long thanks to the wonderful amount of donated prizes kindly given by local businesses, dancers and staff at The Viking. After the last ticket had been pulled and the money counted, we had raised another £214 for the Comic Relief Fund. Making a grand total of almost £300. Thank you all.

Next week it’s The Mad March Party. See you there!

Just a quick one!

Just a quick one to say that there will be a Red Nose Day Raffle tomorrow night at The Viking. Bring along any donated prizes please!!

Lights - Camera - Action

I spent last night programming our new lighting system at The Viking. Well I made a start, it's a long, repetitive process, but hopefully the results will add to the atmosphere of the club.

The new televisions have now been installed and this will allow the showing of images and video to also enhance to the experience that you will receive when visiting the club. I may also be able to display what dance is coming next too! I have to get my head around some more software first.

The club is really looking great. The dance-floor has been stripped back to it’s former self, thanks to the efforts of Jim and is back in perfect dancing order.

So come on down, enjoy not only the best country and line dance nights, but make the most of your membership and experience some of the best tribute bands in the country and party the night away!

Don’t forget to visit www.vikingcwdc.co.uk to keep up to date on who’s playing at The Viking

Little Rock - Review

March 7th – Little Rock

Week 2 of the 2009 season and it was the turn of Little Rock, the newly crowned UK country band of the year, to take to the stage.

However, before that Julie kicked off the day at 1pm with another free session of linedancing. A very good turnout were treated to walkthroughs of the 6 dances Julie taught last week, (See last weeks review/blog for details) plus 2 brand new dances to the Viking class.

First new one this week was;

Human Dancer choreographed by Alan Burchill. This is already receiving a strong following on the dancefloors up and down the country and will be one that is danced and played for the coming months at The Viking. The music is Human Dancer by The Killers

Wanna Be Elvis is another great Robbie McGowan Hickie to a track called Elvis Tonight by Jason Allan. This a great dance that is easy to pick up thanks to the bouncy music.

After the very successful afternoon, and the recap session at 6.30, it was time for live music. Little Rock are a three piece country band with a real drummer and not a backing track in sight. It’s a very simple, but effective format, drums, lead guitar, bass guitar and three strong vocalists belt out a fine selection of classic country, country rock and country ballads to a standard which is amongst the best you are likely to see in the UK. These three professionals were indeed very worthy winners of the UK Country Band of the Year for 2008.

Highlights included a great selection of Keith Urban and Lonestar numbers plus some wonderful renditions of Seminole Wind and Some Beach. We welcome back Little Rock with John P Taylor in April when they take to the stage as Cross Country.

Next week it’s a Double Header, Broadcaster (who have been cooking on gas as late) with the 17 year old sensation Kay D. Plus it’s a Red Nose day for the line dancers in the afternoon session, so please buy your Red Noses from Sainsburys or OXFAM and wear something red (or funny!). Julie will be making Red Nose Day cakes and will be selling them for 50p each, and we will be holding a charity raffle at 3 p.m. if you have any items you would like to donate to the raffle, they will be gratefully received.

Hope to see you there.

This weekend at The Viking

Just a very quick one today to let you know that The Uk Country Band of the Year 2008 are at The Viking this week. That's Little Rock of course!

Hope to see you there
Andy

FEB 28th - Opening day review

It was great to be back. So many friendly faces that we haven’t seen for four months, however there were some good friends missing as Bunn Leisure had not been granted to open the park a day early to allow owners to stay overnight in their caravans. So we will have to wait another week to see those people. Another teething problem we had was that the internal décor had some bits missing as the replacements hadn’t been delivered yet (but they will be up next week) and for the first time in 10 years a company was charged with the task of cleaning every floor surface throughout not only the Viking but the entire Bunn Leisure Complex. Unfortunately they left our dance floor just a little too slippery in places. However they are coming back this week to rectify the fault.

Julie kicked off the first dance session of the year by teaching the following dances to a very full floor which included 4 Viking Squirrels - Photos to follow!!! (don't worry they weren't the ones with big fuffy tails)

LONG SHOT was up first. A dance by Maria Hunnings Hunt to Long shot by Bailie and The Boys. It’s a beginners dance that is similar level to The Lemon Tree and even got a cheer from the dance floor after Julie showed them how easy it was….they were relieved to have an easy start to the year….

Next was RODEO BLUES by Kate Sala which is a new beginners dance to a great song called ‘Sea of Cowboy Hats’ by Chely Right. Julie chose ‘I like it I Love it’ by Tim McGraw which is a prefect training track / split floor for this dance, before dancing it to the correct track. Another hit with the dancers.

DREAMBOAT by Robbie McGowan Hickie to ‘I See a Boat on the River’ by Boney M. It’s a great fun bouncy dance that will be filling floor for some time. Julie even had the dancers joining in with the ‘waves’….

NO MORE CLOUDY DAYS by Alan Birchall was up next to the song of the same name by The Eagles. It’s a beautiful dance that is gaining popularity around the country.

MAKE MY DAY to Perhaps, Parhaps, Parhaps by the girl thingycat Dolls is going to be an instant hit on our dance floor thanks to the perfect choreography of Francien Sittrop.

The final dance of the afternoon was RESPECT YOURSELF, a dance to challenge the higher intermediate dancers. The music is by the Weather Girls and the dance was penned by Frankie Cull.

6 dances in one afternoon and something for everyone filled the 3 hours.

A break for dinner (thanks Paul) and with the band set up, the doors opened for live music for the first time in 2009. Julie started off by recapping some of the popular teaches in the first hour, then from 7.30 it was the dancers requests. It was great to see some of the favourites from last year were still filling the floor.

The first band for 2009 were the Texas Tornados. They are one of the most down to earth bands on the circuit. Both, in touch with the dancers, and with the most up to date country tracks. These three talented guys kicked off our season in style, belting out dance after dance, song after song and insisting on staying on stage and giving the dancers and listeners more even though it was well after midnight! Songs included, High Time, a cracking slowed down version of Just to see you Smile, which She Believes fitted to, Cabo San Lucas, Whole Lotta Leaving, Walk with Me, Rollin’ with the Flow and a great rock and roll medly ending with At The Hop, which the dancers danced Baby Blues to.

All in all it was a great night, it was great to be back, great to see old friends and great that there’s 38 more weeks until we have to shut our doors for the winter months once again.

It’s Little Rock next week. Hope you can make it

Andy