The Arrhythmics

New post... at last!

2007-07-11T18:48:00.000Z

Apologies for the long hiatus. Here's the news in brief:

-New songs in set
-Singers!
-Gig at Jam house in November. Date tbc...

Watch this space...

Fun and games

2007-03-22T22:21:00.000Z

Hello out there.

Last Saturday was a big day for the Arrhythmics - it was our first gig with our singer (or singist, as Chris would have it), Naomi.

And where would she be asked to prove herself - a quiet dinner? A tea dance? maybe a charity gig (cause let's be honest, that's quite likely). The answer is no, nix and nay. It was a rugby club dinner. So it was, a trial by fire.

So we set up at five and went for a meal as a band. We chose a vietnamese in the arcadian. Rob was quite excited when he noticed that Ho-Fun was on the menu and quite disappointed when he realised that it was a type of noodle.

The band returned to the venue at 9 and found the many guests sat there in the tux trousers, and wearing their bowties, but no shirts. Which was interesting.

The time came for the band to play and we rolled out a set featuring standard pieces such as green onions, peter gunn, nighttrain, tequila. We featured Naomi in 'cry me a river', 'son of a preacher man', 'fever' and our big finale - Maroon 5s' 'Harder to breathe'. This last song went down a treat and had the crowd singing along. Then the venue was shut due to drunken antics.

Its a first for us - inciting a crowd to a frenzy.

Still..we were good.

So what now?

We're going to continue expanding our vocal and instrumental sets and be gigging a lot more sooner. Keep your eyes on the site.

Keep swinging

The Arrhythmics

A new year....

2007-02-06T19:39:00.000Z

A new year, a new you.

Well not quite.

But the band has decided to make some exciting changes - we're going to get a vocalist (that's the posh word for singer). We have sorted out a few vocal arrangements and are currently sorting out a female vocalist to sing for us (and contemplating the logistics that go with that - PA, etc.).

We've also had some new original pieces on the go, so look out for them in our set. They got their first airing at the retirement do of the UBMS Dean, where we were booked to play a 'soft jazz' set. This upset some members of the band as soft roughly equates to quiet, and their amplifiers don't go below 11...

Only joking Rob.

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for upcoming gig type fun!!!

The Arrhythmics End of Year Review

2006-12-17T21:00:00.000Z

Hey guys,

The Arrhythmics have played their last gig of the year at Worcester race course, where the going could be described as 'soft' - the race course was under 7 feet of water!

This has been a great year for the band and to summarise it in one post is hard, but...here goes:

Members gained 1 trumpet

Members lost 1 trumpet, 1 alto sax, 1 piano

No. of tunes in January set 8

No. of tunes in December set 28

No. of gigs 16

First gig 20^th Jan (Med school)

Last gig 15^th Dec (Worcester racecourse)

Furthest gigs Derby (45 miles), Worcester (27 miles), Blakedown (13 miles)

Number of charity gigs 8

Longest non-stop gig 1hr 55mins (Navy unit, 16^th Nov)

Shortest gig 50mins (Blakedown, 16^th July)

Busiest week 10^th-16^th July (Graduation, wedding, Blakedown)

Longest break between gigs 13^th March – 11^th July

Shortest break between gigs 15^th July – 16^th July

No. of gigs we cancelled 2

Oldest audience on average Hindlip?

Smallest audience 15-20ish (The Underground, 12^th Oct)

Biggest paying audience 320+ (Jam House)

Longest rehearsal 6-10pm (10^th Nov)

Lungs collapsed 2

Cars written off 1

Karaoke nights 3

No. of gigs Liam MC’d at 5

Charity gigs Rob didn’t moan at 0

Gigs Tom turned up to on time 1

No. of times Pete fell off the wagon Lost count!

(Stats compiled by Liam).

Thanks to everyone who came to see us this year, and the rest of you, we hope to see next year!

Have a merry christmas and a happy new year!

The Arrhythmics...

A week off...

2006-11-21T09:39:00.000Z

Hello!

Since the last post, the band has played at a Birmingham Uni Royal Navy Unit event at HMS Forward. The band played a monster set, unveiling a couple of new pieces and also some heroic soloing!

Pictures from the Jam house are now online and hopefully a couple of vids will be soon too!

The next Arrhythmics gig will be on the 28th November at TC's in Selly Oak at a charity band night to raise money for the Monday Night Club. Please come along!

That's it for now.

The Arrhythmics.

The Jam House

2006-11-15T17:49:00.000Z

Hi guys,

first of all: Thanks to everyone who came along last night - the band had a great time, thanks in no small part to the great crowd supporting us!

Hopefully we'll update you with how much money the hospice made soon...

For those of you who:
a) don't want to forget
b) didn't make it

We've put some mp3s up for you. Please remember these are live recordings...

TO SAVE, RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT 'SAVE TARGET AS'
Chameleon - Featuring Claire, Pete, Jim C, Rob
Blue Trane - Featuring Matt, Liam, Helen, Chris, Rob, Tom
Tequila - Featuring Liam, Chris, Tom, Matt, Pete, Rob, Jim
Night Train

Let us know what you think of them!

There should be some photos available soon.

Keep your eyes peeled for more gigs.

The Arrhythmics

Countdown To The Big Week

2006-11-13T20:34:00.000Z

Just 24 hours until we're performing gig #1 for this week. There are just a handful of jam house tickets still floating around. If you still want to see us you might be able to get in on the door tomorrow night.

The lips of some of the players are still pretty knackered following some playing over the weekend, but being the troopers they are, we know they'll play on.

Which is the perfect link to gig #2: Thursday night for the Naval Cadets Annual Blow Out. We'll be playing for about 90 minutes to a group of people who are more than likely to be completely out of their skulls. I think I know how performers at the annual medics ball feel now.

The Arrhythmics.

Welcome to The Arrhythmics Blog!

2006-11-11T20:13:00.000Z

Hi there,

This first post is going to be a condensed version of the posts that were made over the last couple of weeks on our original blog.

How the band got together...
Greetings from The Arrhythmics, the premier jazz band hailing from Birmingham Medical School. This first post will tell you a little bit about how the band got together. It all started in December 2005 when a few musicians were playing together in the orchestra for the med school musical. During the often long breaks between songs in rehearsals, these musicians would jam together and swiftly learnt the pieces Night Train and tequila, which remain in the set today. The musicians formed a band together and played during the interval for an enthusiastic audience. This resulted in a booking for a university engagement. The band realised that they needed a name. After a brief flirtation with 'The Spinal Cords' they settled on 'The Arrhythmics'. The rest, as they say, is history. The band have been playing together since, chalking up gigs including weddings, dinners, and cabaret nights, with venues ranging from West Mercia Police HQ to the Birmingham Symphony Hall and finally to... The Jam House. Tickets are still available for the jam house; email us at band@arrhythmics.co.uk Till next time... keep swinging.

Rehearsal Update
2 weeks today til our big gig. We\'ve been hard at work rehearsing. We got together on sunday afternoon and played through the set which is starting to sound quite cool. Not wanting to give too much away, but, we may have some Jazz Flute (no one tell Liam), and Rob has been attempting to play guitar behind his head. He's not yet put a finger tapping solo in though. Small mercies!

Saturday 11th of November 2006 07:02:13 PM
Name of entry: Rehearsals - Again
With just three days to go before our next gig, here\'s a news update.

1) Happy birthday to Big Jim for last thursday.

2) The Arrhythmics have discovered a new talent in their band, step forward...LIAM! Yes, our one lunged sax man is Louis Armstrong in disguise. Honest. See here.

3) The final touches have been put to the set following a gruelling 4 hour rehearsal which saw the horn sections lips swelling to double their normal size. Saxophone to lip injuries to both members of team tenor caused concern, but they will be match fit by Tuesday. You can have a sneak peak at the rhythm section jamming one of pieces that will be played on Tuesday here.

4) Tickets for Tuesday are selling fast and we are almost sold out!

Ooh the excitement, I can feel a Vtach coming on.

Keep Swinging.

The Arrhythmics.