Johnny got there early in the day and got the rig set up. We all joined about 5pm to sound check and run through a few of the songs we hadn’t played in a while. All went well and was sounding good.

Normally most gigs we play are about 30-45 mins long but as the night was ours we were going to do two 45 mins sets with a short break so everyone could get there breath; Mainly the crowd!

First set was a warm up a mixture of some old classics and a few new ones. The whole pub was getting into it from the start and there was a really nice atmosphere in the building. After a short break NGF came back on and blew the roof off! The second set was full of all the hard hitting tunes that New Groove are famous for, the ones that rattle the rafters and bounce the dance floor. The whole crowd was like an angry sea shifting from side to side, the room was full of well up for it skanking loons! The bouncer at the front had to hold on to the barrier so everyone didn’t come bursting through on top of us. We finished off with Bedford Street, which I think was quite fitting.

It was an amazing evening, big thanks to Sal and everyone at The Cellar Bar that came along. Especially all those at the front having it; your energy is infectious and keeps us pushing to keep you pushing. Thanks again see you at the next one!

Cheer Jacko

Secondly, this weekend saw us filming the first full band video for our up and coming single release, Nosey Neighbour. I have to say we were skeptical at first with the majority of us being very camera shy, but I think it’s safe to say we all had a blast…..even if we did get completely soaked in the pouring rain! I’m not going to give anything away you will have to wait for the release. But we must say a massive thank you to Rhiannon and her team, you were amazing; we can’t wait to see the finished product!

In other news, Jacko has been a very busy bee running the Brighton Marathon in spectacular style! After claiming he would be happy if he finished in under 5 hours he crossed the line at 3 hours 29 minutes and 53 seconds. The craziest part is he had decided to just turn up on the day and not train for it……. well done Jacko, you nutter!!

It was about 12pm Christmas eve and I was just sat in the back of the Slade family car on the way home to Bournemouth when a blocked number rang on my phone, I answered and it was none other than Huw Stephens from radio one explaining that he had received the Christmas Eve track, he and his team absolutely loved it and that he was going to play it on radio 1 at about 2pm!! It was one of those moments that you get and your not sure whether some one is pulling your leg or not, but as I listen to Huw a lot on the way home from practice on a Wednesday night I know his unmistakable soft Wales accent!! It was really him, I thanked him for the call gave him our twitter account.

As you may imagine I was very excited I tried to call various members of the band but for some reason my phone would not dial them, so I needed to get it on face book so people could listen. The first number to work was my older brother Luke he was wary of what I was saying, thinking it may be a joke but I assured him it wasn’t so he put it up on face book for me, then I turned my phone of and on again so I could send a text to the rest of the band!! The texts started to come back OMG and such like and then Haydn called to make sure it wasn’t a joke, I assured him it wasn’t!! Jacko was chuffed as was Nicky Piper!!

Then we were waiting for it to be played and a text came from my father in law to my sister in law saying that it was a joke and he was with a bloke from Wales in a pub in Bournemouth and he couldn’t believe I’d fallen for it!!! I did sweat for a second as the track hadn’t been mentioned but I spoke to Huw and it defiantly was him. Then 2.20 came and still no play, my brother called back in a panic, I said stay tuned. As I said it, Huw mentioned that he was going to play a wicked ska band in a few moments. Phew the dought left me and it was going to happen!!!

Huw bigged the track up and us on radio 1 we are all stoked that we actually got through to the biggest station in the land, WHAT A TOUCH!!!!!

Thank you Huw and Radio 1!

The Main arena held the main stage with side tents circled around all selling the usual festival cloths and food. It tasted and smelt lovely!

We played on the Saturday late afternoon on a stage called the Burrow Stage. It was quite a small stage but we squeezed on.

The tent its self had kind of two sides to it. One side to to watch the bands and another where the fury animals were sitting and chilling.

I would say that when we played both sides were half full. By the time we had got half way through the set we were very pleased that the fury animals were up and jigging aound to the groove.

Where we camped we were next to a really nice guy and his wife, an older animal lets say. We got talking and I invited him down to watch our set, he came! After the set at the camp site he came over and said that he had only come down to be polite and had every intention of just watching one tune and moving on, but was completely captivated by us and couldnt believe we wernt on the main stage. That my friends was the highlight for me!!!!!! Excelent festival with an excelent vibe. Thanks for the booking Play Group!!!!

The gig went well and we played exceptionally well apart from one slip from me but no one noticed!! lol It was sold out and I have to say the audience didn’t know who we were but warmed to us well by the end of the set!! This lead to an invite to play at Beautiful days and a play at John Levs Birthday bash at his home in Devon!!! We are honoured!!

View NGF TV Episode 4: Backstage at Out of the Ordinary Festival

View NGF TV Episode 3: Quinny and Jacko banter in Steppingley

View NGF TV Episode 2: Quinny and Lewis backstage at Beautiful Days Festival 2011

Although Bedford River Festival was by far the largest audience (I would say 5 – 10 thousand)! My little sister was there from America, not to mention the rest of the family and all the people who had actually travelled (YES TRAVELLED) to see us! It seemed to pass very quickly.

When we arrived on site we could not believe the big screens it was like WOW, very impressive! The adrenaline was pumping hard the atmosphere was calm and quite back stage with a sense of we must crack this one and a few jokes chucked in to help ease the pressure. We kick of with Turkish Delight and then zoooom we were at the end of the set! Looking back at the footage I was most impressed with our unreleased song – “SYSTEM SET UP” sounded good on the play back.

Bedford River festival marked the release of New Groove Formation’s 2nd album – “Who Made The Rules?” which has been in the pipeline for a while and we were all very pleased to present it on the day!!!

I’m not sure about any one else but I didn’t sleep for a couple of days after! The buzz you get when your given that kind of opportunity is immense better than any drugs you could ever get your hands on. If you could bottle it you would be very rich very quickly!!!! We would like to say thanks to all the fans for turning up and to Continental Drifts for the slot, more of the same please. lol