THE 20th ANNIVERSARY SHOW
On February 1st, 2020, Stereotonics put on a very special show to celebrate their 20th anniversary since their first gig.
Pulling together previous line up’s of the band going all the way back to the very first line up, to one inbetween, and ending with what was the current line up at the time.
The show was a huge success with a set list that was over three hours long and even saw a former member of Tragic Love Company (what Stereophonics were called before they were signed) travel up to Stoke on Trent to perform a song with the lads!
This wasn’t everything though – the REAL Stereophonics eventually caught wind of what was going on and even took time out of their own rehearsals to send Stereotonics a video wishing them all the best for their big night.
The show opened when the lights dimmed and a video appeared on the big screen explaining how the band started. It gave a brief story of how Stereotonics were formed. As that video finished the very first line up that performed at The Limelight Club in Crewe, on January 13th, 2000, walked on stage and opened with the same song that they started with on that same night 20 years prior! "Looks like Chaplin" was a great start to the evening and the boys went straight from that into songs like Check my eyelids for holes, Last of the bigtime drinkers, Goldfish bowl and Too many sandwiches. They finished their set with a rousing rendition of A thousand trees!
After that set ended, the band left the stage and another video appeared on the screen..
This video told of how the band had grown and had started to make trips further afield to perform in venues, universities and festivals.
It was during one of these trips to the Netherlands that Paul met Jodie Hawkes. They kept in touch after this show and when Paul relocated to Reading and needed a band based in the south, Jodie was again, his first port of call.
As this video ended, a different line up of Stereotonics walked on stage. Having had a quick costume change and with Jodie ready to take to the drums, they set about starting the second part of the night. They opened their set with the raucous hit, Vegas two times! The night had just shifted up a gear!
This really stirred the crowd up with a set list full of hits such as Mr. Writer, Madame Helga, Traffic, Maybe tomorrow and ended with the huge fan favourite, Plastic California.
This set was a touch of brilliance with some great songs and some incredible musicianship. When the band finished and left the stage to great applause another video was played on the screen.
However, this third video wasn’t a story of how the next line up got together. This one was focused on some friends that the band had made over the years who now wanted to congratulate them on being in the industry for over 20 years.
It opened with Chesney Hawkes, Jodie’s brother, and who Paul played guitar for at the time. Then it was onto '80's pop star Nik Kershaw and Manchester legend, Clint Boon from The Inspiral Carpets. Dave Sweetmore, another celebrated Manchester DJ was next followed by none other than Kevin Simm (formerly of Liberty X, now with Wet, wet, wet and a previous winner of The Voice UK).
This was followed a couple of the bands biggest clients and the organisers of Glastonbudget and Fake Festivals.
After these guys, another video appeared and the sound of someone playing the song, Traffic. As the camera slowly panned around, it was none other than Simon Collier. Simon is an ex-band member of Stereophonics and was with them before they were even close to getting signed.
Then as the crowd were wondering who was going to come next, a montage of Stereophonics played on the screen.
It couldn’t be could it?! Surely not!! IT WAS!!!
Up on the big screen appeared Kelly, Richard, Adam and James! The REAL Stereophonics!
They had taken time out from their own rehearsals to make a video to send to the guys wishing them well for their big night!
The crowd were amazed to see them on the screen and greeted them with loud cheers as they wished the 'tonics well.
Paul had known about this video for a couple of weeks before but was sworn to secrecy so it was a huge shock to everyone when they saw it - even some of the band members didn't know!
So then onto the last set. As the congratulations video ended, the current line up entered from stage right again.
This time, their usual guitarist wasn’t there though.
Paul then introduced Simon Collier to the stage. Simon later became a guitar tech for Kelly and a backing guitarist who would regularly be seen just off to the side of the stage either playing along with the band or getting the next guitar ready for Kelly. He stayed with band up until around 2010. He travelled up from the Welsh Valleys to perform More life in a tramps vest with the 'tonics! What a guy!!
Then Phil, our current guitarist took his guitar back and the boys finished off the night with another one hour set which featured songs like Bust this town, Caught by the wind, Graffiti on the train and Mr & Mrs Smith.
The band left the stage after playing Bartender and the thief and it bought the house down!
But there was still more to come! The boys came back and played another three songs! Just looking, Local boy in the photograph and finally, the anthemic number 1 that is known universally as the last song at every ‘phonics/’tonics show - Dakota!
The night ended and everyone went away happy after getting a lot more than they bargained for!
The guitars were packed up. The van was loaded. People were dropped off to their homes and we all went home to have a cuppa and just like that, it was all over! Months of preparation had gone into this night and within three and a half hours, it was finished.
The night went without any problems and it was a screaming success! This was largely down to not just the bands and Paul who had put it all together, but also to the amazing staff at the venue who ran the sound and all of the videos. Without any one of those guys, this show wouldn't have worked and we are eternally grateful that we could work with some of the best in the business! Thank you to everyone at Eleven in Stoke!
There were some amazing memories made that night and some very fond memories bought back from 20 years ago. Some emotional. Some hilariously funny!
The only thing that we keep getting asked about now is how can we top that for the 25th anniversary in 2025?!!
In all honesty, we have no idea but we're already on it so watch this space…
Iggy x
Below, is the full video of the highlights of the anniversary show. This is something that, as a band, we are very proud of and as well as enjoying it with some of our oldest and closest friends, most of all, we were just happy to share this wonderful evening with over 300 Stereotonics fans that have stood by us and paid money to come and see us for the last twenty-odd years!
Without it sounding like a cliché, we genuinely mean that if it wasn't for you guys still wanting it after all of these years, we would have given up on it a long time ago!
As it is, if you guys keep asking for us to carry on, we'll do just that until there's another anniversary and we can do all of this crazy stuff all over again!
In the meantime, and in the great words of Kelly Jones - "Always a pleasure! Never a chore!"