Reavsey Write-Up UFK

09 May 2009

Cherry Tree Pub – Tonbridge Rd - Maidstone

Andy Export (UFK) and Andy White

The genius song smith that is Andy Export and founder of Unlucky Fried Kitten along
with the excellent guitar man and performer Andy White

Leave your Jellied Eels on the counter and scuttle from the van to the stage, toot
suite!

The duo blasted off with Loserville.com an old UFK
favourite…a tentative Export fixed the crowd in his sights while exclaiming
“Click a mouse to find a spouse”, maybe there were a few guilty faces hiding
behind their pint pots?

Sounding out the crowd, Andy E stepped up a gear and with Andy W’s solid chops
backing him, ran through great versions of 3 Am and also “To whom it may
concern” (a personal favourite of mine), Shooting Star Amongst others…

Having performed a fine, if maybe subdued set by his standards, Andy Export stepped
down to allow Andy White to play solo.

Andy White performed some modern classics which the boisterous crowd really
appreciated, singing along with him at one point.
An excellent set by Andy White, whose style of playing is competent and aggressive,
which certainly went down well in the bustle of a busy Saturday night at the Cherry
Tree and held the audiences attention. Great choice of songs and great response to
his performance from the locals.

After Andy Exports tactical retreat to re energise, imbibed with a drop of the old
amber medicine, Export’s evil twin returned to the stage with renewed vigour and
much gusto…

Looking like a shaven headed Nelson on the prow of the Victory; he surveyed his
“Trafalgar” and battle commenced.

“Made in Russia” sent some metaphorical shrapnel barwards and the audience
responded… Andy E gesturing and falling to his knees like some tormented Bingo
caller, animated the songs while Andy W, with wry smile on his face, bashed out the
power chords.

Now he meant business and we saw the old charm of Andy Export shine through as he
bantered with the audience and at one point during a classic rendition of
“People”, got lost somewhere in the Saloon bar due to the wonder that is the
Wireless Microphone, in fact he was narrowly prevented from performing the remainder
of the gig from the Tonbridge Rd!

Several numbers later and after the impossible to follow rendition of “People”
(In which the audience chanted “People People” providing backing vocals) the
show wound down.

There were even cries for such UFK staples as “I am a Robot” from the locals.

UFK punching above their combined numbers but probably sufficiently enough for their
combined weight, responded to the final bell and time, the one who “flexes like a
whore”, fell metaphorically winking to the floor, energy spent.

Loserville.com was the encore and the circle had been
squared whatever that might mean?

A very entertaining evening and a great combination of Andy E’s unique style and
song writing and Andy W’s excellent and edgy guitar, which really complimented
each other to form another great Unlucky Fried Kitten event.

Oh yes and thanks to Westlife for inspiration…

Review By Reavsey (A UFK Follower ;o)

UFK Album on sale at gig £2

Unlucky Fried Kitten...live at The Cherry Tree in Maidstone on Saturday May 9th.
8.30...until they get booted off

Yes folks...I got the nod that the gig at The Cherry Tree is on for May 9th when Unlucky Fried Kitten will be double-billing with Andy White.
The gig will kick off at 8.30 and UFK will be playing a few new songs as well as some of the old songs. I Am A Spider will be played on a typewriter. Life In My Town will get it's second airing...after it was debuted at The White Horse, Maidstone with Ben Jones (of The Lovedays) on guitar. Andy Export of Unlucky Fried Kitten (natch) was on vocal duty.
Copies of the Unlucky Fried Kitten album "Unlucky Fried Kitten present Loserville.com" will be on sale at The Cherry Tree gig for the princely sum of £2....that's two pounds of your hard-earned money. No post and packaging...cos it will be right there...in front of you...calling your name.
Double-Bill with Andy White

UFK

Unlucky Fried Kitten...live at The Cherry Tree in Maidstone on Saturday May 9th.
8.30...until they get booted off
Double-Bill with Andy White

Hartley's Jam...a prize with Unlucky Fried Kitten

Venue…The Cherry Tree, Tonbridge Road, Maidstone

Show…Unlucky Fried Kitten with Andy Export and Andy White

Date…May 9th 2009

To co-incide with the above show there will be a competition to win this actual jar of Hartley’s Best Black Cherry Jam 340 gram…with a Best Before Date of February 2010.

This fantastic prize will be awarded to the person who takes the best photograph of Unlucky Fried Kitten at the show….so bring your cameras and don’t miss out on the chance to win this beautifully preserved food-stuff.

Suitable for vegetarians and vegans

On this topic…there was a music performance and recording group called The Jam.

….there was never one called Hartley’s

….nor Black Cherry….though we did have Black Grape…and Wild Cherry

….and Marmalade

………..so….let’s keep these bands preserved

So…don’t forget…best foto taken on May 9th at the Unlucky Fried Kitten gig wins this jar of Hartley’s Best Black Cherry Jam.

The use-by date is February 2010….so assuming you win it in May you will have 9 months to use it. Have jam on toast once a week. It should work out about right.

black-cherryAndy White will be playing some of his own songs and a selection of covers chosen specially for the evening.

Unlucky Fried Kitten will be playing some of their best-loved compositions and generally making a bit of a nuisance of themselves.

The whole event, should you be unlucky enough to miss out, will be filmed by Rio Fraser and preserved (there’s that word again) for all prosperity.

We have already mentioned The Jam and Marmalade…but the culture of popular music is littered with references to this type of food.

It is well documented that the word “jam”… as regards to a group of musicians getting together and playing…was first used by the jam-factory workers of the 18th century. After the jam was made up in batches it would sit in vast cauldrons where it had to stay for at least 4 hours before it could be bottled up or put into jars. This 4 hour period was enough time to enable the escape of the seed toxins….which would sometimes make the jams poisonous. The workers would bang on the jars and bottles to make crude music and would sing along to pass the time. Over the years the workers began bringing small musical instruments into the jam-plants…and the “jam” principle grew from there. Eventually this evolved into the brass band…with all jam- plants having their own bands….in the same way that the brass bands sprung up from the mines and collieries around Britain. Incidentally… the first brass band to come out of the land-working era did not come from the jam-plants nor did it come from the collieries. The honour goes to The Tovil Treacle Mine Big Brass Ensemble…formed in and around the confines of the Tovil Treacle Mine in the heart of the Weald of Kent…near Maidstone. Treacle had a toxin-release time too…and to pass the time in the “release-off” period the workers would sit around in the Bockingford Fields drinking Ice-Cold Oggies and perfecting their musical skills.

Other known preservative links to the world of popular music include:

Ken Dodd and his Diddymen….who worked down the jam-butty mines at Knotty Ash, Liverpool

The Keef Hartley Band….Keef was born in Preston on April 8th 1944 and was replacement drummer for Ringo Starr in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. It is widely believed that he took the name “Hartley” from his absolute love of berry-fruit jams.

The Lemon Pipers….named after Lemon Curd….definitely.

Mike Berry

Neneh Cherry

Gladys Knight and the Pips

Strawberry Switchblade (named after the knife used to cut the stalks off the strawberries)

Paul Melba

and one of the biggest preservative success stories of modern popular music…PEARL JAM.

black-cherry1

May 9th Unlucky Fried Kitten Maidstone

UNLUCKY FRIED KITTEN AT THE CHERRY TREE IN MAIDSTONE
THE CHERRY TREE
437 TONBRIDGE ROAD
MAIDSTONE
KENT
01622 726122

THIS IS A DOUBLE-HEADER ON MAY 9TH WITH UNLUCKY FRIED KITTEN AND ANDY WHITE SHARING THE BILL.
ANDY WHITE IS A SINGER-GUITARIST PERFORMER IN HIS OWN RIGHT. HE PLAYS A MIXTURE OF HIS OWN RICH COMPOSITIONS AND A BATCH OF STANDARDS...WITH SOME MORE EXTRANEOUS NUMBERS (SYD BARRET'S FLOYD ETC)THROWN IN FOR GREAT MEASURE.

UNLUCKY FRIED KITTEN ARE A PUNK-POP INDO-EUROPEAN BAND FORMED IN MAIDSTONE AND MEDWAY IN THE UK...BY ANDY EXPORT (FORMERLY KNOWN AS ANDY FRASER UNTIL THE ACCIDENT)
THEY PLAY AN ECLECTIC MIX OF DAFT LITTLE SONGS ABOUT MYSPACE AND FACEBOOK AND E-BAY AND THE LIKE. hERE, FOR YOUR DELECTATION, IS A SNEAK PREVIEW OF THE UP-DATED SET-LIST FOR MAY 9TH 20009.

1.LOSERVILLE
2.SHOOTING STAR
3.TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
4.SCRAP METAL
5.I AM A SPIDER
6.BALLERINA
7.LIFE IN MY TOWN
8.MADE IN RUSSIA
9.THE GIRL NEXT DOOR/CHRISTINE KEELER
10.THREE AM
11.PEOPLE
12.UNDERGROUND WORKER

CHERRY TREE GIG May 9th Maidstone

The set-list for Unlucky Fried Kitten at The Cherry Tree in Maidstone on May 9th will be….most likely…as follows.

May 9th 2009….double-header…

Andy White

Unlucky Fried Kitten

1. Underground Worker

2. People

3. Loserville

4. To Whom It May Concern

5. Shooting Star

6. The Girl Next Door

7. Three a.m.

8. 7-Days (craig david cover)

9. I Am A Spider

10. Strange Summer

11. Ballerina In A Fish-Supper Suit

12. Here Comes Christine Keeler Dressed In Dancing Leather

13. Made In Russia

14. Scrap Metal

15. Life In My Town

This is not a definitive list….I will be adding to it from time to time at various stages until May 9th.

I might even debut my new song “Dial-A-Goat” Here’s a splash of the lyric….to get you into the concept of renting a ruminant.

DIAL-A-GOAT

If your garden is overgrown

And your budget is overblown

And your strimmer has died a death

Drawn it’s final 2-stroke breath

There’s a number that you can ring

VAT-Registered and everything

We’ll come and clear away the weeds you got

Even if you have lost the plot

Dial-A-Goat

Cos maybe paraquat don’t float your boat

Why piss about with fire or creosote

When you can Dial-A-Goat?

Dial-A-Goat

He’ll even wear a regimental coat

He’ll be eating ’til he starts to bloat

Dial-A-Goat

Gets my vote.

We have up-dated the set-list and it's all systems goo. Most of the words to these songs can be found in one of the blogs on this site.