How time can fly by.......

How quickly time passes us by in the land of Galahad!!

This year has shot by so quick but we've been very busy and very productive. The follow up album to Empires Never Last has been written and the drums have been tracked for all the tracks (with the exception of Battle Scars which will be recorded this Weds).

Karl Groom is, again, recording and co-producing the album. The band feel that Karl is practically a 6th member of the band as he has the expertise and understanding of knowing how Galahad want the recording to sound.

A quick run down of the events so far this year :

A performance at the Winters End Festival was followed by a trip to Quebec to headline another festival - this turned out to be an extended stay for us as the Icelandic volcano decided to erupt it's ash cloud just before the flight out from Montreal. The 25th anniversary gig was in July before recording started and a quick trip to Loreley in a gorgeous part of Germany for Europe's largest open air progressive festival.

Along with all that, Roy and Dean have been playing with a revamped/ reformed Twelfth Night for a small tour which culminated in a headline show at Loreley (Roy and Dean played both the Galahad and Twelfth Night sets on the 3rd September).

More news to come soon: a few interesting additions to possibly be included with the new album, a DVD, a new official YouTube channel, more blog updates, a revamped website, a ping account has just been set up, some nice downloads for you all... etc etc.

All our albums are now available on iTunes should you be missing any of the back catalogue.

See you soon :-D

Galahad 25th Anniversary Gig

Mr Kyps, Poole, Dorset, UK – Sat 10 July 2010

It’s time to unfurl the flags out and blow a few trumpets because 2010 is a very special year for Galahad as it marks our 25th anniversary (how many years again!?) and as such there will be few events organised to celebrate the fact that we have managed to keep it all together for so long…and without a break…. and still be on talking terms with each other, an achievement in itself!

The highlight of our UK set of gigs will undoubtedly be our 25th anniversary show at Mr Kyps in Poole, Dorset on Saturday 10 July where we will be playing an extended set of both very old and very new songs plus a few other favourites and will be joined on stage by several ‘special’ guests whom some of you are bound to recognise depending on how long you have been a Galahad aficionado of course! Hopefully, there will also be a few merchandise stalls and possibly even some new Galahad music available including a brand new, updated recording of one of our most popular epic songs! We will also be playing a few new tunes that will appear on our next studio album.

As it is a very special occasion for us your support would be greatly appreciated and we hope to see as many fans of Galahad, and indeed fans of good original progressive/rock/live music as possible….and we promise to put on a great show as we also see the gig as a massive ‘thank you’ to all those of you who have stood by us through all our trials and tribulations over the last 25 years.

Tickets will be priced at a very reasonable £10 in advance and £12 on the door and will be available directly from the venue at www.mrkyps.net
Further information about all of Galahad’s activities in 2010 will be given in the next few months as when details are finalised.

Galahad and the last piece of the jigsaw.....

Yes indeed, the rumours are true! Galahad would like to confirm that Neil Pepper is our new/old bass guitarist. We are extremely pleased that Neil has rejoined the band.

He was an integral part of the Galahad set up for ten years between 1992 and 2002 and played on three of our studio albums ‘Sleepers’, ‘Following Ghosts’ and ‘Year Zero’. He is also the bass player on our first live album ‘Classic Rock Live’ as well as appearing on the Galahad Acoustic Quintet album ‘Not All There’.

He has also already made a significant contribution to the new songs that will form our next album. Therefore, even in our 25th year of existence we are very excited about the future for what we regard as the definitive Galahad line up.

As someone once said……..It’s only a matter of going!

Work in progress(ive rock)

The new material for the next album is coming along nicely. It looks like the band have got to the stage of working on the finer details of each of the songs. Also, we have a big surprise for Galahad fans as one of the plans for next years release is to re-record a song that will be very farmiliar to most of you. Over the next few months the first songs will be recorded at Thin Ice Studios with Karl Groom at the helm. Karl did such a good job working with us on Empires Never Last that we didn't really even think about using another studio or producer/engineer.

Keep checking back for the next update....................

Poland 2009 (part 2)

The 6th June was 4TH OSKAR ART-ROCK FESTIVAL in Konin. The largest venue of our tour with Riverside headlining. Riverside had some last minute changes and were not able to make the event. Still, with a good crowd lined up waiting for the doors to open, we felt that this was going to be a good night for us. First up were a Polish band called Lilith, a heavy goth/prog/rock band with a huge sound and a singer with a wonderful angelic sounding voice. Next, our good friends Grendel performed and this time they had bass player Cezary join them for a full band sound with a few songs that were not played on the previous 2 nights. We took to the stage at last and to our surprise, at least half the audience rushed to the front of the stage making it a very noisy and memerable concert for us. After we had finished it was time to pack away and move on to our hotel for the night. Witek, our promoter, had decided on hiring a few chalets out in the countryside for all the bands to stay in. From, at first sight, looked like the set from the movie 'Friday the 13th' became another lovely night as the members from each band all met up for a bit of a party into the small hours.





Next morning, after what felt like about 30 minutes sleep, we headed to Poznan for the final gig of the short tour. The 'Blue Note' club seemed an odd choice for a progressive rock band to play but as it turned out, it was probably our highlight of the tour. A very intimate venue, a world apart from the previous night, was full to the rafters and the audience were buzzing. A major concern earlier in the day was that because of the never ending amounts of dry ice being pumped on stage throughout the previous night, Stuart had a severe sore throat that meant he could hardly talk, let alone sing!!! It was when the band took to the stage that the 'spirit of performance' that has done the band so proud over the last few years, REALLY shone through. Although Stuart was really struggling to get enough out of his voice, his total commitment to putting on a good show paid off with what was probably the 'performance' of the tour.





Packing up the gear for the last time was probably as slow as it could ever be and then we headed back at the hotel. The Grendel members set about organising one last party for us. Although there were only a few hours left before leaving for the airport, Stu, Roy, Spencer and Dean spent the last couple of hours with our wonderful support band.

Next year, if all goes according to plan, we will again be touring Poland and hopefully, Grendel will be coming along for the duration with us again. With next year being Galahad's 25th anniversary, alot has to be planned for a very very busy year........

Poland Tour (part one)

After a 2am start to travel to the airport, we finally arrived in Katowice around 10.30am on Thursday 4th June. A quick checkin at the hotel and we were on our way to the 1st venue - CZERWIEC - PIEKARY SLASKIE, ANDALUZJA.
This was the opening slot for last years tour and it was a tremendous success so we were really looking forward to playing the same venue again. Sure enough, the audience didn't disappoint and it turned out to be a very lively night. Galahad are a band that enjoy to entertain and a lively audience goes a long way in bringing out the best from the guys. A set with a good mixture of old and new led to a good solid first show. Starting with the title track from the Sleepers album and including some 'golden oldies' like Room 801, Lady Messiah and Bugeye, a good portion of the award winning album Empires Never Last finished off the set.
After the gig it was back to the hotel to relax (with vodka) and meet up with the guys -and lady- from Grendel. It turned out to be a perfect match to be touring with Grendel. Their style contrasted Galahads perfectly and to top it off, within a few hours, both bands had become best of friends. This was the way it stayed throughout the tour and we are all still in regular contact with each other.

After a very late night we all hit the road to travel to OSTRÓW. We arrived to find ourselves in a wonderful, picturesque town square to check into a lovely hotel which was only a few minutes walk from the venue. Today was the first chance to relax a little before making our way to the venue for the soundcheck. Modest ticket sales didn't stop the venus from being full by the time the bands came onto the stage. Polish band Grendel, for the 2nd gig, were working without their bass player Cezary (he was due to join for the 3rd and 4th concerts) played another faultless set. Galahad again had a very good response from the audience and the wheels were fully in motion for another very successful tour. A great after show party in a local nightclub with all the guys from both bands further cemented the bond between the Polish/English tour members. Things were certainly looking good.

To be continued..........

All ready to roll

Hi to everyone.

The band have rehearsed for the last time before the trip to Poland and will be leaving sunny Dorset on Wednesday night for the first show on Thursday 4th June (check earlier post for venues).

Stuart and Dean got together this week for a writing session and to fine tune some of the recent compositions. All went well and if the pace can be kept up, there'e no reason why the band won't be heading into the Studio towards the end of the year.

Dean's studio project, After The Storm, has been completed with the help of Lee (who has been asked to have more of an active role in the band so has now turned the duo into a trio). The project has been very rewarding for Dean and he is hugely excited about the months ahead with Galahad to work with the band on the new album.

With the CD release by Metal Mind of Galahad's live performance in Poland in 2006 (which incidentally, is the same that was used for the DVD) the Live CD release of the show at RosFest in 2007 is to be witheld a little longer than originally planned. What this space for details.....