News from 2000-2003

18 July 2003 – I have now seen the DVD and I am very pleased with it.
It is great being able to watch the band without the fear that my VCR will eat
the tape. It is also great getting decent copies of the promo videos. I should
note that Time Time Girl while it claims to be "(Live Version)" is still an
actual promo of the band rather than a truly live version.

I think would be really nice if Pony Canyon could round up the acoustic TV
appearances and Live TV show for a 2nd DVD release. Lets hope this release sells
well. The Discography and Biography are in English and Japanese. I have no idea
what the Japanese version says but the English one is a shorter version of the
history page on this site. It does say however that it is possible that the DVD
could get a European release later this summer. I have not checked this out yet.

My main reason for an update is that Dennis is going to be playing with
Remus Down Boulevard
again. They will be performing at the Standard in
Walthamstow on Saturday August 16th 2003. The gig will be record for a live
album by Tino. Although I am disgusted to say time has got the better of me and
I never written a review of the July 2001 gig I know it was great gig and lots
of the old Bridgehouse fans turned up to relive the past. It will be great if
the atmosphere of 25 years ago can be recreated again.

RDB at the Standard in Walthamstow in July 2001

12 June 2003 – Ko Yamada kindly wrote to tell me the bonus material
for the "Captured Alive In Tokyo" DVD has been announced. It will contain what I
assume were the promo videos for the following

  • Can’t See The Angels
  • This Time Girl (Live Version)
  • Borderline
  • Letting Go
  • Only The Children Cry
  • Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark

It will also feature a Biography and Discography. I don’t know if they will
be in English or just Japanese. The disc is due out on June 18th (PCBP-50803)
and will cost 3,990yen

14 May 2003 – I have replaced the
old message board
with a
new one
that has a lot of extra features. Hopefully a few people will leave
a message so that we can get it going.

What do people think of the new album?

27 Apr 2003 – I have finally found the time to put online an interview
I took with Tino, Chris and Dennis in March.

Pony Canyon have announced they are releasing "Captured Alive In Tokyo City"
on June 18th (PCBP-50803). It will cost 3,990yen

I see Bruce Bisland has decided to comment on a recent interview by Chris on
the Message Board. Chris’s interview is on

Melodicrock.com

There is another interview with Chris on "On The Rocks"

There is an interview on Bruce’s Statetrooper on
Heart Of The Rock.

I have added a few more reviews onto the Discography section.

7 Apr 2003 – Bruce Bisland got in touch with me the other day and he
confirmed that Statetrooper did play the Cartoon in March. He wrote "Yes indeed
Statetrooper did play The Cartoon on March 5th and the lineup was myself,Gary
Barden (Mantis singer on To The Power Of Ten and the Live Captured albums),Jeff
Summers and Jeff Brown from the original band along with our old mate Leon
Lawson (He has played keyboards with Mantis for all the dates since Forever
In Time in 1998
) on keyboards and an amazing young guy called Martin Mickels
on lead guitar. A great night was had by all as it was only supposed to be a
warmup for the New Jersey Metal-fest which alas we had to pull out of. The old
album is selling well and a new one is being written as we speak but with my
touring schedule at the moment its finding time to get in the studio. "

I also spoke with Bruce and Tony after a recent "The Sweet" gig. Tony is
singing well and fitting into the band nicely. They both wished the band every
success with the new album. Bruce also confirmed that he had played on the
recent "Tank" album.

Munich’s Hardest
Hits
"Germany’s No.1 Internet Rock Radio" has made "The Journey Goes On"
It’s album of the week. They describe it as "Really great stuff" and are
convinced their "listener’s will love it".

Dennis recently did an interview for Classic Rock News. You can read it
here
.

I forgot to mention in the last update that I have reduced the price of the
special edition "Nowhere To Hide" CD’s.

19 Mar 2003 – Yippee "The Journey Goes On" is out in Japan so I will
hopefully have someone to talk to about how good it is. I have just loaded 1min
clips of all the tracks. The quality is low but so it my disc space. I hope you
enjoy them as much as I do though. Please
send in
your reviews!

I have just had it confirmed by
Frontiers

and Now And Then that
the European release date for the album is April 29th.

Dave Cooper of Scorched Earth got in touch with me in February and confirms
that Tino and Chris were on "Tomorrow Never Comes". He is created a website for
the band and it sounds like the track might make a CD release sometime.

17 Mar 2003 – I can confirm the message on the message board Tony
O’Hora has now joined Andy
Scott’s Sweet
. He now joins ex-Praying Mantis band mate Bruce Bisland. Tony
has joined as singer and bass player. Tony has been playing rhythm guitar for
some years so it is not too big a leap for him to go to bass too. Andy’s Scott’s
Sweet play a lot of European dates and currently have a 42 date UK tour date
with Showaddywaddy and The Rubettes coming up at the end of the month. The full
dates can be seen on
http://www.thesweet.com/GlitzBlitz2003dates.htm.

Bruce Bisland might also have played a gig with Statetrooper in London. It
was at The Cartoon. It
claimed to be the original lineup so it might have had Gary Barden in it too. I
am still trying to confirm if this is correct or not. Thanks to Derrick Sheldon
for the tip off.

Pony Canyon has a 45 second Real Audio clip on their
Praying Mantis
page. Also some of the writing credits. I plan to put clips
of all the tracks up once the album is out in Japan.

18 Feb 2003 – I have done a general webpage update in preparation for
the new album. Last week I went down to the studio to see how things were going.
I took an interview with Dennis and Chris but as I am currently in the middle of
a house move I am not sure when I will get something added here. In the meantime
I have added details on Doogie White, John Sloman and Martin "Magic" Johnson who
plays drums on the new album to the Other Projects page. I have also added the
album to the Discography section and I have created a general page for "The
Journey Goes On".

26 Jan 2003 – I grabbed a spare moment with Tino yesterday. I can’t
guarantee the following information is 100% correct as it was only a quick call
but I thought you would appreciate an update:

The band are still very busy recording the new album. It is probably to be
called "The Journey Goes On". They hope to deliver it to Pony Canyon, Japan in
mid February. I have not been able to confirm when its current release date is.
I can also confirm that like "Nowhere To Hide" the album will be coming out on
Frontiers

and Now And Then.
Again I am not sure of the exact release date but it is likely to be a month or
so after the Japanese date.

A session drummer was used for the album this time and Doogie White (Yngwie
Malmsteen, Ex-Rainbow and of course a Japanese Tour with Mantis) and John Sloman
(Ex Uriah Heep & Lone Star) have sung vocals. Doogie features on 5 of the 10
tracks including a remake of "Naked" which was originally a bonus track on the
European version of "Nowhere To Hide". John sings on 3 tracks. Chris Troy takes
lead vocals on another track and Dennis Stratton, Tino Troy and Chris share
harmonies, like they do on "Lovers To The Grave", on the remaining track.

14 Nov 2002 – I have just had a quick chat with Tony O’Hora. He told
me he is appear on two tracks on "A Tribute To Boston". He sings on "Smoking"
and "Something About You". Also about a year ago
Michael Riesenbeck
told me Tony would be singing on his upcoming solo album "Shouting Silence". I
believe this is due out soon. I did discuss the current Praying Mantis situation
but I think it is best to keep that to myself until such a time as the next
album makes it’s release.

2 Oct 2002 – I managed to have a word with the band last night and
recording is due to start next week once some new equipment has arrived. All
other details at present are still up in the air so I can’t comment on the
reported lineup change below or the fact Bruce Bisland has been playing with
Tank. We will just have to wait and see what happens it seems.

7 Sep 2002Now
And Then
have the following news on their website. I am sure it will be
correct but I will try and get more details if I can.

Praying Mantis 6.9.2002

Frontiers Records are finally pleased to announce that the British melodic
hard rock quintet Praying Mantis is finally hard at work to give the
critically acclaimed album "Nowhere To Hide" a top quality follow up.

The album as yet untitled – is currently being recorded in the UK and
will see the return of the ex singer Colin Peel in the line up on lead
vocals. The label hopes to release the new record in Europe and North
America in the spring 2003.

28 May 2002 – The Message board has been down for some months. Sorry
about that. It is now working again. I hope. Still no new news from Mantis I am
afraid.

4 Apr 2002 – I don’t want you thinking this site is dead so I thought
I had better just report that there is still nothing much to report at present.
I did check the status of the band the other day and they are still preparing
new tracks as demos.

I now have the Metal Warriors DVD of Wacken 2000. I found this slightly
disappointing to be honest. I was expecting there to be some live clips of the
band at Wacken but while there are pictures the sound is from the albums and
unrelated. Also on the short section I have watched so far they have taken 4:3
pictures and chopped them into 16:9 pictures which makes picutres look rather
amateur. If I get chance I will try and write a proper review. There are 25
bands featured on the DVD and it is available from
Nuclear Blast
in Germany. It is only 9,99Euros so fairly cheap and runs for
80mins. The number is 27361 66602. Oh the packaging on mine says it is NTSC and
4:3 ratio. I definitely need to investigate more if I ever get chance.

10 Dec 2001 – I got the following news recently. I am currently trying
to get full details.

WACKEN DVD REMINDER!!: (Press Release) Wacken 2000 was such a special event
reaching an attendance of 35,000 fans that Nuclear Blast/Warner has released it
in a double-pack video and on DVD. Each video contains over an hour of
entertainment from the world’s greatest Heavy Metal festival. With filmed
interviews and live segments of some of the following killer bands.

SAMSON (on stage+interview), RHAPSODY (on stage+), STRATOVARIUS (Freedom -videoclip+),
HYPOCRISY (on stage+), PRAYING MANTIS (on stage + interview), DARK At DAWN (on
stage), ANGEL WITCH (interview +), STEEL ATTACK (on stage), VANISHING POINT
(Signing Session), MOB RULES, PINK CREAM 69 (on stage), SQUEALER (on stage),
LIEGE LORD ( interview / guitarist Paul Nelson) and lots more. Avaliable at:
amazon.de

Also

Remus Down Boulevard with Dennis Stratton are playing again on the
13th and 14th of December at the Standard in Walthamstow.

Special guests on 13th are the Jackie Lynton Band (full line-up) and on the
14th The Roy Mette Band plus celebrity guests (they are a Rory Gallagher tribute
band).

Tickets are £8 each night or £12 for both nights.

22 Aug 2001 – I got an E-mail from Gerry Kelly the other day. I guess
it is of interest so I will mention it here

Hope you are well, thought I’d drop you a line to tell you about a rather
special event. On the 8th December this year, Neal Kay is coming out of
retirement and we are putting together a one-off re-union for all those folks
who attended Neal’s gigs. It should be a good evening with lots of head shaking
and reminiscing. It’s at The Rayners Hotel in Rayners Lane. It’s an all ticket
affair, basically because we need to know how many people are going to come, and
if there is a massive demand no-one gets turned away at the door ‘cos hopefuly
they’ll all have tickets.

The tickets are going to be £10 each, it’s completely self-finaced, so this
covers for hire of hall, door staff, sound and lighting, and although Neal is
looking forward to it, he and his roadies want paying!

Please spread the word and if anyone wants to apply for tickets, or any more
info, get them to
hmsoundhouse@hotmail.com

or phone Gerry on 0208 202 3679 (eves)

22 Aug 2001 – Still not much happening on the Mantis front but Tony’s
Horakane album is being re-released in a remixed format on
Now And Then
. And I have been passed details of Tony’s pub band’s web site
Before The Storm

8 July 2001 – The RDB gig went down well I expect to be adding
Pictures etc. later. In the meantime I have just spotted I lost on of my scripts
in the last transfer. It is now restore and hopefully some of you will start
sending in album reviews.

Dennis mentioned he and Chris had been writing songs for the new album. They
are just Demoing in preparation for recording properly later in the year.

6 June 2001 – Things still sound a little vague but it seems there is
going to be a one off reunion gig of Dennis’s pre-Maiden band Remus Down
Boulevard (RDB). Apparently Dave Edwards and Dennis had a chat about playing
together to remember there Bridgehouse days. The event is therefore being billed
as below.

The Bridgehouse Reunion Party
A Special One-Off Performance By
THE REFORMED
REMUS DOWN BOULEVARD
Featuring
Dave Edwards & Dennis Stratton (ex Iron Maiden)
With Special Guests
"The Clown Prince of Rock" Jackie Lynton,
Jerry McAvoy (Rory Gallagher, 9 Below Zero)
Brendan O’Neill (Rory Gallagher, 9 Below Zero)
Celebrity Guest List Including
Terry Murphy K Glen Murphy
Plus Other Famous "Bridgehouse" Artistes
`This Event Will Be Filmed for Later TV Broadcast’
Thursday July 5th 2001
The Standard Music Venue, Walthamstow
Tickets £7.00 Doors 8.OOpm

On the Mantis front it now looks like the band are in the
writing stage for the next album. It is not likely before the end of the year.

23 May 2001 – The site has moved servers yet again and hopefully
everything is working again. Please let me know if you spot any errors I haven’t
(except spelling ones! Although you all welcome to tell me of those too!)

15 April 2001 – I added a
Powerplay

Magazine Review from Wacken (It was from Issue 18 in which I wrote a breif
history of Mantis. It is just a one page summary of this web site basically.). I
also added a new "Forever In Time" review and a couple of other minor
Discography changes.

BTW sorry about the scripts giving a "Cannot #EXEC ‘/cgi-bin/logs/log.cgi’
due to lack of EXECUTE permission" my provider made an unexpected change and it
is taking sometime to resolve.

10 April 2001
I added a couple of reviews of the Gods festival from the Press.

8 April 2001 – Metal Invader Magazine in Greece had a Praying Mantis
track on the cover disc with Issue 53. The track was Nowhere To Hide.

24 March 2001 – I added a few reviews to the discography section.
Mainly "Nowhere To Hide" ones as there are lots about on the Net. I finally
rememberd to add in the details of the Nowhere To Hide bonus track.

23 March 2001 – Still no news of anything happening with the lads. I
guess they are just enjoying life before they start on the new album. In the
Meantime according to
http://www.nowandthen.co.uk/news.html#Union

Mantis will have a track on the new Union 4 compilation. There are no more
details as to which take it will be. "Nowhere To Hide" has been the track on
Magazine Sampler discs. Please let me know if you see any of these as I am
interested in logging them.

19 January 2001 – There is not a lot happening at the moment. I have
heard that Mantis’s Nowehere To Hide was chosen for Album of the Year at
Heavy Harmonies. It is
was also named number 1 in online rock magazine
Detritus
.

28 November 2000 – I have added the pictures from the latest Dean
Swift and Astoria gigs. I didn’t think they justified a new page so the Gods
Festival 2000 page is rather large now. Aren’t you bored of my comments yet? How
about someone else sending some in?

My copy of issue 2 of Fireworks
came today. It contains the track Nowhere to Hide on the Bonus disc and a
review of the album. You can get it from
Bruce Mee
.

To encourage you to send in reviews how about a prize?

The lads knocked up this A4 poster on an inkjet in order to
promo the Limited Edition CD’s at the Dean Swift just before Wacken. I got the
band to sign it and although it got a little crumbled on the way home I managed
to get it home. (I tried this when I went to Japan and got the lads to sign the
2 posters advertising the Album reissues. When I boarded the plane I realised I
had forgotten them. I managed to get off the plane (not an easy thing to do!) to
have a look for them as I knew I had them at Customs but I never did find them
and nor did the airport.)

I will enter anyone into a draw anyone that sends me reviews of
albums or gigs before January 31st 2001. Each review will count a one chance in
the draw. I will then choose a name at random and send this poster and a copy of
the limited edition Nowhere To Hide CD.

14 November 2000 – I have added Pictures from the Gods Festival 2000.

The band have decided to have another warm up at the Dean Swift on 21
November. I guess it will follow the same format as before with the band going
through the set twice.

21 November 2000 – The Dean Swift, Dean Cross Street, Commercial Road,
London
22 November 2000 – LA2, at the London Astoria, Charring Cross Road
supporting Glenn Hughes

Nowhere To Hide is now out on Now And Then/Frontiers in Europe. This version
includes the new track "Naked".

22 October 2000 – It appears I am finally on a my new server. If you
notice any problems please let me
know. Thanks

5 Oct 2000 – It seems The Dean Swift ( Dean Cross Street, Commercial
Road, London) date is going to be on November 2nd.

The band have also been booked as support to Glenn Hughes at the London
Astoria 2 on November 22. The gig list is now as follows.

31 October 2000 –
179 London Road, Croydon
2 November 2000 – The Dean Swift, Dean Cross Street, Commercial Road,
London
4 November 2000 –
Gods Festival
in at Maximes, Wigan, England
22 November 2000 – LA2, at the London Astoria, Charring Cross Road
supporting Glenn Hughess

There is still talk of the gig in LA, USA. Also ones in Rome and Greece.

Fireworks Magazine issue 2 will have the track "Nowhere To Hide" on the cover disc. Issue
3 will in all probability have an interview with the lads about things at
present. To get Fireworks I suspect it might be best to e-mail
Bruce Mee
to get a price. The Magazine is out every 2 months and available
from Fireworks Magazine, Subscriptions Dept, 10 Dunnnock Close, Offerton,
Stockport, SK2 5XD, UK.

I have written a general history piece on Mantis for
Powerplay

magazine too.

28 Sept 2000 – The band will be playing a warm up gig at
The Cartoon
179 London Road, Croydon
again on 31st Octoberr. It
was £3 on the door to get in last time and I suspect it will be the same this
time. Gigs at the Cartoon often seem to start and end later than normal pub
gigs. If you let me know you are interested I can confirm this nearer the time.

I am also expecting another gig at the Dean Swift probably between this gig
and the Gods festival, Wigan.

The band are talking about playing one or maybe two tracks from Nowhere to
Hide this time. It is too early to say for sure though.

15 Sept 2000 – According to www.underground-live.de the highlights
from Wacken will be screen on 24.09.00 between 16:00-20:00 hrs in Germany. I
can’t really establish who is able to see this. They tell me "All people who
have Kabel TV in the german state Rhineland-Pfalz/Vorderpfalz (and in gemany
it`s normal to have Kabel TV) can watch the music TV show weekly normaly one
hour (19:00-20.00) on the local channels, next sunday there will be a three hour
Bang your head Festival special and sunday 24.9.2000 there will be a four hour
Wacken Festival special." There is a Kabel TV channel on the Astra Satellite but
apparently it isn’t the right Kabel. A shame. If you can get the program it
looks an interesting one to watch regularly.

8 Sept 2000 – I spoke to Tino earlier this week and he said the new
track is now finished. It is too be called "Naked" and is about 8 minutes long.
It is about the baby daughter he lost in March of this year. It will appear on
the European editions of Nowhere To Hide.

Details of the LA festival are still uncertain although I have heard from one
person telling me they are now being advertised on the bill. When I spoke to
Tino things were still being negotiated.

The set for the Gods festival is likely to be about 40 minutes so I suspect
it will be much as it was at Wacken in Germany.

29 August 2000 – In the last week Praying Mantis signed to
Frontiers

in Italy. This means they will also be released in the UK on
Now And Then
. Despite the announcements before Wacken it really was only
this last week hence I have not confirmed it before. Tino says ‘We are putting a
bonus track on this release… Probably entitled "The man that never was"
another epic!’.

Mantis are due to play the Gods Festival in Wigan England on November 4th.
Details are on the Now And Then
Web Site
.

They are also likely to play a festival in LA on November 10th or 11th. I
have no more details about this yet. Not even the festival name.

Finally I am expecting to move servers shortly so there might be a day or so
when this site is down or not quite working properly. Apologies in advance

10 August 2000 – I have add the details of the Limited Edition Picture
Disc of Nowhere To Hide which is available from me.

I have also added pictures and my view of the recent dates. If you were at
any of the dates please send me your views for the page. Your opinions are more
important than mine. Gig reviews are here and I have also added back stage pics
and my experiences at Wacken here.

25 July 2000 – I added the final part of the Dennis Stratton
interview. It covers Lionheart through to the end of 1999. For those that have
already read part of this the new section starts with "Lionheart then. Basically
can you tell me the story of Lionheart?"

Tino told me today he expect the Dean Swift to start around 9pm. I think I
would be inclined to get there a little early to be on the safe side.

Apparently a Picture disc version of Nowhere To Hide will be available at the
UK gigs and Wacken. I will let you know more about it when I have seen it.

11 July 2000 – Apparently the Shebeen has hit financial trouble and is
closing so the gig there has had to be cancelled. The date at the Dean Swift has
therefore been moved forward to 31 July. The dates now are therefore (see below
for how to get there)

31 July 2000 – The Dean Swift, Commercial Road, London

1 August 2000 – The Cartoon
179 London Road, Croydon

4 August 2000 – Wet Stage – 22.00 – 22.45
Wacken

Hamburg, Germany

8 July 2000 – As expected Mantis will also be playing The Dean Swift
pub before Wacken. See the 6 June entry for the other two dates in the UK. They
play the Dean Swift on 2nd August. It can be hard to find so here is how
I do it. I go to Aldgate East tube Station. Then it is three bus stops down
Commercial Road. The Stop I get off at is called Watney Market (and the shopping
precinct can be seen on the right as you approach the stop). The nearest Street
to the pub is Sidney Street which is almost opposite the pub on the left. The
Dean Swift is set well back on the right hand side. It was very easy to miss and
taxi drivers didn’t know where it was so I hope these instructions help.

4 July 2000 – I have added Real Audio clips for the Nowhere To Hide
Album tracks.

I have also had a serious revamp of the discography section. It now contains
extra informtion and is on individual pages. The pages will include reviews of
the albums just as soon as you send me them. Please use this form. It would be
really nice if we could get two or three reviews for each album.

Nowhere to Hide made the Japanese International Artist chart at 15. And was
at 40 in the chart including domestic Japanese artists. I believe this is the
best placing they have ever had. 27 June 20000 – I have change the
Survey form
to be self updating. Please rate the albums for me.
This page also adds a facility where you can register for
News Information
Concert Infomation
to be sent by E-mail. Only I can post to address’s registered here. Unlike the
Discussion List where everyone can talk.

25 June 2000 – I added a Search facility to the site. It meant
changing all the pages but there is nothing new. And Of course Nowhere To
Hide Is Now Releasedd
.

8 June 2000 – Had a little tidy up and an experiment with another Jave
App. Also add a 1985 set list to the History page.

7 June 20000 – Out of frustration at my slowness I have decided to
release another part of my Dennis Stratton Career Interview. It now covers up to
the end of Iron Maiden. I am not to far from the end of finishing the unreleased
bit but I expect it will be more than a month before I release it.

July 2000’s UK Classic Rock Mag says:- "The New Praying Mantis album,
"Nowhere To Hide" is out in Japan on June 21, while Zoom Club Records have just
re-issued "Live At Last" (Recorded in 1990 with former Iron Maiden men Dennis
Stratton and Paul Di’anno), plus Captured – Live In Tokyo City and Forever In
Time albums.

Mantis were recently forced to cancel their touring plans, including a London
date with Samson and Angel Witch (the latter having just re-released their own
"Resurrection" album through Zoom Club), due to a family bereavement"

6 June 2000 – Ok here we go again some UK dates for you. I feel
reasonably confidant they will happen this time but it is best to check back
here or let
me know you are going so I can
make sure you know if they don’t happen.

27 July 2000 – The Shebeen (George And Dragon) Acton, London. I am a
little out of practise getting here but I see from below the Shebeen is part
of the George and Dragon pub 183 High Street Acton W3. The best tube is
Acton Town (There is a taxi firm at the door here) or Acton Central. Last
time I went I found it easier to get the 207 bus from the Pub to Ealing
common tube station so I might well try the reverse this time.

1 August 2000 – The Cartoon
179 London Road, Croydon
. I expect people will be expected to pay on the
door for this but this is based on what was going to happen in May. I don’t
really know how to get here. West Croydon mainland trains station appears to
be the closest to the area.

It is expected there will be a gig at the Dean Swift around this time too.
And maybe some others.

Out of curiosity What songs would you like to hear Mantis play in the UK
and Japan?
Either e-mail me or
leave a message on the message board if you prefer.

28 May 2000Zoom Club Records
will be releasing

‘Live At Last’ ZCRCD355
‘Captured Live In Tokyo City’ ZCRCD36
‘Forever In Time’ ZCRCD37

In late June. They sell direct and I have brough from them in the past
myself.

26 May 2000 – Nowhere To Hide is due for release in Japan on June
21st. I have added the front cover to the site. The
Wacken

site has Mantis listed as appearing on the Wet Stage between 22.00 – 22.45 on
Friday 4 August. st.

19 Apr 2000 – Mantis were due to be playing the following UK dates.

  • Wednesday 3 May – The Cartoon
  • Wednesday 10 May – The Robin, Brierly Hill, Dudley.
  • Friday May 26th – The LA2, at the London Astoria

The earlier ones were in preparation for the date with Angel Witch and Samson
at the Astoria. Sadly the date for the Astoria date had been changed from a date
earlier in the month. Mantis drummer Bruce Bisland who was able to make the
original date isn’t in the country on the 26th and Mantis have only just
finished recording the new "Nowhere To Hide" album which overran slightly. The
band would need to rehearse a different drummer and they were already short of
time for learning up the new material. On top of all this one of the band
members has suffered a family tragedy and is therefore not in the best position
to spend time for rehearsals just now. With all this it was felt that it was
best to pull out of these dates. The band apologise to any fans that were
looking forward to the gigs.

I am currently under the impression they will still be performing at the
Wacken Festival Hamburg, Germany. They are not expecting to do a promotional
tour of Japan for the new album this time so it could well be that the tour
dates for their will be brought forward. Mantis are therefore likely to play
some UK dates around then.

26 Mar 2000 – Take It Magazine Germany recently put an excellent
interview with Chris online.

"Nowhere to hide" has been delays to June (to my latest knowledge). I don’t
know why. It is complete and everyone that has heard it loves it. Including me.

19 Mar 2000

  • Wednesday 3 May – The Cartoon179
    London Road, Croydon. People will be expected to pay on the door.
  • Wednesday 10 May – The Robin, Brierly Hill, Dudley. It is my understanding
    the nearest train station is Cradley Station.
  • Friday May 26th – The LA2, at the London Astoria, Charring Cross Road The
    nearest Tube Station station is Tottenham Court Road.
  • August 4th or 5th At Wacken
    festival in Hamburg, Germany.

4 Mar 2000 – I added the track listing for Nowhere to Hide on the
Nowhere to Hide Page. I also add details of a 1999 Bernie Shaw project to the
Side Projects page.

1 Mar 2000 – I have just heard from a Samson page helper that May 10
will see Mantis playing in the UK outside of London! I haven’t specifically
checked the date and venue with the band but Tino did mention the other day a
warm up in Brierly Hill so it seems reasonable to announce it. It will be at The
Robin, Brierly Hill. It is my understanding the nearest train station is Cradley
Station.

Let me know if you are thinking of going so I can make sure I can keep you up
to date on developments.

19 Feb 2000 Fester Heep
recently interviewed Bernie Shaw about recent developmentt. This in Interview
can be found on his Universal
Wheels 20000
pages.

I see 101CD in the UK are saying the new
album will be out in Japan on 15-Mar-00 – PCCY-01447

16 Feb 2000 – At last I have managed to tie up with Dave Potts again
and can now released the interview I took with him August last year. It is my
understanding that "Nowhere To Hide" is complete and being sent to Japan.

8 Feb 2000 – Derrick Sheldon was quick of the mark telling me the
Astoria Mantis gig is back on. The Samson web page says Samson’s new line up
"will make their live debut when they headline the Metal Crusade 2000 concert at
the LA2, at the London Astoria, on Friday May 26th. Also on the bill will be
Angelwitch and Praying Mantis. Doors open at 6.30 pm, and the show will end at
10.30 sharp, so don’t be late. Tickets will be on sale from the Astoria box
office from 25th January. All three bands are also booked to appear at the
Wacken

festival (4-5 August) in Hamburg, Germany in early August, pending
contracts."

Mantis will be first band on so get their early. I expect the set to be about
50 mins and it will be the 1998 lineup.

The new Studio album is 99% certain to be called "Nowhere To Hide" which is
one of the tracks on the album. I was expecting there to be a Japanese tour in
May but I think it is only likely to be promotional tour for the album.

6 Feb 2000 – If thinks went well with Mixing the album should have
been completed today. I have added a new feature to the site. You can now leave
messages on the new Bulletin board. If you have any questions you can add them
there or on the E-mail list or directly to me.

29 Jan 2000 – I have added an interview I took with Steve Carroll in
Nov 99. Very long as usual with me doing it! My transcription energies will now
go back to the start of the Dennis Stratton interview. I imagine it will take me
at least 3 months or so.

Since I have seen both Dennis’s and Tino and Chris’s pub bands I thought it
was time I checked out what Tony and his wife Jas get up to outside Mantis. On
the 21st of January I therefore took a trip to his home and took in a couple of
performances. It was very interesting. Tony does a duo with his wife called
"Caprice" and they play rock songs to Midi file drum backing. It started out
with Tony and Jas singing with Jas playing keyboards then Tony decided to learn
guitar five years ago and now Jas sticks to just Vocals and Tony does Vocal and
Lead guitar. I would guess Tony still does 60% of the lead vocals. His guitar
playing isn’t up to the standard of Tino and Dennis (Not that I am a good judge)
but he does a very good job of soloing in songs like Pink Floyds "Comfortably
Numb". It is strange for me to see Tony playing Guitar even though I knew he did
it on Horakane. The cover songs range from Abba’s Waterloo through Fleetwood
Mac’s Dreams, Meatloaf’s Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad. To ACDC’s Whole Lotta Rosie
Led Zeppelin’s Rock’n’Roll and Gun’s And Roses November Rain.

While I was at the his house I took the opportunity to look at his home
studio. Since the new Mantis album is getting near completion Tony had deleted
most of the midi files he has been working out to the vocals to so that he just
gets used to the final versions of the songs and not the demos. He did have a
couple of sets of files still on his hard drive though and I got to hear them.
The first track I think called "The Clock Tower" probably won’t make the album
due to lack of time but even in it’s very keyboard driven format with no guitar
or vocals you could tell it was very Mantis. Another one called "River Of Hope"
I have to say I really liked. It was keyboards (Not even the sounds Chris chose
for it since Tony has a different Midi unit). This one had vocals on it and even
in this primitive state that Tony thought sounded terrible I could get a feel
for it. The last song "I’ll never know why" still had some guitar and vocal
parts on the disk and this of course sounded more complete. It will be
fascinating to hear the finished songs.

2 Jan 2000 – Here is a useless piece of information for you. Ex-Mantis
singer Colin Peel was one of the first few people seen on the BBC in the year
2000. He is married to TV presenter Gaby Roslin and Gaby was chosen to be the
BBC’s Anchor person for the 27 hours of Live broadcast of the Millennium
celebrations around the world. Colin was off screen watching a lot of it and
come the new year he joined Gaby and the other presenters on screen to wish
everyone a happy new year.

News prior to this is now here.

Discography

Previous article

The Journey Goes On