On Patrol Live

Celebrating 20 years since the original release, Snow Patrol are reissuing their breakout third studio album, 'Final Straw'; named as such due to the band thinking it was possibly their last album, their 'last throw of the dice'. It turned out to be the album that would put them on the map, certified 6 x platinum in the UK and Ireland to date. This reissue will include three previously unreleased tracks from the album sessions, six original album track demos, 11 'Final Straw' tracks performed for their DVD concert film, 'Live at Somerset House' in 2004, plus new in depth and insightful liner notes written by Snow Patrol's lead singer, Gary Lightbody.

Although Raven were very much part of the NWOBHM of the late ’70s and early ’80s, brothers Mark and John Gallagher had formulated the idea of creating their own rock group way back in 1972. With John on bass and vocals and Mark on lead guitar, they played their first gig in 1975, building up a loyal following across the North East of England. Recording a rudimentary demo in 1978, included here on CD2. Signed to Neat Records, they recorded further demos, by which time they had trimmed down to a power-trio when the Gallaghers were joined by Rob “Wacko” Hunter on drums. Neat would release their debut 45 ‘Don’t Need Your Money’ in 1980 and make Raven the lead act with ‘Inquisitor’ on the cassette compilation, ‘Lead Weight’.

The Fireside Sessions' is an EP made up of five songs, written in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The EP was written in collaboration with the band's fans during a series of streams on Instagram Live dubbed 'Saturday Songwriters'. In a nod to this partnership, the album is released under the banner of Snow Patrol and the Saturday Songwriters.

Born in Columbus, GA, in 1953, blues guitarist/vocalist Robert Cray has–along with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan–been credited with helping to create the blues "renaissance" of the 1980s. He began his music career in 1979 and has won three Grammy awards, with his 1986 album "Strong Persuader" selling over one million copies.

With the major label Warner Bros. still supporting them and their platinum hit "Whip It!" still in the collective consciousness, new wave group Devo took to the road in 1981 with their New Traditionalists tour, an ambitious, expensive, and elaborate tour that featured a stage setup with background video projections and, quite strikingly, three 20-foot treadmills as props. Lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh would sing his part, play his keyboard riff, and then let the treadmill carry him backwards, all before running up to the mike at the last second to hit his next mark in a James Brown-styled bit of showmanship. Shockingly, the tour was never professionally captured, and that's on video and audio. Seeing it is believing, but at least there's this, a liberated cassette recording found at Devo member Bob Casale's house in the late '90s by Michael Pilmer aka Devo-Obsesso.

Recorded Live on January 6, 2017 at the Sellersville Theatre, PA.

Recorded Live on January 6, 2017 at the Sellersville Theatre, PA.

Devo will forever be known as the band of guys in plastic hats cracking whips at cowboys while urging us to 'whip it good'. It was 1980 when Devo's oddball video for the hit single Whip It became an inescapable staple on still-wobbly MTV. The song was a brief foray into the mainstream for an innovative and articulate art group, acclaimed by avant-gardists like David Bowie and Brian Eno. They headed out on tour in support of the album which lasted from May until August 1980 and included dates in Japan, mainland Europe, the UK, the USA and Canada. The setlist reflected their first three albums, picking through them at will and firing them off with some truly devastating tunes. This was 1980. This was Devo!!