the high barnets

The High Barnets are:

Paul ‘Stormy’ Brewer – Drums
Influences: John Bonham, Keith Moon, Romeo Challenger.
Favourite colour: Silk Cut purple.
Vices: Lager, cigarettes, Red Bull and Pro-Plus.
Guilty pleasure: Girls, girls, girls by Sailor.

Anthony Kenny – Guitars, backing vocals.
Influences: Pete Townshend, Johnny Marr, Christopher Lillicrap.
Favourite colour: Ginger.
Vices: Bacon and cabbage, drink and Arsenal.
Guilty pleasure: Footloose by Kenny Loggins.

Arron O’Hare – Bass.
Influences: John Entwistle, James Jamerson, Derek Griffiths.
Favourite colour: Grey
Vices: Guinness and Ventolin inhalers.
Guilty pleasure: Convoy by C.W MaCall

Mark O’Hare – Lead vocals
Influences: Brothers Jim and Van Morrison, John Lennon, Rik Waller
Favourite colour: Midnight on the moon black
Vices: Guinness and other people’s cigarettes.
Guilty pleasure: Marie Marie by Shakin Stevens.

Toni Saunders – Keyboards, backing vocals.
Influences: Booker T, Ian MacLagan, Les Dawson.
Favourite colour: Misty Buff.
Vices: Other people’s houses and Babycham.
Guilty pleasure: Hold the line – Toto.

The chaps are all greatly experienced and have all played in a number of bands over
the years: Kenny in Great Expectations, a Mod influenced combo that blazed a smoking, spluttering trail across the local circuit in the 90s.

Arron, Toni and Stormy have been in various bands together over the years including funk rock band, The Raging Balls which included a six foot transvestite and The Natives with Mark.

So, with nothing else to do and all being Hersham boys, it was obvious that they should all pool their small amounts of talent, dust off their instruments and egos and form a covers band. Just because they could.

Drawing on the obvious Mod influences of The Who, The Small Faces and The Jam along with a mutual love for the sounds of the 60s and 70s, The King and slightly iffy hairdos, The High Barnets were formed.

The Name.

The embryonic band were on their way to London’s Jazz Café to watch Small Faces and Faces keyboard legend, Ian MacLagan. While on the tube, they noticed that drummer Stormy was sitting under tube map. From an early age, Stormy decided that there was no hairdo good enough for him so he done away with it. So it was ironic that sitting above his head like a little lightbulb was High Barnet station. So, from a piss-poor joke involving Cockney rhyming slang for hair, The Barnets had their name.

The Pledge.

Together they make a stunningly handsome and talented 5-piece that manage to tear the roof off everywhere they can find that has a bar and some plug sockets. Not literally. That would be silly and expensive. Despite appearances to the contrary, these boys know their (Green) onions.
A great night with great songs and just the smallest threat of violence from some drunken punters can be guaranteed.

The Typical Gig.

You run excitedly into the venue, stepping over the people in sleeping bags who have been there all week in order to get the best seats. The grand Victorian theatre with a massive stage opens up to you. Seats stretch out in a huge arc as far as the eye can see.

But more than likely it would be a small, smoky pub with the fug of stale beer hanging in the air.

Kenny will be nervously milling about, tuning guitars again and again. He is nothing but a man who likes to play in tune. Stormy is smoking for Europe and taking on some Red Bull. Carefully arranging his drumsticks into some secret order only he knows. Toni will be casually chatting to the ladies, flashing his boyish good looks around the boozerwhile doing his best to avoid any donkey work. There’s Mark chugging away at Port and Brandy to combat his ‘flu’. He stops drinking to change the set list. Arron is smacking the top of his amp, trying to get it to work. He adjusts his hairdo before desperately trying to remember how the songs go.

As the last track on the Ska or Northern Soul CD fades, stage outfits are changed into. Again the hairdos get primped and ‘shooshed up’. Guitars are strapped on.
Drums and keyboards climbed behind. Amps get kicked and turned to eleven and
It’s SHOWTIME!

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