Band History

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there were two frustrated guitarists who had a similar(ish) taste in rock music and who used to occasionally get together at lunchtimes for a jam. One Christmas they even played a few tracks they'd learned to some appreciative co-workers who were all so busy chatting they didn't realise they'd finished playing! These pioneers of rock were Chris and Steve.

In early 2004 Steve and Chris were offered the opportunity to come along and 'jam' a few songs with fledgling band 'Something For The Weekend'. The jam session took place and proved so positive that Chris and Steve joined 'Something For The Weekend'. Many rehearsals went by but sadly this line up never gigged and the band decided to go their separate ways in late Summer 2004.

From the ashes, Chris, Steve and Riv were hungry for more and vowed to search out fresh talent. First to audition was drummer Rob who decided to join (the as yet un-named Anything But Ordinary). At this point, Chris said he knew a long time friend who used to play keyboards. He would get in touch and see if he still had the gear and fancied joining us. Neil was soon dusting off his Technics gear from the loft and joining the band.

So, musically the band were complete with just the elusive vocalist to find!  Many ads placed, many auditions held but no  suitable vocalist could be found. Anything But Ordinary were rapidly becoming the best band to have never gigged!

Local band 'Cyprus Manoeuvre' were about to lose their guitarist back to Devon and the band folded. The 'Cyprus Manoeuvre' vocalist was Dave and he was asked to come along to see if he wanted to front the band. In May 2005 the Anything But Ordinary line up was finally complete.

It didn't take everyone long to find their feet, but finding a suitable band name proved difficult! After a few initial bad choices, Anything But Ordinary was chosen and practicing for gigs and building a quality set-list was a priority. A first airing for invited guests was organised for 29th July 2005 and proved to be a great success. More gigs followed and Anything But Ordinary quickly became an established unit taking in all the usual venues on the circuit and undertaking private functions along the way.
 

May 2005-July 2006 Chris - Guitar Dave - Vocals Neil - Keyboards Riv - Bass Rob - Drums Steve - Guitar

In July 2006, after 11 months successful gigging, Rob decided he wanted to leave the band so the search for a new drummer began. In August 2006, Frazer joined as Anything But Ordinary new drummer and we were once again a full band ready to rock!
 

August 2006-July 2007 Chris - Guitar Dave - Vocals Neil - Keyboards Riv - Bass Frazer - Drums Steve - Guitar

In early August 2007, following a successful time with the band since its inception, Riv decided to take a break from gigging to concentrate on other projects. Anything But Ordinary next bassman was Darren. Recently retired from Colourblind Hedgehogs (and a previous member of a certain Cyprus Manoeuvre!) Darren joined Anything But Ordinary in mid August 2007 making our line up complete once more!
 

July 2007-April 2010 Chris - Guitar Dave - Vocals Neil - Keyboards Darren - Bass Frazer - Drums Steve - Guitar

At the height of the popularity of the guitar bands of the time Steve and Chris dreamed of putting together a quality rock covers band playing decent music. Hopefully everyone will agree they've more than achieved their aim. With the demise of the guitar band and the rise of plastic pop Steve has decided he doesn't want to compromise his hard rockin standards so has sadly decided to leave the band. So in March 2010 after five years of hard work Steve has decided to hang up his trusty Les Paul.

Steve's last gig with Anything But Ordinary at Yoxford in March 2010.
 

April 2010 - June 2011 Chris - Guitar Dave - Vocals Neil - Keyboards Darren - Bass Frazer - Drums