APRIL 2008 Hello.   First of all we were sad to hear about the death of legendary drummer Buddy Miles who passed away on Feb 2nd. Perhaps best known for his work with Hendrix and Billy Cox in Band of Gypsies he also played with such greats as Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, Bowie, Muddy Waters and Santana. Another huge loss to the blues scene has also just been announced, the sudden death of Sean Costello who passed away the day before his 29th birthday. One of the most promising young American blues artists he'd been compared to such legends as B.B.King, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan.   Hope you like the new website. The Boardwalk Pix ( or is it pics? ) bit is good and a huge thank you must go to Boardwalk regular and photographer Bernard for getting that section set up. Check out the rogues gallery to see if you've been snapped.   Chris spotted deep in conversation with Connie Lush's roadie at Orlando Airport of all places recently.   The Buddy Whittington gig was amazing and what a band. 2 members of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers ( 3 including Buddy ) and 2 members of Peter Green's Splinter Group.   The Steel City Blues Festival looks as though it'll be back this year albeit a mini version. Chris's friend Otis Grand has offered to help sort the line up so fingers crossed.   As usual the Half Man Half Biscuit gig was brilliant. Support, for the second year running, came from the excellent Calvin Party. A 2 hour set from Biscuit included many favourites ( mine's Joy Division Oven Gloves ) but one surprise was the inclusion of a horn section on Even Men With Steel Hearts. The new album is out soon, can't wait.   Barney put together a great line up for the sell out Little Man Tate gig recently. Local band The Stoops opened and The Lines were main support with a drummer that could be the reincarnation of Keith Moon. Adele from The Plug came down to join in the fun as did David Dunn, Regan Race and Andre Cloutier to name a few. There were some sore heads when the tour bus arrived to pick them up the following day.   There was much excitement among staff on the day of The Grandmothers gig, most of them being Zappa/Mothers of Invention fans. As expected the band were brilliant posing for loads of photo's and signing albums etc. Roy Estrada and Don Preston ( both with Zappa from the mid 60's ) were particularly keen to meet staff and have a chat. They weren't too happy with the climate here in the UK though ( it was bitterly cold during their 2 days in Sheffield ) and they admitted they couldn't wait to get back to the warmth in California.   Erik Mongrain was getting a bit stressed during sound checks due to lots of technical problems due to his equipment not being UK compatible. Nothing could be done on the night to sort his problems out but a visit to our friends at SoundControl the following day meant his tour could go ahead without further technical glitches. He's hoping to be back later this year.   We had some very disappointed fans after Michael Schenker's recent gig. We'd been told Michael would be out after the show to sign and have photo's taken so fans turned up with guitars, t shirts, albums etc to get them autographed but, when he came off stage, he went straight out of the back door and into a waiting car. Apparently he'd had some threatening e mails prior to the show and he was taking them very seriously, hence the heavy that was with him all evening.   Did you get down to the Boo Boo Davis gig? Authentic Mississipi blues at it's best and that drum kit! An original 50's Slingerland. Boo Boo is well into his 70's now so doesn't get to the UK very often but he was so well received this time through he's planning a return in autumn. If you like the blues and you missed him in March watch out for him then.   Our good friend Elliott Kennedy ( Bryan Adams, Spice Girls etc ) recently hosted his birthday bash at the Boardwalk and what a night it was. A good turn out, a brilliant " knocked together " band ( the sound engineer was warned to expect 12 or 13 band members! ) with many familier faces and a great atmosphere meant everyone went away happy.   Under The Boardwalk ( which I must stress once again has no connection to The Boardwalk ) has closed it's doors yet again. The new owners had only been in there for a couple of months but at the begining of April they decided to call it a day. Sorry to also hear of the closure of the Polish Club on Ecclesall Rd. There's been some good shows there over the years including The Handsome Family and Johnny Dowd.   Ghost hunters were back at The Boardwalk recently, a different group that came to investigate several years ago. Don't know if we should be surprised or not but they came up with more or less the same findings.They gave us names and descriptions of the people haunting the place and they're doing some research to compile a full report. There's been a fair amount of poltergeist activity over the years, the latest bit of mischief is turning on taps.   The Nick Reaney testimonial gig at Baldwins was a huge success with everyone having a good time. Nick hasn't been able to play since his illness and the local music scene is a sadder place without him.   Thanks for supporting the Boardwalk and helping us keep music live. x