The Concerts

Festival No.6, Portmeirion (2013)
LEAF (November 2013)
The One Show (BBC1, Nov 2013)
Rough Trade (25 November 2013)
BBC 6 Music (16 December 2013)
BBC 6 Music Manchester (Feb 2014)
Cecil Sharp House (1 March 2014)
Belfast, The Mac (26 March 2014)
Chichester (11 April 2014)
Liverpool (3 May 2014)
Glastonbury (28 June 2014)
Henley Festival (9 July 2014)
Commonwealth Games (July2014)
Womad Festival (27 July 2014)
Camp Bestival (2 August 2014)
End of the Road (31 August 2014)
Festival No.6 (5 September 2014)
Bestival, Isle of Wight (7 Sept 2014)
Heavenly, Blackheath (14 Sept 2014)
Branchage Festival, Jersey (Sept 2014)
Norwich (9 October 2014)
Stockholm (31 October 2014)
NFI, South Bank (6th Dec 2014)
BBC 6 Music Session (2 March 2015)
QEH, South Bank (12 April 2015)
Derby Film Festival (1 May 2015)
Dublin (20 May 2015)
Lunar Festival (7 June 2015)
Sci Fi Weekender, Wales (Mar 2016)
Stockton (11 June 2016)
National Portrait Gallery (Jan 2017)
Jazz Cafe (22 March 2017)
BBC Wales Geek Musique(Mar 2017)
The Science Museum (June 2017)
Blue Dot, Jodrell Bank (8 July 2017)
Atonal, Berlin (16 August 2017)
BBC 6 Music Session (27 Sept 2017)
Sensoria (Sheffield, 7 October 2017)
The British Library (October 2017)
SciFi Weekender (24th March 2018)
The Elgar Room, RAH (May 2018)
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (June 2018)
Blue Dot Festival (July 2018)
Goonhilly Moon Landing
Anniversary Concert (July 2019)

It’s September 2013. Paddy Kingsland, Roger Limb, Dick Mills, Mark Ayres and myself are in North Wales. To be exact, we are suspended hundreds of feet above a Welsh valley in a transit van, travelling uncomfortably fast towards Portmeirion. This is a long split transit, with seating in the middle, and all the gear squeezed into the rear section. Our driver and tour manager, Ollie Cater, is convinced that the Sat Nav never lies, and ignoring our subtle hints about ‘A’ roads and motorways, sticks to the scenic route all the way. The Radiophonic Workshop has never played at a festival and it might go horribly wrong. 

In 2009 we got together at the Roundhouse for a one off evening of Radiophonic nostalgia and haven’t played live since. In any case this is different. There are going to be three stages at this festival and plenty of choices. If the concert goers don’t fancy it, they won’t come and we’ll simply have to pack our stuff back in the van and head home (hopefully on the motorways).

We are arriving at Portmeirion now. I have been here before, but not like this. To me, this is the mecca of fans of The Prisoner, but now it is invaded by music lovers, marquees and stalls. The van is directed to an area behind the stage in a large marquee. Kieron Pepper, our drummer and invaluable source of confidence in any gig, has arrived independently and has already unloaded his kit. It’s now raining heavily, and as we start to move our gear through the back entrance, a large canvas flap disgorges rainwater on our heads.

I am ignorant of backstage at an event like this. The greatest challenge is dealing quickly with a succession of bands, and their associated equipment. Being known for our vintage gear and unusual sound, travelling light is not an option for us, so we suffer more than most at festivals. We manhandle the gear on to three mobile rostra.

The audience is streaming in. There is a smell of grass, sweat and canvas. The wind is rattling the sides of the marquee which does nothing to dispel the feeling that we are in the middle of a field, and a very long way from Maida Vale. I can’t spend hours tinkering with the gear. What happens in the next 45 minutes is it. 

We launch into the opening number; ‘Till the Lights Go Out’.  We want to dispel any suggestion that we are just going to be our own tribute band and doing something new right up front seems like a good idea. But now the lyrics seem worryingly appropriate.

(You can find my original studio version on
Spotify, and many other platforms.)

We shouldn’t have worried. The crowd are with us all the way. I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised because the launch of the Radiophonic Workshop band has not been a wild leap in the dark. Cliff Jones, our manager, commissioned a survey to see if there was enough public interest in our hitting the road. Thankfully the research showed public enthusiasm for the idea, or as the researcher put it “there is a lot of love out there”. 

As we head into the extended Doctor Who Theme which finishes the concert, I am just hoping that enough of it has found its way to North Wales.  

And that appears to be the case because after the gig Cliff emails us all…

What a great gig!  Im still smiling 2 days later. Lots to talk about.
Let me know if you see any reviews.

The reviews duly arrived and were good. We were on the road.