RAMOANERS (Ramones Tribute ) + Hugh Reed & The Velvet Underpants

PRESS RELEASE:Flag Promotions present a storming double bill with Glasgow’s very own RAMONES tribute RAMOANERS who are taking the UK by storm with their faithful rendition of Ramones songs including all the favourites including I Wanna Be Sedated, Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, Brat On The Beat and the anthemic Blitzkrieg Bop etc. 

On this show they are supported by the fantastic and fun loving HUGH REED & THE VELVET UNDERPANTS! A Hugh Reed gig is full on panto cabaret, with more costume changes than Beyonce and Michael Jackson put together. Change outfits between songs? Pah! Hugh does several costume changes WITHIN one song – the classic Six to Wan including football fan, polis man, judge, prisoner…. A Hugh Reed gig is a fully immersive interactive experience, if you don’t want to be involved – stand far back. This amazing double bill is just £12 plus booking fee and even includes FREE ENTRY to CLUB STIGMATA for a riotous post punk Aftershow party! Hey Ho! Let’s Go!

RAMOANERS BIOGRAPHY: 

Hailing from Glasgow Ramoaners formed in 2014, after a problem with finding a Ramones tribute for a benefit gig in Glasgow and exhausting all avenues trying to find one that was great and available.
A throwaway comment by now bassist CC Ramoaner “Why don’t we do it?” was met with “We haven’t played for 25 years”. What they had though was a love for the NY seminal pre punk 4 piece from Queens (New York). The date for this was looming and a rehearsal was arranged where Tony (vox) and CC were joined by Jimmy (guitar ) and Rico and the rehearsal went remarkably well and Ramoaners were quickly born. The Show went to plan with an entire Roller Derby team joining the band on stage at the old Barfly gig in Glasgow’s centre .Immediately at the end of the show the band were asked when the next show would likely be and rehearsals continued with the bands next performance being on at the legendary Barrowland ballroom! A dream come true for any band let alone one in their second coming playing one of the finest and historic venues in Scotland.The gigs continued to be offered in theatres and Glasgow venues and the band were approached about headlining King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, another iconic Glasgow venue. They also travelled to Stornoway to play the arts centre An Lanntair.
A session drummer had to be found and the band performed 24 songs with just a 30 minute rehearsal with the new drummer at the sound check! As the gig offers rolled in including an offer of touring Argentina with an Argentinian punk band it was noticed that some personnel changes mayHave to be made as the band were striving to play better shows and expand a set and cover every part of the vast back catalogue of the Seminal US punk outfit. Gordy was found to replace Jimmy a Ramones fanatic and really made a huge difference to the live sound and look of Ramoaners who were now being offered shows both UK wide and overseas.
But there was still one link missing which was the commitment of then drummer Rico who by now was finding the going tough and the look a struggle, the band embarked on finding the missing piece of the jigsaw. Step forward Drummer Jay Jay, who had answered an ad in a local music shop and was a massive fan of the New York Punks. Jay Jay had plenty of experience playing arena tours and large shows with Scottish band Ultrasonic and others .
The look and sound for Ramoaners was now complete and the band continued to add as many as 56 songs to the set, covering every aspect of the Ramones and the band continued to rehearse playing more and more shows, honing the sound and look of the band at their peak in 1978.
From older punks who had seen the original shows to youngsters who had never seen a Ramones show ,the verdicts were always the same very close, brilliant likeness and comments of kids who hadn’t been old enough to hear them but now felt they had an idea of what they were like.
Ramoaners played another Barrowland show, the Iconic Hope and Anchor and Joiners in Southampton where they supported the Dead Boys, Vice Squad and many more and they play the Clapham Grand for Rockaway Beach Festival Organisers, and recently 2 packed out shows at iconic London venue The Dublin Castle as well as supporting the awesome Lizzie & The Banshees in Glasgow and Manchester… so so the story continues…..
Ramoaners are :- 

Tony Ramoaner Vox 

CC Ramoaner Bass/B/vox 

Gordy Ramoaner Guitar 

Jason Ramoaner Drums

HUGH REED & THE VELVET UNDERPANTS - Live Review! - Courtesy of TheGingerQuiff.Com It had been 576 days since my last live gig (not that I was counting or anything) and I will admit to a bit of trepidation. Since the easing of lockdown I’ve experienced having dinner in a pub that the punters were acting as if COVID had never happened, but to counter that I’ve also had pleasant experiences elsewhere when everyone was still acting with a air of caution and sensibility.

In fact, I’d been in Perth for a couple of days with work and on my way home, tired and lethargic, I almost talked myself into not going. Thankfully, I didn’t take that course of action, gave myself a shake and jumped in the car to Paisley.

The Bungalow had changed since I was last there, the stage now along the back wall as you enter, I was also pleased to see that most people were in their own little groups around tables and there was plenty of space for me to stand inconspicuously near the bar and have plenty of space around me. I donned my mask as I entered, buying myself a Heineken 0.0 (surprisingly nice) and found myself a space to stand.

Unfortunately COVID had already cast its shadow on the evening impacting both support bands, the DF118s having had to pull out altogether, and The Poachers reduced to Neil performing solo on acoustic guitar. A valiant effort it was too, going down a storm with those gathered, warming us up nicely for the main event.

Prior to that main event, I watched Hugh mingle and greet virtually everyone in the venue personally, a nice gesture from a genuinely lovely bloke. First time I’ve seen him since potentially the 1990’s at a gig in what might have been Pandora’s on Victoria Road (my memory isn’t what it used to be) it was nice to be re-aquainted as if the last 30 years hadn’t happened. Then when I saw him laying out a judge’s wig and robes on the stage, I knew all was going to be well with the world.

n true Hugh Reed fashion the “intro tape” was a video clip of a Chinese TV presenter (Hugh lived in China for several years) with her words “translated” into English in humorous fashion.

The entertainment began in typical style, the years stripping away before my eyes as the performance was just as I remember it from all those years ago. An almost literal punch to the solar plexus as Hugh stormed the venue in his outsize boxing gloves and dark glasses swinging at anyone and everyone in his wake…

For anyone who hasn’t seen the band before, a Hugh Reed and the Velvet Underpants gig is like no other gig you’ve ever been to. This isn’t just a band of five guys plying their trade from the stage. Oh no. A Hugh Reed gig is full on panto cabaret, with more costume changes than Beyonce and Michael Jackson put together. Change outfits between songs? Pah! Hugh does several costume changes WITHIN one song – the classic Six to Wan including football fan, polis man, judge, prisoner…. A Hugh Reed gig is a fully immersive interactive experience, if you don’t want to be involved – stand far back.

What do you mean? I hear you cry. Well there are the aforementioned boxing gloves for starters, getting battered with a truncheon, having Hugh on your table, swinging a teddy around his head (or a lamp), Hugh running around the venue and rolling on the floor with light up glasses on, Hugh wearing a Henry vacuum cleaner on his head, chucking life-size cuddly orang-utans into the crowd… need I go on?

To be honest, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that Viv Reeves and Bob Mortimer got all their ideas for surreal visual gags from Hugh. You really have to see it to understand…

The crowd were treated to the familiar Hugh Reed repertoire – the previously mentioned Six to Wan, a tale of going from watching the Old Firm to being banged up, all with the odds always stacked against him. You guessed it – 6 to 1. The ode to Scotland’s other national drink Barr’s Irn Bru. The snappily titled If You Don’t Kiss Me I’ll Shoot Myself and This Time I Won’t Miss. The pastiche of James Brown’s Living in America, Say It Loud We’re Scot’s and Proud with its cunning refrain of “I live in Mount Florida”. And talking of Glasgow areas, there is the “new” song I Wish They All Could Be Glasgow Girls, including, wait for it…. Cath Cart, Penni Lee and Mary Hill.

And of course there were the perennial favourites, Stamp Collecting and I’ve Just Had My Car Nicked, each verse building and adding an element each time, Hugh’s unfortunate victim stunned as he was put on the spot with a microphone shoved in his face (the encore was the alternate version – I’ve Just Had My Pint Nicked and he redeemed himself perfectly!)

I should take a moment here to mention the band, not to be overshadowed by the entertaining tomfoolery from the frontman, the band are tight as fuck, demonstrating a finesse and flair, each member of the band accomplished in their art and putting their hand to a variety of different styles – rockabilly (with a wee nod to Stray Cat Strut), punk, funk – you name it we got it, and with enough opportunity for each band member to shine in their own right.

I left the gig grinning from ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat. If you leave a Hugh Reed gig failing to have been entertained, who even are you? Are you human? There must something far wrong with you. If you get the chance to experience a Hugh Reed gig, go, tick it off your bucket list. Its like a form of therapy for the spirit!