the skids

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:26:00 +0000

Into The Valley makes the shortlist for Scotlands Greatest Album
New Skids Facebook Group now up and running
Stuart Adamson memorial bench dedication ceremony
Richard Jobson latest movie to premiere at BFI London Film Festival
The Singles Collection 1978-1981
The Skids - Masquerade (PSST Remix 2011)
Location for The Stuart Adamson Memorial Bench has been decided

Update on Stuart Adamson memorial bench fund

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:54:00 +0000

UPDATE ON MEMORIAL FUND...........
4 sets of lyrics have been choosen for the Stuart Adamson memorial bench. These have been choosen from a poll voted for by facebook bc fans. These are as follows:
1) Here is strength for us to find, to turn the old to new and wipe our eyes of misty years and see the future through
2) Your name will never die; this time will be forever
3) In a big country dreams stay with you like a lover's vioce fires the mountainside Stay Alive !
4) Some days will stay a thousand years some pass like the flash of a spark who knows where all our days go !

This fund is less than £100 short of its mark, please help by making a donation by following the link below
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=MFJ3DF6MQXX94

Punk rock star shoots latest movie in Bedford

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:52:00 +0000

Original article from the Bedford Today website
Thanks to Justin from Bedford for pointing this out
A FILM crew has been stationed at various locations in Bedford shooting a movie that is set to be released at cinemas nationwide next year.
Former singer of The Skids, Richard Jobson, who is now a successful filmmaker, is the writer and director behind the film called The Somnambulists, which tells the story of 15 soldiers who died in the Iraq war, and what they left behind.
Filming has been taking place in different locations in Bedford for the last several weeks, and on the last day of filming the Times & Citizen were given exclusive access to the crew on location.
The film tells the testimonials of 15 soldiers who lost their lives in the Iraq conflict, and delves into the lives they lost.
Mr Jobson, who lives in Toddington, decided to shoot a number of scenes in Bedford as he regularly visits the town with his son, who attends Bedford Modern School.
He said: “I have a real fondness for Bedford, my son attends school here and we regularly come here at the weekend to the market and the river. I was going to shoot the scenes in Scotland, but I realised that Bedford has all of the things that Scotland has to offer.
“I felt very angry about the Iraq war and this is a reflection of that. People just seem to have forgotten all about it, we were sleepwalked into that war.
“People will probably think its the characters that are the somnambulists, but it’s actually the audience.
On Friday the crew finished its filming in Bedford at Michael R Peters in Tavistock Street, The Piazza, a council flat and Harrowden Middle School.
Managing director at Michael R Peters Paul Mead said: “They only approached us a couple of days ago with the idea of shooting outside the shop. It’s quite exciting for us and a great chance for us to get our name out there. It’s a great opportunity for Bedford as well.”

Fans Memorial for Stuart Adamson

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sun, 15 May 2011 12:53:00 +0000

A memorial fund and project to get a bench and plaque in Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline in memory of local legend Stuart Adamson is underway.
Spearheaded by Gwenda Matthews there is now a Facebook campaign to raise awareness and support for the memorial fund project
Fans can visit the Facebook page using the link below
http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/We-Want-a-Memorial-for-Stuart-Adamson/207808999252835
Gwenda has said “On my recent visit to Dunfermline I was shocked to find not a mention or recollection of Stuart Adamsons existance he was such a truly talented and amazing guy he deserves to be recognised and we as fan’s want to pay our respects to him ! Please help our cause by contributing to this page and let our voices be heard !!”
“This Year Being the 10th Anniversary of this mans passing, It Seems The Time is More Than Right To Give This Music LEGEND A Memorial in His Hometown of Dunfermline, So That His Fans, Friends & Peers all around the world Can Remember Him….”
A Paypal fund has also been set up so that fans can contribute to the £1,000 pounds to make this happen.
If you would like to donat to the fund, please follow the link below.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=MFJ3DF6MQXX94

Skids Live 2010 DVD Special Edition now only £12

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:32:00 +0000

The Skids Live 2010 DVD is now available as a special offer and discounted price.

The Special Edition DVD with Promo CD is available to buy direct from Richard Jobson and is now only £12 including postage and packaging.

The Skids Live 2010 DVD is Region 2 PAL (UK) so this disc may not be suitable for playing in other countries and is not a multi-region or region free disc.

You DO NOT need a Paypal account to order, Paypal will accept all major credit cards and debit cards.

Make sure you put your email address in correctly as confirmation of your order will be emailed to you. ====================================

The Skids Live 2010 DVD contains the following tracks: Animation, Of One Skin, Melancholy Soldiers, Thanatos, Yankee Dollar, The Saints Are Coming, Scared To Dance, Charles, The Olympian, Hurry On Boys, Charade, A Woman In Winter, Circus Games, Masquerade, Into The Valley, Fields.

The DVD also includes interviews with Richard and also footage from the Fifer Festival 2010

Click here if you dont see the Paypal Buy Now Button

The Skids on BBC Radio 6 - The Live Music Hour

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:38:00 +0000

The Skids concert recorded at Rock Goes To College in London 1981 will be played on the BBC6 series called The Live Music Hour.

The BBC6 Radio series has already featured some classic gigs and on Tuesday 8th March this Rock Goes To College concert from The Skids will feature alongside other BBC sessions from Hatfield And The North (19/03/1974) and Help Stamp Out Loneliness (16/11/2009).

You can visit the BBC6 website Live Music Hour by clicking this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rwm3t and check out the revious programmes.

Follow this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rwm3t/episodes/upcoming to see whats coming up next on The Live Music Hour, including The Skids

Skids frontman to host film and acting workshops

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:09:00 +0000

The Skids frontman is to host acting and filming workshops at the next digital cinema event.Richard Jobson Film Workshops at Converge Point Three

Converge.3 at the NFT on March 1st and 2nd brings together the leading lights of the HDSLR world. From Philip Bloomʼs expansive and ground breaking images to the ground breaking award winning documentary world of Danfung Dennis, the two day festival is a mixture of inspirational talks and workshops. Festival organisers James Stoneley and Sol Rogers, say that “The Convergence movement is a gathering storm that neither the cinema and or photography world can ignore. People like Kevin Shahinian have invented a new genre of docu-drama that is setting standards we never knew were possible. “

The workshops will contain everything from creative lens work with the likes of Feature Film DOP Simon Dennis to learning how to take Final Cut Pro to a new level.

Director, Richard Jobson will hold an acting workshop breaking down a scene and showing how he would film it.

He says “Convergence is freedom to control and create a new type of narrative. Convergence is changing the face of how we all think and work and those who apply the technology to their ambition will be the ones who succeed the most. Convergence is the answer.”

Tickets available from http://www.theconvergence.co.uk/

The Skids Live – Multi-Clip Editing in FCP

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:42:00 +0000

Steve Sander on December 1, 2010

original source article http://theconvergence.co.uk/2010/12/the-skids-live-multi-clip-editing-in-fcp/
Thanks to KAMDude for posting.

Richard Jobson’s film of The Skids performing at the Alhambra theatre in Dunfermline was an excellent opportunity to utilise the capabilities of the Canon 5D MkII camera with Apple’s Final Cut Pro 7 software. I was tasked with editing 6 cameras into one seamless record of the live gig, capturing the energy of The Skids’ live performance.

The Canon cameras lent themselves beautifully to capturing stunning images in low light without distracting the band with bulky equipment, cables and additional lighting. Indeed Richard commented that while performing he completely forgot the cameras where even there. It was also beneficial for the audience whose attention stayed on the band.
The cameramen shot long takes focusing on specific aspects of the performance. One camera followed Richard, another the lead guitarist and another the base player. A static camera was trained on the drummer.
My task in the edit suite was to transcode the footage and then sync the cameras to each song as a multi-camera clip. I transcoded the footage using the free software download, MPEG Streamclip, which quickly converted the H.264 files into Apple ProRes files. I believe that there is nothing to be gained in transcoding to the ProRes HQ codec from the 5D, although some professional colourists tell me that HQ would be better. From all the tests I’ve done, I haven’t personally found a generational loss of image quality when conducting any reasonable amount of colour correcting. The H.264 codec is already heavily compressed and transcoding to an intermediate codec like ProRes HQ will not provide a boost in quality. The only benefit I can see is if you are combining 5D footage with graphics and animation work encoded at a higher data rate. It was also apparent in the case of The Skids edit that when editing multiple clips in the timeline, smaller file sizes and data rates were going to be more convenient.

Setting up multi-clips in FCP was easy. I marked the same ‘in’ point for each camera angle of a particular song and then made a multi-clip from all of the angles (syncing the clips to the ‘in’ point). I then opened the new muliti-clip in the viewing window and edited in real time, making sure to take the audio from just one camera.

Editing in real time was a joy as it enabled me to quickly put a rough edit of the track together, reacting to the music as if doing a live mix. This enabled me initially to react to the performances rather than going for a more clinical assembly. I was then able to go back and fine tune my rough edit selecting alternative angles where necessary or indeed alternative moments from different parts of the song, like a crowd reaction. In this way the live music sections from the film were edited together quickly over two days and retained, I hope, the energy from the original live performance.

There is no doubt that shooting with the Canon 5D MkII and doing a multi-clip edit streamlined the whole process and from an editorial point of view enabled me to react creatively and instinctively to the material.

Seasons Greetings from Bruce & Jamie

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:33:00 +0000

A Merry Chistmas and a Happy New Year to all Skids fans from Bruce and Jamie

Bruce and Jamie Watson (The Skids / Big Country)

Merry Chistmas from The Skids

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:29:00 +0000

to one and all, a very Merry Christmas and a big thanks for all the support over the last year.

Wishing you all the best over the Festive season from The Skids

Skids / Big Country featured on Gospel Truth Choir debut album, Out Now!

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:55:00 +0000

The debut album by The Gospel Truth Choir is now available to buy!

The new CD features a version of The Saints Are Coming and Chance with Skids and Big Country guitarists Bruce and Jamie Watson.

Track list

1. Mary’s Prayer, 2. Here Comes the Rain Again / Small Town Boy, 3. The Saints are Coming / Chance. 4. Mandela Day, 5. 500 Miles, 6. The Other Side of the World, 7. Caledonia, 8. When Will You (Make My Phone Ring), 9. Shake This Mountain, 10. Last Request, 11. Amazing Grace, 12. Ae Fond Kiss (Hi Horo ‘s na Horo Eile)

click here to visit the website for more info

The Skids – The Essence Of A Live Gig

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:31:00 +0000

Article by Richard Jobson, November 30th 2010 on the Skids gigs and recording for video

I have just completed a new film about my old punk band The Skids all shot on 5Ds and 7Ds.

The event was a week long celebration of the different aspects of my work in my home county Fife in the East of Scotland. The gig was the finale to a week of cinema workshops and talks including an on stage interview conducted by the crime novelist Ian Rankin about my life and work.

As a team we didn’t have long to plan how to shoot the various events. We kind of just arrived in Scotland and made it up as we went along. This is not how I normally work and being more of a control freak made this improvised approach a bit of a worry.

We had three 5D MkIIs and a 7D with a variety of prime lenses as well as Zacuto rigs and follow focus.
Filming the smaller intimate events was a great way of preparing for the Skids gig. The live interview with Ian Rankin was in the same hall as the gig, The Alhambra in Dunfermline, which gave us a perfect opportunity to work out where to put the cameras on the night.

Approaching the idea of shooting the Skids gig was a somewhat daunting prospect. The band I had joined as a teenager from the East of Scotland were known for their energy and full on live performances. Would we as older, more mature members of society be able to find that same presence and madness and how the hell with such limited resources were we going to film it in a way that was going to hopefully become a small piece of Scottish r’n’r history?

Other questions were swimming around in my head. Were the band still relevant? Could we really still do it or were we just another bunch of old punks desperately trying to catch the heat of the past? There are so many bands out there from that era who are cynically cashing in on a current retro nostalgia trip. I don’t want to be part of that.

Live gigs are tricky to shoot. Intrusive cameras and operators getting in the way of the show more of often than not make the event feel fake and just a tad dishonest. If we were going to capture this moment then we were really going to have to think it through. The initial improvisation would have to evolve into something more substantial by the end of the week. It was also an opportunity to create a business model for other shoots of other bands.

Live gigs in the music industry are one of the only ways of making money, they want to record the gigs and can’t afford big productions but still want cool and effective images that capture the live vibe.

We decided on shooting both nights of the concert. The problem was that the first night was a warm up in another city and of course in another venue. We needed two nights to create enough material so we would have a fast cutting style at our disposal. The music is fast and furious so no point in locking cameras down and moving between wides, close ups and medium shots. Too boring. No, what we needed was something far more in your face without the problem of camera operators in each other’s shots.

I have been working with HDSLR technology from the beginning and have used the 5D MkII on various projects from pop promos to short films. This camera alongside the 7D (which can shoot 60fps giving us a decent slow motion option) were the tools of choice.

On the first night at the warm up gig we concentrated on close ups of all the band. We made sure that they would be wearing the same clothes the next night. Shooting from 5 different positions with moving cameras (one was on a glide rail at the front of stage) we soon found that the intimacy was captured.

The second night was all about the occasion. A large sold out venue with an enthusiastic crowd meant that we needed to turn the cameras the other way. The great thing was that the audience thought of them as stills cameras so paid little attention to them being pointed in their face. In the edit we used the multi-take option in Final Cut Pro to look through the footage simultaneously and we were constantly amazed at how we never saw the other cameras at any point. It was a real breakthrough. How many times have you watched your favourite band on TV at an event like Glastonbury and been disappointed to see camera teams all over the stage? This doesn’t happen using HDSLRs, you just don’t see them.

The whole experience was invigorating, a new way of working and another feather in the cap of convergence. It’s now a style I’ll take into my next movie project: HELTER SKELTER. Mulit-cam shooting, various angles covered with small discreet cameras using wonderful glass on the front. I can’t quite put into words how this changes the game for me. I’ve been working with small budgets on all my movies but always tried to create something visually arresting – now I can really do it for even smaller sums of money and most importantly retain control.

The Skids Live 2010 DVD is available to order as a Special Edition DVD with Free CD from http://www.theskids.com/ and http://www.the-skids.co.uk/

Skids guitar duo light up Dunfermline

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:17:00 +0000

Skids guitar duo, Bruce and Jamie Watson are to perform at the annual Christmas Lights Switch On at the Louise Carnegie Gates in Dunfermline.

Bruce and Jamie set to light up the town

Bruce and Jamie Watson will launch their home town festive season in style when they play at Christmas lights switch-on this Sunday.
The Dunfermline father and son rockers have enjoyed a successful year, playing memorable gigs with the Skids and bringing out their first album together.
The lights invitation is the icing on the Christmas cake and still to come is a New Year tour with the re-formed Big Country including a much-anticipated gig at the Alhambra.
The Watsons will entertain the crowd from 5.15 to 5.45pm ahead of the arrival of the star of the show, Santa, for the all-important switch-on.
Bruce laughed, “I’ve opened for many acts in my time from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones but never for the man in the big red suit!”
Jamie told the Press, “I can’t wait. There should be a good crowd there and it’s always a big occasion.”
Jamie didn’t start playing the guitar until he was into his early teens but made quick progress and went on stage for the first time when the Skids got back together at the Glen Pavilion in 2007 then a few days later was playing T in the Park with them.

Looking back to his early days on the guitar, Jamie said, “My pal played - Michael from the Modern Faces - and I used to listen to him and he showed me a few chords.
“Then my dad would come back home from touring and he would show me a few things to try as well.
“It was great to get up and play with the Skids again at the Carnegie Hall last month and earlier this year at the Alhambra was an amazing night.
Bruce said, “Playing alongside Jamie came about by accident, it wasn’t planned. After Big Country finished, I had retired from the music business.
“I had been away touring and recording when the kids were growing up and had been planning to take things easy after that. Just sit in the house with the slippers on.
“But then Jamie would have the guitar around his neck from first thing in the morning until last thing at night.
“We started doing some stuff together and they sounded quite interesting as instrumentals and I thought we could put some lyrics to them. Then the record label which once put out releases by The Who and Hendrix heard it and said we think you should record it.”

The album ‘Another Anthem for the Damned’ was released earlier this year on Track Records now run by former Big Country manager Ian Grant.
Bruce co-founded Big Country with Stuart Adamson, and co-wrote their biggest hits, including ‘In A Big Country’, ‘Fields of Fire’, ‘Chance’ and ‘Wonderland’.
He is now looking forward to the band getting back together for a tour which starts in Glasgow on Hogmanay and runs until April taking in London, Manchester, Belfast and Dublin on the way.
Bruce admitted, “Playing with Big Country is something I didn’t think I’d do again. We played a few gigs as a three-piece in 2007 for our 25th anniversary and I thought that would be it.
“But with the way things went so well with the Skids re-union, the guys thought ‘Maybe we could give it a go again’ and I’m really looking forward to it because they’re great guys and I miss playing with them.
“The Alhambra on 2nd January should be quite a night as the Pars are playing the Rovers that day and I’m sure a lot of guys will be going there and then on to the gig.
“It’s hard to look ahead and say how things will be and how you’ll feel on the night but I think it’s all rock ‘n’ roll and we want it to be a celebration of Big Country’s music.”

Susan Hughes, chief executive of Dunfermline Delivers, said, “This is really exciting news and will be sure to have the whole place rocking as we switch on the Christmas lights.

“I can’t think of a better addition to the Dunfermline Live! programme than to have a local hero like Bruce, known all over the world, come with his son, Jamie, to help us get the festive season started. We can’t thank him enough.”

Also appearing on Sunday in the parade before the switch-on are Jonathan Cairney and the Royal Burgh of Inverkeithing Pipe Band.

Skids Live 2010

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:30:00 +0000

The Skids Live 2010 Special Edition DVD comes with a FREE promo CD and is available to buy online direct from Richard Jobson.

The Skids Live 2010 DVD contains the following tracks
Animation
Of One Skin
Melancholy Soldiers
Thanatos
Yankee Dollar
The Saints Are Coming
Scared To Dance
Charles
The Olympian
Hurry On Boys
Charade
A Woman In Winter
Circus Games
Masquerade
Into The Valley
Fields

This Skids DVD comes with a free Promo CD with the tracks Working For The Yankee Dollar, The Saints Are Coming, Masquerade, Out Of Town, Open Sound and TV Stars.

=======================================================

SORRY THIS IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

The Skids ticket and DVD competition

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 14:55:00 +0000

Win tickets for The Skids Live 2010 DVD Premiere and Launch night and a copy of the new Skids DVD
This competition is run by Visit Dunfermline and The Skids

The Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline will be playing host to the Skids Live 2010 DVD Premiere showing on Sunday 31st October 2010, the show starts at 6pm. As well as the DVD launch there will be a special, one-off performance with The Skids & The Gospel Truth Choir (not to be missed) as well as a raffle for signed photos and a signed guitar.
Richard Jobson and special guests are pleased to be hosting the official launch of The Skids ...Live 2010 DVD. Sunday 31st October will see the premiere showing of the new DVD at the prestigious Carnegie Hall.

The DVD will go on sale officially at this event which will include live music performances as well as the first showing of the DVD on the big screen.

TO WIN TWO TICKETS TO THIS FANTASTIC EVENT AS WELL AS A COPY OF THE DVD SIMPLY EMAIL THE ANSWER TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTION TO info@visitdunfermline.com

QUESTION : WHICH TRULY WORTHY CHARITY WILL BE BENEFITING FROM THE SALE OF ' THE SKIDS LIVE ' DVD ?

***WINNER WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28th.

Skids Live 2010 pre-order info and updates

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:08:00 +0000

Just to confirm some details about the special edition pre-ordered DVDs

The Skids Live 2010 DVD is Region 2 PAL (UK) so this disc may not be suitable for playing in other countries and is not a multi-region or region free disc.

You DO NOT need a Paypal account to order, Paypal will accept all major credit cards and debit cards.

Once you add the item, please continue to the checkout page and instead of using your Paypal account to make the purchase, you can choose to put in your credit or debit card details, this works the same way as all other online payment processing.

Make sure you put your email address in correctly as confirmation of your order will be emailed to you.

The Skids Live 2010 DVD contains the following tracks

Animation

Of One Skin

Melancholy Soldiers

Thanatos

Yankee Dollar

The Saints Are Coming

Scared To Dance

Charles

The Olympian

Hurry On Boys

Charade

A Woman In Winter

Circus Games

Masquerade

Into The Valley

Fields

The Skids DVD also includes interviews with Richard and also footage from the Fifer Festival 2010

Produced and directed by Richard Jobson

Edited by Steven Sander

DVD sleeve notes are by Tim Barr

Details of the poster and free audio CD included with the special edition will follow soon :)

Deep Fried Skids

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:25:00 +0000

The Saints are Coming to be included as a medley on a new CD by The Gospel Truth Choir.
The Skids song will be included on Deep Fried Gospel and is available to pre-order now.

Pre-Order the Debut Album from Scotland's Gospel Choir.

DEEP FRIED GOSPEL is the forthcoming studio album from Scotland's leading gospel singers. Recorded at Cava Sound in Glasgow and Watercolour Music in Ardgour, it features twelve well -known tracks written by Scottish songwriters and performed by The Gospel Truth Choir in their inimitable tartan gospel style.

Includes collaborations with Bruce and Jamie Watson, Mary Ann Kennedy, Maeve MacKinnon, Horse and the combined choirs of InChorus and Lothian and Borders Police. Pre-order now and help the choir pay for the cost of printing the album! (copies will be shipped on or around 15th November 2010). Payments by credit card via Paypal below - with discounts for mutliple copies!!

Listen to a sample track (Mary's Prayer) HERE.
visit their website for more links to pre-order and buy.

The Skids Live 2010 special edition update

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:41:00 +0000

The Skids Live 2010 DVD is now on sale via larger retailers such as HMV and Amazon, the retail price is £19.99 but after some negotiations special offer discount prices will be available and some prices may be as low as £12.

DVDs that have been pre-ordered through the Skids websites and Paypal will have a FREE POSTER ans a FREE CD of the gigs in March, more details on the CD and the poster will be available soon.

Skids swansong for Dunfermline DVD launch?

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:09:00 +0000

Dunfermline Press article by Gary Fitzpatrick
read the original article here

The memorable Skids home town concert at the Alhambra in March has been captured on film and will be released at a special launch event.

The fund-raiser for the 'Help for Heroes' at the Carnegie Hall on 31st October will feature the first screening of the movie as well as an acoustic gig by the band, perhaps their last ever.

Those present in the packed audience will long remember
the electric atmosphere as the Skids turned back the clock with a wonderful performance of hits such as 'Into the Valley', 'The Saints are Coming', 'Masquerade' and 'Yankee Dollar'.

The film is the work of Richard Jobson singer, film director and music video creator for artists such as Richard Ashcroft.

The Skids frontman told the Press, "You've probably heard it before but this could well be the last performance of the band. I start a new film soon and it's hard to see when will be able to get together again."

Looking back to the Alhambra concert, Richard said, "It was an incredible night. I can't remember a better atmosphere - ever. The vibe was just right and everybody was there to have a great time.

"It was just amazing to look out and see the faces. There were those who had been there from the beginning and some had brought their children and grandchildren in some cases.

"It was a great night and the end of the Fifer Festival week. I enjoyed being able to spend time with young people who were interested in a career in film-making and music.

"The legacy of the Skids is to encourage these young people to believe that if they want to do something then do it and not to listen to what anyone else says.

"We didn't get much encouragement when we started certainly from the older generation who either thought the whole thing was threatening or didn't like the music. But each generation comes along and has their own thing to say."

The Alhambra gig was captured using Canon 5D Mark II stills cameras which have hi-spec video capability and being compact gave the photographers great flexibility of movement.

"I didn't want the enjoyment of the audience to be spoilt by cameramen running around all over the place getting in their way and blocking the view," said Richard.

"By using this technology, the team, who I've worked with before and are very talented, could move around freely and the results are spectacular.

"This will be the first time it's been used in that environment and when people see what we've achieved I'm sure many will want to follow. We had five cameras but when you see the film you would think we had 50
in there."

The DVD is intercut with the interview Skids fan and Rebus author Ian Rankin conducted with Richard earlier that week as part of the Fifer Festival.

"One point I was making was the thing about a Skids gig was that the audience were same type of people as the band. There was never anything pompous about a Skids gig."

Richard previously helped the people of New Orleans in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster to the tune of a massive £500,000. That was the figure he would have made in royalties from U2 and Green
Day's cover of 'The Saints are Coming' released for the Music Rising appeal.

This time the beneficiary will be the Help for Heroes campaign and a prevalent theme in the Skids songs was the fate of young people who joined the army as a way out of unemployment.

At that time, back in the '70s. the young recruits were thrown into the turmoil of Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles and in recent years it has been Iraq and Afghanistan.

Richard said, "I feel for these young men and women. The thing's come full circle back to when we were writing the songs with the economic situation and the lack of chances for young people.

"When there are no jobs one of the things young people are told is to join the army and they can learn something. When it's the British Government involved the chances are you're going to be sent to a war somewhere.

"These people have joined up to serve their country and some have been badly injured. Whether you agree with the war in Iraq or Afghanistan is irrelevant.

"Sometimes we turn our back on these young men and women and that shouldn't happen."

The Skids DVD premiere and launch night on 31st October
starts at 6pm and tickets are on sale priced £10. Prizes, including a signed guitar, will up for grabs in the raffle.

The Skids DVD Premiere and Launch Night

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:01:00 +0000

will take place at the Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline on Sunday 31st October 2010
tickets are now on sale priced at £10 and the event is in aid of Help For Heroes.
more details are available on the Skids website at http://www.theskids.com/
The Skids DVD will be shown on the big screen and copies will be available for sale on the night, there will also be some special prizes available as part of an auction.

The Skids Live 2010 DVD trailer

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:38:00 +0000

The preview trailer for The Skids Live 2010 DVD is now available online, a small taster of what to expect on the Skids Live 2010 DVD which is due to be released at the end of October 2010

The trailer also mentions some Skids songs that will be featured on the DVD coming soon.

Also available in quicktime format from the skids website
http://www.the-skids.co.uk/skids/?q=node/1591

The Skids 2010 DVD has been made available to pre-order

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:58:00 +0000

At last! the news that the Skids fans have been waiting for.
The live DVD from the recent 2010 Skids gigs is available to pre-order online.
The DVD will have live footage of the Skids in concert and an extras disc which is said to contain some other filming that was done during Richard Jobsons visit to Dunfermline earlier this year and some Skids archive material.
Hopefully there will be more information made available soon.
visit the link below for more info and ordering details
http://www.the-skids.co.uk/skids/?q=node/1590

Sky Television to show Richard Jobsons New Town Killers

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Skids frontmans latest movie New Town Killers is to be shown on Sky Premiere every night of this week starting at 5.40pm.

The movie will also be available on Anytime, so any Skids fans or fans of Richard Jobsons movies can now tune in and enjoy

Thanks to Braveman and Stainless for pointing this out and the reminders on The Skids fans website.

Great movie and highly recommended.

Win free entry to Glen Pavilion Dunfermline concert

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:46:00 +0000

There is a competition open on the Dunfermline Music Scene website to win FREE ENTRY to see Bruce & Jamie Watson (Skids guitar duo) in concert, along with The Draymin, Crayons and more bands still to be announced.

The competition is a free prize draw and entries picked out will get into the Music For Mary Charity Concert at the Glen Pavilion on Sunday 29th August.

Crayons are the first Fife band to be announced to play the charity gig in Dunfermline with more bands and details still to be announced.

Remember this is not just a great gig for only £8 it is also a charity fundraiser in association with The Mary Leishman Foundation, Kennys Music and The Kingsgate Shopping Centre, there are some great prizes to be won on the night so some lucky gig-goer could be going home with some special prizes :)
Details on the competition are on the following link.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPETITION DETAILS AND TO ENTER

Some tickets are still available from Third Base Records, Kennys Music, The Old Inn, Blaze in the Kingsgate Shopping Centre and available to Buy Online

The Skids merchandise is back online

noreply@blogger.com (the skids) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:33:00 +0000

The Skids merchandise shop is now back online after some upgrades and changes.

T-shirts, hoodies, posters and music are available.

Items are available in 2010 designs and also in The Skids 30th Anniversary designs.

Visit the Official Skids Merchandise store by clicking the following link
http://theskids.firebrandlive.com/