They're beee-hiiind yoouuu! Countless heads suddenly twist round, look up, up and up some more. There perched like a pantomime dame in his "Silver Sun" T-shirt, Roj - friend of Small Things and generally 'on bloke' - is belting out "When you're gone", a cover of the Bryan Adams/Mel C. single, from the toppermost stand and wriggling in a manner that can only be described as St. Vitus dancing. Still that's Roj - you've seen him before, haven't you?
And how deafening it is on their home patch, where a select handful of their fan-base are gathered to hear a damn fine band shimmy through a host of covers that could seriously dent the Top 20, dare I say the Top Ten.
An impressive occasion, then, though one our heroes fail to capitalise on initially. Sure, "What's the Frequency Kenneth?" and "Sunshine of your love" are familiarly rousing, yet, Roj, who has ditched his slippers to tread the boards bare-footed, seems genuinely too weird for his legion of fans. Even stranger, as that other scarybloke, Paul tries to work miracles through the muddy PA. Roj mingles with the crowd purely because, it seems, that is what he thinks a frontman should do. A Christian among the lions, he gets duly mauled.
No matter, because he's up again, striding across the set and looking for the microphone. And the hits keep coming, all big, all clever lyrics, not to be heard in an elevator near you. The flags are unfurled, the lighters aloft. SCARY know their future and, frankly, it's enormous. Be afraid, be very SCARED!
Piers Brighton
SCARY is a rock band based in York, England. The band currently consists of two full-time members; lead guitarist Paul "Noodler" Martin and rhythm guitarist Roger "Sorry" Butler-Ellis. They both double up on vocals.
No band can exist in isolation, and even musical minimalists such as SCARY need a back-up team to provide vital assistance. So here are the folks that help make us rock:-
Hello fans and welcome to Issue 2 of our web-site. Bookmark these pages so that you can enjoy a SCARY on-line experience. Soon we hope to bring you photographs, sound-bites, merchandise offers and maybe even video footage.
So why am I handcuffed to a police-woman stripper-gram, where is this plane going to, and why is the invisible rabbit braying on my head with a mallet? Oops, I guess that was Christmas and the New Year! The last thing I remember was watching "Jonathan Creek" then I woke up at 2am on New Years day to the dull thud of fireworks igniting and two men having a punch-up outside the bedroom window. Hello 1999!
So here we are and already the band is immersed in turmoil. What happened to the final gig of 1998 and where is Jolly Roger MacAbre? <LINK REMOVED> will reveal all. We are hoping to get a couple of gigs under our belts in January at selected venues in Haxby and Heworth. Keep your ears peeled on the grapevine for details.
Dateline .. Monday 14th December 1998, and in a shock but typically SCARY move, the band sacked their manager Jolly Roger MacAbre. At a time when most bands are being dumped by their record labels as they desperately seek to re-structure their investments, SCARY about-faced and dumped their record label MacAbre Records and its owner, their manager. The band have already found a new manager in the shape of top York mixer and producer DJ Shaggy. The band blamed lack of commitment on MacAbre's part and as a result of the conflict they pulled the plug on the final gig of 1998. The band assured all fans that they will be undertaking gigs as soon as possible in the New Year and are looking forward to a fruitful relationship with the new management.
"Sorry" spent a painful start to the festive season by nursing a painful groin injury sustained whilst carrying the cast-iron base plate from a microphone stand. "Sorry" is now fully recovered and intended taking a full part in the party period.
SCARY experienced a slight setback in December when the near-side headlight on their tour bus was found to be faulty. The band quickly remedied the situation by replacing the faulty bulb with a spare that, fortunately, they always carry on-board.
Band members have confirmed plans to release an album to coincide with the millennium. The album is provisionally entitled "MM, nice", a reference to the year 2000 expressed in Roman numerals. No details are yet available about the material that will be included on the album, but it is known that the band are currently covering the Bryan Adams/Mel C. single "When you're gone" and this track may well be included.