East Anglia's Leading Rock & Roll Band

Lifestyle Magazine

November 2005

  “Jurassic Rock is the best rock ‘n’ roll band in East Anglia”, or so the compere of the Clare World Music Festival said.  That’s not to say that Jurassic Rock is a one trick dinosaur.  Sure, they can rock-out with the best, but they are also good at ballads, blues and soul and even include a little opera in their act. 

 It all started ten years ago when Tony Eaton and Paul Cooper were asked to sing at a school barbeque.  Having both sung in bands previously, they called upon past repertoires and one song turned into an hour-long set.  This was well received and it was agreed that it would be a shame to leave it there. 

 During the early years the band went through many guises and personnel changes.  They were known variously as The Dadbeats, Banned for the Night and some even more unflattering names when they played the occasional (and very dodgy) gig at pubs and friends’ parties. 

 Things started to take shape about eight years ago when Tony’s son, also Paul, left university and joined as the bass player and they settled on the name Jurassic Rock.  However, the Band didn’t finally gel until two years later when Bob Settle became the drummer.  The final part of the jigsaw fell into place in 2003 when Mike Watkin (ex BBC) joined the band as sound engineer and occasional rhythm guitarist.  Jurassic Rock now has the equipment, ability and experience to produce a professional show at any venue from fifty people to thousands. 

 Jurassic Rock plays at all sorts of functions including dances, parties, weddings and concerts.  With a play-list that would permit five hours uninterrupted playing without repetition (if the band members only had the stamina), Jurassic Rock’s  repertoire varies from White Stripes to George Gershwin and encompasses the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, The Shadows, etc., etc. 

 Jurassic Rock’s greatest compliment was paid to them inadvertently when someone congratulated Mike on the quality of the backing tracks.  Mike took great pride in explaining that there are no backing tracks, every note you hear is produced by the four band members on stage.

  Although playing at a wide variety of functions, Jurassic Rock’s speciality is dinner dances, particularly weddings.  From their large repertoire they can play relaxing background music at a level that allows comfortable conversation during the meal.  They can then morph at a moments notice to the party volume at which they play their rock ‘n’ roll – the music that gets people of all ages and musical tastes dancing and enjoying themselves. 

 The members of Jurassic Rock pride themselves on their professionalism, flexibility and providing whatever is required.  If you want them to just play live music, that’s fine, but they are equally happy to include full stage lighting, fog machine, recorded music before and in between live music sets, a radio microphone for the organisers to make announcements, etc. - all the way up to a providing an M.C. 

 Jurassic Rock no longer sends out demo-disks as the variety of their music can’t be represented in a small sample.  Furthermore, anyone that hasn’t heard them can’t believe they will reproduce studio quality sound when playing live – which, of course, they do.  It is much better to hear them for yourself and they encourage visits to their studio where people can choose what they want to hear and can discuss at length their requirements and the arrangements for their function. 

 Things have moved on considerably since Tony and Paul’s impromptu concert at the school barbeque.  Jurassic Rock is now one of the area’s foremost functions bands with a growing following and gig list.