Winter 2010-2011

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The Band continues to progress with a few changes.  Jon Settle is now at Leeds University studying (as one would expect) music technology.  This was an expected move, but we are sad to lose the youngest member of the band.

The standout gigs were playing at Tony’s daughter’s (Charlie’s) wedding and on New Year’s Eve at the Royal Burnham Yacht Club.  These gigs have led to us becoming the band of choice at the Yacht Club and the leading wedding venues of Greenstead Green Barn and Lynford Hall Hotel, both of which we can highly recommend to prospective brides and grooms.

Winter 2009-2010

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REUNION

2009 was the 50th anniversary of the opening of Tony’s school, Latton Bush, and he was asked by the organisers if he could contact the other members of the Zooids (the band Tony played in whilst at school) to play at the reunion.  In the event, he was only able to find Trevor Sharpe (rhythm guitar) and Terry “Tom” Smith (drums).  Although they had not played in public for some years, they were both game and, following only one rehearsal, they played a short set with JR’s Paul supporting them on bass.

The reunion was attended by more than 300 former pupils and was a great success, with JR playing a set for all to dance to at the end of the evening.

GOODBYE TO AN INAUGURAL MEMBER

Shortly after the Latton Bush reunion and following heartfelt discussion, Paul Cooper sadly had to leave the band.  His ability to connect with the crowd will be missed, but in recent years we have often rehearsed without Paul and we’ve had to gig without him on occasions, so the transition has been seamless.

BEER FESTIVAL, PLOUGH HUNDON

As JR aficionados will know, we only play the occasional non-private gig and we can’t remember the last time we played in a pub.  However, we made the exception for Tony’s local and supported the Plough’s beer festival by playing on Easter Friday.  It was great to play in such close proximity to the crowd again.  The response was rapturous and the landlady described the performance as, “Awesome, f***ing fantastic” and immediately invited us to headline at the next two festivals.

Winter 2008-2009

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NOT THE BEST OF YEARS!

In November, Tony fell whilst chopping logs and broke a tendon on his left shoulder.  The injury was nowhere near as bad as Paul Cooper’s and, luckily, he can still play the guitar.  However, it is not going to heal on its own and so he is due to have an operation towards the end of February.  This rounded off, and just about summed up, what has not been our happiest year.

AUREVOIR & BONJOUR

Mike Watkin has moved away and the distances involved and the commitments in his new life are too great to continue as a permanent member of Jurassic Rock.  Needless to say, we are sad that Mike can’t be with us, but he is staying in touch and hopes to make the occasional “guest appearance”.

Lewis Clark is a talented sound engineer whose experience and ability belie his years.  He had been working with Mike to produce the Jurassic Rock sound for about two years.  His assumption of the Chief Sound Engineer mantle has been seamless and we have already received many compliments for the quality of our sound whilst Lewis has been in control.  Given this, Jurassic Rock will continue to provide sound quality of the highest order.

Another talented teenager to join our ranks is Jon Settle.  Jon is our drummer, Bob’s, son and he is now a regular guitarist and backing singer with the band.  Jon’s details can be found here.

2009 has started with a bang on the gigs front.  In January, we had two memorable gigs – a 60th birthday party and a record breaking dance at Hundon Village Hall.  Hundon holds regular dances throughout the year and the usual turnout is about 50 people.  On 17th January, Jurassic Rock attracted a crowd of 180!  In financial terms, this was the equivalent of about 4 or 5 normal dances, which delighted everyone concerned, except the bar staff (who were run off their feet) and the raffle ticket sellers, who were worried they wouldn’t have enough tickets.  Such a good time was had by all that the organisers insisted on paying us a bonus and booked Jurassic Rock for New Year’s Eve.  However, you won’t have to wait until then to see Jurassic Rock again, as we are playing there on 16th May.  DON’T MISS IT!!

Summer 2008

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MICHAEL ANTHONY STEPHENSON 

Mike Stephenson

It is with unspeakable sadness that we report the sudden and unexpected death of Mike Stephenson, one of Jurassic Rock’s founder members.  Mike was Tony’s brother-in-law and when the Band decided to organise properly with a regular line-up, Mike was invited to join as the drummer.

Mike had no formal training, but he was a naturally talented and brilliant drummer.  He “felt” each song and knew instinctively how and what to play, which was inspiring for those of us that played with him.  Furthermore, his sense of humour, ready smile and infectious laugh made him superb company and popular wherever he went.

In addition to his film star looks, Mike was highly intelligent, attended grammar school and achieved a university degree.  His business career was meteoric and, as a high flyer, he was repeatedly headhunted by major companies.  However, although Mike took his work seriously, it was his wife, Tracey, and their three daughters (Lauren 13, Deanna 11 and Antonia 6) who were most important in his life.  This manifested itself in not only the time and attention he lavished on them, but the extent to which he became involved with their schools (a governor) and the local community (a parish councillor and treasurer of Suffolk Crime Stoppers Board).

Mike – Garden Party 2008

Mike left Jurassic Rock in 2000 because he was studying and this, together with the demands of his job and the wish to spend time with his family, meant he could not devote to rehearsals the time required to achieve the standard he demanded of himself.  However, in recent months he and Tony (together with bass player, Yeti) had formed the blues/rock trio Valhalla.  They had been rehearsing for a few months and played their first couple of gigs in the weeks before Mike’s premature death.

The loss of Mike is devastating to all those who knew him not only because of the hole he has left in our lives, but because it was so unexpected, cruelly timed and unfair.

It was unexpected because, although he had put on some weight recently, Mike was a keen golfer and such an energetic, relentlessly hard-hitting drummer who never got breathless, no one could have guessed he would suffer a fatal heart attack.

It was cruelly timed because Mike died two days before he was due to give away the daughter from his first marriage.

It was unfair because at 49 he was too young, because he leaves behind a young family and because he was such a good person who had his priorities right and lived life as it should be lived.  Mike would be the first to admit that he was not perfect.  It was no contest when choosing between mowing the lawn or a round of golf and a planned barbecue would invariably end with Tracey cooking the meal in the oven as Mike was too busy socialising to light the barby, but in all the important issues his priorities were right.

Mike – Garden Party 2008

Whenever anyone dies, we hear how good they were.  So much so that we might wonder what happens to all the unpleasant people we meet or take the view that each obituary writer is issued with a pair of rose-coloured spectacles.  On this occasion, with perfect vision and without the need for tinted glasses, we can honestly say that amongst all the imposters, Mike Stephenson was the genuine article.

Without Mike, life will be difficult, but Tracey is a strong character and with the help of her own close-knit family and Mike’s family (with whom she is also close), she will pick herself up, continue to make a success of her life and bring up their children in the way Mike would have wanted.  Mike will be proud of her, but not surprised at her ability to cope and her success will be a fitting legacy.  Furthermore, Lauren intends to continue the family tradition by becoming a drummer, just like her dad.  She started some months ago and Mike spoke with pride of her ability, so we are sure she will achieve this ambition.

Mike will never be replaced.  His eldest daughter refused to allow anyone else to take his place at her wedding and she walked down the aisle on her own.  Tony and Yeti will carry on playing, but, without Mike, the new band will have a different personality and cannot continue as Valhalla.  A fitting tribute would be to call the new band MSB (Mike Stephenson Band).  In this small way, his memory will live on in a sphere he loved and we can continue to honour a fine man who touched us all so deeply.

Goodbye, Mike, and thank you for all you have given us.