Rio 5's review of 2007 - We're so glad YOU made it!

They say as you get older and more mature your outlook on life should change and your horizons become more broader, I'd like to think that Rio 5 have done that this year.

We started out a very odd year being "just a pub band that do parties" and have grown into a proper function band that, might, sometimes, play in your local pub. You have to play proper gigs as without them people wouldn't be able to come and see you to be able to book you for their wedding.

Our crowning glory came in November at The MENCAP gig when Rio 5 took to the big stage in front of 400 people to an amazing reception, I do believe this is what Rio 5 was born to do, the big guys, doing big songs at big gigs, watch out for more of these in 2008!

And we'd like to thank all the venues that have booked us during 2007, The Oak, The Grouse, The County Hotel to name but a few, we've had some fantastic nights with you and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year, it'd be nice to play outside next year maybe (depending on the weather, lets hope we don't have a spring/summer like this year as it was something of a washout to say the least) and maybe some sunday afternoon gigs, being as England won't be playing in Euro 2008. (not bitter at all)

We'd also like to thank everyone who booked us for their Wedding/Party/Fundraiser, Lee&Jemma, Brian, Tom and the rest, it really was a priviledge to join you on your special day and we hope we added to the experience.

A big thanks to the guys in Eyam for the 70's theme night, can't wait to see you in March to do it all again.

We are still looking for new venues to play next year so if you know somewhere looking for the cream of light entertainment, give them a gentle nudge in our direction and we'll see what we can do.

Anyway, we must go now as we've got 6 weeks to rattle off some new songs and create an experience that will leave you saying "Now Thats What I Call Rio 5"

The Last Gig of The Year!

And so, it came to the last gig of 2007 and I don't think we could have asked for anything more... 3 new songs, all of which were well recieved, a pub full of party-goers (both sides, I've not seen The Oak that busy for a long while) all up for a good time, fun, banter and plenty of beer.

We're taking 6 weeks out of the limelight now to prepare some more new songs and get ready for our 2008 campaign...

Now Thats What I Call Rio 5!

Rio 5 gigs now listed in The Daily Telegraph!

Yes, thanks to http://www.wherecanwego.com/ , Britain's What's On Guide, our gigs will now be listed on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ , simply click on"family" and then on "family activity planner"

Its a great big list of things to do around your area, indoor, outdoor and narrowed down into catergories.

We're also listed on http://www.britevents.com/ which is nice.

Keep an eye out for Rio 5's round-up of 2007, coming soon and make sure you look for us in 2008!

The MENCAP gig - Elvis, Tina Turner and Rio 5

Where can you get Elvis, Tina Turner, The Beatles, The Blues Brothers, Rod Stewart and Freddie Mercury under the same roof? Ok, you can't, mainly because at least 4 of them are dead, but you can have the next best thing with The Tinsel Band Superstar Show! and it cost £10 to get, and it was all for charidee... AND you got half an hour of the legendary Rio 5 experience into the bargain.

A fantastic sized stage, plenty of room to set up, plenty of time to set up (mainly cos some other poor buggers had to set up the PA, it's always nice to someone else setting up and packing down), brilliant on-stage sound, wonderful lighting and Rio 5 really enjoyed themselves.

It was the first time Dave Stone had been on stage at a Tinsel Band gig since he gave up his Joe Cocker (Cockup) act to persue The Rio 5 Experience and he was met with rapturous applause as we took to the stage with "A little help from my friends" in the style of the great man.

And the hits kept coming with barely time to catch our breath between finishing one song and cracking in to the next, Subsitute, Stick Together, Mustang Sally (featuring a knackered Dave Stone having to have a sit at the top of the steps), Midnight Hour, Sweet Home Chicago and then the encore, another Joe Cocker classic, Unchain My Heart, 30 minutes have never gone so quickly or been so enjoyable (I hope my missus doesn't read this... )

We also have to thank our very special guest, without which it just wouldn't have been the same, our drummer Symon's sister Joanne added a touch of glamour to proceedings and filled out the sound with her fantastic backing vocals.

The last I heard, the night had managed to raise £2500 for MENCAP so well done and thank-you to everyone who turned out on a Saturday night and really got into the spirit of the occasion, especially those who turned out in fancy dress (at least I don't think it was their normal Saturday night dress, I might be wrong)

If you liked what you saw from Rio 5 last night, we're doing the full show at The Royal Oak, Brampton on Weds 12th Dec and each and every one of you that were there last night are invited. I'm sure we could fit you all in.

Thanks again to The Tinsel Band and The Silly Burgers for inviting us to be their support act.

Firstly my apologies for the delay in this blog... I've been busy at work preparing for the 2nd biggest launch of CPW's history, the iPhone, which wasn't as big a success as I'd planned for (Well, would you pay £270 for a phone?!)

Anyway, Friday 2nd Nov saw Rio 5 back at The County Hotel, Chesterfield, which was packed with Wishbone Ash fans who'd come from around the country as Wishbone Ash were playing at The Winding Wheel the following day

It was a tall order to entertain the crowd but we rose to the occassion and a fantastic night was had by everyone, so thanks one and all.

Talking of The Winding Wheel, we're playing there next Saturday (17th Nov) supporting The Silly Burgers at a charity fundraiser for MENCAP, check out www.myspace.com/thetinselband for full details.

Our next gig is Weds 12th Dec, NOT 1st Dec as you may see in other publications (Big NNN's in New York on honeymoon so...) and it's our last gig of 2007 so we'd like to see as many as you as possible at The Royal Oak, Brampton.

50th Wedding Anniversary - The Phoenix Suite, Club Chesterfield.

I'm not sure what I think about family "do's", when you have to be there from midday to set up, and be nice to people you only see at Weddings & Funerals... but then it's worth it to have the whole complete set-up, with the big rig, all the lasers, lights and smoke machine.... and I also now understand why the rolling stones have such a big entourage, many hands do make light work.

So we set it all up on the big stage (another good reason for playing social clubs, plenty of room on stage to set up) and it did look good, briliant in fact, and went home for some tea.

So a quick 40 winks later we were all (well apart from Big 'Un) suited and booted and ready to rock and rock we did!
Two brilliant sets, kids sliding across the dancefloor, a famous guest (Freddie Jerkery - all the way from Wembley) and an even more special guest in the form of Nat taking over on guitar.

A big thanks to everyone that turned up, friends, family and everyone else!
Oh and we're doing it all again next week at Barrow Hill Club!

Ha, Ha! Another night, another pub, another great gig from the Rio 5 boys.
Brampton's Royal Oak was the venue, Saturday night was the reason (and why not?) and who says the smoking ban is dragging the pub trade to it's knees? Sure there were some people outside in the smoking area, but a bit of jiggery-pokery with the in-house sound meant they didn't miss out on the fun whilst the healthy clean-living people got the full show, and what a show. Fantastic showmanship, good jokes and great fun. All the songs were in there and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Keep an eye out for next years dates coming soon. We're next at The Oak on Weds 12th Dec.
There's no rest for the wicked as we've got it all to do again next Saturday, and the Saturday after that.
Keep rockin'

We really don't like to do things the easy way do we? We've been out and about for the past month, getting married, having holidays and all that, so we didn't have time to really practice the NEW songs (yes thats new songs, avid reader) but we managed to squeeze a quick get together in, between finishing work and England v. Russia kicking off on Weds night, and all went well so we decided to put them in at The Grouse.

I'll be honest, both of them need a bit of polishing, and the fact that we didn't use monitors also didn't help, but we've got 4 more gigs this month so by October we'll have them nailed, there's nothing like learning them live to sharpen your wits up.

The Grouse is a great pub with a great atmosphere, there's usually a band on every Thurs/Fri, ring them 01246279632 to find out who's on, I know we're booked in next at the end of January.

We'd also like to thank the "South Yorkshire Posse" for making the journey over the border to have a look, and they got up singing too.

Our next gig is Sat 15th Sept - just down the road at The Oak www.myspace.com/royaloakbrampton where we'll do it all again, we'll see you there.

When will the weather change?!

I'm sure it's not just me that's getting down with it raining day after day, the only decent day we had was Sat 11th Aug so I spent most of that in the Queens Park in Chesterfield at the FreeFest07 gig, personally I'd have put some named bands from Chesterfield on instead of the unknown people they had (Maybe a word with the Organisers of Oakstock for ideas...?) but it was a great day and opefully it will be back next year (along with the Fireworks on Bank Holiday Monday, come on council)

But anyway, Rio 5 were out doing what they do best last night, providing great entertainment for those souls who were brave enough to face the weather, and we thank you for making the journey to The County, Saltergate, Chesterfield.

We were a bit worried as we'd not been advertised and we've heard some stories that The County wasn't that busy now and again, but we shouldn't have been, the Rio 5 grapevine had worked well and a fair sized crowd turned up and enjoyed themselves, there should have bee a couple of wedding parties checking us out but if they were there they didn't make themselves known.

Oh and the best news we got last night was another 5 bookings in the first half of 2008! Yes Rio 5 are now taking bookngs for 2008, Wow, Wow, Wow

Right, time for me to go now, we've got some new tunes to learn (and what tunes, proper cracking fun tunes, I'm really looking forward to adding them into the set) in time for the next brace of gigs at The Grouse Inn (13th Sept) and The Royal Oak (15th Sept)

We'll see you there!

And then there was one, no don't worry avid reader, Rio 5 haven't gone their seperate ways, it's just that there is only one member of the band that isn't married, (that'll be me then cos no one ever fancies the keyboardist)(aah)

Yes Big Dave Wilson got married to the wonderful Helen Patricia on Friday with the reception held at Brampton's Royal Oak, in "The Royal Marquee" (it's a tent, come on) both the bride and groom looked fantastic, the bridesmaids too, the free bar was an added bonus (works for me!) and Firecracker providing the entertainment (www.myspace.com/firecrackerrock) a wonderful night was had by all, I'm sure there were many hangovers the next day, I know I didn't feel right until about 4pm.

So we're not gigging now until the 18th August at The County, Saltergate cos he's going on his honeymoon but it'll be nice to see you there.

Bloomtooth!

So as the waters receeded and the flames died down Rio 5 prepared for their first journey to the south of county, "Good Evening Donington" - three words that mean so much to any rock band worth their salt. The Tudor Hotel is a great venue, plenty of room for the band to set up and perform, (full light show and everything) and plenty of room to get the locals in, and in a village with no centre or nightclub, they really are providing a service with live entertainment and good food. We're back there at the end of October for their Hallowe'en party.

We should be playing at The Royal Oak, Brampton, Chesterfield on Weds 4th July but that all depends on whether the pub has re-opened following the floods earlier in the week, we're hopeful but we'll keep you informed.

Keep Rockin'!

Blimey, what a strange week that was, first there was the rain, the endless, monotonous rain, days and days of rain which lead to the inevitable floods, our thoughts go out to all those homes and businesses which have been affected, (let's hope The Oak is back up and running for Weds 4th July cos we're gigging there)

And then on Wednesday a fire ripped through the Somerfield store in Chesterfield's Town Centre bringing shopping to a halt and displacing even more people (Honestly, the amount of lost people I saw looking for a Pub on Tues/Weds, just shows either we're a community with a drink problem, or maybe the pub trade isn't in a much turmoil as they would have us believe). But I've just had a look at the river and it seems reasonably normal again, although there are plenty of sandbags in and around the affected area. Let's hope the light rain which is currently falling doesn't get any heavier.

Have you joined www.myspace.com/rio5rock yet?

A good night and an apology...

The County Hotel, Friday 15th June
It's been a while since we've played The County and with the god-awful weather we've been having here in The Midlands (3 days rain anyone?) we were almost washed out, (Enjoy the sunshine in our beautiful beer garden the poster said) I'd love to play a gig in the dry.

Anyway, another fantastic night from Rio 5, another night with the old familiar faces and a good cross-section of new faces, we hope to see you again at gigs in the future,

Speaking of which, The County are having a Charity Weekend 6th-7th July in aid of Ashgate Hospice, keep your eyes & ears peeled for full details, I think we're headlining on Fri 6th July.

The Royal Oak, Saturday 16th June
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control we were unable to peform at The Oak last night, I know some people had travelled a far way to see us but you'll just have to come back for Weds 4th July or Sat 15th Sept.

Have you joined our myspace.com/rio5rock yet?

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

They say bad things come in threes, they also say it never rains but it pours, can it pour three times in a day!?

Not only have we not got hot water at home due to it being broken, there wasn't any senior management at work today for the 1st hour so I had to help some customers (I don't do customers, I'm in Admin), the repairs engineer was putting obstacles in the way of the system running smoothly (does it really matter which phone number we ring you on or if it rings with a different sound so he knows it staff calling?), we misplaced two phones (found them now), I got asked for 40p by a beggar, then my car ran out of petrol half a mile from the nearest petrol station and i'd only got a fiver on me and the petrol can cost £2.29... hmm oh and I can't publish the bloody website for some unknown reason!! Aaarrrggghhh

Still, it's done now isn't it and I've only got to work 2moro then i've got two days off.

By the way, Rio 5 are gigging a week 2moro (15th June) at the county and it'd be nice to see you

The bloomin' English weather... (Well it is a Bank Holiday Weekend I guess)

It's the end of May, very nearly June and you'd expect, given the brilliant Easter we had and the weather recently in general, that booking your wedding reception at Carsington Resevoir that it would be reasonably warm and pleasant, perfect for everyone to be outside singing and dancing and having a good time... and thats exactly what Lee & Jemma did.

It was all prepared, Rio 5 would be performing where they normally have outside seating for the visitors to the Resevoir, plenty of space, gorgeous views over the water and then, mid afternoon, the rain started...

But it's Lee & Jemma's big day, they weren't going to let a few drops of rain get them down, so we set up in the restuarant upstairs in the Visitor Centre and although during the daylight hours it didn't look like much, after Karen and her team had decorated the place, put tea lights on the tables, we'd set up our kit and light show, Craig the DJ had set up next to us, we'd got Bernie the Magician wowing both us and the audience (how does he do it?) the scene was set for a wonderful night.

We'd like to thank Lee & Jem for inviting us to perform at their wedding, it really as a true honour (and thanks for the advice on pricing) and we wish you all the best for the future, and you're welcome to attend any of our gigs in the future cos you really are a breath of fresh air.

PS: There's something quite disturbing about a duck quacking at 1.30am when you are loading up the van to come home...

Social Clubs, Working Mens Clubs, Rate Payers Clubs...

It's not very often that I feel that strongly about something, strongly enough to get on my soapbox and start spouting off, and Rio 5 don't have any political leaning, we're just here for the fun and the beer thanks, but...

With Post Offices closing, local shops being put out of business by the Supermarkets and Pubs closing, the heart of our communities are being ripped out, and so whole area's of housing estates are becoming ghetto's, no-go areas which become run-down and destroyed. Coupled with this the fact that not many families sit down to a meal together every day, due to working patterns etc... the fabric of community life is evaporating, no-one knows their next door neighbour or whats going, no-one keeps an eye out for each other any more and that is very sad.

The only bastion of community life left now is the local social/working mens club, these places are great for entertainment, the concert rooms are nice and large, the stage (complete with resident huge Hammond organ) has plenty of room for "the turn", the beer is cheap and you can have just as much fun as a night in town (and you don't have to spend £10 on a taxi there and back, £6 to get into a club, take out a small mortgage to get a round in and get food poisoning from a dodgy kebab)...

So Rio 5 played Inkersall Social Club, where they have live entertainment on every Saturday night to a mixed crowd of young & old (and we won £20 on the bingo) in a wonderful room with our light show which, despite the small number in the audience (approx 30...) was very well recieved.

And you can't tell me that there weren't families on the estate where Mum & Dad watched (and moaned about) TV all night whilst the kids were in their rooms either on the internet or playing on their Playstation and didn't have a conversation about current affairs...

Get yourself down to your local social club, meet the people that live around you, make new friends, arrange a BBQ, keep the pub trade going and see a decent band... You'll feel a whole lot better if you do...

Rio 5 to perform next years Eurovision song?

Yet again Great Britain have failed to make waves in the Eurovision Song Contest! Joint 2nd-last?! Oh my goodness. No wonder my Euro correspondent failed to keep me up-to -date (either that or she fell to sleep..)

To this end I've decided that Rio 5 will write a song for next years Eurovis, we can't do any worse can we?

Seriously though, I think Derren Boulton should write and produce a song in his shed and we should perform it,

Actually I spent last night at Sheffield Arena watching Bryan Adams and it was fantastic, saw a few things we can steal and adapt for the Rio 5 show, a mini stage at the back for large venues, how cool?!

"Kev, the gig at Staveley has been cancelled, can you think of anywehre else that has bands on Saturday nights?, I've tried Brampton Manor, The Oak, The County ad they're all booked..."
"Er, how about The Grouse?"
"They don't have bands on Saturdays do they?"
"No but we did let them down the other Thursday and it is a Bank Holiday Weekend so... and the worse they can say is "No" and we'd be in no worse position would we"
"Ok, I'll give Nige a bell, see what he thinks"
(10 mins later)
"Grouse 5/5/07 booked"

And that, boys and girls, is how Rio 5 landed a Saturday night gig in The Grouse Inn, Chatsworth Road.

Now I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit apprehensive about it cos it was a BH Weekend, they don't normally have bands on Saturday nights and the weather had been gorgeous so surely everyone would have been having a BBQ, wouldn't they?

So when we got there at 1915hrs and it was busy, I still wasn't happy cos Brampton is one of those walk-around places where no-one really stays in one pub all night so I'm thinking, what if they all take a walk up to the "golden triangle?", I shouldn't have worried.

It was a cosy set up but we crammed it all in and by 9.00pm we were ready to go, I think we might have even maybe been loked at for a Wedding (come on James Youle) and so 9.15pm off we went, and we had a great great night, and by the time we'd got to Mustang Sally, Gimme Some Loving we'd got them eating out of our hands so when we cranked it up for Delilah they were close to ecstatic singing along at the top of their voices,

So then we tried to leave them with Stick Together and they wouldn't let us leave the stage so we came back for an encore of Town Called Malice and the Rock n' Roll medley and thought that would be enough... surely to goodness but no,

So we did Wishing Well (by Free) again for Nigel and then they let us finish.. a fantastic night... maybe there might be more bands on Saturday nights, who knows?

Thanks to everyone that came, Draper, Mark Webster, Martin Webster (no relation), Kev Walton, Matt, Simon, Kelly from The Shambles (coming soon as a 4-piece) James Youle (go on, book us) Jamie-Lee, Mrs Stone, and last but by no means least, Debbie with those tights... mmminx

Next outing is Inky Club, Dade Avenue, would be great to see some familiar faces there too

Love & Kisses
Rio 5

Another night, another gig, another party for Rio 5, a 50th birthday party in the ballroom @ The Winding Wheel, Chesterfield.

Fantastic food, fantastic light show (thanks Jono), a bit of help from Tom (only a bit though) in the worlds smallest, slowest lift and all in all a fantastic gig.

We love it when an audience is "up for it" and last night's crowd certainly were, a big hello to everyone from Walgrove Road who were there last night too, and Lindsey, TJ, Bridey, and everyone else...

We'd like to see you all again at The Grouse, Chatsworth Road, this Saturday 5th May, it's a bank holiday weekend so no reason to get up on Sunday

Now, there might not be that many reasons to be cheerful at Saltergate, Chesterfield, what with the footie team staring relegatoin in the face (Come on lads, prove me wrong) but it was a totally different matter in Saltergate Social Club for Tom's 21st birthday.

An elite group of Tom's friends & family, covering all the ages, were treated to the first showing of Rio 5's laser show, very impressive and they also got to road-test our two "new" songs, Deliah by Tom Jones (And others) and I Who Have Nothing by Joe Cocker, both of which were very well recieved.

If you've got any photos please send them to photos@riofive.co.uk and we'll see some/most/all of you at our next public outing - Bank Holiday Saturday 5th May at The Grouse Inn, Chatsworth Road.

www.riofive.co.uk

Important Anouncement!

Due to a change of management @ Beechers Brook, Staveley where they "don't do bands" (they'll learn) our gig on Saturday 5th May (Bank Holiday Weekend) has been moved to the wonderful Grouse Inn, Chatsworth Road, Brampton. Chesterfield. S40 2AR

We'd love to see you there! Spread the news!

www.riofive.co.uk

If ever there was a gig that had everything then this was it, from drunken day-time drinkers thinking they know it all, a 19th birthday party (Happy Birthday Adele), the voice of God, a pub full (I'd go so far as to stick my neck out and say we're one of 3 bands in the area that can fill a pub and keep it busy all night) of revellers who were singing and dancing from the first song to the last, a guest keyboard player (thanks Adam... my job is safe). I enjoyed it soooo much I ended up in Escapade (Nightclub) and I don't do town, the worst part was getting in a 3am and waking up at 7.39am... so I'm not very tired or grumpy.

We're taking a bit of a break now, my sisters weddings, Big NNN's stag do, Work (damn work) but we're out again at the end of April for back-to-back Private Functions so I'd best get ym black shirt cleaned.

Thanks to everyone that turned up last night - if you've got photos please send them to photos@riofive.co.uk

Save Live Music Laws! Type: Music - Live Music Description: MUSIC PETITION There is a government move to make it very difficult for musicians to perform live in small venues, or for schools, pubs and charities to raise money for causes through musical events. The new legislation will inhibit the central role music making has in our lives and communities. If you circulate this to your musician (and non-musician!) friends, all each person has to do is go to the government's petitions website below, give your name, email and address - it takes about 30 seconds. And it could make a vital difference to the nurturing of community music making, and enabling young musicians to find their feet in the performing world. The live music/licensing e-petition now has nearly 31,700 signatures. It currently stands at no.19 in the list of 1,702 petitions on the Number 10 website. This is good, especially in just under a month - and there are five more months in which people can sign. But the petition needs to do much better to make an impression on ministers, and to encourage DCMS to implement music-friendly amendments.

website: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/licensing/

Thanks!Spread this far and wide, current number of signatures is around 60,000 - CheersRio 5

Bigger and better...

Thats the only way I can describe The County, Saltergate, every time we play there more people turn up and have a fantastic night... and with a re-furb coming AND having live music on Friday's AND Saturday night, things are looking good for them and us.

It was nice to see Lee & Jemma (they've booked us for their wedding, 11 weeks guys!) make the journey from Ashbourne with some of their wedding party, there was a birthday party in the corner who stayed all night plus the usual crew plus some new friendly faces, hello you lot.

So we've got a couple more gigs booked in at The County (don't ask me the dates 'cos the Vodka had kicked in by then) and we've been approached by numerous other sources (apparently we're not bluesy enough for a Wednesday but too rocky for a Saturday ?!? dunno) and there's rumours that we might, and it's very slight, be going to Shropshire for a gig... Blimey, how the word has spread - The Legendary Rio 5 Experience - coming soon to a Town/City near you, ha ha!

Next gig, Sat 31st March @ The Oak... it's Adele's birthday so we'll no doubt have some fun.

Laters!

If music be the food of love....

Ok, now I'm not the worlds most romantic bloke but even I know that the idea is on Valentine's Night you have a nice meal (in or out) and an early night... don't you?

So we were fully expecting our gig at The Oak to be a bit on the quiet side, maybe a few people in for the Bolton/Arsenal game but not the full house we normally bring to the gig.

I was only partially wrong, the normal Wednesday night crew weren't there but their places were happily filled with people even I've never seen before (not that I drink in The Oak every night... ok, so I do) and it was a welcome surprise, I hope they come back to many more gigs at The Oak and Rio 5 gigs in general. Yet again a fantastic night was had by all, we even got the YTS boys up to sing with Mustang Sally and we confirmed a wedding and another gig at a whole new venue in September.

We'll see you at The County, Saltergate, Fri 9th March... be there!

Well then, there can't be many that can say they've played The Mechanics Institute in Eyam (pronounced "eem") but Rio 5 can now add that to their CV. A 70's themed fancy dress night to help raise funds for a playground for the school and everyone (including some of the band) got into the swing of things with flares and mini skirts and mullet wigs... check out www.riofive.co.uk for the photos. The night raised well over £500 and we were happy to play our part. :-) We'd like to thank Gill for the food, the YTS lads for fetching and carrying (beer mainly) and Johnathan for providing a fantastic light show.

The next gig is Valentine's Night at The Oak. We'll see you there!

You'd have thought that having spent most of last Saturday together, over mountains and thru driving snow, and 10 hours in a small room with Symon "There's nothing wrong with my digestive system" Havenhand, Rio 5 might be getting sick of the sight of each other but that wasn't the case! We loaded up the van and set off for The County to spend Friday night at the pub that is quickly becoming the place to see live music in Chesterfield on a Friday. I'd like to thank all the CPWer's that turned up, it really was a pleasant surprise, thanks guys.

Our album is also now available, 7 tracks for £5, what more could you want? It's exclusive and not available on iTunes or in the shops, the only place you'll be able to get one is at a gig, talking of which, I must go cos we're out doing it all again in Eyam tonight... See you soon!

What un-godly hour is this?

wahey! rio 5 have just finished alying down the tracks for their Wedding Demo disc (also on sale soon "Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans"). 7 tracks in all and it's been a fantastic day (apart from Symon's backside....) Plenty of photos on the site. We're hoping to have some copies ready for the gig, Friday 26th Jan - The County Hotel, Saltergate.

Just a pity we had to get up at 7.30am (on a day off?) and we finished after 10 hours.

Cheers to Glenn for providing the expertise and the copious amounts of Tea and Pizza Hut for providing the lunch.

Over the hills and far away, to a strange land they call Cheshire (and they speak funny), Yes Rio 5 made their first venture out of Derbyshire, over the tops (and it was high) to The Masonic Lodge in Hyde for a 60th Birthday party, with party hats and streamers! Yet another brilliant performance from me and the boys entertaining a mixed crowd of old and young, they were dancing all night long, from the first song to the last. If you were there and you took some photos, please send them to us, visit www.riofive.co.uk on details how to.

Shh... don't tell everyone but... Rio 5 played a private party last night at Chesterfield's prestigious "Winding Wheel" venue. We don't often get to play at parties (I had to go out and buy a new black shirt...) but this was a fantastic 40th birthday bash, and, proving that the youth of today don't know how to party hard, the 18th birthday party that was going on in the other room finished while we were still strutting our funky stuff on the dancefloor.

Happy 40th Sam!

Our 1st "proper" gig of 2007 is Fri 26th Jan @ The County Hotel, Saltergate.