Formed from the smoking ashes of 90's East End rock band Alchemy, Sober enough to cope, drunk enough not to care.
It seemed like a little bit of fun – Ray’s Step daughter was having a
birthday party and wanted a live band – why not reform Alchemy? As well as the core members of Harj, Ray, Si & Griff, Dave
(original bassist, below) was brought back into the fold on second guitar. Rehearsals began in earnest in May of 2007, grinding to a halt on the
very same day. Suddenly the guys realised they were getting older… The gig went ahead on the 9th June and went surprisingly well. So well,
in fact, that when Ray decided he wanted a 10th wedding anniversary party
a couple of years later, there was only one band he wanted. Sadly
Thin Lizzy weren’t available (something about Lynott having left the building)
so The Hair Bear Bunch, as they had now been renamed, were brought back together. This time it was agreed that a couple of warm up gigs should
take place before the big event. Dodd suggested the Crystal Palace. What he
didn’t tell anyone else was that this wasn’t the Crystal Palace in South London,
but a poky little pub round the corner from him. The band took up most of the available
space with little room left for an audience – the bar staff looked petrified! Again, though,
the gig was a success. A party for Dodd’s next-door neighbour followed a couple of weeks
later before the main event at the end of October 2009. Memories of the anniversary gig are hazy, but it seems that everyone enjoyed
themselves enough to warrant keeping the band going. At the time of writing a gig is being planned
for Telford in early Spring of 2010 and then, to the future...
The Hair Bear Bunch are older, wider, and more tired than before.
Dodd
Hawk
Griff
Ray
Dodd & Gus