Celebrating Steve Barker's On the Wire

Steve Barker's On the Wire has been broadcasting from Lancashire to the rest of the world weekly since 1984, until recently via BBC Radio Lancashire.

OTW is the longest running, and best, underground music radio show, carving its own furrow and doing its bit to make Lancashire the well-known centre of the universe. Originally, in the days of AM/FM radio, OTW only sneaked over the Pennines and south of Manchester in fine weather or dubbed onto C90 cassettes, but in the last 20 years the show has consolidated its global reach with each edition being made accessible everywhere via the worldwide web.

The Continental and Tuff Life Boogie are delighted to be involved in organising this gig to celebrate some of the great music that Steve has been championing recently on the show and help to persuade the BBC to think again and return one of Lancashire's finest exports back to its rightful place in the broadcasting schedules.

Afternoon session – Concrète Tapes and Them There Records showcase (Free Entry)

It was too tempting not to program something for the 2pm til 5pm Sunday afternoon slot that On the Wire memorably occupied in the 80s and 90s, so we're kicking off the day with a selection chosen by two premier underground labels from Preston that Steve regularly features on the show. Expect immersive electronica from Concrète Tapes and peripheral and experimental pop from Them There. There will be live sets from acts on each label and DJ selections from the head honchos Joe and Carl. A money can't buy experience, so its free entry!

Evening session (Tickets £10)

Kicking off at 6pm, the evening session features three purveyors of various shades of solo guitar, all of whom have featured heavily on OTW in recent years.

Dean McPhee

West Yorkshire based electric guitarist Dean McPhee plays a Fender Telecaster through a valve amp and effects pedals. He has been perfecting his art over the last 10 years, with occasional bulletins in the form of LPs on the Blast First Petite and Hood Faire labels. Expect fluid finger-picked melodies combined with atmospheric drones and trance inducing loops. Dean will sit down and you will tune in and drift out.

Bhajan Bhoy

Ajay Saggar, honorary Lancastrian now based in Amsterdam, is an old friend of On the Wire, having featured on the show in various incarnations over the years: first with legendary Preston act The Dandelion Adventure in the late 80s and through the next 3 decades with Donkey, The Bent Moustache, King Champion Sounds, Deutsche Ashram and The Common Cold. The last four of these acts have illuminated various Tuff Life Boogie events at the Continental in recent years.

Bhajan Bhoy is Ajay's latest, solo, incarnation, and moves on from the textured guitar flava of Deutsche Ashram and combines it with an arsenal of oblique strategies, found sound and atmospheric samples from the Brian Eno text book. Bhajan Bhoy's debut LP 'Bless Bless' picked up bucketloads of acclaim this year and looks set to be Time Lord Ajay's most successful incarnation yet!

Gwenifer Raymond

Gwenifer recently put out her second album, 'Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain' on the acclaimed Tompkins Square label in Autumn 2020 and is basically one Jools Holland appearance away from being the next big thing in roots music. You should not miss this opportunity to see her in an intimate venue.