The Xenon promotional poster (2005)
'Xenon' was a social club duo consisting of Neil Craddock on lead vocals and guitar and Paul Trappett on keyboards and backing vocals - ok I got to sing a couple of songs on lead; ELO's Rock 'N' Roll Is King and Don't Bring Me Down. I also leaded on Bryan Adams's Cloud #9 but it was total shit so we dropped it. Xenon , a remnant of Wishful Thinking, is now sadly no more.
Xenon's Final Gig Diary:-
| Date | Venue (Click for Map) | Location | Review |
| Saturday 9th October, 2005 | Abbey Hulton Suburban Club | Stoke-On-Trent | Click |
| Saturday 16th October, 2005 | Holditch Miner's Welfare Club | Newcatle-Under-Lyme | Click |
| Saturday 14th January, 2006 | The Stumble Inn | Cannock | Click |
Final Set List:-
|
TOTO |
CHILD'S ANTHEM |
|
BRYAN ADAMS |
SUMMER OF '69 |
|
LONESTAR |
AMAZED |
|
QUEEN |
DAYS OF OUR LIVES |
|
ELO |
TELEPHONE LINE |
|
ELO |
STRANGE MAGIC |
|
ELO |
SWEET TALKIN' WOMAN |
|
ELO |
CONFUSION |
|
PAUL CARRACK |
WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM |
|
JOURNEY |
OPEN ARMS |
|
ELO |
MR. BLUE SKY |
|
JOHN MILES |
MUSIC |
|
ANDREW GOLD |
LONELY BOY |
|
QUEEN |
CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE |
|
LOVE AFFAIR |
EVERLASTING LOVE |
|
STATUS QUO |
ROCKIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD |
|
ELO |
DON'T WALK AWAY |
| ELO | ROCK 'N' ROLL IS KING |
| ELO | HOLD ON TIGHT |
| ELO | DON'T BRING ME DOWN |
|
QUEEN |
A KIND OF MAGIC |
|
QUEEN |
RADIO GA GA |
Other songs we occasionally did:-
ELO - The Diary Of Horace Wimp
ELO - Midnight Blue
Jackie Wilson - Higher & Higher
The Monkees - Daydream Believer - But only cos it's a crowd please, not cos we liked it!
Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day (Do I F--k As Like!)
ELO - Believe Me Now (Our final outro - Click to Hear/download)
(NOTE: This is shorter than the original and in a different key)
If there is one thing I am proud of about Xenon is that although we used backing for drums and orchestral arrangement etc all of the above songs are MIDI files programmed by myself on my trusty 286 PC using DOS based Voyetra Sequencer Classic MIDI package (now runs on a modern Pentium II - yeah well it's modern to me!!!). The songs were then performed as live as we could make it with the PC being part of the on-stage equipment - this also enabled us to automate live DSP edits, the entire light show and harmony machine programming as part of the song sequence not possible with a mini-disc or CD set-up. So there!
Click to see -> Trap's Rig.
Xenon sadly is no more. Bookings were getting thinner on the ground so we decided to end it on a high (which was our final gig at the Stumble Inn, Cannock in Feb 2005). The main problems were clubs were/are closing left, right and centre, the ones that are still open are booking mini-disk karaoke wonders for threepence and a big apple. Or perhaps we just got lazy!?
This page was last edited 08/04/2007
Xenon Reviews and Gig Notes
Cheslyn Hay Working Men's Club - June 2005
What a dive!! We were final act of a three-act show night, some darky who's name escapes me - as did his dismal set list (though he sang them well, they were just chaff) - then came comedy act The Whole Kaboodle who as far as I'm concerened stole the show. Actually we know these lads well as they too find the whole club scene in need of the kiss of life. Then me and Neil hit the stage in what can only described as a complete cock-up! I couldn't get a balance on my keyboards, the accoustics were awful and the crowd simply didn't care if we carried on or fell through a broken floorboard. Shit club. Shit night. Wanted to quit right there and then! Just shit then. Really shit. Shit.
Abbey Hulton Suburnon - Saturday 9th October, 2005
Considering we hadn't played since June we didn't do too bad, but there again after the last gig anything would have been better - we chose not to take the light show since the club had specified 'no smoke machines' in the contract. There is nothing like killing a light show by not having smoke so we just don't bother. It bothered the entertainment secretary though - sorry mate! We'll bring 'em next time! Actually after a nervous 1st half with Neil having tuning problems on his guitar (new strings) the 2nd spot (after an hour and half of bingo) was not bad at all. There was the obligatory punter fight at the end and a good time was had by all.
Holditch Miner's Welfare Club - Saturday 16th October, 2005
A pleasant crowd and Xenon's last booking at that time - I suppose this made it a sort of 'fairwell gig'. A shame really cos I was sort of enjoying the few gigs we had - a contrast from last year when we were out every week but dreading the propsect. Perhaps that's the key - keep 'em sparse. Only problem with that is I'm still frickin' skint!
The Stumble Inn - Saturday 14th January, 2006
We'd given up getting any more gigs but then this booking for Jenny the landlady via Gerry 'The General' of JC Sounds came in. Gerry loves us whether we're doing the full-on Journey show with the band of just me and Crad doing our duo thing. It's always a good night and I particularly like playing here as we generally leave out the light-weight motown and WMC stuff in favour of mainly ELO. Tonight was no different. To honour the occasion I bought out the big piano (I usually only bring the M1 and the rack) and me and Crad had a good time and pocketted some much needed Folding Elizabeths. Again no further bookings after this so another farewell gig. Ah well.