Phil Bates

Phil Bates

July 30th, 5:02 pm

A list of my last solo gigs - 2026/2027.There is a possibility there will some additions.Sat 6th September - The View, Rhoshilli, The GowerSun 7th Sept - The Foundry, BreconFri 2nd October - Jubilee Hall, BrattonSat 3rd Oct - Compton Chamberlayne Village Hall, SalisburyFri 9th Oct - Met Theatre, Brynmenyn, BridgendSat 10th Oct - Lowther Pavilion, Lytham-St-Anne’sFri 16th Oct - Verwood Hub, Verwood, DorsetSun 25th Oct - Hanger Farm Arts Centre, TottonFri Nov 6th - Sit and Listen, StaffordSat 21st Nov - Front Room Theatre, Weston-Super-MareFri 27th Nov - Cromer Community Centre, Cromer, NorfolkSat 12th Dec - The Pump, TrowbridgeFri 18th Dec - Helping Hands Cafe, TamworthSat 19th Dec - Greystokes Castle, PenrithSat 6th March - Village Concerts, Purley-on-ThamesSat 3rd April - Malvern Cube, Malvern - Farewell concertSat 10th April - Clyro Village Hall - Phil&Jo Bates - Farewell concertThere is always a chance that one or two of these do not happen, but if that happens, I will let everyone know 🙏❤️☯️ ... See MoreSee Less

Phil Bates

July 9th, 8:23 pm

Something that I have had a lot of flak for over the years with my German ELO music project is the accusation that I was responsible for advertising and promoting my band as ELO, and not a tribute/homage.It is true that on many occasions I arrived in a town or city and was greeted by posters advertising our gig as ELO. If there was any other billing, it was in extremely small print, so difficult to read from any sort of distance.Had a lot of abuse over this, and I do understand how it appeared from the outside. I would have felt the same as an observer,What people did not know was that on EVERY page of the contract sent out by my promoter to local promoters were the words - ‘This is not ELO, and should not be billed, advertised or promoted as ELO’.We also issued instructions stipulating the relative sizes of the fonts that should be used on posters when advertising ELO music and Phil Bates Band.Hell, my promoter even had thousands of posters printed with everything correctly laid out, and these were sent to all promoters.What we could not legislate for was local promoters ignoring our posters and printing their own, obviously advertising my band as ELO.I even refused to play one gig because of this.Of course, we had threats from Mr Lynne and his lawyers, but we were never sued because they were sent copies of our contracts and posters. Thus, any responsibility for misrepresentation lay with local promoters, not with me or my promoter.I know many will still be sceptical and disbelieving, but my conscience is clear, and at this point a f*** I do not give.Anyway, we always based our arrangements etc on ELO Part 2, which was legitimate, despite what many people believe.Just a few thoughts I wanted to get off my chest ❤️☯️🙏😄 ... See MoreSee Less

Phil Bates

June 8th, 1:11 pm

Sometimes people (critics) forget that fundamentally I have always been an ELO fan, even well before my association with the band and Jet Records began.I was over the moon when we signed to the same label as ELO, and especially when I sat in the Jet listening room downstairs at Gloucester Place, and heard Out of the Blue before it was released.Turn to Stone just blew my mind at that time, listening to it LOUD in that room.My band had a VW van that we travelled to gigs in, which was a challenge because it would rarely reach speeds over 50 mph, even downhill with a following gale😂But I had possession of it most of the time, and I have wonderful memories of trips and holidays to the south coast, Devon and beyond listening to Out of the Blue constantly, time after time. Which is why I got to know the album so well.But I was a fan from 10538 Overture onwards, which again is probably why this has always been one of my favourites to play ‘live’.A few things have soured me along the way, but the music was, and still is, absolutely wonderful, beyond souring😂. This is something that I have come to appreciate even more as I have dissected the songs to put my solo acoustic versions together.Thank you Jeff Lynne. ... See MoreSee Less