SIX weeks ago Arcades and Lions met for coffee and came to a unanimous conclusion – the drive that once propelled the four-piece to be among Newcastle’s best rock bands had diminished.
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It wasn’t ugly. There wasn’t an acrimonious split. It was just time.
“We were jamming and gigging a little bit, but not as much as we were and it almost seemed forced, like we were all trying to force ourselves upon this thing that we didn’t necessarily have the love for at the end of it,” Arcades and Lions frontman Tim Walker said.
“That’s not a bad thing. Things like this happen all the time.”
Arcades and Lions formed in 2015 out of a shared love of British bands like Oasis, Pink Floyd and The Arctic Monkeys and won the Youth Rockin The Black Dog band competition in their first live performance.
Over the next three years they became one of the hardest working bands in Newcastle, they sold out the Cambridge Hotel and released their self-titled EP.
“The last three years have been a huge highlight in my life,” Walker said. “There’s nothing short of love for those three years.”
Walker plans to travel to Europe and continue working on his solo stuff, while the other members Phillip Hanlon (drums), Cal Glendenning (lead guitar) and Hayden Jarrett (bass) are expected to move into new musical projects.
Arcades and Lions perform their final show at the Cambridge Hotel on January 19.
ROCKING XMAS
DOZENS of Newcastle youngsters received their first dose of rock’n’roll last Saturday when the Cambridge Hotel hosted its Kids Xmas Party.
The main attraction of the free event was Byron Bay children’s rock band Bunny Racket. While listening to The Wiggles can be the bane of any parent’s existence, Bunny Racket seriously rocked in their rabbit ears.
Founded by Andy Walker, their album Bunny Rumble, features The Doors’ legendary guitarist Robby Krieger, while members of Grinspoon, The Vines and Skunkhour have performed in their rotating live line-up.
Saturday’s Cambridge show featured Vines drummer Hamish Rosser.
SUMMER BOURNE
CENTRAL Coast indie-folk band Winterbourne will be spending quite a bit of time in the Hunter next week.
Firstly James Draper, Jordan Brady and Joshua Rea will swing their golf clubs in the Jack Newton Celebrity Classic at Pokolbin’s Crowne Plaza on Monday and Tuesday, before they headline the Parlorfest mini-festival at the Cambridge Hotel on December 21.
The line-up also features Atlas Young, Billy Otto, Daniel March and Lawson Hull.
