There are so many rumours as to if John, Dick or Bob will be at the Francis Dunnery convention this Saturday at The Union Chapel, Islington. Tickets can be bought at the door and Silhobbit.com reckon there is a good chance that something special might happen, although the band remain tight lipped and the band's official site www.itbites.com refuse to comment but also refuse to deny in two telephone calls made by Charlie O'Mara to two separate people who work for the band's website.

Silhobbit.com will be at the event with a camera and so you'll be the first to read about it if the rumours are true. Remember, Silhobbit.com have been correct about many things in the past and we use sneaky tactics to bring you the news.

Looking to the future?

Drummer Steve Hughes was delighted to win nearly £250,000 on the national lottery. He chose five correct numbers at the start of August. Big Big Train are one of the best bands that Silhobbit.com have followed for years, we can't praise them enough. The bands website is www.bigbigtrain.com

Steve, please contact Silhobbit.com urgently because we've lost your phone number and it would be lovely to catch up.

The Urbane are touring as support act for Kings X and Silhobbit can reveal that Bob Dalton is playing drums! Their single 'Time After Time' is released on the 9th September.

Tour dates:
07.09.2003 De Boerderij - Zoetermeer, NL
09.09.2003 Effenaar - Eindhoven, NL
10.09.2003 ColumbiaFRITZ - Berlin, D
11.09.2003 Zeche Carl - Esse, D
12.09.2003 Schlachthof - Hamburg, D
13.09.2003 Substage - Karlsruhe, D
14.09.2003 Backstage - München, D
16.09.2003 Colos-Saal - Aschaffenburg, D
17.09.2003 Z 7 - Pratteln, CH

Yeah, folks, it's that time of year again. The staff here will be off on their Summer Hols for the next couple of weeks, but any exciting news can still be sent to news@silhobbit.com or even sms'd to the number above.

When we get back, we hope to have a full report on the recent Whitchurch Festival, and an exclusive Arm Band download for you to sample their wonderful wares!

Yes, we here at Silhobbit.com, you're number one stop for Prog News, can finally announce to the waiting world that the 'mysterious' drummer in the all-new Prog Hyper-Group, currently going under the pseudonym of The Arm Band, is none other than ex-Porcupine Tree man Chris Maitland. He completes the lineup which also features John Mitchell (The Urbane, Arena) on  guitar and vocals, Pete Trewavas (Marillion) on bass and John Beck (It Bites) on keys. The band are currently recording some kick arse progressive rock.

... has updated his special WWE Wrestling column especially for you Silhobbit readers. You can read his new column here right now!

Yet again we have been first with the news. We told you all about John Mitchell's collaboration with It Bites' John Beck, at this years Whitchurch Festival ONE WHOLE DAY before the 'official' ItBites.com site did.

Check out details of the festival here.

Mitchell: 'Our music will grab you by the throat'

These guys are going to be the best band in the world with a breathtaking lineup! John Beck is the keyboarder, Pete Trewavas is the bassist, talented John Mitchell plays sings/guitar and the drummer is top secret at the moment! They've demoded an album and are currently recording the drums with one of the best drummers in the world who will be making a welcome return to music - as soon as we get the nod we shall reveal the mystery drummer who will complete the band that we've heard and we like!

Remember where you read it first about this band !

Wispy Proggers Mostly Autumn have another DVD out 'The Next Chapter'

Featuring tracks filmed at The Mean Fiddler, Borrowdale in  Cumbria, Trenton, New Jersey,Canterbury Fayre and others, it also features the writing sessions from their 'Passengers' album.

www.mostly-autumn.com

Lazy Coastproggers IQ have started to release archive live CD's taken from various points in the bands history. The first in the series is taken from their IQ20 gig at theColos-Saal in Aschaffenburg, Germany, on 16th February 2002

Price:
£15.00 for orders in the UK
£16.00 for Europe £17.50 for the rest of the world.

More Coastprogging news. Big Big Train are close to releasing their latest album, Gathering Speed. This album see's tha lads first stab at a proper concept album, the songs being based around the death of a fighter pilot in 1940, and the emotional and psychological repurcussions on his friends and family. 

Early (very early) demos of tracks can be found on their website www.bigbigtrain.com 

Clive and Nick hope to be doing some unplugged concerts together as a duo in September 2003 in South America and in Europe. More details will follow as soon as the shows are finally confirmed.

Sunny Delight addicts, The Urbane, have announced that they will be supporting the legendary Texan rockers KINGS X on their European tour in September.

The final line up for the Progeny two-day festival, to be held at the Mean Fiddler in November is 

Saturday 15th November 
IQ, The Carl Palmer band, Pallas, In Cahoots, Richard Sinclair, Magenta 

Sunday 16th November 
Pendragon, The Enid, Mostly Autumn, Arena (Unplugged), Kevin Ayres 

Mick Kahn plays bass on How To Be Invisible, a track on Kates forthcoming album, tentatively titled Sunset. The album, which has been 4 years in the making, is due out early next year.

John giving it large

The Arena, The Urbane and The Arm Band's guitarist John Mitchell now has his own official website at www.john-mitchell.co.uk (not to be confused with www.johnmitchell.co.uk) 

Silhobbit's most downloaded mp3 of all time, John's acoustic version of Peter Gabriels 'Red Rain' is now available from the website, along with some other things, including a short video if his new project 'The Arm Band'

We also have an exclusive review of John's infamous 30th Birthday Bash. To read our report, click here

Finally, the new and updated version of their Official Website should be up and running as you read this, finally including the ability to order the bands new live DVD and CD's. Check out www.itbites.com

XM Live CD

Porcupine Tree and Burning Shed have opened an online shop at www.burningshed.com/ptshop.asp . Many items, including the rare yellow vinyl edition of Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape, sold out in the first 24 hours of business!

The band have also launched their own label. The first release on Transmission will be the new live XM CD, recorded on 12th November 2002 at XM Satellite Radio, Washington DC. This will be available from the store from July 8th, and it is hoped that the double CD version of Signify will be out then too.

Good News - John Wettons performance on XM radio is now available on CD and DVD from his website. The CD/DVD features material not previously broadcast on XM. 

Bad News - The 2004 John Wetton Convention has been cancelled due to the wishes of John himself. 

Tri-county proggers Jump have been hard at work demoting tracks for their forthcoming album. They've already played "Jimmy Dies", "Free At Last" and "Soul Proprieter" live, and hope to play "People of the West" and "The Curtain Call" on their soon to be announced Autumn tour.

They also have "Home Songs" out on Cyclops Record. Tracks are: 

Home Song
All Hail
The Better Part of Valour
Never Too Far
My Little Eye
Spin The Silver
Let Alone My Mother Down
The Witness
Fresh Young Thing
Different Story Now

Thieves Kitchen have announced their first gig of the year. The band will be playing at the Spirit of '66, Verviers, Belgium on 20th December. Things are going to plan on their new album too, with a window or releaseness of mid/late August looking achievable. They've also given the tracks proper titles now, as they say on their site "The epic 24 minuter has been christened 'Chovihani Rise'. The two short ones (both under six minutes!) are the breakneck 'The Picture Slave' and 'Cardinal Red'. The similarly short but acoustic 'ballad' remains known as 'Confront' - for now, at least. As for the two 'medium' (~13 minute) length tracks - these are the cool, jazzy 'De Profundis' and the rock-out of 'Surface Tension'."

The limited 2 CD edition of Pineapple Thieves 'Variations on a Dream' is now for sale from their website, or from the Cyclops site.

Landmarq have cancelled their 20th July show at Mr Siths in Bournemouth due to a scheduled conflict. However, they have added 3 more dates to their crowded European tour.

October 9th - Club Riga, Westcliff-on-Sea, UK 
November 1st - Progfever 3 Festival, De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands 
November 2nd - The Netherlands (tbc) 

Welsh Wizards Magenta are currently laying down the vocal parts to tracks on their second album '7' - a concept album based on the seven deadly sins. They have also been working out set-lists for their forthcoming tour. We wait with baited breath, whatever that means!

And thanks for the opportunity to print a decent picture of vocalist Christina

More updates to their website have taken place, and it's now available in a full range of European dialects. Nick is currently beavering away and working on some tracks for the new album, which by all accounts, will be a departure from the trade marked sound of the last four albums. 

Anxious It Bites fans are getting cold-feet as there has been little news regarding the dvd and cd plus reformation news. Silhobbit.com can exclusively shine some light on the matter.

The website has remained unchanged due to problems with a new-site to replace the old one. The new-site did not function correctly for Mac users, then the person who hosts the site ended up in hospital and has been there all week! The current site should have some news updates put on any day now.

Bob told Silhobbit.com "I'm away now until the end of the month drumming in Germany, so we will wait until I get back before engaging in the new site where the dvd and cd can be bought. I didn't want to have to deal with problems from Germany so it is the safest option" he stated.

A new prog rock Supergroup is emerging like a beautiful butterfly to replace tired and ageing Transatlantic!

The Arm Band is made up of members from Marillion, It Bites, The Enid, Arena, and Genesis. Apparently they've been recording recently and have an album in the pipeline! 

Thanks to Boris for getting us this picture that the band wanted kept out of public eyes!

The boys know it'll piss down on BBQ day

Those wacky young Bucks Boys have decides to hold a 'special Marillion BBQ' on 20th July. The band have hired a small pub in Oxford for the outdoor event of the year.

Tickets are rarer than a hit single, to they have decided to randomly pick 40 people (each capable of bringing a friend). To stand a chance of being included in this wild bunch, send an email to bbq@marillion.com before 27th June, stating your full name, postal address, country of residence, phone number, email address and the name of your guest.

"Ex Grey Lady Down members Louis David and Martin Wilson have begun a brand new studio project. The Album (yet un-named) will be hopefully released early to mid 2004. Louis and Martin have one track written and recorded (Yet un-named), and a second entitled "Simons Town" well underway.

Other musicians will include Andrew Rae the original drummer with Shadowland/GLD, Andrew was a vital part of the early GLD material such as The Fugitive, and the Cold Stage. Along with Andrew we are expecting Paul (Sam) Smith to join on Guitar. Louis and Martin will also be inviting other guest musicians to join the project. No live shows are planned, until the album is released. For futher information Email Martian106@hotmail.com".

Heavy prog rock stuperstart A.C.T played Sweden Rock last Saturday and by most accounts blew the rest. 
The 40 minute set list was as follows: 

Supposed Tour 
Mr. Landlord 
Welcome 
Waltz with Mother Nature 
Manipulator 
Take it Easy 
The Wandering 

Work is progressing Camel's forthcoming DVD Curriculum Vitae and they will be taking pre-orders as soon as a release date is set. The dvd will feature 'excerpts from old performances, new performances, footage rarely seen (if ever) and an almost brutally honest account of the band's history'. It will also contain Peter Bardens last interview. There is also bonus footage of Andy Latimer, Doug Ferguson and Andy Ward chatting about old times. Also coming soon will be Pressure Points on DVD. However, due to licensing laws, the DVD willn't feature any bonus material.

Delerium have had to delay the release of the new double CD version of The Sky Moves Sideways due to a legal matter with one of the samples. This means that they have bought the release date of the Signify 2CD issue forward to July. This will be a remastered version of the album and an extra CD containing the Insignificance demos

Colin Porcupine recently popped in to out offices and lent his support to Big Brother 4 contestant Steph. 'I love the Brummie twang in her voice' the wise head sed. He also thanked Silhobbit.com for being the first to notice the blossoming love fest between the Brummie minx and Cameron "Shetland Pony" McCameron (See earlier news story)

Steph - She hot says Colin

The Henry Fool track Pills In The Afternoon features on a new Polish compilation album, 'Piotr Kosinski: Muzyczne Pejzaze'. Released on Warner Strategic Marketing (catalogue number, 50466-1502-2), the album also features contributions from Steve Hackett, Dream Theater and Peter Hammill.

Fudge Pendragon rates Federico's chances of surviving this weeks evictions highly. 'I must say' he said ' that I do totally agree with the camp Scottish waiters views on women and drum fills'

Dave and Debbie Bainbridge from Iona have released a new compilation album 'Songs for Luca', the proceeds of which will go towards helping their son Luca overcome autism. The track listing is:

The Dutch band have a few dates coming up, but their cocky webmasterbater has disabled copying from their site, so we can't tell you.

The Beard's 7th studio album, entitled Feel Euphoria, will be released June 30, 2003 in Europe and worldwide, July 8 in the U.S. of A.

Silhobbit's congratulations go out to the Coastproggers, who are expecting a new album to be delivered in September 

Keyboard player John Beck met up with his old friends Dick Nolan and Bob Dalton at an evening to raise money for the 'John Beck Foundation' - the charity that raises money to campaign for better conditions for the elderly.

John Beck told Silhobbit.com "Thanks to a lot of generous friends, relatives and music industry people, we have raised £3000 which will all go on local improvements to elderly services". Silhobbit.com donated £150 on behalf of our readers. David Ling from Classic Rock magazine was also delighted to be involved with this worthy cause.

Click for larger image

The Reading Badasses The Urbane will support Kings X on the next tour.

The Smackdown WWE wrestlers arrived in England and Silhobbit.com were at the Nottingham show last Saturday. We were pleased to catch up with Pallas's Alan Reed who had bought tickets to see the main event - the 'World Tag-team-Heavyweight Championship' which saw Diesel partner Big Poppa Pump v Triple H and Jericho in an incredible match.

Nick 'Birdman' Barratt celebrated his latest birthday with a big celebrity bash at his mansion in Surrey last weekend.

Steven Wilson's little brother Roger is rooting for Jon to win on Big Brother 4. He told Silhobbit.com "On eviction night, each Friday, Jon always makes comments as the announcer builds up to the eviction!" he laughed.

Roger Wilson's big brother Steven was "delighted" that Anouska was evicted in the first week.

The IQ / Jadis keyboardist was appalled to find out that salami sold in English supermarkets contained horse-meat. Martin was particularly distressed because he lives near the New Forest where there are wild horses.

Greg Spawton, from Coastproggers Big Big Train txt'd us to say that he fancies lucious Nush (right) to win this years competition. "I love her stance on nuclear weapons, and that yoga stuff she does in the mornings really wakes me up" he said.

So who do you think will win? Who do you hate? Who gives you wood? Txt us on the number above, or email us at news@silhobbit.com and we'll let the world know your thoughts

Grizzled Scottish Progger Hew Mongomery, from ancient proggers Abel Ganz txted us on our exclusive Big Brother text number (above) to say that he was shocked and stunned to hear Big Brother 4 contestant Cameron (left) singing parts of their classic hit 'The Dead Zone' to dishy Steph whilst they were on their pedalo task on Monday evening. 

The wait is over for the “live in Tokyo” dvd and “live in Montreux” cd.

Both products are now available from www.itbites.com

Fish has been recently enjoying success on the late-night cable channel ‘Men and Motors’ offering sex tips and light-hearted comments regarding relationships.

The Porcupine Tree frontman doesn’t like tea or coffee, Silhobbit can exclusively reveal. He does have a Fillipino woman who comes in once a week to do his washing though.