We have the following dates for Baz Warne in October (not November, as previously stated):

BBJ band: 05/10/03 South Shields -- The Coast
Solo: 06/10/03 Sheffield -- The Pheasant (Barnsley Road)
Solo: 07/10/03 Nottingham -- The Golden Fleece
Solo: 08/10/03 Coventry -- The Jailhouse
Solo: 09/10/03 Doncaster -- The Leopard
Solo: 12/10/03 Earlsdon, Coventry -- The Earlsdon Cottage (4pm)
Solo: 16/10/03 Corbridge -- The Angel of Corbridge
Solo: 17/10/03 Berwick upon Tweed -- Barrels
Solo: 18/10/03 Sunderland -- Smugglers
Solo: 22/10/03 Jesmond vale, Newcastle upon Tyne -- The Bluebell
Solo: 24/10/03 Blyth Royal -- Tavern
Solo: 26/10/03 Hart village -- The White Hart
Solo: 29/10/03 Whitley bay -- The Monkseaton Arms

For more information, go to the official Baz Warne web site

We have just received the following from Chris Lammiman, on behalf of Paul's Faith Band:

The Wrong Connection Tour Urgent Update
The rest of the tour, starting with the Wigan gig tonight is cancelled. That is, if you were going to the Wigan Tavern, Southampton Joiners or the London Garage, DON'T. The Faith Band will not be there.

The band will make a statement for the fans on the web site (www.thefaithband.com) after the weekend. Chris Lammiman will make a statement away from the web site at around the same time. If you would like a copy of this statement, please email direct on m01z1w00@cwcom.net, and use the subject line "Statement". If you know of anyone going to these gigs, if you could let them know the contents of this email, we would graciously appreciate it.

My apologies that I cannot be more forthcoming at this stage.
Chris Lammiman

The avid collectors amongst our readers may be interested in Lot 196 in Cooper Owens' September 25th "Rock Legends" auction. This is a Steve Beaumont cartoon, in ink on board, featuring the band and a stripper. It's titled "The Stranglers have always loved women and their movements, and will continue to do so".

More information can be found at the Cooper Owen site.

The Stranglers are now confirmed for Cabot Hall, Canary Wharf, London on Friday October 3rd. This will be a semi-acoustic evening, similar to last year's Laid Black show at Shepherd's Bush.

More information can be found here.

Today, we added a review of the Stranglers' appearance at the Derby Rock and Blues festival. This can be found on the " Gig Reviews" page of the "Reference Articles" section. The review and accompanying photographs are by Baggy.

The 3 Men and Black gig advertised (locally and on the Lisburn web site) for 9th August is not going ahead.

As a clarification, please note that it is our policy to only post gig information once we have been notified, by Stranglers' management, of final confirmation. In this case, details were never posted on the Rat's Lair, in line with this policy.

The Stranglers' gig in Lisburn on August 16th is definitely ON.

The Faith Band (featuring Paul Roberts) will be touring in September 2003. The "Wrong Connection" Tour will be as follows:

9th September: Nottingham -- Junktion 7
11th September: Sheffield -- Casbah
12th September: Liverpool -- Cavern Club
13th September: Wigan -- Tavern (Music Collective)
15th September: Southampton -- Joiners
16th September: London -- Garage

Please note: the Swansea gig on September 10th has been cancelled, due to problems with the venue.

The main support at all these gigs will be Caroline Alexander. In London, additional support will be Renton. Local additional supports are to be confirmed.

More information, and online ticket ordering, can be found at the new Faith Band site: www.thefaithband.com

Baz Warne will be playing an acoustic set at the AIR2003 music festival in York on 27th July.

More information on the festival can be found at: www.yaf.org.uk.

More Baz dates can be found at: www.bazwarne.com

From 7-13th July, BBC 6 Music ( www.bbc.co.uk/6music)will be telling the musical story of Surrey, across several of its daily shows. As part of this event, JJ will apparently be appearing on "Teatime with Andrew Collins" on Monday. "Mid Morning with Gideon Coe" is set to air exerpts from this weekend's Guilfest, while the band are also likely to pop up on the Lunchtime show.

All the above information from BBC 6 Music.

We have just been informed that the Stranglers are confirmed for the "Pukemarock" festival in Puurs, Belgium on 20th September.

More information as we get it. The festival site is here.

We have just added a review of the recent "VROEM 2003" appearance in our "Gig Reviews" section. This report is by Eric Vonk, with accompanying photos by Maaike Uijthoven.

The new Ace (ex Skunk Anansie) album "Still Hungry" (Ace sounds/Snapper Music, Catalogue Number SASCD001P) will feature JJ. The album will be released in the UK on June 30th. Other contributors are Lemmy (Motorhead), Jason Perry (A), Skye (Morcheeba), Saffron (Republica), Benji (Skindred), Ben Edwards (Miocene), Yap (One Minute Silence) and Cliff Jones (Gay Dad).

More information can be found at: www.acesounds.com.

In 2001, EMI released a box set of CD singles, from "Grip" to "Duchess". The second volume, "The UA Singles '79-82'" (EMI, catalogue number 551 6722) has now been released in the UK. As with volume 1, this set comes in a flip-top box and each CD comes in a "pouchette" which replicates the original single sleeve. Similarly, each CD is printed with a replica of the original single-label. A bonus is the two foreign-language singles that accompany this release.

The contents of this package are as follows:

CD1: Nuclear Device/Yellowcake UF6
CD2: Don't Bring Harry/Wired/Crabs (live)/In the Shadows (live)
CD3: Bear Cage/Bear Cage (extended mix)/Shah Shah a Go Go/Shah Shah a Go Go (12" version)
CD4: Who Wants the World/The Meninblack (Instrumental)
CD5: Thrown Away/Top Secret
CD6: Just Like Nothing on Earth/Maninwhite
CD7: Let Me Introduce You to the Family/Vietnamerica
CD8: Golden Brown/Love 30
CD9: La Folie/La Folie (radio edit)/Waltzinblack
CD10: Strange Little Girl/Cruel Garden
CD11: Sverige/In the Shadows
CD12: N'Emmenes Pas Harry/(Livin' in a) Bear Cage

The BBC are currently running a competition to win copies of this box set. To enter, go to: www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/competitions.

A second competition to win the box set is being run by BBC, Stoke and Staffordshire. To enter, go to: www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/competitions/2003/05/116.shtml.

A third competition is being held on the www.vip-24.com site. (This mention does not represent an endorsement of the services provided on this commercial site.)

Management today confirmed two appearances by the band in Ireland, as follows:

August 15th: The Village -- Dublin: www.thevillagevenue.com

August 16th: Island Complex -- Lisburn (nr. Belfast)

The Liburn show is part of a music festival at various venues across the town.

As always, these appearance may be subject to changes beyond the control of the band, their management and agents. Please check with the venue or festival organisers prior to travelling.

More information as we get it.

The Stranglers are currently confirmed to play the Derby Rock and Blues Festival on July 26th.

As always, this appearance may be subject to changes beyond the control of the band, their management and agents. Please check with the festival organisers prior to travelling.

For more information, go to: www.rockandblues.uk.com

We have just received confirmation that the Stranglers will be playing the VROEM 2003 festival in Joure, Holland on Saturday, June 14th.

As always, this appearance may be subject to changes beyond the control of the band, their management and agents. Please check with the festival organisers prior to travelling.

More information can be found at the festival web site

"The Stranglers: Live in Glasgow 1981" is a new CD recording from the La Folie tour, recorded on 23rd November 1981. The official Stranglers merchandise site ( www.stranglers.co.uk) is offering this release for the introductory price of £9.99 (plus P+P), while stocks last.

For more information, and to purchase, click here.

Stranglers Management have asked us to post the following regarding this release:

"Re: Glasgow Apollo CD - IMPORTANT MESSAGE

It has come to our attention that due to a rogue version of this live show CD (Cat No. PILOT160) being retailed through Amazon.co.uk, we regret to say that it appears we have been unable to keep our promise of getting our official remastered product out first, as we were mislead as to the release date of this recording. However, it has been brought to our attention that the CD available through Amazon.co.uk is an INFERIOR PRODUCT flawed with poor artwork, missing tracks, a misleading tracklist and gross inconsistencies throughout and is, essentially, a bootleg.

WE WOULD LIKE TO DISASSOCIATE OURSELVES ENTIRELY WITH THAT RELEASE!

We would like to reassure you that our product (ONLY available via the Stranglers.co.uk online shop -- Cat No. ZEN1029) has been professionally compiled, packaged and mastered and is the official release of the live performance of this show as opposed to the rushed and wholly inaccurate alternative now available from Amazon.co.uk.

Our manufacturers have assured us we will be able to dispatch our release by May 2nd, but if you wish to cancel your original order placed with us, please contact us at: merchandise@stranglers.co.uk. However, please be advised that if you do order the CD in question from Amazon.co.uk you will be disappointed with the second-rate product over which we have had no control.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused but please be aware that no money will be debited from your accounts until we have stock and are ready to ship.

Thank you for your patience in this matter."

Management have just confirmed the Stranglers' appearance at this year's Guilfest, in Guildford. They are currently scheduled to appear on the main stage on Saturday July 5th. More information can be obtained at: www.guilfest.co.uk/2003/html/lineup.htm

As always, this appearance may be subject to changes beyond the control of the band, their management and agents. Please check with the festival organisers prior to travelling.

The Stranglers are now confirmed to play the "Big in Falkirk" national street arts festival on Saturday, May 3rd. More information can be obtained at: www.biginfalkirk.com.

As always, this appearance may be subject to changes beyond the control of the band, their management and agents. Please check with the festival organisers prior to travelling.

The following live dates for The Faith Band, coincide with the release of the third studio album, "The Pressure Sensitive" (see item below). This album will be available on tour, as well as the promotional compilation CD "Jam".

This tour features two versions of the band: the acoustic trio (Paul Roberts, Baz Warne and The Waterboys' Richard Naiff) and the electric five piece (Paul Roberts, Vinnie Lammi, Brad Waissman, Richard Naiff, Bob Elliot). More information, including full ticket details, can be found at: www.paul-roberts.co.uk

Please Note: the 18th May gig in Amble has now been cancelled. Two new dates (17th and 22nd May) have now been added.

JJ is apparently featured in the latest issue (No. 12) of the UK musician's magazine "Gear". This includes a front-cover slot and a three page interview.

Please note that the De Panne Festival (Belgium) in which the Stranglers were due to appear on June 27th has been cancelled, due to "unforeseen circumstances".

Baz Warne has been nominated by "Bunker Music Magazine" for "Best Solo Artist of the North East". The final result is based on votes by visitors to the magazines website at: www.thebunker-music.com. So, please visit the site and show your support for Baz.

As mentioned below (see Faith Band Dates), the third studio album from Paul Roberts' "Faith Band" will be "The Pressure Sensitive". Containing thirteen tracks, this album will be released on 7th April 2003.

Visit the official Paul Roberts site for further information. This site is now taking pre-orders for this release.

Management have just provided us with the following confirmed festival dates. As always, these are subject to changes beyond the control of the band, their management and agents, so please check with the festival organisers.