True to our word we have totally kept the news page up-to-date ;-) Okay so we haven't. Very briefly we've played 5 gigs; with The Rakkiteers (Ward Green, Barnsley - Help The Heroes), with The Spunksters (York), Munk's Tribute Show with Splodgenessabounds, Seventh Son and Total Confusion (Barnsley Trades), again Rakkiteers, The Sabres, Spunksters & Johnny H Band (Gawber Road WMC- a Macmillian Nurses Charity Event) and with The Lurkers (Rotherham). For photos, youtube and comments from all these gigs please check out our FACEBOOK .

Other brief news - we are bringing out a brand new T-Shirt and a Single to accompany it - more news on this when it happens. Other than that keep checking the gig page and leave us comments on here and facebook. We still use Myspace too if you wish to leave anything on there! cheers for now ! Tek Care.

Welcome To The New Year, plus a Review of 2009

New Year’s Resolutions and all that, we are trying to keep the news page up-to-date. So here goes Dear friends, please sit comfortably and enjoy the ride!

On Friday the 16th of January 2009, we were a late addition to the bill of Spit and Sawdust (SAS) 3 Day Punk Festival Gig at The Thatched House, Stockport. A couple of bands pulled out at the last minute, we played a blinder, it took a couple of songs to warm into perfect mode, but we got there - see review here - to confirm. I seem to remember we started with the very rarely played these days - "Ripper’s Lament." Also on the bill Friday:- Wild Trash, Most Likely To Fail, 3 Black Dwarfs & Redneck Zombies.

Friday the 30th of January - The Primrose, Leeds. Not well attended, we finished up Headlining and playing to a handful of youths throwing themselves around the room. Plus points, Polish people like us and we met The King Crows. Also on the bill :- The Listeners and Geoff Watson.

Sunday the 15th February, we played The Ship, Royston, Barnsley. The Ship closing down do (there was no, no smoking ban today - brought back good memories, smelly clothes and a full house). The event was called A BAND ON SHIP (get it?!), an afternoon and evening of bands, in reality it’s The Rippers and Doric Arch, sound wasn't great but "Sunshine" won ’em over. We were paid in beer and this was another good gig to get us tight for The Vibrator’s (ooh arr missus!!) Gig.

Friday the 27th of February, Munky's Annual Tribute Night, for anyone who doesn't know David 'Munky' Youel was the Ripper's original Lead Guitarist who sadly died in 2005 (see history page for more details) and every year the Rippers put on a Night to celebrate his life and contribution to the band. Tonight was very, very well attended and Mutt's Nuts kicked off the evening. They played a set of punk/rock covers and were as tight and good as I have ever seen them. Next up the Ripper's with a 45 minute set of the best stuff from 1978 to the present day, the old and new faces were equally impressed. The Vibrators (featuring Nigel Bennet of The Members) played a strong set of classics and upped-their performance to match the Rippers! Brilliant night, bring on Splodge for 2010.

Sunday the 8th of March, Red Nose Day at Voudou (old Silvers/Tut&Shive), Barnsley. The people who organise M-Fest & Burn Down The Disco put this gig together and it was nice for us to play to a totally different audience. "Kill-A-Clown" is a firm favourite tonight, good sound, we follow the Stray Targets and our good friends Cuba follow us. Bands play upstairs and down - we catch Straight Razor Angels on the ground floor.

On Monday the 16th we went into the HD1 Recording Studios in Huddersfield, we had booked a month or so earlier but the snow had caused us to cancel thus scuppering all our plans to release the new single at Munk's Tribute Night. We decided to record two brand new songs to keep us and our fans interested, live favourite "Kill-A-Clown", Freddy's musings on the true comical value of clowns and "Five-0", a little ditty about Barnsley Football Club's Infamous Hooligan Crew. The night was a long one, including lashing of Pizza and Caffeine, 95 percent of the instrumental recording was done by 1am. We returned Tuesday the 17th to complete the backing and main Vocals and mixing, by 1-30am we drove back to the South with 2 brand new recordings. We added an oldish recording of the never released "49 Bus (Pistol-whip A Frenchman)" and the Single came out 19/06/09, with a t-shirt to support it. (see buy stuff for details)

1st April 2009 - Phoenix Radio Interview - Fred & 'Rots. A Podcast of the interview will be available at some point. Honest!

It's safe to say the Rippers have never made an impression in Sheffield, so in another effort to break the steel city, we played the Redhouse on Monday the 6th of April. A night of very young bands and "us" playing in a place the size of a front room. The members of each band filled the front of stage area and we played an enjoyable, well received, tight set. A very European feel to the proceedings tonight with Thought Explode (Chester), Jonas First Date (Italy) and The Terrors (Scotland). A good night for a Monday!!!

9th of May and it was Rother Punk Fest 2009 at the Dicken's Bar, Rotherham. Not wanting to miss this gig Tino from The Negatives was drafted in on Drums to cover Brainy's holiday. To be honest it worked very nicely, a different sounding Rippers but very, very capable. We did 45 minutes of Ripper classics plus a couple of covers and Tony Beesley who wrote the "Our Generation" book said we were the best band of the day. Also on the bill : Riot Squad, Leather Zoo, Graveyard Johnny’s, The Hyenas, Cock 55, The Arguments and By Default.

On Friday the 22nd of May we made our first appearance at the Mill, Mansfield, supporting old pals - Peter and the Test Tube Babies. A great venue this, nice size, great sound on stage and we were well received, Del (Test-Tubes Guitarist) even joined us on stage for backing vocals on Pop Idol. Brilliant gig and nice when the headline band actually hang around with support bands. Also on the bill:- Apocalypse Babies and Rebel City Radio.

30 May 2009, NOZfest - Thatched House, Stockport. Can’t remember too much about this gig other than coming back off my holidays earlier in the day and sweating out a week’s worth of booze and chips on stage and Freddy trying every mic on stage ’til he found one he liked. I think Wonk Unit was on before us and One Man Stand played a blinding gig after us. But happy birthday Noz and thank your lass for them lovely Chilli Burgers we had afterwards - mega - for review of the gig click here!

Saturday the 13th June, we set off for the Polish Club, Bradford for a Punx Alive N Kicking Promotions gig (Leon Punkined), we arrived late and found out we were headlining. Charred Hearts travelled up from Swindon and played a decent set! Only 2 mics, so Pat didn’t get one tonight, we ended up playing over an hour, every song and cover we know, including "Tomorrow’s Girl", crowd loved it, so did we. God it was hot and the rider included Magner’s - nice!

Thursday 18th of June and we’re on a mini Barnsley tour, tonight the Pulse Bar for a BOMnight. Strong Punk line up with Phil Murray and the Boys from Bury (from Rotherham strangely enough) and the much rated Most Likely To Fail (Barnsley/Doncaster). Decent audience for a Thursday, Ripper’s performance marred by a drunken twit grabbing and falling all over the mic and monitors. Tengiz Tedoradze, the Barnsley based Cage Fighter eventually carried him out by his ear. Andy Blower played his debut gig for the Rippers covering for Big Allen (Lead Guitar).

Friday the 19th of June and we were back at the Trades supporting the magnificent 999 for the second leg of the mini Barnsley Tour. Blower on Lead Guitar again, Carrots was late for sound-check so Arturo Bassick (Lurkers/999) filled in on 49 Bus. The Ripper’s were cock-on and the previous night’s extra practice definitely helped.

On Saturday August the 8th, The Rippers were offered a last minute slot at Rebellion Festival, Blackpool 2009. But unfortunately could not do the gig, due to other commitments. The lads hope they get another offer next year.

Back from the Summer break and a band pull out at the Trades, so we took the gig on Friday the 21st of August. We invited old pals One Man Stand over from Manchester to open the show which they did very well and you can see why these guys are big in Japan. It was a decent gig and kept us ticking over to support Chelsea the following week. Don't mention the drum-stool.

On Thursday we received a telephone call to tell us that Chelsea had pulled the gig, somebody had Swine Flu but they had managed to get Vice Squad instead, well done Kev! So on Friday the 28th of August we returned to the Mill, Blower stood in again on Lead Guitar and we opened the evening and played to a depleted audience due to the uncertainty of who was on I guess. But a gig’s a gig and we played well enough to get us another invite back and a rise up the bill. Brainy said Beki Bondage had got fat knees, I must admit I wasn’t looking at her knees, also on the bill:- The Black Marias.

Saturday the 5th of September and The Members ("Sound of the Suburbs") headlined at the Strafford Arms, Wakefield. Punkadelic opened proceedings, a decent 3 piece cover band playing rarely heard covers including stuff by The Professionals, Johnny Thunders and The Stooges. We were on second and a strange atmosphere around the band members only helped to stir up one hell of a performance, the audience were blown away, including the Members. The Members played a very laid back Reggae styled set which was musically brilliant but left a lot of the crowd baffled. This was sadly the last gig at this venue which has now closed.

Saturday the 26th of September and the LONDON gig was finally here. The venue is 12 Bar Club, Denmark St. and we played with Open Sore ("Vertigo") Long Tall Shorty and The Bleach Boys, all bands from 1978. We all met at Wetherspoons at 9 sharp for a full English and Beer (well 1 beer, 4 cups of tea), then over to Meadowhall to catch the Mega Bus. We met Dave Sheff there and 4 hours later we were in the Big Smoke. We got ripped off by a taxi driver, dumped our pyjamas at digs, set off across town, hit the first pub we saw (no head on lager), lost each other, found each other (thank god for mobiles), tubes weren't running, found out buses were more expensive than taxis, got taxi - while listening to football results, found venue - secured gear, went for another drink, found a Wetherspoons, ate/watched football, moved to another bar, heard music drifting up Denmark Street, went to watch a Spanish AC/DC cover band, went to 12 Bar Club, met Munky’s family and unexpected friends from Barnsley. We sound checked, Blower was on cover duty again, we opened the show, only 3 Rippers on the stage, Freddy and Pat on the floor, the audience loved it, we were knackered, it had been along day, we enjoyed the other bands. We ran out of money, drank coca-cola (soft drinks were free for the bands), got back to the hotel (eventually), woke at some ungodly hour, ate a continental breakfast, caught the bus, all contract swine flu, caught train back to Barnsley, went home. Bloody Brilliant!!!!!!! When can we do it again!!!!!!! Cheers Wattie Gonad for the photos!

A strange one this, a return to the Jockey, Wakefield on the 2nd of October supporting touring York band Comply or Die. When we got there no one knew what was happening with the P.A. (In-House one looks older than Carrots) so the Rippers started searching for mics and messing with leads, eventually we got some volume out of the mic (one mic tonight, no mic stand). Anyway Comply or Die decided they wanted to support, so we let them, they plugged in and started to play, the vocals were not coming through at all, the band played another song and then stopped, totally defeated. It was looking desperate for our heroes but after a short discussion between the five (Big Al is back on Lead) the show was going on. We moved all the amps back as far as they would go, turn down the amps accordingly, Brainy played with his drumsticks the wrong way round and we kicked off with "Tomorrow’s Girls" and never looked back, the audience were up dancing straight away and remained very happy.

Friday the 3rd of October, 2nd gig in 2 days and was the revised Gig with Chelsea and we travelled to the Mill at Mansfield with Andy Blower on lead again. 4 bands on the bill and we were second from the top, no bass amp (guy from Verbal Warning was the only guy to bring one and he was off), so Carrots plays through the P.A. not the best but beggars can’t be chooses. Not the Rippers at their best but we sold t-shirts and albums so we’d definitely done something right. We found out later the guitar player with Chelsea played and appeared on Top Of The Pops on "We're The Kid’s In America" by Kim Wilde and the bass player has played in the Buzzcocks. Also on the bill:- Verbal Warning and Apocalypse Babies.

Friday the 16th of October and it was up to The Venue at Stockbridge and the Venue can only be described as a very smart Arts Centre. Big Al was now back in the fold to support The Pistols, a London based Sex Pistols Tribute Band, we were shown to our dressing room (yes - dressing room!), we sound checked and it was a massive stage and P.A. System, brilliant on-stage sound. Once we’d sound checked we retired to our "dressing room" and received a wheeled trolley of Curry, Rice and bottled beers, this is the life!! The Rippers were finally home, we played a cracking 45 minute set, were well received and "retire to our dressing room", we also got paid!!!, bloody hell can we come back please! The Pistols are decent including a spitting Sid Vicious, it wasn't the biggest crowd but a happy one.

Saturday the 17th of October and we were supporting Barmy Surplus at the Longbow, Darfield, Barnsley. It was Dearne Valley Scooter Club’s 10th Anniversary and the place was packed out with Scooter boys and girls. They’d been riding out in the day time and were now well oiled for some lively underground music. We were made really welcome and had a great gig, other than Carrots smacking Freddy on the side of the head with his bass, ouch, and Freddy snapping a mic-stand in two, we play on and laugh about it later. "Stick Pop Idol Up Your Arse" t-shirts sold like hot cakes, as did the "No Nonsense Stance" album and now we had no "Kill-A-Clown" singles left. Barmy Surplus were brilliant with their mixture of Ska and Punk covers, plus some of their own stuff. Best of all - the gig was FREE.

Saturday the 21st of November and we minibused our way up to Birdwell to support some more old friends, the mighty UK SUBS. We arrived early caught some of the Subs sound check, it's always nice to see the pro’s at work. Our turn and we decide to sound check with the Subs classic single "C.I.D.", Charlie and the boys liked it. Not the biggest audience, the weather’s terrible but that wasn't the point, The UK SUBS are in town. We played a 45 minute set, minus "C.I.D." of course and other than a few technical problems at the start it was as good a performance as any this year, the Subs were very complimentary about us and say we are amongst the best support bands they’ve had this tour! The Subs were awesome, the best we’ve all seen them, the young drummer was attacking his drums like they owed him money, they were the best band we’ve played with this year.

Friday the 11th of December was the last gig of the year and we were at The Crimea, Castleford with SCAM 69, the Spunkster’s Tribute Act to Sham 69. After some confusion we ended up headlining, Scam played a 35 minute set of Sham songs and it was good stuff. We played a good set which was recorded, Freddy was down on the floor due to stage size and we had a few drunks joining him on the mic, but he won them over and ended up getting a drink off one. Mal from Scam 69/The Spunksters joined us on Main vocals for "Pop Idol" and the place went crackers, The Spunksters have been doing the song in their set for quite a while and everyone in the pub knew the song. We played "Is Vic There?" which worked well. Great gig and a brilliant end to the year.

12th of December we were invited to Play The "Our Generation Christmas Party" at Rotherham Dicken’s Bar with the Anti-Nowhere League. But Unfortunately, Animal and the boys pulled the gig, this was a massive disappointment to all at Rippers HQ. But the gig is to be re-scheduled next year. So fingers crossed we’ll be on the bill.

On 14th of December we did a live recording at Nafro Studios in Barnsley. The results were good, we even recorded "Warhead" by the Subs, it was a good experiment and I think we’ll be recording again soon.

So 22 gigs later, a brand new single and some strange comings and goings - the lads are fighting fit and raring to go for 2010! Stay tuned and keep supporting us ! WE NEED YOU and couldn’t do it without YOU, YOU know who YOU are! Thanks-A-Million!!!!!