(Oct ’89 – ’93) – Richard Elliott (vocals), Mark Austin (rhythm guitar), Nathan “Argonaut” Lyons (lead guitar), Neil Physic (drums), and Leo Hamilton (bass)
The Bisley based bands live debuted was at The Cricketers, Westfield in October ’89. Lyons had been in The Sensory Assault before joining Big Wednesday; and notably fellow Big Wednesday member, Austin, drank a ‘carrier bag of beer’ and then passed out on stage at a Sensory Assault gig while the band played, resulting in an invitation from Lyons to join Big Wednesday. A long running relationship with Backlash started on 24 November ’89 at Longcross Church Hall, nr. Lyne, when Big Wednesday supported the band for the first of many times.
Bernie welcomed them back on 31 January, 15 February, 17 February – when they supported Backlash -, and 21 February ’90. The band were back in Bernie’s hostelry again, putting their best foot forward, eye to eye with The Cricks crowd, on 26 April ’90, along with The Staggerance. Backlash appeared as Brick Shithouse on the bill for the 17 May ’90 gig at The Cricketers, Westfield, but again with Big Wednesday in support. That same month, compere Dave Tad introduced five bands at Sunningdale Village Hall on 19 May ’90, from which the headliners International Resque did a runner, while the nights support in the form of Shaft, The Big Wednesday, Coelacanth, and Cesspit Rebels handled a subpar PA with aplomb. One night over Glastonbury weekend, 22-14 June ’90, The Ha Ha Men held a World Cup Special gig at the Cricketers, Westfield with Big Wednesday, sans bassist, in support. In August ’90 they released Chemistry, a three-track demo on which all tracks: Tear it Down, Chemistry, and The One Who Wants it the Most were all recorded without a bass player. They also embarked on a brief, three venue ‘tour’ supporting Backlash, taking in The George, Ash Vale on 1 August, The Compasses, Gomshall on 2 August, The Cricketers, Westfield on 9 August, and The Bun Shop, Surbiton on 16 August ’90.
After Yogs joined in September to fill the bass player void the band released a re-recorded/mixed version of the Chemistry demo, in October. The month Yogs joined also saw the band supporting Backlash again, along with Dick Normal, at The Grey Horse, Kingston on 11 September ’90. They were back at The Grey Horse on 30 October ’90, again with Backlash, but this time with the addition of Girls on Dextrose. The month after the re-release of Chemistry, November ’90, Big Wednesday were part of the MTV Satellite Jukebox, a 12-hour dance party staged in youth clubs all across Europe; conceived and organized by Chris Long for Youth Clubs UK (video tape exists somewhere) with Backlash and Strangeland in New Haw. On 15 and 30 November ’90 the band were back at The Cricketers’ Westfield but learnt that Bernard had canceled their two Christmas gigs at the pub in favor of “Christmas Dinners” for his punters. Jane Spencer, The Big Wednesday’s press officer, as she was titled across the Soundscene desk at the News & Mail offices, Then, to round out the year, Big Wednesday’s ‘Tear It Down’ was #1 in Soundscene’s Top Ten Local Songs 1990, as printed in ink on 3 January ’91.
Two nights running, the 16 and 17 January, they were with Backlash and The Staggerance at The Grey Horse. Kingston. The following month, on 15 February ’91, they opened for Brain Language at the West End Centre. Aldershot. They paired up with Backlash again at The George, Ash Vale on 20 March. Then, on 17 April ’91, The Big Wednesday was the first on stage at The Old Trout, Windsor, followed by The Ha Ha Men and Something Religious. Then, two months later, in June ’91, the band competed in The Buzz Club‘s Midsummer Madness. Four heats were held on the 12 to 15 June ’91, at the West End Centre to qualify for the final on 22 June. Hung Inverted, Big Wednesday, My Blue Heaven, Not Just a Pretty Face, and Something Religious competed in the first heat on 12 June, with the current editor of Music Week, Mark Sutherland, piling on the praise for Big Wednesday in a review of the first night. Who won has been lost to the annals of time. In November they appeared on the Parafornia ’91 compilation and released their own cassette EP titled Mature, featured Reassurance, Take, I See the Light, and Bring Me Down. Two month’s later, on 3 August ’91, the band played The Cube night at Ragamuffins, Camberley, of which The Gossville Arsonist was none to complimentary. Then, at some point Wayne Collyer took over on drums. The 8 September ’91 found them and Backlash at The Venue, Hindhead. On 22 November ’91, the night before The Cranberries supported Top at The Old Trout, Windsor; Big Wednesday walked back onto that venues stage, after The Rileys, as openers for Hate Syndicate. After The Staggerance folded in November ’91, Mark E Brenchley formed Woking four-piece Space Heroes in Turmoil with Lyons, playing in this project as well as Big Wednesday for a while, along with Staggerance roadies Morris and Zara ?, the sister of Mr Ed‘s guitarist Jed. Meanwhile, Staggerance’s Leo Hamilton joined Big Wednesday, playing bass for them for 2 years.
Over the course of December ’91 and January’92 the Backlash recorded 8 tracks with Paul Godfrey, of The Outcast Band, at Evolution Studios. These were to become the “Fliptop Head’ cassette album and featuring Big Wednesday bassist Hamilton on drums. Mark Sutherland, described Big Wednesday’s First Impressions Last demo, released in late ’91, as “a highly catchy pot-pourri of indiedom” for Issue 5 of FLaG, the Food, Lust and Guitars fanzine in January ’92. On 19 March ’92 the band were supporting Backlash once again, this time at the Student Union Bar, of Reading University. The Woking News & Mail’s 1st Annual Busking Festival was held in the Town Square, Woking and featured the Big Wednesday along with The Armadillo Band, Damian Wilson (ex-Button Factory) and brother, Backlash, Patrick James, The Sea, Flaw, The Penfolds, The Ha Ha Men, Vox Pop, Who Moved the Ground?, and The Staggerance with poetry reading by Vis The Spoon. The Farnborough Groove‘s second volume, ‘Son of Farnborough Groove, Vol.2’, released in ’92, carried “We Need to Talk” as the penultimate track of the B-side, sandwiched between Who Moved the Ground? and Static Erratic. The Gossville Arsonist’s review of the Big Wednesday track was about as good as you could got from that fanzine’s hallowed Xerox’ery: ‘FUCK, It’s Big Wednesday, but this is GOOD. Like Ride at their noisiest with a dance beat. The gigs at Rags didn’t do them justice. Bit short though. I could listen to that wah peddle for hours.” On 10 October ’92, the band opened to rapturous chants of ‘bring on N-Trance’ throughout their set. at the Freshers Ball organized by the Student’s Union at Royal Holloway, University of London, or SURHUL. Big Wednesday competed again, this time in The White Hart, Frimley‘s Battle of the bands. against Full Shred on 4 Dec ’92. Famously, the band was rejected by Fergal Sharkey, then A&R Manager at Polydor; while Rough Trade’s A&R provided a glimmer of positivity after listening to their ‘slightly derivative’ demo.
According to our gig records both Backlash and Big Wednesday were back at The Cricketers, Westfield on 2 April ’93. Two months after that, The Old Trout, Windsor hosted the band on 17 April ’93, as they supported Something Religious. We later found Big Wednesday spending the evening of Saturday 26 October ’93 at Wantage Hall, Reading.
In 2005, The Surrey Advertiser sponsored the Guilfest 2005 Unsigned Heroes CD featuring: Black Night Crash, Get Amped, Ariel X, Kovak, The Roosters, Who Will Miss Mary?, Epuldugger, The Citadel, Daybreak, This is Seb Clarke, Stylus, Big Wednesday, The True Deceivers, Intervurt, and United Stoats Of America; but was this this Big Wednesday?
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