dnews 17
does it rock? yea baby, yea!

**** Q U O T E****
"We've got the best fans in the world."
~ Martin on the Big Breakfast, March 1999

**** Contents ****
A Letter From Jon (17.1.2000)
Missing HMV Appearance Date
The River Tapes (2)
What's It All About? - reaction
Love Falls Down
Compass
It's OK - video
Australia
Charisma's Late Breakfast
Sheffield Octagon Review
Mike Roberts (Editor's Note)
Spurious
d:end?

**** A Letter From Jon (17.1.2000) ****
Dear d:Friends

Welcome to the 21st century. In case you were worried Delirious? have not
fallen casualty of the Y2K bug, it's just that we've been hiding out in our
studio working on some new material, which is the reason it's all been quiet
in d:cyberspace.

We're actually working on a recut of Touch with producer Steve Taylor
(Sixpence None The Richer / Squint Records / Steve Taylor) for an American
compilation album entitled 'Roaring Lambs' for a US release date later this
year. We are currently just putting the final touches on it but it's
sounding great even if I am a little bias.

Anyway, we hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and are as exited
about the new millennium as we are here on planet Furious? So, plans for the
new year. The first major bleep on our radar is the moving of mission
control (Furious? Records) to a new larger location about four miles from
the current base and about 4 times bigger. The move will take place on 27th
and 28th Jan so please be patient with us until docking is complete. Our new
address, phone and fax number will be:

PO Box 40,Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0UQ, UK

Phone [+44 (0)1243 558444], Fax [+44 (0)1243 558455], email and web will
stay the same.

The first tour this year will be a 10 day trip deep into the southern
hemisphere where we will be saying hello to our first summer sunshine as
well as saying hello to lots of new friends in Australia and Tasmania, and
catching up with some old ones at the Parachute Festival in New Zealand.
Then it's back to the UK for the release of ITS OK on the 21st Feb.
Everything is in place, the video shot, the b-sides cut (including two
interactive CDRom tracks for you boys and girls in the 21C), the packaging
printed, the HMV dates set and us d:boys fighting fit and ready to give it
our best shot but of course not forgetting our secret weapon, the fuel that
sends this rocket into cyberspace, the best fan base on the face of the
planet......where would we be without you? In Spring it's back into the
studio to work on the 2nd phase of the new project, with a light seasoning
of live UK dates, watch this space for further info or sign onto our email
list so we can keep you informed.. Then it will be British summer time where
we will be playing the festivals on both sides of the pond and we will be
able to give you a taste of the 21st century Delirious? as well as the old
favourites from the last decade.

But for now here we stand at the toes of the millennium, Stu G, Stew Smee
and myself (Jon T) aching from a heavy duty marathon training schedule
(which you will no doubt hear more about) but in our hands we still carry
the determination to take it wherever it goes deep into the 21st century.

Over and Out

Jon The Bassist

~ taken from www.delirious.co.uk, the only official UK website for
delirious?.

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**** Missing HMV Appearance Date ****
The final date on the delirious? HMV tour has now been confirmed on d:vine:

> Thursday 24th Feb
> Virgin Megastore Oxford St London
> 6.30 pm

~ taken from www.delirious.co.uk ~ thanks to furious? records

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**** The River Tapes (2) ****
Up now on d:vine is part two of The River Tapes, an in-depth interview with
delirious?. The complete River Tapes will appear in a special dnews when
www.delirious.co.uk has finished showing them all.

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**** What's It All About? ****
Last week delirious? appeared on UK national TV on a program called "What's
It All About?" While a generally tacky program casting a new spin on the
Parables - seeing if they're still appropriate in this modern world - the
two teenage presenters interviewed 'famous' Christians about the parable of
the talents. Delirious? were interviewed at a go-kart racing course, and
there were a few choice quotes in the course of the interview, which
Spurious? will be transcribing for you in the near future. The general fans'
reaction has been an attempt to date the interview - Stu still had his huge
ginger goatee (hurrah) and Stew still had hair on his head - but some
punters who've dropped a line our way feel it was very similar to many of
d:'s Christian interviews.

Watch this space for a transcription of the interview.

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**** Love Falls Down ****
According to some Spurious? sources, delirious? released 'Love Falls Down'
to US radio last week. Spurious? will keep you posted as to where it charts.
Thanks to Yehuda for that.

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**** Compass ****
Go to www.pre.co.uk, click on 'preview' at the bottom, and then on
'magazines' at the top, and look what you get. Unfortunately, the magazine
appears to be very old (98/99) and no-one knows how to get hold of a copy.

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**** It's OK - video ****
There's a preview of the It's OK video on www.thebox.co.uk now - just search
for It's OK or delirious?.

The video has also made its way onto MTV's playlist and is played at least
twice a day as part of a program called "brand:new."

Looking good for the release, eh?

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**** Australia ****
Further to Jon's announcement of tour dates 'down under', this article was
brought to our attention by Ian Berrisford, so thanks to him:

VENUE: Clive Berghofer Recreation Stadium
DATE: Saturday 29 Jan, 6.45pm
PRICE: All tickets $27

What is Delirious? Its a mystery!- some say pop, some say stadium only,
others say ‘feel-good’ Radiohead ... but the general vibe is BRILLIANT.

It seems there is nothing these British boys can do wrong. After storming
Australian music sales with ‘King of Fools’ and new release ‘Mezzamorphis’
Delirious? Are heading to Queensland for what is set to be a sell-out
concert.

British band Delirious? have been treating fans around the world with
luxuriously sweaty gigs. With visuals that re-fuel the songs mid-flight and
crowd-created atmospheres of pure delight, the band twist, thrash and
blow-torch their way through material that beds down deep inside. Wide-eyed
are the stares from the crowds, with big smiles coming back from the stage -
not that they’ve been trained that way, more that playing live is what
Delirious? love best ... and they show it!

Delirious? have had two top 20 singles and their last album entered the
charts at number 13. They’re British yet they’ve sold 500,000 records in the
States. They’ve sold out Brixton Academy and Glasgow Barrowlands, so why
haven’t you heard of them? - Rock sound ‘Rising Stars’ May 99.

Triple J unearthed winners Rhubarb are billed as main support act for the
Delirious? Concert. Rhubarb, who released their debut album this year have
seen their song "Excerciser" climb to the number ONE spot on the net 50 -
Triple J. Gold Coast band Alabaster Box will also support Delirious? along
with guitar virtuoso Adam Lester.

~found at http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/new/profiles/qld/delirious.html

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**** Charisma's Late Breakfast ****
Although this is old news to dnews regulars, a Charisma magazine article
about d: focused on a breakfast cereal's free CD with 'See The Star' on it.
And, in typical dnews style, here it is to be read.

"Breakfast just got brighter for thousands of households in Great Britain.
As they spoon into their bowls of cereal, they can also start their day with
a positive, prophetic song from the chart-topping christian band Delirious.
A track from the band's new recording Mezzamorphis appears on a free
CD-modestly titled 'The Best Album of the Next Century Ever' and is given
away with every box of Golden Grahams purchased in the U.K. A staggering
600,000 boxes carry copies of the album, which also includes tracks from
other bands. The song Delirious contributed to the compilation was 'See the
Star', which the group released as a single in Great Britain earlier this
year."

Then it goes on to say in Stu G's words how See the Star came about. I
remember a couple weeks ago someone asking if maybe some parts of LAITC
might be labelled "prophetic"... so I thought it was interesting how they
came about with STS... here is the rest of the article....

" 'We were in church one Sunday morning, and someone started singing a short
prophetic word: 'See the star that's breaking through to shine upon the
people of promise,' Garrard said. 'It was a nice picture of people running
a race... a whole massive group of people all going in one direction- and
with God helping us. That was the inspiration.'

Delirious hasn't stopped at breakfast cereals. Their songs have appeared on
discs attached to covers of mainstream rock magazines in England. And in
Spain, 10 tracks from their album King of Fools were given away with 15,000
bottles of a L'Oreal hair product."

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**** Sheffield Octagon Review ****
Does the Devil have all the best tunes? We went to see Delirious? to find
out.

It's never a good thing to walk into a gig and discover that the venue is
actually a sports hall. The Octagon is part of the University of Sheffield,
and it's… well, it's functional. But the people didn't seem to mind, intent
as they were on turning it into a mini-Glastonbury. Silly jester hats and
inflatable aliens appeared to be breeding somewhere, and there were an
amazing number of children with their parents. And I mean children - some of
those kids couldn't have been more than ten.

Support came from RUTH, and they did remarkably well at "filling the gap
between arriving and the main band coming on", as Matt Hales put it. From a
lukewarm and polite reception, they walked off three-quarters of an hour
later to the sound of screams and cheers. RUTH are an excellent live band,
and Matt has the bags of charisma that a front man needs to win over a crowd
that essentially couldn't have cared less who the support were. Delirious?
are a Christian band. There, it's been said. I had hoped to be able to avoid
using that tag - I'd heard good things about them, and was looking forward
to hearing some good tunes and going away with that slightly smug feeling
that you get when you've 'discovered' another band. What I actually got was
one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life. Yes, there were some good
songs. 'Gravity' had that early REM-style jangle of Rickenbacker guitars and
had us frugging along happily. Next single 'It's OK' is melodic and pretty
enough apart from an awful guitar solo that doesn't fit the rest of the
song, whilst 'Heaven' has one of the best low-key and hypnotic choruses I've
ever heard. That said, there wasn't an awful lot that was original to the
music. Two songs started with alarming similarity to U2's 'Where The Streets
Have No Name' and I actually began to sing the words of 'Champagne
Supernova' to 'All The Way' because I'd have sworn they were doing a cover
of it. There was a lot of heavy guitar and singer Martin Smith threw all the
right, if slightly tired, rock shapes. It's all perfectly fine, if nothing
new.

The problem with Delirious? isn't the music, it's the lyrics and the
reaction of their fans. Desperately I tried to catch a song with a universal
theme. A song about that unattainable girl, or falling in love, or going
down to the shops. But the songs all seemed to be about God and faith. Fair
enough, they're all Christians and their beliefs are important to them, but
don't Christians fall in love too? Don't Christians go out with their
friends and have a good time? Don't Christians have problems? If they do,
then according to Delirious? everything can be sorted out by relating it to
God. But what about those of us who don't believe? Do they have anything to
say to me? Evidently not. They obviously had a lot to say to the vast
majority of the crowd. I have rarely seen such devotion at a gig. It felt
like a homecoming, but these boys are Southerners. One man fell to his knees
at one point, while during 'Heaven' the arms that were being held in the air
led to hands with fingers stretching upwards, as though trying to reach
something. Huge cheers accompanied the words "I still believe" and "I'm not
ashamed anymore 'cos I've found Jesus'' in 'Not Ashamed'.

However the most telling point came when the band played a new song, 'Show
Me Heaven'. The crowd were quite muted, and this is possibly the key to the
fans of Delirious? They didn't know the words. The music didn't seem to grab
them much, and they weren't sure which message was being delivered to know
whether they approved of it. It was the Christian aspect the crowd seemed to
be hungry for, not the songs themselves. So many of the people I spoke to
after the gig commented only on the 'Christian-ness' of the band and the
songs. Nobody said they'd only come for the music.

This had the effect of making me and my companion feel like complete
outsiders. We weren't part of this clique and we felt uncomfortable singing
to songs that meant nothing to us, yet meant so much to the rest of the
crowd. It was also impossible to relax; being faced with such a large group
of people who are so utterly devoted to something that you are not is very
scary. I'm sure they wouldn't have ripped us to pieces if they'd know what
we were thinking, but the feeling was difficult to shake.

Atmosphere makes or breaks a gig. If you're not a Christian, don't go to a
Delirious? gig, because you just won't 'get' it and you won't be
comfortable. On the whole the music is average, but there are other average
bands out there who at least write songs that you can relate to.

~ by Rachel Holdsworth, found by Gareth James on
http://www.ebop.co.uk/ebop/webcentr.nsf/beats?openFrameset
(just click on Gig Review and then 'Delirious?').
~ Spurious? says: some feisty comments (some of which are true; some of
which are misjudged). Do you agree? Disagree? Go on, let us know - just hit
reply and let furious fingertips flick your keyboard into action.

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**** Mike Roberts (Editor's Note) ****
It's with an note of sadness that I have to announce that Mike Roberts
is moving on. From this time he is no longer able to serve us on the
Spurious? team.

Mike has been a core member of the team since the outset almost two
years ago, and he will be missed.

May I take this opportunity to thank Mike for all his work over the last
two years, and to wish him well with his future projects.

Scooby.
(Editor)

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**** Spurious ****
Andy quotes from his very boring sociology book, 'Throughout the school the
lads had an "aimless air of insubordination ready with Spurious
justification and impossible to nail down".'

It's nice to be noticed.

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**** d:end? ****
Despite Mike leaving [ : ( ] it's not the end of the s:journey, for
Spurious? has a couple of radical interactive features planned. One of them
will be ready shortly; the second one should appear to coincide with the
release of It's OK. And what are these fantastic new net toys for you to
play with? You'll just have to keep visiting www.spurious.org to find out!

Adam, Adrian, Mike, Scooby

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