We’re coming home to Sankey & Penketh to put on a special show for you, and we can’t wait to get back to Rum central!
PENKETH TAVERN – WARRINGTON
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18th
SOLD OUT
A long time ago, on November 10th 2007…. the 66 played their first hometown gig at ‘The Lounge’ following a warm up at Jabez Clegg in Manchester the night before.
This is the tale of that fateful night and the events leading up to it. For legal reasons the real truth has always been restricted… Until Now….
At a top secret conference in Dublin, Ireland. It was decided by 2 leading musicalists Mike Bee and Coco Bordello, that an experiment would be put into play that could change the course of local and world history forever. The problem was putting all the pieces together, or more ‘getting them together.’ On their return from Dublin there was no time for talking anymore, the stars were aligning in just a few months time, it was time for action.
The chemicals already existed in raw form, 1 part Pollen, 1 part Rum, 1 part Hammer, 1 part Snake… the Hammer and Snake compound found in Padgate and Newton Le Willows were used to balance out the instability of the Pollen and Rum.
There was still one vital ingredient missing to cause all the ingredients to work together…. Various options were thought about with no joy, where were they to find the catalyst to ignite the machine they had built?
There had been tales stretching back years of a mystical chemical compound hidden within the Great Sankey region of Warrington. Situated on the outskirts of the Town there had been a long heritage associated with the region. It was football, dealing drugs, or being in a band. Sankey was a shining example of all these things and many more that could be achieved with a little love, dole money, and a pack of Rizla. With an abundance of Chip shops, Pubs, Parks, the local population had mutated over the years into a genetically superior race of Rummans, not to be confused with the far less superior and completely different Chav race. This was Reebok Classics mixed in with the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Oasis and the Verve, with a large splattering of dance music. The Chosen Ones…
Sankey Gathering
Two of the chemical compounds of Pollen and Rum had already been discovered in this region, it was down to the Pollen factor that there remained hope they could locate and inter-grate the lesser spotted ‘Liquid Wilson Jaw’ a mystical creature capable of mass groove, with the ability to rotate his jaw skin at a staggering 433 miles per second… The only previous sightings had been a brief glimpse during a ‘British Foo Fighters’ gig years before, the in-famous WILSON JAW VERSUS MECHA GODZILLA 60 years ago in Japan…
Mecha Godzille VS Liquid Wilson Jaw
Some time later, fate came a crawling…
During a heavy session Bee received a notification from local Jim-stock Festival security guard Mike Delooze (also a Sankey resident) that the ‘Liquid Wilson Jaw’ had been spotted in neighbouring Penketh… this was unbelievable as Bee was just around the corner in the Butchers Arms. They immediately set off for Penketh and on their arrival wasted no time and stormed the building he was in. Sedating the Wilson using an animal tranquilizer more commonly used on horses and Si Heavey, they dragged him back to the 66 machine headquarters in Warrington Town.
Local Security Guard - Mike Delooze
The Liquid Wilson Jaw was inserted into the newly constructed ‘66 Hydrogen Wilson Collider’ and remained there for 3 months living off a combination of nutrients and man-made call shakes to try and counteract the violent effects of trapping the Jaw.
the 66 Hydrogen Wilson Collider
As they began to harness his power it was clear this experiment was taking on a life of its own. The other elements began taking on each others traits and developing their own way of communicating using music and self-abuse.
It was from this evolution that the machine generated a new substance called ‘City of Culture’. Controversially they placed a sample on a science website called ‘Myspace’ to gauge public reaction. Shortly after a date appeared on the same Journal – SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10th – this was the day they would switch ‘the 66 Hydrogen Wilson Collider’ machine on….
The cat was well and truly out of the bag now and people around Warrington had begun to talk
Many people expected them to fail; many secretly hoped they would fail. However most people were just intrigued to know how these raw elements would react with each other… Would they rip a whole in space time as many scientists had feared? Or would the elements react against each other causing a blast equivalent to Hiroshima times 66 million, wiping out our civilisation as we know it? or would it just be a massive failure…
Unlike alot of the population, the residents of Sankey didn’t have such fears. They saw this as an adventure, something of their own to be cherished and celebrated. They organised meetings to raise awareness and support for the experiment. This culminated in the greatest mass exodus from Sankey since Gings Stag doo at the Grand National.
The date had arrived; on the day of switching on the machine Bee and Rimmer were sat in a secret hideout around the corner from the test zone… Rimmer received a call from ‘international man of mystery’ Paul Glover on a scouting mission…
Glover - I’ve never seen anything like this, I’m actually scared. There are hundreds of people who look like they’re from Sankey congregating around the 66 Hydrogen Wilson Collider, I think you better get down here yourselves… They’ve stopped letting people in….
Rimmer – Glover, you aint afraid of No-man?
Glover – There’s something in here, and it aint no-man
Bee and Rimmer immediately set-off and minutes later entered the test site through a side door, and snuck down through the basement before finally approaching the machine. It was too late. The masses of Sankey were already there waiting in-front of the 66 Hydrogen Wilson Collider, 20minutes ahead of schedule they had no choice but to hit the ignition button…
With a blinding light of power and noise, people began flying onto the stage as they were thrown at the 66 by an out of control Ferret, heads were being stepped on, crowd surfing erupted in a room just big enough for 100 people, the PA system collapsed onto the crowd before being hoisted back up again by the crowd… and for 40 minutes the Sankey faithful and other souls who braved the riot had witnessed the beginning of the machine…
A local music journalist who happened to be there at the time had this to say,
DAVE ADAIR – www.allgigs.co.uk
Descending the stairs into a compact, leery pit of expectation that is awaiting the first hometown gig from the rugged rock/garage/indie and psychedelic mixing Warrington troupe The 66, is reminiscent to that of The Roadhouse in Manchester several years back. Back then it was some rising southern misfits who went by the name of The Libertines causing the air of anticipation. Tonight, it is The 66 stirring things up even before their entrance.
Full Article – http://www.allgigs.co.uk/view/review/2716/The_66_The_Lounge_November_2007_Live_Review.html
EPILOGUE
Since the blinding night of November 10th we’ve gone onto many adventures in the North West and far beyond, playing some incredible gigs and shows, racking up some amazing reviews and comments from the industry and alike, meeting some top people, working with some top names and making friends across the globe… it’s been a hell of a ride and it’s only just begun…
We’ve never forgotten who was there to support us in the first place, the souls of Great Sankey and Penketh… This gig at the Penketh Tavern is for you as a thank-you for that initial boost of energy that propelled us from the very beginning…
We’re going to put on a monstrous show for you, so put your lotion in the basket and bring a towel… it’s going to get sticky as sin 
LOVE, THE 66 xx
1 Comment(s)
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I work in the Village Warrington hotel and I have heard many of story’s about the mysterious chemical plant in the town. must be some truth.