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Biographies



G2 are, Collectively...


Chris Cawte - Guitars
Chris Cawte - Guitars, Vocals
Chris has (like all of us) played in many bands. Most notably, he and Jeff Walker were with the Gutter Brothers, a band that busked and played hundreds of gigs around the world. Their version of "Summer in the City" featured in the "Only Fools and Horses - Miami Christmas Special" and they were the first live band on MTV Europe. Chris composes full and incidental music for Advertising, TV Themes and Film Scores.

Favourite pieces to play:
All of it, but I suppose - Watcher, Cinema, Firth, Supper, Wot Gorilla. Blood & Entangled especially, for the acoustic delicacy.

Equipment:
Pre-aged Les Paul Jimmy Page model, with coil taps and phase switching
Jackson JTX
Fender Acoustic 12 String (Dean Markley Magnetic Pick-Up)
Crafter Nylon Electric
Zoom GFX707 Guitar FX Unit
Boss GX700 Guitar Pre-Amp/FX & Unit/Amp Modeller
Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modeller
Lehle 3at1 Signal Switching Box
Roland FC200 MIDI Board Controller
Peavey Classic 50/50 Valve Power Amp
Marshall 1912 Cabinet


Jamie Vale - Bass, Guitar & Pedals
Jamie Vale - Bass, Guitar, Pedals, Vocals
Jamie co-founded a Beatles tribute band out of university and until now had been pretty much been stuck in 'Macca mode' ever since (he even learnt bass left handed to silence the critics!) playing with most of the tributes in the country (20 at last count). As well as playing with many cover bands (including Rick Parfitt Jnr's) he's supported Stereophonics with an original 3 piece, recorded a bass demo for Simon Webbe (Blue) and played on a charity single that actually made the Rock charts! After brief brushings in Genesis tribute land in the past he reckons he's finally settled with the right team! Based in Manchester, it's often grim up north but when you get to be a TV extra on Coronation Street and kiss Maria, none of the above matters whatsoever.....

Favourite pieces to play:
Eleventh Earl as there's a bit of everything, end of Supper/Lamia for getting lost in, Los Endos for bass playing and all of Cinema Show.

Equipment:
Alembic Mark King Bass (1997)
Yamaha BB614 Bass
Retrovibe Rickenbacker bass
Tanglewood 12/4 Custom Double ('Frankenstein')
Shergold 12/4 Custom Double
Self-built 12/4 Detachable Double
Stagg 12 String Acoustic
Moog Taurus Mk I bass synthesiser (What else? Can anyone date these?! Serial 2297)
Volume and various effects pedals plus Wee Lush 4-way instrument selector switch
Eden amplification

Jamie has recently built his own convertable bass/12-string. See here for photographic evidence!


Jeff Walker - Drums & Percussion
Jeff Walker - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Jeff has performed live at Midem, The Brit Awards and several times on Top of the Pops for name artistes. He linked up with Chris for the first time in 1987. Chris's analysis of Jeff speaks volumes, "When I first met him he had acquired his grandad's banana-yellow Hillman Hunter. In the Gutter Brothers, he played a hilarious assortment of soda siphons, Chinese dinner gongs, llamas toenails and broken bits of metal, whilst balancing on one leg and singing backing vocals - backwards. A truly talented man, he hears in colour, sleeps one inch off the mattress and can hit all the drums in front of him whilst barely moving a muscle. Just don't ask him what day it is."

Favourite pieces to play:
Mad Man Moon, because it facinates me how Piers navigates fourteen keyboard parts with just two hands and a lick of whiskey, and Cinema Show for it's deeply sexy arrangement.

Equipment:
Sonorlite drums
Ludwig Supraphonic 400 and Black Beauty snare drums
Istanbul 16" Dark Traditional Crash cymbal
Zildjian 17" & 18" Crash cymbals
Zildjian 20" A Custom Ride cymbal
Sabian 19" Crash cymbal
Sabian 18 " Chinese (mounted) hand cymbal
Zildjian 14" Quick Beats Hi Hats
All mounted on assorted hardware stands

Special thanks to Lou and Co at Supreme Drums for their laid back support and advice for as long as I can remember.


Piers de Lavison - Keyboards
Piers de Lavison - Keyboards
Piers first ran into Kudos (before it mutated into G2) at the New Cross Inn, some time in late 1998, blissfully unaware that he would start playing in another homage to Genesis within a matter of weeks. Prior to that he'd been doing an odd selection of sessions and playing Jazz in a Yugoslavian Goth Metal band (yes, honestly!). It wasn't long before countless sleepless nights spent watching old footage of Tony Banks led to probably the most authentic combination of head nodding and scowling the live music circuit has ever experienced...

Favourite pieces to play:
One For The Vine because it's got everything, Can-Utility & The Coastliners for atmosphere and Riding The Scree for some of Tony's best solos.

Equipment:
Kurzweil K2600, with the Vintage EPs expansion board (MkII Mellotron strings & brass, acoustic and electric pianos (CP-70, Pianet, RMI), school children, tubular bells, cats and fat controller)
Hammond XB-1
Verghese Pro-Soloist Rack module (midi controllable ARP Pro-Soloist clone, most of the lead synths on SEBTP, The Lamb and Trick)
Korg X3 (various synths, strings, choirs, guitars)
Roland JV-1080, with the Vintage Synth expansion board (various synths, RMI Electrapiano and Mellotron strings, choirs & flutes)
Digitech Studio Quad multi effects unit (phaser/chorus for the Hammond, delays or reverb for the ARP)
Yamaha MW12cx mixer
Assorted volume and sustain pedals


Dave Whitehouse - Lead Vocals
Dave Whitehouse - Lead Vocals, Drums and Percussion
Dave has been performing as Phil Collins for over 20 years, making him the UK's most established tribute vocalist to the Genesis frontman. Not only that, but such is his attention to detail that Dave's hairline has been receding for much of that 20-year period...

In 1997, Dave joined Genesis tribute band Invisible Touch performing concerts across the UK, and fronted a special one-off show as the vocalist in Strictly Banks - a unique tribute to the solo music of Tony Banks. In 2002, he became a founder member of No Jacket Required, the Phil Collins tribute with which Dave continues to perform. Following appearences on national television in a Phil Collins tribute show, Dave is generally considered somewhat of a minor celebrity in the Luxembourg commune of Differdange. At the last count, Dave has sung the words "one more night" a total of 3,766 times. Not including rehearsals...

As he begins his third decade in Genesis tribute land, things have come full circle. He's looking forward to performing the Genesis classics once again and, if you ask him nicely, he'll treat you to a chorus of Sussudio...

Favourite pieces to play:
Supper's Ready, In The Cage and anything from my favourite albums - A Trick Of The Tail and Selling England By The Pound. The band is unquestionably at its best during the instrumentals, though...

Equipment:
Shure microphones
Sennheiser radio microphones and in-ear monitoring
Rogers drums
Remo tambourines
A selection of percussion items, bells and whistles (literally!)
Vocal chords, plenty of water and the occasional throat lozenge


Dave Austin - Lights
Dave Austin - Presentation, Atmospherics, Lighting
Dave has been with the band since its second gig. He originally worked on the sound, and as a former BBC sound engineer Dave brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team. The early lighting for the project was never adequate enough to evoke the memories of forty-eight aircraft landing lights burning through a wall of silver smoke! Dave's impetuous folly was to go out and buy a major lighting rig & stage effects system. The original rig, which was heavy and time consuming to rig, has now been replaced with a lighter, easier system. Some of the tungsten power has been lost but the show now has a different, more tonal feel. Dave brings an understanding for the music and love of theatre that means you truly get a Genesis lit experience. Dave also looks after the video productions we make and was the director and editor of '3 Nights Live'

Favourite pieces to light:
Afterglow is the one that gets the lighting pulses racing. Building chords, signature white downlights, smoke, end of first half climax ...fab!

Equipment:
In addition to using whatever in house facilities are available, Dave supplements the house system with G2 specific lights.
Control is via a MacBook Pro running D-Pro with and an Enttec Pro2 USB DMX interface. The DMX is wireless and transmitted around the stage using American DJ WiFly transceivers.
All the lights are now LED. American DJ Mega PARS and Q38s are on stands around the stage plus uplighters on the perc and kit and in front of Terry. Two Headbanger moving head LED lamps flood the centre stage with contrasting colours.
One thing remains from the original rig and that is the Jem33 smoke machine. This is a beast and can fill the stage with smoke in seconds. He has a unique dispersion system that involves a set of directional fans in a box that push the smoke around the stage.
Dave also uses a Laserworld 2000RGB laser for some very dramatic effects.

This light rig is available for hire! If you are interested then contact Dave Austin...

Tel: 07787 508769
E-Mail: Dave Austin


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