The story of Shockwave goes back to November 1998 when Mickey Doyle, Andrew MacNeil, Jeff Seward, and Luke MacAulay formed a rock band called White Lightning. Right from the beginning, the band was plagued with bad luck leading up to the first gig. First, the rhythm guitarist caught pneumonia two weeks before the battle. This would put him out of commission for at least six weeks. Then, certain members of the band (2) stole the drummers' parents' car to return something that was, shall we say, overdue. However, despite all this, the band, with a replacement rhythm guitarist, played the battle of the bands at GBHS in January 1999, coming a fair fourth, tied with Mr. Crowe's Garden. The replacement guitarist had a strange fit on stage, bursting into a rendition of Marilyn Manson's The Dope Show. This guitarist shall not be named, but our set was cut short.
After the battle, the fourth member recovered. The band's name was changed to Adversity (on account of all the bad luck associated with White Lightning), but very soon, the name Shockwave was decided upon. The band played two more gigs (one at the MJHS variety show in February 1999, and a GBHS coffee house, in March of 1999), before some chemistry problems became apparent. In the summer of 1999, the band split apart, and so ended the first incarnation of Shockwave.
However, during the end of the summer, a second band, this one also being a rock band, was formed with Andrew MacNeil and Mickey Doyle returning from the old band, plus new members Aron MacMullen and Ryan MacNeil (Bob). No new name was forthcoming, so the band stayed nameless for a while. This band officially began to practice in September of 1999, with promising results. However, it wasn't long before some problems arose, and in early November, the band was reduced to a trio, Mick, Peabody, and Aron.
Now with two out of three members being from the original Shockwave, it was decided to dig the old band name out of the closet and use it for the new band. So was born the new Shockwave. During this time of three members, the sound of Shockwave changed significantly. With the additon of Amy Doyle on backing vocals, tambourine, and keyboard in December, the sound changed even more. Traditionally, the music that was covered was fairly heavy, but without the second guitarist, long guitar solos could no longer be done, without emptying out the sound of the band. With Mick's new acoustic, easier, light Top 40 songs were covered, such as Shoebox of Lies by the Barenaked Ladies, and Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. Vocal harmonies were also developed. Instead of having just one singer, there were three, one singing lead, and two doing harmony. Shockwave evolved from a basically rock band into a mellower Top 40's band.
The band only had a small repetoire of songs at this point, but new ones were completed, and the band's old songs were thrown out. Two small Holy Cross coffee houses were planned, and the band played two parties at Peabody's house to prepare for our ultimate goal at the time: the GBHS Battle of the Bands.
The GBHS Battle of the Bands arrived as it did the year before, but this time the band was ready. After our set, we recieved a standing ovation and second place overall, as well as the right to perform at the Variety Show/Pageant at the High School a few days later. So began another phase of Shockwave.
Numerous spinoff gigs from the battle landed us performaces at the Braemore Home six times, the Donkin Legion twice, a dance at Donkin Elementary, the Steelworkers Hall once, and others between February and June, as well as playing a gig with Mr. Crowe's Garden at the Pit at UCCB at the end of April. In June, we played with Mr. Crowe's Garden and Barrett's Privateers at the Savoy Theatre to raise money for the GBHS Safegrad. Then, once again, the summer came.
The summer has traditionally been a slow time for us, as Mick and Amy go away each year to Halifax. However, it did not stop us from playing a small family reunion in Mira, and in New Waterford with Mr. Crowe's Garden as a three-piece outfit (minus Amy). However, that was it for gigs until the end of September, which saw us play at the Braemore Home again.
When the band regrouped after the end of the summer, another small change took place. The now light sound of Shockwave was wearing thin, so the electric guitars were dragged out of the closet, a few old songs were revived, and Shockwave became the Top 40's/rock band that it is today, a blend of the sounds of the previous two years, with new tunes like It's My life by Bon Jovi, and Here For a Good Time by Trooper. At the beginning of September, we made a demo at Seaview Recordings, with our original and Shoebox by the Barenaked Ladies on it. We shopped it around a bit, and soon after, the Guildwood in Glace Bay called looking to discuss a gig with us. After our meeting, the date of October 28th was decided upon. This of course posed a small problem for us.
To play a full bar gig, you need somewhere around fifty songs. We had about half of that. The next three weeks were a flurry of jamming and learning new songs.
However, we finished learning our new set the day before we were to play at the Guildwood, much to our relief.
October 28th was a big hit. It was quickly decided by the owners, during that performance, that we should come back and play every second Saturday. Later gigs at the Guildwood were on November 11th, 25th, December 9th, 23rd, and January 20th. For the first time in Shockwave's history, we were each actually making good money off the band! Imagine, doing something you absolutely love, and getting paid big for it! Also, in there, we played our third GBHS Battle of the Bands, and at Chandler's with Mr. Crowe's Garden. The band also played at the Braemore Home again. This gig was somewhat unique as it was the first time we ever played a gig without a drummer, substituting a drum machine, due to the fact that Aron was in Florida at the time. It still went off, just not as well as our usual gigs.
The next few months were somewhat slow for us, and we didn't play very many gigs. Around this time, the Shockwave Acoustic Roadshow was born. A Guildwood gig on the 17th of February was missed due to the fact that Aron was in Florida. However, we played a three- piece gig at the Albert Bridge Fire Hall, as well as the Vince Ryan Tournament party at the Bayplex on Friday, March 30. A strange little incident at what was formerly known as the Rock, now known as the Country Grill or somethin like that spelt the end of any chance for a gig there (hint: look at the new name). After that, the band went on a bit of a break of sorts, playing only a single gig, a coffee house at GBHS on Wednesday, May 30.
Things progressed slowly for the next while, until the summer came. We were asked by Parks and Recreation to play at Queen Elizabeth Park for the Canada Day Celebrations, and by the Savoy Theater to play at their annual Duck Race. The Canada Day gig was okay, although we could have played better, but the Duck Race went quite well, despite the loss of the sound man and our subsequent improvisation with a 500-ft extension cord powering our ENTIRE sound system. This gig landed us a spinoff gig for the Savoy on August 20 which saw us playing at the Bayplex, opening for none other than Wide Mouth Mason!
In September of 2001 Shockwave underwent its first lineup change in almost two years, with the departure of Aron and the addition of Shubie. That same month saw Shockwave's first gig with a different drummer than Aron in more than two years, in the form of yet another Braemore gig, which went over quite well.
However, things really stagnated over the next little while. Work, college, school, and other things kept the band members busy, until Christmas Vacation in December. During this time, absolutely NO gigs were played, Shockwave's longest dry period ever. At this point, Aron rejoined the band, and the traditional lineup was back for another swing at it. Fortunately, it was soon realized that the chemistry was still there, despite the four-month gap, and the band was soon back up to where it had left off the previous September. However, very soon, a problem came up, the most serious problem in the history of Shockwave.
As time went on, an unfortunate reality was soon realized: Amy and Andrew were to be moving to Halifax in the summer for university. After much thought, it was decided that after almost four years of existence, it was almost time to put Shockwave to rest. Almost. One thing Shockwave had never managed to do was to win the GBHS Battle of the Bands (or any battle of the bands for that matter). Two gigs presented that chance for the band to have one last time at bat.
It was decided that no new songs would be learned for these last two performances. The first was scheduled for The first Wednesday in May, in the form of a Battle of the Bands at the Pit out at UCCB. A setlist of our best songs was put together for the event. After the gig, the results came in, and Shockwave landed squarely in first place, in our first Battle of the Bands victory. The second gig was to take place exactly one week later, at GBHS, in a battle of the bands there. We played songs from the very first days of the band, to our latest songs, in our last performance as Shockwave in its entirety. Later that night, after the rest of the bands played, the judges' results came back, placing Shockwave unanimously in first place, Shockwave was officially ended after playing together in various forms for almost four years.
Looking back, it's hard to sum up Shockwave into a single short story. The band which began in Luke MacAulay's basement and ended on the GBHS stage are two very different bands. There were good times, and there were bad times. There were several times the band almost broke up due to squabbling members. There was the time we rocked the Guildwood on Halloween night, 2000, and there was the time we played for about ten people at a small family reunion on Mira. It's been quite a ride, a ride I feel priveledged to have been on since the start. Thank you all for reading this story as it draws to a close, the story of a band we called Shockwave.
R.I.P. Shockwave
1998-2002
THE END
