It's all over for Thunder . . . again
They've split before and then reformed, but now Thunder, one of Britain's best-loved rock bands are about to embark on their final farewell tour. Singer Danny Bowes tells Ian Harvey why it's time to say goodbye.
Danny Bowes has a great many memories from 20 years fronting Thunder but there's one Midlands gig that sticks in his memory for a very personal reason.
"We played Aston Villa leisure centre in 1992 and my wife was very, very, very heavily pregnant," he explains.
"I had promised my wife that I would do my level best not to miss the birth of our first child. We had played three shows and I was set to have a day off and I was in the car driving home to London.
"I was about half way home when she rang me to tell me that her waters had broke. So I said 'Make yourself a cup of tea, get to hospital but don't have the baby until I get there'!
"There were two fans that I spoke to in the car park and I said 'I've got to go because my wife might have the baby tonight' and she did.
"So every time I see this couple it just reminds me of that evening and we've got this very special almost chemistry between the three of us."
The good news is that Danny did make it to the hospital in time.
The sad news is that Thunder, and Danny in particular, have decided it's time to call it a day – again.
It's the second time Thunder have split, after bowing out between 2000 and 2002 before being tempted back into action by a slot on the touring Monsters of Rock arena, which Danny helped organise.
Their farewell tour calls at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Friday, July 10, 2009, with tickets costing £22.
Click here to buy tickets for Thunder at Wolverhampton Civic Hall
It will be a last chance for Danny and the rest of the band; guitarists Luke Morley and Ben Matthews, bassist Chris Childs and drummer Harry James, to say goodbye.
Fans have bombarded the band's website with messages of support and Thunder want to reward them with a tour to be remembered.
Danny, who handles most of the band's management himself explains: "We are victims of our own success. We created a label in order to get away from the pressure of having to deal with the record company and the problem was, having become the record company we just created a whole lot of different pressure.
"It's become pretty much a 24-hour a day job. If I could stay awake 24 hours a day I would still have things to do at the end of the day, that's how difficult it's become."
He adds: "I leave the music to Luke, I leave all the studio engineering to Ben and I leave all the artwork and design to Chris – and Harry does all the professional smoking!
"I effectively take the money – I run the label, I look after our online shop I coordinate the website and I coordinate all the others as well.
"The problem is we've all got other things going on as well so as a result it's become harder and harder to schedule even getting in the same room.
"I've been thinking about it for the past year and came to the conclusion at the end of last year that I couldn't go through another year like last year."
Danny is determined that Thunder should go out on a high.
"When I put it to the band there was a little bit of shock and awe initially but once they'd got the chance to come to grips with it I think they were very comfortable with it and I think probably deep down they probably think it's right," he says.
"One of the things that came out of the announcement was a bombardment of fans asking for a final live album and also for a film and we have been in discussions with several different companies with regards to filming and also some people to record it.
"We would like to get it out as soon as possible after the band splits up. We are about 90 per cent there in agreeing all the deals for it."
Thunder have announced that in order to make the tour a bit more special they will be playing a different set-list every night.
Or, as Danny puts it: "We couldn't choose what songs to bloody play!
"We just couldn't choose and we knew that every night, not only would people be saying 'Why are you splitting up?' they'd also be saying 'Why didn't you play this one?'.
"So in the end we thought this is really the only logical thing to do is to go back into the rehearsal room and learn 40 songs.
"There's going to be a core of songs that will have to be in there which will give us a framework and make it a show but then everything else will be changeable."
The singer adds: "I think you have to work on the assumption that everything comes to an end eventually. We've had a good run. I mean 20 years with a couple of years off is not bad.
"It's been great. I can honestly say I can only think of two occasions where we came away after a show and thought 'that could have gone better'."
Those 20 years have seen Thunder score 18 Top 40 singles including Dirty Love and I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll, release a string of albums and play Monsters of Rock no fewer than three times. They even got to kick footballs off the stage at Wembley Stadium.
"We're all crap footballers but we kicked footballs at Wembley Stadium when we did the shows with Bon Jovi," laughs Danny.
"My daughter played football when she was three with Jon Bon Jovi backstage at Wembley Stadium and you just think 'It can't get better than this'."
Click here to see our review and photo gallery from Thunder's Wolverhampton gig last November
