“He’s the man with the face, from outer space, on his faith and grace” Ian Dury describing bassist Norman Watt-Roy.
“James is a passionate roots rocker loaded with guitar firepower.” – Bill Kirchen – guitar legend
“I am not easily impressed by guitarists, but this guy is definitely a comer.” – John Drumbo, (Drummer for Captain Beefheart)
Next year will see the pairing up of the irrepressible guitar talent of Wales’s very own James Oliver and the bass legend that is Norman Watt Roy (Ian Dury and the Blockheads/Wilko Johnson et al). Fresh from a killer show at the Half Moon in Putney in March, James and Norman alongside drummer, Mark Kemlo, will be fully unleashed to tour across the UK and beyond in 2025.
James Oliver is one of the UK’s busiest acts playing over 300 gigs a year all over the UK, Europe, and the USA!
He has performed over 3000 gigs and shared the stage with many acts including Albert Lee, Bill Kirchen, Deke Leonard, Greg Koch, Walter Trout, Steve Gibbons, Billy Bremner, Geraint Watkins, and many others. In 2020 James won the UK Blues Awards Emerging Artist of the Year and has since been nominated 3 additional times. James Oliver released 2 studio albums 3 live albums and his album Twang was #1 on Amazon Blues Charts for 3 weeks. James is currently working on a new record with legendary producer, John Leckie. James’ YouTube channel has over 20,000 subscribers with over 10 million views.
Norman Watt Roy
Norman kept busy with session work throughout the ’70s, and appeared on such albums as Rachel Sweet’s Fool Around and Nick Lowe’s Jesus of Cool, and Jona Lewie’s number one single “You’ll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties.” He and his brother, along with Turnbull, later joined up with Mick Gallagher (guitar) and Charlie Charles (drums), working under the name Loving Awareness — that outfit, in turn, was engaged for a session with Chaz Jankel and Ian Dury which led to their work on Dury’s New Boots and Panties!! LP, and eventually became the Blockheads, Dury’s band.
They hit the top of the charts in 1979 with “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick.” Norman Watt-Roy was now one of the most visible bassists working in England. His time with the Blockheads allowed him to cross paths with Dr. Feelgood’s Wilko Johnson, which led to his joining Johnson’s own group in the mid-’80s. In between, he played with the Selecter on Celebrate the Bullet and the Clash on Sandinista!, with Wreckless Eric’s Captains of Industry, and he played the original bass part on Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s single “Relax.” During the 21st century, he has kept busy working with Nick Cave, in addition to his continued performances with Johnson.
Book a table for pre-concert dining
Acapela Studio provides pre-concert dining between 6.00pm and 7.30pm from our pizza oven. To view the current menu visit here.
Please purchase your concert tickets first before booking a table. We will not accept any table bookings that do not have a corresponding ticket purchase.
Then return to the event page to book your table, by selecting the date of your event, number of diners and time you require table. The times shown are the only vacancies left. Please complete your email and phone number as this is required to ensure your table is allocated. You will receive confirmation of your booking by email and text.
If on the date you have chosen no tables are available - no times will be shown and the booking system will revert you back to todays date - PLEASE ENSURE YOU BOOK THE CORRECT DATE!
PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE RELIES ON THE INCOME FROM DINING TO ENSURE WE CAN BOOK ALL THE GREAT ACTS PERFORMING.
Income from the provision of pizzas is very important to the venue and if you have booked a table it is a requirement that all people sat at tables order food - a salad alternative is available to pizzas. Please do ensure that all individuals will be ordering on your table - if this is not the case please cancel your table so others who are looking to dine can do so. Our apologies to raise this but recently we have had many tables (some very large) where less than 50% of those sat at tables have ordered food. Financially this is a real problem to the sustainability of the venue.
- All seating at tables must purchase a pizza - so please do not book a table if everyone is not eating.
- Please ensure that you arrive 10 minutes before the time slot allocated to order your pizzas prior to your booking time.
- Tables not seated within 15 minutes of the allocated time may be lost and allocated to other audience members wishing to order pizzas.
- If you wish to book a table for 6 or more please email info@acapela.co.uk
Please note that all of our pizzas are made fresh to order and cooked in an authentic wood-fired oven. It may take up to 45 minutes to be served during busy periods.
IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO BOOK A TABLE YOU CAN STILL ORDER PIZZAS ON THE NIGHT (USUALLY ON BUSY NIGHTS NO LATER THAN 7.15PM) AND WE WILL SERVE THEM TO YOU WHEREVER YOU ARE SAT IN THE VENUE - IN A PIZZA BOX.