When Russ Ballard hits the stage, it promises to be far more than a concert, but an encounter with one of Britain’s most talented and treasured songwriters in the rock and pop world. He even wrote “The Lost City” for The
Shadows when he was 14 years old!
From his early years, together with long time close friend drummer Bob Henrit, playing lead guitar with Adam Faith’s backing band, The Roulettes, and discovering Sandie Shaw on the way, he and Bob joined Unit 4 + 2 in
1967, leading to a Number 1 hit “Concrete & Clay”. Russ was poached to join Rod Argent’s newly evolving post Zombies band Argent, as vocalist and lead guitarist. After several successful years including their monster hit “Hold Your Head Up” and of course “God Gave Rock And Roll To You” (written by Ballard), the band decided to split and Bob together with bass player Jim Rodford joined a latter day version of The Kinks.
This is when Russ really came into his own as a solo artist and songwriter. Having built on his success, after writing several hit songs for Argent Russ then decided to pursue a solo and songwriting career which is still ongoing
with numerous album releases under his own name (Remember “Voices” and “In The Night” from Miami Vice) and also with a host of luminaries including Roger Daltrey, Leo Sayer, Elkie Brooks, America and many more.
Russ Ballard is touring in 2027, having recently released a new double CD “Songs from the Warehouse” which includes some amazing new material as well as versions of the many hits written for other artists.
Russ’s compositions are far too numerous to list but here is a selection most of which are featured in the live show.
Since You’ve Been Gone..… Rainbow
God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll To You….Kiss
Liar… Three Dog Night/Graham Bonnet
So You Win Again….Hot Chocolate
You Can Do Magic….America
No More The Fool….Elkie Brooks
New York Groove….Ace Frehley (Kiss)
Free Me….Roger Daltrey
I Don’t Believe In Miracles…Colin Blunstone
I Surrender….Rainbow
Winning/Nowhere To Run….Santana
Someday We’ll Be Together….Pointer Sisters
Can’t Shake Loose…..Agnetha (Abba)
I Know There’s Something Going On Frida (Abba)
Plus a multitude of others…..
Russ’s All Star Band features:
Paul Bond (Lead guitar, b/vocals) – Producer, engineer, lecturer. Best known for his current guitar work with Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds and guitar tech with Ozzy Osbourne
P.J.Phillips (Bass, b/vocals) -Over 8 years with international superstar violin virtuoso Vanessa Mae touring the world. Credits include Tom Jones, Take That, Dolly Parton, Lisa Stansfield, Rod Stewart, Then Jerico. Over 20 appearances on “Top of the Pops” !
John Miller (Drums) – Endless credits including Saint Etienne, Gabrielle, Hugh Cornwall, Then Jerico, The Blow Monkeys. Marc Rapson (Musical Director, keyboards, b/vocals) Extended recording and live work with Kim Wilde & Kenny Thomas.
Over the years Russ Ballard has become a National Treasure and a Grammy nominated artist. One of the most revered songwriters this country has ever produced, never resting on his laurels and still continues to produce top quality material both in the studio and on the live stage. The accolades are endless and recent reviews have been unanimous in their praise.
A RARE ARTIST THAT LEAVES THE AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND, HE CAN DO MAGIC
SUPPORT – Ruzz Guitar
Ruzz Guitar, the Gretsch endorsed “Pistol From Bristol”, is touring the UK in support of his upcoming solo acoustic album (due late 2026). Ruzz is known for his “Big Band Blues” sound with his band “Ruzz Guitar’s Blues Revue”, which is gaining in popularity around the US and Canada, and now he’s bringing on a new challenge for himself around the full band shows… going out alone with nowhere to hide! Bringing together the influences of Jimmie Vaughan, George Thorogood, Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel, Ruzz has put together a Blues/Roots show that focus’s heavily on his guitar playing while blending together the Blues/Rockabilly sound he’s known for. Mixing his original material with Blues classics and some extra surprises, this is definitely a show for guitar fans!
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.
BOOKING A TABLE FOR AN EVENT IN 2026
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
BOOKING A TABLE FOR EVENTS IN 2027
From the 1st January 2027, all tickets for table dining will include the price of the pizza included within the ticket price. When purchasing table tickets you will have a choice of purchasing tickets to dine at certain times.
If you wish to join your booking with another table so you are sat at the same table then please email info@acapela.co.uk requesting the tables to be joined.
If you arrive 15 minutes after the time booked your table may be given away to other ticketholders who have purchased pizzas on the evening.
As with all out tickets – the venue has a no refund ticket policy
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.
PLEASE NOTE:
Please note that no alcohol or other drinks not purchased on the premises are allowed to be brought into the venue. Thank You.
Please note that all of our pizzas are made fresh to order. 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.