*x* HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!! *x* .....New Year, New Gigs, New Website!

Hi everyone, and a Happy New Year to you all!!!

We hope you had a warm and wonderful Christmas, even if you were snowed in!?!
And here’s to an amazing 2011 for us all…

Lots of big news to start the year off, from Panic Room HQ –


TOUR-DATES

We will be taking to the road in February to play a series of live dates around the UK! See the Tour pages for more details, but briefly these will be:

Fri 11th Feb – York, Fibbers
Sat 12th Feb – Manchester, FAC251 (The Factory)
Sun 13th – Swindon, 12 Bar

Sat 26th – London, The Peel (Kingston-upon-Thames)

There are one or two more still to confirm, but we will keep you posted on those; meanwhile, get your tickets now for these great 1st shows of 2011, as the band may also be debuting some work-in-progress new tracks!


BEST OF 2010 AWARDS

Panic Room have been awarded high accolades in the National UK Music Press, as the 2010 Best Of Year listings roll in.
As each year draws to a close, the music industry likes to take stock and choose their best albums and bands of that year; and we are delighted to have been featured highly in many of these charts.

For our work on the 2010 album ‘Satellite’, Panic Room have been voted in the top 10 for many polls, including –





We cannot begin to describe how proud and happy this makes us, to be recognised for our hard work by both you and the music industry as a whole; and we know that as our loyal followers, you will all feel validated and excited too that we have been recognised in such a magnificent way.
May it be the beginning of many more accolades to come in 2011! We’ll certainly do our best for you ;o)



NEW WEBSITE

It is with enormous joy that we announce to you the launching of our brand new website, this January!!!
We have been working long and hard with the fantastic graphic designer Amy Teslin-Davies, to create a new site that we know you will love! (still at the same address: www.panicroom.org.uk)

You may recognise Amy’s name from her artwork on the ‘Satellite’ album – she is not only a gifted illustrator and designer but an awesome web-designer too, and we are over-the-moon to have had the luxury of working with her on the new site.

We hope that it will be launched within the next week, but we will keep you posted and announce the moment when it ‘Goes Live’!!!

It’s a really exciting time for the band, and this shiny new website is just what we need to seal the deal!
We know that some of you have had issues with our previous site, and its flash content; so you will be delighted to know that this site is HTML-based (!) and we have worked hard to make sure that it’s the most user-friendly site possible for you.


Some new features will include:

* Facebook / Twitter live-feeds
* Brand new shop with the full range of our new PR merchandise
* A complete audio/visual Music page with MP3’s and video footage
* Links to all of our Panic Room community – social networking sites, the Forum, and a brand new Blog
* An expanded Gallery area with many sections of images including Live (year-by-year), Studio, Offstage shots, and a Fan area (for you to send us your favourite photos of special memories; like meeting the band, your gig-going friends, or amusing observations on tour!)


We can’t wait to share this new site with you, and get the whole Panic Room empire united!
This is very much for you, the fans, and we hope it will be an invaluable source of information, news, and multi-media for you. Not to mention all the cool merch! ;o)

So, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement very soon, when we let you know that the site is Live!!!

_____________________________________________________

With all this excitement happening to kick off 2011, we also want to thank you SO much for all your love and support in 2010, and for all the things you’ve helped us achieve this last 12 months.
Here are just a few of Panic Room’s special memories and achievements of 2010 -



PANIC ROOM’s 2010 – A ‘STRATOSPHERIC’ YEAR!


* January 2010 – ‘SATELLITE' was released.
Panic Room’s 2nd album, ‘Satellite’ was recorded in an intensive 2-week ‘Live’ session, with subsequent orchestrations, and this resulted in a raw, powerful and emotional album. It was released in both standard and Special Editions (with the latter including 4 extra songs, on the ‘Little Satellite’ EP).
The album also featured the dazzling and beautiful artwork of Amy Teslin-Davies.

* 'Satellite' has gone on to receive incredible reviews, including:
- 9/10 review in POWERPLAY magazine (May)
- 8/10 review in CLASSIC ROCK magazine (Feb)
- 4 stars in ‘R2’ (Rock'n'Reel) Magazine (March/April))
- Rave review in the Musician's Union Journal, 'THE MUSICIAN' (Summer 2010)

* January 2010 – Panic Room was chosen as one of the ‘TEN FOR 10’ bands-to-watch by GET READY TO ROCK webzine. This meant the online music magazine gave special attention to Panic Room throughout 2010, with articles and promotion. 'Satellite' was then voted 3rd best album by visitors to the website.

* March 2010 – A 3-page Feature Article on Panic Room appeared in the new CLASSIC ROCK PRESENTS PROG magazine, including in-depth interviews with both Anne-Marie Helder and Jonathan Edwards.

* March 2010 (& Autumn 2010) – UK Live Tours, taking in the length & breadth of the UK with debut performances in many cities, including Glasgow, London (Islington), Manchester, Swindon and many more…

* April 2010 – Panic Room supports the legendary ‘Hawkwind’ at St David's Hall, Cardiff (30th April)

* May 2010 – ‘Satellite’ title track features on the cover-cd of CLASSIC ROCK PRESENTS PROG magazine

* May 2010 - Panic Room play their debut gig at Shepherds Bush Empire, supporting Wishbone Ash (London, 15th May). The Panics’ set then had a great review in July’s edition of Classic Rock Presents Prog.

* Summer 2010 – Panic Room were one of a handful of bands asked to contribute a unique track for the ‘ELP Special’ edition of CLASSIC ROCK PRESENTS PROG magazine.
Celebrating 40 years of Emerson Lake & Palmer, the magazine asked each band to choose 1 song from the ELP back-catalogue and record their very own version of it. After much mulling, Panic Room chose the manic rocker ‘Bitches Crystal’, and then hit the studio to record a groovy, swampy version of the track!
Legal wranglings over some of the tracks then meant the cover-cd was never released (!); but Panic Room added the song to their Live set, and hope to release it for fans in 2011.

*July 2010 - Yatim Halimi joins Panic Room, after the departure of Alun Vaughan.
Both phenomenal musicians, Panic Room wished Alun on his way with nothing but love and respect, and the greatest of success for his future career; and welcomed new recruit Yatim (who had played with drummer Gavin on many other occasions) with wide open arms!
Yatim has been an amazing addition to the Panic Room line-up, and we know you love him just as much as us!
We want to thank him for all his hard work and dedication this last few months – Yatim, you are a star!


* August 2010 - PANIC ROOM play at The Cambridge Rock Festival

* September 2010 – The song ‘Sunshine' features on the cover-CD of ‘R2’ (Rock'n'Reel) Magazine. The perfect summery choice from the album ‘Satellite’.
…Meanwhile, the Panics hit the road on their September UK Tour.

* December 2010 – Panic Room play a double-gig with the lovely guys from Touchstone, ending the year with an awesome set at the Robin 2, Bilston. A spectacular and sparkling night!

* December 2010 - 'Satellite' voted as 5th Best Album of the Year in Jerry Ewing’s column, in CLASSIC ROCK Magazine’s 'Best of 2010' Issue (Jan 2011 edition)

- 'Satellite' voted 6th Best Album of 2010 by the Critics of CLASSIC ROCK PRESENTS PROG, with many contributors placing Panic Room in their Top 5, and 11 of the 20 writers featuring ‘Satellite’ in their 20 best albums of the year.

* January 2011 – New Year, New Website… and a 3rd new album to make this year!!!




So!!! What a year 2010 was ..... and now, bring on 2011!
We hope it's great for you too, and all those you care about.

Love from your friends,
Panic Room ~

Anne-Marie, Jonathan, Paul, Yatim and Gavin *x*