News: NWOBHM icon Thunderstick to return to live gigging in 2018

Following the extremely positive reception for ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ – the first new Thunderstick album in over thirty years – Barry Graham Purkis (aka Thunderstick) has announced a return to live gigging for Thunderstick the band in 2018. It follows the news that Thunderstick will be one of the acts on the bill for Hard Rock Hell 2018, after being selected by fans of the infamous hard rock weekender in an online poll.

Thunderstick creator Barry Graham Purkis comments: “I am delighted to announce that Thunderstick will be touring in 2018. The inclusion of the new reformed Thunderstick on the HRH bill for 2018 has given me both a feeling of pride and a real sense of achievement. It has been over 30 years since a Thunderstick band have toured. The genuine love that we have received from fans, from other musicians and from the music press in support of the ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ album has given us the impetus to once more crusade and fly the flag for NWOBHM / Classic Rock live.”

Hard Rock Hell XII takes place 8-11th November 2018 in North Wales. Other live dates will be announced next year.

Commenting on what fans can expect, Barry added: “The new shows will not only feature Thunderstick material, but also some Samson tracks. We want to pay respect to the Samson legacy by reliving the intensity of those songs.”

Something Wicked This Way Comes, released in July 2017, has been picking up rave reviews from around the world:

“the band vacillate between the hard-hitting glam rock of late-era Sweet and the crunchy riffola of NWOBHM” – Classic Rock magazine

“an absolute cracker of a comeback album 9/10″ – Bravewords

“like opening a doorway back to when rock and metal was at its newest and most raw” – The Moshville Times

“will vie for the #1 spot on my year end album ‘best of 2017’ lists” – Hotmetalonline

“A wonderful reminder of how good a drummer Thunderstick is and how much more there is to him than just the image” – Get Ready To Rock

First noticed playing with a developing Iron Maiden in the seventies then moving to Samson (being instrumental in finding a very youthful Bruce Dickinson) Barry Graham Purkis became the figurehead of the newly emerging NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) scene. This was done by creating an alter ego Thunderstick, a masked persona known not only for his wild style of playing drums but doing so from inside a cage and playfully terrorizing audiences. He went on to form his own highly theatrical band in the eighties. Fronted by a female rock ’n’ roll wildchild (something comparatively new for its time) Thunderstick the band was a perfect ‘Beauty and the Beast’ combination, playing live and recording for six years until it folded in 1987.

The CD album ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ is available for purchase via via https://www.freewebstore.org/thunderstick-productions and in download format via Bandcamp https://thunderstick.bandcamp.com/album/something-wicked-this-way-comes