Last few shows

26/01/2012. We’re into the last few shows on the tour now. We’re having a great time, but we’re beginning to run low on some of the T shirts! If you want to get a shirt and we haven’t got any left, do not despair!

Be sure to let us know what you want so we can restock the right quantities of the right things and we’ll send them out when they’re back in stock!

You guys are great, we tried to anticipate what to order based on the industry rule of thumb and you’ve taken us completely by surprise! Sorry about that!

Right, that’s quite enough time off…

25/01/2012. Today we set out on the final 4 show run of the tour. Tonight, the Lamp in Hull, tomorrow we’re at Sheffield Corporation, Friday at the Roadhouse in Manchester and Saturday is the final show – a home town show in York at the Duchess. All the details are here.

We’re on the home stretch now, and it’s shaping up to be a Rocking week with great supports – so don’t miss it!

1500 miles and still rocking…

22/01/2012. The Morpheus Rising circus takes a couple of days off now after nine shows, one or two KFCs, far too many “milkshakes” and a broken bass string.

Time to recharge the batteries, catch up with what’s been going on at MRHQ, restring some guitars, send out the CD orders, and record a radio interview before heading to Hull on 25th to start the final leg of the tour which has seen us clock up 1500 miles so far across England, Scotland and Wales.

We’re having a ball, and it looks like you guys are too, from what you tell us and the posts on Facebook. So come and join us in Hull, Sheffield, Manchester or York for the final shows of this adventure! It’s going to ROCK!

1000 Miles and rolling

20/01/2012. We’re half way through the tour in Swansea tonight, and we’ve just passed 1000 miles since we left home. It’s been a great tour so far, and we’re looking forward to more of the same.

After Swansea tonight, we’re heading over to Cambridge tomorrow night at the Man On The Moon, then Leicester Soundhouse. Then next week more of the same, ending up on the last night at a home gig in York at the Duchess!

Here’s to the next 1000 miles, see you on the road!

Yorkshire Pudding Rally

20/01/2012. We’re really excited to be able to announce that we have been asked to appear at The Yorkshire Pudding Rally near Sheffield this year, which will be held over the first weekend of August. The actual date we’ll be playing is yet to be finalised, but rest assured we’ll keep you posted!

Great start!

17/01/2012. We got back yesterday after four great shows in Wakefield, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and after one night at home with the pipe and slippers, we’re already climbing the walls and dying to get out there and play more shows.

Tomorrow we head out again for a five show run, Mansfield, Birmingham, Swansea, Cambridge and Leicester this week… Can’t wait! All the tour info is here

See you on the road! Keep up with the latest madness on Twitter or Facebook too, just click the links at the top of the page…

And so it begins!

13/01/2012. We’re off! The tour kicked off last night with a great night at the Snooty Fox in Wakefield. Great to get back out on the road again. Many thanks to City of Conquest and Syanide for support slots, to the staff and everyone at the venue, particularly Malc – you’re a star, mate – and especially to everyone who came down to see us. We had a ball!

Next, we head North, for shows in Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow… hope to see you there for more of the same!

10 days and counting…

02/01/2012. Happy New Year! With just over a week to go before the first show, it’s all go here gearing up for the tour. We can’t wait to get out on the road – it’s what the band’s all about, we love it!

All the tour date details are here, but pop over to the Facebook event page here and let us know you’re coming! Share the link and invite your rock chums!

See you on the road.

Let The Sleeper Awake featuring on Minster FM

20/12/2011. Minster FM’s Chris Marsden is featuring Morpheus Rising and tracks from Let The Sleeper Awake on Tuesday to Friday this week as part of his Unplugged feature at 9:45pm! Be sure to listen in tomorrow for more!

Minster FM is on 104.7 in the York and Thirsk area.

Planetmosh reviews Let The Sleeper Awake

17/12/2011 We’re getting some great feedback from all over the place on the album, and Planetmosh has published a great review of Let The Sleeper Awake… “If you think the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon are dated then let me introduce you to Morpheus Rising, a York based traditional metal band with a 21^st century kick to it…” Read more here.

You’ll also find “Lord Of The North” on the cover disc with this month’s Classic Rock Society magazine, Rock Society, and the 2012 tour dates adverts in Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Rock Society. It’s all shaping up to be a great start to the New Year.

Let The Sleeper Awake launch gig

10/12/2012. What a great night last night at York Fibbers to launch the album! We had an absolute blast.

Many many thanks to everyone involved, to Tim Hornsby and Fibbers staff, to Also Eden for a great set opening up for us, but most of all to all of you who came out and made it such a great night. You guys really do make a difference to the band on stage… You ROCK!

And to everyone who bought Let The Sleeper Awake last night, thank you! We hope you enjoy it! We certainly enjoyed making it.

Lord Of The North Video Uploaded

10/12/2011. The more eagle eyed among you may have noticed that we’ve swapped out the video stills at the top of the home page for the Lord Of The North Video itself. We had hoped to get this online for the album launch last night, but ran into a last minute technical hitch, which is now solved.

We love it, and many many thanks to everyone at Flash Frame Productions for all their hard work – above and beyond the call of duty. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it!

Let The Sleeper Awake – Out Now

09/12/2012. The day has finally arrived to unleash the album. Let The Sleeper Awake is available as of today!

You can buy it from all the usual online outlets (although with some it may not be online yet) but if you buy it from us as a CD or a download – you’ll get 2 bonus download tracks not available anywhere else! AND, if you buy the CD from us, you can have the download including the 2 bonus tracks immediately so you can enjoy the album now while you wait for the postman.

Click here for more…

It’s alive… alive, I tell you!

06/12/2011. It’s finally here… The Monster has arrived – the first copies of Let The Sleeper Awake have arrived here at MRHQ. And it looks great. We’re really pleased with it. Sounds pretty good too.

Still a few ‘I’s to dot and ‘T’s to cross, but we’re winding the spring now ready for the launch on Friday, so pop back then and order your copy! Oh yes and don’t forget the launch party at Fibbers THIS FRIDAY, with Special Guests Also Eden. It’s shaping up to be a fantastic night.

We’ve also just taken delivery of the MR tourbus too, so all in all it’s been an exciting few days. See you on the road.

Panic Room at the Robin, Bilston.

06/12/2011. What a fantastic gig at Bilston, supporting the amazing and really lovely Panic Room. We’ve known Anne-Marie for ages, in fact, she was the photographer for our first proper photoshoot as a band. It was amazing to get the chance to share a stage with the band. They are a truly lovely bunch of people who made us feel so welcome.

So to all the Panics a huge heartfelt thank you. And additionally, thank you to everyone who came down to the gig and gave us such a warm welcome, we had a great night and look farward to seeing you again – hopefully some this weekend in York, and again in January on the tour. You rock!

Tour News

23/11/2011. We’re really pleased to be announce some of the bands who will be appearing with us in January. So far, Sianyde, Dog Moon Howl, Shorthorse, Jewels, Shadow Of The Sun, and Pastel Jack are all confirmed as special guests during the tour. We’ll post more info as more details are confirmed.

Full info and links to the bands’ own websites are on the tour pages.

January 2012 tourdates announced

21/11/2011. January 2012 will see the band touring the UK to support the new album, “Let The Sleeper Awake”. The tour kicks off in Wakefield on January 12th, and the band will be on the road for almost three weeks, with shows across the UK. Supports will be announced as they are confirmed.

We’re dying to get back out on tour again, and look forward to seeing you out the road.

Check out the tour page for full info.

The Monster has left the building

21/11/2011. The album is mastered, and has left the building to go for manufacturing… We’re all very excited and dying to get our hands on the final product here at MRHQ.

We’ve heard the tracks as they will be on the CD, we’ve seen all the artwork… but there’s nothing quite like seeing the actual CD in your hands… All on schedule for the launch at Fibbers in York on December 9th. We can hardly wait!

The moment has arrived…

10/11/2011. At last, we can finally reveal details of what we’ve been working on for the last few months… The new album, Let The Sleeper Awake, will be available from December 9th!

More than that, there’s a home town Launch Party show at York Fibbers, with the amazing Also Eden on the bill too to help us celebrate. Tickets are available here in advance, or catch one of us out and about if you can!

Let The Sleeper Awake has been a labour of love for us over the recent months, trying to capture something of the band’s live performance into something studio based. The album features some firm favourites from the live show, such as Lord Of The North and Those Who Watch, alongside new tracks like the title track Let The Sleeper Awake and Daylight…

It’s been great fun and hard work, taken lots of coffee, several chocolate biscuits and one or two beers to achieve, but finally, it’s almost finished. One or two tweaks here and there just to finish it off, but essentially it’s done, and we’re think it’s something very special. We’re very very pleased with it, and we really hope you’ll enjoy it just a fraction as much as we have creating it.

There’s a whole bunch of folks we need to thank for helping along the way, but most important at this point is to thank all of you who have supported us over the years, helped us keep the faith and encouraged us to push just a little harder. Without you, this wouldn’t have happened. You guys ROCK!

Thank you.

Panic Room date confirmed

01/11/2010. We’re very pleased to announce that we will be supporting the amazing Panic Room at the Robin 2 in Bilston on December 4th. Anne-Marie Helder has been a great friend of the band since the very beginnings, and we’re really looking forward to this opportunity to work with Panic Room at long last. This is really going to be a fabulous night with Panic Room, Sarah Dixon and Morpheus Rising on one bill… Can’t wait.

We have more exciting news and dates to announce very soon, so keep an eye on this news feed and the tourdates page for all the latest!

Kingston and Swindon dates with Also Eden

31/10/2011. Many many thanks to Rich Harding and everyone at Also Eden, we had an absolute blast supporting them at The Peel in Kingston Upon Thames and Swindon 12 Bar. A big thank you to Sarah too for all her help. An honourable mention should also go to Liam at the 12 bar for a fantastic welcome despite losing repeatedly to Morpheus Rising at pool…

York Guitar Weekend

16/10/2011. We had a great time at Fibbers last night as part of York Guitar Weekend. Many thanks to everyone who put the whole event together, particularly Phil, Lynne and all at MOR, Tim and all the staff at Fibbers – and everybody who came down to support the bands and raise money for some great local charities!

York Guitar Weekend

13/10/2011. We’re really pleased to be playing as part of York Guitar weekend. Loads of live music and events all over the city all weekend, all put together by our friends at MOR Music. All in aid of a variety of local charities too.

We’ll be onstage at Fibbers for a quick half hour taster set at 6:30PM – with bands all day from 11AM!! This will be a great day – hope to see you there.

Oh yes, and it’s free entry too!

Gallery update

11/10/2011. We’ve just updated the gallery with some pictures from last weekend’s gig at York Duchess. Many thanks to Jon Hudson for the photos! Click here for the gallery.

Great night at the Duchess.

10/10/2011. York Duchess, Saturday night – what a great night! Supports from Cryptic Age and Lost Effect and a great crowd who more than made up for the miserable cold and drizzly night all made for a fantastic show. We’d been on a video shoot all day which we can’t wait to see the footage from, so it was great to get back into the warm and even better to get back onstage again… feels like an age since Cambridge!

Many thanks to everyone who came down to see the show – and thanks for braving the weather. Here’s a review from Valkyrianmusic.com.

Busy Busy Busy…

07/10/2011. It’s been full steam ahead over the summer, working hard on the album. Recording is complete, we’re into the production stage now, and it’s sounding great. We’re really excited as it starts to come together. We begin work on a video this weekend too…

Better yet, we’re back out on the road again this weekend – with a show at York Duchess this Saturday, The Wesley Centre, Maltby Rotherham next weekend, and then heading South for supports with Also Eden at the end of the month… All the dates here.

Can’t wait to get back on stage! Seems an age since Cambridge!

New tracks uploaded!

15/09/2011. We’ve uploaded 3 tracks to the Music page for you to play and download! These latest pre-studio versions of Lord Of The North, Those Who Watch and Let The Sleeper Awake (previously unreleased anywhere) feature Si Wright’s vocals and reflect the band in 2011.

We’re hoping to get a chance to hear how things are sounding in the studio over the weekend, before getting stuck into finishing off the recording of more songs next week. Meanwhile, enjoy! Click here.

Exciting times…

05/09/2011. A very busy week last week saw Pete and Daymo in the studio continuing the guitar work for the album, meetings to go through plans for artwork and details of the album itself. We’re really excited about the cover, it’s going to look fabulous. Gibbo has been busy too making plans for the next few months and into 2012.

More of the same this week, plus the beginning of the production work for the album, which we’re really looking forward to!

There’s exciting times ahead for MR, and we’ll announce it all as soon as we can. Stay tuned!

The show must go on…

30/08/2011. Due to circumstances beyond their control, The Reasoning have had to postpone their show in York at the Duchess on October 8th, and will reschedule for a later date.

Morpheus Rising will now take over the headline slot for this show, with supports to be announced very soon. Watch this space!

Back in the studio and yet more gigs

23/08/2011 Daymo and Pete are in the studio this week working on guitar parts for the album, and report back that it’s sounding huge! We can’t wait to hear it here at MRHQ…

We’ve also been able to confirm yet more dates to the October tour. We now kick off with a headline show at Sheffield Corporation on September 30 and support Final Conflict at The Wesley Centre, Maltby, Rotherham on October 22nd. On top of that, we’ll also be playing a short set as part of the all day show at Fibbers for York Guitar Weekend on 15 October.

October is shaping up to be a great month for MR, full info on all confirmed shows and links for tickets here.

New dates announced…

18/08/2011. Following on from appearances on the Classic Rock Society stage at Cambridge Rock Festival, we’re really pleased to announce that Morpheus Rising will be supporting Also Eden at the Peel in Kingston Upon Thames and the 12 Bar in Swindon on 28th and 29th of October 2011. More info soon!

More dates are in the works for the Autumn so keep an eye on the tourdates page… click here.

Morpheus Rising rocks Cambridge Rock Festival 2011

10/08/2011. What a weekend! Over a hundred acts on four stages over four days, a great family atmosphere, spectacular organisation, a great bunch of people behind the scenes and a fantastic crowd, plus a little luck weather wise. The band had a blast. As Gibbo put it when we left the site on Monday morning, “That was mint!”

We arrived on Friday morning – good job we set off early as it turned out, we understand that there was a horrible hold up after a crash on the A14 and many people got held up. We’d not have made our slot on Friday afternoon if we had got caught up in that! We wish anyone hurt in the crash a speedy and complete recovery! We’d always planned to stay for the duration, and we’re really pleased we did we had such a great time all weekend, catching up with old friends, meeting new ones and enjoying the music, the atmosphere – and the beers…

We played The Classic Rock Society Stage on the Friday afternoon, following Also Eden, a band we’d heard great things about – and Pete had met Rich Harding briefly a couple of years back at a Marillion Convention in the Netherlands, so it was great to have a chance to hear the band (albeit while getting our gear set up behind the scenes). Inevitably at a festival, we had to trim the set back a little from the usual longer show, but we really enjoyed the show and the crowd seemed to enjoy it too. Morpheus Rising standard Lord of the North seemed particularly popular! Many thanks to Les and the guys who did the sound for us and on this stage all weekend – both monitors and Front of House, the onstage sound was absolutely fantastic. And out front the sound was huge from what people are saying. Thanks mate! We’ll be adding the best of the photos of the show in the coming days.

All too soon it was all over and we were heading off to build the tented village (nicknamed Morpheus Rise by Pete who’d even brought a nameplate for his tent), and crack open the first of far too many beers over the weekend. We soon found ourselves in amongst the York mafia – our neighbours were Mostly Autumn, Heather Findlay and Stolen Earth. Excellent company!

Musical highlights? Almost too many to mention… Panic Room, Mostly Autumn and Stolen Earth (ok, we admit, we’re biased, but they were great), Also Eden, Mr So & So, Credo, Kyrbgrinder, Chantal McGregor, The Quireboys… the list goes on.

Non musical highlights? Where to start? Rob and Alexis’ monster new Land Rover, meeting Chantal McGregor (who is lovely), spotting a guy with wearing last year’s Morpheus Rising Tour shirt (and finding our name on the CRF 2011 shirt), meeting all sorts of lovely people with some great comments about the show… Far too much to mention here!

We’d love to be back at CRF next year – but that’s up to you guys! Please tell Cambridge Rock Festival if you enjoyed the Morpheus Rising and want to see us again – and tell the Classic Rock Society too – they put us on the bill this year on their stage, so it’s all their fault!

We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the festival – Dave and Julia Roberts, all the organising staff, catering, stewards and festival crew, lighting and sound engineers, bar staff, stallholders, all the bands and musicians, and of course everyone who came and enjoyed the whole event. And above all, Miles Bartaby at The Classic Rock Society for giving us the opportunity to play. You guys Rock! All of you!

Morpheus Rising debut new line up at York Fibbers

02/08/2011. Last week was a big week for the band with a trip to see Iron Maiden at Manchester MEN and a chance for Pete to catch up with friends backstage, and a fantastic first show with Si at Fibbers in York, we’re all ready for Cambridge Rock Festival this weekend. Bring it on!

Gibbo, Daymo, Si and Pete went over to Manchester to see the mighty Maiden at the MEN Arena last Thursday – normally a relatively easy journey in itself, but it turned into something of an adventure when trains ground to a halt completely at Leeds due to a signal failure. Nothing was moving in either direction, so we had to resort to a taxi – there was no way we were going to miss this! It was worth it though, a great night, Iron Maiden rocked as always – one of the greatest bands of all time.

Pete and Dave Murray’s guitar tech, Colin Price have worked together at Marillion, and Colin gave him the full guided tour backstage – Eddie(s), guitar worlds, hospitality, the works. Pete can also vouch for the fact having watched their show from stage left that all of Airborne’s 12 stack guitar backline is plugged in and powered up! Old school, no dummy cabs there! Just the way we like it here at MR! Many thanks to Colin – you’re a star.

Saturday night saw the first show with the new line up at Fibbers in York. A home gig for us, it was a chance for the band to run through the set live before appearing at Cambridge Rock Festival this coming weekend. And a great night it was too, an excellent way to welcome Simon Wright to the band. Si put in a sterling debut performance and we’re all really looking forward to hitting the stage this weekend. Many thanks to all who came down to Fibbers and made it such a great night!

This week sees us gearing up for Cambridge Rock Festival. We’ll see you on the Classic Rock Society Stage at 2:35 on Friday 5th August. We’ll be staying for the whole weekend, so come and say hello!

CRF11 Warm Up Show announced

The band have added a show in York as a warm up for the Cambridge Rock Festival, at Fibbers in York on July 31st. This will be the first chance to see the new line up in action with Si Wright fronting the band, ahead of the show at Cambridge Rock festival a few days later on August 5th.

This should be a great show, being a home gig for the band – and a return to Fibbers after the final show of the old line up there at the end of May. Don’t miss this one!

Support for this show will be MöRDERSTEIN.

Morpheus Rising at Cambridge Rock Festival 2011

The band will be appearing on the Classic Rock Society stage at Cambridge Rock Festival on Friday August 5th, adding to the York based bands on this year’s roster, alongside Heather Findlay, Stolen Earth and Mostly Autumn.

With such a strong line up for this year’s CRF, the band is looking forward to a weekend of great music and great company, with the opportunity to catch Panic Room, Mr So & So, and Credo as well as the York contingent, and meet up with friends and fans from all over the country and further afield too.

Be sure to come and say hi!

Simon Wright to join Morpheus Rising

We’re pleased to announce that Simon Wright will be joining the band to fill the vacancy left by the departure of vocalist Graeme Tennick. Simon will be making his debut fronting the band at the Cambridge Rock Festival on August 5th.

Simon’s outstanding vocals with Burnwylde prompted MR drummer Gibbo to get in touch, and the rest is history. Once Simon had recorded a couple of vocals on MR tracks it was immediately apparent that his powerful and versatile vocals were a great match for MORPHEUS RISING. Simon will continue to front Burnwylde as well as MR.

In addition to the first show at Cambridge Rock Festival (see separate story), the new line up will return to the studio to continue recording the debut album, a project which was put on hold temporarily while personnel changes were completed.

Following Grae’s final shows at the Forces Festival at Double Hedges near Bulford on May 29th and York Fibbers on Bank Holiday Monday May 30th, Grae is due to head to pastures new in Kenya but will remain very much part of the team. He will continue to look after the band’s online presence, a role which he has filled behind the scenes since the band’s beginnings back in 2008.