Beat the blues with Luton band CerberStacks at The Black Horse this weekend

If you’re fed up with all the current doom and gloom, shimmy on down to The Black Horse in Hastings Street on Saturday night (March 11)

Pub band CerberStacks will be playing their particular blend of glam, punk, blues and rock ‘n’ roll alongside some covers and their own material, including H-A-T-T-E-R-S! – the anthem dedicated to Luton Town boss Mick Harford and the many friends affected by prostate cancer, with all proceeds from the download going to Prostate Cancer UK.

The event will feature drummer Ricky Lee Brawn’s light-up drum kit as well as his air raid siren.

Lead vocalist Helen Shadow explains: “We're old enough to remember a time when people didn’t take themselves quite as seriously as they possibly do now so we try to make each gig a full-on live event and bounce off whatever’s going on in the audience.”

She adds: “There will be no drum machines, backing tracks or miming – nothing artificial and all 100 per cent and in the moment, warts an’ all, which makes for a really exciting atmosphere.”

The band also comprises Chris Cummings on bass and backing vocals, and sound engineer Matt Kelly.

Music brought Helen and Rick together many moons ago and they’re now man and wife.

Both are specialist technicians at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design in London. Rick teaches metalwork while Helen’s skill lies in letterpress printing and traditional signwriting.

Chris is a retired biologist who’s enjoying spending more time with his music and organising festivals.

The trio came together at one of his long-standing annual charity events Cerberfest.

At the time Helen and Rick played rockabilly under the title Giant Haystacks. Chris was with Cerberus and the couple ‘borrowed’ him because they loved his solid, rhythmic bass work.

They’re still together and came up with the name CerberStacks in 2019, celebrating all their roots.

They’ve been evolving in one form or another for several years and their fan base not only continues to grow but stretches as far as Australia – so they think they must be doing something right.

Helen smiles: “Our heroes are too numerous and probably too obscure to mention.

"But in our set you might find a bit of T Rex, ZZ Top, Howlin’ Wolf, Everly Brothers, The Stranglers, Dave Clark Five, Dr Feelgood and Chuck Berry.”

Rick toured the US extensively with his former swing band, the Big 6 and the couple have played around the world together and separately.

Nowadays they’re more or less confined to weekend festivals because of their day jobs.

But Northern France is a favourite – it’s easy to get to and the band always goes down a treat. Especially with crazy French bikers, according to Helen: “They’re always lively and treat us exceptionally well at their events.”

And Luton’s Black Horse is a regular gig: “We love playing there. It’s a really mixed and friendly crowd, the ales are good and we always have a fun-packed evening.

"We bring in a local support act – the Rockbottoms – and DJ Crazy Fish.”

Don’t miss them at The Black Horse on Saturday – the evening kicks off at 8pm.