Not an ordinary week this one. Lots of painkillers of increasing strength and rank smelling deep heat rub was used in an attempt to swerve my necks undying efforts to make me as uncomfortable as physically possible. A pulled neck muscle, with added spasms and an appearance not too dissimilar to the hunchback of le Notre Dame = bad times. But I’m over it.

Andy Salomon and I have been putting on our wrexhammusic.co.uk local band nights for 3 years this month and to celebrate this momentous, landmark age we have got together an earth movingly extra special gathering of local bands, 8 in total, to take over Central Station in Wrexham tomorrow night. Our wrexhammusic.co.uk birthday parties have become a yearly highlight in recent times with the last two birthday events having over 400 people getting into the party spirit and without doubt this year’s birthday looks set to be another storming success. Just so you know who we’ve got in store for you or who you may unfortunately be missing out on, here is the line-up rundown.

Headlining the revelry will be local legends Camera. One of the most successful bands to come out of Wrexham in recent years they will be releasing their new EP in the very near future – I’ve heard the mixes of it and it sounds nothing less than pure melodic gold. In 2006 they released their debut album ‘Ashes and Dim Light’ which received critical acclaim and helped them secure a slot opening the Tsunami Benefit Concert at a sold out Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

JKLMNO are another band who are making a name for themselves having played on the same stage as Morrissey, Leonard Cohen and a host of huge acts at last year’s Benicassim Festival in Spain. Recently they’ve had airplay on BBC Radio One and BBC Radio Wales. The Maydays play Libertines/Arctic Monkeys style indie tunes at a ferocious pace. They are rightly headlining the second stage at this year’s birthday party after a string of impressive slots at the wrexhammusic.co.uk nights over the past few years. No Room For Heroes are set to storm the stage and will almost certainly be headlining a wrexhammusic.co.uk gig this year. They are undoubtedly are one of the most promising young bands to appear on the local scene for several years. Like the Maydays and No Room For Heroes, Parody have a large local following and it is easy to see why with their melody driven indie-rock tunes, they’ve got a new guitarist in to, so make sure you don’t miss their new look.

New to the wrexhammusic.co.uk nights are Juno & the Mook, who feature former members of Little Caesar. This will be their second and biggest gig to date and they are eager to make a name for themselves on the local scene and beyond. Another band who will be making their first appearance on a wrexhammusic.co.uk bill are The Witherdons. See what all the fuss is about for yourself when they bring their indie/folk inspired tunes to the stage – if you like The Django’s then this is a band for you. A new band on the local music scene, Jamie Cee & The Chimercial Band will be kicking off the night. After the bands finish, Neal Thompson’s Indie Rock n Roll club night will run until the wee small hours (for those lucky enough to be over 18). We’ve got free tacky birthday goody-bags for the first 50 people through the doors, which open at 7:30pm. Tickets are £4 and £5 on the door.

A new music shop opened in Wrexham last week called ‘Country Music Stores’. The name suggests a banjo packed, Kenny Rogers shrine complete with bolo tie wearing shop assistants but you’d be way off the mark thinking that. Once I found out about the new shop on Charles Street (by Apollo Taxis) I trundled down there to find out for myself. Guitars, both of the electric and acoustic nature, amps, brass, woodwind, sheet music and all types of accessories. A good show indeed and I’ve heard there’s still more stock to come.

Telfords Warehouse have The Troubadours playing tomorrow night. They’re big in Japan. That’s usually a good indicator to tell you they are in-fact rubbish but in this case I don’t think that’s true. The Troubadours have recently been on tour with the Modfather himself Paul Weller, The Metro’s and had their debut album produced by John Leckie (Stone Roses, Muse and The Who). Indie rock at its finest. Doors are 8pm.

Join me next week when I’ll be delivering you all the gossip from our birthday gig and the habitual low-down of the coming week’s events. Don’t forget to email me at ben@wrexhammusic.co.uk with your news. Take care.