The Alarm ‘Deeside’ Live at Manchester’s Deaf Institute May 14th

A video shot from within the audience from Mike Peters sell out Alarm gig on Thursday nights at Manchester’s Deaf Institute has popped on YouTube.

In it Mike Peters, who hails from Prestatyn talks the crowd through the inspiration behind the iconic song Deeside, which opens side two of the original ‘Strength’ album released in 1985.

The song documents the closure of Shotton Steelworks back in 1980, Mike says the song is inspired by the closure and people it affected, following the loss of 8000 jobs in one single day on Deeside.

He tells the audience:

“It was a massive blow to a community that prided itself on sticking together..

It put a lot of people under pressure all of a sudden, a lot of people who i went to school suddenly their parents weren’t working anymore.

I thought it would have been easy to write a song about the villain of the peace, but what was inspiring for me was the heroism i saw everyday, fathers going out making something out of nothing so there children could eat.

People rallied together in their communities to make something happen, to give people something to live for, some hope and some strength and to build on the values that had had driven the community, i wrote this song about their plight but also about their recovery.”

Mike has been on a sell out tour of the UK which kicked off in Worcester at the end of February and finishes on Sunday 17th May in Chester.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4v5VKH8YZU