Big
Mac’s were formed in 1991 as the house band for the legendary
Hollywood Club in Newport. Within months of their formation The
Commitments film was released and the band, being of a similar size
and specializing too in 60’s Soul music, were inundated with work,
constantly playing in every club, pub and eat house in South Wales.
In a short time they were supporting The
Commitments at a number of venues and were soon welcoming offers of
work that took them to holiday camps, five star hotels and
nightclubs both in the U.K. and abroad.
The line up is that of tenor sax, trumpet
and trombone, bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, two dynamic female
vocalists and charismatic frontman Mike ‘Big Mac’ McNamara.
Mike is a Soul singer in the purest sense of
the word, thus the band, though more than adept at producing the raw
edged originals of Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Otis Redding and
James Brown, are also proficient in the more polished spheres of
black music, Motown, Philly, Funk and those glorious vocal harmony
drenched ballads. Vocalists, however, are only as good as their
backing band permits and Big Mac has The Wholly Soul Band…easily the
best in the business.
The Band has
played Cairo, Tenerife, Germany and Dublin as well as settings here
in the U.K. as diverse as The Café Royal and The Marquee Club. Such
far reaching appeal is witness to the band’s adaptability and
versatility. The band is fully self contained with lights, p.a.,
transport, road crew and a highly efficient sound engineer capable
of gauging the needs and requirements of every audience, venue and
event.
To date Big
Mac’s have appeared on the bill with a vast number of top names,
from Edwin Starr, Jimmy James and The Vagabonds, Van Morrison, The
Pasadenas and Jools Holland to Go West, Dodgy and Shed7.
Appearances on t/v and radio shows, touring,
playing, rehearsing and performing have all served to polish the
bands act, repertoire and musicianship without ever diminishing its
energy and enthusiasm. There are a great number of bands possessing
a similar set and structure but none with such inspired
authenticity. As members of The Commitments said… ‘We’ve found
Wilson Pickett!’
From its very beginning the band has been
immensely popular, building a rock solid reputation. They are a firm
favourite at weddings, festivals, corporate events and social
gatherings where a first class, energetic and wholly infectious good
time act is required