Spirit of 97 love rockin' Pop Punk and Rock anthems that include bangers from the likes of Blink 182, Green Day, Good Charlotte, and The Offspring plus many many more...
Join us for a truly nostalgic 'Dad Rock' experience as we ignite the stage with our electrifying performances and leave you craving for more.... see you at a gig soon!
Formed in 2022, Spirit of '97 brings you all your favourite pop punk and rock crowd pleasers from the late 90s, and early naughties. Perfect for a rock and roll wedding, ideal for a summer festival, great for filling up pubs and clubs, this high-energy band brings experienced musicians together delivering all your favorite hits!
Chris Camm - Vocals
Chris has been in love with music for as long as he can remember. Family holidays spent listening to Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Squeeze and Linkin Park on the car’s multi track are his earliest memories and it all escalated from there. A devoted fan of Rock music but has a playlist that stems from Beethoven to Beyoncé. He has gigged for over 10 years with various cover bands, released an EP of original music and currently performs a solo acoustic set when he’s not playing out with us.
He still hasn’t quite worked out what to do with his arms when he’s singing and not holding a guitar but as long he can see people on their feet having a good time and singing along it won’t bother him. When he isn’t on a stage Chris works as a copywriter and has more hours on the game Football Manager than he cares to admit. If you see him after a gig and want to discuss tactics and what team you’re currently playing then he’s all ears.
Yin Mo - Guitar
Yin grew up around music and has fond memories of his mum - who was rarely without music - playing the likes of Frank Sinatra and Matt Munroe around the house. His own passion was born, however, when at the age of 12 he heard the first few bars of 'Alternative Ulster' by Stiff Little Fingers and things stirred in 12-year-old Yin that had never been stirred before! Punk has been in his blood since that day, and will remain there till the end of days!
Yin was first inspired to pick up a guitar by the band 'Big Country' and he's never looked back! The 90's saw Yin playing live with a band, but gigs really kicked off for him in 2012. He played live wherever he could, until Covid rocked up and spoiled it. Fast forward to today and Yin is excited to get on the road with Spirit and get back to doing what he does best.
More of Yin's influences include Nirvana, Limp Bizkit, Green Day, Blink 182, Deftones, Korn, and Smashing Pumpkins.
When he's not making music Yin endures the inconvenience of making a living and once jumped out of a plane on purpose.
He'll see you in the front row!
Joe 'BONGO' White - Drums
Joe has thus far spent twenty six years on this planet, and he's had drumsticks in his hands for almost all of it.
During the day, he is forced to fund his crippling tattoo habit by managing people that build things, but his true passion lies in music.
Inspired by the likes of Travis Barker from Blink 182, Joe hits those drums fast and hard, and has never played a show he didn't bring his absolute all to.
Joe feels ever grateful to his loving and supportive family that push him to be the be the best at what he does. Joe inherited a passion for music from his parents, and credits them with where he is today.
Joe breaks things. Cymbals, eardrums, his own bones. He's had many a broken finger from drumming - other achievements include throwing himself off a skateboard breaking his arm, and throwing himself at a curb playing street football - fracturing his skull.
He looks forward to making you deaf for a day or so...
George Waugh - Guitar
George has been playing guitar for 18 years - after a few years away from bands and gigging he’s excited for this new challenge!
His heart lives in live music, so much so that he has dedicated his life to it, achieving a sound engineering degree and working many gigs around the country - making them all sound perfect, naturally. George can be found listening to anything from Chuck Berry to Ozzy Osbourne or Iron Maiden to Rush, but the guitar in any music is always his focus. Having been greatly influenced by heavy rock and metal. He has a passion for guitar and the power and emotion it can encapsulate and bring to any song. With influences deeply rooted in hard rock and metal, this project is vastly different to his previous bands. However, his passion for live, loud music has him desperate to get back out there gigging with Spirit!
When he's not drooling over the perfect solo, George ensures that Kevin the Carrot teddies are evenly distributed around the North East and is occasionally forced to travel by his lovely wife. When asked, 'George, what's the maddest thing you've ever done?!' He declined to comment... so we think it's probably something mental.
Come and let him melt your face off!
Mark English - Bassist
Mark's love of music bloomed at a very young age. Blasting music from his bedroom as loud as he could was a regular occurrence. With a deaf mother and a father working away - the only people he could piss off were the neighbours!
His love of hair metal, in particular Twisted Sister, Europe, and Bon Jovi (well... it was 1984!!) had Mark longing to play live, even at such a young age. He formed his very first band in 1985 with school friends that gigged at school events.
A few years later, his thoughts turned to all things melody as he picked up a guitar. Heavily influenced by The Beatles, Jim Hendrix, Led Zeppelin & 90's Hip Hop, he formed another band, where he played rhythm guitar as well as taking on lead vocals. This eventually led to him dabbling in writing his own original music.
Mark loved the nostalgia of pop punk and rock from his favourite bands of the late 90's and early 00's - and he knew audiences would too... he formed a band to include music from Blink 182, Green Day, Good Charlotte, Limp Bizkit, and more - thus.... Spirit of 97 was born!
When you come to see So97, he's the big fella on bass!
If you have any questions or queries, we're always happy to help!
