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Glamour Of The Kill Visit Teenage Cancer Trust Ward

Lead singer Davey Richmond blogs about his Secret Session experience for Rock Sound...

When we were asked to play the Secret Session we were honoured because, to us, the Teenage Cancer Trust charity is something very special. Unfortunately, these days even if you haven't suffered from cancer you know somebody who has, so it’s a charity almost everyone can relate to in some way. For me it’s sadly an all too familiar subject, as my fiancé lost her sister to leukaemia at just four years old; it’s a matter that her family have had to deal with their whole lives and I have learnt a lot about.

The secret show in London at the Barfly sold out before the bands were even announced so I was a bit sceptical about how the show was going to go down - apparently there had been rumours it was going to be Megadeth or Anthrax! However, the line-up for the night was awesome and we had a chance to play with some old friends and make some new ones. The crowd were amazing and it turned out to be one my favourite London shows that we have played to date and, I must add, one of the hottest... I was tempted to play in my boxers that night.

A few days after the show in London we paid a visit to the Young Adult Unit at Leeds St James. On the run up to our visit we were all kind of nervous as we didn't really know what to expect. When we arrived we met Carrie-Ann who helps to run the ward, she gave us a tour of the ward which looked fantastic and the facilities were great. It was really trendy, with a pool table and a jukebox... it’s nothing like a hospital. We were taken to the lounge to meet a few of the patients who were all really welcoming and we set up to start playing acoustically. We played a few of our own songs and finished with a KISS cover. After that we sat down in the lounge and some of the patients got their own guitars out and sung some songs to us (Fleetwood Mac, Crowded House and Turin Brakes to name a few) – it was such an eye-opening moment because when we first arrived I was worried that they wouldn't know who we were or really want us to be there, but when they started jamming with us and playing it made us feel really appreciated and they were all so talented and in to their music. What I was unaware of at the time was that one girl was having chemotherapy while we were playing and afterwards we learnt how the machine worked. In the short amount of time we were on the ward I learnt so much about the patience, the medicine that saves them and the disease they are all fighting.

Teenage Cancer Trust is an amazing charity as it brings all the people who are suffering from this together so they can share their experience with other people who understand what they’re going through. They let children still be children, teenagers still be teenagers, young adults still be adults, and make the wards more like a youth club than a hospital - most importantly, they listen to what the patients want and strive to make this happen. I had an amazing day being part of the trust and spending time on the ward and I would love to go back again to jam with all the inspirational teenagers.


To learn more about the Teenage Cancer Trust head to teenagecancertrust.org, remember tickets are still available for our final Secret Session (and Sonisphere Wrap Party) on July 14 in Manchester. Get tickets here now, they won't be around too much longer!