The Dodgems

Poptones’ The Dodgems bass-machine fills in for Artic Monkeys....

THE musician chosen to rescue Arctic Monkey’s American tour will be playing with a broken hand, it was revealed today.
Nick O’Malley, pal of the million-selling Sheffield band, was revealed as the man to fill the shoes of bass player Andy Nicholson when he pulled out of the tour.

But a former bandmate of the 20-year-old said Nick was flying out to Canada with a pot on his right hand after a shattering it during a post-pub prank.
Nick was been tight-lipped ever since he landed one of pop’s top temping jobs.
But Phil Goodwin, singer with rising stars The Dodgems, was with Nick when he tumbled over a wall while returning from a bar.
“Two weeks ago we went out to the local pub with one of the lads who roadies for us. As we were walking home the other lad grabbed him and pulled him over our neighbour’s wall.
“It’s quite high and he landed on his right hand. It is his plectrum hand and he has a pot on it but he says he can hold a plectrum.”
Phil, whose band have just been playing some of the biggest shows of their career with top indie rockers The Subways, also revealed Nick was quite “shy” and quit The Dodgems after a tour so he could finish his education.
“He didn’t quit so he could join the Arctic Monkeys, as some papers suggested.
“He left us last September. We did a single with Alan McGee’s Poptones label and did a tour and when we got back he left. At the time he wanted to get back into education and do the second half of his A-levels so he could go to university.”
The Dodgems live in High Green, same village as three members of Arctic Monkeys, and Nick went to college with that band’s singer Alex Turner. Ironically, the Arctics opened a show for The Dodgems before signing a record deal, scoring two number one singles and making the fastest-selling debut album in UK music history.
“Malley is a nice guy, although he can be a bit shy, but I think he will be all right. He might be a bit nervous when he first gets out there,” said Phil of the Arctics tour, which also takes in several key US cities.
“Part of the reason for leaving us was he missed being at home. But this is just for three weeks and I think he would have snatched their hand off.”
The official reason for Arctic’s full-time bass player Andy pulling out of the tour was fatigue.
He is at home in Hillsborough while his band mates begin their third north American tour in nine months.
Phil, whose band have been in an EMI studio recording demos, didn’t want to speculate further but said he understood why the workload might have got to the stocky 20-year-old.
“It has happened pretty quickly for them. It’s not like they’ve been going for years and years.
“It happened pretty fast and he might not have had time to prepare for it.
“The level they are at it would have to be something pretty bad to make him pull out.
“He probably just needs a break. It does happen.”

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