Sunday
30th August
A
good time was had by all – including myself, Malcolm
Dome and my brother-in-law Stuart – at the second
sold-out night of Hawkwind’s 40th anniversary celebrations.
Let me take this opportunity to echo the goodwill directed
at Dave Brock, the rest of Hawkwind, the band’s
manager Kris and all that strove to make the Porchester
Hall shows so successful. I’m a big fan of Hawkwind,
have been since the night in November 1980 that I saw
them for the first time (complete with NWOBHM power-trio
Vardis as support). Slightly off topic for a moment, but
the drummer on that occasion was none other than Ginger
Baker. The ex-Cream legend had played on the band’s
masterful ‘Levitation’ album but would depart
before too long. In fact, so legend has it Baker –
self-proclaimed as “the best drummer in the world”
– parted company with the Hawks following a gig
in Liverpool. During an after-show confrontation, Ginger
allegedly told Brock he was “the worst guitarist
in the world”. If substantiated, Brock’s retort
of “Well, the worst guitarist in the world just
sacked the best drummer in the world!” is perhaps
one of the ultimate put-downs in rock and roll history.
It’s
perhaps this type of single-minded attitude that has kept
Hawkwind afloat of four decades. But the same reason may
also explain why the promised array of special guests,
many of whom have aligned themselves to Nik Turner’s
Hawklords, stayed away. There were rumours that David
Gilmour was in the crowd on the Saturday night, though
I didn’t see him. It’s an indisputable fact,
however, that Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson had
welcomed the group to the stage 24 hours earlier. The
MC also read out some greetings from those that couldn’t
make it. Alongside a more formal greeting from Eric Clapton,
Girlschool sent a missive that read: “You lying
bastards, you said you were 35”. Bob Kerr of the
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band Band, in whose basement Hawkwind’s
earliest rehearsals had taken place, dropped by to play
the horn on ‘Lighthouse’, and Huw Lloyd Langton
performed an acoustic support set (intriguingly, Hawkwind
also played unplugged earlier in the afternoon billed
as The Elves Of Silbury Hill), but mostly the band just
got with delivering a great night of classic space-rock
that peaked with renditions of ‘Spirit Of The Age’
and ‘Silver Machine’ – the latter being
especially rarely played these days. Here’s the
full- set-list: ‘Warriors’, ‘Assault
And Battery’, ‘The Golden Void’, ‘Where
Are They Now’, ‘Lighthouse’, ‘Space
Is Deep’, ‘Angels Of Death’, ‘Wraith’,
‘Green Machine’, ‘Spirit Of The Age’,
‘Silver Machine’, ‘Sentinel’,
‘Lord Of Light’, ‘Magnu’, ‘Brainbox
Pollution’, ‘You’d Better Believe It’
and ‘Right To Decide’, with encores of ‘Hassan-I-Sabbah’
and ‘Fahrenheit 451’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
29th August
What
a pleasant Guestbook message from somebody hiding behind
the name of Spudgun.
Palace
0 (zero?) The Mighty Blues 2 (deux?). Kinda like Eddie
Van Halen humouring the guitarist from the BulletBoys.
“Yeah, cool man. Keep grafting.”
With none of the success and twice the talk, Manchester
City are fast becoming as conceited as their neighbours
ManUre. What Spudgun forgot to mention was that the starting
line-up of his City team cost £162m to assemble.
Palace’s is worth a mere £2m. So it didn’t
take Einstein to predict the result. Doesn’t it
go to show, money won’t necessarily buy you class?
Anyway,
I’m in a fantastic mood. It’s a beautiful
sunny day here in London and although I’ve a set
of sleeve notes to complete over the Bank Holiday break
I’m off to see Hawkwind tonight. On top of that,
I’ve just received box full of goodies from Universal
Records (many thanks Steve!), which includes the Deluxe
Editions of Leppard’s ‘Pyromania’ and
‘Adrenalize’ albums, neither of which I’ve
owned on CD before, plus the gatefold, heavyweight double
vinyl versions of the first three Black Sabbath albums
(each including a slew of bonus tracks). Absolutely. Bloody.
Superb.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
28th August
Yes, Crystal Palace lost last night. Yes, I was there
to see it. Yes, I’m **extremely** hung over. But,
no, in this instance I’m not disappointed. One of
the daily papers described our League Cup second round
home tie with Manchester City as an “archetypal
clash of paupers and princes”. Not content with
outlandish bids for just about anybody with an ounce of
talent, City – funded by oil-rich Arabs –
have just splashed out almost £23 million on a Lego-headed
defender to complete a £100M summer spree. The Eagles,
on the other hand, didn’t spend a single penny during
the summer break, pulling in free transfers, Bosmans and
promoting youth players to the first team. Sitting in
the pub before the match, gulping down booze to numb the
pain, it was communally agreed that anything less than
a 3-0 spanking could be regarded as a moral victory.
Having
scored a last-ditch equaliser against Palace in our one
and only FA Cup Final appearance, Mark Hughes will always
be on my Shit List, but fair play – ‘Sparky’
fielded pretty much a full-strength City side, including
said Lego-headed defender (Joleon Lescott). It was amusing
to watch the disbelieving faces of those around me as
the team sheet was announced: “Toure… Bridge…
Wright-Phillips… Ireland… Barry… Robinho…
Adebayor… Tevez”. The Selhurst crowd –
including a pitiful turnout on behalf of the visitors
– was on the edge of its metaphorical seat from
the off. Tevez was, unsurprisingly, booed every time he
touched the ball and inspired the night’s best chant
of “Shit Maradonna/You’re just a shit Maradonna”.
At one point, after a emitting a lusty cry of: “Fuck
off, Tevez, you fat, short-arse, overrated, over-paid
Argie cunt” I felt compelled to apologise for my
bad language to the nice lady that sits next to me in
the Holmesdale stand. As she smiled warmly in response,
her hubbie added wisely: “That’s only necessary
if you say something inaccurate.”
In
fact, Palace acquitted themselves with honour, scrapping
for every ball and keeping the scores level until just
after half time. The game ended 0-2, capped by a goal
from the “shit Maradonna”, which Shaun Derry
might have prevented had he jumped – sadly, the
captain’s battery was just about expired. Late on,
the Eagles claimed for two penalties – the shout
for handball looked definite – but ended up walking
off with the most important prize of all, a cheque for
£60,000 from Sky TV that will allay the club’s
money worries… for now.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
27th August
What
an absolute waste of a night, not to mention a Travelcard.
For several months, the PR for a band called Invasion
has been trying to get me along to one of their shows.
No, despite the name they’re not a Magnum tribute
group, hahaha! And having played the trio’s debut
album, ‘The Master Alchemist’ (due on October
4 via This Is The Music), I was extremely keen to check
them out. It’s big, groovy, fuzz-toned, doom-laden
female-fronted metal; a little like Mother's Finest meeting
Monster Magnet in an Amsterdam hash den. So last night
I arrived at the Underworld only to find that not only
were Invasion lined up to play at 11pm, and allotted just
half an hour (perhaps not so surprising given that the
dozen songs on ‘The Master Alchemist’ last
for just 31 minutes), but that I hadn’t even been
guestlisted. I made it in anyway and killed some time
reading Lemmy’s autobiography. But by 11.25 there
was **still** no sign of Invasion, so I cut my losses
and headed off for my last train – very peeved indeed.
On
a far less frustrating note, the third album from Transatlantic
– the prog supergroup comprising members past ‘n’
present of Dream Theater, Spock’s Beard, Marillion
and The Flower Kings – drops at last in October,
with European touring commitments due to begin on Oct
23. Tantalisingly, Disc One contains the record’s
title cut, a 77-minute piece of music called ‘The
Whirlwind’. And on Disc Two, the band augment four
original tunes with a variety of covers, including –
OH MY GOD! – ‘The Return Of The Giant Hogweed’
by Genesis. I simply cannot wait…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
26th August
Three
cheers #1 – The gig scene appears to be back in
business after a fairly barren spell. Reports to follow.
Three
cheers #2 – Following a few days of bills, leaflets
and surly letters from the bank, the postie as just delivered
a huge batch of mail. Diamond Head’s ‘The
MCA Years’ is a three-CD box that finally makes
the ‘Borrowed Time’ and ‘Canterbury’
albums available on CD at last (domestically speaking),
plus a further 11 tracks sourced from the Reading Festival
in ’82 and a BBC In Concert that same year. Nice
packaging, too. The Deluxe Expanded Edition of Venom’s
‘Black Metal’ is now swelled by a DVD of the
trio’s ‘Seven Dates Of Hell’ gig at
Hammersmith in 1984, plus a smorgasbord of outtakes, B-sides
and promo videos. Pretty bloody definitive, if you ask
me. Fittingly, considering I will be attending one of
the band’s 40th anniversary shows this coming weekend,
I’ve also received the updated version of Carol
Clerk’s book The Saga Of Hawkwind – it’s
now almost as weighty as the telephone directory. The
new issue of Fireworks
magazine is also here and looks stuffed with plenty to
read, with Dream Theater on the cover.
Three
cheers #3 – A video of a brand new Mr Big song,
‘Next Time Around’, has been posted online.
Eric Martin looks so darned young that he could be in
the Partridge Family – I like it. Can’t wait
for their London gig in just over two weeks.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
24th August
The Ashes are back in England's grasp once more. Faced
with a copy deadline of tomorrow morning for a couple
of important stories, I sat in my office attuned to the
radio as the Aussies stubbornly kept England at bay until
the dramatic run-out of captain Ricky Ponting turned the
game on its head.
Having completed my work, I sat in front of the TV and
became rather misty-eyed as England inched closer and
closer to the finish line, the last five wickets falling
for a mere 21 runs in 48 balls. Finally, at 12 minutes
to six and with the umpteenth glass of cider in hand,
England regained the Urn they had surrendered so abjectly
in Australia three winters ago. Given how poorly they
performed in the Fourth Test, it was something of a shock.
But despite their statistical superiority, the Aussies
have looked distinctly mediocre for most of the series,
with England managing to deliver when it most counted.
I'd be the first say that the victory owed a little to
Lady Luck - how many times did we win the toss; how many
dodgy umpiring decisions were made? - but overall, Strauss'
men were good value for money. Now back to reality...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
23rd August
Palace's 0-2 defeat to Newcastle wasn't entirely unexpected.
The Eagles created enough chances to have taken something
from the game but were never going to come back from conceding
yet another stupid early goal against a team stuffed with
internationals. Realistically, the Geordies deserved their
three points and look a very safe bet to return to the
Prem at the first attempt.
Though events at Selhurst were entertaining it was hard
not to have mentally drifted across south London to the
Oval, where mobile phone reports continued to suggest
that England's batsmen were piling on the runs and heaping
misery upon the Aussies (not that I take any delight in
such a statement, mind). Andrew Strauss having elected
to declare at 545-9, the tourists now a run-chase that
surpasses any other in the history of Test match cricket.
Nevertheless, only a fool would write off the Aussies,
and today will be bloody exciting.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
22nd August
Incredibly,
England have seized the initiative in the cricket. Following
a total of 322, the Aussies reached 73-0 and appeared
to be cruising to victory. Then followed a quite extraordinary,
exhilarating passage of play that saw 10 men depart for
a mere 87 runs, with Stuart Broad seizing a five-wicket
haul. Day Two ended with England on 58-3, ahead by 230
on a disintegrating wicket. Truly amazingly stuff. In
a way (and I can’t believe I’m about to write
this), I’m almost reluctant to head off to Selhurst
for Palace’s game with the Geordies.
Following
the sensational events at The Oval, a pint or two of liquid
relief was in order. Fortuitously, a gig just happened
to be taking place at The Anchor, a new music venue in
Lewisham, just a short walk away from Ling Towers. How
would Juicy Lucy fare without frontman Ray Owen, who left
at the start of the year, leaving the band as a three-piece
with no original members? Surprisingly well, I’d
say. With guitarist Mr Fish now also fronting the show,
they rock with a slightly harder edge than blues purists
might expect, offering songs from band’s original
incarnation (‘Mississippi Woman’), a chunk
of 2006’s comeback disc ‘Do That And You’ll
Lose It’ (‘Silver Bird’, ‘Species’,
‘Freedom’), a cover of the perennial ‘Cocaine’
and, of course, their biggest hit – a re-make of
‘Who Do You Love?’ Complaints? Well, I’m
not even gonna get into the ethics of them persevering
minus Owen (who currently fronts his own rival group),
and I suppose Mr Fish is a functional singer and not a
truly great one, but the band is incredibly tight and
their show is a lot of fun. A willingness to perform for
more than two hours, despite being in a half-empty pub,
also represents exceptional VFM.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
21st August
Sorry
to say, the Aussies have the upper hand in the final Test
Match. Having won the toss and elected to bat, 400-plus
seemed a realistic target for England to aim for. Given
that the wicket was a little more unpredictable than it
appeared a first day total of 307 is perhaps passable
– but for the loss of eight sodding batsmen??!!
With the script set for a Botham-like performance in his
penultimate (now possibly final) test appearance, Flintoff
was among those to give his wicket away inexcusably cheaply
at the Oval. This is likely to be the most important day
of the entire series. It’s all about how England
bowl and the Aussies bat on a surface that will definitely
throw up a few surprises.
Not
too long ago Jeb Wright of the Classic Rock Revisited
site asked whether I might contribute to a list of the
Top 100 Most Influential Hard Rock And Heavy Metal Songs
Of All Time. Well, the votes are in and during the next
month, a week at a time, Wright will unveil the results.
76-100 can be viewed here.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
20th August
Gotta
win the toss!
Gotta
win the toss!
Gotta
win the toss!
Gotta
win the toss!
Well,
the 2009 Ashes is set to reach its climax this morning
as the Aussies arrive at the Oval. With the series tied
at 1-1, the visitors require just a draw to retain The
Urn, England must win. Last time around I was lucky enough
to have been at the Oval when a classic innings from Pietersen
(who, sadly, remains injured) helped to seal one of the
most memorable and thrilling sporting triumphs of all
time. The talismanic Flintoff is back, though his fitness
remains uncertain. A good start from England is imperative…
also, of course, a little luck.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
19th August
I'm basking in the afterglow of Crystal Palace's first
win of the season, an apparently emphatic 3-1 victory
at Ipswich. With two further goals to his name, Darren
Ambrose has the makings of the playmaker/striker we've
missed since Ben Watson's departure - thanks **so much**
to the Clowns for supplying his services without a fee,
hahaha. This was just the result, and indeed the performance,
that the club needed before the visit of the Geordies
(whose fire-sale has just continued with the sale of Damien
Duff) on Saturday. The icing on the cake was that in their
lower division, Shiteon were stuffed 7-1 - brilliant!
Hammer have sent me a real corker of an album to review.
Enochian
Theory are a young, UK-based progressive metal band
with strong orchestral/symphonic-sounding tendencies whose
independently released debut album, 'Evolution: Creatio
Ex Nihilo', has already elicited praise from such tastemakers
as Bruce Dickinson and Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.
It's a dark, brooding and challenging piece of work that's
best savoured in one fell swoop - preferably with the
lights off.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 18th August
At lunchtime I sped down to Selhurst Park to reserve
my season ticket seats for the CPFC-Man City League Cup
game. Nice to get that outta the way. With Classic Rock
about to go into deadline once again, I almost forgot
we have an away game against the Tractor Boys of Ipswich
and their Antichrist manager R*y Ke**e. So I’m sitting
here perusing the net, fourth glass of white wine before
me and the fantastic new album from a band called A.O.R.
entitled ‘Journey To LA’ (Escape Music, August
28) seducing my lug-’oles. Waiting for the team
news, I just stumbled upon a thread at the Palace discussion
group titled ‘Ever Had Sex At Selhurst (Or Any Other
Football Ground)?’ Hmmm… judging from the
responses it seems I am in something of an elite club.
Even broke the seat, if I recall (and indeed missed an
Eagles goal). Um, maybe I should log off now…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
16th August
When
is a goal not a goal? When it’s scored by Crystal
Palace against Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Yes, my beloved
Eagles were robbed when striker Freddie Sears fired past
Dean Gerken to take the lead – only for hapless
referee Rob Shoebridge to inexplicably rule that the ball
had not gone into the net and award a goal-kick to City.
Everyone else in the ground knew it had gone a yard inside
the post, hit a stanchion and bounced back out again.
Typically, Palace had dominated the game but couldn’t
make their superiority pay, only to leak one in injury
time. Witheringly, CPFC boss Neil Warnock says: “We
can put a man on the moon, time serves of 100 miles per
hour at Wimbledon, yet we cannot place a couple of sensors
in a net to show when a goal has been scored.” I
admire his restraint. Palace were also the victims of
a similar ‘phantom goal’ scenario when a perfectly
good Clive Allen goal was overruled in 1980. Methinks
it’s time to introduce goal-line technology.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
15th August
The new issue of Classic Rock, featuring the 100 Greatest
Guitarists, is here. To be honest, I tend to find such
articles a bit lame. This time, however, the musicians
concerned have been selected by fellow guitarists.
All the big names have chosen their faves; Beck, Page,
Edward Van Halen, Angus Young, Iommi, May, Vai, Gilmour,
Slash, Satriani, Hetfield and Hammett, Neil Young, Joe
Perry... you get the drift. plus a few wildcards like
Satchel from Steel Panther. My interviews with Francis
Rossi, Bumblefoot, Leslie West, Steve Howe, Vinnie Moore,
Steve Lukather, Paul Gilbert, Alex Skolnick, Mick Box,
Andreas Kisser, Martin Barre, Brian Robertson, Chris Goss
and Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks) are all included, though
you'll have to buy the magazine to find out the heroes
of those concerned. As you'd imagine, there's a heavy
UFO/MSG/Scorps presence, including a nice big colour pic
of Uli Jon Roth, with Kirk Hammett saying lovely things
about him. I laughed aloud at Luke Morley's contribution,
a tribute to Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter. Morley recounts being
in the lavatory of the Guitar centre in Los Angeles when
the Steely Dan/Doobie Bros legend walked in. "I thought,
'Fuck, it's Skunk Baxter!' and promptly peed all over
my leg," confides Luke, "So I decided I wouldn't
shake his hand."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
14th August
Dammit, dammit, dammit – I hate it when that
happens. There are so few appealing gigs on the horizon,
I licked my lips at the announcement that Europe are to
join Uriah Heep and Jack Bruce in playing a special show
during the week of the Classic Rock Awards. “Fantastic,
I must be at the Garage on November 1st,” I thought.
Opening the page to etch it into the diary, I realised
that a gig was already down for that date – Francis
Dunnery’s ‘New’ It Bites at Bush Hall.
Um… don’t suppose anyone has a time machine
they could loan me?!?
Dave
Lewis has kindly sent a copy of his book Then As It Was,
Led Zeppelin At Knebworth: 30 Years Gone (order it here),
an anniversary reflection upon a pair of now legendary
gigs that I was I’d been able to attend. Looks like
a thumping great read. I actually had a ticket for one
of those Knebworth shows (can’t remember which),
but with my folks considering I was too young to go, I
ended up selling it to a school-friend. Even three decades
later, it’s a subject that still eats away at me.
Funnily enough, I wasn’t old enough to have made
the trip; Ross Halfin was there taking pictures…
funny, that. [For those that are unaware, when he’s
not travelling the world or queuing for his pension, Ross
takes great delight in calling me ‘old’ at
his website diary].
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
13th August
I
was appalled by the blasé attitude with which certain
England ‘stars’ approached last night’s
game with Holland in Amsterdam – also, in truth,
by manager Fabio Capello’s laissez-fair post-match
attitude to the lazy, schoolboy errors from Rio Ferdinand
and Gareth Barry that gift-wrapped the opening two goals.
Yes, we **know** it was only a friendly, Fabio. Of course
it’s best to make such gaffes in non-competitive
games. It was the pair’s attitude, the team’s
body language, that was unforgiveable. I cannot abide
Jermain Defoe, but his introduction saved the game as
England first levelled, then deserved to steal an unlikely
win with the final minutes ticking down. If players are
still mentally on the golf course when the season begins,
please… for f**k’s sake… let’s
leave them there.
I
awoke to the news that Palace have drawn Manchester City
at home in the second round of the League Cup. Simon Jordan’s
accountant will have been praying for such a windfall
– a Sky TV payout and 26,309 fans at a floodlit
Selhurst Park. Whether or not City bring their full range
of overpaid first-teamers to SE25, they are unlikely to
relish such a blood ‘n’ thunder (some might
call it ‘thud ‘n’ blunder’) trip.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
12th August
Just
3,140 fans – myself and eldest lad Eddie among them
– turned up at Selhurst to see Palace ease into
the 2nd round of the Carling Cup, a brace from Darren
Ambrose sealing a hard-fought but eventually comfortable
2-1 win. Warnock had fielded a strong side, though how
we scored just twice having forced so much pressure, against
a League 2 team, is pretty worrying. No matter –
we are still in the hat. With Shiteon and the Clowns both
crashing out of the competition (the latter humiliated
by Hereford United), let’s have my second team Leyton
Orient away in round two please.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
11th August
The
new version of UFO’s ‘Headstone’ album
just dropped onto my desk. Originally issued in August
1983, ‘Headstone’ was a rather odd ‘greatest
hits’ and ‘friends and relatives’ collection
that also featured material from Scorpions, Lone Star,
MSG, Wild Horses and Whitesnake, plus five songs from
a supposed ‘farewell’ show at London’s
Hammersmith Odeon. After unearthing six additional tracks
in the archives, EMI have jettisoned the superfluous non-UFO
material to re-title and re-package the album as ‘Headstone:
Live At Hammersmith 1983’. It works quite well.
The postbag also contained ‘Terra Incognita: Beyond
The Horizon’, a potentially fascinating album by
a group called Roswell Six that unites members past ‘n’
present of Dream Theater (James LaBrie), Saga (Michael
Sadler), Asia (John Payne), IQ (Martin Orford), Kansas
(David Ragsdale), Shadow Gallery (Gary Wehrkamp) and more
with the duo of Lana Lane and Erik Norlander for a bout
of deliciously pomp-infused prog-metal. Also… here’s
another odd one… anyone remember the band Charlie,
featuring eventual Bad Company/Fastway producer Terry
Thomas? Amazingly, Thomas has put the band back together
for its first album in almost a quarter-century. Available
via Voiceprint, who will also be re-issuing the band’s
back catalogue, ‘Kitchens Of Distinction’
gives Terry an platform to **really vent**, about wannabe
celebs (“Her tits enhanced with silicone/Double
Fs her gateway to the stars”, from ‘Get A
Life’), the self explanatory ‘Shit TV’,
rampant consumerism (‘It’s Not Enough’
and ‘Cars’), size zero waifs (‘West
Coast Thing’) and, hilariously, those that allegedly
attempt to conceal their sexuality (“He’s
pictured with so many girls/Yet he’s still alone
in this world/There question is there, it won’t
go away/Is Robbie Williams gay?”).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
10th August
My Sunday was spent at the Cambridge Rock Festival,
an event I’d not visited before. Previously known
as the Rockin’ Beer Fest, it offered a decent array
of bands and 12 different types of cider, most of which
I believe I managed to sample, including a hot, spiced
and rather potent one that fulfilled its job just before
the commencement of Asia’s set – lovely!
The first band I witnessed were Godsacksman, a
frighteningly young (16/17-year old!), local five-piece
that has made great progress since recruiting a lively
new singer. I was greatly impressed by Breathing Space,
an offshoot of Mostly Autumn. Fronted by the delectable
Olivia Sparnenn, whose unbelievably long legs and Lycra
outfit made it looks as though she had stepped out of
a Pussycat Dolls video, and with MA’s guitarist
Bryan Josh complemented by two keyboard players, the band’s
airy, smooth blend of prog-pop was just what the (rock)
doctor ordered.
Next up were Airrace, who had made the long journey
from… well, across two fields, where guitarist Laurie
Mansworth happens to live. Though once again without Jason
Bonham on drums, their set was tight, melodic and hugely
impressive. With the event already running 90 minutes
late, and wary of repeating the debacle of the previous
night (which saw the Quireboys going on at 2am), the organisers
reluctantly decided to remove a band from the bill, so
bye-bye Karnataka (they at least got paid, though that
was hardy the point). Promoting a new album called ‘Wintercoast’
that had been pressed into my hand backstage, the female-fronted
Touchstone offered a delightful blend of prog,
pomp and metal. Oddly enough the record, which was mixed
by It Bites’ John Mitchell, also features a narration
from actor Jeremy Irons… equally quirky, they ended
with a romp through ‘Mad World’ by Tears For
Fears, a band that are something of a guilty secret passion
for yours truly.
I caught the end of Simon McBride’s set in
the blues tent, which made me wish I’d seen more.
Faced with watching Focus for the umpteenth time or having
a peek at Sons Of Albion, the band fronted by Robert
Plant’s son Logan, I pursued the latter to find
myself in a tent occupied by around thirty people –
ouch! Though the band’s music is darkly sombre and
relies upon outbursts of bombast, wisely, SOB don’t
sound anything like Led Zeppelin. I’d been warned
that they have more in common with, say, Kings Of Leon.
I probably won’t lose any sleep if our paths don’t
cross a second time, but they are certainly good at what
they do. Focus were just finishing as I checked
off the last few ciders from my list. When they played
‘Hocus Pocus’, the place went absolutely barmy
– and rightly so.
Asia,
however, were hands-down the day’s best group. Faced
with an 85-minute set, they wisely avoided solo sections
and material from their other related acts (save for a
version of ELP’s ‘Fanfare For The Common Man’)
to include just two selections from current disc ‘Phoenix’,
purring through various classics from the band’s
first two CDs. There really are few better experiences
than sipping politely at the 13th cider of the day as
the original line-up of Asia – John Wetton, Steve
Howe, Geoffrey Downes and Carl Palmer – soars majestically
through ‘Here Comes The Feeling’. Here’s
the full set-list: ‘Wildest Dreams’, ‘Only
Time Will Tell’, ‘Time Again’, ‘An
Extraordinary Life’, ‘My Own Time (I’ll
Do What I Want)’, ‘Open Your Eyes’,
‘Fanfare For The Common Man’, ‘Here
Comes The Feeling’, ‘Never Again’, ‘The
Heat Goes On’, ‘Sole Survivor’ and encores
of ‘Don’t Cry’ (played electrically,
for once) and ‘Heat Of The Moment’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
9th August
The
did-Scott-Ian-say-it-or-not saga rumbles on. Anthrax’s
guitarist now claims **not** to have denied telling Dave
Mustaine of Cliff Burton’s amazing claim that Metallica
were plotting to sack Lars Ulrich in 1986 after all, which
must leave Mustaine a relieved man. But the question remains:
How on earth did Ian’s Twitterer have the authority
to post such an important Tweet without his knowledge…?
Hopefully it will bring closure to this story… the
only reasonable conclusion to which I can reach is that
Metallica actually did contemplate removing Ulrich from
their midst at the conclusion of the ‘…Puppets’
tour. Wow – that’s pretty momentous.
And
now over to the Sports Desk… Palace’s opening
game of the season against Plymouth Are Gargoyles finished
1-1, Alan Lee having restored parity after the home side
leaked a silly early goal. And, as I feared, Australia
have humiliated England’s cricketers to level the
Ashes series, taking just two and a half days to win by
an innings and 80 runs. Jeez, that hurts. Once again,
the contest will be decided at the Oval in 10 days. Somehow
I doubt it will have the same joyous outcome as it did
in 2005.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
8th August
Things
don’t look good in the cricket (slight understatement).
Yesterday morning, as Geoffrey Boycott so rightly stated
during the radio commentary, saw England “throw
away The Ashes”. Skittled out on what seemed like
a flat wicket, having elected to bat, a dismal 102 was
England’s lowest ever total at Headingly. At the
start of day two the Aussies are 100-odd runs ahead with
just four wickets down. Looks like the series will be
level once more by its swansong at The Oval. Obviously,
however, if the trashing that now looks likely comes to
pass, momentum will be with the convicts, who would require
just a draw to retain The Urn.
On
a (marginally) more optimistic note, today is the first
day of a brand new footie season. My beloved Crystal Palace
begin the campaign with a home game against Plymouth Argyle
blighted by a transfer embargo and reports of money worries.
A contract is a contract, of course, but how players like
James Scowcroft, who made 10 appearances with no goals
and one red card, turning down the chance of several loan
moves, can morally defend suing the club for their full
wages is beyond me. Apparently we owe John Oster £47K
– unbelievable. My head tells me that the 2009/’10
is unlikely to be a brilliant season, but my heart tells
a different story. So… roll on 3pm. Let’s
stick it up the Gargoyle, and wiggle it about a bit.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 7th August
Dave Mustaine is several different people, and the
most interesting thing about interviewing him is that
you never know which one you’ll meet. Or rather,
that used to be the case. Megadeth’s mainman has
mellowed in recent years. Yet even someone that’s
crossed swords with Mustaine twenty times or more knows
he’s to be approached with care and trepidation.
Well, I met Dave again yesterday and left with a superb
array of quotes. He gave me the lowdown on the now seemingly
ended feud with Slayer (“I’m still open to
being friends with Kerry King”), his frustration
at Lars Ulrich ‘semi-inviting’ him to the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (where he was told he could
attend the ceremony but not be on the stage), the dichotomy
between his new belief in God and the “witchcraft”
he used to perform, the political nature of the band’s
new album ‘Endgame’, his joy (and deep astonishment)
at being No. 1 in Joel McIver’s recent book The
100 Greatest Metal Guitarists, even how happy he is to
have restored full credibility to the Megadeth name (“As
my career nears its end, it’s finishing at the top”).
Several websites have also picked up on the fact that
Mustaine – through gritted teeth; he **really**
did not want to go there** – stood by his recent
claim in Rolling Stone that Scott Ian had told him Metallica
were planning to sack Lars Ulrich back in 1986 –
something that the Anthrax man quickly refuted. The full
transcript is out there on the net, but its gist was:
“I was trying to help Scott promote his autobiography.
I love Scott and would never do anything to hurt him –
never. I wish I could just make the story go away. But
I didn’t say it, [Scott] did.”
A few days earlier, Mustaine’s side of the story
was echoed by a story from Geoff Barton at the Classic
Rock website, which read: “Circa 1986, a few of
us from Kerrang! went out for a drink with Scott Ian and
[Anthrax drummer] Charlie Benante. We distinctly remember
Ian pretty much telling us that Metallica were thinking
of changing drummers, although not blatantly. So, we suspect
Mustaine isn’t making this up…”. Sheesh,
what a mess.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
6th August
Doesn’t
it make all the difference when promoters bother to book
a decent support act? As if I wasn’t already anticipating
last night’s gig by Jack Bruce, Robin Trower &
Gary Husband, the news that Joanne
Shaw Taylor would open the show added an extra spring
to my step. I’ve been a fan of Brummie-based singer,
guitarist and songwriter JST (nothing to do with the similarly-named
“Keep ‘em peeled” Police 5 presenter
of the same name) since her ‘White Sugar’
album dropped onto my desk in January, but opportunities
to see her live had thus far eluded me. I wasn’t
disappointed. An initially standoffish Shepherd’s
Bush Empire became more and more responsive as it realised
that Joanne can really make that geetar howl, the highlight
of a 40-minute set being the Stevie Ray Vaughan-esque
‘Blackest Day’. My friend and CR colleague
Neil Jeffries had no hesitation in picking up a copy of
‘White Sugar’ to investigate at home, just
like many people I saw on the tube afterwards.
To
be brutally honest, much as I respect the talent of Jack
Bruce, it was an appreciation of a fellow Catford old-boy
– Mr Robin Leonard Trower – that **really**
drew me to the show. But, wow… for a guy of 66 years
old, Bruce still has a resilient set of pipes. Unsurprisingly,
BT&H’s set was mostly drawn from the current
album, ‘Seven Moons’ (I recognised the title
cut, ‘Lives Of Clay’, ‘Distant Places
Of The Heart’, ‘So Far To Yesterday’,
‘Just Another Day’, ‘The Last Door’,
‘A Bad Case Of Celebrity’ and ‘Come
To Me’), with ‘Carmen’ from ‘BLT’
another notable inclusion. Inevitably, though, the place
went maddest for a handful of Cream classics. ‘Sunshine
Of Your Love’ was extended – ‘Trower-ized’
might be a more accurate term – to 11-and-a-half
minutes of pure Wah-Wah bliss, alongside the ‘Disraeli
Gears’ album cut ‘We’re Going Wrong’,
the perennial ‘White Room’ and an encore of
‘Politician’. A wonderful evening.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
5th August
I’ve
just been playing the excellent new House Of Lords album,
‘Cartesian Dreams’ (Frontiers, September 21).
Frontiers are accumulating a stellar roster of acts. The
news that the Italian melodic rock label has signed Nelson
– former Kerrang!-ites will remember the duo of
Matthew and Gunnar (sons of rock ‘n’ roller
Ricky) as being dubbed the Timotei Twins – for a
back-to-their-roots album titled ‘Lightning Strikes
Twice’ is a welcome but unexpected recent development.
Recalling that Nelson actually topped the US chart with
the single ‘(Can’t Live Without Your) Love
And Affection’ in 1990 caused me to dig out their
platinum-selling debut album ‘After The Rain’
for the first time in aeons. Amazingly, it sounded just
as good as I hoped…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
4th August
I've finished reading Brian Manly's book on Brian
Connolly. A passionately expressed account of the late,
great lead singer of the Sweet's troubled early life,
rise to international fame and subsequent crash-and-burn,
The Man Who Sang Blockbuster (order it here)
reads very much like a fan-penned tribute - which, of
course it is. Manly is in such a hurry to expel his words,
they spill onto the page littered with all manner of typos.
Led Zeppelin, for instance, are called 'Lead' Zeppelin,
Jimi Hendrix becomes a more familiar 'Jim' and Suzi Quatro's
name is consistently misspelled throughout as 'Quattro'.
Meanwhile, Steve Priest is credited more than once as
Sweet's 'base' guitarist. Nevertheless, the author's feel
for his subject overrides such qualms. Within the first
few pages Manly 'outs' himself as gay before relating
a regrettable incident in a Watford nightclub in 1983.
Upon meeting his hero for the first time, Connolly allegedly
bursts Manly's bubble of joy by drunkenly propositioning
him with the line: "I can give you one if you want,
but it might take a while these days", before losing
consciousness and being removed from the premises by security.
Possibly benevolently, Manly theorizes that Connolly might
have mistaken him for female, going onto explain how the
singer remembered him the next time they met and apologised
profusely for his behaviour.
Such tawdriness aside, The Man Who Sang Blockbuster focuses
upon the timeless glory of Sweet's music and the backroom
tensions that would eventually seal their downfall. The
jealous rivalry between Connolly and guitarist Andy Scott
is exposed, likewise the entire group's dissatisfaction
at being ruled by the hit-making partnership of Mike Chapman
and Nicky Chinn. Justifiably, the author goes on to speculate
what might have befallen Sweet had they not severed ties
with the latter duo, who went on to compose 50-plus UK
hits in 12 years for a small army of artists, quite so
soon.
Ultimately, the book made me feel rather sad. Connolly
had fallen so far in his post-Sweet years that I was unaware
of his first two solo 45s, only discovering what I now
recognise to be the third - 'Hypnotized', released via
the 'German' label 'Carriere' Records (Carrere were actually
a French company) in 1982 - shortly before seeing him
sing for one of the final times with the short-lived group
Connolly Encore, supporting Pat Benatar over two nights
at London's Hammersmith Odeon in January of the following
year. Check out this
embarrassing photograph of myself outside the venue
with several other confused-looking Sweeties, none of
whom I'd met before.
P.S. Dammit - the Third Test petered out into a draw.
But at least England still hold the advantage in the series
with just two games to go.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 3rd August
Yah boo sucks to anyone that dares to call test match
cricket a dull sport. With the Aussies resuming this morning
on 88-2, still 25 behind England’s total and with
Katich and Ponting already back in the hutch, all three
results seem possible on the final day of the pivotal
Third Test. Game on!!
I’m beginning to think that there are just two possible
results of matches featuring Crystal Palace – draws
and defeats. I was present yesterday at Selhurst Park
as The Eagles were overturned by Gillingham (um…
yes, Gillingham). Warnock had fielded a side that was
dominated by fringe players and reserves, though I’m
told the same was also true of the visitors, who triumphed
courtesy of a solitary Jack Payne goal but could easily
have scored two or three more. Worrying. Very worrying.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
2nd August
Better
late than never – a full-length version of my Kansas
feature from Classic Rock #80 is now available here.
Sadly, with all of yesterday’s play at Edgbaston
washed out, the Third Test is looking like a draw. So
Glenn McGrath’s advance boast that the Aussies will
win the series 5-0 is more hollow than ever.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
1st August
You’ll
probably call me a male groupie but last night I attended
another Airrace gig – my fourth since a reunion
earlier this year. Sadly, Jason Bonham had unexpectedly
flown home to America for “family reasons”,
which considering the band were headlining and obliged
to play a longer set than usual heaped extra pressure
on his deputy, Simon Dawson. In fact, the show was superb.
The Woughton Centre in Milton Keynes has a decent-sized
stage and the sound was perfect. Frontman Keith Murrell
was celebrating his birthday which also contributed to
a really good, intimate vibe. With label boss Derek Oliver
among the crowd, Murrell announced that Airrace’s
one and only album, the Beau Hill-produced ‘Shaft
Of Light’, is to be re-mastered and re-issued via
Rock
Candy Records in the coming months. So it made sense
that they included everything from it except ‘Do
You Want My Love’, once again filling things out
via a selection of yet-to-be-recorded older numbers (‘Wrong
Way Out’, ‘Keep On Going’, ‘One
Step Ahead’ and ‘So Long’), tweaked
arrangements and extended intros to ‘Didn’t
Wanna Lose Ya’ and ‘Brief Encounter’
making things more interesting still. My friend Steve
Way and I were grateful to have negotiated our way through
MK’s sanity-defying maze of identical roundabouts
and concrete cows to experience such a great night. Here’s
the set-list: ‘Caught In The Game, ‘Not Really
Me’, ‘Wrong Way Out, ‘First One Over
The Line’, ‘Promised To Call’, ‘Keep
On Going’, ‘Didn’t Wanna Lose Ya’,
‘One Step Ahead’, ‘So Long’, ‘All
I’m Asking’, ‘Open Your Eyes’,
‘Brief Encounter’ and an encore – the
band’s “first in 25 years!”, according
to guitarist Laurie Mansworth – of ‘I Don’t
Care’.
P.S.
With the visitors bowled out for 263 and England having
survived a nervy start – at one point they were
2-1 - the third day of the Third Test at Edgbaston is
excitingly poised. As I’ve said all along, however,
the weather will have a big bearing upon the outcome.
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