Friday
31st December
Last
night’s gig from Black Country Communion was
my final live show of 2010. Talk about ending the
year with a bang! The Shepherd’s Bush Empire
was full to bursting point with a crowd that roared
the band on from the first, frantic ‘Phantom
Of The Opera’-esque notes of opening number
‘Black Country’ to a much deserved encore
of Deep Purple’s ‘Burn’. Having
witnessed the quartet’s ‘behind closed
doors’ live debut a few months back (see Diary,
21st September) and cheated a little by reading
the reviews of the previous night’s performance
in bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes’ home town
of Wolverhampton, I knew what to expect; most of
the first album (including that superb remake of
Trapeze’s ‘Medusa’), a track from
guitarist Joe Bonamassa’s catalogue (‘The
Ballad Of John Henry’), a Led Zeppelin classic
(‘No Quarter’) in honour of drummer
Jason Bonham’s dad John and that aforementioned
rendition of ‘Burn’.
Given
their lack of original material – a second
album is to be recorded with producer Kevin Shirley
early in 2011 – the quartet (completed by
ex-Dream Theater keysman Derek Sherinian) did well
to stretch the set to 105 minutes, without resorting
to procrastination. Hughes sang like an absolute
demon, forging a formidable rhythm alliance with
Bonham, and anyone that may have presumed Bonamassa
a little too cultured for such a group must have
left the hall with such notions neatly scotched.
I’d like to have heard a little more of Sherinian,
whose contribution was largely buried in the mix
(‘Too Late For The Sun’ and ‘No
Quarter’ being rare exceptions). Talking to
Hughes at the after-show bash, the singer acknowledged
that particular problem but was pragmatic enough
to admit: “This band is still something of
a work in progress.” If BCC are **this good**
after just a year of existence… well, the
future looks bright as a supernova. Here’s
the set-list: ‘Black Country’, ‘One
Last Soul’, ‘Beggarman’, ‘The
Revolution In Me’, ‘Down Again’,
‘Too Late For The Sun’, ‘Song
Of Yesterday’, ‘The Ballad Of John Henry’,
‘The Great Divide’, ‘Medusa’,
‘No Quarter’ and a medley of ‘Sista
Jane’/Drum Solo/‘Won’t Get Fooled
Again (Snippet)’/‘Black Country (Reprise)’,
plus ‘Burn’.
My
travelling partners Steve ‘No Relation’
Way and his missus Kathy were among the many familiar
faces at the ‘after-show’. Hughes and
Bonamassa showed their faces for quite a while,
as did the show’s special guest Joanne Shaw
Taylor (who circumstances prevented me from seeing
on this occasion). I had a very quick chat with
Kevin Shirley, who seemed to be a decent dude. Lynne
Jackaman of Saint Jude, Cliff Evans and Doogie White
of Tank and Voodoo Six’s Tony Newton were
all spotted trying to reach the bar – difficult
given that Dave Lewis of Tight But Loose was busy
holding court along with various acolytes. Naturally,
the Classic Rock and Metal Hammer contingent was
a healthy one, with Alex Milas, Neil Jeffries, Mick
Wall and Joel McIver all showing their faces. It
was good to see Mick Wall in ‘serious boozer’
mode, challenging everybody to down shots of Jägermiester
or admit to being homosexual. After a few too many
Jägers and Sambucas, Mick announced that my
hair was looking “especially gay” on
this occasion. So I took great pleasure in replying
that at least I hadn’t dressed up as Father
Christmas over the festive break… the ‘how-the-fuck-did-you-know-that?’
look on his face was an absolute picture. [Thanks
to Dave Lewis for supplying that priceless l’il
tidbit].
Happy
New Year, everyone!
_
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Thursday 30th December
Just been to the Home Of Football to book eldest
son Eddie’s season ticket for Crystal Palace’s 2011/’12
campaign, though at this point I’ve no idea which
division the club is likely to be competing in.
The Eagles’ results and performances have been pretty
dismal of late, so relegation to League 1 remains
a frighteningly real possibility. Meanwhile, when
not in ‘tape transcript mode’ I’ve been spinning
Foghat’s blues album, ‘Last Train Home’ (Angel Air
Records) and ‘Live From Amsterdam’, the new CD/DVD
from Alter Bridge (available via the DC3 Music Group).
And following an e-dialogue with Khalil Turk of
Escape Music I’ve just played Liar’s ‘Set The World
On Fire’ album for the first time in many a long
year. What a deliciously sophisticated slice of
pomp-rock… it’s even better than I remembered!
_
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Wednesday 29th December
As expected, England’s cricketers have retained
the Ashes. Jealous of those singing and drinking
beer at the MCG, I stayed up to relish the final
denouement, eyelids maintained by matchsticks, as
Tremlett, Swann and Bresnan hoovered up the tail.
The stats speak for themselves: Victory by an innings
and 157 runs represents the biggest triumph over
the Aussies since 1956. It was also the first time
in history that Australia have lost by an innings
twice in a five-test Ashes series. The odious Ponting
to be sacked as captain sometime this morning?!
Fantastically well done England, one final push
in Sydney will finish the series off nicely!
_
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Tuesday 28th December
My kids were disorientated
to come downstairs and find me rolled up in a duvet
on the couch, grabbing a few belated ZZZZs following
the cricket. Thanks to another superb bowling display
that saw the traditional thorn in the tourists’
side, Michael Hussey, despatched back to the hutch
for a duck, England are on the brink of retaining
the Ashes. The very idea of a first successful tour
triumph in 24 years makes me so happy, it’s
hard to sum up in words. The dominance of the Australians
is now a thing of the past, something that’s
beginning to dawn on their arrogant, petulant skipper
and fair weather fans. The hosts haven’t had
too much practise at losing these past few years.
I suspect it’s something they’ll get
used to.
[Edit: As a Crystal Palace fan, I’ve long
since become accustomed to defeat. This afternoon,
having taken the lead in the 2nd minute, the Eagles
were poised to take three priceless points from
a trip to fellow strugglers Bristol Shitty. However,
in the last of five minutes of injury time the referee
awarded the home side a dodgy pen. The match finished
1-1… Aaaargh; that’s the highs ‘n’
lows of being a sports fan].
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 27th December
The seasonal break
over, it’s time to get back to work. England’s
continued success in the cricket is at least softening
the blow. I watched the game till its lunch interval
(1.30am London time), disappointed that Strauss
and Cook surrendered their wickets so soon into
Day Two. The Aussies’ bowling had certainly
improved but Trott and Peterson were both starting
to look comfortable enough. Shaky start aside, England
finished on 444-5 at stumps, with an overall lead
of 346. After the Aussies’ humiliating first
innings total of 98, England should bat till lunchtime
upon resumption of today’s play and then see
what the bowlers can do. It’s unlikely they’ll
repeat the feat within 44 overs, but should the
playing surface start to crumble then spin-king
Graeme Swann will play a crucial role.
I’ve begun my sleeve essays
for the Rock Candy Records overhaul of the first
three Strangeways albums. This morning I grilled
the band’s original singer, Tony Liddell,
before calling drummer Jim Drummond. Both were great
interviews. Now all that remains is to integrate
their quotes with those already supplied by guitarist
Ian J Stewart and singer Terry Brock, adding some
contemporary colour (my archive contains vintage
interviews and reviews of the era) and Bob’s
your uncle. With 4,000 words to file on each album,
I expect it to be a time consuming though enjoyable
task.
_
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Sunday 26th December
How disappointing,
Palace’s Boxing day showdown with Norwich
has been called off – what am I gonna do with
my day now???!!!
Oh well, I enjoyed last night’s
developments in the Ashes series. In one of the
most one-sided displays I’ve ever witnessed,
England won the toss and opted to bowl. A gi-enormous,
shit-eating grin was plastered across my face as
I turned in after Hussey lost his wicket, the Aussies
teetering at 58-4 as rain stopped play. Woke up
several times during the night worrying about the
score, so to switch on the TV again a few hours
later and see Strauss and Cook having accumulated
98 runs with no wickets down, the MCG five-sixths
empty (apart from the Barmy Army) and the scoreboard
reading: ‘Scores level’… well,
I almost whooped with joy. This is very, very good.
It’ll take something very, very special indeed
to wrench The Urn away from English hands.
_
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Saturday 25th December
I’m in the doghouse
again. Thanks to my back injury, now almost returned
to normal, ten alcohol-free days had elapsed. So
last night I journeyed into the West End for a festive
swig with my journo pals Malcolm Dome and Jerry
Ewing. With the Crobar closed we descended upon
The Ship, once in tandem with the ‘old’
Marquee Club and the St Moritz nightclub a fabled
cornerstone of Wardour Street’s very own Bermuda
Triangle. Apart from one afternoon with my friends
Caroline ‘Funky’ Gibbons and Cliff Evans
of Tank a few years back, I’d not set foot
in the place since the late 1980s. Being there again
brought back some great memories – I’ll
never forget being in The Ship with Malcolm on one
particular evening when Kim McAuliffe strolled in.
“Can I get you a drink, Kim?” Malc asked.
“Oooh, yes please,” replied Girlschool’s
singer/guitarist, “I’ll have a pint
of wine.” With various shots glasses arriving
and being emptied… well, you can probably
guess the outcome. Though I lived up to my promise
of being home by 9pm, Mrs L was less than amused
when I almost fell into the living room Christmas
tree. Ho hum, I slurred, it was all the fault of
those bastids Malcolm and Jerry.
_
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Friday 24th December
I’m
not the world’s biggest fan of Christmas.
Why does it bring out the worst in people (myself
included)? I’ve just returned from a quick
trip to Tesco in Catford – needed to pick
up one or two last minute items. So I joined the
single basket queue, which seemed to extend from
the checkout to the far side of Nuneaton. As it
inched slowly forwards, I noticed some guy halfway
up the line had a whole cartful of groceries…
and nobody around him said a darned word. With the
PA blaring such festive ditties as ‘Christmas
Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’ by The
Dorkness, I could feel my blood begin to simmer.
15 minutes later it reached boiling point as I realised
the sleighbell-festooned aural abortion that I was
being forced to endure was none other than ‘It’s
Christmas Time’ by Status Quo. Never before
has the lyric of “And you let yourself go
underneath the mistletoe” been more appropriate!
Dear Lord have mercy! How the once mighty have fallen…
Thanks to my boozing buddy Hugh Gilmour,
who raided the stock cupboard over at EMI, the postie
has just delivered finished copies of Queensrÿche’s
‘Empire’ album (the two-disc edition,
bolstered by a show from London’s Hammersmith
Odeon in 1990), and ‘At The BBC – 1972’
by Hawkwind. Now **that’s** what I call a
Christmas present!!
_
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Thursday 23rd December
I’ve had some
emails enquiring about my favourite albums of the
past year. Although we are invited to submit our
choices which are then collated into one enormous
list, unlike Metal Hammer and Prog, Classic Rock
doesn’t print the individual selections of
each writer. So I’ve pooled my favourites
submitted to each magazine into one cross-genre
Top 30. For those that give a shit, here goes:
1) Unruly Child – ‘Worlds
Collide’ (Frontiers)
2) FM – ‘Metropolis’
(Riff City)
3) Iron Maiden – ‘The
Final Frontier’ (EMI)
4) Black Country Communion
– ‘Black Country Communion’ (Mascot)
5) Nelson – ‘Lightning
Strikes Twice’ (Frontiers)
6) Scorpions – ‘Sting
In The Tail’ (Sony)
7) Ratt – ‘Infestation’
(Roadrunner)
8) Accept – ‘Blood
Of The Nations’ (Nuclear Blast)
9) Alter Bridge – ‘AB
III’ (Roadrunner)
10) Slash – ‘Slash’
(Roadrunner)
11) The Union – ‘The
Union’ (Payola)
12) Bachman & Turner –
‘Bachman & Turner’ (Cadiz Music)
13) Ihsahn – ‘After’
(Candlelight)
14) Asia – ‘Omega’
(Frontiers)
15) H.E.A.T. – ‘Freedom
Rock’ (Stormvox)
16) Hawkwind – ‘Blood
Of The Earth’ (Eastworld)
17) Helloween – ‘7
Sinners’ (Nuclear Blast)
18) Raven – ‘Walk
Through Fire’ (SPV)
19) Spock’s Beard –
‘X’ (Mascot)
10) The Enid – ‘Journey’s
End’ (Operation Seraphim)
21) Airbourne – ‘No
Guts, No Glory’ (Roadrunner)
22) Taking Dawn – ‘Time
To Burn’ (Roadrunner)
23) Avenged Sevenfold –
‘Nightmare’ (Warner Bros)
24) Triptykon – ‘Shatter’
(Century Media)
25) Giant – ‘Promise
Land’ (Frontiers)
26) Anathema – ‘We’re
Here Because We’re Here’ (KScope)
27) Joe Elliott’s Down
‘N’ Outz – ‘Vol 1’
(Mailboat)
28) Meat Loaf – ‘Hang
Cool Teddy Bear’ (Mercury)
29) Christopher Amott –
‘Follow Your Heart’ (Megaladon Arts)
30) Motorpsycho – ‘Heavy
Metal Fruit’ (Rune Grammofon)
(Just for the record, Motörhead’s
‘The Wörld Is Yours’ and ‘Sons
Of The North’ by Black Spiders both count
for 2011).
_
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Wednesday 22nd December
The snow is almost gone,
and my back pain is also evaporating. I’m
hopeful that tomorrow’s chiropractor appointment
will be the last. Apologies to those that usually
receive Christmas cards from me. The deadline came
and went with me sitting in a hard backed chair,
using a bowl to piss in ‘cos the toilet was
out of reach. Normal service will be resumed next
year.
_
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Tuesday 21st December
Already committed
to leaving the house for a trip to the chiropractor,
I decided to brave the snow – which has turned
to ice – and head through central London for
The Enid’s gig at the Union Chapel (the kind
offer of a lift home from Steve ‘No Relation’
Way also played its part; my back injury is still
painful, and I was dreading the thought of slipping
over and making things worse).
Despite the dodgy acoustics of the
Union Chapel, the show was extremely good. Many
bands claim to be unique but few actually match
such a boast. The Enid’s fusion of classical
sounds and rock music is daring, exciting and utterly
unparalleled. Last night’s gig included a
guest appearance from co-founding former guitarist
Francis Lickerish, who also performed a warm-up
set on the lute (!!!). The two-hour display also
introduced the Decibelles – a group of all-male
group of backing singers! – and a four-piece
horn section, with Sean Montgomery filling out its
final stages on the chapel’s church organ.
When everyone except the backing singers joined
together on ‘Fand’, a celebrated piece
from 1977’s ‘Aerie Faerie Nonsense’
album, the effect was very special indeed. And only
a band as individual as would throw in a couple
of Christmas carols to make the night complete.
If you are unfamiliar with the symphonic delights
of The Enid then do yourself a favour and buy a
copy of their new album ‘Journey’s End’
or check them out here.
Meanwhile, here’s the set-list: ‘Spring’,
‘Space Surfing’, ‘Malacandra’,
‘Shiva’, ‘The Falling Tower’,
‘The Last Judgment’, ‘In The Region
Of The Summer Stars’, ‘Childe Roland’,
‘Fand’, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’,
‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ and ‘Golden
Earrings’.
_
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Monday 20th December
The Dream Theater
soap opera rumbles on. It’s come to light
that Mike Portnoy, whose contract with Avenged Sevenfold
recently expired, enquired about the possibility
of rejoining the group, only to be rebuffed –
by their lawyer. “Sadly, they declined my
offer… they didn’t even tell me themselves,”
says MP at a posting on his web forum. He sums up:
“So now the fans can please stop asking me
to go back to Dream Theater… I tried, and
the door is now shut. The ball is in their court,
not mine.” With an as-yet unnamed replacement
now confirmed, it’s perhaps unsurprising that
the band refused his plea. But the fact that Portnoy
would crawl back, then go public with the news of
being spurned, hardly bodes well for a long-term
reconciliation.
However, here’s some **excellent**
news. Manowar have confirmed their first gig on
British soil in 17 years. The US group, who recently
re-recorded their all-time classic ‘Battle
Hymns’ debut, will bring the Black Wind of
their decibel-charged live assault to Birmingham’s
Academy on March 27, with more dates to be confirmed.
Be still my beating heart! I’ve seen Manowar
onstage many, many times. Besides being responsible
for some of my favourite albums, of course they
are a journalist’s delight. I loved it when,
in 1994, bassist Joey DeMaio was asked to describe
grunge music and replied: “Is there a word
for something that’s beneath shit?”
For more of the same, go here.
[Edit: It’s been revealed that Manowar
will be playing ‘Battle Hymns’ in its
entirety at Birmingham. Nurse! New loincloth please!
This one appears to be soiled…]
_
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Sunday 19th December
Humph… during
the past 24 hours England slumped to defeat in the
Test Match, Palace upheld their reputation as the
worst away side in the league by leaking three goals
at Nottingham Florist (with both Darren Ambrose
and Pablo Counago retiring injured from the game)
and I ended up missing Skin’s farewell gig
at Nottingham Rock City. Dosed up to the gills on
painkillers, there’s no boozing for yours
truly in the foreseeable future and the next few
days will be spent collating new invoices and chasing
unpaid bills. Am I down in the fucking dumps? Well,
what do you think?!
_
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Saturday 18th December
Ah, some precious reading
material! Having spent most of the last few days
glued to a wooden living room chair whilst keeping
my spine straight, the arrival of Classic Rock’s
standalone Motörhead special and the new issue
of Prog (with Genesis as its cover story) are the
literary equivalent of manna from Heaven. My 6,000-word
Q&A interview with Lemmy Kilmister reads rather
nicely; I particularly like his statement of: “When
Motörhead leaves, there will be a hole there
that just can’t be filled. That’s fine
with me; it means I’ve achieved what I set
out to do – which was to make an unforgettable
rock ‘n’ roll band.” And so say
all of us…
_
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Friday 17th December
Just returned from a treacherous
trip through the ice and snow to the chiropractor.
The good news is that I haven’t slipped a
disc, as I was beginning to fear. It’s a sprain.
With the right treatment I should be walking again
without pain by Christmas. Consequently, tonight’s
Hawkwind gig is off the menu and although the chiropractor
popped the offending vertebrae bone back into its
socket, he also advised me to give the weekend’s
proposed trip to Nottingham “a swerve”
should I wish to make any sort of speedy recovery.
So I’m here at my desk once
more, wading through several hundred emails. The
Third Test Match appears to be slipping away from
England, setting the Ashes series up for a thrilling
finale, but I’ve taken enormous cheer from
the fact that the Big Four of thrash-metal –
Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth –
will pool forces for a UK appearance at the Sonisphere
Festival on July 8.
_
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Thursday 16th December
With my back feeling
ever so slightly better, I had cleared the decks
for a Wednesday afternoon piss-up: a booze-fuelled
Christmas West End luncheon in the company of some
writer, designer and record label colleagues. After
a hectic few weeks, I felt that I deserved a bit
of a blow-out. Disaster struck as I sat in the bath.
Shooting pains from the base of the spine, right
up to my shoulders. As I exited the water, my legs
buckled. For what was probably 20 or 25 minutes
but felt like an hour, I lay on the bathroom floor,
whimpering in pain, staring up at the bowl above
my head. Very undignified, but no one was home to
help me.
Dunno how I managed to gain my footing,
don my faithful CPFC bathrobe and take pigeon-steps
down the garden path towards my office… but
somehow these things were achieved. Emailed my intended
dining/boozing partners and then, much to my distress,
found that I couldn’t get out of my leather
chair. Had to sit and wait, shivering, and playing
a DVD of The Sweet at the Marquee Club in 1986 (thanks
for which to DL website regular Michael!) for Mrs
L to bring in some extra strength painkillers. This
was very worrying indeed. Travel to and from Palace’s
weekend game at Nottingham Florist has been booked
and paid for, likewise a match ticket, and I’ve
been hoping to kill two birds with one stone by
being at Skin’s farewell gig at Rock City
during the evening. Right now, those plans seem
ridiculously far-fetched.
_
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Wednesday 15th December
Here’s some great
news. Future Publishing have given the green light
for a second issue of Classic Rock Presents AOR.
It’s expected to go on sale in early March
2011. I’ve been playing Mr Big’s comeback
disc, ‘What If…’, for the past
couple of days, also the newie from John Waite,
called ‘Rough & Tumble’. Both are
highly recommended.
Meanwhile, those annoying
back problems persist. In fact had I not been committed
to a pre-show interview with John Wetton and Geoff
Downes, the pain might have dissuaded me from attending
last night’s Asia gig at the Forum. The group’s
current album, ‘Omega’, stands head
‘n’ shoulders above the original line-up’s
lukewarm comeback opus, ‘Phoenix’, so
it’s nice to be able to report that they included
no less than five of its choices (‘I Believe’,
‘Holy War’, ‘Through My Veins’,
‘Finger On The Trigger’ and ‘End
Of The World’) in the show, better still to
report that this morning I cannot get one of those
songs – ‘Holy War’ – out
of my head. Along with the best pair from ‘Phoenix’,
namely ‘Never Again’ and ‘An Extraordinary
Life’, this means that, with the exception
of two songs in Steve Howe’s guitar solo (‘Lute
Concerto In D Major’ and ‘In The Course
Of The Day’), almost half of the group’s
current set is drawn from 2008 and beyond.
So with all of this new material
to consider the band’s shows must be escalating
in length, right? Well… not so, actually.
Since the regrouping of the original line-up in
2006, if anything they have become shorter. Gigs
in London have tended to hover at around the 125/130-minute
mark. Last night, though they were supposed to perform
two hour-long sets, both lasted for exactly 53 minutes.
Call me Mr Picky, even Mr Trainspotter – I
won’t argue. But with so much new material
lodged in the set, some hits/catalogue gems were
sadly missed. It was great to hear them revive Wetton’s
über-ballad ‘The Smile Has left Your
Eyes’, performed initially as a duo by John
and Geoff, before the rest of the band returned
for its big, dramatic climax, though the likes of
‘Wildest Dreams’ and ‘Here Comes
The Feeling’ were conspicuous by their absence.
As much as Asia should be applauded for making a
big artistic statement in proclaiming ‘We
are not living in the past’, they shouldn’t
overlook what the audience has paid to hear. 10-15
minutes more of older material would have elevated
this show from a solid eight-and-a-half out of ten
to just short of flawless. Here’s the set-list:
‘I Believe’, ‘Only Time Will Tell’,
‘Holy War’, ‘ Never Again’,
‘Through My Veins’, Steve Howe Solo,
‘Don’t Cry’, ‘The Smile
Has Left Your Eyes’, ‘Open Your Eyes’,
‘Finger On The Trigger’, ‘Time
Again’, ‘An Extraordinary Life’,
‘End Of The World’, ‘The Heat
Goes On’ (including Drum Solo) and ‘Sole
Survivor’, plus ‘Go’ and ‘Heat
Of The Moment’.
P.S. Whilst wallowing in my own self-pity, I neglected
to mention the tragic suicide of Stuart ‘Woolly’
Wolstenholme of Barclay James Harvest. ‘Woolly’
had been suffering from depression for quite a while
but nobody knew how bad the situation had become.
RIP to a supremely underrated talent and, by the
accounts
of those that knew him, a thoroughly decent
human being.
_
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Tuesday 14th December
I don’t know
what I’ve done to my back, but by Christ it
hurts. Something went ‘ping’ as I stood
up from my desk at the end of yesterday afternoon,
preparing to head off to see Argent at the Forum.
As the old song goes I decided to ‘tough it
out’ and persist with my plan for the evening,
fingers crossed firmly that a pass for the venue’s
balcony (where there are seats) would await me.
Thankfully, I **was** allowed upstairs
and the pain gradually subsided as the music enveloped
me. Thoroughly enjoyed my first sighting of the
reunited Curved
Air. Sonja Kristina still has quite a voice,
and although drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa is
their only other founding member, with violinist
Paul Sax filling the role vacated by Darryl Way,
a 45-minute set included stirring versions of ‘It
Happened Today’, ‘Melinda’, ‘Propositions’
and their Top Five hit ‘Back Street Luv’.
Next up, Martin
Turner’s Wishbone Ash used their 40 minutes
with equal intelligence, keeping the banter to a
polite minimum and purring through ‘The King
Will Come’, ‘Warrior’, ‘Throw
Down The Sword’, ‘Blowing Free’,
‘Living Proof’ and ‘Jailbait’
with supreme aplomb. As a consequence, I suspect
that all those unfamiliar with the delights of MTWA
will have made a mental note to check them out as
headliners.
Having missed Argent’s return
to the stage at last summer’s High Voltage
festival made me all the more determined to be at
this Forum show. After 36 years apart, who knew
when – if ever? – such an opportunity
might be repeated? Though a little light on quantity,
the quartet delivered all the expected quality levels,
basing a 75-minute display on their 1974 release
‘Encore: Live In Concert’ and bolstering
things with songs they’d written for themselves
and others. Russ Ballard sang ‘I Don’t
Believe In Miracles’, a tune associated with
Rod Argent’s Zombies partner Colin Blunstone,
magnificently – which must have felt odd with
Blunstone seated before him in the crowd. Meanwhile,
keyboardist Argent delivered the Zombies classic
‘She’s Not There’ respectably
well (it’s a fabulous song, but although Rod
wrote it, Blunstone has made it his own). I liked
the way that Argent kept getting ever so slightly
hot under the collar each time he introduced ‘Since
You Been Gone’ (a hit for Rainbow) or ‘God
Gave Rock And Roll To You’ (a Kiss concert
favourite) with the uncharacteristic exclamation
of: “WE DID IT FIRST!” It was a great,
great show as you’ll see from the following
set-list: ‘The Coming Of Kohoutek’,
‘It’s Only Money (Pts 1 & 2)’,
‘Keep On Rollin’’, ‘Rejoice’,
‘I Am The Dance Of Ages’, ‘Be
Free’, ‘Sweet Mary’, ‘Liar’,
‘She’s Not There’, ‘I Don’t
Believe In Miracles’, ‘Since You Been
Gone’, ‘Hold Your Head Up’ and
‘God Gave Rock And Roll To You’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 12th December
With Palace’s
home game against Hull now moved to a 5.15 KO thanks
to Sky TV, it was ‘farewell’ to my plans
of partaking in yesterday’s Quireboys and
Dan Reed gig at the Forum. The visitors were hovering
two points and just a couple of places above the
Eagles, so the game offered a chance of climbing
out of the dreaded bottom three. How this did not
come to pass I’ll never know. Everton loanee
James Vaughan missed a chance that Stevie Wonder
could have put away, and during the second half
the Tigers’ net seemed to lead a charmed life.
After a bright 20-minute start, Hull were the most
appalling team I’d seen at Selhurst this season…
a 0-0 draw represented nothing less than two points
dropped. Afterwards I headed for a local Indian
restaurant with my CPFC buddy Kev Denman, his lad
Jack and my own eldest boy, Eddie. Washed down by
a few pints, a chicken tikka vindaloo, a mushroom
pilau and some onion bhajis almost succeeded in
making us feel as though the game didn’t happen.
But not quite.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 10th December
Mrs L had booked last night out, joining
her pals from work in a bit of festive nosebag.
This meant I was unable to attend any of the three
shows that tickled my fancy: Enuff Z’Nuff
at the Borderline, Meat Loaf at Wembley or, at a
push, Pure Reason Revolution at my least favourite
London venue – the Scala. Such matters became
irrelevant when Classic Rock asked whether I was
available to do a phone interview with John Petrucci
of Dream Theater, to promote the band’s spot
at the High Voltage Festival. Um, yes please! I
think I can manage that! In the end, there was plenty
to talk about, including the revelation that the
band has finally selected a replacement for Mike
Portnoy. For story go here.
P.S. Not before time, the
Playlist and YouTube
sections have been overhauled. To those that give
a shit about such matters: Sorry for the delay.
It’s been a bit bonkers here, to say the least.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 9th December
Uggggh, I’ve
been struck down by the 24-hour man-flu that’s
doing the rounds. It prevented me from going to
Wembley Arena for last night’s Taste Of Chaos
festival – annoying because I’d been
looking forward to seeing Buckcherry, Papa Roach
and Halestorm (headliners Disturbed are not really
up my alley, to be truthful). Instead, I found myself
in my office at 8pm, nose streaming and eyes doing
an impression of Niagara falls, trying in vain to
finish my feature on Pallas. In the end I conceded
defeat and was in bed for 9pm, only to realise I
was too congested to sleep. Not very pleasant at
all.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 8th December
With no gig in London
and the Leeds-Palace clash having ruled me out of
this year’s Hard Rock Hell festival, I happily
accepted the offer of a lift to that place down
on the south coast that no true Crystal Palace fan
can name, for UFO’s gig at the Concorde 2.
In the end, quite a few of my mates made it there,
Neil Jeffries, John Dryland and myself in one car,
Andy Beare and a bunch of drunken loons in another
vehicle, with Steve ‘No Relation’ Way
bringing up the rear (as is his fetish). Following
a discussion at the Classic Rock Awards a local
lad, Nigel Glockler, was also going to join us but
eventually ended up over in Lincolnshire working
on drum tracks for Saxon’s new album…
shame.
There was little traffic on the way
down, so I dropped by the Merch desk to say a quick
‘how ya doing?’ to long-suffering webmistress
Kate before catching the tail end of Voodoo Six’s
opening set. Improved by the addition of new frontman
Luke Purdie, the Steve Harris-approved combo have
made great strides with their current album ‘Fluke?’.
I was just in time to hear what I consider to be
its best song, the excellent ‘Live Again’.
Given my criticisms of Helloween’s
set-list (see Monday 6th December), some might call
me hypocritical in praising a performance that remains
based upon the immortal double-live set ‘Strangers
In The Night’, with just two songs (‘Saving
Me’ and ‘Hell Driver’) representing
the current line-up with Vinnie Moore on guitar.
Like many UFO fans, I crave some gems from the Tonka
Chapman era. Judging by conversations that Neil
J had with Phil Mogg and Andy Parker, it’s
a subject that the band are currently reviewing.
Meanwhile, I have rarely heard UFO play (and indeed
sing) any better than they are doing right now.
The addition of the rarely performed ‘Lights
Out’ favourite ‘Try Me’ was such
a truly magical moment that Mogg’s minor lyric
fumble rendered an irrelevance (check out YouTube
footage of it here,
likewise those renditions of Cherry’ and ‘Ain’t
No Baby’ from ‘Obsession’ were
superb. Crucially, the band seemed to be having
as much fun as the packed crowd, Moore and bassist
Barry Sparks playing their instruments behind their
heads during ‘Too Hot To Handle’. At
encore time they returned to the stage and fooled
around with ‘Riders On The Storm’ by
The Doors, which was amazing. In fact all the show
really lacked was Mogg dedicating ‘I’m
A Loser’ to the town’s shambles of a
so-called football team – now that would’ve
made my night! Anyway, here’s the set-list:
‘Saving Me’, ‘Mother Mary’,
‘Let It Roll’, ‘I’m A Loser’,
‘This Kids’, ‘Cherry’, ‘Hell
Driver’, ‘Try Me’, ‘Only
You Can Rock Me’, ‘Love To Love’,
‘Ain’t No Baby’, ‘Too Hot
To Handle’ and ‘Lights Out’, encores
of ‘Rock Bottom’, ‘Doctor Doctor’
and ‘Shoot Shoot’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 7th December
A double helping
of joy – England have taken the Ashes series
by the balls, winning the Second Test by an Innings
and 71 runs. And there’s more – the
headliners of the second High Voltage Festival have
been announced. Dream Theater will play their first
UK gig without Mike Portnoy at London’s Victoria
Park on Sunday July 24, whilst Judas Priest top
the bill 24 hours earlier in what is bound to be
an emotional farewell performance. Weekend tickets
are very reasonably priced at £99. For details
go here.
P.S. Having spotted my Diary
entry about watching FM without the benefit of beer
goggles (see Thursday 2nd December), Merv Goldsworthy
has fired over an email. “And now you know
the truth,” he says, “we’ve never
been any good – you’ve always [just]
been hammered.” Touché!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 6th December
The snow is largely melted,
so I decided to travel across London to the Forum
for yesterday’s gig by Helloween and Stratovarius.
The night began with Italy’s Trick Or Treat
who sported silly trousers and party confetti, a
helium-voiced singer and a DragonForce-ish sound.
I wasn’t really sure whether they intended
to be taken seriously till a ridiculous, faithful
cover of Cyndi Lauper’s 1980s pop hit ‘Girls
Just Wanna Have Fun’ left the audience in
no doubt.
Stratovarius’ forthcoming album,
‘Elysium’ (their second with new guitarist
Matias Kupiainen) has been on heavy rotation at
Ling Towers this past week – it’s definitely
gonna surprise a few people that thought the Finnish/Swedish
group were doomed without Timo Tolkki. ‘Darkest
Hours’, a song from said opus, went down rather
well, but with its release more than a month away
nobody blamed Strato for blazing through an hour-long
‘best-of’ set that included ‘Phoenix’,
‘Legions’, ‘Eagleheart’,
‘Hunting High And Low’ and ‘Paradise’.
Helloween are a band I’ve fallen
in and out of love with on many, many occasions.
Right now they are in a rich vein of form, the current
album ‘7 Sinners’ being one of the German
group’s finest to date. So why, then, were
just two if its selections (‘Are you Metal?’
and ‘Where The Sinners Go’) included
in a set that lasted for an hour and 40 minutes?
I left the Forum completely baffled. A string of
‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys’-era perennials
such as ‘Eagle Fly Free’, ‘March
Of Time’, ‘I’m Alive’, ‘Future
World’ and ‘Dr Stein’ kept the
fans happy enough but cannot have been much fun
for the group to play for the millionth time. Sure,
they’re great songs, and – let’s
be clear about this – Helloween played them
marvellously, but the band’s set-list is definitely
in danger of stagnation. On top of this, there was
way too much patter from Andi Deris and the various
solo spots only enhanced my frustration. Here’s
what was played: ‘Are You Metal?’, ‘Eagle
Fly Free’, ‘March Of Time’, Guitar
Solo, ‘Where The Sinners Go’, ‘Steel
Tormentor’, Drum Solo, ‘I'm Alive’,
‘A Handful Of Pain’, Medley: ‘Keeper
Of The Seven Keys’/‘King For A Thousand
Years’/‘Halloween’ and ‘I
Want Out, followed by ‘Ride The Sky’,
‘Future World’ and ‘Dr Stein’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 5th December
Thanks to the generosity
of Martin Darvill, who manages Uriah Heep and Martin
Turner’s Wishbone Ash among others, I witnessed
yesterday’s game between Leeds and Crystal
Palace from the warmth of a hospitality box at Elland
Road. Eating roast lamb before game and being amid
a gang of very vocal Leeds fans were rather unusual
experiences, especially as Palace took the lead
very much against the run of play right at the end
of the first half. It had looked as though the Eagles
would undeservedly take home all three points till
leaking two late goals – the third time the
defence had capitulated in the final 10 mins (the
others being Sheff Utd and Boro away) to turn winning
positions into agonising defeats. To say that I
felt sick would be a significant understatement.
Despite ice and snow, the travel
to and from Leeds, in a car with my Leeds-supporting
pal Neil Jeffries, was extremely pleasant. On the
way up, as I swigged at a bottle of Limeade and
vodka, we played Kevin Shirley’s new 2010
remix of Deep Purple’s Come Taste The Band’,
which is superb, ‘The Wild, The Willing And
The Innocent’ by UFO and Nazareth’s
‘No Mean City’. The return journey was
filled by both discs of the expanded ‘Earth
Vs The Wildhearts’, and we were back in London
almost before I knew it.
Thanks in particular to the efforts
of Messrs Cook, Strauss and Pietersen, things are
going fabulously well in the Test match. Across
the last two innings, England have walloped a whopping
1,067 runs past the Aussies for the loss of just
five wickets – nice work by anyone’s
standards.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 4th December
How ironic that Arctic
gales and four or five inches of snow would keep
me away from a gig by Frost*, though that’s
what happened yesterday. I did consider trying to
make the trip to the Islington Academy, but after
my miserable experiences in getting to and from
gigs by Steve Hackett and FM, very quickly realised
that I’d had a bellyful of snow.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 3rd December
With Gatwick closed, yesterday’s
trip to Aberdeen was well and truly off, so I chatted
with Graeme Murray and Paul Mackie by phone instead.
The guys had wanted to hook up by webcam but I’m
such a Luddite, Ling Towers isn’t equipped
with the technology to have done so. When they heard
that I was recording our conversation onto a cassette…
well, I felt their laughter was a little uncharitable.
It was a very good interview, though, and the band’s
new album, ‘XXV’, is a worthy successor
to ‘The Sentinel’.
At 3pm I sat before the TV, fingers
firmly crossed, as we learned the nation that would
host football’s World Cup in 2018. As the
clocked ticked down towards the decision, the bookies
narrowed the odds to favour England. I almost barfed
when Sky Sports News cut away to Stadium MK where
Pete Winkelman, a man with whom I’ve previously
had some unpleasant dealings, was beside himself
with excitement and smugness. “Milton Keynes
is going to be a World Cup venue! The champagne’s
on ice!” he beamed as the reporter returned
viewers to the studio. The decision eventually went
to Russia, which has huge problems with stadiums
and travel, instead. As my blood boiled, the only
miniscule crumb of consolation was that the champers
bubbles were probably sticking in PW’s throat.
Over at the Ashes, England got off
to a flier in the Second Test, thanks to ducks from
Katich and Ponting. I got up at 6am to watch their
last four wickets tumble as the innings ended for
just 245. England absolutely murdered the Aussies
on day one, and Ponting’s tantrum at the close
of play was just the funniest thing ever.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 2nd December
Despite the fact
that Gatwick Airport had been closed all day, there
was still an outside possibility that my trip to
Aberdeen (to interview Pallas) would still take
place. Unfortunately, as I walked back over Honor
Oak Park, one of London’s highest geographical
points, in a blizzard at 1am after FM’s Christmas
Party, such theories seemed laughable. However,
the dangerously slippery pavements vindicated my
decision to have stayed clear of the demon brew
at the Islington Academy. This was quite probably
the first time I’d ever caught FM sober in
maybe fifty or sixty previous sightings… ulp!
Given the praise that many of my
friends have heaped upon them I’d been dying
to taking a look at Four Wheel Drive, a young rock
‘n’ roll-based band from Twickenham.
They’ve certainly got some decent songs and
heaps of potential, though bassist Jamie Lailey
should lose the fake Yank accent and they might
want to take a look at the fact that AC/DC have
already released their song ‘High Roller’
under its original title of ‘Rocker’.
Only kidding; they’re a really good live act,
and I’ll deffo be seeing them again…
Given the departures of keysman Toby
Sadler and bassist Dave Boyce, it felt slightly
odd to see a line-up of Airrace that featured only
singer Keith Murrell and guitarist Laurie Mansworth
from its best-known incarnation. Boyce’s replacement
is the group’s original bassist Jim Reid,
one of those players that stands there and concentrates
on what he does. Maybe I’ll get used to it,
I don’t know. However, despite a nonexistent
sound mix in the earliest stages, Airrace’s
mixture of tracks from ‘Shaft Of Light’
(‘Caught In The Game’, ‘Open Your
Eyes’, ‘Not Really Me’, ‘Promise
To Call’, ‘First One Over The Line’
and ‘Brief Encounter’) and previews
of tunes intended for next year’s second album
(‘Call Me Anytime’, ‘You’d
Better Believe It’ and ‘Enough Of Your
Loving’) hit the spot as best they could.
Though the Academy was sold out,
the weather had prevented almost half of the audience
from venturing outside. So it was inevitable that
the atmosphere would suffer a little – especially
given that the band’s most recent show on
the same stage had set the bar at almost Olympian
levels. FM played brilliantly and Steve Overland
sang manfully, despite a heavy cold, even duetting
with the delightful Leigh Matty on an encore of
Tom Petty’s ‘Stop Draggin’ My
Heart Around’, but for me the night lacked
a certain something (and before you say it, I don’t
mean alcohol). Here’s what they played: ‘Wild
Side’, ‘Face To Face’, ‘That
Girl’, ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Only
The Strong’, ‘Blood And Gasoline’,
‘Hollow’, Medley: ‘Metropolis’/‘Over
You’, ‘Hard Day In Hell’, ‘Burning
My Heart Down’, ‘Bad Luck’ and
‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’, plus
‘Frozen Heart’, ‘The Other Side
Of Midnight’, ‘Stop Draggin’ My
Heart Around’ and ‘American Girls’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 1st December
Siberian tradewinds
are causing havoc in London. Last night’s
trip to see Steve Hackett at Shepherd’s Bush
Empire took more than two hours in one direction,
the homeward-bound journey lasting for more than
three. The platform indicators gave no information
whatsoever as I stood on London Bridge station awaiting
the 22.25 to Catford Bridge via Hayes, teeth chattering
and nose buried in Mark Blake’s excellent
new book Is This The Real Life? The Untold Story
Of Queen. Said cattle truck finally pulled in at
midnight, though ground to a halt at Lewisham where
we were told a bus connection service awaited. Did
it turn up? Did it fuck. I got to bed at 2am, feeling
just like a block of ice.
Was the misery of the journey worth
the gig? Yes, definitely. Hackett had played the
same venue 11 months earlier, so there were always
going to be strong similarities to that performance
(for set-list see Diary, 15th November 2009), but
whilst ‘Spectral Morning’s was dropped
this time around due to time constraints the addition
of the Genesis classics ‘Watcher Of The Skies’
and ‘Carpet Crawlers’ was a brilliant
bonus. As mooted, there were also two special guests
in the shape of Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson,
who played on the final part of ‘Shadow Of
The Hierophant’ (a tune from Hackett’s
solo debut, ‘Voyage Of The Acolyte’),
also returning to the stage for an encore finale
of ‘Clocks – The Angel Of Mons’,
plus Asia’s John Wetton, who played guitar
and crooned along to ‘All Along The Watchtower’.
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