Monday 31st December
I had seriously considering going to Portland
for this evening’s Dan Reed Network reunion. My
LA-based friend Caroline ‘Funky’ Gibbons had
even said she would pick up the hotel room if I bought
a plane ticket out, but in the end I just couldn’t
get it together. However, it was fun introducing the lads
to Father Ted…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 30th December
I’m *finally* into the documents for March
2012, the last month of these confounded receipts. And
what better way to see me over the line than a burst of
Porcupine Tree’s double-live album ‘Octane
Twisted’. Disc two brings back great memories of
the band’s show at the Royal Albert Hall, a gig
I attended. I’d clean forgotten that they did ‘Arriving
Somewhere But Not Here’ to bring things to an epic
close – new underwear please, nurse.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 29th December
Continued work on my end-of-year accounts prevented
the trip to this afternoon’s away game at Nottingham
Florist. Annoyingly, Palace were pegged back yet again,
not once but twice in a match that finished 2-2. I’m
not very happy. Holloway's reign is stuttering: The last
five games have seen us take the lead, only to draw or
lose. Some new blood is required, I think. I might just
have to open a bottle or two…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 28th December
Well… they said it would never happen but
they were wrong! After his ugly matrimonial troubles,
Dave Ling has actually been out *on a date*! Last night
was spent at the Odeon in Leicester Square with a lovely
lady by the name of Sara Harding. Assisted by carefully
stashed beverages from Dave’s Mobile Bar & Grill
– half a bottle of Jagermeister and some raspberry
flavoured vodka – we enjoyed The Hobbit in 3-D.
And you know what? I wouldn’t mind betting that
we do it all over again before too long. But maybe with
a different film… haha.
Survivor, with Jimi Jamison back again on vocals, have
just been confirmed to appear at the Sweden Rock Festival
in June. With Rush, UFO. Quo, Saxon, Kiss, Accept, Avantasia
and Krokus (!) already on the bill, and Europe lined up
to play a special one-off 30th anniversary set, I’m
really tempted to try and get back over to Sölvesborg
for my first visit to the open-air show since 2008.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 26th December
Well, what an utterly miserable Boxing Day. I
took an all-too-brief break from the end-of-year- tax
return to tune into Palace’s vital away game at
Cardiff Shitty. The BBC Radio 5 Live commentators glowed
with praise for the Eagles who took the lead via Mile
Jedinak’s third-minute volley from an Owen Garvan
corner. Alas, as is becoming disturbingly commonplace,
Palace conceded a late equaliser as the first half drew
to a close and went behind in the 72nd minute. Despite
several opportunities of leveling, that’s how it
stayed. CPFC supremo Ian Holloway summed things up with
the statement: “We started well and ended terribly.”
The evening was spent in my office emitting sighs of elephantine
proportions whilst poring over envelopes stuffed with
receipts, to a soundtrack of all-time classic hard rock
albums. I think I could listen to ‘Hemispheres’
by Rush on a loop tape for the rest of my days on earth,
ditto Quo’s ‘On The Level’ and ‘Quo’.
Their thunderous strains certainly helped to make life
bearable again.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 25th December
Yeah, I’m still here in my office working
on my fuggin’ accounts… three months in, nine
to go!! Am currently playing Aerosmith’s ‘Music
From Another Dimension’ as I type – to these
ears it’s a bit of a Christmas turkey, I’m
afraid. Dad just popped in and we took this rather nice
photo of three generations of Ling males.
As I type, nobody has been battered to death with the
turkey yet, so I guess that constitutes the best Christmas
that anyone could have hoped for since we lost Mum. Happy
holidays everyone!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 24th December
Like
many overworked, self-employed individuals I find
myself in the regrettable scenario of having to work on
my end-of-year tax returns over the Christmas period.
Luckily, I have loads of newly arrived CDs to play including
Soul Asylum’s ‘Delayed Reaction’, a
double of ‘The Best Of Alvin Lee’, another
double of Steamhammer (the band that recorded the original
‘Junior's Wailing’), a live Barclay James
Harvest album (a 25th anniversary show from the Town &
Country Club in 1992) and a brilliant CDr that combines
Spider’s Friday Rock Show session in 1981 and the
group’s live set at the Kerrang! Weekender in Caister,
Great Yarmouth, in October ’84 (mucho thanks to
Steve Leslie for the latter). Makes the spreadsheets just
about bearable, I guess…
With the kids in bed and the last of the pressies wrapped
my Christmas Eve concluded with a much belated debut viewing
of Slade In Flame. A definite timepiece, the 1975 movie
even mentions Catford Greyhound Track – long gone!
As, sadly, is Tommy Vance who plays the moustachioed pirate
radio deejay Ricky Storm. The ending was a bit anticlimactic,
possibly, but I loved the fact that Stoker… sorry,
Noddy… and company would offer cinematic comment
on the industry’s dark underbelly as opposed to
creating a glossy vehicle for the brilliance of songs
such as ‘Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing’,
‘How Does It Feel’, ‘Far Far Away’
and all the rest.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 23rd December
With Crystal Palace’s home game against
Huddersfield shifted to an evening kick off to accommodate
Sky Sports viewers, the cancellation of Asia’s gig
at Shepherd’s Bush Empire turned out to be convenient
– for me, at least. Arriving far later at Norwood
Junction for the usual match-day rituals felt slightly
strange, but there was some enjoyable banter with a couple
of Town fans (Metal Blade Records’ Andy Turner and
Dave Wroe of the website www.rockersdigest.com) during
pre- and post-match drinkies with Kevin Denman, the Pudney
family, Laurence Adams, Steve ‘No Relation’
Way, Teri Weston and Steve Taylor. And the game? Well,
probably best to draw a veil over that as it was ruined
by inept officials. A final score of 1-1 saw the Eagles,
who played most of the match with ten men, losing further
ground on the automatic promotion places… grrrrr!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 22nd December
I really enjoyed my trip to the Borderline for
last night’s gig by Touchstone and Romeo’s
Daughter. The event’s special guests had been allotted
a full hour onstage, and they used it well, opening with
a couple of glistening gems from their wondrous self-titled
debut – ‘Heaven In The Back Seat’ and
‘Velvet Tongue’ – following it with
the delicious new single ‘Bittersweet’, the
distinctly Heart-flavoured newie ‘Talking Love’
(apt, given that the Wilson sisters covered RD’s
own ‘Wild Child’ on their ‘Brigade’
album), a track from the overlooked second disc, namely
‘Attracted To The Animal’, and another swoon-inducing
new cut, ‘Lightning’. After two more songs
from ‘Rapture’ – ‘Alive’
and ‘Trippin’ Out’ – we were into
the home strait; ‘Inside Out’, a succulent
‘I Cry Myself To Sleep At Night’ and the aforementioned
‘Wild Child’. As I believe I drunkenly informed
a grinning Leigh Matty and Merv Goldsworthy, that was
my Christmas, right there.
Having recently completed a successful co-headline tour
with The Reasoning, Touchstone just keep on getting better
and better. The venue’s intimacy suited the female-fronted
proggers. I stood in the bar, nodding enthusiastically
and downing drinks with equal fervour. The seeming contrasting
styles of the two acts were actually very complimentary;
I wish that promoters were more inclined to mixing and
matching with genres – the show was a great way
to bring 2012’s gig-going activities to a close.
So… our little gang returned to the Crobar where
I partook in further refreshment and a long and absorbing
dialogue with my ‘hair twin’ Sara Harding.
Arriving back at Ling Towers at 4am, I was shocked to
discover the back door had been locked. Aaaaag. The ex-Mrs
Ling was not best pleased to receive my call requesting
admittance to the building. Hahaha!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 21st December
Am feeling a bit delicate after a few too many
evening drinks with my CPFC-supporting buds, Kev Denman
and Mark Cousins, at a riverside boozer in the East End
of London. Mr Cousins bailed early but in the absence
of a decent curry-house Kev and I went for a super-hot
pizza and hit another boozer on the way to the tube station,
only departing when our money ran out on the verge of
last orders. A fun night…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 20th December
How great it was to see Noddy Holder on BBC Breakfast
Time promoting tomorrow's Slade night on BBC4. I shall
be out at the Borderline watching Touchstone and Romeo’s
Daughter but have already set the Sky+ to record everything.
Oh look, there’s yet more great reading matter:
the new ish of Fireworks magazine (thanks, Bruce!) A Jason
Bonham interview on the cover, plus chats with Ling Towers
faves Lionville, Steve Hackett, Steve Lukather, Halestorm
and many more. I didn’t even know there was a new
Jackdaw4 album – I need it now!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 19th December
Wow… well done, Jerry Ewing. The new issue
of Prog is here. Dated December it has King Crimson on
the cover. As most fans will know, Robert Fripp is one
of rock music’s most spiky and reclusive individuals.
Incredibly, Fripp has not only invited Prog to his house
in Dorset (where interviewer Sid Smith shared slices of
Christmas cake baked by RF’s spouse Toyah Willcox)
but actually writes a fascinating preview to the 11-page
story, which covers the years 1963-’73. Peppered
with additional observations from Ian McDonald, John Wetton,
Jamie Muir, David Cross and Keith Tippett, it’s
an extremely fine read.
I’ve also been enjoying the latest issue of Classic
Rock Presents Blues (#4, with Rory Gallagher as cover
star). Gavin Martin is allotted ten pages to tell the
story of the G-Man’s film and album ‘Irish
Tour ’74’, plus a further two pages of tribute
quoteage from über-fan Joe Bonamassa. Again, it’s
a fantastic piece of prose that does full credit to writer,
editor and above all the story’s subject.
Whenever people ask about the worst part of my job, the
sheer tediousness of tape transcription is an obvious
contender. However, I type this whilst sat at the PC,
having wasted a chunk my evening in fruitless anticipation
of a call from an American rock star. I won’t name
or shame the muso concerned but you’d be surprised
by the frequency of such events, also the casual way they
are handled by PRs. “Oh well, we’ll re-schedule…”,
and you’re expected to do it all over again. Earlier
this year, when a German guitarist stood me up twice,
the artist’s representatives tried to assure me
it would be third time lucky. Well, no, I’m sorry…
I’ve got better things to do with my life than sit
here twiddling thumbs. Anyway, rant over – I’m
off for a late supper.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 18th December
A very happy birthday to David Leslie Walls –
you’ll probably know him better as Ginger Wildheart
– who last night turned 48 years old in the company
of several hundred fans, past ‘n’ current
band-mates, musician friends, loved ones, a guest list
of London’s ligging elite and of course a film crew.
Oh yeah, I was there, too!
A spectacularly successful Pledge Music campaign has transformed
Ginger’s career. As recently as 2003 he told me
in a Classic Rock interview of how he was “considering
calling it a day in terms of being a competitor.”
Now, as Paddy McGuinness would say on Take Me Out, the
power is in Ginger’s hands… Whoosh!
“This was the year that everything changed for me,”
he smiled whilst cruising though a selection of solo tracks
and Silver Ginger 5 tunes during a solo support spot.
Only somebody as contrary as Ginger would opt to begin
with a tune he doesn’t like playing (‘Just
Another Song About Someone’) and follow it with
another he’d never performed live before (‘How
I Survived The Punk Wars’). And only at a Ginger
birthday bash would someone – in this instance Alex
Kane of Anti-Product – fly in from the States without
prior warning, and then be excused for forgetting the
words to Cheap Trick’s classic ‘Surrender’
– not once but twice!
Three years after revisiting their seminal full-length
debut ‘Earth Vs Wildhearts’, The Wildhearts
were back for one night only. You missed it?! Well…
shame on you. Teasing the sold-out Forum crowd from behind
a safety curtain with the intro to ‘Nothing Ever
Changes But The Shoes’ the band’s shadows
were visible… then the sheer of material descended
and a burst of tickertape welcomed the audience to the
show. With a set-list culled predominantly from a glorious
1990s-era heyday (of its originals, just ‘Someone
‘That Won’t Let Me Go’, ‘Mazel
Tov Cocktail’ and ‘Vanilla Radio’ were
released in the current millennium), the band pulled out
all the stops. Playing ‘Caffeine Bomb’ and
‘Suckerpunch’ back to back threatened some
serious damage to our lug-’oles, and a glorious
‘Beautiful Thing You’ reminded us why the
Wildies were once famously called a cross between Metallica
and the Beatles.
As well as a huge birthday cake (a smiling Ginger removed
a chunk of its decorations and announced: “They’re
all actual lumps of crack”), a raft of special guests
arrived at encore time, including Warner E Hodges of Jason
& The Scorchers for his band’s own ‘White
Lies’ (“The greatest song ever written!”
according to Ginger), Kavus Torabi of the Cardiacs and
my Metal Hammer colleague Dom Lawson. Movingly, Ginger’s
12-year-old son Jake strummed some geetar to a version
of ‘Vanilla Radio’ but what made me feel *really*
ancient was the sight of Jef Streatfield, a fresh-faced
lad during his spell with the group, having become a man.
Anyway, what a great end to a fantastic night. The Wildhearts
set-list ran as follows: ‘Nothing Ever Changes But
The Shoes’, ‘TV Tan’, ‘Sick Of
Drugs’, ‘Red Light, Green Light’, ‘Girlfriend
Clothes’, ‘Dreaming In A’, ‘Someone
That Won’t Let Me Go’, ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’,
‘Caffeine Bomb’, ‘Suckerpunch’,
‘A Geordie In Wonderland’, ‘Beautiful
Thing You’, ‘29 x The Pain’ and ‘Love
U ’Til I Don’t’, followed by ‘Nita
Nitro’, ‘Vanilla Radio’, ‘Is This
the Life’, ‘White Lies’, ‘My Baby
Is A Headfuck and ‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 17th December
I’ve very little recollection of my journey
home from The Treatment’s ‘after-show’
bash at the Black Heart. Amazingly, I made it back to
Ling Towers without losing my Vega T-shirt, too. Result…
After writing some album reviews and consuming actual
solid, warm food (though it’s tempting to try, man
cannot live on crisps, peanuts, cheese pasties and Tesco
wine pouches alone!), it was time to head back into town
for the reunited Little Angels at Shepherd’s Bush
Empire. First up, The
Temperance Movement were the best support act I’ve
seen in yonks. The Anglo-Scottish combo have a lot of
different influences; Little Feat, the Crowes and some
early Thunder, while vocalist Phil Campbell came on like
a jaw-dropping cross between Joe Cocker and Jimmy Barnes.
Do yourself a favour and pick up their five-song EP; it’s
great. The only turn-off was Campbell’s stage presence;
alternating between standing on one leg and leaping around
politely seemed… well, quite fey.
The night’s special guests were so excellent that
Monsewer Beare and I both agreed the headliners would
have to be a bit special to avoid being upstaged. Although
new dad Dicki Fliszar was replaced on the drum stool by
(I think…) Shay Beresford, Skin pushed Little Angels
every inch of the way. Neville MacDonald’s vocal
display during ‘Shine Your Light’ was little
short of remarkable (for the record, their hour-long set
also included ‘I Was Born To Rock ‘N’
Roll’, ‘Money’, ‘How Lucky You
Are’, ‘House Of Love’, ‘Stronger’,
‘Tower Of Strength’, ‘Take Me Down To
The River’, ‘Perfect Day’ and the singalong
‘Look But Don't Touch’).
Back for their first tour in 18 years, the Angels had
a replacement sticksman of their own, Dom Greensmith from
Reef taking the place of Skunk Anansie’s Mark Richardson.
If you saw them in the summer then you knew what to expect;
Toby Jepson’s voice has blossomed – he sounded
fabulous on ‘Don’t Prey For Me’, dedicated
to the late Michael Lee – and the group had picked
an extremely strong selection from their repertoire. I
found the cover of Bryan Adams’ ‘Kids Wanna
Rock’ a tad gratuitous, especially when ‘Do
You Wanna Riot’ and ‘Big Bad World’
were mysteriously dropped from the Download warm-up show
that I caught in Oxford in June. Personally, I hope they
do it all again sometime. Although guitarist Bruce John
Dickinson has publicly mused: “Is the world really
screaming out for another Little Angels album?”
I’m sure there’s creative mileage in the band
yet.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 16th December
My second consecutive Saturday afternoon turned
to merde as Palace were pegged back and held to another
2-2 draw. Had Brum failed to level (at one point the Eagles
actually held a 2-0 lead at St Andrews), we’d have
returned to the top of the league. It’s all very
annoying. Then again, back in the summer had you told
me we’d be occupying an automatic promotion place
at Christmastime I’d have ordered you a straightjacket.
My Saturday night was filled by the swigging of too much
cider and Jägermiester in the fine company of The
Beare, Debbie Shaw and Tina Edmonds as an impressive three-band
bill rocked London’s Camden Underworld. Four Wheel
Drive began a raucous set with a pair of lively-sounding
newies (‘No Money Down’ and ‘Let The
Trouble Begin’), before bringing things to the boil
with a tried ‘n’ trusted bunch that included
‘Hammered Again’ (title cut of their new EP)
and the perennial ‘High Roller’. Playing before
a crowd that probably hadn’t seen them before –
Debbie and Tina included – they deserved the applause.
Special guest stars Vega did themselves no harm at all,
cruising through a mixture of songs old and new, including
the God-like ‘White Knuckle Ride’. The unveiling
of their second album, ‘What The Hell!’, cannot
come soon enough for your truly. Mid-March seems an awful
long way away.
The Treatment’s tour-de-force headline display concluded
with a massed stage invasion. Especially in terms of presentation,
the Cambridge band have improved markedly since this summer’s
massive US jaunt with Kiss and Mötley Crüe.
Their 75-minute set now incorporates several freshly penned
tunes (including ‘Don’t Look Down’,
‘She’s Too Much’, ‘World On Fire’,
‘Get The Party On’) as well as the likes of
‘Drink, Fuck, Fight’, ‘Departed’,
‘I Fear Nothing’, ‘I Want Love’,
‘Just Tell Me Why’, ‘The Doctor’,
‘Hake The Mountain’ and ‘Nothing To
Lose But Our Minds’. Throw in encore renditions
of Saxon’s Motorcycle Man’ and the Slade stompalong
classic ‘Get Down And Get With It’ and the
results were downright irresistible.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 15th December
What a pleasure it was to hear Steven Wilson’s
new album in 5.1 sound over at Air Studios. Uplifting,
intoxicating and daubed in layers of glorious Mellotron
(the original King Crimson MKII ’tron, to be precise),
‘The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)’
features some superb lead guitar work from former Asia
man Guthrie Govan. It’s timeless-sounding music
made by a master craftsman. SW has even penned a moving
tribute to my boozing buddy Malcolm Dome entitled ‘The
Holy Drinker’ (“The holy drinker and his curse/In
constant serfage to unquenchable thirst”). What
an honour for the Malcoholic.
How exciting, my copy of the comeback ish of Classic Rock
Presents AOR is here. Besides my own stories on Jeff Scott
Soto, FM and Impera, Boston – “the world's
most secretive band” – are on the cover. Derek
Oliver’s well written piece reminded me of a very
candid interview I did a few years ago with John Kalodner.
Talking about Tom Scholz, JK said: “When we worked
together, each day Tom would pick me up in his stupid
Honda car and drive me to the studio, and drive me back
to the same shopping centre again in the evening. He was
so paranoid that he didn’t want me to know where
he lived.” Loony alert!!
You want the details of my lunchtime meet with Brian May?
Okay, click here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 14th December
I made it home safely from a drink sozzled, hugely
entertaining Christmas lunch in the company of Messrs
Malcolm Dome, Jerry Ewing, Steve Hammonds, John Dryland,
Hugh Gilmour, Jonathan Richards, David Gulvin, Curt Evans
and Andy Pierce. A vindaloo and mushroom pilau washed
down with plenty of goss, followed by an evening visit
to the Crobar. My poor ol’ liver must be in tatters.
The same time next year then, fellas?
A very busy afternoon is lined up. Tea and scones at lunchtime
with Brian May as he gives a demo of the new Queen ibook,
40 Years Of Queen, penned by my former Metal Hammer boss
Harry Doherty. Then over to North London for a playback
of Steven Wilson's newie, ‘The Raven That Refused
To Sing (And Other Stories)’. It’s a tough
old life…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 13th December
I’ve finally finished wading through Steven
Tyler’s autobiography, Does The Noise In My Head
Bother You? – some great drug stories make it worth
reading but I fear for the guy’s sanity. Seriously,
what planet does he come from?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 12th December
Okay... after more than two months of growth
I’ve realised that I’m not really liking the
beard, so tomorrow it comes off. Probably a good thing
with Christmas approaching fast!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 11th December
I’m very happy at the news that that Rush
will be inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in
next April’s star studded ceremony (and I suspect
that my pal Neil Pudney shares this same viewpoint). For
Deep Purple, on the other hand, it’s a case of ‘back
to the drawing board’. That’s pretty hard
to fathom. Might have to play the classic ‘Permanent
Waves’ and ‘2112’ albums this morning,
I think... Check out the story here.
Just been asked my Album Of The Month for the Classic
Rock staff masthead. Had to go with Hawkwind’s ‘Levitation’…
on blue vinyl (but of course they won’t be able
to add that last bit!)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 10th December
Yikes! I’ve just been looking at the set-list
for Status Quo’s festive UK tour. ‘Marguerita
Time’ *and* ‘Burning Bridges’?? Plus
versions of ‘Walking In A Winter Wonderland’,
‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and ‘It’s Christmas
Time’… how utterly ghastly. I may well have
some socks to darn on the night that they play at the
O2 Arena… even if it’s just down the road.
On the other hand, the line-up of the Firefest tenth anniversary
show was announced last night on Steve Price’s ARFM
Radio show: Work Of Art, Von Groove, Trixter, Shooting
Star, Eden’s Curse, Eclipse, The Magnificent and
more??!! I’m in!! For details of the full line-up
nip across to www.firefestofficial.com.
This evening I’d planned on attending Redd Kross’
intimate gig at the Borderline. Unfortunately I’ve
got a seriously bad cold… runny nose… spluttering…
watery eyes. I’ve had to bail out on my ticket in
favour of an early night. Grrr.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 9th December
Frustration at the football: Until an 89th minute
equaliser from Nouha Dicko, Crystal Palace had seemed
likely to take all three points from yesterday’s
home game against Blackpool. Given that the away side
had taken the lead in the first half, also their share
of the game’s possession, a draw was probably a
fair result. But it was still pretty hard to take.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 8th December
I was honored to be invited to this year’s
Christmas party thrown for Future Publishing’s music
group titles. What started as a sedate sit down meal for
the writers, designers, publishers, ad teams and support
staff of Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog turned wilder
with the arrival of each flagon of white or red wine.
Not sure who threw the first ice cube, or how that turned
into a slice of lemon, then into a chip or a sopping wet
serviette but before too long the occupants of two trestle
tables were volleying projectiles across the room in hails
of laughter. Great fun.
Naturally, as tongues loosened so the goss also began
to flow. For instance, which two staff members of Classic
Rock were guilty of auditioning for Sigue Sigue Sputnik
(yes, really…)? The usual fee in unmarked fivers
will protect the identities of Messrs Fortnam and Henderson
– oops, that’s blown it!
One piece of very, very sad news served to counter the
party mood. Huw Lloyd-Langton has lost
his battle with cancer. Another major talent lost.
I last saw Huw opening for Hawkwind and jamming with them
at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in December 2011. My condolences
go to his wife/manager Marion and former band-mates.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 7th December
It’s always nice when an artist smiles
and says: “Thanks a lot for the interview –
great questions, man.” I was glad that Keith Nelson
from Buckcherry enjoyed the conversation as much as I
had.
With time to kill before the show and the local (Camden)
version of the shop now sadly defunct, I zoomed across
to Notting Hill Gate for a mooch around the Record &
Tape Exchange. Annoyingly, I couldn’t find a single
thing to buy so headed back to the World’s End for
a few quiet pints of pre-show cider. Made a point of watching
the support act, Kobra & The Lotus. I’m a fan
of the female-fronted Canadian rivetheads though there
was no denying they were out of their comfort zone with
Buckcherry’s audience. ‘Welcome To My Funeral’
and ‘Fifty Shades Of Evil’ are great songs
but save for a few lone fists in the air towards the front
even ‘Sanctuary’, a keys heavy ballad (performed
with no keyboard player onstage), was received without
enthusiasm.
Many, many years had passed since I last saw Buckcherry
onstage. I’d kinda forgotten the party-friendly
power of their live show but also how similar to Guns
N’ Roses they can be. A stray dog-eared guitar lick
here, a familiar vocal melody there… over the course
of an hour and 20 minutes it all added up. No wonder Nelson
and singer Josh Todd were members of a project that eventually
morphed into Velvet Revolver. Though his voice seemed
to require a few songs to warm up, the beanpole-thin Todd
is a great, charismatic focal point for the show and if
you can listen to a song like ‘Next To You’
and ‘Lit Up’ or ‘Gluttony’ –
the latter previewed from Buckcherry’s new record
‘Confessions’ – without wanting to move
your feet, well… maybe try getting somebody to check
your pulse. The set-list ran as follows: ‘Ridin’’,
‘Rescue Me’, ‘All Night Long’,
‘Fall Or Fail’, ‘Everything’,
‘Sorry’, ‘It’s A Party’,
‘Next To You’, ‘Lit Up’, ‘Gluttony’,
‘Slammin’’, ‘Carousel’ and
‘Crazy Bitch’, plus ‘Bliss’ and
‘Onset’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 5th December
It’s been fun to write a new press release
/ biography for the forthcoming album from the fine Norwegian
band Audrey Horne. Set to be released in the UK in February
via their new home of Napalm Records, ‘Youngblood’
is an excellent piece of work. Mark my words.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 4th December
Nice… have just been commissioned to conduct
a face-to-face interview with Josh Todd and Keith Nelson
from Buckcherry before the band’s gig in London
on Thursday evening. Was planning on attending anyway…
it’s been quite a while since I last saw them live.
Gigs are rather thin on the ground right now, and some
that I’d planned to see have been scuppered by the
sheer volume of work. This evening I’d just slumped
into the armchair when the BlackBerry chirruped. It was
a text from my Classic Rock colleague Paul ‘Gooner’
Elliott. “Watching FM in Brizzle and thought of
you! Another AOR masterclass”, he wrote. What a
gloating git!!!! Gutted that I won’t be seeing Thin
Lizzy, FM and The Treatment on tour together… now
that’s a Catford-friendly package if ever there
was one.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 3rd December
I’ve been unbelievably busy, as you might’ve
deduced by the dearth of recent Diary updates. However,
I did find the time to revise the Playlist
and YouTube pages.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 2nd December
Aw listen, Saturdays just don’t come any
better. My afternoon was spent at Selhurst where Palace
played their biggest game of the season – a hate-fuelled,
nail-biting showdown with deadly rivals Broken & Homo
Albion (spit!). Nothing was left to chance in the build-up
to the big KO. I had a cheeky glass of rose with my breakfast
and bought lucky wine gums *and* lucky jelly babies en
route to the ground: Defeat was simply not an option.
What happened? Well, I couldn’t explain it any better
than one insightful poster at the CPFC bulletin board:
“A most excellent afternoons entertainment at Selhurst
Park with Palace bludgeoning the Seagulls in a beautifully
one sided affair.” Or a Tweet from club legend Mark
Bright: “The teachers gave the pupils another lesson
today, when will they learn? Palace 3-0 Brighton.”
Some serious celebration was called for. Europe at Shepherd’s
Bush Empire?! That’ll do nicely. To these ears the
Swedes’ most recent two albums, ‘Last Look
At Eden’ and ‘Bag Of Bones’, were almost
genre-defining statements in classic hard rock. So why
not base the show on them? What followed was a masterclass
in pacing and meticulous presentation… bands such
as Mötorhead, who churn out the same songs year after
year, really should pay attention. The night had everything,
including an apparently successful marriage proposal before
‘New Love In Town’, a song that Joey Tempest
described as “An emotional little ditty”.
I’m one of those guys that could live without hearing
‘The Final Countdown’ ever again but as the
band romped through its chirrup-tastic strains, the look
of joy on every last face in the auditorium was truly
something to behold. Mr Tempest, an adopted Londoner,
looked around him and just grinned: “Unbelievable”.
Here’s the song-list: ‘Riches To Rags’,
‘Not Supposed To Sing The Blues’, ‘Firebox’,
‘Superstitious’, ‘Scream Of Anger’,
‘No Stone Unturned’, ‘New Love In Town’,
‘Demon Head’, ‘Blues (Acoustic)’,
‘A Drink And A Smile (Acoustic)’, ‘Open
Your Heart’, ‘Girl From Lebanon’, ‘Love
Is Not The Enemy’, ‘Carrie’, ‘Sign
Of The Times’, ‘The Beast’, ‘Doghouse’
and ‘Rock The Night’, plus ‘Prelude’/‘Last
Look At Eden’ and ‘The Final Parpdown’.
With Palace rightfully back at the top of the league,
all seemed perfect with the world. The only blight came
in the form of a text from Colin Harkness who revealed
that the original members of Mersey boogie machine Spider
had a spontaneous reunion at the 50th birthday party of
our friend Debra Long. Back onstage together for the first
time in 26 years they ran through five songs (‘Rock
‘N’ Roll Forever Will Last’, ‘All
The Time’, ‘So Sorry’, ‘Midsummer
Morning’ and ‘Did You Like It Baby’)...
and I friggin’ well missed it!!! Aaaaaarg!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 1st December
After wracking my remaining brain-cells I’ve
just arrived at the conclusion that my last sighting of
the Norwegian band TNT was at London’s Marquee Club
on a tour for the ‘Tell No Tales’ album in
1987… unbelievable. Said show, which took place
at the venue’s Wardour Street sweatbox, was among
the loudest and most enjoyable that I ever attended. So
the chance of a repeat viewing at a small club like the
Underworld was a bit of a no-brainer, especially with
Stampede confirmed as the support act.
Apart from the fact that ex-Shy singer Tony Mills now
fronts things in place of Tony Harnell, little had changed.
Once again the volume levels were well and truly in the
red zone, guitarist Ronni Le Tekrø throwing his
axe around with wild, attention-grabbing gusto. I was
happy to see Mr Mills, who dedicated the melodic rock
classic ‘10,000 Lovers (In One)’ to his fallen
Shy band-mate Steve Harris, looking so physically fit
and with the full range of his voice intact. In his place
would I have used quite as much vibrato throughout as
Mills? Well, no… not really… isn’t it
supposed to be an extra addition to the armoury? But you
couldn’t have blamed Tone for thinking, ‘If
you’ve still got it, flaunt it…’.
The 80-minute display paid scant attention to the band’s
three Mills-fronted records, its wondrous final run-in
of four tunes drawing a discreet veil over the grim cheesiness
of ‘Harley-Davidson’ and ‘U.S.A.’,
both recorded when the band still wrote lyrics in Norwegian
and pidgin English. Here’s hoping they’ll
come back someday, though given the size of a Friday night
crowd I wouldn’t go betting my mortgage on it. Here’s
what was played: ‘Invisible Noise’, ‘Substitute’,
‘Listen To Your Heart’, ‘Break The Ice’,
‘As Far As The Eye Can See’, ‘Downhill
Racer’, ‘Harley-Davidson’, ‘U.S.A.’,
‘Caught Between The Tigers’, Instrumental
Jam/Guitar Solo, ‘My Religion’ and ‘10,000
Lovers (In One)’, plus ‘Everyone’s A
Star’, ‘Intuition’ and ‘Seven
Seas’.
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