Tuesday 31st December
As he already had plans for the days concerned,
I just called my dad to enquire about his festive break.
Gotta admit, I was a bit worried about him after we lost
mum last year. It appears that he got drunk and fell into
a Christmas tree at a party in a neighbour's house. The
(cider) apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree,
does it? Seriously, if you knew my dad… he’s
the kind of bloke that thinks two pints in an evening
is excessive. But on the night in question “people
just kept topping up my wine glass” – I almost
weed myself as he recounted the tale!
It’s just too wet ‘n’ slippery outside
to take a run, so instead I’ve just done 45 mins
on the exercise bike to Status Quo’s classic ‘Quo’
album from 1974 – one of those rare releases that’s
all but perfect, hardly even a note out of place. Who
else agrees with me that ‘Slow Train’ should
be in the Frantic Four’s 2014 set-list?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 30th December
It took me quite a few days (and nights) but I’ve
just completed The Man Who Hates Walking (Wymer Publishing),
a book written by Overend Watts that details the Mott
The Hoople bassist’s walk along the South West Coast
Path back in 2003. The 650-mile coastal pathway runs from
Minehead to South Haven Point and offers some of this
country’s most rugged terrain. Watts was a 55-year-old
novice when he attempted to walk along it. Though the
book is perhaps a little over-long at 307 pages, his efforts
are very amusing at times. Don’t read it expecting
rock ‘n’ roll anecdotes, it’s just not
that type of a book, but it is endearingly written and
contains its fair share of chuckles. Next up: High Stakes
& Dangerous Men, Neil Daniels’ unofficial biography
of UFO (Soundcheck Books).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 29th December
I’m just back from a night out at the Picture House
in Greenwich. I took the boys to see Anchorman 2 after
they split their sides laughing at the original movie
on TV earlier in the festive break. Containing some great
lines the sequel every bit as good as its predecessor…
possibly even more so. A very pleasant evening.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 28th December
Wow, that’s fantastic – Man City’s
Billionaires could only carve a slender 1-0 victory over
plucky Crystal Palace, whose well-drilled tenacity and
attacks on the break ensured that the home side’s
goalie Hart was named man of the match. He’s not
the sharpest knife in the drawer, admittedly, but I’ve
just read that at half-time Paul Merson apparently told
viewers of Sky Sports that we’d put Arsenal and
Tottenham to shame with our performance at the Etihad
Stadium, as Palace became only the second team this season
to restrict City to a single goal (the other being Bayern
Munich). Yes, things are really looking up; with a couple
of canny buys in the transfer window and the return of
Glenn Murray, staying up must now be a strong possibility.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 27th December
Besides nursing a severe hangover, Catford is
windy, rainy and cold and I’m stuck in my office
working on my accounts. I’ve also eaten way too
much crap food over the last coupla days. ‘The Switch’,
the excellent debut album from female-fronted Israeli
proggers Key
Of The Moment has provided momentary cheer but I’m
not in the best of moods, if you want the God’s
honest truth.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 26th December
I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. Just
48 hours after Christ Eve’s horrid pavement-forehead
interface my lunchtime was spent notching up five laps
of the local park. Tomorrow it’ll be six. Bring
on the Shiteon Half Marathon in two months’ time.
As I type I’m drinking a pint of wine – the
first of many, I suspect – following a dramatic
win at Villa Park that lifted Crystal Palace out of the
relegation zone. Substitute Dwight Gale banged in a wonderstrike
deep into stoppage time. In fact, I missed the goal due
to my web link to the game going down in the 90th minute.
As I scrambled desperately for a new connection, next
thing I knew Eddie was smashing down the door of my office
and roaring like a loony: “Dad, we’ve scoooooooooored!”
To all those fellow CPFC faithful who’ve have had
to endure all of my blathering about Gale’s unsuitability
for the Premier League – I’ll get me coat!
[Edit: I opened a bottle of Moet for Match Of The Day,
a leftover from the summer’s Lingfest, and it turned
out that Eddie wasn’t too keen. Better drink it
all myself then. It’s a tough life…]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 25th December
A slighty squiffy Christmas and a prosperous
2014 to all regular readers of this page from Dave, Eddie
and Arnie Ling, plus of course Kayla the CPFC eagle.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_
Tuesday 24th December
Oouuuuch! Goddamit! I’ve just suffered
my first running injury. I slipped in the wet a mere 500
yards from home... banged my head onto the concrete path
– glasses are broken, there’s blood everywhere
and I’ve skinned both knees. But will I let it stop
me...? Those that replied ‘yes’, how wrong
you are though this little setback will certainly slow
down my preparation for the half-marathon in February.
And there’s worse news still... my local optician
is shut till Jan 2nd! On the bright side, however, Eddie
was so upset to see me at the front door covered in crimson...
I’ve a season ticket to as much tea as I can drink
for the next few days!
I’ve extremely mixed feelings over the news that
Ron Noades, Crystal Palace’s chairman for 17 years,
has lost a battle with cancer. Noades, 76, brought glamour
and the most amazing times to Selhurst Park, appointing
Steve Coppell as manager and helping to assemble the Wright/Bright-fronted
side that reached the 1990 FA Cup final and came third
in the First Division the following year. However, Noades
was also guilty of lining his own pockets and, finally,
shafting the club in its hour of need by selling to Mark
Goldberg when it was all too apparent that the guy was
a spiv. Personally, I will never forgive Uncle Ron for
a particular incident that happened under his stewardship
in 1994/95 – i.e. waiting till the last possible
moment to buy Iain Dowie for the cheapest possible price.
The Elephant Man’s six goals in 19 games goals *almost*
kept us in the Premier League – had he been a Palace
player for a month or two longer then we almost certainly
would have avoided relegation, thereby changing the club’s
history as a yoyo outfit.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 23rd December
Well, it seems that the Christmas break is finally,
officially underway. This fact didn’t prevent me
from conducting a quick interview with Bernie Marsden
at lunchtime, nor from spending most of the day stuck
at my desk. Sadly, my posterior will be in the same leather
office chair for most of the so-called holidays as yet
again I must complete my accounts before the rest of Classic
Rock editorial team returns to the grindstone. Can’t
wait for that…. NOT!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 22nd December
What an anticlimax. Crystal Palace 0, Newcastle
United 3. Luckily, I’d drunk enough alcohol to anaesthetize
a school of rhino since arriving at our social club at
Norwood Junction some three hours prior to KO. Afterwards
I returned to the place and stayed to sup a few more consolation
beverages. Had I been inclined to don my rose tinted spectacles
I’d point out that the Toon’s goals came a
from a deflection, an OG and penalty… the truth
is the visitors were by far the better team on the day.
However, they also enjoyed the benefit of some shockingly
bad decisions from a Godawful referee. How many 50/50
decisions did he give Palace’s way? Almost none,
I’d say…
Managed to sober up, shrug off the hangover and take a
quick park run before my father turned up to take myself
and his two Linglet grandsons for a Christmas dinner at
the local Harvester. The grub wasn’t up to its usual
standard, in all truthfulness, and I couldn’t even
look at a beer but the company was good.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 21st December
How I adored yesterday’s road trip to the
midlands for Thunder’s Christmas show (night #1).
Though we managed to lose two of our number prior to embarking
from Euston a fine ol’ inebriated time was had onboard
the train, followed by libations in the hotel and in various
drinking dens around Wolverhampton city centre with Reuben
and Lauren Archer. Once inside the Civic Hall I dumped
into my pals Jeff and Phillipa, who provided further excellent
company.
Thunder broke down their show into two halves –
a comparatively sedate unplugged segment, followed by
the more familiar electrified, jump up and down frenzy.
Choice cover versions of songs by Ling-friendly artists
such as The Who, The Doobie Brothers and Bob Seger abounded
during a 150-minute display that totalled a whopping 26
songs! I could never claim to be a fan of Neil Young or
the Beatles but ‘Heart Of Gold’ and ‘Got
To Get You Into My Life’ both worked magnificently
in this context, and those show-closing renditions of
Elton’s ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For
Fighting’ and the perennial ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’
sent an already delirious Black Country crowd into full
blown festive meltdown. Here’s the set-list: Set
1 – ‘Long Way From Home’, ‘Pinball
Wizard’, ‘Robert Johnson’s Tombstone’,
‘Heart Of Gold’, ‘Carol Ann’,
‘Can’t Live Your Life In A Day’, ‘Long
Train Runnin’’, ‘A Love Worth Dying
For’, ‘Higher Ground’ and ‘When
I’m Dead And Gone’ (originally by McGuinness-Flint).
Set 2 comprised: ‘She’s So Fine’, ‘Everybody
Wants Her’, ‘Pilot Of My Dreams’, ‘In
A Broken Dream’, ‘Hollywood Nights’,
‘Fly On The Wall’, ‘Empty City’,
‘Fade Into The Sun’, ‘Dreaming’,
‘Got To Get You Into My Life’, ‘Just
Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)’, ‘Don’t
Wait For Me’ and ‘I Love You More Than Rock
‘N’ Roll’, followed by ‘A Better
Man’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright…’
and ‘Merry Xmas….’. For those who’ve
never attended a Thunder Christmas knees-up, I can only
recommend them in the most emphatic possible terms. The
live album recorded across both nights will be fantastic!
Afterwards it was back to the event’s meet &
greet till the closure of its bar, (joined in the accompanying
photograph by partners in grime Jerry Ewing, Harj Kallah
and Malcolm Dome) followed by a taxi ride to Thunder’s
hotel to slurp down the final droplets of available alcohol
and talk further drivel about Crystal Palace’s Premier
League survival prospects with Sir Harry of James.
Speaking of which… my next stop was Wolvo station
and a 7.59 train back to London in time to top up those
booze levels prior the Eagles’ home game with Newcastle
– Strongbow Pear and a bacon bap for breakfast…
now *that’s* how to start the day!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 20th December
Phew… my Rush story is completed at last,
I managed to squeeze in a park run and I’m showered,
packed and ready for today’s road trip to Wolverhampton
for the first of two Christmas shows from the mighty Thunder,
followed by tomorrow’s clash between Palace and
Newcastle. I am really looking forward to a couple of
days away from Ling Towers.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 19th December
Save for a short cameo some 24 hours earlier
as part of Ginger Wildheart’s birthday show, it
had taken 37 years for Starz to appear on a British stage
– talk about a bucket list moment for those connoisseurs
among us that cherished the band’s albums for all
of this time in an apparently vain hope of an in-the-flesh
sighting.
There were some set-list grumbles. Apart from the instrumental
track of the same name (which served as a teaser for ‘Boys
In Action’) the ‘Coliseum Rock’ album
was completely ignored, and even though the crowd shouted,
roared and stamped their feet in their request for ‘Subway
Terror’ that choice from ‘Violation’
also went unplayed. It was later pointed out that ‘Coliseum…’
selections ‘Last Night I Wrote A Letter’ and
‘So Young, So Bad’, also ‘Sing It Shout
It’, were all included in an earlier unplugged meet
& greet performance and the band decided against duplicating
them. Humph! Despite such fairly trivial grievances: the
night did *not* disappoint.
With a line-up competed by the aforementioned Ginger on
bass duties and Alex Kane of AntiProduct fame on rhythm
guitar, vocalist Michael Lee Smith, guitarist Ritchie
Ranno and drummer Joe X Dubé delighted a surprisingly
large and vociferous crowd at London’s Garage with
a 95-minute display. Rehearsal time had been minimal for
obvious reasons but barring sporadic moments of unfamiliarity
the makeshift group carried off the night with consummate
ease. Sporting a Starz bandanna the alarmingly hefty Lee
Smith for all of the world resembled the dad of Suicidal
Tendencies singer Mike Muir, but his voice still sounded
fine and there were one or two choice raps. “Take
a trip with us back to 1976, when guitar players were
guitar players – plugged in on a wire like God intended.
None of this soulless , wireless bullshit,” he cried
as the band took to the stage. A few songs in he grinned:
“Lots of people have wondered why we haven’t
been here before. [It’s because] you people hadn’t
been born yet – we were waiting for you!”
And best off all, MLS got the crowd whooping wildly with
the first part of his statement when he challenged us:
“Make some noise. We’re recording this for
a live album. Well, not really…!” I loved
the fact that Ginger’s own ‘Loveshit’
was included as part of a three-song encore.
Okay… any further negatives? Well, how about that
gratuitous and highly offensive onstage namecheck of Scumwall
for a start (“No! That’s a violation!!!”)
and the fact that, as wonderful as the show undoubtedly
was, it left me wishing that I’d been able to see
the group at their peak. Here’s the set-list: ‘(She’s
Just A) Fallen Angel’, ‘Tear It Down’,
‘Detroit Girls’, ‘Monkey Business’,
‘Live Wire’, ‘Night Crawler’,
‘Violation’, ‘Cherry Baby’, ‘Pull
The Plug’, ‘She’, ‘The Third Time’s
The Charm’ and ‘Coliseum Rock’/‘Boys
In Action’ (inc Drum Solo), followed by ‘Loveshit’,
‘Rock Six Times’ and ‘X-Ray Specs’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 18th December
I am making good progress on the transcript of
my recent face to face interview with Alex Lifeson of
Rush, which is cool as the finished text needs to be submitted
to Prog magazine by the week’s end.
Yikes! The ‘in box’ contains another reminder
email from the Shiteon Half Marathon people – there
now just two months to go till the big day. For the last
coupla weeks I’ve been bunged up with cold or to
too rammed with work to escalate my training. I’m
*really* gonna have to pull my finger out and rack up
some serious mileage. There’s no running today,
though, as it’s the Christmas lunch for the Classic
Rock / Metal Hammer / Prog / AOR / Blues magazines, followed
by Starz’ UK debut at the Garage. It’s a ridiculous
statement to make but I shall really have to exercise
some self-restraint if I want my bring home some precious
memories of this long overdue event.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 17th December
What’s that you ask? Can I do a phone interview
with the co-founding ever-present of Yes, bassist Chris
Squire? Okay, I’d love to. And can I do it today?
In a couple of hours??!! Blimey, there’s nothing
like being thrown in at the deep end is there? Luckily,
I’ve got know Squire pretty well and he was in talkative
mood as we discussed the decision to perform three of
the band’s classics – ‘The Yes Album’,
‘Close To The Edge’ and ‘Going For The
One’ – in their entirety during April and
May’s UK tour. Put me down for a ticket for the
Royal Albert Hall please!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 16th December
I really enjoyed yesterday afternoon’s
lengthy phone chat with Bernie Marsden, whose forthcoming
solo CD ‘Shine’ is a regular at my office
Death Deck. As someone who has played with just about
all of rock musics top names at one point or another,
Bernie is one of the ‘good guys’, always with
an anecdote and a friendly laugh, but never managing to
sound smug or in the least but conceited. A top bloke
in my book…
As part of a some craze doing the rounds on Facebook my
Californian friend Charrie Foglio has invited me to select
10 books “that have stayed with you in some way”.
I found it an interesting challenge. Couldn’t list
them in any particular order but here are the ones I chose:
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee,
Dee Brown
Fluke, James Herbert
Pet Cemetary, Stephen King
The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty
The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
We All Follow The Palace, various authors
Shogun, James Clavell
The Dirt, Mötley Crüe with
Neil Strauss
Walk This Way, Aerosmith with Stephen
Davis
Dear Boy: The Life Of Keith Moon, Tony
Fletcher
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 15th December
My Saturday afternoon was spent glued to a weblink
as Palace headed across London for a perilous away game
at Stamford Bridge (well, I certainly wasn’t gonna
pay £55 for a match ticket – even assuming
I could beat the club’s Premier League gloryhunters).
Our legion of faithful fans sang: “Is this a library?!”,
followed by a shock statement from co-commentator that
the Eagles followers are the noisiest and best in the
Premier League, home and away. Well said, that man! I
winced as Chelski took the lead, only for Chamakh to go
down to the other end and equalise! Though the home side
won the game 2-1 they were on the back foot throughout
the second half, only a goal-line clearance from J**n
T**ry preserving their lead. It was a great performance
on the pitch and off it. Indeed, this morning there are
some surprising words of praise from Jose Mourinho for
the Red & Blue Army: “Fantastic, fantastic,
fantastic fans. They support their team till the end,
they pushed them all the time. I was impressed with Crystal
Palace today and I wish them well.” I still think
Jose is a smug, conceited twat, but it’s nice to
see him take a day off. Hahaha!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 14th December
I’m still recovering from an almighty end
of tour party for Airbourne, Orange Goblin and The Treatment
at London’s Forum. At one point I was alternating
between three different drinks; cider, neat vodka and
champagne - and quite probably talking in several different
languages, including Swahili.
With Jake Pattinson deputising for the departed Ben Brookland,
The Treatment were first up, showcasing a tweaked image
of shorter, punkier hairstyles (with the exception of
bassist Rick Newman) and leather jackets. Like I said
on this page a coupla days ago, the band’s second
album takes some large creative steps so nobody could
blame them if four of its tracks (‘Don’t Look
Down’, ‘I Bleed Rock ‘N’ Roll’,
‘Running With The Dogs’ and ‘Emergency’)
outnumbered old favourites ‘Drink! Fuck! Fight!’,
‘The Doctor’ and ‘Shake The Mountain’.
It’s been a great year for The Treatment and 2014
will only get better! Here’s a photo from the party
of a spontaneous meeting of the Crystal Palace Supporters’
Club (Treatment Branch), with fellow sufferer Rick Newman.
The venue filled out massively for Orange Goblin who
were playing the last of 160 gigs in 28 countries over
the last 12 months. They’ve always been complete
gentlemen whenever I’ve met them socially but I
couldn’t claim to be a great student of the band’s
catalogue, nor a particular exponent of their worth. I
liked them best when they didn’t try too hard to
sound like Kyuss. Meanwhile, the Forum was becoming so
rammed it felt I ended up wearing more beer than I actually
drank.
The headliners were in no mood to piss about. Taking swigs
from a bottle of Motörhead Shiraz, guitarist/frontman
Joel O’Keeffe was carried triumphantly by a roadie
through the crowd after just three songs and the crowd
roared along to every last lyric and powerchord. Though
the Australians are justly proud of their third studio
album, ‘Black Dog Barking’, they didn’t
force-feed us with its tracks. I kinda liked ‘Ready
To Rock’ as an opener, while ‘Back In The
Game’ was a marvellous fist-in-the-air anthem. Later
on O’Keeffe went walkabout again, upstairs and down,
and upon his return to the stalls climbed the railings
to access the wheelchair section, where he made a point
of handing guitar picks to those that he passed –
a lovely gesture. “We’ll see you at Sonisphere
in the summer!” he roared as the band exited the
stage. You certainly will, fella. Here’s the set-list:
‘Ready To Rock’, ‘Too Much Too Young
Too Fast’, ‘Girls In Black’, ‘Back
In The Game’, ‘Diamond In The Rust’,
‘Black Dog Barking’, ‘Cheap Wine And
Cheaper Women’, ‘Hungry’, ‘No
Way But The Hard Way’, and ‘Stand Up For Rock
‘N’ Roll’, plus encores of: ‘Live
It Up’, ‘Raise The Flag’ and ‘Running
Wild’. The best bit of the night arrived at the
after-show bash When Joel O’Keeffe clambered up
onto the bar to announce that there was free bubbly! Top
man, great band, wonderful company, fantastic night…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 13th December
Progress with Rock Goddess’ reunion album,
‘Unfinished Business’, continues. According
to her Facebook page, Tracey Lamb is in the country laying
down her bass parts, I quote: “14 backing tracks
finished and I’m feeling fantastic. It sounds brill.
Just listening to playback and this is gonna be huge”.
Really looking forward to hearing the finished results!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 12th December
Coool! My advance CDr of The Treatment’s
second album, ‘Running With The Dogs’, is
here. Due on February 3rd via Spinefarm Records it’s
a right l’il corker. The band have shown some artistic
growth without betraying their roots which is always the
name of game. Its penultimate track, ‘Unchain My
World’, is a bit of a shock… in a nice way!
Anyway, despite spending much of yesterday on the sofa
wrapped up in a duvet, I have somehow roused myself from
my sickbed to head off to central London for the annual
festive lunch/knees-up shebang with Malcolm Dome, Jerry
Ewing, John Dryland, Steve Hammonds, David Gulvin, Curt
Evans, Jonathan Richards and Andy Pearce. Given the form
of previous events, much juvenile silliness is likely
to abound. When Eddie asked: “Dad, what time will
you be back?” I replied: “It all depends on
the date!”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 11th December
I was among a handful of media types to make
it into the O2 Arena for last night’s Black Sabbath
gig after the band axed all review tickets and photopasses
– no idea why; it was all a bit strange.
A bunch of hairy, scruffy gits from Cambridge with an
armoury of grimy, detuned but intensely listenable riffs,
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats represented a fine choice
of opening act. Mixing heroic stoner-boogie shuffles with
twin guitar-enriched doom-rock their music translated
surprisingly well into an arena situation and they should
sell their Rise Above Records label boss Lee Dorrian quite
a few albums as a consequence of such a creditable showing.
I’d gone along to the O2 with very minimal expectations
that Sabbath could still deliver the goods, despite the
undoubted quality of their chart-topping comeback disc
‘13’. However, as things turned out I was
happy to be proven wrong. Sure, Ozzy’s voice was
flatter than a witch’s tit for the first few numbers,
faltering badly again during ‘God Is Dead’
but, musically speaking the band – particularly
guitarist Tony Iommi – sounded absolutely incredible,
something that for the most part wallpapered over any
criticism of the vocals. WTF, the guy is 65 years old,
and from my vantage point there was no sign of a teleprompter
to help him with lyrics.
The 02 went apeshit as a disembodied but oh-so familiar
voice roared: “Let me fucking hear you!”,
as the lights dimmed and a siren began to wail. The one
and only ‘War Pigs’ – what a way to
enter the stage!! Iommi’s intro to ‘Into The
Void’ sounded genuinely evil and, touchingly, given
the guitarist’s ailing health, midway through the
same song Ozzy shuffled over to Tony and gave him an enquiring
thumbs up. Yes, since reaching pensionable age things
have changed a great deal in Sabbath’s world. Ozzy
introduced ‘Snowblind’, their paean to cocaine
with the words: “We don’t do that anymore”.
The three new songs ‘Age Of Reason’, ‘End
Of The Beginning’ and ‘God Is Dead’
were all worthy of their place in the two-hour set but,
inevitably, it was the oldies that drew the loudest cheers.
My own highlight of the evening was ‘Black Sabbath’,
the song that started the entire genre – a trip
back to year zero, baby!
Beyond a short solo that heralded ‘NIB’, Geezer
Butler didn’t really get too involved beyond keeping
those bass riffs pumping, his mind seemingly 117 miles
away as 22 imaginary men kicked a ball around at his beloved
Villa Park. Tommy Clufetos played the songs simply and
with respectful feeling. His showcase spot was well above
average though at seven minutes perhaps a tad over-long
– if you like drum solos (does anybody?) He’s
no Bill Ward, but the fact that he’s here and Bill
ain’t really isn’t his fault. Ozzy was Ozzy,
closing around and throwing buckets of water (including
an intentional drowning for a security guard!) and doing
that peculiar frog-leap of his. For all his shortcomings,
he’s still one of the best rock frontmen out there.
Sabbath have confirmed a few festival dates for 2014 but
I couldn’t shake off the feeling that that was probably
going to be the last time I’d see them onstage.
I hope not. Here’s the set-list: ‘War Pigs’,
‘Into The Void’, ‘Under The Sun’,
‘Snowblind’, ‘Age Of Reason’,
‘Black Sabbath’, ‘Behind The Wall Of
Sleep’, Bass Solo, ‘NIB’, ‘End
Of The Beginning’, ‘Fairies Wear Boots’,
‘Rat Salad’/Drum Solo, ‘Iron Man’,
‘God Is Dead’, ‘Dirty Women’ and
‘Children Of The Grave’ with an encore of
‘Paranoid’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 10th December
I managed to behave myself during last night’s
meal and despite a few nightcaps in the Crobar my head
feels okay this morning. Phew! Just did a phone interview
with Benji Webbe from Skindred. What a great bloke. He
knows exactly what a journalist wants and doesn’t
pussyfoot around. Answered all of my questions in 12 or
13 mins when some artists would’ve strung things
out for twice or three times as long – and his responses
were fabulous!
Okay, transport and accommodation are both booked for
the first of Thunder’s Christmas gigs at Wolverhampton
Civic Hall. Then an early train back to London and the
boozing continues before Palace’s home game against
Newcastle. Sounds like a plan… though perhaps one
that I may live to regret!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 9th December
It’s a Classic Rock production deadline
day; I’ve got obituaries to write, a detailed news
surf to conduct and a huge pile of CDs to wade through
before this evening’s Monday Night Supper Club in
the West End of London. Must also try to squeeze in a
park run…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 8th December
Another victory for Crystal Palace?! This is
getting boring! Hahaha! Yes, thanks to goals from Cameron
Jerome and Marouane Chamakh, the Eagles dumped on the
Bluebirds of Cardiff from a great height, claiming back-to-back
Prem wins for the first time since October 2004 as the
team from SE25 ascend to 18th in the table!
After a few celebratory flagons of mead I jumped aboard
a Southbound train to meet my friend Harj Kallah at Sutton,
where following the relative disappointment of 24 hours
earlier Uli Ron Roth’s tour arrived at the Boom
Boom Club. I’m so glad we made the decision to take
another look. Two gigs – the same band, almost identical
set-lists, but each as different as night and day. A crystal
clear PA allowed us to savour every last flamboyant, exquisite
connection ’twixt pick and string as Roth turned
in another masterclass. Audible at last, the voice of
ex-Persian Risk/Geezer Butler Band frontman Carl Sentance
was a revelation of similar proportions. Understandably,
Uli seemed less fraught than the night before and after
the baroque majesty of ‘Fly To The Rainbow’
he announced an attempt at the same album’s ‘Speedy’s
Coming’ (“Here’s something a bit less
serious”), though his drummer clearly didn’t
know how it went and the song fell apart before its intended
conclusion. At encore time Roth went for something a little
different, namely some guitar/keyboard improv based around
Rodrigo’s Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez (Theme From
The Second Movement), followed by a wonderful rendition
of Jimi’s ‘Little Wing’. Goosebumps
arose as the final notes rang out – the perfect
end to a truly inspirational evening.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 7th December
Despite the advice of Uli Jon Roth, I didn’t
bother taking earplugs to yesterday’s gig at Mothers
Live, a basement dive in London’s Old Street. The
soundman might well have been wearing a pair of them,
though. For whatever reason – the sheer volume of
Roth’s guitar, the ineptitude of the PA, yadda yadda
yadda… – the show might as well have been
all-instrumental. Lead vocals were almost inaudible until
about three-quarters of the way through, and there was
nothing the band could do about it. “It’s
a bit of a drag,” shrugged frontman Carl Sentance
a few songs into the set, “I can barely hear myself
but it’s rock ‘n’ roll… I’ll
use sign language instead.” The music was absolutely
incredible; Roth has an excellent band, including a home-grown
17-year-old co-guitarist called Ali Clinton whose ultra-fashionable
haircut suggested he should be a member of the Black Veil
Brides, yet who stands toe-to-toe with the maestro during
some of the show’s more demanding moments and even
takes the mic to deliver ‘I’ve Got To Be Free’.
(The rest of the line-up comprises bassist Owen Davidson,
keyboard player Paul Rahme and drummer Richard Kirk).
Rammed full of early Scorps classics, the set-list was
amazing: ‘All Night Long’, ‘Longing
For Fire’, ‘Crying Days’, ‘The
Sails Of Charon’, ‘Life’s Like A River’,
‘Sun In My Hand’, ‘In Search Of The
Peace Of Mind’, ‘In Trance’, ‘Fly
To The Rainbow’, ‘I’ve Got To be Free’,
‘Hell Cat’, ‘Pictured Life’, ‘Catch
Your Train’, ‘Polar Nights’ and ‘Dark
Lady’. Yeah, it *should* have been an excellent
show but call me Mr Picky, the absence of vocals kinda
ruined things for me and when ‘Fly To The Rainbow’
ran aground due to a faulty bass socket my patience pretty
much snapped. However, the frustration only seemed to
light a fire under the posterior of Uli, who roared out:
“There’s a curfew but we’re going to
play till the police come!” as the band launched
into a good half-hour of Jimi Hendrix worship by way of
an encore.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 6th December
Very cool – I’ve just been hired
to write a new biography for Bernie Marsden’s upcoming
solo album, ‘Shine’. Not sure how much is
generally known about the album, save for the fact that
David Coverdale is a special guest, but the label has
just sent me a pre-release listening link, and it’s
rather good! Plenty of variety and some strong tunes ‘n’
playing.
I’ve been blasting out my vinyl gatefold of ‘Tokyo
Tapes’ by the Scorpions as a warm-up for tomorrow’s
gig by Uli Jon Roth, based upon that band’s first
five albums. In fact, this afternoon I had the pleasure
of talking to Uli by phone. When I mentioned that I am
coming along to the apparently tiny Mother Bar he chuckled
and advised: “Bring your earplugs!”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 5th December
There’s not much to report for the last
few days as my post-Wet Sham hangover gradually subsided.
I had lunch in Croydon with Wendy Campling, which was
lovely, but important phone interviews prevented me from
attending the Michael Monroe gig at Islington Academy,
and Eddie’s college parents evening has scuppered
a plan to see Uli Jon Roth this evening at the Beaverwood.
No matter, a bit of a rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’
football weekend is on the way. Can’t wait!
And talking of alcoholic excess, I’ve just found
out that the Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, AOR, Blues
xmas lunch shebang is on December 18th – the same
day as Starz roll up for their UK debut at the Garage.
Ulp! Apologies in advance for any regrettable behaviour
on my part!
Oh look, some
new UFO dates have been announced. I sense a road
drip coming on. Set the Satnav for Southampton, cap’n!
And stock up at Oddbins along the way!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 4th December
The following entry from my Facebook page should
tell you a little about this morning’s fragility:
“Palace 1 Wet Sham 0. Off bottom of the table again.
Drinking a very large bottle of pina colada something-ish.
Might be a bit ill in the morn but WTF, gotta enjoy these
moments!”
Ahem… no matter what Fat Sam says – is there
a more ungracious prat in the game? – the Eagles
deserved the victory, thanks to a well taken glancing
header from Marouane Chamakh (oh, the irony!). Eddie and
I have just finished watching it all again on BT Sport
with tea ‘n’ toast – it was a great
performance, especially in second half! The commentators
kept saying how amazing the CPFC fans were, and how we
can play a role in this season's outcome. They are so,
so right.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 3rd December
The first names for next summer's Sonisphere
line-up are out… Iron Maiden and Metallica on a
British bill together for the first time ever? That’ll
do nicely!!!
The monthly updates at the Playlist
and YouTube pages are up.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 2nd December
Back in the 1980s Pat McManus declined an approach
to leave Mama’s Boys and join Whitesnake. Careers
crumble or flourish upon such decisions, but whilst the
Irish guitarist was flattered says he “didn’t
consider the offer for two seconds – mum and dad
might have something to say had I left my brothers.”
It speaks volumes of the man. In 2013, with Mama’s
Boys having fizzled out a decade ago, and following a
left-field reinvention as the equally ill-fated Celtus,
McManus is out on the road again. His solo band are blues-based
but distinguished by dazzling arena-rock-based guitar
heroics.
Last night I braved London’s shoddy Sunday transport
to attend his gig Upstairs At The Garage in North London.
From the ZZ Top-ish ‘S Before X’ to the sumptuously
delicate and decidedly Hendrix-flavoured ‘Cold Town’,
the newly released album, ‘Dark Emerald Highway’,
is McManus’ best yet. Elsewhere there’s strength
in depth and plenty of variety. The instrumental ‘Juggernaut’
comes on like a Riverdance adaptation of Van Halen’s
‘Eruption’ and McManus pays acoustic tribute
to his hero Rory Gallagher with ‘The Return Of The
G Man’. We get two Mama’s Boys songs; ‘Runaway
Dreams’, complete with fiddle climax, and the brilliant
‘Needle In The Groove’. A saunter through
ZZ Top’s ‘La Grange’ ends things on
a high. Pat smiles like a loon from the first note to
the last. He’s clearly having a ball. And though
last night’s crowd was sparser than expected (Dan
Baird was playing across town), there’s a livelihood
to be carved from his current direction and DIY approach.
A third bite at the major league cherry is not out of
the question – for any A-listers in search of a
guitarist you won’t find a more sincere, decent,
loyal and above all gifted human being on the planet –
though with equal honesty, the recruitment of a specialist
lead vocalist is essential should he prefer to take the
Pat McManus Band further.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 1st December
“If you know this song then you’re
as old as we are,” smiled Kim McAuliffe last night
as Girlschool prepared to play the title cut of an album
called ‘Hit And Run’ that was released a whopping
(ulp!) 32 years ago! It was wonderful to see Kim and the
girls onstage again; they don’t seem to play as
often as they used to and I miss their mix of great songs
and scatty, seemingly spontaneous banter about guitar
straps, shopping, bunny rabbits and drummer Denise Dufort’s
pussy (Kim: “Cat! Cat!”). Save for ‘I
Spy’, from their 30th anniversary album ‘Legacy’,
which featured both Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi, the
set focussed largely on their glory years of the 1980s.
Possibly with one eye on getting to the pub before closing
time Dufort powered them through a thrash-metal rendition
of ‘Yeah Right’, and at encore time, even
though they didn’t know the song concerned, Mark
and John Gallagher of support act Raven joined in on ‘Take
It All Away’, which was hugely entertaining! The
set ran as follows; ‘Demolition Boys’, ‘C’Mon
Let’s Go’, ‘The Hunter’, ‘Hit
And Run’, ‘I Spy’, ‘Never Say
Never’, ‘Screaming Blue Murder’, ‘Future
Flash’, ‘Breakout (Knob In The Media)’,
‘Watch Your Step’, ‘Nothing To Lose’,
‘Yeah Right’, ‘Race With The Devil’,
‘Emergency’ and ‘Take It All Away’.
Due to time constraints, equipment problems and the presence
of a dire opening act, Raven played for just 45 minutes,
which I found extremely annoying. The combination of breakneck
rhythms (dubbed ‘athletic rock’ back in the
day), the slashing guitars of Mark Gallagher and sibling
John’s screaming banshee vocals was little short
of mesmerising. What they *didn’t* play was just
as crucial as the songs that *did* get heard – viz
‘Take Control’, ‘Live At The Inferno’,
‘All For One’, ‘Rock Until You Drop’,
‘Speed Of The Reflex’, ‘Mind Over Metal’,
‘On And On’ and a version of ‘Break
The Chains’ that integrated snippets of Black Sabbath’s
‘Iron Man’, the Quo’s mighty ‘Caroline’,
‘In For The Kill’ by Budgie and Judas Priest
gem ‘Genocide’
I was left disappointed in the afternoon’s Crystal
Palace result but took encouragement by an improved performance
that deserved a point against Norwich at Carrow Road.
Cameron Jerome fluffing that sitter right at the end was
plain embarrassing, but after his winner last week Barry
Bannan is gonna be an important player for the Eagles.
And it’s great to have l’il Joniesta back
from injury too!
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