Wednesday
28th February
Exciting
news for festival goers: as previously hinted at in this diary, the
Scorpions have confirmed a summer appeareance with special guest Uli
Jon Roth at the Rock
And Blues Custom Show, which takes place in Derbyshire during
the last week in July. Michael Schenker Group and Bernie Tormé's
band GMT will also be on the bill. Clan Ling visit the Rock And Blues
every year; it's high time you joined us.
I hooked up with Richard West, keyboard player of the excellent Threshold
for a late afternoon interview. Fortunately he took my opening observation
that being called "England's foremost progressive metal band"
(as claimed in the band's latest biography) is a bit like being cited
as Iceland's greatest cricket team, in the spirit it was intended.
All kidding aside, Threshold's new album, 'Dead Reckoning', will surely
be among this writer's highly rated discs of the year.
Last night I was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall for an appearance by
Judie Tzuke. Although the first half was loaded with ballads, the
show was marvellous. Judie still has one of those skylark voices that
can do just about anything, and after the interval the band really
rocked things up with 'I Will', 'What's It All For' and 'Vivien'.
The encores of 'Stay With Me', 'Sukarita' and 'Understanding' were
quite exquisite and Judie sounded genuinely choked when she exited
the stage with the words: "I doubt that we'll be doing too many
more of these, so I'm glad that we had a great night".
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
27th February
The day begins well with an email from Brian Wheat, bassist
of one of my favourite bands, Tesla. I first met 'Shredded' (as he's
sometimes nicknamed) in Lakelands, Florida when Sacramento bruisers
opened for David Lee Roth at the time of their debut album, 1986's
'Mechanical Resonance', and we've stayed in sporadic contact. He even
happened to be in London when I had a party for my engagement to Mrs
L and kindly dropped by. Seems that Tesla are gearing up to release
a new album of classic rock covers from the 1970s in May. Looking
forward to hearing it; their last album, 2004's 'Into The Now', rocked
big-time!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 26th February
Knock me down with a feather, Fastway are back! There have
been some rather unlikely reunions of late, but I never thought I'd
see ex-Motörhead guitarist 'Fast' Eddie Clarke letting rip again.
The band's self-titled debut from 1983 is still a cult favourite around
these parts, their gig at Hammersmith Odeon that same year being a
marvellous experience. The 'new' Fastway, completed by ex-Mama's Boys
bassist John McManus, singer John 'Harv' Harbinson and drummer Steve
Strange (relax, it's not the new romantic gayboy of the same name),
have already been tapped to join an impressive-looking Sweden Rock
bill in the summer. Hmmmm... wonder how much flights would cost...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 25th February
Here's a bit of good advice: Steer clear of Mad Dog 20/20.
In a celebratory mood, I bought a bottle of the strawberry-flavoured
muck returning home from Palace's 2-1 victory over Luton Town yesterday,
and was left wondering how on earth I managed to consume so much of
this alleged "fruit flavoured [fortified] wine from the USA"
in my youth, along with countless bottles of Thunderbird and the Guns
N' Roses-approved Night Train Express. At 13% proof it certainly does
the job, but my tongue feels like a plague-ridden tramp had spent
the night urinating on it as I slept.
Gaining revenge upon Luton, who'd romped home in the last three encounters,
was vastly more pleasurable. With Eagles defender Mark Hudson bizarrely
putting through his own net to hand the vistors an undeserved (though
short-lived) equaliser, Palace scored all three goals and made the
piss-poor Hatters look well out of their depth. How pleasing it was
to see new left-winger Dave Martin, signed for a pittance from non-League
Dartford, getting to make a highly credible debut. Can we get a look
at Victor Moses soon please, Taylor?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 24th February
Oh wow... the postie's just dropped off expanded editions
of Blue Öyster Cult's 1977 studio album 'Spectres' and the following
year's live disc 'One Enchanted Evening'. The latter is particularly
close to my heart as it was the first BÖC album that I ever purchased.
It became a gigantic turntable favourite, to the point that I amazed
myself by still being able to recite Eric Bloom's superbly idiotic
inter-song banter verbatim. This of course includes, "We came
down here to Hot-Lanta for just one reason, that's to ask you this
question: Are you ready to rock?" 'One Enchanted Evening' now
comes with a plethora of bonus audio tracks, sleeve notes and a live
DVD shot on the same tour - swoon!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 21st February
Although I'd like to have seen special guests Krokus and
opening act the Poodles, an invitation to attend last night's Electric
Ballroom gig by HammerFall was politely declined. There is already
one Manowar, why on earth do we need another? Instead I boarded a
train to Southend for Palace's 1-0 victory over the Shrimpers at Roots
Hall, stopping off for a quick interview with ex-Thin Lizzy/Wild Horses/Motörhead
guitarist Brian Robertson at his place in Essex en route. It's hard
to believe but Robbo stayed off the booze during our chat. The same
cannot be said for my good self. Consequently the game remains a bit
of a blur, though I do recall going apeshit when Paul Ifill stroked
home the winning goal. Coming on for the last 10 minutes, academy
starlet Lewis Grabban looked pacy, intelligent and skillful - let's
give him another run out on Saturday please.
P.S. You couldn't make it up! It seems that Van Halen's reunion tour
was never officially confirmed after all and has now been "postponed
indefinitely". The confusion is apparently due to Eddie Van Halen's
spokeswoman-slash-girlfriend issuing a press release before all parties
had signed on the dotted line. The words 'Spinal' and 'Tap' spring
to mind.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
20th February
Thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's interview with Dave
Mustaine. The Megadeth leader has mellowed considerably
since his firebrand youth. We spoke of his conversion to Christianity,
his place in metal's hierarchy, of the responsibility involved
in running a festival like Gigantour, his proficiency as a guitarist,
his struggle with booze and drugs, of the fact that Lacuna Coil's
Cristina Scabbia duets with him on the new album's re-recorded
version of 'A Tout Le Monde', and of course, of his admission
that "People that deserve black eyes still get them."
Nice to see that some things in life never change!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
19th February
Megadeth's
forthcoming monster, 'United Abominations', has been on almost
constant rotation ahead of this morning's face to face interview
with Monsewer Mustaine. I really like it. Its fire, heaviness
and searing shredability certainly make the group's last couple
of albums sound tame. Which in fairness you could probably say
they were.
Hurrah... the full bill for Firefest
#4 is out, with Tyketto, Harem Scarem, Jorn, Hugo and the
original line-up of Valentine, Crunch (you'll probably know
them better as Adriangale) and Jaded Heart lined up to join
reunited headliners FM at Nottingham Rock City on October 27.
This mouth-watering line-up represents sterling effort on the
part of organisers Kieran Dargan and Bruce Mee. Wonder if the
fixture list will go my way just for once. Ah well, even if
the mighty Palace do happen to be at home that day, Nottingham
here I come!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 18th February
Was I surprised by Palace's capitulation to Birmingham Shitty
at Selhurst yesterday? Not in the least. The league table does
not lie, and the rest of Clan Ling were right to spend their
day engaged in other less depressing pursuits. Did it anger
me? Not really. I've numbed myself to the current squad's ineptitude.
Talk in the pubs before the game suggests that few of the club's
diehards will renew their season tickets next year. I don't
blame them. Peter Taylor's side lacks pace, organisation, guile,
determination and guts. Going to watch them is almost becoming
a chore. It comes to something when the pre-match joustings
of the clubs' two chairmen (Eagles chief Simon Jordan bitched
of rival David Sullivan: "He wasn't breast fed as a child
and needs some love. But who'd want the love of Birmingham fans
anyway?") is more entertaining than the 90 minutes of alleged
'action' on the pitch. With the play-offs out of reach, let's
blood some youngsters like Victor Moses and see if they've got
what it takes...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 17th February
"Special" is a word that I try to use sparingly,
but last night's Blackfield gig at the Mean Fiddler easily deserved
such a fitting description. The day had begun perfectly with
the arrival of a promo of Porcupine Tree's forthcoming album,
'Fear Of A Blank Planet' - a fitting appetiser for the first
night of Blackfield's latest world tour. Mustn't forget to give
a quick nod of admiration to Pure
Reason Revolution, who kicked things off with a highly promising
set.
For the uninitiated, Blackfield are a partnership between PT's
Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen, a musician/singer who has been
called... ahem... the "David Bowie of Israel". They
deal in shimmering soundscapes and towering choruses, their
pop sensibility underpinned by dramatic edginess. The velvety
opening salvo of 'Once', '1,000 People' and 'Miss U' sent myself
and the rest of a packed room into rapture. All of the new 'Blackfield
II' album turned out to be aired, interlaced with highlights
from the band's self-titled 2004 debut (including 'Blackfield',
'The Hole In Me', 'Pain', 'Glow', 'Open Mind', 'Hello' and 'Cloudy
Now'). An emotive mid-set rendition of Alanis Morissette's 'Thank
U' dovetailed seamlessly with the band's own material. Okay,
there were occasional bum notes and flat vocal lines, but they'll
be ironed out over the coming weeks. Exiting the Fiddler with
emotions reeling and jaw trawling through empty beer cans on
the floor, just one thing needed stating: This band will be
friggin' enormous.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 16th February
Oh bollocks. Chris Cornell has left Audioslave to resume
his solo career, citing "irresolvable personality conflicts
and musical differences". I adored the singer's 1999 solo
debut, 'Euphoria Morning', but it's disappointing that Audioslave
are over. It's no great shock, of course. Almost from the start
there was immense friction behind the scenes, with different
managers and record labels laying claim to their share of the
spoils from the quartet's three albums. Alarm bells began chiming
the minute the three instrumental players confirmed a so-called
'one-off' reunion with Zack de la Rocha in the lame one trick
pony that is Rage Against The Machine. Meanwhile, David Lee
Roth has been gobbing off about Van Halen's summer tour to Billboard
magazine. Asked if the re-grouping might become permanent, Diamond
Dave winked: "Yeah. I have hope and faith, and that's more
than just the name of a couple of strippers from Albuquerque."
Boom boom.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 15th February
Last night's Europe gig was a lot of fun. To their credit,
Joey Tempest and company haven't gone for the safest comeback
route in history, abandoning the big-haired pop-rock of the
80s for a tougher, heavier Audioslave-style vibe that would
always alienate the diehards. The Swedes took the sensible approach
before a larger than expected Shepherds Bush Empire crowd, mixing
old and new material in just about equal proportions. As a fan
of both the 'before' and 'after' eras, I thought they were excellent.
Tempest still has all the rock-god moves, while John Norum remains
a dazzling guitarist. For anyone who's interested, the set-list
was: 'Love Is Not The Enemy', 'Always The Pretenders', 'Superstitious',
'Seven Doors Hotel', 'Let The Children Play', 'The Getaway Plan',
'Flames', 'Sign Of The Times', 'Carrie', 'Brave And Beautiful
Soul' (replacing 'Forever Travelling', which was played earlier
on the tour), Norum's guitar solo, 'Girl From Lebanon', 'Start
From The Dark', 'Yesterday's News' and 'Rock The Night', with
encores of 'Got To Have Faith', 'Cherokee' and the inevitable
'The Final Countdown'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 14th February
Come on, then, own up. Which genius booked Europe to play
in London on Valentine's night? For the past week or so, Mrs
L's jibes of "It's Joey T or me" have grown in seriousness.
It cost a bloody fortune in flowers, chocolates and cards, also
two bottles of red wine, but I've finally earned a night pass
to visit the Shepherds Bush Empire this evening.
Mustn't grumble... the postie just delivered some excellent
goodies. A big thumbs-up goes to 'Princess Alice And The Broken
Arrow' (released via SPV on March 26), which lives up to the
advance hype of being Magnum's finest work in many a long year.
Neither of the Brummie quintet's two reunion records, 'Brand
New Morning' (2002) nor 'Breath Of Life' (2004), entirely hit
the spot for me, but this is a more upmarket kettle of fish.
If you look in the small print there's also a guest appearance
from Slade's Jim Lea on fiddle. Pleased to report that Saxon's
'The Inner Sanctum' (SPV, March 5) rocks as soundly and consistently
as it seemed to at last month's playback piss-up. I'm also looking
forward to spending some time devouring an expanded 20th anniversary
edition of Napalm Death's 'Scum' debut, and the live album ('Real
Time', available through Fie Records) of Van Der Graaf Generator's
comeback gig at the Royal Festival Hall in May 2005. I was present
to have seen their first full-length performance in almost 30
years, and it was pretty bloody special.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 13th February
More Scorps news. The band have apparently decided to called
their new Desmond Child-produced album 'Humanity - Hour 1'.
The countdown to a May 14 release via BMG Records begins now.
Fingers are firmly crossed that it'll be as good as their last
one, 2004's 'Unbreakable', which really put them back on the
rock 'n' roll map.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 11th February
Bloody well done to England's beleaguered cricketers. This
morning we beat Australia to seal a fantastic 2-0 victory in
the tri-nations series finals, silencing big-gobbed Convicts
coach John Buchanan, who famously boasted that his batsmen weren't
being tested by England or New Zealand's bowlers. More of the
same in the World Cup in March, please.
As I feared it would, however, Palace's unbeaten league run
stuttered to an ugly end in Leeds yesterday. I had accepted
Leeds fan and ex-Kerrang! (now occasional Classic Rock) writer
Neil Jeffries' kind offer of a lift from south London to the
Antarctic-style wastelands of Yorkshire. It'd been a while since
I last ventured to Elland Road, and it took about three nano-seconds
to remember why. After dominating the early stages, the Eagles
gave away a stoooopid goal from a corner to a United side that
almost immediately began procrastinating disgracefully, but
probably just about deserved their win. With Palace hovering
aimlessly in mid-table for once, I was just glad to get back
to Neil's car, thaw my feet out and play some great music (including
Journey's 'Greatest Hits' and the new live album from Starz)
whilst nipping away at a bottle of vodka on the way back down
the M1 to civilisation.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
10th February
'Break The Silence', the debut album from all-girl
band McQueen,
has been a regular visitor to the Ling Towers death deck since
before Christmas. Last night's gig at the Water Rats in King's
Cross lived up to my hopes. The four ladies from the South Coast
have spirit and fire a-plenty, the likes of 'Not For Sale',
'Running Out Of Things To Say', 'Blinded' and first video 'The
Line Went Dead' suggesting that the distinguished lineage of
Girlschool and Rock Goddess isn't completely obsolete. Thank
God!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
9th February
Good
news for fans of the Scorpions. I was gutted to have missed
the band's raved-about show at the Wacken Open Air Festival
last August, which featured guest slots from ex-members Michael
Schenker, Herman Rarebell and Uli Jon Roth - the latter returning
to play 'Pictured Life', 'Speedy's Coming','Dark Lady', 'We'll
Burn The Sky' and 'He's A Woman, She's A Man' among others.
Just been transcribing a short interview with Herr Roth, in
which he reveals: "There will be more of these events.
I recently had dinner in Los Angeles with Rudolf [Schenker,
rhythm guitarist], where the band are finishing their new album,
and we discussed the idea of something similar happening again.
I loved playing with the Scorpions at Wacken; it's a bit like
a marriage, the magic never dies."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 8th February
Damn
those Jagermeister bombs - they don't mix too well with wine,
White Russians, Black Russians or anything else that I foolishly
consumed last night. But what's a man to do if a record label
invites you to "a debauched evening from the band who've
sold over two million albums in the US and worship at the altar
of Mötley Crüe and Guns N' Roses", with a short
live set and evening meal at Stringfellows thrown in? How on
earth did I get home without falling asleep on the train, and
still manage to watch the highlights of England's defeat to
Spain before dozing off? The hellraisers concerned were Oklahoma
City five-piece Hinder,
who take their name from not letting anything get in their way
- or 'hinder' them - in their path to success. I've gotta be
honest, their 'Extreme Behavior' album sounded a little too
like Nickelback for me at first spin, though that's mostly because
Austin Winkler has a voice like Chad Kroeger's. The sound was
way too quiet during their 30-minute set, but they seemed a
lot more raucous than the record (fortunately). With UK dates
pencilled for April, I'll deffo give 'em another try... but
will plan it so I don't have five interviews to get through
the next day!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 6th February
"Guess who's back?" The call from FM drummer
Pete Jupp came via my mobile phone just as I was boarding a
train to watch Wolfmother at the Hammersmith Apollo last night.
The rumours are true. After an absence of more than a decade,
the band's final recording line-up of Jupp, vocalist/guitarist
Steve Overland, bassist Merv Goldsworthy, guitarist Andy Barnett
and keyboard player Jem Davis are to re-group for a one-off
festival date later this year. They can be seen at Firefest
#4 at Rock City in Nottingham on Saturday October 27th. You've
no idea how happy that news makes me!
The Wolfmother gig, on the other hand, satisfied less consistently.
With just one album to promote, the Aussie trio jammed through
a 14-song set that included a version of Zeppelin's 'Communication
Breakdown' in the encore. They've some splendid material, including
'White Unicorn', the humongous riff-fest of 'Colossal', and
the Grammy-nominated 'Woman', the latter of which even included
a cheeky snippet of 'Heart Of The Sunrise' by Yes. The crowd
at this sold-out date (the first of two), cheered every last
note, but 'Apple Tree', with its annoying Justin Hawkins-style
falsetto chorus, is ludicrous, and from my own perspective the
show dipped badly from its middle until the encores. At times
Wolfmother take the label of 'retro-rock' way too far and simply
resort to borrowing other people's ideas. That they have the
audacity to end the show with a tune called 'The Joker And The
Thief' (shades of Hendrix, anyone?) says it all.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 5th February
Judging by his past few diary entries, Ross Halfin derives
much amusement from my continued appreciation of Uriah Heep
(something for which I make no apologies, BTW). So the admission
that much of the past weekend was spent soaking up the delicious
strains of 'Song Of Times', a new album from long-lost US pomp-rockers
Starcastle, will no doubt generate apoplexies of laughter. I
care not one jot. If indeed they were ever in it, Starcastle
have been away from the limelight since 1978's 'Real To Reel'
album. But this comeback disc revives all their signature elements,
including complex and lengthy but soothingly melodic song arrangements,
Jon Anderson-style vocals and Gary Strater's chunky, Chris Squire-inspired
bass. Fans of the genre - including fellow Classic Rocker Geoff
Barton (who called them "immense" in an email this
morning) - are gonna want to add 'Song Of Times' to their collections.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 4th February
Talking of the blues, as I was in yesterday's diary, here's
a gem to seek out. Relying upon its title alone, you'd be forgiven
for assuming 'YU So Shady?' was some awful piece of hip-hop
shit, but it's actually a slamming slab of blues-rawk from Grady,
a.k.a. Grady Johnson, the Canadian guitarist who produced Gov't
Mule's latest album. It sounds a little like vintage ZZ Top,
a comparison that's verfied by the latter's guitarist Billy
F Gibbons, who declares: "I listen to Grady every day".
Drummer and the album's executive producer is Chris Layton,
who used to play with Stevie Ray Vaughan. Do you need any further
encouragement to check 'em out at www.shadygrady.net?
Van Halen have officially confirmed their intention to play
40 reunion dates in the US, with Wolfgang Van Halen taking bassist
Michael Anthony's place. Hmmmm... there's more than a grain
of truth in this spoof
film ad which has been doing the rounds for the past few
days.
Yesterday's deserved 2-0 victory over Norwich meant that Crystal
Palace are now just 10 points behind the play-off places again.
Leon Cort headed the opener just before half-time, newcomer
Paul Refill (sorry... Paul Ifill - I wasn't drinking before
or after the game, honest!) notching the all-important clincher.
Was looking forward to seeing Stream
Of Passion again tonight, but the show's been cancelled
due to immigration problems. Hopefully the six-piece band, responsible
for one of 2006's best debut albums, will be back soon.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 3rd February
Still reeling from the astonishment of England's cricketers
beating Australia for the first time on a three month tour Down
Under, I headed up to the West End to watch a mid-afternoon
showcase from Earache Records' latest signing, Evile
. The Huddersfield-based combo play old-school thrash (or, as
my old mate Xavier Russell used to call it, FRASH!!!] like it
never went out of fashion. To some of us it never did, of course.
Blatantly influenced by Metallica, Sepultura, Exodus, Slayer
and Annihilator, the foursome have age and enthusiasm on their
side, and a gifted lead guitarist in Oliver Drake. I will follow
them with interest.
Then... across Oxford Street to the 100 Club for a double-dose
of blues-rock from Ian Parker and the Aynsley Lister Band. By
the time the show began a few large voddie 'n' diet cokes had
lubricated the gullet. However, I was the only person in the
buiding who laughed aloud when, just two songs in, the words
"woke up this morning" made their inevitable appearance.
It was the quality of Parker's latest album, 'Where I Belong',
that had tempted me along to the show, and as arguably the more
song-orientated of the pair he just about had the edge over
Lister, whose own set included the second best version of 'Purple
Rain' I've seen performed onstage (yes, I caught Prince &
The Revolution at Wembley Arena back in '86). Quality-wise,
I'd vouch for Parker and Lister on any day of the week. But,
sadly, both are lacking in charisma. Would I use up another
of my precious Friday nights watching 'em again? Hmmmm... maybe...
if someone else was buying the drinks.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
2nd February
There's nothing like a little friendly banter to begin an
interview. Did a phoner with Dave Mustaine last night, and his opening
gambit was: "I saw a photo of you wearing a suit the other day.
You had a tie on, too. Did you have an appointment in court?"
He was referring to this
, of course. Megadeth's leader is always fun to talk to, especially
now that he's calmed down a little. Sadly, it's unlikely that Dave's
travelling Gigantour festival will visit Europe - or indeed go anywhere
- this summer due to promotional duties for the new Megadeth album,
though he says that Gigantour will pick up again in 2008, and there's
every chance of a trip across the Atlantic. I've yet to hear 'United
Abominations' ahead of its release date of May 7th, but I believe
Mustaine when he imparts that it boasts "enough guitar playing
for two albums". Just what Megadeth fans had hoped to hear.
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