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Thursday 26th February
Well, we’re building towards another of those super-exhausting
Classic Rock production deadline weeks. Yesterday’s interview
itinerary included chats with Gary Moore, Glenn Hughes and Rod Argent
of The Zombies. I was so knackered by yet another marathon day, my
head hit the pillow well before eleven o’clock – most
unusual. Logging on this morning I was interested to learn that the
long-rumoured Faith No More reunion seems to be taking place, though
it’s likely the band will only tour Europe. To commemorate this
fact, the Classic Rock website has posted 10
Amazing Facts About Mike Patton And Company. I can’t really
better any of those, though my all-time favourite FNM nugget was related
to me by Sepultura drummer Igor Cavalera who happened to be over at
Patton’s place one day during a hectic interview schedule. Igor
was equally amused and bemused when Patton thrust the phone into his
hand and told him to speak to a journalist with the instruction, “Pretend
to be me – say whatever the fuck you like!” I was never
exactly the hugest of FNM fans, but the return of such wilful unpredictability
can only be a good thing – unless you happen to be a journo
that Patton dupes into asking the building’s janitor or tea
lady how it felt to have invented funk metal.
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
25th February
Last night’s 0-0 draw at a sparsely attended Selhurst
Park convinces me that Bummingham City are not automatic promotion
material. Granted, the visitors were without Phillips and McFadden,
but the likes of Cameron Jerome, Marcus Bent and Scott Sinclair are
flair players that will always carve out a few good chances. But as
a force I was underwhelmed by the Bluenoses. Palace were no great
shakes either, to be fair. We should’ve had a first half penalty,
though, when Keith Fahey hauled Neil Danns back in the area. And given
that the Eagles ended the game with ten men after Nick Carle was sent
off for a rash two-footed challenge, perhaps we were quite fortunate
to hang onto a point at the death. But it certainly wasn’t the
mauling that the two clubs’ relative positions might have suggested.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
23rd February
Oh
wow, the bill for the next Firefest has just been announced and it’s
the most Ling-friendly so far. The very thought of FM, White Sister,
Drive, She Said, Romeo’s Daughter and (joy of joys!) the reunited
Airrace being together under one roof is just too much for my underwear
to contain. Check out the entire two-day programme, which takes place
in Nottingham on October 23/24, at: www.thefirefest.com.
I will be there, no matter what Palace’s fixture list should
have in store. Wouldn’t it be great if Nottingham Florist stayed
up (and Charlton went down), with Palace visiting the City Ground
on the day of the show? That’s too much to hope for…
Sheesh…
it’s approaching 9pm and high time I called it a day. Since
this morning I’ve interviewed Dan McCafferty from Nazareth,
Warrior Soul’s Kory Clarke, spoken to Billy Sheehan about his
new solo album, ‘Holy Cow!’ and the imminent Mr Big reunion,
and chewed the cud with one of my all-time heroes, one of the men
that set me on my life’s path, Sweet bassist Steve Priest, who
kindly gave up time to talk on his birthday. Quite a day. Now it’s
time for a rest!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
22nd February
Aggrieved
though hardly shocked that Palace lost yesterday’s game at Sheffield
Wednesday, I headed across London for the Priest Feast at Wembley
Arena. After several worrying reports of earlier shows on the tour,
including one from a Manchester-based acquaintance that walked out
early on a concert for the first time in nearly 30 years of gig-going,
proclaiming: “I couldn’t bear to witness a once mighty
band [like Judas Priest] reach the end of their shelf life”,
I was prepared for the worst.
My
friend Andy and I had tickets to one side of the stage, with a terrific
view and a loud, crystal-clear sound that benefitted Testament’s
rampaging early-bird opening set. Though Chuck Billy and company failed
to play ‘Over The Wall’, it was good to see them elicit
a strong reaction from the decent-sized crowd. With a huge digital
clock set up at Dave Mustaine’s side of the stage that counted
down from 60.00 to zero, one can only assume that Megadeth were making
some kind of point about the brevity of their allotted time, but as
the seconds ticked by, they eschewed small talk and all forms of procrastination
to somehow shoehorn a dozen tracks – ‘Sleepwalker’,
‘Wake Up Dead’, ‘Take No Prisoners’, ‘A
Tout Le Monde’, ‘Washington Is Next’, ‘She-Wolf’,
‘In My Darkest Hour’, ‘Symphony Of Destruction’,
‘Skin Of My Teeth’, ‘Hangar 18’, ‘Peace
Sells’ and a razor-sharp ‘Holy Wars… The Punishment
Due’ – into an amazing tornado of sound. For me, though
Priest were a lot better than I’d feared, Megadeth were (just
about) the band of the night. The instrumental players all covered
themselves in glory (as usual), and although it sometimes threatened
to crack, especially after he’d given everything to ‘Sinner’,
Rob Halford’s voice held up pretty well. I loved the part in
which Halford, who these days looks uncannily like Emperor Ming from
the original Flash Gordon movie, sang ‘Death’, seated
on some kind of ornate throne. It was frustrating that the band stuck
to the same festival set they played last summer, but rumours of the
Priest’s ceremonial defrocking would appear greatly exaggerated.
Here’s the set-list: ‘Prophecy’, ‘Metal Gods’,
‘Eat Me Alive’, ‘Between The Hammer And The Anvil’,
‘Devil’s Child’, ‘Breaking The Law’,
‘Hell Patrol’, ‘Death’, ‘Dissident Aggressor’,
‘Angel’, ‘The Hellion’/‘Electric Eye’,
‘Rock Hard, Ride Free’, ‘Sinner’, ‘Painkiller’,
‘Hell bent For Leather’, ‘The Green Manalishi (With
The Two-Pronged Crown)’ and a song I could now do without, ‘You
Got Another Thing Coming’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
21st February
As
much as I’m a fan of Exodus, I probably wouldn’t have
attended the first night of Hellfire Festival had Metal Hammer not
asked me to write a review. But I’m glad that I agreed to do
so, as my first live sighting of Irish thrash leprechauns Gama Bomb
was rather fun. Tired and a little frustrated by a trying seven days,
their booze-fuelled chainsaw-like thrash tunes about zombies, Robocop
and, er… attacking people with giant hammers were the perfect
way to kick-start the weekend. I must get hold of a copy of their
album, ‘Citizen Brain’.
As
someone that never really understood the appeal of Overkill, I was
sceptical about the prospect of Exodus being forced to fill the night’s
special guest spot, but the T-shirt count – if not the relative
performances – probably vindicated the decision. Gazing into
my crystal ball, a short, concentrated burst of Exodus always seemed
like to leave Overkill looking pretty stupid in attempting to close
the show. It didn’t really turn out that way. With frontman
Rob Dukes understandably riled by the fact that the band’s album,
‘The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A’, had been so widely
for free by those in attendance, Exodus (featuring guest drummer Nick
Barker) fulfilled their side of the bargain, whipping the Islington
Academy audience into a frenzy with oldies like ‘Fabulous Disaster’,
‘And Then There Were None’, ‘A Lesson In Violence’
and ‘Toxic Waltz’.
However,
Overkill were no poor relations. A few months away from his fiftieth
birthday, Bobby ‘Blitz’ Ellsworth still has a terrific
voice and no one was more amazed than me as the New Yorkers paraded
a selection of pedal-to-the-thrash-metal dandruff dispensers, including
‘Evil Never Dies’, ‘Hammerhead’, ‘Hello
From The Gutter’, ‘Rotten To The Core’, ‘Elimination’,
‘Feel The Fire’ and ‘In Union We Stand’, an
encore rendition of ‘Fuck You’ morphing into a version
of Motörhead’s ‘Overkill’. I laughed aloud
when Ellsworth previewed something a little more contemporary, ‘Skull
And Bones’, from the band’s current album, ‘Immortalis’,
with a knowing chuckle: “We’d better do one of the new
ones; give Kerrang! something to talk about.” It reminded me
of an incident at last summer’s Bloodstock festival when a deejay
from Kerrang! Radio foolishly announced his identity whilst welcoming
a group to the stage and was rewarded by sarcastic chants of “S!
Club! Seven! S! Club! Seven!” for his pains.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
20th February
Last
night was spent in company of The Groundhogs and Stray at the Beaverwood
Club, on the borders of London and Kent. Due to wrongly advised running
times and a Number 160 bus that seems to reach Chislehurst via Guatemala
and the Outer Himalayas, Stray were already into their stride by the
time my friend Andy Beare and I arrived at the Beaverwood, a warm
and welcoming, if slightly makeshift-looking, cricket pavilion-turned-suburban
blues emporium that’s run by promoter Pete
Feenstra, an industrious bloke whose network of eight clubs has
helped to keep blues-rock alive within the M25 perimeter.
Starting
with a support slot to Saga at the Lyceum in February 1981 (a show
that also featured the semi-legendary Quartz), I’ve seen Stray
many, many times. In fact, for a while there I probably overdosed
on them. Strictly my own fault, I know. But the band’s new album,
the Chris Tsangarides-produced ‘Valhalla’, has renewed
my enthusiasm for their music. Del Bromham might be the last remaining
original member of a group that has made records since 1970, but the
enduring guitarist/vocalist has surrounded himself with able and (comparatively)
young talent in John Bonham-obsessed drummer Karl Randall and a Steve
Harris lookalike bassist called Stuart Uren. Three universally-themed
songs from ‘Valhalla’ – namely ‘1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue’, ‘Free At Last’ and ‘Harry Farr’
– justifiably stood their ground in the set. Bromham largely
resisted the temptation to showboat, but as the performance closed
with the Iron Maiden-covered ‘All In Your Mind’ he threatened
to remove ceiling tiles by waving around his axe, depositing it atop
an amp and controlling its feedback with a lead. The audience responded
warmly.
Which,
sadly, is more than can be said for The Groundhogs. It pains me to
say this, especially having enjoyed their set at Shepherd’s
Bush Empire on the ‘Classic Legends Of Rock’ tour last
November, but it’s easy to see why Tony ‘TS’ McPhee
and company are now considered an underground band. McPhee’s
40-year track record of speaks for itself, and though the ’Hogs
still include material from their seminal ‘Split’ and
‘Thank Christ For The Bomb’ albums (1970 and ’71
respectively), his plectrum-less picking technique is a thing that
the listener will love or loathe. What its wide-tread, high-density
effect lacks in accuracy is compensated by sheer power, but the band’s
songs are hardly big on hooks and, now in this mid-60s, the guitarist’s
nonchalantly delivered vocals are another big minus point. It can’t
have escaped McPhee’s attention that much of tonight’s
initially sizeable crowd sidled exit-wards considerably before the
show’s end.
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Thursday
19th February
There are two great pieces of news. Firstly, and most importantly,
Iron Maiden struck a long overdue blow for hard rock/heavy metal by
winning ‘Best Live Act’ at last night’s Brit Awards.
Reportedly, the band triumphed by a “landslide” vote.
It’s about bloody time, if you ask me. Manager Rod Smallwood’s
quote of: “The black sheep finally invades your lounge!”
is most apt. Frankly, it’s laughable that anybody could deem
handbag-wielding nonces like Coldplay, The Verve, Elbow (who?!) or
Scouting For Girls (not even worthy of a ‘who?!’) as being
superior entertainers to the mighty Maiden. I love the way that in
his excellent acceptance
speech Bruce Dickinson thanks not only the group’s fans
but their wives, girlfriends and families for tolerating them “for
the past 20 years”, adding: “And probably having to tolerate
us for a lot longer after we received this”. It’s particularly
welcome as, in a November 2005 interview for Classic Rock, Steve Harris
told me: “A few years ago we thought about retiring. Now, no
way.”
And secondly, following the success of their rockumentary (see Diary,
Monday 16th) Anvil have apparently been taken on by Slayer’s
management and the booking agent that works for Coldplay (them again).
There are also whispers of the Canadian band being lined up to play
at the Download festival this summer. Let us not forget that they
opened the bill of a Status Quo-headlined Monsters Of Rock some 27
years back. Ouch, that makes me feel old. “This is the Rocky
Balboa of heavy metal,” proclaims guitarist/vocalist Steve ‘Lips’
Kudlow.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
18th February
I’m
starting to realise that I’ve dwelt far too much upon the imminent
relegation of Palace’s south London neighbours (**NOT** rivals),
Clowntown Pathetic. Last night, whilst my beloved Crystal Palace were
busy notching a useful away victory, beating under pressure Plymouth
Argyle 3-1, I found myself switching back and forth from Sky Sports
2, where Shiteon & Homo Albion – the only club that most
Eagles fans **REALLY** hate – sought the right to play on the
hallowed turf of Wembley in the final of that most illustrious of
competitions, the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. To be honest, the
level of sheer bounteous joy that I derived from watching them lose
on penalties to Luton surprised even myself. And with Hereford and
Crewe both winning, the Feeble Seaweed’s own trapdoor to League
2 opened that just little bit more.
Musically,
I’ve been playing a lot of great stuff. Just received expanded
versions of three vintage Camel albums (1975’s ‘Music
Inspired By The Snow Goose’, the following year’s brilliant
‘Moonmadness’ and ‘Rain Dances’, from 1977).
Brand new live albums from Procol Harum and Return To Forever just
dropped onto the desk. A few days ago, during a visit to Fopp Records,
I picked up Sly & The Family Stone’s ‘Fresh’,
first issued in 1973, at budget price. I’ve also been re-examining
the Nazareth catalogue, with emphasis on ‘Razamanaz’ and
‘Loud ‘N’ Proud’ (1973 and ’74, respectively).
And listen out for an album from a San Diego-based prog combo called
Astra that comes out via Rise Above in May – it’s sensational.
How on earth does Lee Dorrian keep on digging up these pearls?!?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
16th February
Well, I’ve seen it at last and I’m hugely impressed. I
refer to Anvil: The Story Of Anvil, a quite superb rockumentary about
the long-lost (to many, at least) Canadian metalheads that will be
best remembered in the UK for spots at the 1982 Monsters Of Rock event,
and the following year’s Reading Festival. Opening at a Japanese
open-air bash in 1984, where they appeared alongside Bon Jovi, the
Scorpions and Whitesnake, the movie begins with testimonies from Lemmy,
Slash, Scott Ian and my buddy Malcolm Dome before tracing Anvil’s
now middle-aged guitarist Steve Kudlow, AKA ‘Lips’, and
drummer Robb Reiner as they make a futile attempt to return the group
to the limelight. If you’re anything like me, the results will
make you weep with sympathy and cry with laughter – sometimes
simultaneously. No matter how many obstacles are placed in front of
them, Kudlow and Reiner simply refuse to give up their dream, and
the film’s (comparatively) happy ending had the premiere’s
audience at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on is collective feet, whooping
unmitigated approval.
Imagine how badly the place lost its mind, then, when as the credits
began to roll, a spotlight picked out Kudlow on the venue’s
middle balcony, grinning like a loon whilst peeling out a noisy guitar
solo. Yes, making their first official appearance in London for 27
years, Anvil were on hand to play a brief five-song set (‘March
Of The Crabs’, ‘This Is 13’, ‘666’,
‘White Rhino’ and ‘Metal On Metal’), the final
number featuring a guest performance from Anthrax’s Scott Ian.
It was a quite fantastic night; I’m so glad I ventured out on
a Sunday evening.
P.S. How surreal is this? I just took a very strange phone call from
UFO singer Phil Mogg, who sounded buoyant at having almost completed
the band’s new studio album (which is apparently to be titled
‘The Visitor’). Once the pleasantries were out of the
way, it went something like this:
“How are your jeans?”
I beg your pardon?
“Your jeans. Every time I think of you, I think of tight jeans.”
I told Phil that I would not divulge the first thoughts to enter my
head at the mention of his own name. Damn cheek!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
14th February
I’ve
a mild hangover, and I didn’t even go out last night. There’s
a good reason for this. Throughout my entire journalistic career,
each magazine I’ve worked for (Metal Hammer, RAW and Classic
Rock) has been forced to live in the shadow of Kerrang! And for a
lot of that time, those involved with The Big K! have delighted in
rubbing everyone else’s noses in their superiority. As you will
imagine, after enduring two decades of this situation – Metal
Hammer launched in the UK in October 1986, largely to a hail of derision
(albeit much of the abuse deserved) from the industry’s esteemed
market-leader – it gradually evolved into something of a personal
bugbear. Memorably, at an album launch party from a few years back,
Malcolm Dome and I found ourselves sharing a table with a couple of
K! scribes who were such snobs that they scarcely acknowledged our
presence. Our attempts to make any sort of small talk with these people,
who treated us like we were something on the underside of their shoes,
didn’t last long.
Well,
no more. Classic Rock has outsold Kerrang! (also, for that matter,
the New Musical Express) for the past year. Now the latest batch of
ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) figures confirm that Hammer is
on the verge of achieving the same feat. K! sales have dipped by 32.1%
year on year to 52,272, those of Hammer soaring by 9.7% over the same
period, to 50,269. As someone that learnt his trade by working on
the amateur hour, typo and error-strewn German-owned Hammer and has
seen it gradually put its house in order to become the force it is
today, I can assure you this represents a Herculean achievement. No
wonder I received an email from current Hammer editor and ex-K! employee
Alex Milas that volunteers: “[It] feels like we just blew up
the Death Star [from Star Wars] or something.”
P.S. Maybe, just maybe, CR and MH’s publisher, Chris ‘Mr
Scooge’ Ingham, will take the above into account when compiling
the next set of freelance budgets in April??!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
13th February
No,
I’m not about to join The Answer’s fan club (see Wednesday’s
Diary). Planet Rock has just re-spun ‘Demon Eyes’, the
song from the band’s forthcoming album that served to whet my
appetite for seeing them live once more, and it’s excellent.
But last night’s show at Dingwalls, a cosy venue in London’s
Camden Lock, was not. I wouldn’t go as far as Ross Halfin, who
responded to my own Diary observation by slamming the Irishmen as
a mere “pub rock band”. They have a professional delivery,
an above-average retro sound (albeit way too much like the Black Crowes)
and a fantastic singer in Cormac Neeson. Paul Mahon is a tasty guitarist,
too. And on the evidence of last night’s sold-out and boisterous
crowd, people seem to like them. My problem is that their songs have
the words ‘incredibly’ and ‘ordinary’ written
through them like a stick of rock. Having snuck out before the end
I trudged home from Dingwalls in gently falling snow, struggling to
recall a single chorus. It was a six out of ten gig, and that’s
being generous. So what’s the fuss about? Frankly, I have no
clue…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
12th February
There
were positives and negatives to be drawn from last night’s friendly
footie international which saw England capitulating to Spain by 2-0.
There’s no shame in losing to the best team in Europe, some
might even say the world. Under Fabio Capello’s iron grip, England
have improved in so many ways. But watching the way the Spaniards
held onto the ball, then put their chances away so emphatically, one
quickly realised how far the national side still has to go.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
11th February
Unlike
the rest of the Classic Rock team, until now I have been monumentally
underwhelmed by The Answer. The Irish hopefuls seem pop up in the
magazine with such alarming regularity that I have half-joked it should
be renamed The Answer Monthly. Having being left unmoved by their
forgettable debut album, I’ve also seen the band live on several
occasions. When my friend John Dryland and I witnessed them opening
for UFO at the Chepstow Castle Festival in the summer of ’07,
one of us (I don’t recall which) dubbed them: “Fastway
without the songs”. But yesterday I happened to hear a track
on Planet Rock Radio that sounded rather good – echoing a familiar
style, and doing it rather well. Great vocals, too. As I struggled
to eliminate the name of various Ling-favoured artists that definitely
**hadn’t** been responsible for recording it, a golf ball-sized
lump appeared in my throat as I found myself thinking: “Christ,
I hope it’s not The Answer”. Well, blow me down –
it was!!! So, I have requested a copy of ‘Everyday Demons’,
the new album that drops on March 2, and a ticket for a low-key gig
in London on Thursday night. Who knows – they may even make
a convert of me yet!
As
I type, I am spinning an expanded re-issue of UFO’s 1980 album,
‘No Place To Run’. As it was the very first of the band’s
albums that I bought, it holds a particularly warm place in my heart.
Once again EMI’s re-mastering boffins have done a great job,
while Malcolm Dome’s sleeve notes are almost as entertaining
as the music. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when newly
arrived UFO guitarist ‘Tonka’ Chapman happened to meet
Michael Schenker, the man he had just replaced, at the Rainbow Bar
& Grill in Hollywood. The thought of the pair sharing “something
powdered” at a party in Paul Raymond’s apartment afterwards
is too surreal to consider. And how brilliant that the compilers have
seen fit to rustle up three tracks (‘Lettin’ Go’,
‘Mystery Train’ and ‘No Place To Run’) from
the band’s now legendary three-night residence at London’s
Marquee Club. I’m proud to say I was present at two of those
shows, and they rank among the sweatiest, most exciting of my life.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 10th February
I’ve
been meaning to say how thrilled am that the original line-up of Mr
Big are giving things another go; singer Eric Martin, guitarist Paul
Gilbert, bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Pat Torpey burying the
hatchet to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut
album. A Japanese tour in June is all they’ve committed to so
far, though unofficial sources say that other appearances are possible.
Eric Martin is a singer to die for, and besides the ‘Mr Big’
album and 1991’s ‘Lean Into It’, I was an enormous
fan of ‘Bump Ahead’ which at the time of its release in
1993 always seemed to be on the death deck at the office of RAW magazine.
To
be honest, I’m amazed it’s happening at all. Despite their
joint interest in power tools, Sheehan never really got on with Martin,
and Gilbert – replaced by Richie Kotzen for the band’s
last two albums before a split in 2002 – rarely speaks of those
days with much enthusiasm. When I interviewed Sheehan for Classic
Rock in late 2007 he didn’t seem to hold much hope, nor indeed
interest, in a reunion. “A lot of people like Eric Martin. I
suppose I’m just not one of them,” he chuckled. “But
I don’t think that Paul would do it anyway.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
8th February
Here’s
a fact that made me feel quite old. Today marks the 25th anniversary
of guitarist Phil Campbell joining Motörhead. I vividly recall
being in a sparsely attended balcony for a gig at London’s Hammersmith
Odeon as Lemmy introduced his new twin-guitar line-up (completed,
of course, by Würzel). So the story goes, Mr Kilmister couldn’t
decide between Campbell or Würzel for the job, so he hired them
both. “I’d been with Persian Risk for five years and we
supported at some of Motörhead’s last dates with Brian
Robertson,” Campbell told me in an unpublished 2000 interview.
“I saw an advert in Melody Maker and although I wasn’t
sure whether to bother, the wife told me to send in a single. I was
delivering frozen chickens to restaurants for my dad’s business
at the time.” Well, it must’ve been a tough decision…
For
all the band’s ups and downs popularity-wise, life in Motörhead
has never been boring. Drummer Mikkey Dee – Motörhead’s
‘new guy’; he’s only been with ‘em for 17
friggin’ years – once told me of an incident when, following
an afternoon of serious drinking, Campbell vanished before that evening’s
gig at the San Jose Civic Centre. Because it was an important opening
slot for Black Sabbath before 9,000 fans, the rest of the band weren’t
best amused when Phil was located ten minutes before show-time in
a pissed and comatose state. So they decided to play as a trio, with
Würzel handling all the guitar parts. “Suddenly,”
related the still disbelieving drummer, “Phil stumbled onstage
and proceeded to play his best show of the whole tour. Nobody could
fucking believe it.” Motörhead – you’ve gotta
love ’em.
_
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Saturday
7th February
Well,
it’s been a pretty awful week. As I type, I should be en route
for Barnsley and Palace’s game at Oakwell. The snow –
which sent the country into meltdown – put paid to that (also
our home clash with Birmingham on Tuesday). There were no gigs to
speak of. Even with the heating on ‘max’, my office has
been so cold, the bones were left chilled. Then the microwave went
on the blink… so it’s cold food only or things like pot
noodles and fishfingers and chips – fabulous for the diet! On
top of Pete Way taking a leave of absence from UFO for “a medical
condition which affects his liver” – I think the technical
term is ‘having a mouth’! - my much-anticipated copies
of the band’s latest re-masters (‘No Place To Run’,
‘The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent’ and ‘Mechanix’)
appear to have been half-inched by a devilish Post Office employee.
With a ‘night pass’ still booked, I might just have to
go out and get bladdered this evening; blow off a little steam.
There’s
one ray of light, however. I’m sitting here in my office with
a new version of The Who’s ‘Live At The Isle Of Wight
1970’ double-set blaring at top volume. The performance is absolute
magnificent, and the sound – rre-mastered by Pete Townshend's
brother-in-law Jon Astley – is out of this world. The only expense
that’s been saved is the eight-page CD booklet – economical
compared to the lovingly assembled, info and photo-crammed 20-page
equivalent of Castle Music’s original version, released back
in 1996 (now out of print, if the press release is to be believed).
I’ll have to keep hold of both editions. The package also contained
the Blu-ray edition of the show… now all I need is a machine
on which to watch it! Or are Blu-ray discs compatible with regular
DVD players? Fucked if I know. I’m **such** a Luddite; how many
other journalists still record all their interviews on audio cassettes
besides myself and fellow Classic Rock scribe Peter Makowski? The
word ‘anachronism’ springs to mind… but I’m
not ashamed of the label.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
5th February
Robert
Plant has explained that fear of failure, also the absence of late
drummer John Bonham, were behind his non-participation in the proposed
Led Zeppelin reunion tour. “Once you commit to comparisons to
something that was fired by youth, it’s hard to go back and
meet it head on and do it justice,” he says in a new interview
with Absolute Radio, adding: “The reason that it stopped was
because we were incomplete [without ‘Bonzo’], and we’ve
been incomplete now for 28 years.” It’s hard to argue
with Percy’s reasoning, I suppose…
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
4th February
I’m
a sucker for stories with happy endings. Several months ago I watched
a moving TV documentary on Acrassicauda, a band that was persecuted
for playing the music it loves – heavy metal – in Baghdad.
Stuck in a war-torn land where the mere act of headbanging is considered
un-Islamic (and punishable by death), Acrassicauda’s practice
space was bombed and they ended up scattering to flee the country.
Now all four members are resettled in the United States having been
granted refugee status, which allows them to apply for green cards
in a year. In a backstage encounter a few nights ago at a Metallica
gig in Newark, James Hetfield handed them one of his guitars, signing
it: “Welcome to America”. It goes to show: Perseverance
will out.
Though
Palace only took three points from a possible six against Charlton
this year, you have no idea how much satisfaction I am deriving from
the roles played by various ex-CPFC alumni – managers and players
– in the downfall of our south London neighbours. Last night,
for instance, agent Tom Soares – on loan from Stoke, but a former
Selhurst Academy trainee – popped up with a headed goal to lull
the Clowns into a false sense of security during a must-win fixture
at Bristol City, only for deep undercover agent Adebola (an Eagle
between 2002-2003) to sink ‘em with two second half goals. Absolutely
priceless!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
3rd February
For
the second successive day the UK is snowbound. Luckily, working from
an office at the end of my garden the inclement weather doesn't really
affect me and with the wife and kids home from work and school a regular
supply of piping hot tea has been trailing up and down the path. Sadly,
however, the freezing conditions have put paid to tonight's home game
between CPFC and Birmingham City, likewise my plans to interview Asia's
John Wetton and Geoffrey Downes up in Bedford (it'll have to be done
on the phone instead).
And with the treacherous conditions moving north, it seems extremely
unlikely that Palace's weekend trip to Barnsley will take place; annoying,
as my travel tickets are already paid for. I am, however, deriving
some mirth from the following Rush-related
YouTube classic "Give the toboggan to your roadie to take
back up the hill"... oh, those crazy Canadians!
Meanwhile, I'd like to encourage all DL site regulars to vote for
Iron Maiden, who are nominated in the Best Live Act category at this
year's Brits. Just click here.
Anyone that fails to do so is, by default, a Scouting For Girls Fan
- er, wait a Goddamn minute... who the fugg are Scouting For Girls,
and which halfwit decided they were fit to share Maiden's oxygen??!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 1st February
I’m still furious following one of Palace’s most
pitiful displays in many a long year. Yesterday, at a freezing cold
Selhurst, the club’s losing streak was extended to four games
as they failed to beat a Blackpool side that played for 87 minutes
with just ten men. After Rachubka was red-carded for upending Sehki
Kuqi the Tangerines went ahead via a 41st minute penalty. The Eagles
went on to dominate possession and launch wave after wave of attacking
play but even with the addition of Arsenal loanee Rui Fonte, young
brother of defender Jose, our frontline displayed about as much cutting
edge as a baby’s plastic feeding spoon. Still owned by a chairman
that wants to sell and managed by a boss that appears to be treading
water till his imminent retirement, my beloved club is in a mess from
top to bottom. Thank God we have already accumulated 40 points this
season…
P.S. Here are this month’s Playlist
and YouTube.
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