Monday 28th February
Wow… unsolicited but as
welcome as the next Sheffield United defeat comes an email
from Mark Clarke, the bassist of Uriah Heep, Mountain,
Billy Squier, Ian Hunter and more. Mark wanted to add
a tribute to his Colosseum band-mate Gary Moore to those
already harvested by Classic Rock, though sadly he was
a little too late – they already appear in the newest
issue of the magazine (Van Halen cover, dated April).
If only I’d known how to have reached him when I
was writing my official Heep book, Wizards And Demons,
almost ten years ago. Clarke is at least going to send
me a copy of his solo album, ‘Movin’ To The
Moon’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
27th February
It doesn’t happen too
often but sometimes you must simply forget the disappointment
of failing to win a particular game of sport and appreciate
what you have just seen in pure spectacle terms alone.
Crystal Palace really should have won yesterday’s
vital home game with Reading, which featured early goals
(the Eagles taking a 2-0 lead), a torrential downpour,
multiple penalties and wrongly disallowed strikes (Neil
Danns’ first-half shot **definitely** crossed the
line), often turning on its head without warning. The
final score was 3-3 but CPFC could have scored half-a-dozen.
All that it didn’t feature was the Crystals
Cheerleaders, who declined to perform their normally
head-turning routine on the grounds of “inclement
weather”. Cheerleaders… getting covered in
mud… who’d have thought it??!! Ahem…
Luckily, the results of the other struggling teams went
our way and my lad Eddie and I were able to walk away
from Selhurst Park with a joint exclamation of: “What
an entertaining game of football… that’s what
we pay our season ticket money for!!”
Amazingly, the same thing has just happened
in the cricket. World Cup favourites India got off to
a flyer against England, setting Strauss’ men a
seemingly unmatchable total of 338. Against the odds,
England got their heads down and piled on the runs with
a minimal loss of wickets and for a while looked on cruise
control to seize victory from the jaws of defeat. The
game was eventually tied on the very last ball, but heck
– what a thrilling advert for the supposedly obsolete
50-over format of cricket.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 26th February
Another frantically busy week
comes to an end. My Friday evening was topped off by a
fascinating interview with former Metal Church guitarist
Kurdt Vanderhoof, who is now the brains behind a full-on
progressive rock band called Presto
Ballet. Their third album, ‘Invisible Places’,
has just been released and to my immense surprise it actually
lives up to the droolingly positive comments that emanated
towards Ling Towers from my esteemed colleagues in the
Classic Rock office (indeed, in his album review Geoff
Barton described the band as sounding like “Starcastle
fronted by Bruce Dickinson” – something that
made Vanderhoof’s day when he was informed).
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
25th February
People said it couldn’t
be done but the Powerage Records tour rolled into London
last night, leaving smiling faces in its wake. Featuring
four acts signed to Classic Rock’s imprint of the
same name, the trek allowed fans to see New Device, Lethargy,
The Treatment and Million $ Reload for the princely sum
on no pounds, no shillings and no pence… not even
a farthing. Yes folks, admission was completely free.
The downside for the bands concerned was that the budget-busting
trek involved sleeping in vans, 30-minute sets (apart
from headliners New Device who were given permission to
hang around for longer), shared equipment and super-rapid
changeovers.
Having enjoyed both editions of their recently
re-mastered and re-packaged debut, ‘Anthems Of A
Degeneration’, I’d been looking forward to
seeing Belfast’s Million $ Reload for the first
time. Songs such as ‘Freeloader’, ‘Goodnight
New York’ and ‘Give It All’ offered
a bucketload of commendable Gn’R/Buckcherry-style
attitude, but last night’s performance was marred
slightly by the fact that lead singer Phil Conalane suffered
from a head-cold.
I’ve waffled at length about The
Treatment at this site, also in the pages of Classic Rock,
so let’s merely say that if the way the Underworld
filled out shortly before their arrival and then gradually
emptied was any kind of yardstick, the young Cambridge-based
rockers were the band that most had paid (or in this instance
**not paid**) to see. I lost count of those that came
up afterwards and grinned: “Fucking hell, you were
right… what an amazing band!”
Regrettably the same could not be said
of Welshmen Lethargy, who looked as awful as their unflattering
name, played a leaden, stodgy and eminently forgettable
set and then left us in glorious peace as we awaited the
night’s final attraction. To be brutally honest,
I had minimal expectations of New Device, who shortly
before this tour had been reduced by one member to a quartet
and were introducing a brand new guitarist called KC Leigh.
Their optimistically titled album ‘Takin’
Over’ had left me colder than an English winter,
but onstage the riff-based sleaze-rock of ‘You’ve
Got It Comin’’, ‘Seven Nights, Seven
Bodies’ and ‘Peddle To The Metal’ (the
latter of which sounded like ‘Suzy Smiled’
had it been written by Ratt and not the Tygers Of Pan
Tang) vastly exceeded their recorded counterparts, and
the group fully deserved a two-song encore (‘In
The Fading Light’ and ‘Heaven Knows’).
All in all, then, this inaugural Powerage Records trek
was a big success.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
24th February
I was thrilled to see the Garage
rammed to bursting point for last night’s gig by
the Black Spiders. The band’s previous headline
appearance in London had taken place at the Underworld,
a considerably smaller venue, but if proof was required
that they are ready to step up to bigger and better things,
well… it was delivered in spades. The Spiders’
long awaited debut album, ‘Sons Of The North’,
quite rightly received great reviews across the board
and their countless trips to “one horse towns”
up and down the nation have fine-tuned them into a stellar,
unmissable live act. Pete ‘Spider’ Spiby might
be the show’s ringmaster, but it’s hard to
tear one’s eyeballs from several other key members,
including the genuinely unhinged-looking drummer ‘Tiger’
Si Atkinson. ‘Kiss Tried To Kill Me’ and ‘St
Peter’ are both monumentally good tunes, but it
speaks volumes of the Spiders’ consistency that
their 70-minute set contains almost no weak links. I’ve
seen the band several times in the past, but this was
the show that convinced me they will become a genuine
force to be reckoned with. Here’s the set-list:
‘Sons Of The North’, ‘Stay Down’,
‘Medusa’s Eyes’, ‘D&B’,
‘St Peter’, ‘Man’s Ruin’,
‘Just Like A Woman’, ‘What Good’s
A Rock Without A Roll’, ‘Kiss Tried To Kill
Me’ and ‘Blood Of The Kings’, plus ‘Si,
El Diablo’ and ‘Meadow’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
23rd February
Joe
Elliott was 100% correct about the battle of the basement
zone being far from over (see Monday). Last nite Palace
made the trip down to Fratton Park and came home without
any points, thanks to David Nugent who never fails to
score against us. None of the other results went our way
(Joe will have been distraught that his beloved Blades
somehow lost to relegation rivals Scunthorpe after being
two goals up in just seven minutes). The Eagles’
five-point cushion is now slashed to three, with the Bramall
Lane crew second from bottom. It’s gonna get ugly…
The
postie has just delivered some tasty goodies from Rock
Candy Records – the final two Survivor albums in
the label’s re-master series (‘When Seconds
Count’ and ‘Too Hot To Sleep’ –
both hugely underrated), plus a couple of gems from one
of the most unfairly overlooked groups of all time; US
pomp-rock messiahs Starcastle (their self-titled debut
from 1976 and the following year’s ‘Fountains
Of Light’)… nurse, the screens!!! I’ve
also been playing Whitesnake’s new album, ‘Forevermore’.
It’s way, way better than I expected…
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
22nd February
England
won their first game in the Cricket World Cup, but boy
did they make hard work of overcoming the Dutch?! Had
Holland been able to bowl as well as they batted, well…
England’s fumbled catches, misfields and basic misreadings
(which included having too many men outside the circle
at pivotal moments) would almost likely have cost them
the game. Play like that against India on Sunday and the
consequences will be unthinkable.
P.S.
What amazing news – Cinderella are to play a one-off
UK gig at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire
on June 25. Don’t miss it!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
21st February
In
the wake of Saturday’s defeat to Crystal Palace,
I just received a text from Sheff Utd-mad Def Leppard
singer Joe Elliott: “Don’t gloat too much,
it’s not all over yet”. He’s absolutely
right; CPFC are not yet out of the mire and the relegation
issues will probably once again be decided on the last
day of the season. Given that the Eagles are at home to
Nottingham Florist, that doesn’t bode too well (maybe
they’ll already be safely in the Play Offs by then
and rest some key players?).
You may already know this as it’s been a very poorly
kept secret, but Leppard are to headline the first night
of the Download Festival (Friday June 10). With Twisted
Sister, Down, Cheap Trick and others newly added to the
weekend’s bill – which already features, Mr
Big, Thin Lizzy, Alter Bridge and the mighty FM –
I may have to head up to Derbyshire for a few days.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
20th February
The
result from yesterday’s relegation six-pointer at
Selhurst Park: Crystal Palace 1, Sheff Utd 0. A moment
of genius from Darren Ambrose was enough to enlighten
a tense, fiercely contested game. Apart from carving a
five-point gap between the Eagles and the bottom three
clubs, the victory means that Dougie Freedman's side have
also not let in a goal at home for more than 12 hours.
Still
floating on Cloud Nine and in a state of disbelief, I
celebrated with some Tillington Hills Premium Cider whilst
travelling to Europe’s gig at Shepherd’s Bush
Empire. What a show from Joey Tempest and the boys. Sadly,
the promise of a few special guests did not materialize
and at a mere 100 minutes the gig was perhaps a little
on the short side, but there was faulting it musically
or presentation-wise. Tempest loves lobbing the mic-stand
around and throwing shapes, and the Empire cheered every
last note, including a brand new song (destined for the
band’s next album) called ‘Doghouse’
and, as a part of John Norum’s guitar solo, a rendition
of Gary Moore’s ‘The Loner’. What a
fantastic tribute. If you cannot wait for the DVD that
was being filmed, here’s what was played: ‘Last
Look At Eden’, ‘The Beast’, ‘Rock
The Night’, ‘Scream Of Anger’, ‘Leave
No Stone Unturned’, ‘Carrie’, ‘The
Getaway Plan’, Guitar Solo/‘The Loner’,
‘Seventh Sign’, ‘New Love In Town’,
‘Love Is Not The Enemy’, ‘More Than
Meets The Eye’, Drum Solo, ‘Always The Pretenders’,
‘Start From The Dark’ and ‘Superstitious’,
plus encores of ‘Doghouse’ and ‘The
Final Parpdown’.
The
Tillington Hills Premium Cider had taken its toll by the
time my friend Andy Beare and I reached the after show
party. I remember spending quite some time engaged in
a debate with one of the top dogs of Planet Rock Radio,
bemoaning the fact that we hear too much s**t by U2, REM
and various others on his station, also complaining about
Alice Cooper’s show being moved from its breakfast
spot. Never one to let sleeping dogs lie, I also pointed
out that that Planet Rock really should have a devoted
melodic rock show. If you are reading this, Malcolm, many
apologies for chewing off your ears. I feel bad about
it now…
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 19th February
Their sound having been derived
from two acts that I cannot abide (step forward REM and
Pearl Jam), I was never the greatest fan of Pennsylvanian
post-grunge combo Live, though I did grow to appreciate
their second album, ‘Throwing Cooper’, which
was played with alarming regularity in the office of RAW
Magazine back in the mid-1990s.
Fast forward several years and with Live’s
singer Ed Kowalczyk working as a solo artist, guitarist
Chad Taylor, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer and drummer Chad
Gracey have hooked up with vocalist Kevin Martin and guitarist
Sean Hennesy – both of Candlebox – to form
a surprisingly excellent new unit called The Gracious
Few. Even on a Friday night, the opportunity to witness
five musicians of such a fine calibre at a venue as miniscule
as the Barfly in Camden (official capacity: 220) was too
good to miss. The band played their self-titled album
in its entirety – even (sadly) its reggae-tinged
hidden track, ‘All I Hear Is…’, which
was right load of old (Peter) tosh. We were also treated
to ‘Labour Of Love’, a brand new tune, and
a decent-sounding cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘It’s
No Good’. It was great to be so close to the stage
that you’d have seen the whites of their eyes had
Kevin Martin removed his shades even for a minute. Onstage
TGF rock even harder than their album suggests, ‘Honest
Man’ and ‘Appetite’ revealing an unexpected
Zep-like swagger. It was, as the band’s publicist
Chris Hewlett so rightly observed, a bit like watching
a Yank supergroup playing in a toilet. Here’s the
set-list: ‘Closer’, ‘The Few’,
‘Tredecim’, ‘Silly Thing’, ‘All
I Hear Is…’, ‘Crying Time’, ‘The
Rest Of You’, ‘Guilty Fever’, ‘Labour
Of Love’, ‘It’s No Good’, ‘Honest
Man’, ‘Appetite’ and ‘Sing’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 18th February
Last nite was spent at the Jazz
Café in London’s Camden, where the Von Hertzen
Brothers (see Diary, Wednesday) made their debut on a
UK stage. Idled away some pre-gig time over the road at
the R&T Exchange, picking up a mint-condition vinyl
of Stevie Nicks’ best-of ‘Time Space’,
a Dave Edmunds LP that was missing from the collection,
‘Choosing Death – The Original Soundtrack’
(featuring tracks by Napalm Death, Opeth, Repulsion, Morbid
Angel, Nile and Arch Enemy among others) and, fascinatingly,
an album on EMI titled ‘David Courtney’s First
Day’, recorded in 1975 by an associate of Roger
Daltrey, which features a guest appearance from David
Gilmour. Not too a bad little selection.
After a short but extremely sweet warm-up
set from female-fronted proggers Touchstone, whose brisk
30-minute stay was enhanced by superb sound, the Von Hertzens
arrived to a proverbial hero’s welcome. I’ll
be honest: I’m only familiar with the Finnish band’s
forthcoming disc ‘Stars Aligned – their fourth
full-length record so far – from which they aired
a solitary song; ‘Angel’s Eyes’ (not
to worry, the band reckon the rest of their catalogue
is to be awarded UK availability before too long). It
took a few numbers for the sound to come together and
for yours truly to get a handle on their rather unique
vibe, but the last half of the 80-minute set was absolutely
sublime. By the end the group were as emotional as the
crowd, who didn’t want them to leave after an encore
of the title cut from their debut album, ‘Experience’.
They’ll be back. And here’s what was played:
‘Disciple Of The Sun’, ‘River’,
‘Brother’, ‘Endlessly’, ‘Let
Thy Will Be Done’, ‘In The End’, ‘Angel’s
Eyes’, ‘Kiss A Wish’, ‘Freedom
Fighter’, ‘Willing Victim’ and ‘Experience’.
P.S. Wow… Vicious Rumours
have confirmed a date at the Camden Underworld on May
24 – I’ll be there!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 17th February
Have just received approval
from guitarist Andy Boulton for my sleeve notes to accompany
two Tokyo Blade double-pack re-issues; ‘Blackhearts
And Jaded Spades’ (1986) and ‘Ain’t
Misbehavin’’ (’87) – both of which
I bought as a fan – and ‘No Remorse’
(1989) and ‘Burning Down Paradise’ (’95).
Both will be available by Lemon
Recordings next month.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 16th February
It’s early evening and
I’m home from a face-to-face interview with the
Von Hertzen Brothers, a trio of siblings from Finland.
Classic Rock Presents: Prog has fallen in love with the
band’s new album, ‘Stars Aligned’ (released
on March 14), claiming it sounds like “Transatlantic
with Styx/Damn Yankees’ Tommy Shaw on vocals”.
The guys – Mikko (vocals, guitar), Kie (guitar,
vocals) and Jonne (bass, vocals) – were rather amused,
and indeed flattered by, that description. Their Facebook
page prefers the soundbite of: “Foo Fighters playing
Pink Floyd’s greatest hits after spending years
in India singing to Beach Boys tunes”, but you get
the drift… it’s colourful rock music with
a prog twist. The interview went so well, I dropped by
the Record & Tape Exchange and treated myself to some
albums, one of which – ‘No Prisoners’,
a 1980 rarity from US band Ozz – I’d been
after for years. Am playing it now; it’s bloody
superb!!! Great songs from start to finish. Hearing it
made me wonder what became of Gregg Parker. I interviewed
the guitarist circa his cover
of Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’ in the
late ’80s… a cursory surf reveals nothing
– if anyone knows his current whereabouts, please
share?!
[Edit: My CR buddy Rich Wilson just sent a link
which reveals that Parker now plays the blues].
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 15th February
My working week got underway
earlier than expected with a Monday morning text from
Davy Vain. The lead singer of enduring SF glam combo Vain
and I had been playing message tag for the past few days,
but he was up and ready to talk at 12.30am local time
(for him). Just before I picked up the office land-line
my mobile trilled again with another message from the
frontman, offering a weblink to a photograph. “What
on earth could this be?” I mused. Aware of his image
as a lothario, the possibilities were endless. So after
inserting the code I was astonished when a photo of a
green gecko appeared onscreen. “Yeah, sorry man…”
said Davy sheepishly upon picking up the receiver. “It
was a cool photo, but I sent it to the wrong guy.”
As opening shots go, that one’s hard to beat. We
had a really great conversation about Vain’s first
UK tour in 1989, opening for Skid Row. If you’re
as old as me, you’ll know that both Lemmy and Steve
Harris jammed with the Skids at its now legendary Hammersmith
gig. But Davy also told a great tale about Robert Plant
stopping by Vain’s dressing room. I wish I had more
space for the story, to be honest. As he signed off, the
singer quipped: “Now don’t go downloading
too many more of those gecko photos… the first one’s
free, but they’re addictive; you’ve gotta
pay for the rest.”
As you’ll probably know, Thunder
are getting back together for a one-off date at this summer’s
High
Voltage Festival. Although guitarist Luke Morley remains
committed to his current band The Union, this is surprising
news given that their farewell tour ended in the summer
of 2009. But I won’t be alone in receiving it with
glee, surely?
Given the vocal issues suffered by David
Coverdale on the band’s last tour, I’ve been
harbouring strong reservations about Whitesnake’s
imminent new album, ‘Forevermore’. Gotta say,
though, its first video – which can be viewed here
– is surprisingly tasty.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 14th February
Amazingly, it had been almost
four years since my last sighting of an entire set from
Evile. My, how the UK thrashers have improved! I was also
rather impressed by a short, five-song warm-up display
from Suffolk five-piece Elimination,
who laid down some rather tasty molten thrash-metal riffs.
I must track down a copy of their debut album, ‘Destroyed
By Creation’, the title cut of which closed their
part of the show in fine, marauding fashion. Evile
have gone up several gears since I saw them last, and
from where I stood just behind the moshpit (naturally!)
the Underworld welcomed them like conquering messiahs.
The Huddersfield combo began life playing covers by the
likes of Metallica, Sepultura, Exodus, Annihilator and
Slayer, and there are still one or two originality issues
to be ironed out; two songs in, ‘Enter The Grave’
(the title cut of their debut album, from 2009) sounds
uncannily Slayer-esque, right down to the way rhythm guitarist
Matt Drake spits out its lyric of “Violent premonitions
of the death” with machine gun-style rapidity, an
echo of the way that Tom Araya delivers “Monarch
to the kingdom of the dead” during ‘Angel
Of Death’. If it’s meant as satire, well…
okay, you got me with the piss-take. On the whole, though,
it was a great show. A brand new song, ‘Bitch’,
which is about to be recorded for the group’s third
album, sounded great and despite the long haul across
London, I was glad to have made the effort on a Sunday
night. Here’s the set-list: ‘First Blood’,
‘Enter The Grave’, ‘Plague To End All
Plagues’, ‘Metamorphosis’, ‘Thrasher’,
‘Bitch’, ‘We Who Are About To Die’,
‘My Parasite’, ‘Infected Nations’
and ‘Killer From The Deep’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 13th February
My throat is sore from singing
after yesterday’s fruitless but hugely enjoyable
trip to the Ricoh Arena. I’m still unsure how Palace
contrived to lose 2-1 to a thoroughly mediocre Coventry
Shitty side, but with the teams around us all sharing
defeat (with the exception of Sheffield Utd, who drew)
the situation is bearable. Returning home to find a pile
of packages lightened the gloom a little more. It’s
great to have ‘Manifest Destiny and ‘Bloodbrothers’,
the second and third albums by The Dictators, as a two-on-one
CD thanks to Floating
World Records. The same company has also sent ‘Refugee’
and ‘Refugee Live In Concert 1974’ as a two-disc
set. I didn’t already have the live segment, so
that’s also rather welcome. Later on I shall have
a look at the DVD of Francis Rossi’s ‘Live
At St Luke’s London’… see whether I
can spot myself boogying like a loon in the crowd.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 11th February
There’s not too much to
report (not that I’m **allowed** to report, anyway!!),
save for last night’s enjoyable phone interview
with Diamond Head guitarist Brian Tatler. I have hardly
stopped playing ‘Scheepers’, a seriously good
solo record Ralf Scheepers that includes a version of
Priest’s ‘Before The Dawn’ which fits
the Primal Fear singer like a metal glove. If rampant,
melodic, tuneful, Teutonic meta-a-a-a-a-a-al is your bag,
this record (due via Frontiers Records on the 18th of
this month) will leave you drooling.
Don’t expect any updates over the
weekend. Tomorrow is the inaugural Palace On Tour Day,
and I will be among several thousand Eagles faithful making
the journey to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. All sorts
of celebrations are planned, including red and blue balloons,
fedoras and cigars (as a tribute to ‘Big’
Malcolm Allison) and even fancy dress. I’ve decided
to go along as a drunken rock journalist… how’s
that for originality? The coach I’m booked onto
leaves Selhurst at 7am, with several stops planned along
the way. Given that I shall be in the company of Mr Paul
Newcomb, another rock-worshipping Eagles nutcase with
a perpetual thirst for alcohol, this one could get messy…
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 10th February
In preparation for last night’s
phone interview with Dug Pinnick, some of yesterday morning
was spent watching ‘Love Live In London’,
an excellent three-disc set that chronicles a January
2009 gig by King’s X. Having been present among
the sold-out crowd at the Electric Ballroom, I can affirm
that it’s a well-shot souvenir of a terrific show.
It’s always a pleasure to talk to Pinnick, who has
an excellent self-mocking sense of humour. My only difficulty
was that he wanted to be called at 7pm London time…
a mere 15 minutes before the kick-off of England’s
game in Denmark. That meant no boozing – hey, I’m
a professional! – and setting the Sky+, then fast
forwarding through the adverts and dead segments of play
in a bid to stay as close to real-time as possible (I
hate it when mates send texts proclaiming: “What
a goal!’ or “the referee should’ve gone
to Specsavers!” and I’m still lagging behind
real-time). In the end, everything was fine. Pinnick was
as entertaining as usual, and despite slipping behind
to a decent-looking Danish side within the first seven
minutes, Capello’s younger than usual and highly
efficient England line-up ran out as winners by two goals
to one.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 9th February
Yesssssssssssssss! The new, deluxe editions of Thin
Lizzy’s ‘Jailbreak’, ‘Johnny The
Fox’ and ‘Live And Dangerous’ are here
at last. Like many rock fans of my age group I know every
last lick, lyric, ad-lib and fade-out of these records,
so it’s pretty unbelievable to think that I’ve
never owned any of them on CD before. They will be treasured:
My old mate Steve Hammonds at Universal has done a fabulous
job of updating them with bonus tracks and lovingly compiled
sleeve essays (courtesy of Derek Oliver, Neil Jeffries
and Malcolm Dome respectively). I
must also give the thumbs up to Scott Gorham and Joe Elliott’s
much-discussed 2011 remixes of certain tracks from each
of the studio albums; they’ve been cleaned up very
nicely!
I’m in a bit of a Thin Lizzy-friendly
mood anyway, having spent a chunk of yesterday on the
phone to Brian Robertson, Vivian Campbell and Neil Carter.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 8th February
Beware: this diary entry will
self-destruct in ten seconds. Yesterday’s interviews
were conducted in top secret fashion, wearing a disguise
and using a device to distort my voice. No, I’m
kidding. But I did grille two reclusive characters. In
the morning I took my life in my own hands by calling
Andy McNab, the former SAS soldier-turned-bestselling
author whose book Bravo Two Zero was something of an avid
page-turner here at Ling Towers (Mrs L and I both read
and enjoyed it). McNab is about to go out on a charity
motorcycle ride across North America called England Rocks
– Hands Across The Water, an experience he will
share with former Thunder members Danny Bowes, Luke Morley,
Chris Childs and Ben Matthews. With proceeds going to
Childline
Rocks, Morley and Childs are to perform with their
current band The Union as part of a special concert at
the Sun Valley Pavilion when the 700-mile trek ends in
Ketchum, Idaho, on July 11. McNab, who due to security
issues conceals his identity everywhere he goes, sounded
casual about the whole thing. “The idea came up
at a Christmas party while I was talking shit at eleven
o’clock at night, and it snowballed from there.”
He spoke with the firm conviction of a man you wouldn’t
mess with, and Bowes later told me that his presence on
the ride fills him with confidence. “We should be
OK in the bars,” he laughs. “I’m just
wondering whether he’ll have a pixelated crash helmet
to cover his face.”
Before attending a launch party for The
Treatment’s debut album, I visited a central London
hotel for a chin-wag with Aviv Geffen of Blackfield. Son
of renowned Israeli poet Yehonatan Geffen and nephew of
military leader and politician Moshe Dayan, Geffen was
once described to me by Steven Wilson as “the David
Bowie of Israel”. Having been the last person to
embrace Prime Minister Rabin, who was gunned down only
moments later, and offered a series of provocative political
statements, a series of death threats mean that Geffen
requires bodyguards whenever he appears in public at home.
Besides discussing Blackfield’s excellent new album,
‘Welcome To My DNA’ (Kscope, March 28), we
touched upon his feelings about hitting the road to promote
said disc, and the undercurrent of personal danger that
touring must bring. I’m paraphrasing here as I’ve
yet to transcribe the tape, but his reply of: “I
don’t care, if necessary I’m willing to die
onstage for my beliefs” struck me as incredibly
bold.
After such a seriousness, The Treatment’s
party was just what I needed. Vodka and Diet Cokes flowed
as the sound of ‘This Might Hurt’ (the first
finished copies of which were handed out) filled the Crobar.
Rounds after round of apple slammers were sunk in honour
of Gary Moore, and in the end I was mightily relieved
that my good friend Steve ‘No relation’ Way
was on hand to get me home safely in his car. A great
night!!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 7th February
I’d chosen to spend my
Sunday afternoon working on a sleeve essay for the soon-come
re-issue of Strangeways’ ‘Native Sons’
alum. Suddenly, my mobile phone began to chirrup with
a flood of text messages. Oh no, I realised: Gary Moore
has died. Given the euphoria of the previous 24 hours,
I found the news tremendously upsetting. The former Skid
Row/Colosseum II/Thin Lizzy/BBM guitarist had a reputation
for being a bit prickly, and during one memorable interview
he got the arse with me for asking about he got his famous
facial scar. But mostly, though, we got on just fine.
I once had the great pleasure of visiting him at his home
down on the South Coast (in that Sussex town that Crystal
Palace fans dare not mention) to conduct a story for Classic
Rock, and the Irishman couldn’t have been more charming
or entertaining. Moore was only 58 years old… blimey,
that’s no age, is it? RIP, Gary. I shall miss you.
[Edit: Glenn Hughes just sent a
lovely email: I'm devastated to hear of Gary's passing.
A truly great British rock and blues hero. I shared many
wonderful musical and personal experiences with him. He
was a ferocious player, and had no fear of his instrument.
I'm glad that Gary and I got to mend our relationship.
Rest In Peace...]
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 6th February
Yesterday’s 1-0 victory
over Middlesbrough brought Crystal Palace three points
– all the more priceless given that our rivals at
the table’s foot (Preston, Scunny and Sheff Utd)
all suffered heavy, demoralisingly emphatic defeats. Making
my way from Selhurst to Pallas’ gig at the Peel,
I bought a huge vat of gut-rot cider with which to celebrate.
The concert was magnificent, marred by a single, glaring
flaw – the omission of arguably the Scottish band’s
best-known song, ‘Eyes In The Night (Arrive Alive)’,
from an otherwise glorious two-hour set. With new Paul
Mackie seems an extremely talented discovery the quintet
cruised through their current album, ‘XXV’,
in its entirety, pausing only to take a breather via some
older tunes at around the halfway mark. A two-song encore
culled from ‘The Wedge’ and ‘The Sentinel’
was very special indeed. With crystal clear sound and
Prog’s Nick Shilton acting as my beer roadie, safe
in the knowledge that I had a lift from Lisa Bardsley,
who works for the band’s label Mascot Records, I
couldn’t have been happier. If you are at High Voltage
in the summer, do yourself a favour and check out the
new-look Pallas. Here’s what they played: ‘Falling
Down’, ‘Crash And Burn’, ‘Something
In The Deep’, ‘Monster’, ‘For
The Greater Glory’, ‘Rat Racing’, ‘Ghostdancers’,
‘Midas Touch’, ‘The Alien Messiah’,
‘XXV Part 1 (Twenty Five Good Honest Men)’,
‘Young God’, ‘Sacrifice’, ‘Blackwood’,
‘Violet Sky’ and ‘XXV 2 (The Unmakers
Awake)’, plus ‘Sanctuary’ and the vintage
‘Cut & Run’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 5th February
The weekend is here at last…
time for some fun. Palace’s home game with Middlesbrough
comes first, then off to see Pallas at that far-flung
outpost of prog rock, The Peel in Kingston-on-Thames.
Can’t wait!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 4th February
Great news for London-based
fans of John Waite. The Rover makes a Return to the nation’s
capital with a freshly announced gig at the refurbished
Borderline – one of my favourite venues –
on Sunday May 8. Coincidentally, Crystal Palace’s
relegation-haunted 2010/’11 season ends that same
afternoon with a home game against high flying Nottingham
Florist. Whatever the outcome, it’s fairly certain
that I shall be having a drink or fifty-three.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 2nd February
I’ve been to a few Crystal
Palace matches in my time, but never seen – or rather
**not** seen – anything like last night’s
game at (T)Watford. What a surreal, exhilarating 90 minutes
of football. Last season’s victory at Vicarage Road
turned out a milestone in the club’s eventually
successful bid to avoid relegation. Although I was praying
for the same this time around, the Eagles went behind
to a silly early goal. Did the team or indeed the fans
simply capitulate? Not on your nelly. Instead we roared
them on to a priceless equaliser, the point from which
actually took the club out of the relegation zone for
the first time since Dougie Freedman took over as manager.
The game’s second half descended
into farce as a thick fog trickled over the top of the
stand and onto the pitch, doing its best to conceal the
action. This
YouTube clip confirms both the weather’s extremity
and the sheer unremitting volume of the Palace faithful.
We became completely reliant upon those at Watford’s
end of the ground: Each time their players missed a chance,
the groans of their fans would generate a huge, relieved
cheer. After the game, the club’s Chairman went
online to praise the 1,650 that made the journey: “Absolutely
awesome support tonight. Brilliant. Constant noise all
the way through, especially when Jules was lost in the
fog! Onwards and upwards. We are staying up!!”,
a sentiment echoed by midfielder Neil Danns, who Tweeted:
“Have 2 say the support 2nite was the loudest away
support I think I’ve heard, well done eagle supporters,
that was the way to support a team.”
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 1st February
I was a little surprised by today’s revelation
that Gotthard have expressed a wish to continue as a band,
following the awful death of Steve Lee. “Gotthard
is not a job for us – GOTTHARD IS OUR LIFE!!”
they say in a newly issued statement. As a singer, and
indeed as a bloke, Lee was one of a kind. The Swiss band
had also just completed a run of first-rate albums. But
if they find the right guy as a replacement then I’m
happy to give them a fair chance. That’s a fairly
large ‘but’, however…
Talking of frontmen, there are few finer than Chris Babbitt
of Taking Dawn. Last night I was present at a band’s
sold-out gig at the Barfly… by all accounts the
first time the Las Vegas combo have achieved such a feat
in their admittedly short career. Babbitt was like a man
possessed, cajoling the crowd to make animal noises, propositioning
ladies in the front rows and, at the show’s climax,
jumping from the stage, tearing through the audience and
climbing onto the bar and headbanging like a man possessed.
The guitarist/frontman is certainly a livewire character.
Having told me during a recent Classic Rock interview
that former touring partner Gene Simmons had hypocritically
busted their balls for covering Fleetwood Mac’s
‘The Chain’ because “it made [them]
look cheap” (“this came from a man whose own
show includes three cover versions,” observed Chris,
not unreasonably), it might have served as poetic justice
that Taking Dawn threw a version of Kiss’ ‘Black
Diamond’ into last night’s performance –
preceded by a pitiful impression of Paul Stanley by bassist
Andrew Cushing. Anyway, the show ruled. Here’s what
they played: ‘Save Me’, ‘Like A Revolution’,
‘Endlessly’, ‘Never Enough’, Drum
Solo, ‘Time To Burn’, ‘Fight ‘Em
With Your Rock’, ‘Black Diamond’, ‘Godless’,
‘Take Me Away’, ‘V’, ‘So
Loud’ and ‘The Chain’.
P.S. Look out for the usual monthly
updates at the Playlist and
YouTube pages.
As a tribute to the late, great Phil Kennemore I’ve
also posted an extended version of a Y&T
feature that appeared in the October 2005 issue of
Classic Rock.
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