Thursday 28th February
What on earth would befall Uriah Heep if the
word ‘ah’ was to be banished from the English
language or, worse still, made illegal? In its many varieties,
from those trademark clipped backing vocals (‘Ah,
ah, ah!’) to the full-on ‘Ah-aaah-aaaaaaaaah’!
employed in ‘July Morning’, also ‘Lady
In Black’ which could simply not exist in a state
of ‘ah’-lessness (er… okay I made up
that term!), the group’s entire career has been
based upon this simple, glorious and harmonious sound.
I, for one, will never complain.
Last night at Islington’s Assembly Hall, Heep were
on fire (metaphorically speaking) despite the temporary
absence of bassist Trevor Bolder. John Jowitt of IQ/Arena/Frost*
fame did a sterling job of filling in on bass, even helping
out in the all-important vocal department. During a brilliant
rendition of ‘Stealin’’ I found myself
sharing air keyboards with Planet Rock Radio’s breakfast
deejay Paul Anthony, who was standing nearby. Highlighting
the group’s remarkable singing prowess, the unexpected
inclusion of ‘All My Life’ from the ‘Demons
And Wizards’ album was a masterstroke – a
real highlight of the set. During an encore of ‘Free
‘N’ Easy’ the band invited some ladies
up onto the stage to join them (and selected family members)
for a good ol’ headbang. It’s unlikely that
there will be many better gigs in 2013. Boy are they gonna
surprise a few peeps at Download!! Get well soon Trev!
Here’s the set-list: ‘Against The Odds’,
‘Overload’, ‘Traveller In Time’,
‘Sunrise’, ‘All My Life’, ‘I’m
Ready’, ‘Between Two Worlds’, ‘Stealin’’,
‘Nail On The Head’, ‘Into The Wild’,
‘Gypsy’, ‘Look At Yourself’, ‘July
Morning’ and ‘Lady In Black’, followed
by ‘Free ‘N’ Easy’ plus ‘Easy
Livin’’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 27th February
Fellow boogie-heads! Now on sale: My interview
with Messrs Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster and Coghlan. Ten
pages of Classic Quo! I’m extremely proud of the
story. It was lovely to have sat at a table with them
as they rock ‘n’ rolled back the years. There
was lots of laughter and some serious talk. Parfitt, especially,
was in nostalgic mood. It’s pretty interesting that
he would say something as profound as: “Perhaps
after all these years we’ll finally get to know
one another for the first time.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 25th February
I’m thoroughly enjoying Duff McKagan’s
autobiography, It’s So Easy (And Other Lies), purchased
a few days ago for just a quid (!) from Fopp Records.
McKagan was certainly a hellraiser in his youth. I quote:
“Downshifting [from cocaine] to wine was all well
and good but the volume of wine quickly skyrocketed until
I was drinking ten bottles a day.” Holy shit, no
wonder his pancreas exploded!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 25th February
With UFO’s London show set to clash with
Palace’s crucial home game against promotion rivals
Hull, I opted to whizz down to Oxford instead. Along with
my friends Mark Taylor and Andy Nathan we took the tube
– a swift, regular and easy coach journey that leaves
Victoria and drops us a street or two away from the Academy.
It was funny to be told off by the driver for being too
noisy, just like we were naughty school kids – and
we hadn't even started drinking… Yet!
After a bottle of white wine, a lovely chicken vindaloo
and mushroom pilau and a large complimentary brandy and
Diet Coke at an excellent Indian restaurant called Malikas,
we headed into the venue… just in time to grab a
pint of cider before show-time.
It was great to see UFO in a fairly small hall, and the
band played as well as ever. However, having had a chat
with Phil Mogg before Christmas during which he assured
me the band would be making changes to the set-list, their
repertoire was virtually unaltered. Promoting ‘Lights
Out’ to the start of the show and reinstating ‘Cherry’
(which has dropped in and out of favour in recent years)
is hardly what I’d call freshening things up.
It’s frustrating. Unlike many of their peers the
band still make excellent new music but if UFO are still
around in 2020 will we still be hearing the same ‘Strangers
In The Night’-based repertoire with a token sprinkling
of new tunes?! Once UFO’s apprentices, Iron Maiden
don’t play ‘The Trooper’ or ‘Run
To The Hills’ on every tour – sometimes you’ve
just to be a bit brutal for the sake of progression. Steve
Harris and company make a point of rotating their classics
– new songs will only become standards with familiarity.
With UFO, is it down to a lack of confidence or laziness?
Your guess is as good as mine. During the Oxford show
an acoustic guitar previously used for ‘Love To
Love’ had been returned to Vinnie Moore’s
side of the stage. “Oh great,” I thought,
“they’re gonna do something different.”
Then some prat in the crowd shouted out for ‘Too
Hot To Handle’ and Phil Mogg replied: “That’ll
work, thanks for the good advice” – and to
the rest of the band’s bemusement said tune –
whatever it might’ve been - was mysteriously dropped.
I realise that I’m in the minority, also that I
go to see UFO a good deal more frequently than most casual
fans, but I couldn’t care less if I never heard
them play ‘Lights Out’ or Doctor Doctor’
again. Seriously. Get rid of ‘Let It Roll’
and ‘Mother Mary’. Paul Raymond’s recent
solo gig reminded us that ‘Take It Or Leave It’
and ‘Just Another Suicide’ are eminently deserving
of inclusion. The band’s catalogue contains a wealth
of untapped gold… something really has to change.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 24th February
Back home in Catford and simply cannot believe
that Palace, who dominated the second half, lost yesterday’s
game at Hillsborough. What an utter travesty!! Oh well,
at least England’s cricketers and rugby players
acquitted themselves with far more distinction, and Eddie
and I enjoyed some fine pre-match pub banter with Owls
fans Paul Kettley and his missus, Laura…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 23rd February
It’s 6am and I’m off to Sheffield
with eldest lad Eddie for Palace’s game with Wednesday.
Am hoping for nine points from three games. Will open
the first of the Tesco wine pouches in a jiffy! I’ve
got new ish of When Saturday Comes and Duff McKagan’s
autobiography and enough black pudding sarnies to feed
a (Red and Blue) army! Game on!!
[Edit: We just passed Chesterfield’s new stadium.
Would be nice to get them in the cup; every other building
seems to be a pub, nightclub or music venue, I’m
sure that was the Winding Wheel – a name I’ve
typed into the gig guide many times – back there
on the right!]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 22nd February
I can’t quite work out how I ended up getting
to bed at 2am after a gig that lasted less for than three
songs…? Confused? So am I…
Anyway, my Thursday evening was spent at the Islington
Academy for a show on The Union’s current tour for
‘The World Is Yours’. Managed to reach the
venue in time for Toby Jepson’s Special Guest slot
– 45 minutes with an acoustic guitar that pooled
solo material (‘Unwind’, ‘Breakdown’
and ‘Rear View Mirror’) with Little Angels
songs (‘Kicking Up Dust’, ‘Don’t
Prey For Me’, ‘I Ain’t Gonna Cry’,
‘Forgiveness’, a medley of ‘Young Gods’
and ‘Backdoor Man’ and ‘Too Much Too
Young’) and even a version of ‘Deliver Me’
from Fastway’s ridiculously named yet indisputably
under-appreciated 2011 disc ‘Eat Dog Eat’.
It was nice to hear ‘Forgiveness’ again. It
really should have been included in LA’s live set…
so much better than that pointless cover of ‘Kids
Wanna Rock’.
Alas, the headliners curtailed their set after just 15
minutes. From the first moments of ‘Step Up To The
Plate’ it was obvious that something was awry with
Peter Shoulder’s usually immaculate voice. After
struggling through the new album’s ‘You’re
My Jesus’ Luke Morley explained that Shoulder was
suffering from a terrible cold. Although they began ‘Tangled
Up In You’ it was just no good… an audience
vote decided the wisdom of rescheduling for another night.
It was the first time in more than three decades of gig-going
that I’d experienced the abandonment of a show.
Hmmm… better go and drink some more beer! [The previous
statement might explain how I tried to take short cut
back to the bus stop and found myself wandering around,
completely lost, down by the Embankment after the Tubes
had stopped running! D’oh!].
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 21st February
What an unbelievable honour – my contribution
to the Frantic Four tour programme has apparently been
approved. I was to thrilled to be asked. The phone call
from Bob Young, Quo’s former tour manager and harmonica
player, was truly hilarious: “It would be nice to
have you involved, seeing as I must’ve thrown you
out of many, many backstage parties down the years.”
Er… guilty as charged, M’Lud!
P.S. What utterly excellent news: W.E.T. are to make special
appearance on the first night of the Firefest!! The addition
of Messrs Soto, Mårtensson and Säll makes this
year’s event even more of a no-brainer!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 20th February
Another fine victory took place last night at
Selhurst Park, this time over the nauseating Brizzle Shitty
– payback time for the play-offs, the ‘ghost
goal’ and the barely human embarrassment known as
Gary Johnson that used to be their manager! After notching
the opener from a wondrous, quickly taken Mile Jedinak
free kick, Glenn Murray is now the second highest goal
scorer in the whole of European football... just behind
somebody called Lionel Messi. Anyone heard of him??!!
Respect! It was such a shame about the Keystone Cops injury
time own goal from CPFC defender Jonathan Parr that pulled
the score back to 2-1, but by then there was barely time
to restart the game. I can’t wait till Saturday’s
awayday at Sheff Wed!
Uriah Heep, Europe and Skin have been added to the Friday
of the Download Festival... oh well, looks like I’m
going to Donington Park for *two* days, then, instead
of one! I last saw Heep on a Donington stage way back
in 1982 on a bill completed by Status Quo, Gillan, Saxon,
Hawkwind and Anvil. Hotel room has been booked for the
additional night – bring it on!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 19th February
I was among an excitable and rather large crowd
at London’s Electric Ballroom for last night’s
gig from Tremonti, a group fronted by the Alter Bridge/Creed
guitarist Mark Tremonti. Mark is an extremely capable
lead singer and his band – featuring one Wolfgang
Van Halen on bass – make a very loud noise indeed,
particularly skinsman Garrett Whitlock. Their well received
debut album, ‘All I Was’ (Fret 12 Records),
had prepared me for something a little heavier than Alter
Bridge have to offer but… wow… the likes of
‘All I Was’ and ‘So You’re Afraid’
were based upon almost thrash-metal-style riffs, with
new single ‘Wish You Well’ inciting mini mosh-pits
throughout the crowd – maybe the clue lay in Mr
Tremonti’s rather splendid grey Mercyful Fate T-shirt?!
With a solitary CD to their name plus a pair of non-album
B-sides (‘All That I’ve Got’ and ‘Gone’)
the band resisted the temptation to stray outside of the
Tremonti domain – not even a choice cover version.
I’d like to have heard much more than the 70 minutes
of tunes they had to offer but given the response, also
AB singer Myles Kennedy’s ever-growing commitments
with Slash, it’s reasonable to assume they’ll
be back again before too long. Here’s the set-list:
‘Leave It Alone’, ‘Giving Up’,
‘All I Was’, ‘Proof’, ‘So
You’re Afraid’, ‘Doesn’t Matter’,
‘The Things I’ve Seen’, ‘All That
I’ve Got’, ‘Wish You Well’, ‘You
Waste Your Time’, ‘New Way Out’ and
‘Decay’, followed by ‘Gone’ and
‘Brains’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 17th February
Crystal Palace have climbed to fourth in the
Championship after yesterday’s 4-1 demolition of
play-off rivals Middlesboro. The Eagles were in command
of the game almost from the off thanks to a divine piece
of skill from Wilfried Zaha, whose jinking run and cross
found Goal Machine Murray unmarked for a tap-in in the
8th minute. Zaha had his best game in red and blue stripes
in many a long month, just as England boss Roy Hodgson
paid a rare visit to Selhurst… hmmm, funny, that…
Murray now has 27 goals this season and is the entire
nation ’s leading marksman. Now wonder the cry of
“Murray for England!” went up. Sorry, Roy…
Glenn’s a Scot (though in such a rich vein of form
right now he certainly plays like an Englishman…).
With eldest son Eddie having returned early to Ling Towers,
all bets were off. Scrumpy o’clock!! I even bought
a bottle of Sermillon Chardonnet for the train ride home,
taking great delight in the roars of “South London’s
number one you know it’s true were red ‘n’
blue” that were audible on Norwood Junction station
from the Cherry Trees pub several hours after the final
whistle had blown. That mob knows how to celebrate a win!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 16th February
I’ve been dying to take a look at the Swedish
band Free Fall since a promo of their debut album, ‘Power
& Volume’, clunked onto my desk a couple of
weeks ago (see Diary, January 29). With news of a London
show being confirmed, it didn’t take long for that
opportunity to arrive. A few pre-show aperitifs were imbibed
in the Crobar before heading North to Dingwalls in Camden,
where the quartet were due to perform a short set as opening
act for The Datsuns… ‘Short’ being the
key word. Offering echoes of The Who, AC/DC and Zeppelin,
their wonderfully channelled raw power was a joy to experience.
Frustratingly, however, Kim Fransson’s vocals were
submerged beneath Mattias Bärjed’s thrusting,
jousting guitar and the apocalyptic, Entwistle/Moon-derived
rhythms of bassist Jan Martens and drummer Ludwig Dahlberg
as they surged through ‘Free Fall’, ‘Power
& Volume’ and ‘Midnight Vulture’
– the latter of which saw Fransson sounding a little
like Marc Storace as his contribution began to edge to
the surface. Alas, there was only time for three further
songs but ‘Damnation’, ‘Top Of The World’
and ‘World Domination’ – a powerhouse
anthem in the vein of Judas Priest’s ‘Take
On The World’ – closed things out with such
ear-splitting, joyous intensity that I was forced to recover
for a while at the bar in the company of my boozing buds
Neil Jeffries and Harj Kallah… both of whom were
equally flabbergasted by what they’d seen. Come
back soon, guys… and next time bring a decent sound
engineer!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 15th February
Oh well, Valentine’s Day has come and gone
and it looks like I’m single again. Sara H and I
ended up cooling things down after returning home from
Skegness and haven’t set eyes on one another during
the ensuing three weeks… The experience certainly
taught me a few important lessons about myself and the
plan is to remain friends, so as the old saying goes:
‘Least said, soonest mended’, etc etc. I wish
her all the best and will make a point of buying the first
round when next we meet.
Luckily, I’ve plenty of work with which to occupy
my time, including yesterday evening’s phone interviews
with Tesla men Jeff Keith and Dave Rude in advance of
the Hard Rock Hell AOR Festival on April 6/7.
Better news still: The long-awaited new FM album, ‘Rockville’,
has just landed on my desk. Of its 11 songs, all but one
are 10s or 9s (out of ten). Okay, I wasn’t quite
so keen on the penultimate tune, ‘Goodbye Yesterday’,
but even that one’s a solid seven. Frankly, ‘Rockville’
has blown me away.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 14th February
It’s another of those all-hands-to-the-pump
weeks. Most of yesterday’s daytime hours were spent
transcribing an interview with Jimi Jamison, followed
a couple of late-evening phoners with Troy Lucketta and
Frank Hannon during which we touched upon Tesla (’natch!!),
the Eric Martin Band and the late, great Ronnie Montrose,
who Hannon had actually met again two weeks before RM
surprised the rock world by taking his own life. Such
a shame.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 13th February
I’m very proud of my eldest son, Eddie,
who had a part in his school play – a version of
We Will Rock You, the musical. Let’s not get into
the merits or otherwise of Ben Elton’s bastardization
of the Queen legacy (spit!); watching Eddie onstage last
night his face was the very picture of astonishment when
some pyro went off just a few feet away… especially
as he was rocking out with some neat air guitar at the
time!
Awesome… my guest list place is sorted for the launch
party of FM’s new album, ‘Rockville’.
Annoyingly, it takes place in London on the same day that
the Frantic Four reunion kicks off in Manchester. Am now
looking at Glasgow, Wolves or the second Manc date as
my ‘out-of-towner’ on that trek.
There are some dynamite Van Halen revelations from David
Lee Roth here.
Diamond Dave’s support for Michael Anthony is most
welcome and is really likely to open a can of worms with
the Van Halen brothers. How EVH reacts will now surely
determine the future of the band…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 12th February
Well f**k me, here's an unexpected date for the desk diary.
Rick Springfield is to play a one-off UK gig at London’s
Shepherd’s Bush Empire on June 4. I’m off
to play his ‘Greatest Hits’ vinyl LP from
1989! If you’re not already a Springfield fan, check
out these links pronto: here
and here
- and a recommendation from my friend Doogie White here.
Then pick up the whole bloody catalogue! Rick’s
most recent release, ‘Songs For The End Of The World’,
was one of the best records of last year.
I’m not a fan of tribute albums but have just received
an interesting package from a Belgian label called Music
Avenue. It contained a trib CD to Lynyrd Skynyrd which
includes contributions from The Outlaws, Artimus Pyle
& Ed King, Canned Heat, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Black
Oak Arkansas, Molly Hatchet with Charlie Daniels and,
most interestingly, Blackfoot with Rickey Medlocke, a
second disc honouring ZZ Top with most of the same suspects
plus Walter Trout, Pat Travers, Fee Waybill of The Tubes.
Both are rather good…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 11th February
As midnight approaches I’ve just turned
final few pages of the Wilko Johnson book to which I alluded
a few days ago. Since being diagnosed with inoperable
terminal cancer Johnson
has been incredibly dignified, but his book, published
while fit and healthy in 2012, confirms a long-held and
pragmatic approach to the brevity of human life. “For
13 billion years I was dead,” he writes towards
its conclusion. “[And then] in 1947, I appeared.
‘Wow, yes!’ Now, very soon, I’m going
back to that [original state]. I was dead for 13 billion
years so what’s the problem?” If you’re
a fan then Looking Back At Me is well worth investigation.
Next up is AC/DC: The Early Years With Bon Scott by Neil
Daniels (Independent Music Press), which arrived a few
days ago.
P.S. I forgot to say: Huuuuge congratulations to my mates
The Treatment, who have landed the opening slot on the
upcoming Frantic Four dates. Mere hours before the announcement
Neil Jeffries and I had been discussing potential support
acts when the Cambridge-based combo’s name came
up among those that we deemed compatible… how spooky!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 10th February
It’s been a bit of a Jeff Scott Soto /
melodic rock weekend. Besides a set of the expanded Talisman
re-issues (‘Talisman’, ‘Genesis’,
‘Live In Japan’ and ‘Humanimal’)
the postie has delivered an album called ‘Revolutia’
by a Greek band Danger Angel that was produced by JSS.
Ensuring that I took an extended lunch break in order
to enjoy the rain-soaked Six Nations rugby game between
Ireland and England (the result: 12-6 in England’s
favour… yes!!!) I also began the transcription of
an interview conducted with Mitch Malloy at last year’s
Firefest. The chat took place in his hotel room on the
morning after he had performed a well received set, and
I really enjoyed the banter that flowed between us. So,
it seems did Mitch, who later sent an email saying our
interview was “one of the best that I’ve ever
done.” Aw, that’s nice!
Footie-wise, Palace might’ve settled for a draw
on Friday night but the results of our fellow promotion
chasing teams caused great celebration here at Ling Towers.
Against the odds, Leicester were thumped by lowly Peterboro,
Boro lost 3-2 at home to Barnsley and… ulp!... I
needed a hot shower and plenty of soap after cheering
loudly as a late goal from Shiteon ensured that Hull City
perpetuated the trend. The dream of an automatic spot
lives on!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 9th February
Watford and Crystal Palace shared the points
in last night’s game at Vicarage Road, the Eagles
staging a remarkable second-half comeback after going
two goals down inside 15 minutes. Such was Palace’s
superiority after the break they could and should have
won. Afterwards, boss Ian Holloway said that the team
must start making those emphatic second half displays
last for the entire 90 minutes… couldn’t have
put it better myself…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 8th February
The last few days, thanks to a kindly donation
by Virgil & The Accelerators’ manager Martin
Lewis, have been spent in the process of reading Looking
Back At Me, a tome on Wilko Johnson written by the former
Doctor Feelgood/Ian Dury & The Blockheads guitarist
with the help of Zöe Howe. It’s not exactly
an autobiography, more of a coffee table book, containing
some great anecdotes, gig tickets, old press cuttings,
Wilko’s illustrations and personal photographs –
a lovely documentary of this fascinating man’s life
and times. The guitarist certainly doesn’t pull
any punches. The book’s refreshing honesty made
me feel quite sad that I never got to see Johnson as a
member of the Feelgoods.
Anyway, residents of Leatherhead beware: I couldn’t
get a ticket for tonite’s Twatford-Crystal Palace
promotion clash so am heading to Surrey to watch the game
on an HD telly at the home of my CPFC-mad buds Neil and
Louise Pudney – followed by a boozy sleepover. Lock
up yer off licences!! Surrey… you have been warned!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 7th February
Unlike this country’s media I shall not
be getting too carried away by England’s victory
over Brazil since March 1990 – yes, it really was
23 years since the Three Lions last got the better of
the Samba Men. However, the performance during last night’s
friendly at Wembley Stadium certainly offered room for
cautious optimism. Okay, Ronaldinho missed a pen (or rather
Hart saved it brilliantly), also wasting various other
opportunities, but Hodgson’s men were good value
for the 2-1 score-line.
It’s awesome news that The Almighty are recording
new material to mark their 25th anniversary, though sadly
there will be no live shows. I, for one, will be keen
to find out what Ricky, Pete, Floyd and Stumpy might serve
up in 2013. Here’s a great pic of myself interviewing
the band poolside on the roof of the Hyatt Hotel, Sunset
Boulevard, back in 1990 (gosh, it’s a tough life
sometimes...). Gotta love those lycra cycling shorts!
Er, haven't ya...?? I must also dig out the shot in which
Stumpy threw me into the pool. Captured by snapper Tony
Woolliscroft, I somehow managed to avoid spilling my beer...
a hand holding it aloft Excalibur-like whilst returning
to the surface! Great times!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 6th February
Last night was spent at the Borderline in London
as I checked out a headline set from one of the finest
prospects that this country has to offer. Last December
I’d been blown away by a support slot from The Temperance
Movement at Shepherd’s Bush Empire as the Anglo-Scottish
retro rockers performed a half-hour warm-up for Skin and
Little Angels. Now it was time to see what the quintet
*really* have to offer.
And the answer to that question? Though they’re
not yet the finished article there’s plenty with
which to work. The proud owner of a wonderful set of bluesy
pipes, Phil Campbell (no relation to Motörhead’s
‘Wizzo’, obviously) is their proverbial ace-in-the-pack.
The band’s organic sound is comparable to the Crowes,
Little Feat, early Thunder, with the occasional nod to
the country-rock of The Eagles and a soupçon of
Blind Melon… oh, you get the drift. Can’t
remember when I last saw the Borderline so rammed, and
the crowd ate up every last morsel of the group’s
hour-long set, during which they played four of the tunes
from their EP called ‘Pride’ (everything except
‘Lover & Fighters’ to be precise). Personally,
I dug them the most when the tempos and volume were allowed
to dip to a whisper during ‘Pride’, ‘Serenity’
and the beautiful ‘Smouldering’. It was such
a shame that the selfish ignoramuses around me chose those
exact moments to begin babbling on to their mates about
something completely pointless. Here’s the set-list:
‘Ain’t No Telling’, ‘Be Lucky’,
‘Midnight Black’, ‘Know For Sure’,
‘Pride’, ‘Only Friend’, ‘Morning
Riders’, ‘Take It Back’ and ‘Serenity’
pls encores of ‘Smouldering’ and ‘Don’t
Call It’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 5th February
What a lovely evening was spent at the Komedia,
sipping red wine and laughing at a barrel-load of terrible
jokes from Thunder’s Danny Bowes and Ben Matthews.
My Classic Rock colleague Neil Jeffries and I had sped
down to the South Coast in Neil’s car, the strains
of Free Fall’s self-titled debut causing its windows
to rattle. The Komedia was full with quite a few familiar
faces including my Firefest boozing partners Ivan Gunn
and Andy Middleton, with ex-Terraplane bassist Nick Linden
waving to say ‘hi!’ as he wandered past. Luckily
for Neil and I, my friend Wendy Campling and her best
bud Karen had saved a table for four people. Oh, how we
roared at Bowes and Matthews’ anecdotes about the
flying dwarf tour manager, the Take That at Top Of
The Pops incident, Gary ‘Harry’ James
and the 55-minute tambourine solo and, of course, the
side-splitting lounge jazz version of Black Sabbath’s
‘War Pigs’ that used to drive their former
bass player Mikael Höglund to the point of insanity.
Musically speaking things were slightly different to the
last tour, containing more Thunder songs and fewer covers.
This time they kicked off with Free’s ‘Get
Where I Belong’ and a bit of Elvis Presley-recorded
nonsense called ‘One Night’ (sorry, if ever
there was an overrated artist…), later running through
the evergreen ‘Unchain My Heart’. Mostly,
though, it was a selection of crowd favourites such as
‘Back Street Symphony’, ‘She’s
So Fine’, ‘An Englishman On Holiday’,
‘Stand Up’, ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’
and ‘A Better Man’… even the rarity
‘See My Baby Walking’ from the ‘Joy
Of Six’ EP. As the night drew on cellist Jo Quail
joined the proceedings for a wonderful arrangement of
‘Don’t Wait For Me’. I found myself
musing upon how they could possibly follow its majesty.
The answer came during a well deserved encore when Quail
and her cello reappeared as Dan and Ben regaled us with
a rendition of Don McLean’s 1971 hit ‘Vincent’
that caused goosebumps to arise. The consummate end to
a near-perfect night.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 4th February
My, what a great phone interview with Skin from
Skunk Anansie – truly an interesting character.
I hadn’t paid much attention to the band, who reunited
back in 2009 after almost a decade away, for quite a few
years though I’d been a big fan of their first two
LPs, ‘Paranoid And Sunburnt’ and ‘Stoosh’.
Just been listening to the current one, ‘Black Traffic’,
for the first time as I prepared for our chat, and it
has some really great moments. The ballad ‘I Hope
You Get To Meet Your Heroes’, which features a string
section, proves that their sound has matured without losing
that all-important fiery edge.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 3rd February
The Mighty Crystal Palace 2 Charlton scum 1.
Number One in South London! Thanks for the six points,
Clowns, and who the f##k is laughing now?! Oh, and I hereby
eat my words about the acquisition of Kevin Phillips –
he still has gasoline in the tank and his second half
introduction changed the game. That’s six points
off the Clowns, three from Br***ton (with a rematch at
the Samesex Stadium to go) and a possible four from Scumwall.
I make that a pretty good season! And with England having
trounced the Sweaty Socks with the oval ball on the first
day of the Six Nations, I’m smiling as I settle
down at the PC for a long day’s work…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 2nd February
“King for a day – back to the day
job tomorrow”, grinned Paul Raymond from the stage
of the Borderline during last night’s gig by the
Paul Raymond Project. UFO’s likable keysman/rhythm
guitarist had assembled an interesting band to back him
for the one-off date, including Stampede’s Reuben
Archer on vocals. There was some nice banter between Paul
and Reuben, especially when they got onto bus passes and
pension books, and a brief technical problem enabled Archer
to fulfil a lifetime’s dream by announcing: “There’s
a problem with the mics, can I fill in?!” The set-list,
which kicked off with ‘Just Another Suicide’
from 1977’s ‘Lights Out’ and included
another unexpected gem – the delicate ballad ‘Take
It Or Leave It’, from 1980’s ‘No Place
To Run’ – was just what the doctor (doctor)
ordered, and I was impressed by the playing of guitarist
Rob Wolverson, also on loan from Stampede. Wielding a
mean Thunderbird bass, Mark Coles filled the Pete Way
role with ease and if Reuben’s voice was a bit gruffer
than he or anyone else expected due to a bad cold, it
really didn’t matter too much. As yet I’ve
not heard the PRP’s new album, ‘Terms And
Conditions Apply’ (my own fault for failing to check
out the weblink),
though thanks to the quality of toons such as ‘Born
& Raised On Rock ‘N’ Roll’, ‘C-List
Celebrity’ and ‘Terms And Conditions’,
this sorry situation will be rectified soon.
On the way home from the Borderline I received a text
from eldest son Eddie, who’d been out watching a
band featuring one of his schoolmates – his first
real experience of live music except the open-air gigs
attended when Clan Ling still dared to masquerade as a
family. I quote: “Gig was great, ears hurt, feet
hurt and mum’s just picked me up.” Attaboy,
Ed!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 1st February
Thanks to a Herculean effort from my accountant
those pesky end-of-year accounts were filed just in time
for yesterday’s deadline… phew! That’s
a friggin’ weight off my mind.
For those that might care, here are the monthly updates
of the Playlist and YouTube
pages.
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