Friday 28th February
A breakfast time phone interview with the one
and only caped crusader of prog-rock, Rick Wakeman. What
an utterly great way to start the day… and of course
lead into the weekend!
They say that the blues is all about economy and this
theory would certainly seem to apply to Chicken Shack.
Guitarist/frontman Stan Webb still keeps a firm hold of
the tiller but most of the oar power comes from the three
musicians that back him so ably. It’s the job of
Stan The Man to step forward and sprinkle the fairy dust,
often via some wonderful slide touches. His sporadic contributions
to proceedings dominate the early part of the show, with
just five tracks – including the BB King-popularised
‘The Thrill Is Gone’, ‘Sweet Little
Thing’ and Lowell Fulson’s ‘Reconsider
Baby’ – filling its first 50 minutes. At one
point mid-song he even leaves the stage completely...
being a man of a certain age quite possibly to take a
leak, who knows? However, there are times when Stan really
does give it some real grunt, turning ruddy faced at exertion
of it all, but it’s hard to overcome the impression
that with a set lasting a mere 70 minutes (including encore
and band introductions) that Webb didn’t really
want to be here. The odd caustic aside to the audience
– “Just talk among yourselves”, he tells
us dryly above the annoying hubbub of audience chatter
before signing off with ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’
– and his body language certainly seemed to suggest
that he’d rather have been at home, feet up in front
of the gogglebox.
Support came from a good time, frills-free four-piece
called the Voodoo Sheiks, peppering a set of covers with
some decent-sounding original tunes such as ‘Lone
Star Groove’ and ‘I Wouldn't Treat A Dog That
Way’. I’d be willing to see them again, no
problem.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 27th February
Off tonight to my local blues emporium the Beaverwood
Club in Chislehurst for Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack.
I haven’t seen the now 63-year-old Stan since the
summer of 2003 at the Mean Fiddler on a bill with Savoy
Brown and the Groundhogs. I sure hope that he does this
one.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 26th February
A few days ago I joked that my office was starting
to resemble an off license, and then what happens? A case
of the Quo’s Piledriver beer turns up! I’m
off the ale at the moment (match days excepted) so I shall
save it until the Frantic Four’s upcoming tour...
Had a nice lunch in Croydon with Wendy
Campling – lots of laughs, jokes and smiles and
some tasty food – and stopped off at the CPFC Club
Shop on the way home. Went up to the counter with wallet
in hand and was gutted to discover that they had sold
out of the new range of Palace onesies. The sales assistant
says there’s no new stock expected, either. Bah!
I really should’ve gone in after Saturday’s
game. Now I shall feel naked for the rest of my life.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 25th February
RIP Kelly Holland, singer of the hugely underrated
Cry Of Love. Today I shall mainly be spinning ‘Brother’,
the US band’s debut album from 1993. My prized copy
is still inscribed by Kelly after an interview that we
did almost two decades ago. It says: “Take care
& all the best, vinyl rules!” Check out this
nice tribute.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 24th February
I’m collating my melodic rock column for
the next issue of Classic Rock, The new Winger album is
very disappointing, I’m extremely sorry to say.
It starts brilliantly but peters out after the first few
songs. I’m also writing some reviews for Metal Hammer,
including 'The False Awakening', a debut album from Collibus,
the Mancunian progressive-metallers who count Dr Brian
May of Queen among their fans. It’s a satisfying
mature statement from a band with huge prospects.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 23rd February
Extremely hung over today. Slept right through
till 10am when a cold caller for Sky TV awoke me. He learned
quite a few new swearwords, I can tell ya.
In the wake of Shrek Rooney’s new 300K pay deal
here was to be no David versus Goliath shock at Selhurst
Park. The reigning Premier League champions rolled up
at Selhurst Park and collected the points with annoying
ease. The penalty for their first goal was debatable –
no shock there. But overall the Eagles afforded the visitors
with way too much respect, defending deep and giving the
ball away with annoying regularity. The fans, though,
were another matter. The noise around the ground was incessant
and I’m full of respect for the hours of graft that
must have gone into the red and blue-themed display in
the Holmesdale Road stand. Alas, the idiot that thought
it was clever to throw coins at Shrek when he took corners
in front of the home end deserves the ban they will receive
– such pillocks give our club a bad name, and let’s
face it the fat grannyshagger really doesn’t need
the cash.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 22nd February
Off to Selhurst Park in a bit. There’s
no Darren Ambrose to score a goal-of-the-season screamer
this time around, but we’re a better team and I’m
hoping a credible performance from the mighty Eagles against
ManUre – a team that should beat us with ease on
paper at least. I’ve just reminded eldest lad Eddie,
who is buzzing with excitement, that win, lose or draw,
these are the games we’ve waited years to play…
let’s savour the moment.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 21st February
Er… wow. Talk about a blast from the past!
Switched on the PC to discover an email from Motorcycle
Irene, the semi-legendary manager of the long lost, now
reunited, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal boogiemen Vardis!
It was just the incentive I needed and on a whim I’ve
gone and done it. Rail tix are booked to Newcastle for
the final day of next weekend’s NWOBHM festival
Brofest
which features the first appearance from Vardis in 27
years. “Howay the lads”, as I believe they
say locally. Anyone got a Geordie-English dictionary I
can borrow?
And there’s further travelling ahead with the news
that Europe are to headline this summer’s Steelhouse
Festival in Wales. I had a ball at last year’s
event… though it’s getting harder and harder
to take time away from Ling Towers I won’t be missing
this one unless I really have to.
Very cool – just received a new package from Hear
No Evil Recordings. Believe it or not, this is the first
time I have owned Motörhead’s ‘1916’
and ‘March Ör Die’ on CD! I’m a
bit disappointed that though beautifully packaged these
re-mastered editions don’t have proper sleeve essays…
especially as both eras have such great stories to tell.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 20th February
My Wednesday night was spent at the Islington
Academy for the so-called Viking Funeral of former Sabbat
and Skyclad and current Clan Destined frontman Martin
Walkyier. I’ve a lot of time for Walkyier who hasn’t
been one of the luckiest people on planet Earth but the
eleventh hour cancellation of his intended backing band
Elvenking reduced the event to the realms of farce.
Though I’d been commissioned to review online for
Metal Hammer, link here,
I’d have gone along anyway as the intended five-band
bill – Walkyier plus Everlong, M:Pire Of Evil, Exumer
and Ravens Creed – seemed pretty impressive on paper.
The last time I saw German thrashers Exumer onstage was
at the Spodek in Katowice, Poland, way back in 1988. On
that night, along with Atomkraft’s Tony Dolan, who
became ‘The Demolition Man’ of Venom, and
late Kerrang! scribe Paul Miller I was arrested for being
drunk and disorderly (it’s a long, embarrassing
story – please don’t ask!). Of course, Dolan
is now the frontman of M:Pire Of Evil, who also feature
ex-Venom six-stringer Jeff ‘Mantas’ Dunn.
Together with their drummer Marc Jackson they rescued
what could have been a completely disastrous evening –
it was certainly devoid of Skyclad-related content of
any kind. For those that care the headliners’ set-list
ran as follows: ‘Demone’, ‘Die Hard’,
‘Wake Up Dead’, ‘Don’t Burn The
Witch’, ‘Blackened Are The Priests’,
‘Carnivorous’, ‘Temples Of Ice’,
‘Hell To The Holy’, ‘Welcome To Hell’,
‘Metal Messiah’ and ‘Hellspawn’,
followed by the Walkyier-embellished ‘Black Metal’,
‘Countess Bathory’ and ‘Witching Hour’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 19th February
More fantastic news on the gigging front: Scandi-rock
sensations Eclipse are to play a gig in Camden (presumably
at the Underworld, though it’s not yet on their
website) on May 14. I won't be missing that!!!! 2014 is
looking up.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 18th February
Great AOR News! The awesome Heaven & Earth,
whose ‘Dig’ was among the very finest melodic
hard rock releases of 2013 (think JLT-era Rainbow), are
coming to the UK – and they just happen to play
their fair city of Londinium on my birthday. I’m
thrilled!
And some unwelcome AOR gigs news: Robin Beck and House
Of Lords have cancelled their London show at the Garage
on March 20. Why? Don’t ask me, no reason has so
far been given.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 17th February
I’m happy to hear that record producer
Chris
Tsangarides is back at home and on the road to recovery
after a serious illness that saw doctors place him in
a medically induced coma. Get well soon, CT!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 16th February
Here’s great
news for fellow fans of AC/DC. The band are about
to return to action for their 40th anniversary. My old
pal Jerry Ewing will have his old fella in hand.
Sheesh, it’s been another long day. Once again I've
been here at the PC since 7.30am and as I type it approaches
10.15pm. Still, it's given me the chance to play some
really great music. Here's the playlist so far:
Magnum – ‘Escape From The Shadow Garden’
Steve Overland – ‘Epic’
Space Elevator - s/t
Robert Cray Band – ‘In My Soul’
Robin Trower – ‘Compendium 1987-2013’
H.E.A.T. – ‘Tearing Down The Walls’
Battleaxe – ‘Heavy Metal Sanctuary’
Nashville Pussy – ‘Up The Dosage’ (on
white vinyl)
Kansas – ‘Leftoverture’
The Road Kings – ‘Dust & Gasoline’
Rush – ‘Permanent Waves’
Ben Granfelt – ‘Melodic Relief’
Fastway - s/t
Rory Gallagher – ‘Stagestruck’
Steely Dan – ‘Aja’
Lionheart – ‘Hot Tonight’
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 15th February
Just back from a mid-morning park run –
was almost blown off my feet twice and my hair was flew
horizontally, a bit like standing in the front row of
a Ted Nugent gig. This really has got to stop.
The run was a nice distraction from work. I’m busy
compiling the gig for Classic Rock’s Blues magazine.
Arrived at my desk at 7.30am and will be here till at
least 10pm.
Last night’s Dream Theater gig was utterly amazing.
This was a fourth time as headliners at Wembley for the
US/Canuck prog-metal behemoths, and although the rear
of the hall was curtained off they really have become
masters of arena rock spectacle. Not only did the quintet
play for a whopping two and three-quarter hours, it really
was a beautifully presented show, with cinematic back
projections, lasers and, best of all, amazing, pinpoint-sharp
sound. If someone dropped a plectrum, believe me you heard
it – quite a feat at Wembley.
The show was broken down into two halves, the first of
which included four of the best tracks from their new,
self-titled album (the group’s twelfth full-length
studio release, and second to feature Mike Mangini on
drums). During the second portion they focussed on the
‘Awake’ album which is now twenty years old.
After closing the set proper with the new record’s
22-minute, five-part ‘Illumination Theory’
the band returned for four tracks from one of my all-time
favourite records of theirs, ‘Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes
From A Memory’, itself now a decade and a half old.
During the interval, the screens showed a variety of hilarious
spoof adverts, doctored video footage and even silly crank
calls that showed they do have a sense of humour. The
playing was just jaw-dropping throughout. Mangini dropped
a tastefully short solo into the instrumental ‘Enigma
Machine’ and another of the new record’s defining
moments, ‘Along For The Ride’, served as a
two-fingered rebuke to those that say Dream Theater cannot
do short, commercial songs. The set-list ran as follows:
‘The Enemy Inside’, ‘The Shattered Fortress’,
‘On The Backs Of Angels’, ‘The Looking
Glass’, ‘Trial Of Tears’, ‘Enigma
Machine’ (inc drum solo), ‘Breaking All Illusions’,
‘The Mirror’, ‘Lie’, ‘Lifting
Shadows Off A Dream’, ‘Scarred’, ‘Space-Dye
Vest’ and ‘Illumination Theory’, followed
by ‘Overture 1928’, ‘Strange Déjà
Vu’, ‘The Dance Of Eternity’ and ‘Finally
Free’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 14th February
There were no valentine cards nor pressies for
me today – sob! – but I’m really looking
forward to An Evening With Dream Theater at Wembley Arena.
2 x 90 minute sets… a truly epic experience according
to those that saw last night’s Manchester show (hi
Rich Wilson!).
Editor in chief Scott Rowley has revealed that Classic
Rock is now the second best-selling music monthly in the
UK as of yesterday with an ABC of 57,488 copies per month
– overtaking Q and Uncut magazines for the first
time. Awesome work from Scott and the team, I’m
sure you’ll agree.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 13th February
I’ve just completed my second Kiss interview
in 24 hours. Wow, their drummer Eric Singer likes to talk
– we nattered for about an hour and 15 mins which
is pretty unusual. He’s very quotable too, I’m
happy to say. And at the end of our conversation he said:
“Here’s my email address, if you want to ask
anything else feel free.” Top fella!
Talking of Kiss, I’m very impressed by the honesty
of Paul Stanley, who has savaged
the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame mere weeks before the
induction of his band. The Starchild doesn’t mince
his words, calling the HOF: “tainted, corrupted
and distorted”. Wow…
I’m reviewing some albums for Prog magazine. Asia’s
newie, ‘Gravitas’, is their first post-reunion
effort without Steve Howe. Its more stripped down sound
seems to be polarising opinion, but I really like it.
The same is not true of ‘The Life And Times Of Scrooge
McDuck’, the debut solo album from Nightwish leader
Tuomas Holopainen… very grim indeed.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 12th February
With great reluctance, I’ve decided to
pull out of the weekend’s half-marathon down in
that Unmentionable Place On The Coast. We’ve had
the wettest January since records began, and I’ve
been unable to put in the training I needed. Didn’t
fancy having a cardiac arrest halfway round the course.
Though upsetting, it’s the logical thing to do.
Conducted an enjoyable interview with Andy Cairns,
setting the scene for Therapy?’s ‘Troublegum’
anniversary tour. What a lovely fella (for a Chelsea fan…
hahaha).
Talking of footie, Steve ‘No Relation’ Way
and I had discussed driving to Merseyside for this evening’s
game between Everton and the mighty CPFC. Thank the Lord
we were unable to make the trip as due to the awful weather
the game was postponed shortly before KO. I had to conduct
a phone interview with Tommy Thayer of Kiss anyway…
I’m really getting into H.E.A.T.’s new album,
‘Tearing Down The Walls’. It’s a real
grower. Check
out the video for its first single, ‘A Shot
At Redemption’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 11th February
Dusk fell as I returned home from Minehead; I
put down my overnight bag, made a very quick cuppa and
straight back into the collation of Classic Rock’s
news pages. No rest for the wicked, eh? Has anyone of
note died over the weekend, I wondered? No… cool.
That means just three mini-obits for the RIPs column instead
of the usual five – more space for Fergie Frederiksen.
Oh wow, look – The Dictators are playing the Garage
on August 7. I won’t be missing that one…
have they ever even been here before??!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 10th February
Although I made it up in time for breakfast…
somehow… I felt so darned awful that a beach-front
run was impossible. I vowed to repeat Friday and have
another sober day. Luckily for those of us in a bleary-eyed
state it was THE DEBORAH BONHAM BAND
that kicked off Day #3 in the Reds bar. A sedate, undemanding
and at times soothing display was rounded off by an encore
of Zeppelin’s ‘Rock And Roll’ that Bonham
dedicated to “my little nephew [Jason], who won
a Grammy last week”. Aw…
I bumped into Uriah Heep’s manager Martin Darvill,
who had several other acts on Sunday’s bill. “You
must come and have a drink with the Heep lads in the dressing
room before the show. Come back afterwards, too,”
he smiled. I replied that I’m not much of a dressing
room person – even with bands that I know well,
they’re generally a bit uncomfortable – and
Martin accepted the statement. Challenge #1 to my sobriety
and it remained intact… hurrah…
MARTIN TURNER’S WISHBONE ASH began
with a brand new number called ‘Written In The Stars’
that tapped into the classic WA vibe, including a masterful
version of the epic ‘Phoenix’ in a set of
stirring power and melody. I could’ve watched them
all afternoon. However, I’m still reeling from Turner’s
onstage admission that he is a Chelski fan – the
bloke was born in Torquay!! He’s really gone down
in my estimation for that.
With Magnum’s Mark Stanway depping for the absent
Adam Wakeman on keys, SNAKECHARMER were
a pleasant surprise. Last time I took a proper look at
them, supporting Heep in 2011 – Christ, was it really
that long ago? – their entire set consisted of Whitesnake
songs. Now, with a well-received debut album in the racks,
it’s balanced almost 60-40 in favour of originals.
They got the thumbs up from me.
If, like WILKO JOHNSON, you were living
your life in ‘injury time’ (doctors had predicted
that the terminally ill former Dr Feelgood guitarist would
be pushing up daisies by last October) then what would
*you* do? Wilko just wants to play music. And who the
fuck can blame him? What could quite easily have been
mawkish was in fact a moving display from a man still
doing what he loves best while the opportunity presents
itself. After an emotional (and apt) ‘Bye Bye Johnny’
Wilko smiled, waved, turned tail and headed for the wings.
Who could possibly fail to be moved by his dignity and
courage?
It was time for SWEET to kick some ass
on the Centre Stage. I was so happy that they chose to
emphasize their hard rock credentials by thrusting ‘Set
Me Free’, the ball-busting opening track from 1974’s
‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ album, back into the set.
My fanboy moment came when Andy Scott spotted me in the
crowd and said: “Hello Dave… so it looks at
though Classic Rock will be covering this weekend.”
I was so stunned, all I could do was wave back gaily when
a Wayne’s World-style “We’re not worthy”
would have been far more appropriate.
An all-too rare one-off UK appearance from BLUE
ÖYSTER CULT was the jewel in the crown of
Giants Of Rock. The New Yorkers played and sang fantastically
well, and though short but sweet (80 minutes) their set-list
tells you more than I ever could. It ran as follows: ‘This
Ain’t The Summer Of Love’, ‘Golden Age
Of Leather’, ‘Burnin’ For You’,
‘Dancin’ In The Ruins’, ‘OD’d
On Life Itself’, ‘Harvest Moon’, ‘The
Vigil’, ‘ME 262’, ‘Then Came the
Last Days of May’, ‘Godzilla’ (inc Kasim
Sulton bass solo) and ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’,
with an encore of ‘Cities On Flame With Rock And
Roll’.
Despite constant reminders of the headliners’ well
stocked dressing room and our invitation to it, I had
kept off the ale all day as URIAH HEEP
time approached. Just before the house lights dimmed,
Mark Taylor wandered over and opened his coat to reveal
the box of wine I’d left in his chalet the night
before. “No, really… I’m just gonna
go back and sleep afterwards,” I told him. “Not
even a sip…?” he challenged playfully. It
was like Monty Python’s Mr Creosote sketch: “Not
even a leeetle wafffer-thin mint?”
You can guess the rest. With a usual mix of classics and
modern-era tunes, Heep were utterly magnificent, just
the band needed to close the festival in style. The box
of wine was emptied before an encore of ‘Free ‘N’
Easy’ and ‘Easy Livin’’, and of
course we ended up back in the dressing room. Heed a word
of warning: Should Bernie Shaw ever offer you something
called a Piledriver (no relation to Quo’s new beer
of the same name), *do not* accept it!!! However, the
prize for drunkest men of the night goes not to Taylor
and myself but to Dave Wagstaffe and Danny Willson, the
guitarists of MTWA, who were in a spectacularly refreshed
state. Good work, fellas… As the band left, Martin
Darvill cheerily said: “Guys, take what you want
of the leftovers”. Suffice to say that we returned
to the Buckley/Taylor chalet till the early hours, and
Noel’s car rattled all the way back to London!
So… would I recommend the Giants Of Rock experience?
Hell yes!! Great bands, great food, nice people, killer
sound all weekend and, in the experience of our little
clique, wonderful company. The only downer was a plethora
of hen and stag parties that were also on site. To say
they were a pain in the arse would be an understatement.
My *real* hair was a subject of great amusement for these
wig wearing imbeciles. So sorry that I didn’t dress
up as Slash, a Wookie or Elvis to have blended in a little
better with you all – a major oversight on my part.
Grrrrrrr. Anyway, I’m assured that should year #2
sell as well as the organisers hope, there will be no
cause for complaint in 2015. Book it now for the early
bird price! Thanks as ever to the living legend that is
Dave Hill.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 9th February
Only a madman would have undertaken a pre-brekkie
run along Minehead beach in such Goddamn awful weather.
I guess that makes me a madman! As I stood at the end
of pier facing out to sea the wind was so extreme that
I had to hold my glasses in place for fear of them being
whisked off… sheesh.
For those that stumbled out of bed in time to appreciate
a fabulous set, ELLIOTT RANDALL played
the festival’s wild card hand. Aside from a glut
of material drawn from his ‘Randall’s Island’
solo album, ex-Steely Dan/Doobie Brothers guitarist played
the Dan’s own ‘Bodhisattva’ and wound
things up with ‘Reeling In The Years’, the
1973 classic that features Jimmy Page’s all-time
favourite guitar solo. It was a real goosebumps moment.
Back in Sarf London, Palace’s game with West Brom
kicked off and new boys Tom Ince and Joe Ledley had quickly
put the Eagles 2-0 up by the time MOLLY HATCHET
took to the stage, much later than advertised. This was
largely their own fault, having insisted that the support
act from the European tour – a truly dire band by
the name of IRON HORSES – should
also feature on the bill, even if it meant cutting down
their own set and missing out on a chance to soundcheck.
35 minutes and seven songs later (!), the Hatchet were
done ‘n’ dusted.
Disgusted by this turn of events, Taylor and I headed
back to my chalet for Final Score and box of white wine.
Could the Eagles hang onto their 2-1 lead? No… in
fact, thanks to a hotly disputed Marouane Chamakh penalty
they won 3-1, climbing three points clear of the relegation
zone. I was absolutely head over heels and suddenly felt
extremely thirsty indeed.
Nothing could ruin my mood – not even a set from
BIG COUNTRY. In fact, the Scotsmen’s
surprisingly enjoyable display contained a very funny
moment when Jamie Watson, who handles guitars, stooped
the show to rebuke his dad Bruce for excessive swearing.
Next up, FM were complete rubbish. Awful.
Dull as dishwater and just as emotion-free. Absolutely
dreadful. Aw, c’mon… what did you think I
was gonna say?!? With Steve Lagercan… er, Overland…
in prime form they purred through a set that mixed the
best of the ’80s (‘I Belong To The Night’,
‘That Girl’, ‘Bad Luck’ and the
delicious ‘Closer To Heaven’) with new-era
gems such as ‘Tough Love’, ‘Over You’,
‘Wildside’ and ‘Crosstown Train’…
and no ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’, either.
Result.
HAWKWIND, ah… What a great way
to end a fabulous day. Encoring with ‘Brainstorm’
and ‘Silver Machine’, their set alone was
worth the journey from London. Though the crowd thinned
out as the witching hour came and went, naturally we hung
around for the graveyard shift from STRAY
(God, that sounds awful… sorry). The presence of
Pete Dyer, their guitarist for several key albums from
the 1970s, who’s back in a how-long-to-be-determined
capacity, allowed them to freshen up the set-list a little,
and it was great to hear the likes of ‘Percy The
Pimp’ and ‘One Night In Texas’ again.
The delightful Cherry Lee Mewis joined the band for couple
of songs I have a ghastly memory of a post-gig conversation
during which I insisted she used a stage name, even demanding
she showed me a credit card to disprove the theory. Christ…
I hope I didn’t.
Anyway, after being ejected from the hall we celebrated
Noel’s birthday by sitting in the Buckley/Taylor
chalet till 4am, drinking booze and talkin’ bollox.
Niall from Hawkwind had said he might join us but failed
to show. Hawkwind, eh? They give it large but they’re
just a bunch of lightweights…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 8th February
There’s insufficient time for a detailed
review of the events of Giants Of Rock, for that you’ll
have to check out my double-page, 1,600-word essay in
the March 26 issue of Classic Rock. What follows is more
of a personal overview.
Having met my partners in grime, Noel Buckley and Mark
Taylor, in East London we whizzed around the M25 and down
the M4 with surprising haste, arriving in Minehead at
around 4pm. The rest of ‘The Gang’ congregated
for a livener or two in Buckley/Taylor’s den of
inequity; Paul Newcomb and his missus Rita, Terri Weston
and her mate Ronnie, and Classic Rock lensman Kev Nixon
(who had the misfortune of co-habiting with yours truly).
With my half-marathon taking place the following weekend,
I, however, exercised restraint and stayed off the grog
for the evening.
CURVED AIR got proceedings off to enjoyable,
dignified start, but ex-Jethro Tull man MARTIN
BARRE was better still. His re-workings of tracks
such as ‘Minstrel In The Gallery’, ‘Fat
Man’ and ‘Locomotive Breath’ were a
breath of fresh air, and I jigged about a bit to a great
cover of ‘Thorazine Shuffle’ by Gov’t
Mule.
What to say about JOHN COGHLAN’S QUO?
Membership of the Frantic Four will always guarantee Coghlan
lifetime status as a personal hero but none of his group
actually looks or sings like their better known counterpart.
A set-list that deviated from the norm to include ‘Accident
Prone’ and ‘Rockers Rollin’’ was
pretty cool but before too long I found myself longing
for a warm chalet and fluffy duvet. Hell-raising could
wait another 24 hours, being Noel’s birthday. Oh
dear… this could get messy.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 7th February
Okay, with Classic Rock on news deadline for
the last several days I’ve burned the midnight oil
to free up a long weekend of rawkenrawllll-based shenanigans
at the Giants Of Rock Festival. A few important reviews
are safely sent – it was great to hear Jon Anderson’s
‘Olias Of Sunhillow’ again – and most
of my stories have been submitted, it seems that we can
mop up the remainder on Tuesday morn – hurrah! Wagons
roll… first stop Minehead. Precious freedom from
the misery of Ling Towers – I cannot wait.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 6th February
I was really looking forward to my copy of Stray’s
new ‘Live In Japan’ CD on Angel Air Records
but really cannot take it very seriously after the stage
introduction of: “Riving regends… Stray!”
Hilarious!
I’m fascinated by the latest news from Glenn Hughes,
who has finally revealed the details of his new band California
Breed with an
interview at the Classic Rock website. As rumoured,
the line-up *does* feature Hughes’ Black Country
Communion band-mate Jason Bonham on drums, and the group
are saying all the right things about their music. The
fact that they are a power-trio perhaps articulates more
than anything. The most burning question, though, is what
the f**k is going on with Glenneth’s hair?! That
is shocking!
Though regrettably I will miss tomorrow’s launch
bash, I’m getting qite a taste for The Quo’s
beer after reading this
interview. To quote Mr Rossi: “After a few Piledrivers
I’d be anybody’s!” It’s a phrase
we’ll all be using before too long.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 5th February
Okay… Cage The Gods. A wee bit late to
the party but… I’m in! Great little band with
some killer songs. Their album, ‘Badlands’,
is due on March 31. Wish I could see them with The Treatment
this coming Friday night but will be en route to the Giants
Of Rock festival down in waterlogged Minehead.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 4th February
Thanks very much to Spectrum Records for a finished
copy of a new budget priced sampler from Ritchie Blackmore’s
Rainbow (also for commissioning me to write the sleeve
notes!) ‘Since You Been Gone: The Best Of’
contains a mix of hits and catalogue gems and will set
you back around the price of a pint. I’ll go out
on a limb and predict a bit of a Blackmore-tastic afternoon
here in SE6.
I was hoping to have attended Uriah Heep’s gig up
in Milton Keynes but pressure of work ended any such ambitions.
However, it was cool to do a quick phone interview with
Erik Grönwall, the lead singer of Swedish melodic
rock sensations, as an aperitif for their rather splendid
upcoming album, ‘Tear Down The Walls’ (April
15). Fortunately he agreed with me that its song ‘Mannequin
Show’ sounds a little like ‘Oops! I Did It
Again’, in fact we had quite a laugh about it!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 3rd February
My voice is shot to pieces following yesterday’s
away game with Arsenal. Neither Eddie or I had visited
the Emirates Stadium before, and roared on by a bunch
of magnificently noisy away fans – did the Arse
even sing a song??!! – the mighty Eagles put in
a determined and well organised first half display. So
it was disappointing to concede early after the break
and, worse still, eventually lose 2-0.
Here’s a photo of us drinking in stereo at the
12 Pins – a surprisingly welcoming ‘home’
pub in Finsbury Park – just before the game (today
being a college day Eddie was on the Diet Coke. Not even
a single Smirnoff Ice in sight for the poor lad). Good
times! Thanks to my Gooner pals Gerry Rassool for the
shot, Bruce Osborne for being a convivial host, Clive
Aspinall for being Clive Aspinall and CPFC’s own
Sam Pudney for making us all look extremely sober!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 1st February
Sweet Jeeeeezus, we cannot be into the second
month of 2014 already??!! Here are the usual updates at
the Playlist and YouTube
pages. And why don’t you trying washing them down
down deeper ‘n’ down with something strong
and foaming? Yes, anything Iron Maiden can do Status Quo
can do too, and just in time for the expanded re-issue
of their classic album of the same name from 1972, the
mighty Quo have launched Piledriver
Beer. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
‘I got really piledrivered last night’…
haha.
Last night was spent at a reunion of folks from RAW magazine,
a UK-based rock music title that ran from 1988 -1995.
The get-together took place in a public house called the
Old Coffee House at the bottom of Carnaby Street. Though
we ate lunch there most days I hadn’t set foot in
the place since RAW’s demise. Being there again
felt quite weird. I still recall Bruce Dickinson walking
in on the day that he cut off his hair and showing everyone
the ponytail that his wife has asked him to keep. There
was also a memorable birthday piss-up with Würzel
of Motörhead (RIP) which began as a quick celebratory
pint and lasted the whole of the afternoon. And, lest
I forget, it was at the Old Coffee House that I met the
woman that I later married and had kids with.
Anyway, it was great fun to sit around and re-tell a few
old war stories with the likes of Dante Bonutto, Malcolm
Dome, Steve McTaggart, Dave Everley, Maria Davies, Maura
Sutton, Mel Bradman, Valerie Potter and lensman Charlie
Best, also to catch up with Lynn Seager who was married
to another of the mag’s co-founders, the late Mark
Putterford. We must do it again sometime!!
I’m extremely happy with CPFC’s new squad
additions. Besides the aforementioned Messrs Ince and
Puncheon, midfielder Joe Ledley joined from Celtic, Scott
Dann made the switch from Blackburn and ’keeper
Wayne Hennessey was signed from Wolves. Massive credit
to the board, management and recruitment team.
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