Thursday 29th June
It's
a Classic Rock news and reviews deadline week. This and a distinct
lack of gigs is responsible for not having much to post in the Diary.
Haven't even had a great deal of time to watch the World Cup. And
when I did settle down in front of the box, the teams that I really
wanted to see fall on their arses - the likes of Germany, France,
Brazil, and those cheating Italians (it was never a penalty!) - have
all done the business. It's that 'shit or get off the pot' stage of
the competition, I guess. Very worrying for England, I admit.
Spoke to Captain Sensible of The Damned yesterday; what an amusing
fellow. And in the evening I nattered to ex-Status Quo drummer John
Coghlan about his new book, Coghlan And Quo, then to the
one and only Paul Rodgers. After his exploits with Brian May and Roger
Taylor, the former Free/Bad Co icon is back on the road Stateside
with a few solo shows. Nothing's certain yet, but it looks as though
Britain might see him again some time in November.
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Monday
26th June
Family Ling attended a BBQ with some local friends while
England ground out yesterday's unimpressive 1-0 victory over Ecuador.
But for Beckham's stunning free kick, it's a bit scary to consider
how the match might've turned out - but at least we made it through
to the last eight. Portugal and their dreaded manager Luiz Felipe
Scolari, architect of too many England tournament exits, now await
us in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday afternoon. Will it be revenge at last,
or more suffering inflicted by the man that snubbed the FA mere months
ago? Only time will tell.
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Saturday
24th June
I've
just been watching Nightwish's 'End Of An Era' DVD, a recording of
their last concert with singer Tarja Turunen. It couldn't have been
more aptly named, and I'm left wondering how on God's green earth
the Finns can continue without their golden-voiced talis(wo)man. Tarja
sings like a multi-octaved angel on 'End Of An Era', and despite leader
Tuomas Holopainen's claims that the studio is booked to begin rehearsing
for a new album in September, Turunen has set standards that most
mortals could only dream of following.
Speaking of which, we still await a statement or any kind of clarification
from Journey regarding those devastating lip-synching allegations.
It's now being reported that the band's management are attempting
to force the hosting sites to take down the controversial MP3s of
those 'live' performance that set the internet buzzing, with messageboard
references to the subject being instantly deleted at journeymusic.com.
I've received emails asking why I'm getting so irate over this subject.
Well, as someone who's attended three or more shows a week for the
past 25 years, the Manchester Apollo gig they played at the start
of the month would have ranked in my Top 10 of all time. If tapes
were being used, they should come clean and own up. And if they insist
their innocence, I will happily believe them. But they must say something
- mud sticks, after all. If this stony silence is maintained, I personally
will have no alternative but to consider Journey guilty as charged.
Jeezus, it breaks my heart to type those words...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
22nd June
My sympathies go out to Diamond Head. The Brummie band played
an excellent set at the Underworld last night, but only around 100
people turned up to see it. I know that Argentina had a game with
Holland 'cos I watched the first half of what turned out to be a less
than thrilling 0-0 stalemate in the upstairs bar, but where was everyone
else??!! Having made the brave decision to replace frontman Sean Harris,
last original member Brian Tatler finds himself in a more unenviable
position than ever. Newcomer Nick Tart (what a wonderful name for
a singer!) is slotting in nicely, but due to a variety of regrettable
factors - bad luck/awful management/wrong record label/ill-advised
grim reaper oufits - DH were never too popular in Britain in the first
place. Now they're really starting again at the bottom of the pile.
Nevertheless, their 90-minute set was chocka with great songs. Taken
from the current 'All Will Be Revealed' album, 'Give It To Me', 'Mine
All Mine', 'Fallen Angel' and 'Alimony' all showed that the band have
got what it takes without Harris, and the final run-in of 'Sucking
My Love', 'Streets Of Gold', 'Helpless', 'Am I Evil?' and 'In The
Heat Of The Night' was utterly breathtaking. As a composer and player
of riffs, Brian Tatler is right up there with Sabbath's Tony Iommi,
and Lars Ulrich has long since owned up to stealing all Metallica's
best ideas from songs like 'It's Electric', 'The Prince' and 'Lightning
To The Nations' (all aired last night, plus a re-shaped 'To The Devil
His Due', 'Borrowed Time' and 'I Can't Help Myself'). Watching Diamond
Head in such small environs felt a bit like being at the Saxon Tavern
in Catford and Peckham's Bouncing Ball Club in the heady days of 1982
- only back then the band were moving upwards. You've gotta admire
their stubborness.
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Wednesday
21st June
I'd
like to tell you all about Iron Maiden's new album 'A Matter Of Life
And Death'... but sadly I can't. Before hearing it at yesterday's
playback and interview session, I was made to sign a non-disclosure
form. I don't think anyone'll sue me for borrowing the immortal catchphrase
of the band's manager Rod Smallwood and stating that it's "blooooooddddddy
great", certainly following a natural path from 'Brave New World'
and 'Dance Of Death', but more than that I really cannot say for now.
So please don't ask.
After the playback and interviews, and a tasty barbecue, everyone
sat down to watch the England-Sweden game. A 2-2 draw was enough for
England to top the group and avoid host nation Germany but once again
Beckham and the boys under-performed in the second half, and nobody
will be in the least bit surprised if the horrific tournament-ending
injury to Michael Owen exposes Sven's insane decision to leave our
best strikers kicking their heels at home in favour of an untried
kid. The bald Swede is an utter waste of space, in my humble estimation.
_
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Tuesday 20th June
What
a thoroughly enjoyable interview I did with Rick
Neilsen at his hotel in London yesterday. The veteran guitarist
is a breath of fresh air, volunteering the opinion that although Cheap
Trick have made several good albums, they've yet to make a great one.
What admirable honesty, though the new 'Rockford' is without doubt
the Chicagoan's strongest in many a long year.
In a few hours I'm off to a playback of Iron Maiden's hotly awaited
new CD, 'A Matter Of Life And Death'. I note that it includes a song
called 'These Colours Don't Run'; hmmm.... wonder what the heck that
can be about?! Apparently all the band will be there for a BBQ and
communal viewing of tonight's England vs Sweden game, as will various
journos from mainland Europe - including Swedes and Germans. As the
popular song goes, I predict a riot!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
19th June
Still recovering from an excellent gig at the Hammersmith
Apollo last night. Too young to have seen the Sensational Alex Harvey
Band first time around, I made certain of arriving on time. It was
unnerving to note that bassist Chris Glen has morphed into rotund
deejay Jonno Coleman, but the Shamen's 'Mad' Max Maxwell did a fine
job of replacing the irreplaceable in an enjoyable five-song set,
even giving "the hacks" from Classic Rock a namecheck
in a newly re-written version of 'Framed'. Cheap Trick were up next,
introducing a pair ('Welcome To The World' and the single 'Perrect
Stranger') from the splendid new 'Rockford' album, as well as running
through such classics as 'Hello There', 'Big Eyes', 'Dream Police',
'I Want You To Want Me' and 'Surrender'. "Cheap Trick... four
great guys and three great chords," said guitarist Rick Neilsen
from the stage... how right he was!
The best was saved till last, however, Def Leppard's 90-minute set
almost tearing off the roof. Not everyone likes the new covers CD
'Yeah!' (though I personally give it the thumbs up), and the band
included just about enough from it - Sweet's 'Hellraiser' opened the
show, with '20th Century Boy' (T. Rex), 'Hanging On The Telpehone'
(Blondie) and a Leppard-ised version of 'Rock On' (David Essex) sounding
great. His hair straightened and dyed blonde, bassist Rick Savage
at times looked unnervingly like the late, great Steve Clark. 'Rocket',
'Armageddon It', 'Animal' and 'Let's Get Rocked' all simply ruled,
and if 'When Love And Hate Collide' isn't one of the best songs of
all time then I'm a Dutchman.
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Sunday
18th June
Hyde
Park was scorchingly hot yesterday. To be honest, I found it pretty
hard to believe that 85,000 people would congregate to see the Foo
Fighters - a band I'd never actually seen before. Even more honestly,
my main motivation for attending was special guests Motörhead,
who were viewed by a large chunk of the crowd as though they'd just
descended from Mars. Lemmy's voice may have sounded a little more
frail than normal, but he had infinitely more charisma than anyone
else on the bill. When he came onstage to jam with Dave Grohl on Probot's
'Shake Your Blood' you could almost sense the audience's bafflement.
It works both ways. Beyond an appreciation of the craftmanship that
goes into songs like 'My Hero', 'Learn To Fly', 'Breakout', 'Monkey
Wrench' and 'In Your Honour', and of the easy conviviality with which
Grohl fronts the show, yours truly was left stunned by the Foo Fighters'
overwhelming blandness. Apart from Lemmy's appearance, the highlight
was an appearance from Brian May and Roger Taylor on 'We Will Rock
You'/'Tie Your Mother Down', with Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals.
Earlier on, a barely audible front of house mix had done its best
to scupper Queens Of The Stone Age - though the band contributed to
their own donwfall by omitting 'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer' and 'The
Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret'. At times it sounded like Josh Homme,
hair dyed newly black, and company were playing in Braille. This was
in stark contrast to openers Angels And Airwaves - a side-project
of Blink-182 man Tom DeLong - who sounded crisp yet, melodic, symphonic
and surprisingly entertaining. Definitely a name to watch out for
if such a short showing is anything to go by.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
17th June
Still ploughing through the mountain of emails that arrived while
I was offline. One of the most interesting and indeed disturbing is
from a fella called Dean (thanks also to Mel Dalley, who forwarded
the same link). It is being alleged that the reason for Steve Augeri's
awesome vocal performance on Journey's European tour is that he was
lipsynching all along. It's being claimed that the band used recordings
from a Las Vegas DVD 2001 show to fatten out the sound, not to mention
patch over throat problems Augeri experienced on the group's US dates.
If there's any truth to these rumours, I am aghast. From my spot less
than 20 feet from the stage at Manchester Apollo there was no sign
of any cheating. And yet somebody named Svante Pettersson who worked
for Swedish radio at this year's Sweden Rock Festival insists that
"Augeri could not sing at all", his voice "constantly
out of tune when he tried to reach the high parts" when heard
from a truck recording the show, while out front "the vocals
sounded terrific". There are also soundclips of the same song
recorded in different venues in which Augeri's vocals are identical,
yet the music sounds different. This would mean that the band have
been pulling the wool over our eyes for years. Frankly, I find it
all difficult to take seriously. But I'm in agreement with Dean, who
insists Journey should own up to what they're doing should the allegations
have foundation, and that some sort of official response has become
a matter of importance.
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Friday
16th June
Oh, what a bugger of a time I've had. On Wednesday, our perfect
English summer was punctuated by a torrential rainstorm. Only I was
inside the house watching Sky Sports News for confirmation of Palace's
new manager and had left the window of my office open. With my router
soaked through I've had no email or internet for three days - pure
agony. Anyway, I got my 'Hysteria' notes finished and am halfway through
transcribing an interview with Michael Schenker, with extra comments
from Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley. Last night England
scraped through against Trindad & Tobago and are now confirmed
for the World Cup's knockout section, regardless of the result against
Sweden on Tuesday. Peter Taylor has also been confirmed as the new
Eagles boss, talking of "unfinished business" ("I regretted
leaving. When I was here, I was capped four times for England but
I didn't get capped after I left and I was on £10 less a week"),
and hoping he can be "half as good a manager here as I was a
player". That'll be a tough call.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 13th June
The
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards get better and better each year. If
you want the absolute truth, the very first one was a bit of a disaster
but three events down the line they now do the magazine proud. Speaking
of which, it's hard to believe that Hammer itself has now existed
for 20 years; I'm the last remaining survivor from its original 1986
launch... ulp!!!
Last night the latest Golden Gods took place at my favourite venue
(NOT!), Koko in Camden. There were viking swordfights, shields and
banners all over the place, even a wooden longboat attached to hall's
front entrance. I'd been given the job of looking after Sharon den
Adel and Stephen Van Haestregt from Within Temptation as they collected
an award for Best Video for their song 'Angels'. Although they knew
they'd been nominated, no-one had told the pair they'd actually won
the category, and it was great to see their faces as the reason that
they were going onstage gradually dawned on them.
It was way too hot, though. Babbling incoherently as ever, the DragonForce
guys looked and smelled like they hadn't stopped boozing since the
day before's triumph at the Download Festival, and onstage were in
blistering form. I got my piccie taken with a member of Lordi, the
Eurovision winners who somehow defied the sauna-like conditions to
wear their costumes for the entire night. Also had a good ol' natter
with Sebastian Bach, who went up with Dimebag Darrell's wife Rita
Abbott to hand over a well-deserved Riff Lord Award to Jerry Cantrell
of Alice In Chains. Seb, who had a drink or two in his hand throughout
the night - despite having made a big thing of being persuaded by
Ted Nugent to give up the Demon Grog in Supergroup - says that the
series goes to air on British VH1 in mid-July. Can't wait to see it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
11th June
The
large vodka and diet Cokes began flowing from around 8am onwards here
at Ling Towers yesterday, England scraping through their opening World
Cup game against Paraguay with a narrow 1-0 win. Although it was a
far from convincing display, Sweden's failure to beat Trinidad &
Tobago gives us top spot in Group B. But here's a worrying statistic:
Manager Eriksson has made a staggering 311 substitutions in his 65
games in charge of England (admittedly, some of them were friendlies).
Taking off striker Michael Owen, who needed valuable match experience,
for Stewart Downing, then forcing Joe Cole to play in the middle was
the latest of the Dozy Swede's bamboozling switches. Whatever happens
in this tournament, I'll be glad to see the back of the overpaid oaf.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 10th June
It's
being suggested on the Palace
bulletin board that Peter Taylor will be confirmed as the club's
new manager after the weekend. A once pacy winger who scored goals
for fun, current Hull and England Under 21 boss Taylor became a hero
playing for the club during the 1970s and even represented England
whilst we were still in the old Third Division. I'd possibly have
preferred Luton's Mike Newell, but after the terror of The Antichrist
Souness being linked with us, I'd welcome Taylor back to Selhurst
with open arms.
Last night the Krauts won the World Cup's opening fixture against
Costa Rica, but despite scoring four good goals they also looked susceptible
at the back. Hopefully that's a good sign. Right... I've got England
flags, bunting and a barbecue to organise. Come on the Three Lions!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
9th June
The World Cup's finally here today, and so is the weather.
I'm sitting in the office at the end of my garden, chickens clucking
away through an open window, ice cubes chinking in a cold glass, with
Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' blaring at top volume. It's still an amazing
album that helped to re-define the hard rock genre. Have been asked
by Universal Records for an extended sleeve essay for an expanded
edition that's due later this year. Very cool.
Alberto Zaccheroni is telling BBC Sport: "There hasn't been any
contact [with Crystal Palace], I've not had the pleasure of meeting
Simon Jordan. I would be interested - but only if we share the same
vision and goals." Sky Sports News are saying the the position
will be filled by Monday. Ulp... please God, say it's not Souness.
_
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Thursday 8th June
Just
been reviewing Bruce Dickinson's new triple-DVD 'Anthology' for Classic
Rock, and it's really rather good. Over six hours long, it includes
three live shows (Los Angeles 1990, Pamplona and Gerona 1996 and Sao
Paulo 1999), plus all 14 of his promotional videos (with comments
about each). But best of all is the hilariously surreal Biceps Of
Steel, a two-song movie made at the Rainbow Theatre in London with
the band Samson way back in 1980. Shot by Sex Pistols director Julien
Temple, it has to be seen to be believed. It involves a Super Roadie
(played by the band's drummer Thunderstick, minus his famous mask),
a groupie, some over-zealous venue security staff wearing orange boiler
suits, several polystyrene Marshall stacks and a ludicrous climax
stolen from the Samson and Delilah hair-cutting tale. Wonderful to
see it for the first time after all these years, and of course my
much-missed old mate Paul Samson (RIP).
A little over 24 hours now till the World Cup starts... I'll be hoping
for a miracle from Scotland's former conquerers Costa Rica against
host nation Germany in tomorrow's opening fixture, and we've organised
a huge BBQ/piss-up before England's opening game with Paraguy the
next day. How exciting!!!
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Wednesday 7th June
Cripes!
What fascinating news... Palace are in shock talks with Alberto Zaccheroni,
the top coach who led Inter Milan to the Italian championship in 1999,
with a view to becoming Iain Dowie's replacement. Alas, it's also
been confirmed that Simon Jordan has met Graeme 'Satan' Souness in
Marbella to discuss the vacancy. The very thought of the latter is
repugnant.
Last night I returned to the Astoria for Alter Bridge's umpteenth
London show in about two years. They're a great band but probably
need to disappear for a while and get on with their second album.
The turnout wasn't as good as previously, and although they added
two interesting covers (Jeff Buckley/Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'
and, ulp..., 'Whole Lotta Rosie' by AC/DC) there was definitely an
air of anticlimax. Maybe I've just been spoiled by seeing Journey,
I dunno? Despite all the above, however, the night's two new songs
(sorry, no titles...) were a lot heavier and very cool indeed. Alas,
as much as I enjoyed her 'Superbeautifulmonster' album, Bif Naked's
opening set was patchy. If only all the Canadian singer's material
was as fabulous as the single 'Let Down'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 6th June
Bits
of my anatomy must still be plastered all over the walls of the Manchester
Apollo. Last night I saw one of the very best concerts of my entire
life - a headline show from Journey. Two hours and ten minutes long,
it was as close to emotion-charged melodic rock perfection as you're
likely to get. Check out this unbelievable set-list: 'Separate Ways',
'Only The Young', 'Faith In The Heartland' (from the latest album
'Generations'), Guitar solo/'Stone In Love', 'Wheel In The Sky', 'Where
Were You?', 'Lights', 'Still They Ride', 'Feelin' That Way', 'Anytime
That You Want Me', 'Chain Reaction', 'Edge Of The Blade', 'Who's Crying
Now?', 'Mother/Father', Keyboard solo/'Open Arms', 'Escape', 'Keep
On Running', 'Out Of Harm's Way' (another new track), 'Faithfully',
'Don't Stop Believing', 'Anyway You Want It' and 'Be Good To Yourself',
then encores of 'Dead Or Alive' and (gasp!... new underwear please...)
'Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin''. Afterwards I was lucky enough to go backstage
and say hi to frontman Steve Augeri, guitarist Neal Schon and charmingly
eccentric bassist Ross Valory, all of whom looked a little stunned
by such a rapturous reception. They revealed that Journey will be
coming back to Europe (and indeed Britain) next spring for some bigger-sized
shows. Augeri also confided that the second, previously unreleased,
album from his former band Tall Stories is finally due to hit the
racks shortly.
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Sunday 4th June
Well, we're back from Monsters Of Rock and I'm happy (not
to mention relieved) that it was a great success. Apart from a couple
of indoor tours the event has been mothballed in Britain since 1996,
but despite disappointing pre-sales the fans turned up in their numbers
yesterday, some glorious sunshine making the day all the more spectacular.
I felt sorry for Roadstar, who went onstage 20 minutes before their
advertised slot. They were also without regular lead guitarist Kreepy,
whose father had died a few days earlier, but even playing with a
last minute stand-in their raucous yet hummable 30-minute set (comprising
'Killer', 'Get This', 'Ready To Go', 'Last Survivor', Let's Get It
Started', 'Roadstar' and 'Steam') won them lots of new friends around
the arena. I've no time whatever for Ted Nugent as an individual,
but his value as an artist is considerable. "Show me your attitude,
it's what makes Britain great," hollered Uncle Ted before launching
into 'Stormtrooping' and (unbelievably) 'Wango Tango', then purring
through 'Snakeskin Cowboys', 'Free For All' and a white-hot 'Wang
Dang Sweet Poontang'. There was way too much chest-beating waffle
for my own taste, including "America and England have one thing
in common... they stand up to assholes", but backed by Dokken's
estimable rhythm section of bassist Barry Sparks and drummer 'Wild'
Mick Brown, Nugent bolstered a couple of tunes from his latest album
'Craveman' with 'Motor City Madhouse', 'Cat Scratch Fever' and 'Stranglehold',
effectively telling Queensrÿche: Follow that.
Vocalist Geoff Tate and company didn't stand a chance. Cherrypicking
the best moments from 1988's 'Operation: Mindcrime' with its just-released
sequel, it really wasn't the Seattle band's day. Their intro tape
failed three times before they were finally forced to begin 'Revolution
Calling' without it. With time at a premium, the original album was
tapped for its title track and the full ten minutes of 'Suite Sister
Mary'. Then 'I'm American', 'Hostage', 'The Hands' and 'A Murderer?'
took us into '...Mindcrime 2' - an undoubtedly fine album, but one
that most of the crowd patently hadn't yet experienced. U-turning
back to the first album's soaring finale of 'Eyes Of A Stranger' ensured
that the 'Rÿche's 45 minutes ended on a high, but was thoroughly
confusing.
A reliable festival act - Thunder - had Monsters Of Rock eating from
their hands from the opening chords of 'Loser' to a rapturously received
'Dirty Love'. Give Danny Bowes a crowd and he's the Guv'nor when it
comes to squeezing out every last cheer (though with the video rolling
at home, I could've done without being informed that England had just
beaten Jamaica 6-0 in the footie!).
Then came Journey, a band I've waited all my life to see in the flesh.
With a cherry-red grand piano installed stage-centre, the San Franciscan
legends strolled into Milton Keynes and had no problems exiting with
the grand prize. No, Steve Perry wasn't with them and somehow they
managed to overlook 'Who's Crying Now', but Mister Augeri is more
than good enough to front this iconic band, and you can bet your halo
that if there's a jukebox in Paradise then 'Separate Ways', 'Stone
In Love', 'Wheel In The Sky', 'Lights', 'Open Arms', 'Faithfully',
'Don't Stop Believing', 'Any Way You Want It', 'Be Good To Yourself'
and 'Keep On Running' - all among this immaculate show's set-list
- will be on it.
With due respect to Alice Cooper and Deep Purple, both of whom performed
with all their usual panache, nothing was destined to match the elation
of the Journey experience. It was time for the serious drinking to
begin! What else can I say except that Monsters Of Rock was a faith-restoring
experience. For too many years fans and writers like myself have been
told that our music is dead, and that we're tragic wankers for still
listening to it - yesterday we proved that the doubters can go fuck
themselves. Rant over.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 3rd June
Still no news on Palace's new manager, but the club has finally
managed to unload the hapless Wayne Andrews to Coventry City - the
only opponents he managed to score against for us - on a free transfer.
Sky Blues boss Micky Adams is optomistically describing his signing
as "versatile"; well, he's certainly got plenty of ways
of managing not to put the ball into the net. But good luck to Wayne-o,
who for all his flaws always gave a hundred and one per cent effort.
That's more than can be said for certain players that remain on the
payroll.
We're off to Monsters Of Rock at Milton Keynes Bowl in a bit, with
a neighbour house-sitting for us. Licking my lips at the prospect
of my first live experience of Journey. It's being gossiped that Ted
Nugent now threatens to be a no-show after learning of his lowly place
on the bill (between openers Roadstar and Queensrÿche). Errr...
a tad late for such complaints, Nuge. But with the weather forecast
positive, the only other blot on the horizon is that webmistress Batttttty
is unable to take part in this year's festivities. Don't worry, I'll
drink a few gazillion pints for you!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 2nd June
Jeeeeezus, Twisted Sister have axed their upcoming gigs in
London and Nottingham to return home to the States and complete a
Christmas album. Frankly, this news leaves me perplexed and gutted
(especially since I can't make any of their out of town shows). Since
reuniting, the band have always insisted they will never go back into
the studio - and to interrupt a tour for a sodding record of Xmas
covers "done in an all-heavy metal format" is doubly unfeasible.
Are my nostrils fooling me, or is that the foul fragrance of rodent
in the air?
Here's better news: I just finished transcribing an interview with
Keith Emerson from a few days ago. Besides discussing his solo gig
at the Astoria on July 20, the keyboard maestro was suprisingly receptive
to the idea of an Emerson Lake & Palmer reunion. "The three
of us [himself, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer] are all keeping the catalogue
alive by touring individually, and having a great time doing so, but
I don't see why it wouldn't happen," he told me. "Carl and
I would probably both have some conditions we'd need to discuss, but
all it would need is for Greg too call up and say, 'How about it?'
It's definitely not something that we'd dismiss out of hand".
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
1st June
Ughhhhhhh... feel like I've been run over by a bus. Yesterday
I attended a playback party for German symphonic power metallers Blind
Guardian's new album, 'A Twist In The Myth' (which is due out in September
on Nuclear Blast). The Dogs D'Amour were playing the Underworld afterwards,
so caught up in the mood - the album turned out to be excellent, especially
its more prog-themed moments like 'Carry The Blessed Home' - I indulged
in quite a few too many large glasses of dry white wine. Meeting up
with my pal John Dryland, who works for Cargo Records (home of the
Dogs and many more besides), for a pre-gig bevvy, I found him in the
company of none other than Dogs mainman Tyla. I quickly realised I
was in big trouble - I was drunker than Tyla, which as a barometer
of inebriation takes some beating. Propping myself up against a pillar
seemed to do the trick, and the Dogs (who included the ubiqitous Mark
Stanway of Magnum on keyboards) ran through an excellent set that
included just about all of their best tunes, including 'Last Bandit',
'I Don't Want You To Go', 'The Only Girl I Ever Loved', 'How Come
It Never Rains', 'Bloody Mary', the rather appropriate 'Drunk Like
Me' and a wonderful encore of 'Billy 2 Rivers' and 'Satellite Kid'.
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