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Friday
30th June
Oh. My. God. Last night's Tesla gig was sensational. After
16 years away, I'd been skeptical about their ability to pull
a crowd at somewhere was large as Shepherds Bush Empire, but
hats off to whoever booked the show because it proved to be
the perfect venue. As singer Jeff Keith exclaimed at the start:
"You're beautiful people, it's a beautiful place, it's
a beautiful thing". Apart from adding 'beautifully mixed
sound', I couldn't have put it any better myself.
With Fastway pulling out, Diamond Head were the night's special
guest. I'm a firm supporter of the band's decision to carry
on without Sean Harris, but allotted just six songs in half
an hour ('Mine All Mine', 'Lightning To The Nations', 'This
Planet And Me', 'Give It To Me', 'It's Electric' and 'Am I Evil?')
they failed to make much of an impression. 'What's In Your Head?',
the album that Diamond Head are soon to release (from which
'This Planet And Me' is lifted) gets the thumbs up from me,
but I've definitely heard Nick Tart deliver more convincing
vocal performances.
When Tesla kicked off with a scorching version of 'Comin Atcha
Live' I feared that some kind of underwear malfunction might
be on its way. Given that the Sacramanto-based hard rockers
are promoting a rather good covers disc called 'Real To Reel',
I'd no idea what type of a show they'd put on. A few days earlier,
guitarist Frank Hannon had revealed they've been known to open
the show with a version of UFO's 'Rock Bottom'. They actually
did that one seven songs in, allowing Hannon and Brian Wheat
to indulge all their Schenker and Way fantasies. Speaking of
Wheat, known for struggling to control his weight at the band's
MTV peak, it was a tad uncharitable of the fellas at Rockers
Digest to describe the affable bassist as a "Johnny
Vegas lookalike". In the end, the only other songs from
the covers record they did were by The James Gang ('Walk Away')
and Led Zeppelin (a near-perfectly replicated 'Thank You').
Keith's rasping though melodic voice is still as excellent as
ever, while Dave Rude proved a quality replacement for the band's
only missing original member, Tommy Skeoch. With curfew looming,
Tesla had to cut the set short, which must explain the absence
of 'EZ Come EZ Go', the opening track from their seminal 1986
debut 'Mechanical Resonance'. Hopefully they'll play it when
they come back in October, possibly alongside another band from
California who once released an equally stunning album called
'Earthshaker'. Here's the set-list: 'Cumin' Atcha Live', 'Into
The Now', 'Walk Away', 'Modern Day Cowboy', 'Lazy Days, Crazy
Nights', 'Little Suzi', 'Rock Bottom', 'Love Song', 'What You
Give', 'Miles Away', 'Heavens Trail (No Way Out)', 'Mama's Fool',
'Thank You', 'I Just Wanna Make Love To You'/'Signs' and 'Edison's
Medicine (Man Out Of Time)'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
27th June
Today
Tony Blair's run as Prime Minister comes to a weary, belated
and ignominious end. Blair returns to Westminster from a typically
showbiz-themed Stateside engagement with Californian governor
Arnold
Schwarzenegger. You've gotta laugh at one of the resulting red-top
headlines: "The Terminator meets the terminated".
Not before time. I won't forget the buzz of euphoria that I
derived from watching Thunder open a set at the Astoria with
'Welcome To The Party', their New Labour-themed anthem
from 'The Thrill Of It All', shortly after Blair's landslide
victory in 1997, but it'll be an equally satisfying feeling
to see the back of Blair and his odious, slimy, multi-jowled
aide John 'Jabba The Hutt' Prescott'.
Close the door on your way out, and don't even think about a
reunion tour.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 26th June
I only found out a few days ago that Cynic, the celebrated
US progressive techno-death metal band, were doing a reunion
tour of Europe. Having seen them at the Marquee the last time
they played Britain, wa-a-a-y back in 1994, there was no way
on earth that I'd miss their comeback date at Dingwalls - even
if guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sein Reinert
were the sole remaining original members. Early sound gremlins
did their best to wreck the experience, absolutely ruining 'Veil
Of Maya' and 'Celestial Voyage', but struggling with a post-Maiden
hangover turned out to be worth the effort. The band's mixture
of growled and clean vocals was well ahead of its time, tonight
the more harsh singing was sampled but few seemed to care. Obviously,
the set was based upon Cynic's sole album, 'Focus', but they
introduced a crushing-yet-spacey new composition called 'Evolutionary
Sleeper', winding up the set proper with a marvellous, jammed-out
rendition of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's 'Meeting Of The Spirits'.
A word of encouragement, too, for up 'n' coming London band
Linear
Sphere, who began the night by running through three long
and challenging songs in 40 minutes. Their combination of prog,
avant-garde metal and jazz-fusion is the perfect antidote to
so much of the by-numbers bollocks that passes for hard rock
these days.
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Monday 25th June
Iron Maiden's latest world tour is over, and what a way
to finish. "I don't know what the legal capacity of the
Brixton Academy is, but think of a number - any number - and
double it," said Bruce Dickinson from the stage, and he
wasn't kidding. With all proceeds going to Multiple Sclerosis-stricken
former drummer Clive Burr, the highly emotional show managed
to reflect both the frailty of humanity and Iron Maiden's proud
durability. It doesn't seem possible that I stood in this same
hall 24 years ago and watched as the band were filmed for the
promo video of 'The Trooper' with Burr's then newly-appointed
replacement, Nicko McBrain, up on that gigantic chequerboard
stage. Jesus Christ, how time zips by. Anyway, Maiden did Clive
proud and I'm sure I wasn't alone in finding something annoying
in my eyes when the night's star was wheeled out to soak up
the applause at the show's conclusion.
The set-list, in case you didn't manage to catch the band this
summer, was: 'Different World', 'These Colours Don't Run', 'Brighter
Than A Thousand Suns', 'Wrathchild', 'The Trooper', 'Children
Of The Damned', 'The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg', 'For
The Greater Good Of God', 'The Number Of The Beast', 'Fear Of
The Dark', 'Run To The Hills', 'Iron Maiden', '2 Minutes To
Midnight', 'The Evil That Men Do' and 'Hallowed Be Thy Name'.
Afterwards, Mrs L and I joined the enthusiastic post-gig celebrations,
quaffing far too many ciders for a Sunday night. We chatted
to both Bruce and guitarist Janick Gers, the former revealing
that his movie about occult legend Aleister Crowley (infamous
as 'the wickedest man in the world') shortly enters production,
with Simon Callow - of Amadeus, Shakespeare in Love and, appropriately,
The Phantom of the Opera - set for the title role. Dickinson
has spent 12 years working on this project, and is understandably
thrilled to get it moving at last. Though Bruce isn't planning
a successor to 2005's 'Tyranny Of Souls' in the break before
Maiden's next summer tour, he doesn't rule out getting together
with producer/guitarist Roy Z to work on some new music for
the soundtrack.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
23rd June
Having
been spanked by CPFC supremo Simon Jordan in a high profile
court case, Iain Dowie has just 42 days to pay an initial £150,000
in legal costs - a figure that could, with damages included,
eventually rise to somewhere between £750,000 and a cool
million quid. But that's the price of being a manipulative,
immoral liar. Wonderful news!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
22nd June
Last night I had a very enjoyable conversation with Andy
Parker. I'd never actually spoken to UFO's drummer before,
but what a splendid fellow he turned out to be. Our proposed
15-minute chat about the 'Force It' album turned into an hour-long
discussion about UFO, living in England, lagerlout-ism, writing
sleeve notes (Andy once penned some liners for a set of Spitfire
Records re-issues), Michael Schenker, the joys of being a landlord
and finally, rock music's regenerative effect upon the process
of aging. Andy laughingly admitted that he looked like his mum
(who sadly passed on not too long ago) when he rejoined UFO
in the summer of 2005. Two stone overweight and with grey hair,
he was looking and feeling like a stereotypical middle-aged
bloke. And now, after travelling around in a tour bus with Messrs
Way, Mogg, Raymond and Moore for the past two years, Andy's
ready to collect his bus pass, sips politely at the occassional
Mackeson stout and has reserved himself a choice burial plot.
No... I'm kidding!! He has a 'before' and 'after' photo on his
office wall to remind him of the fountain of eternal youth that
is rock 'n' roll. The theory has its flaws - have you seen Ozzy
Osbourne recently? - but I'd like to believe it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
20th June
The
rumours of Palace signing Teddy Sheringham have gone quiet.
Thank the Lord. Indeed, not only has the former England striker
been linked with a move to Bournemouth - with respect, a lot
more his level than Selhurst Park - but it's quite possible
he'll spend up to six years in Her Majesty's company after allegedly
providing false details about a speeding offence. If Sheringham
were to be given a custodial sentence for that length of time,
he'd be 47 when he got out of prison. A little too old, surely,
for Peter Taylor's policy of snapping up 'youth' talent?!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
19th June
"Do you wish you'd won, Chris?" shouted a
voice from the crowd in a crammed Borderline. Chris Daughtry,
who finished fourth in last year's American Idol, emphatically
shook his head. "Maybe if that'd happened I wouldn't be
here". The singer courted the rock vote on the blockbuster
reality TV show, interpreting material by Bon Jovi, Aerosmith,
Queen and the Chili Peppers among others. But just five weeks
after elimination he'd successfuly auditioned for music mogul
Clive Davis, his self-penned 'Daughtry' album topping the Billboard
chart, a million-plus sales registering the quickest-performing
debut in Soundscan history. That figure has now more than doubled.
So Daughtry's self-titled band (he pronounces it 'Dow-tree')
took a few steps backwards to perform their debut UK show last
night, but it rocked. Chris has a great voice and an amiable
stage persona to match those writing chops. Maybe a third of
this sold-out crowd were Brits, which is a generous estimate,
but there can be little doubt that fans of Nickelback, Creed
and Live will appreciate this fine group regardless of their
nationality. Highlights included 'It's Not Over', 'Crashed',
'Over You', 'What I Want' (the studio version of which features
a guitar solo from Slash) and a solo acoustic rendition of Elton
John's 'Rocket Man'. I hope that Daughtry
come back soon.
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Sunday
17th June
My
sons have just given me a rather nice Father's Day present.
Thin Lizzy's 'Live And Dangerous', an album I've never owned
on CD till this morning. Thanks, guys. Couldn't have made a
better choice myself (those hints I was dropping in Sainsbury's
must have paid off).
I'm feeling a tad hung over this morning. Yesterday was a busy
day. At lunchtime I went to Studio Two of Abbey Road Studios,
where The Beatles recorded so much of their famous work, for
a playback of Nightwish's hotly-awaited new album, 'Dark Passion
Play'. Given that the Finnish band sold more than a million
copies of 2004's 'Once', a lot is riding on their debut with
new singer Anette Olzon, who replaces the controversially ousted
Tarja Turunen. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about a handful
of lighter-sounding tracks towards the record's latter half
('The Islander', 'Last Of The Wilds' and '7 Days To The Wolves'),
but on the whole I liked what I heard. Nightwish have once again
bolstered their sound with an orchestra, that aspect of the
production being overseen by Status Quo/Barclay James Harvest
collaborator Pip Williams, who was on hand to introduce the
playback. Sounding a little like Lord Of The Rings set to music,
the 13-minute epic 'The Poet And The Pendulum' is a fantastic
way to begin any album. If anything, the songs are a little
less shrill than before, and afterwards leader Tuomas Holopainen
revealed that among the reasons Olzon was selected was her lack
of operatic training. The press conference was rather amusing,
for all the wrong reasons. Representing Rock Sound magazine,
one particular writer had no clue about the band, literally
stunning the room into silence by asking Holopainen which instrument
he played. This poor fella also wanted to know how the new material
was going down live, when the band's revised line-up has yet
to play a show. There were several of these 'tumbleweed' moments
and after a while you could sense Tuomas' irritation. I waited
until the conference was completed and requested a private chat
with the singer and keyboard player; I was buggered if I was
gonna share my questions with somebody who'd clearly not bothered
to do any research.
Still chuckling at the press conference I jumped on a tube to
a sold-out Astoria where Megadeth played an amazing show. If
you've yet to hear the new album, 'United Abominations', then
let me assure you, Dave Mustaine has his mojo back in no uncertain
terms. Check out this set-list: 'Sleepwalker', 'Take No Prisoners',
'Skin O'My Teeth', 'Wake Up Dead', 'Set The World Afire', 'Washington
Is Next!', 'Hangar 18', 'In My Darkest Hour', 'Kick The Chair',
'Gears Of War', 'She Wolf', 'Tornado Of Souls', 'Mechanix',
'Peace Sells', 'Symphony Of Destruction' and a more topical
than ever rendition of 'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due'. Ouch,
the neck's feeling a trifle sore.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 14th June
Iron
Maiden fan Daniel Abásolo Baz has emailed from Spain
to confirm that, further to my diary entry about Download (see
Monday 11th June), someone was indeed throwing eggs at Iron
Maiden at the start of their set. Roadies were seen cleaning
the stage during the opening number of 'Different World', one
of their projectiles narrowly missing lead singer Bruce Dickinson.
The idiocy of the individual(s) concerned is absolutely staggering;
Who on earth would dare to do such a potentially suicidal thing
from within the confines of a fired-up crowd of 80,000 people...
No wonder Dickinson fumed: "If anyone sees some cocksucking
Sharon wanker with an egg, punch them in the fucking teeth".
Just seen the set-lists for the latest Rush and Genesis tours.
The Genesis one is nowhere near as dreadful as I'd feared. Besides
the anticipated drivel from 'Genesis', 'We Can't Dance' and
'Invisible Touch', the trio are at least including 'Ripples'
and 'Los Endos', both from 1976's 'Trick of the Tail' album,
and winding up with 'Carpet Crawlers', which delves back to
their Peter Gabriel-fronted era. Meanwhile, Rush will play a
mammoth 28-song set, including a drum solo from Neal Peart.
Who'd have thought they'd open with 'Limelight'?! Roll on October's
British dates!
There's good news and bad from the Crystal Palace camp. Simon
Jordan won his long-running, £1 million court case against
former manager Iain Dowie. Dowie was guilty of "fraudulent
misrepresentation" about his reasons for moving North to
be with his family (a thinly-veiled excuse to join neighbours
Clowntown Pathetic). So eat shit and die, Elephant Man! But
not before you've paid CPFC's damages and court fees. Unfortunately,
however, the fixture computer has once again thrown a large
spanner into the works for my plans regarding the Firefest.
For the fifth time running the mighty Eagles have a home game
on the day of the melodic hard rock jamboree - this time against
Watford on October 27. Graaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
13th June
Journey
have sacked singer Jeff Scott Soto. Like... wow. Am I supposed
to pretend to be surprised? Or upset? My own opinion is that
Soto, whilst being a supreme vocalist in his own right, was
the wrong man to have succeeded Steve Augeri. This development
seems to confirm that viewpoint. I'm appalled and amused by
the inevitable eruption of brown-nosing over at the www.melodicrock.com
noticeboard, but this really confirms what a bunch of users
Journey are. The words 'piss-up' and 'brewery' spring to mind.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
12th June
Having missed them at the weekend's Download festival,
last night I went to Hammersmith to watch Mötley Crüe.
It had been a toss-up between Nikki Sixx and the boys and Metal
Hammer's Golden Gods awards. With hindsight, I made a wrong
call. Opening with 'Dr Feelgood', the Crüe burst onto the
stage with some amazing pyrotechnics. Then Vince Neil announced
that there was good news and bad; the "good" being
that the band were in the house, the "bad" being that
Tommy Lee wouldn't play the rest of the show due to an injury
to his shoulder. Evanescence's Will Hunt took over the drum
stool. And don't get me wrong, he did a quality job during a
slickly delivered greatest hits show. What really annoyed me
was Lee's flippancy. There was no sign of an apology to those
who'd paid £40 for a ticket. "We're partying, so
it's all good," he informed us smugly. As a consequence
of Tommy's stepping down the show was always likely be cut short,
but when the band left the stage after a mere 80-odd minutes,
without an encore, and reportedly to attend either the Hammer
Awards or their own after-show bash, few inside the Apollo could
quite believe what was happening. Even after the house lights
went up, most of the audience refused to depart the auditorium
until roadies began dismantling the gear. What a bloody swizz!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
11th June
Just
got back from spending Sunday at the Download Festival. What
a great day out! Some excellent bands, pleasant company, fine
weather and a shedload of quality boozing opportunities. As
my friend Harj and I bowled up to the hotel we bumped into Metal
Hammer's features editor Alex Milas who, noticing our sober
state, proceeded to give us a bottle of Jack Daniel's. All we
had as a mixer was some diet cream soda... but, hey, game on!
With a little reviewing to do, most of my day was spent at the
Dimebag Darrell stage. As we arrived, DevilDriver were about
to begin. The tent was extremely full for the LA-based band,
formed by ex-Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara, who seems to
have morphed from day-glo nu-metal pussy to full-on baby-eating
death-head. Their set ended in crazy scenes when Fafara incited
one of the biggest circle pits I've ever witnessed. The crowd
thinned out considerably for UK stoners Orange Goblin, who ran
through some enjoyable songs from the surprisingly decent current
CD 'Healing Through Fire', but couldn't prevent a noticable
dip in atmosphere. Nevertheless, frontman Ben Ward won kudos
for his sturdy insistence on referring to Castle Donington instead
of the poncier name of Download. As a band that featured on
the main stage in 1996, Paradise Lost deserved far better than
their lowly billing. Plugging the group's best album in many
a long year, 'In Requiem', the Yorkshiremen took a while to
get into their stride but finished on a high with 'The Last
Time', 'One Second' and 'Say Just Words'. Even after 27 years,
living grindcore legends Napalm Death are "still making
more noise than anyone else", according to growler Barney
Greenway. I've seen this band countless times before, but the
searing riff to 'Suffer The Children' never fails to move me.
Greenway isn't the gainliest of movers onstage, but it was wonderful
to see Napalm receiving such a positive reaction.
Dream Theater pushed headliners Iron Maiden every last centimeter
of the way, running through a dazzling 55-minute performance
that included a pair of songs from the joyous new album, 'Systematic
Chaos'. They also played 'Constant Motion' and 'The Dark Eternal
Night' - the two that I'd have picked. (Rest of the six-song
set contained 'As I Am', 'Panic Attack', 'Endless Sacrifice'
and 'Pull Me Under'). The response was so incredible that it
set me thinking. Might it be feasible for Dream Theater to headline
Download one day? And you know what, funnier things have happened.
After a frantic dash to the main stage, Maiden wound things
up with a rousing set that mixed material from 'A Matter Of
Life And Death' (including 'Different World', 'Brighter Than
A Thousand Suns' and 'The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg')
with tunes sourced from 'The Number Of The Beast', a disc that's
now 25 years old, and beyond. Bruce Dickinson was in confrontational
mood, introducing 'These Colours Don't Run' by taunting the
Osbourne camp thusly: "As I mentioned in a field in California,
[life] is a box of eggs, mate. And you've had your six. If anyone
sees some cocksucking Sharon wanker with an egg, punch them
in the fucking teeth". Towards the show's climax, Dickinson
revealed that the band will return next summer with some pyramids,
at which point they will be "singing about albatrosses,
fishes and mariners"; an obvious reference to the 'Powerslave'
album. Then it was time to sink a few bevvies at Maiden's after-show
backstage party. I got stuck into some rather delicious pear
cider... still paying the price for it as I type.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 8th June
REO Speedwagon last night returned to London for the first
time since a May 1985 show that had seen John Entwistle and
Alvin Lee joining them onstage, and the mighty FM fulfilling
opening duties. My, how time flies. I'm guessing that the Hammersmith
Apollo was a third full (or two-thirds under-populated if you're
a 'glass half empty' kinda person). With tickets costing a hefty
£35, and complaints of a short set-list due to Kevin Cronin
suffering from a throat virus, the Apollo was entirely the wrong
choice of venue. But the group played and sang their little
hearts out during a strong, 100-minute show. The disappointing
turnout didn't affect 'em too badly, and they promised to be
back again next year. I laughed aloud when Cronin encouraged
those "upstairs in the balcony", where there were
just about enough people for a game of Monopoly, to join a bout
of crowd participation - typical of the man's bravado. Kevin's
voice was indeed a bit wobbly at times, notably during 'Can't
Fight This Feeling', though the he redeemed himself with its
marvellously AOR-tastic intro of "The women of London have
treated us so well over the years, we thought it was all we
could do to play a song for the lovely ladies. Please welcome
Mr Neal Doughty on the grand piano...". Here's the set-list:
'Don't Let Him Go', 'Music Man', 'Take It On The Run', 'Keep
Pushin'', 'I Needed To Fall', 'That Ain't Love', 'Tough Guys',
'Dangerous Combination', 'Can't Fight This Feeling', 'Smilin'
In The End', 'Find Your Own Way Home', 'Time For Me To Fly',
'Back On The Road Again', 'Keep On Loving You', 'Roll With The
Changes', 'Ridin' The Storm Out', '157 Riverside Avenue' and
an unexpected second encore of 'Gloria'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
7th June
My doubts about 'Fast' Eddie Clarke and Toby Jepson being
compatible in Fastway were wrong. The group's new line-up debuted
last night at the Islington Academy, warming up for a string
of summer Festival appearances. With an interview arranged,
I went along early. Used to know Fast Eddie quite well during
Fastway's latter days, and aside from a few more greying hairs
he hasn't altered much. He glared ominously at Steve Strange,
threatening to impale the percussionist upon his guitar, when
Strange dared to answer his mobile phone during the soundcheck.
"Fucking drummers. I've suddenly remembered why I stopped
doing this," the ex-Motörhead man fumed, half-jokingly.
So you can imagine the thunderous look that descended upon Clarke's
face when the engineer asked him to - ulp!! - turn down his
amplifier, so that the other members of the band could be heard.
Mr Strange is also a bit of a character; we laughed about how
he ended up in jail the last time he went drinking with myself
and Malcolm Dome back in the '90s.
And the quietly-spoken former Mama's Boys bassist John McManus
was enjoying playing hard rock again after his spell with the
now defunct band Celtus. But getting back to Fast Eddie. Beneath
all the bravado he's a bit of a pussycat, and by 'eck does he
give good interview. The account of how he ended up in rehab,
finally giving up the booze for good, is graphic and extremely
compelling. Here's the set they played: 'Misunderstood', 'All
Fired Up', 'Steal The Show', 'Another day', 'Heft', 'Telephone',
'Say What You Will', 'Feel Me, Touch Me', 'Non Stop Love' and
'Easy Livin''.
I do actually have one moan about Mr
Jepson. Because Fast Eddie and I were nattering during the
Estonia-England game, I texted everybody I knew who was attending
the show, begging them not to tell me the score. Lo and behold,
Toby demanded from the stage, "Clap your hands. Cheer up,
England won the football". Grrrrrr. Anyway, as soon as
the last chords of 'Easy Livin'' rang out, I dashed across the
road to Sainsbury's and bought a bottle of anything cheap and
nasty looking, before zipping home for Match Of The Day.
The 3-0 victory was welcome, save for the fact that it secured
McClaren's job for a few more months.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
6th June
Today
should be exciting. I'm off to the Islington Academy to watch
the new Fastway line-up, featuring Toby Jepson, ex-Mama's Boys
bassist John McManus and my old pal Steve Strange - no, not
THAT Steve Strange! It's the group's first show in 17 years.
Unfortunately the gig clashes with England's Euro qualifier
against Estonia, but Mrs L is under strict instructions to record
it on the Sky+. I'll just have to sit up and watch it when I
get home.
A quick word of praise for Turbonegro's wonderful new album,
'Retox'. These punk-metal-glam-garage rock nutcases from Norway
are fast becoming favourites at Ling Towers. Dave Grohl, Queens
Of The Stone Age and Metallica all worship the edgy, nihilistic
and sometimes risqué humour that's deeply ingrained into
'Hell Toupé', 'Everybody Loves A Chubby Dude' and 'Stroke
The Shaft' (steady on, missus!), but the best song on 'Retox'
is saved till last. 'What Is Rock?' is a half-sung, half-spoken
monologue delivered over a pumping, strident riff. Subject matter-wise,
it's a question I've often asked myself. "Rock is the possibility
of choking on your own vomit in the back of a rapist's van",
is among the many definitions that the song provides. Well,
that's one I'd never considered! "No," Hank Von Helvete
then tells us, "I'm not talking about Canadian producer
Bob Rock, you fool". Great stuff...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
5th June
They
say that bad news comes in threes, but the same is equally true
of good fortune. I've succeeded in getting my grubby mitts on
a pair of tickets for Iron Maiden's Clive Burr benefit gig at
Brixton (yes, I'm paying like everyone else for this one). Have
also received confirmation of my passes for this weekend's Download
Festival. And the postie just delivered a set of the new Genesis
SACD re-issues; expanded editions of 'A Trick Of The Tail',
'Wind And Wuthering', '...And Then There Were Three', 'Duke'
and 'Abacab', complete with mouth-watering bonus DVD discs.
The first-named trio are big favourites of mine, so I'm looking
forward to spending a little time re-exploring them.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
4th June
I
hardly knew what to expect of last night's gig. I'm a huge Mr
Big fan, but that band's erstwhile guitarist Paul Gilbert hadn't
ventured to the UK before in a solo career that began in 1996.
Debuting at the Mean Fiddler on a Sunday night... hmmm... would
the place be deserted? Thankfully not. Gilbert's latest album,
'Get Out Of My Yard', is an all-instrumental disc, but has been
well received. "You're right," he laughed when I pointed
the fact out to him recently. "Ever since I stopped singing
my career his picked up. Why didn't I realise that sooner?"
Paul's promise of an equal split of vocal and instrumental material
had at first seemed off the mark. Four numbers of what he likes
to call "crazy athletic guitar rock" sped by, every
last hammer-on roared onwards by a gladiatorially-enthused Fiddler
crowd. The variety of tones and feels on display were little
short of astounding. But 'Space Ship One' was the signal for
the band (including Paul's wife Emi on keyboards - fortunately
no Linda McCartney figure) to spread their wings and temporarily
abandon widdledom. 'Interaction', 'Not Afraid Of The Police'
and the magnificently dumb 'I Like Rock' are ridiculously hummable
and hook-laden, while Racer X's 'Scarified' and 'Technical Difficulties'
kept the widdle-heads throwing air guitar shapes. Neither Gilbert
nor his bassist Mike Szuter are singers of Eric Martin's world
class distinction, which made a rendition of Mr Big's 'Nothing
But Love' sound very slightly makeshift, but I loved their attempts
at recreating 'Green Tinted Sixties Mind' and the full-on aural
stampede of 'Addicted To That Rush'. Above all, this show was
Fun with a capital 'f'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 3rd June
I'm ashamed to admit that my last encounter with Juicy
Lucy ended up in getting so horrendously caned that I couldn't
remember a thing about the show (in fairness, it was following
a dramatic Palace home victory). Well, last night I caught the
band, best known for their cover of Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You
Love?' and a spell with Whitesnake guitarist Micky Moody, at
the Gun Tavern, a friendly little boozer in Croydon's town centre.
Although their sole original member is vocalist/guitarist Ray
Owen, there are no complaints regarding the latest line-up,
especially impressive lead guitarist Mr Fish (named, presumably,
for an ability to drink like one). The crowd might've been modestly
sized but the band gave two full hours, punctuating a string
of vintage material as 'Mississippi Woman', 'Pretty Woman',
'Never Had A Girl Like You' and of course 'Who Do You Love?'
with selections from their splendid new disc 'Do That And You'll
Lose It' ('Making A Name', 'God Only Knows', 'Species', 'Silver
Bird' and the charmingly quirky boogie of 'Madeline & Suzy').
I'd go and see them again anytime. Was taken aback to find an
old friend from my Quo-following days grooving away at the bar.
Dean Dukelow... if you're reading this then drop me an email
and let's set up that bevvy, you tragic Arsenal-supporting gayboy.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
2nd June
Steve
and Debbie O'Connell, some of Mrs L and I's oldest friends,
dropped by for a curry and a hundred beers last night as we
tuned into England's snooze-inducing friendly against Brazil.
The company was good, and David Beckham's performance gave hope
for Wednesday's crucial Euro-qualifier with Estonia, but with
Brazil equalising with almost the last kick, the game fizzled
out at 1-1. Talking of footie, it seems that Teddy Sheringham
- a womanising, gambling-addicted, disruptive coffin-dodger
who somehow managed to score eleven times in 51 appearances
for England - is heading to the Palace next season. Sheringham's
19-year-old lad Charlie already plays for the club, so this
development is hardly astounding. However, I'm appalled by the
prospect of paying for this top drawer asshole (former clubs
include Scumwall, ManUre and Wet Sham), now 41, to donn the
fabled red and blue stripes and see out his career. It's a backwards
step. Wasn't Peter Taylor's forte supposed to be working with
young players?!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
1st June
This is the funniest. Always reckoned
The Police were fuggin' awful. Now even the band's drummer, Stewart
Copeland, admits the fact. Posting at his website, Copeland has laid
into an "unbelievably lame" gig in Vancouver - the second
stop on a reunion trek. "The big pompous opening to the show
is a damp squib", he observes, dismissing lead singer Sting as
"a petulant pansy". "And so it goes, for song after
song, with tunes such as 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic' and
'Don't Stand So Close To Me' reduced to ruin", writes Copeland.
What amazing honesty. But if this horrendously overrated trio played
in my back garden I'd close the windows and curtains; maybe even consider
investing in triple glazing.
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