Saturday 30th June
On Friday I was up at 6am for yet more tape transcription…
Yawn. It had been a very long week, with one final phone
interview to conduct. During the afternoon I had a long
chat with Rikard Sjöblom, the brains behind Swedish
prog-metallers Beardfish. Very nice fella. I was enthused
to receive an email that commissioned me to compile a
not one but two new anthologies for Spectrum, an offshoot
of Universal Records. That’s something I shall look
forward to.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 29th June
I enjoyed the sunshine to head for a pub on the
bank of the Thames for a boozy late lunch with my CPFC-supporting
pals Kev Denman and Mark Cousins, before heading across
to Camden for a gig by reunited Bay Area thashers Death
Angel. Walking into the Underworld for a cheeky pre-show
vodka and Diet Coke, upon discovering that the so-called
efficiency machine that is the German football team were
losing 2-0 to Italy in the Euros, I must admit to whooping
loudly with unexpected joy.
Inside the Underworld the crowd could have been bigger
but with the footie going on that was excusable. The reaction
was stunning, however, and frontman Mark Osegueda continually
stated his love of London and its importance to the band’s
history, making several references to a legendary gig
at the now defunct Clarendon Ballroom in Hammersmith on
the original tour for ‘The Ultra-Violence’
in 1987 (I was there! Does anyone have a recording?).
Death Angel were playing said album in its entirety, and
they did a fantastic job. ‘Kill As One’ is
still among the all-time classic speed-metal masterpieces,
with neck snapping show-closer ‘Thrown To The Wolves’
– one of four post-reunion gems featured in a rousing
encore – lagging not too far behind. Let’s
face it, instrumental songs are usually boring but tonight's
extended rendition of ‘The Ultra-Violence’
was positively gladiatorial. A version of ‘I.P.F.S.’
that teasingly included the riffs to Priest standards
‘Heading Out To The Highway’, ‘Breaking
The Law’ and ‘Hot Rockin’’ segued
into a majestic cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Heaven
And Hell’ to bring the set proper to a close. You
wanted a reminder of why Death Angel are foremost among
the second tier of old guard thrashers? You got it. Here’s
the set-list: ‘Thrashers’, ‘Evil Priest’,
‘Voracious Souls’, ‘Kill As One’,
‘The Ultra-Violence’, ‘Mistress Of Pain’,
‘Final Death’ and Medley: ‘I.P.F.S.’/‘Heaven
And Hell’, with encores of ‘Relentless Revolution’,
‘Claws In So Deep’, ‘Truce’ and
‘Thrown To The Wolves’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 27th June
Last night filmmaker Alan G Parker kindly invited
me a central London preview suite for a special viewing
of his new Status Quo documentary Hello Quo!, which is
due out in September. Speaking as a diehard fan of the
group (also somebody that fell out of love with them until
‘Heavy Traffic’ in 2002), I can only say that
it’s fuggin’ great. An hour and three-quarters
of its two hours and 25 minutes are devoted to Quo’s
classic boogie heyday, the pace accelerating post-Live
Aid. With tales of cross-dressing roadies, communal masturbation
sessions and rock ‘n’ roll lunacy –
I love the story of a bored John Coghlan walking down
the table and out the door of a record company dinner
– all the major boxes are ticked.
The band address the more ‘difficult’ areas
of their history with unexpected candour and pains have
been taken over the archive live footage. Just like the
participants, I almost founding myself wiping away a tear
as the Frantic Four reunited to perform ‘In My Chair’
during an emotional clandestine climax. There’s
a terrific scene as the four old friends meet again in
the car park of Shepperton Studios, indulging in a group
hug… I’m pretty sure you can hear Alan Lancaster
say: “No tongues!” Well done, Mr Parker. You've
done a great band proud.
Watching the movie certainly made me realise the depth
of my own personal ties to the Quo. They were the first
band I ever saw onstage (Wembley Arena ’79); I attended
all seven nights at Hammersmith Odeon on two successive
tours; I was in one of their videos (‘Dear John’);
I saw them on their anniversary return to Butlins; I experienced
their pub-rock tour (at the Ruskin Arms in East London)
and saw them perform on the HMS Ark Royal; I went to Gloucestershire
to do some wing-walking on a bi-plane during the filming
of their ‘The Party Ain’t Over yet’
promo and I wrote the sleeve notes to selected titles
of their 2006 re-issue campaign and also for the 2010
‘Live At The BBC’ project. And if this last
paragraph makes me sounds like a bit of a Quo nerd…
no apologies!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 26th June
Can I add my wholehearted agreement to what’s
being said on the internet forums: What a great job Philip
Wilding has done with Classic Rock magazine’s Rush
fan mag. I’m also impressed by CR’s new Blues
title. First-rate work by Ed Mitchell, Henry Yates and
all involved with #1.
Hostilities are set to resume with Australia’s cricketers
in a matter of days (I shall be at The Oval on Sunday!)
and this morning I found a crumpled, unread copy of the
London Evening Standard from last Thursday at the bottom
of my bag. It contained a story entitled ‘Cricket
storm as Flintoff hits out at Atherton’ that both
intrigued and appalled me. “[Michael] Atherton is
a fucking prick” the legendary all-rounder Flintoff
had told a journalist at a party a few days earlier, referring
to the former England captain-turned Sky Sports pundit.
“He sits making judgements on players that that
are much better than he ever was. Alistair Cook is [a]
ten times [better] player than Atherton, who averaged
in the thirties [as a batsman] for England. Believe me,
he’s a prick.” Asked whether he minded his
opinion becoming a matter of public record, ‘Freddie’
responded: “I don’t care. Say what you like.
There’s no love lost there.” Ouch… gentlemen,
in future could we not constrain such disputes to the
pavilion bar? It’s just not cricket.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 25th June
Save for feeling as though I’ve been run
over by a herd of stampeding buffalo (what a hangover…
sheesh), how do I feel about my homeland’s exit
from Euro 2012 at the hands of Italy? Well, ‘pig
sick’ is pretty suitable description. England started
the game positively enough and had their chances to take
the lead but, sitting back and allowing their opponents
to run amok with the ball, their second half was lacklustre
beyond belief. Entering into the lottery of a penalty
shoot-out flattered Hodgson’s men, and of course
we lost out to an Azzurri side that displayed ice-cool
confidence from 12 yards. Having defied the odds to reach
the Quarter Finals the squad returns to the UK having
restored pride, to a certain degree at least, but I’m
left wondering whether England will ever win an international
tournament again during my lifetime… somehow I doubt
it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 23rd June
Thanks to Siân Llewellyn who was able to
find copies in the office, I’ve just received Classic
Rock’s fan pack edition of the new Rush album, ‘Clockwork
Angels’, and issue #1 of the same magazine’s
spin-off Blues edition. Am looking forward to getting
to grips with them both. I’ve finally got my mitts
on a finished copy of Anathema’s ‘Weather
Systems’. What a beautiful, relaxing, uplifting,
meaningful record. It will deffo be in my Top 20 of 2012.
I type this upon completion of two laps of Crystal Palace
Park. It felt a bit odd running past the stage on which
Wakeman, Hawkwind etc were supposed to be have been performing
today. I deserve a few beers at the Crobar tonite, I think...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 22nd June
So happy that I accepted a kind offer from Jim
Kirkpatrick to attend last night’s Evening With
Bernie Marsden & Friends at the Jazz Café in
Camden. Though best known for a glorious spell with Whitesnake
(in my own view the band’s halcyon years), Marsden
is currently celebrating his fourth decade as a touring
musician. He and Kirkpatrick, who is also a member of
the mighty FM, of course, took the stage for an acoustic
preview of the main show. “Jim brings the average
of the band down to about 66 – I’ve got strings
older than him”, quipped Bernie, but together they
make an exquisite, surprisingly rich, noise. Beginning
with Jimmy Reed’s ‘Baby What You Want Me To
Do’, the pair ran through a couple of Rory Gallagher
gems (‘Out On The Western Plain’ and ‘Tattoo’d
Lady’) before being joined by vocalist Cherry Lee
Mewis for three old Whitesnake chestnuts, ‘Till
The Day I Die’, ‘Trouble’ and ‘The
Time Is Right For Love’. From time to time Marsden
fielded questions from the audience, revealing how he
rekindled his friendship with David Coverdale by a chance
meeting a Heathrow Airport. Commenting on his recent guest
spot with the current ’Snakes, he grinned: “I’ve
never seen so many grown men crying in a room before”,
then wound up first set with a completely unaccompanied
take on ‘The World Keep On Turning’ by the
Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac. Nice!
As expected, the electric segment was dominated by a slew
of Whitesnake tunes (‘Come On’, ‘Walking
In The Shadow Of The Blues’, ‘Is This Love?’,
‘Hit And Run’, ‘Would I Lie To You?’,
‘Fool For Your Lovin’’, ‘Here
I Go Again’ and an encore of ‘Ain’t
No Love In The Heart Of The City), with Robert Hart at
the microphone. Hart also got to revisit his Bad Company
past via a sprightly ‘Can’t Get Enough Of
Your Love’. The band, which also featured Phil Spalding
(GTR, Mike Oldfield) on bass and Damon Sawyer (Amy Winehouse)
on drums, was absolutely first class and it was great
to hear Magnum’s Stanway adding some delightful
electric piano to Lowell Fulson’s ‘Reconsider
Baby’ before Kirkpatrick stepped forward to unleashed
a searing slide solo. As demonstrated by Hendrix’s
‘Wait Until Tomorrow’ and ‘A Place In
My Heart For You’, a song he wrote for Joe Bonamassa’s
latest album, Marsden is still a fantastic, emotive player
that could walk into any self-respecting blues band on
the ace of the earth. Should he do another such tour,
don’t miss it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 21st June
The video for The Treatment’s latest single,
‘Nothing To Lose But Your Minds’, has been
posted online. It certainly sums up the spirit of a great
afternoon (and evening) spent across the river in North
London as it was filmed. Click here
and look out for a rather silly cameo from your truly.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 20th June
Grrrruhhhh. This morning I awoke in my comfy living room
chair at 1.30am, the dregs of a pint of wine in hand,
footie flags up in the living room, telly blaring with
the highlights of the cricket. Can there **really** be
four empty bottles in the recycling box?? England 1 Ukraine
0.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 19th June
The big day is here… England (who require just a
draw to progress to the knockout stages of Euro 2012)
versus home nation Ukraine (who must win). It’s
the same old story: At each major football tournament
I make a mental note to free up some working time for
its successor, just to kick back and enjoy the important
games. And of course it never friggin’ well happens.
This morning I was at my desk by 6am in what proved an
optimistic hope of finishing my Testament story by lunchtime.
There was no time to go out for a run. A phone interview
with John Hiatt had been set for 4pm. By the time I pressed
‘send’ on Testament, my pre-match drinking
time had evaporated to just 90 mins. Time to start caning
it, then.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 18th June
Oh FFS!!!!! The new footie fixtures are out and
Crystal Palace are at home to Scumwall on Firefest
weekend. So… let me see: London to Nottingham on
Friday. Back to London the next morning. Return to Rock
City after we've stuffed the Scummers (hopefully in time
for Gotthard), watch Sunday's show and then back to London
again. Do I get air miles???!!! On the upside... I’m
glad that we are playing Shiteon on Saturdays this season;
midweek was a mare. Especially getting home from the away
fixture at the Samesex Benders Stadium after our fine
3-1 victory. (I never, ever tire of typing that).
I was upset to learn of the
death of Gerry Bron via a post at Mick Box’s
Facebook page. Bron was the producer, label boss and manager
of Uriah Heep for many years, having also played a big
role in the tales of Motörhead, Hawkwind, Girlschool,
The Damned and many, many more. I was privileged to have
visited Bron’s North London home as recently as
January for a Heep-based interview that appeared in Classic
Rock #171. On the two occasions that we met I found him
extremely quotable and honest to the point of indiscretion
– in other words a journalist’s dream. May
he rest in peace.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 17th June
Most of this weekend will be spent transcribing
my recent phone interview with bottleneck guitar legend
Bonnie Raitt, though I did take the time to talk to Chuck
Billy and Alex Skolnick of Testament – both very
fine, talkative chaps.
I’m certainly not short of reading material, what
with the brand new issues of Classic Rock, Prog and Fireworks
having dropped through the letterbox. I’m especially
looking forward to getting to grips with Prog, the contents
of which include a huge cover piece on Emerson Lake &
Palmer, and my own stories on Saga and Headspace.
Also found the time to watch the series finale of Dexter,
which concluded with its forensic scientist central character
being caught in the act of a latest serial killing by
his sister Debra, a police Lieutenant. Will he kill Debra
too, or will she send him to the electric chair? Seeing
as Debra has the hots for him (!!), that second option
might be a bit unlikely. Dexter really is the best programme
on TV by a country mile.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 16th June
England’s game with Sweden was a real rollercoaster
ride. Hodgson’s decision to play Andy Carroll up
front was vindicated by the powerhouse header of a good
old fashioned centre forward, and possession stats suggested
that things were looking good as the interval arrived.
“Sweden are there for the taking,” announced
Alan Shearer, though Gary Lineker was pragmatic enough
to point out that during the last three times the nations
had met in meaningful competition, despite half-time advantage
on each occasion, we had failed to win.
So it was no surprise when England quickly conceded an
equaliser and then, calamitously, went behind. The introduction
of Theo Walcott, who smashed home with virtually his first
touch of the ball and then set up Danny Welbeck’s
wonderful flicked winner was an inspired substitution
that span a topsy-turvy game on its head. A single point
from Tuesday night’s final group clash with Ukraine
– for which ‘Shrek’ Rooney will be eligible
– would be sufficient to guarantee passage to the
Quarter Final stages. Result!!
As midnight came, with the boys consigned to bed, I found
myself in my office draining a few pints of wine to celebrate
a fabulous victory. Yngwie Malmsteen, Björn Borg,
Europe, Alfred Nobel, Work Of Art, Treat, Dolph Lundgren,
Mikael Åkerfeldt, Sven-Göran Eriksson, Candlemass,
Coldspell, Ingrid Bergman, the Electric Boys, Victoria
Silvstedt, Miss Behaviour, Ulrika Jonsson, waddling Crystal
Palace reject Tomas Brolin, Graveyard, Alexander Skarsgård
from True Blood, Crucified Barbara, the checkout girl
at Ikea, Ingmar Bergman, Iceage, Stefan Johansson... your
boys took one hell of a beating!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 15th June
I’ve had my professional ups and downs
with Sebastian Bach through the years – during my
RAW Magazine days back in 1995 we fell out badly after
I dared to suggest during an interview that Skid Row’s
‘Subhuman Race’ was considerably below par.
“We’ll see who’s still doing this in
ten years time,” raged Bach with a face like thunder,
before booting the back of my chair, storming from the
room and cancelling his press commitments for the day.
With relations back on an even keel I wasn’t going
to miss the livewire Canadian frontman’s gig at
the Islington Academy. With support act Stormzone being
mysteriously booted from the bill (seemingly at Baz’s
instigation), there was time for quite a few pre-show
drinkies. Mr Beare and I found ourselves supping delicious
pints of Old Rosie ‘cloudy scrumpy’ (7.9%
ABV) as we watched Ireland tumble out of the Euro championships
at the hands of Spain.
Having been restricted to a half-hour slot a few days
earlier, Bach and his band were keen to make up for their
Download Festival experience. As documented by this
fine YouTube clip, he dashed onto the stage during
the opening number ‘Slave To The Grind’, headbutted
the microphone stand and proceeded to whirl the thing
around his head by its chord like a lasso. Blood soon
began to seep from a head wound but Bach plainly didn’t
care, a lean, mean 85-minute display uniting various songs
from his Skid Row days (‘Slave To The Grind’,
‘Here I Am’, ‘Big Guns’, ‘Piece
Of Me’, ‘18 And Life’, ‘Monkey
Business’, ‘I Remember You’ and an encore
of… what else?… ‘Youth Gone Wild’)
with incendiary solo tunes such as ‘Kicking &
Screaming’, ‘Dirty Power’, ‘(Love
Is) A Bitchslap’, ‘Stuck Inside’, ‘As
Long As I Got The Music’, ‘My Own Worst Enemy’,
‘I’m Alive’ and ‘Tunnelvision’,
plus ‘American Metalhead’, a song by drummer
Bobby Jarzombek’s other group Painmuseum. The ridiculously
fresh-faced Nick Sterling was born in 1990, a year before
Bach and Skid Row became the first heavy metal band to
debut at Number #1 on the Billboard chart with their second
release, ‘Slave To The Grind, but my… what
a terrific l’il guitar player he is. Bach was clearly
having a fine ol’ time. “Are there any Guns
N’ Roses fans in the audience? Because we have a
special guest…” he teased before ‘(Love
Is) A Bitchslap’, a song on which W Axl Rose performed
guest vocals. Then, realising it was only 9.38pm Seb grinned
and added: “No, seriously, even if Axl was coming
tonight he wouldn’t be here yet”. Great stuff.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 14th June
Yesterday afternoon I managed to conduct my first
outdoor run in almost a week (the exercise bike just ain’t
the same!). The delay was thanks to an accumulative blend
of torrential rain, hangover-related turpor, pressure
of work, being glued to the Euro Championships and a mild
bout of depression. Had almost forgotten how much I’ve
come to enjoy pounding the concrete!
During the evening I spurned the Germany-Holland game
to attend an album playback by a multinational band called
The
Dark Sinatras, whose recent six-song EP revealed an
intriguing fusion of hard rock, soundtrack-style atmospherics
and hard funk (their bass player is none other than Paul
Turner of Jamiroquai). The party-cum-gig took place in
the Old Vic Tunnels, deep beneath London’s Waterloo
Station. Somewhat embarrassingly, being unfamiliar with
the venue I mistakenly wandered into an art exhibition
taking place next door, and with the drinks being free
ended up staying longer than I should! There were also
some gratis libations at the Dark Sinatras bash…
I got a little bit squiffy (big shock!). However, the
trio’s live performance was rather good. Some aspects
of their presentation require tidying up, and they’re
not the kind of group to send you home with choruses buzzing
around your cranium. Instead they operate on a much deeper,
slightly insidious level. I like them.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 13th June
Rousing myself from a post-match hangover I made
the trip to Camden for a face-to-face interview with Testament
guitarist Eric Peterson. I’d never met Peterson
before – it was pretty amazing to calculate that
the last time I interviewed anyone from Testament was
circa 1989’s ‘Practise What You Preach’
album – but we got along just fine. My UFO ‘Strangers
In The Night’ T-shirt was a pretty good icebreaker.
Peterson is absolutely mad about Schenker, Frank Marino
and the hard rock of the 1970s.
How exciting: the tickets have arrived for England’s
one day international against Australia at the Oval on
July 1 – a day before my birthday. Ulp! Shocked
to note that it’s a 10.30 start! Vodka on the cornflakes,
then… and some kind of hip flash might be in order…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 12th June
England’s long awaited Euro 2012 campaign
is **finally** up and running. As expected, the French
dominated possession (65%) during last night’s game
in Donetsk so I was more than happy with the result of
a 1-1 draw. Should they progress to the knockout stages
England will have to be far more gung-ho in the clash
with Sweden, but although the Three Lions never looked
like restoring their advantage after Joleon Lescott’s
headed opener was cancelled out by Samir Nasri, the team’s
plucky first half display gave hope for the future.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 11th June
The notes for ‘Freedom At Point Zero’
were done ‘n’ dusted by lunchtime, I’m
happy to say. I’ve spent the last couple of hours
listening to the new Testament album, ‘Dark Roots
Of Earth’, and prepping questions for a face-to-face
interview with guitarist Eric Peterson. I’m happy
to say that on first listen alone the Andy Sneap-produced
newie is right up there with ‘The Formation Of Damnation’,
which was one of the very best heavy metal records of
2008. Find out for yourselves on July 27.
So… it’s time for build-up towards the big
game – England’s opening fixture of the 2012
European Championships. The footie flags are up in the
living room. Eldest son Eddie is home from school and
has changed into his new England shirt. I’m about
to open the second bottle of wine. The cherry brandy is
nicely chilled. And we’ve got enough junk snacks
to feed a couple of hundred starving Ethiopians. Into
the breach once more... COME ON ENGLAND!!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 10th June
Sometimes you just need to blow off steam, doncha?
On Friday night I went out for a few drinks in the Crobar,
only to stumble home yesterday evening in a supremely
dilapidated state. There are vague memories of after-hours
drinks in the Cro with my friends Harj Kallah and Andy
Beare before we headed to a Stratford public house that
opens for market traders at 6am, then killed time till
the area’s other bars opened their doors. On the
way home I might just have stunned a few innocent bystanders
by joining in with some Hare Krishna dancers… I
pray to God that there is no photographic evidence of
said deed.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 8th June
Well, I just couldn’t afford to go to Download
this year – given the inclement nature of the weather,
maybe we should refer to it as ‘Drownload’
– so instead I’m sitting here in a warm and
dry office, transcribing an interview with Craig Chaquico
for a Rock Candy re-issue of Jefferson Starship’s
‘Freedom At Point Zero’ and trying to persuade
myself that that’s a good thing. Frankly, the reports
I’m reading of gridlock traffic and bands unable
to appear (including Europe) make the task that much easier.
Oh look… the postie has just delivered a copy of
Heart’s new four-disc boxed set ‘Strange Euphoria’…
awash with rare demos, live versions and collectable tracks.
Am looking forward to watching the DVD of a televised
live show from 1976.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 7th June
I was among the packed and vociferous crowd at
Hammersmith Apollo for last night’s gig from Slash.
Given that the evening also happened to coincide with
the birthday of my boozing buddy Andy Beare, one or two
liveners were consumed along the way. In fact, in a spontaneous
bout of bonhomie we decided to visit the Crobar for an
after-show session (yes, **another** night bus home).
Slash and singer Myles Kennedy basked in the crowd’s
ecstatic response, the former including the National Anthem
in his guitar solo. Meanwhile, ‘Anastasia’,
a tune from the new album ‘Apocalyptic Love’,
was aired live for the very first time. Possibly the greatest
lead vocalist that the world has to offer right now, the
ever-exceptional Kennedy sang one of the evening’s
true gems, ‘Starlight’, with true poise and
class. At encore time the band also covered Led Zeppelin’s
‘Communication Breakdown’ – fitting
as Jimmy Page was apparently at the show. The set-list
ran as follows: ‘One Last Thrill’, ‘Been
There Lately’, ‘Nightrain’, ‘Back
From Cali’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Standing
In The Sun’, ‘Rocket Queen’, ‘Doctor
Alibi’, ‘Speed Parade’, ‘Halo’,
‘Watch This’, ‘Starlight’, ‘Apocalyptic
Love’, ‘Anastasia’, ‘Just Like
Anything’, ‘You’re A Lie’, ‘Sweet
Child O’ Mine’ and ‘Slither’,
followed by ‘Communication Breakdown’ and
‘Paradise City’.
Meanwhile, the ‘Bill Ward out of Sabbath’
fiasco rumbles on. Ozzy Osbourne tells the NME that nobody
from the group has actually spoken personally to the drummer,
stating: “As far as I know, his requests were very
unreasonable. Nothing would have been better [than] if
he would have been [willing to play with us]. I don't
know. I don’t deal with the business.” So
let’s get this straight: Not only does Ozzy not
know what Bill wanted to be a part of the reunion, he
couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone and find
out? Preposterous. See the story here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 6th June
This morning finds most UK residents returning
to work after two days of Bank Holiday relaxation. For
yours truly, however, the Queen’s Jubilee did not
even register on my radar. Not a single column of the
newspapers was read, nor a nanosecond of the (apparently
exhaustive) TV coverage watched. For me, the experience
was encapsulated by a sign I spotted in the window of
a Trafalgar Square pub whilst heading to see Little Angels
in Oxford. After a double-take I had to go back and check
that it actually **did** read: “Takeaway fish and
chips. Only £9.49”. Hmmm… how’s
that for a bargain? I wouldn’t mind betting the
same establishment had the bare faced audacity of charge
£2.50 for a sachet of ketchup. No, the whole thing
was a glorified tourist trap. Thank the Lord it’s
over.
Anyway, here are the latest monthly revisions of the Playlist
and Youtube pages.
[Edit: As a record collecting anorak of a certain
age I’m sad to hear of the death George Marino,
a Grammy-winning engineer that during a 40-year career
worked on genre-defining releases by Metallica, AC/DC,
Journey, Iron Maiden, UFO, Bon Jovi, Deep Purple, Dio,
Kansas, Anthrax and countless more. The phrase “mastered
by George Marino at Sterling Sound” was a credit
that I always used to look out for. Marino had been fighting
a year-long battle with lung cancer].
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 5th June
Having seen the band’s previous appearance
at the Islington Academy 12 months ago, I decided to pass
on Night Ranger’s return visit and head over to
Oxford where Little Angels were due to play their first
gig in 18 years. The afternoon was spent drifting in an
out of various pubs in the company of my LA-obsessed front
Mark Kentfield and his missus Caroline. As the sun shone
overhead, Pimms was supped by the bucketload… lovely!
Excitement built as show time arrived and when the band
finally took to the stage, beginning with a crisp one-two
punch of ‘She’s A Little Angel’ and
‘Kicking Up Dust’, a veritable Crakatoa of
euphoria erupted. The crowd’s reaction seemed to
stun band – you really had to have been there in
order to appreciate the sheer volume and warmth of their
display. With the Big Bad Horns section elevating tunes
like ‘Too Much Too Young and ‘Young Gods’
to another level, there was nothing tentative about this
particular return to the stage. Being completely honest
the band have one or two tunes that I hated first time
around, notably the supremely cheesy ‘Womankind’,
but judging by the looks on the faces of those around
me such a viewpoint amounted to nothing less than heresy.
In an emotional touch one of their best songs, ‘Don’t
Pray For Me’, was dedicated to Michael Lee, the
late drummer whose funeral served to draw the group back
together. Will we see Little Angels again? Well…
put it this way, Toby Jepson announced “Welcome
to the rebirth” and not “Welcome to the one-off
reunion for Download”, ha-ha-ha. Here’s the
set-list: ‘She’s A Little Angel’, ‘Kicking
Up Dust’, ‘Boneyard’, ‘Radical
Your Lover’, ‘The Way That I Live’,
‘Don’t Pray For Me’, ‘Do You Want
A Riot’, ‘Back Door Man’, ‘Womankind’,
‘I Was Not Wrong’, ‘The Wildside Of
Life’, ‘Too Much Too Young’, ‘Young
Gods (Stand Up, Stand Up)’. Encore: ‘I Ain’t
Gonna Cry’ and ‘Big Bad World’.
Once the gig finished, Mark, Caroline and I trudged back
to the bus stop to await a coach would haul us back to
London. After that, I took a night bus from Trafalgar
Square, hitting the sack around 2.30am. The crazy things
we do for rawkenrawl, eh? But by ’eck it was worth
it…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 4th June
Arrived at Hammersmith in time for a few jars
with my pals Andy Beare, Danny Gwilym and Mark Taylor
before nipping into the Apollo in time for an excellent
warm-up display from Red White & Blues. No doubt about
it, Matti Alfonzetti is one of the best frontmen out there
right now and anthems such as ‘Shame’, ‘Rescue
Me’, ‘Shine’, ‘Stand Up For Rock
‘N’ Roll’ and the emotive ‘Counts
For Nothing’ – a power ballad that never fails
to connect with the audience – once again wowed
the crowd.
Regular visitors to this Diary will know that I often
complain about the brevity of the concerts that I witness.
In the case of Lynyrd Skynyrd, well… I guess we
know what to expect by now. Okay, they hung around for
just 95 minutes but there could be no qualms about the
material. Featuring just one song recorded in the current
millennium (‘Skynyrd Nation’ from ‘God
& Guns’), the band pulled out all the stops
to send every Bank Holiday reveller wild. A baying, sold-out
Apollo roared its approval as Johnny Van Zant exchanged
a Stars & Stripes banner attached to his microphone
for a Union Flag – a simple gesture, just like his
Schmaltzy stage raps it’s interchangeable; he probably
did the same thing in Belgium! – but it’s
hard to take exception to the singer’s down-home
simplicity… and those songs?? Well, they’re
among the best and most enduring that the hard rock genre
has to offer. Likewise, if Rickey Medlock, whose hair
was tied up into a rather fitting topknot as he cavorted
around the stage, isn’t the coolest man in rock
‘n’ roll then you can call me a card carrying
Shiteon & Homo Albion supporter. Though there were
no tunes from the forthcoming album, ‘Last Of A
Dyin’ Breed’ (due on August 20), we can expect
to hear them later in the year. Indeed, Van Zant announced:
“We’ve had a great time here in England and
we want to come back real soon.” Until then here’s
the set-list: ‘Working For MCA’, ‘I
Ain’t The One’, ‘Skynyrd Nation’,
‘What's Your Name?’, ‘Down South Jukin’’,
‘That Smell’, ‘I Know A Little’,
‘Saturday Night Special’, ‘Simple Man’,
Medley: ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’/‘Whiskey
Rock A-Roller’/‘The Needle And The Spoon’/‘Tuesday's
Gone’, ‘Gimme Three Steps’, ‘Call
Me The Breeze’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama’,
plus the inevitable encore of ‘Free Bird’.
Returning to the Duke Of Cornwall after the show was unwise,
but Messrs Beare and Gwilym were both feeling thirsty
and before any of us knew what was happening last orders
were being taken at 11.45pm… which meant a tube
back to Charing Cross followed by a night bus home from
Trafalgar Square. Never mind, it had been a great day.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 3rd June
Never underestimate the regenerative power of
music. After an incident that left me disappointed, let
down and quite depressed there was no alternative: Get
the hell out of Dodge (well, Catford...), hit the Orpington
Record Fair, scour the bargain racks at a few branches
of the Record & Tape Exchange and drink a bellyful
of booze before tonight’s gig by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
There were one or two bargains to be had in Orpington.
Purely for the fact that Uriah Heep supported them in
1971 on their first US tour I picked up three albums by
Three Dog Night (‘Cyan’, ‘Hard Labor’
and ‘Coming Down Your Way’) and a lovely-looking
concert poster from Sweet’s gig at the Rainbow Theatre
in December 1973. When the next paycheque comes around
I shall get the latter framed for my office.
Amazingly, following a few encouraging phone calls and
texts, the emotional storm clouds dispelled and I was
left smiling as though Palace had stuffed Shiteon 9-0
in the final of the Intergalactic Champions League. So…
off to Skynyrd. A few bevvies, methinks.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 2nd June
With an England friendly against Belgium on the
telly later and a set of sleeve notes to complete, I’ve
also conductded phone interviews with Lynyrd Skynyrd members
Michael Cartellone and Peter Keys. I rang them in their
hotel rooms in Manchester where the band are due to perform
this evening. Great guys, both of them. Drummer Cartellone
gave me the lowdown on the third, unreleased Damn Yankees
album and was impressed by that I’d researched his
background with the Cleveland-based power-pop band Boy
Wonder, with whom he released an obscure album in 1982.
[Edit: The England match was settled by an audacious
lob from Danny Welbeck, though the Belgians had more possession
and registered a superior amount of shots on goal. It’s
clear that Hodgson’s game-plan is to make the Three
Lions hard to beat and strike on the counter attack. Not
very pretty to watch, but beggars cannot be choosers,
I guess…]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 1st June
The new issue of Dave Lewis’ ever-impressive
Zep magazine Tight
But Loose is here. It contains an interview with Peter
Grant’s son Warren and a detailed look at the circumstances
of Zeppelin’s first ever rehearsal some 44 years
ago. Great stuff.
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