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Thursday
31st March
I’m
now reading Who Killed Kurt Cobain, by Ian Halperin and
Max Wallace, a team who won Rolling Stone magazine’s award
for investigative journalism. Haven’t got to the nitty-gritty
of it yet, but I did laugh aloud at the story of Cobain –
clearly far from the sharpest of knives in the drawer - attending
his first ever gig, by Sammy Hagar (yes, Sammy Hagar). Over
to you, Kurt: “On the way to the concert we drank a case
of beer and we were stuck in traffic. I peed in my pants. When
we got there, people were passing pipes of marijuana around.
I’d never smoked pot before and got really high. I took
out my Bic for one of those lighter tributes at the end of the
show and the next thing I knew I’d lit myself on fire.”
Classic!
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Tuesday
29th March
Diary
Of A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star completed, I bought three
more books at a charming store in Lowestoft. Potentially the
best of them is Giants Of Rock Music, a thin yet fascinating
tome first published in 1970. It contains interviews with various
stars of the era, including Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Jefferson
Airplane, Canned Heat, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. How idealistic
many of these conversations now seem; Zappa wanted to use his
music to “modify society to the point where it works properly”,
while Lennon and Ono were more naïve and deluded still.
Grilled whilst setting up a three-day peace festival in 1970,
Lennon talked forcefully of “unprogramming” society
to dismantle its warlike traits, and of the Plastic Ono Band’s
recent debut gigs. “We had the whole Delaney and Bonnie
band, George Harrison, Keith Moon from The Who, and various
others,” relates John. “It was a 17-piece band. We
did two numbers that lasted one and a half hours. The simple-minded
pop people didn’t understand, but it was a groove.”
It sounds excrutiating.
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Sunday 27th March
Making
the most of the Easter Bank Holiday the Ling family is taking
a few days away in Norfolk. With a couple of World Cup qualifying
matches lined up, facilities for the kids and a well-stocked
bar, we’re having loads of fun. Yesterday, England put
four goals past a Northern Ireland side that capitulated badly
in the second half. For reading matter, I saved a copy of Ian
Hunter’s Diary Of A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star
that I’d bought specially on e-Bay. Documenting Mott The
Hoople’s five-week US tour of late 1972 it’ll never
challenge the Crüe’s The Dirt but remains entertainingly
quaint reading. Apparently the band’s biggest vice was
visiting pawn shops – that’s pawn, not porn –
and buying up as many old guitars as possible. All these years
later, Hunter’s language seems archaic. It’s strange
to read of him meeting “spades”, and meaning ladies
of colour, as opposed to gardening utensils.
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Monday 21st March
With
Southampton achieving the unlikely and defeating Middlesbrough
yesterday, the Eagles dropped back into the bottom three. My
only consolation was watching a topsy-turvy gig at the Astoria
in the evening. Dare opened the three-band bill in fine style,
though the Les Holroyd-fronted incarnation of Barclay James
Harvest represented tedium incarnate. Thank the Lord for Asia,
who turned in a quite magnificent display. Mixing the best tracks
from the latest 'Silent Nation' opus ('What About Love?', 'Ghost
In The Mirror', 'Silent Nation' and 'Long Way From Home') with
such vintage classics as 'Wildest Dreams', 'Here Comes The Feeling'
and 'Time Again', Asia at least vanquished the relegation blues
for 100 parp-tastic minutes.
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Sunday
20th March
Yesterday my friend Harj and I attended Clive Aid, a benefit
show for ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, now suffering from
multiple sclerosis. En route I had one ear tuned to the radio
for Palace's progress at Stamford Bridge, and as we entered
the Ruskin Arms was stunned to discover the game being shown
on their jumbo screen. Better still, as we headed barwards Aki
Riihilahti scored an equaliser! It didn't last, and WBA's own
victory left me tearing out hair by the handful. Bernie Torme
and John McCoy played together again for the first time since
1981, and I almost had to wipe away a tear as the wheelchair-bound
Burr was pushed to the front to watch his mates strutting their
stuff through 'Star', 'Wild West' and 'Ball And Chain'. Stray
and Chariot both delivered equally enthusiastic sets, but a
hapless sound engineer effectively screwed them both. With nobody
from Maiden showing up, I made my excuses and left early during
a woefully inept headlining spot from tribute act Ironically
Maiden.
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Saturday
19th March
After
a week of being rocked like the proverbial hurricane, what better
than to finish early on a Friday, trot down the Underworld (via
the Record & Tape Exchange), and enjoy some free drinks
and nosebag during a preview of Nevermore's forthcoming album?
We heard five tracks from 'This Godless Endeavor', which producer
Andy Sneap told me he'd been up mixing till the early hours
of this morning. Newies 'Born', 'This Godless Endeavour', 'Final
Product' and 'Bittersweet Feast' were all included in the set
that followed, a stonking, bastardised rendition of Simon &
Garfunkel's 'The Sound Of Silence' sending everyone home smiling.
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Friday 18th March
Last
night was the second Judas Priest/Scorpions gig at Hammersmith.
Attended the latter's press conference during the afternoon.
There were some funny stories, most of which revolved around
the group's bafflement at performing so early in the evening.
The night before, drummer James Kottack had finished the show,
returned to the hotel and attempted to find somewhere to party.
With the bar full of suits he went outside and hailed a cab,
only to be told: "I think there's a gig going on at Hammersmith
Odeon, mate." It was cool to stand up in the balcony and
absorb all the detail I missed on the first night. The Scorps
swapped 'Still Loving You' for 'Wind Of Change' and 'Loving
You Sunday Morning' for 'Lovedrive', and added 'Hit Between
The Eyes' to their show. Priest stuck to an identical set; with
no sign of 'Exciter' on either night, unfortunately. Rob Halford's
voice didn't stand up too well to the stress of a second consecutive
two-hour performance, but watching KK Downing and Glenn Tipton
playing each other's guitars during 'Breaking The Law' was almost
as hilarious as the singer's ludicrous stage raps.
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Thursday
17th March
"Ladies
and gentlemen... children of all ages, please welcome The Scorpions!"
I'd been waiting to hear those words for quite some time, having
been out of the country when they last played the Astoria in
1999. And the reunited Judas Priest closing the show? That's
a heavy metal banquet in anyone's language, washed down with
a bucketful of Jagermeister. The Scorps played for an hour,
including just one song ('Love Em Or Leave Em') from their excellent
current album 'Unbreakable', and cramming in as many classics
as possible. They kicked off with an excerpt from 'Coming Home',
heading into 'Bad Boys Running Wild', 'The Zoo', 'Loving You
Sunday Morning', 'Tease Me Please Me', 'Blackout', 'Big City
Nights', 'Dynamite', 'Still Loving You' and of course 'Rock
You Like A Hurricane'. Fan-f**king-tastic.
The Priest were as scintilating as I'd hoped, blitzing through
four newies from 'Angel Of Retribution' - all of which held
their own in a set rammed with quintessential metal. How else
to start but 'The Hellion'/'Electric Eye', followed by 'Metal
Gods', 'Riding On The Wind', 'The Ripper', 'A Touch Of Evil',
'Judas Rising', 'Revolution', 'Hot Rocking', 'Breaking The Law'
and a somewhat unusual choice from 'Ram It Down', the iffy 'I'm
A Rocker'. 'Diamonds & Rust' was played acoustically, the
whole band joining in at the end, before the final run-in of
'Deal With the Devil', 'Beyond The Realms Of Death', 'Turbo
Lover', 'Hellrider', 'Victim Of Changes', 'Green Manalishi (With
The Two-Pronged Crown)' and 'Painkiller'. Rob Halford appeared
on his bike to sing 'Well Bent For Trevor' looking like a pearly
queen, and an exquisite show wound up with 'Living After Midnight'
and 'You've Got Another Thing Coming'.
During the afternoon I accepted an offer from my pal Malcolm
Dome to sit in on a Totalrock
Radio interview with Andy Scott of The Sweet, and to chip
in with a question or two. What fun. I believe it's repeated
a week on Saturday (the 26th), between 8-9pm.
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Sunday 13th March
After
a fortnight of r'n'r excess, and with no gig to attend (I'd
wanted to check out Hatebreed and Crowbar - especially Crowbar,
but domestic matters intervened), how better to recharge the
batteries than a lazy afternoon spent with the wife 'n' kids
and soaking up the first three classic Star Wars movies (now
of course named Vols 3-5)? The boys decided to draw some pix
of their daddy (See Arnie's sketch HERE
and Eddie's sketch HERE).
At the moment they're more Bernard Matthews than Rodney Matthews,
but they'll get there in the end!
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Friday 11th March
It
definitely feels like a Red Nose Day. Thunder played a sold-out
Shepherd's Bush Empire last night and I enjoyed a few too many
white wines. A great set from a band really coming back into
their own. And I don't say that just because of 'Arry's football
affilations. TotalRock made today a Tommy Vance tribute. They
aired some lovely tesimonies to a nice, sincere bloke. Pete
Way rang in at around tea-time (presumably he'd just got up),
and said a few nice things, ending his call with the words:
"Thank-you London". Priceless. Wonder if he says the
same thing to the bloke in the off-license. "Thank-you
Birmingham, you've been great vendors of alcohol this evening.
I'll see you again tomorrow."
P.S. Fans of It Bites might like to know that I spoke briefly
to John Beck, that band's keyboard player, this evening. It
seems that he, Francis Dunnery, Dick Nolan and Bob Dalton have
finished writing their reunion album and are now trying to co-ordinate
schedules to record it. Can't wait. Beck's gig with current
project Kino at the Astoria 22 should also be a bit special.
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Thursday
10th March
I'd
never seen The Donnas till last night, though I own three of
their albums. They're four gals from California who, in a Ramones-like
twist, all call themselves Donna (in fact, their real names
are Allison, Maya, Brett and Torry). They tell us from the stage
how cool it is that they've sold out the Astoria, but there's
plenty of standing room in the balcony. The music is a cross-pollination
of rock, metal, pop and punk anthems with innuendo-charged song
titles ('It's So Hard', 'Is That All You've Got For Me', 'Take
It Off' and 'You Make Me Hot', although '40 Boys In 40 Nights'
is overlooked, unless they did it in my toilet break). It's
all perfectly competent, but within 15 minutes you've seen and
heard all that's in their locker, if you'll pardon the phrase.
The chunky bassist, Donna F, is one of the ungainliest movers
I've ever witnessed on a stage; she really should re-name herself
Donna Kebab. I doubt I'll cross paths again them again anytime
soon.
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Wednesday
9th March
Last
night I went to see Nile, a great band from America who play
Egyptian-themed death metal. It's a lot better than it might
sound. The Electric Ballroom was quite full, but not sold out.
What Karl Sanders and his boys played was excellent, including
several tracks from a soon-to-be-released new album, 'Annihilation
Of The Wicked', but 60 minutes onstage was less than I'd expected
from a band of such standing.
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Sunday
6th March
You
don't get many days like yesterday. Palace took on the might
of M*******er U****d, a team of whingeing, ego-crazed millionaires
that just assumed we'd roll over and die to accommodate their
title ambitions. Even with their 12 men (including the ref,
of course) and our own 10 (Lakis was harshly sent off with a
third of the game to go), and depite the introduction of 'Shrek'-alike
Rooney and that raving fag-boy Ronaldo, they couldn't find a
way past King Kiraly. My, how Ferguson, Shrek, Giggs and Keane
threw their toys out of the pram. Afterwards it was off to the
off license and straight up to Milton Keynes for Waysted's first
headline gig in almost 20 years. The combination of Waysted
- in a pub - with a night in a hotel, and having stolen a point
from ManUre was just too much, I'm told I stumbled around uttering
the words "nil-nil, we murdered 'em nil-fucking-nil"
to anyone that'd listen. Signed into the hotel as David Ling
Roth, as I'm prone to do in such circumstances. Having hooked
up with Batttttty, Adrian from Majestic Rock Records and Cargo's
John Dryland, not to mention the lovely Faye and Tracy, we set
about drinking the bar dry. I was then helped/dragged/carried
to my room, breaking wind profusely and with much personal merriment.
It got better still. This morning Adrian dropped me in Orpington,
where there was a record fair going on. Walking through the
park, hungover but happy, life couldn't seem to have got much
better. Then the mobile rings. Charlie Andrews informs me that
Tommy Vance is dead. Aw, bollocks. That's friggin' awful news.
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Saturday March 5
"Well,
that's the last time you'll see those guys playing for £14
a ticket," reckoned my mate Mark as we exited the Astoria
last night. How right he was. If their penultimate show at the
Mean Fiddler suggested it, this one screamed out the fact: ALTER
BRIDGE WILL BE HUGE. They have everything... songs, power and
the best young singer I've seen in aeons (think a younger, even
more matey and humble version of Danny Vaughn). You've gotta
love the band's choice of covers. At the Mean Fiddler they played
Deep Purple's 'Highway Star' and 'Rock And Roll' by Led Zeppelin;
last night it was a medley of 'Baba O'Riley' and 'Rock And Roll',
plus an encore of the Ozzy standard 'Crazy Train'. The only
blot on an otherwise perfect evening was a somewhat alarming
discovery concerning my old friend Jerry Ewing. I'm worried
to learn he may be becoming a homo. Jerry's been spotted under
the influence of alcohol and kissing other men... Enjoying it
- with tongues and everything! He even admits to the fact. But
Ewing's a Chelsea fan, and they're all churney ferrets of the
first order, so whaddya expect?!
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Friday
March 4
Last
night I attended a highly interesting gig. Commemorating the 100th anniversary
of Norway's independence, the Fresh Air festival took place at a central
London venue called the Fabric. Surrounded by hip-hop bands, jazz combos
and others with unprounceable names (try AsbjørnSlettemark for
size), Satyricon performed a quite awesome 55-minute set of their finest
black metal. Played at blistering volume but with crystal clarity, 'Walk
The Path Of Sorrow', 'Repined Bastard Nation', 'Fuel For Hatred', 'Angstridden',
'Filthgrinder', 'Possessed', 'Forhekset', 'Hvite Krists Død'
and 'Mother North' all sounded truly incredible in such close confines.
And a cover of Bathory's 'Raise The Dead' a nice tribute to Quarthon
(RIP).
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Wednesday 2nd March
Tried
something a bit different last night - well, slightly unusual for me
anyway. Tim Bowness (of art-rockers No-Man fame) had a gig at Bush Hall
in Shepherds Bush, with support from current Porcupine Tree/former Japan
keyboard player Richard Barbieri. Both turned in excellent peformances;
Tim's 'My Hotel Year' album is really growing on me, and Barbieri did
a convincing act as a human octopus, pushing buttons and flicking switches
as he went into parp overdrive. The night ended with a 55-minute unplugged
set from Anathema, with cellist Dave Wesling filling out the sound.
The Liverpudlians have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years,
leaving their roots as a death metal band firmly behind them. Last night
they were magnificent, and I'll be there early when the open for Porcupine
Tree at the Astoria on April 2.
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Tuesday 1st March
What
a rollercoaster of emotions last night's game between Manchester City
and our relegation rivals Norwich City turned out to be. I watched the
TV horrified as the home side (Norwich) stormed into a 2-0 lead, only
to be pegged back. At half-time, a tired and emotional Delia Smith went
onto the pitch to address the crowd. Hilariously, the Norwich chairwoman's
state prevented her from saying the word "football", her amazing
rant ("We need a 12th man. Where are you? Where ARE you? Let's
have you. Come on! And who's fuggin' round is it next?") making
it onto all the regular news channels this morning. Better still, Man
City scored an injury time winner - sending all Palace living room viewers
into rapture!
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