Wednesday
31st March
Ornithologists
hate me for it, but I always like to kill two birds with one stone.
So the chance of going to Northampton to hear a new album from The
Enid, stopping off in Watford for Palace’s über-crucial
relegation six-pointer with the Hornets, made good sense. Having seen
them playing songs like ‘In The Region Of The Summer Stars’
for the first time at the Reading Festival in 1981, I’ve always
had a soft spot for The Enid’s intriguing blend of classical
music and prog-rock. I’ll never forget their set’s climax
of ‘Land Of Hope & Glory’, with a frenzied Robert
John Godfrey conducting band and audience, looking for all the world
like some Patrick Moore-esque loony. [Which, of course, is exactly
what he is].
Back
in business after 21 years away, the final touches to a new album
called ‘Journey’s End’ had been added mere minutes
before my arrival at their studio. Although two and a half stones
lighter after a diet, RJG was exactly like I thought he’d be
– sporting a shabby jacket that a school teacher from the 60s
would have worn and a pair of sandals. As the finished mix of ‘Journey’s
End’ filled the confinement of the playback room, I lost myself
in its absorbing crescendos of mellifluous sound. Godfrey, who later
gave me an absolutely superb interview and signed all my vintage vinyl,
has called this album “the best thing I have ever had the honour
to be part of”, and his quote does the record full justice.
Make up your own minds on May 17…
And
so onto Vicarage Road, where the Palace got a slice of luck…
at last. Although the home side struck the woodwork on several occasions
the Eagles rode their luck to take the lead, double it and add a glorious
third. Not even a consolation strike for Watford and the dismissal
of young defender Lee Hills could ruin the night, and with the travelling
faithful in sensational voice – I’ve read that fans were
stood three to a seat in some areas of the away end – the dream
result was attained. I admit, I almost blubbed. Once again, Crystal
Palace’s destiny is back in its own hands. Even if the club
should slide into the next division, I can at least feel like we put
up a bit of a fight.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
27th March
Captain’s
log… Catford, 5.25pm. Just home weary and dismayed from Palace’s
game against Cardiff. Our season goes from bad to worse to fucking
pitiful. The club’s injury-strewn squad is getting thinner and
more inexperienced by the week (please say it’s not true that
Clyne and Lee are out for the duration???!!). This afternoon a blatant
penalty was turned down by yet **another** set of piss-poor officials,
a wrongly awarded free-kick leading to the visitors’ ill-deserved
winner. Once again there were more baffling substitutions, with Paul
Hart replacing Stern John with the youth team rookie Wilfred Zaha
and retaining faith in Calvin Andrew, who couldn’t score in
Vanessa Perroncel’s bedroom if she were handcuffed, spread-eagled
and wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Fuck Me Now, Big Boy’!!.
Aside from the ten-point deduction, I cannot believe the injustices
that Crystal Palace fans have had to stomach: Freddie Sears’
clear goal being disallowed against Brizzle; the only slightly less
obvious one against Barnsley; the corner(s) that weren’t which
lead to goals against Villa… then today’s multiple travesties.
**Everything** is going against the Palace right now. This evening
I am going to drown in a vat of Scrumpy. If you never hear from me
again: Goodbye, cruel world. And fuck off.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
26th March
I
thoroughly enjoyed yesterday afternoon’s phone interview with
Neil Buchanan of Marseille, a man who some will be more familiar with
in a former guise of the presenter of the TV shows No.73 and Art Attack.
Marseille were one of the first live bands I ever saw, opening for
Whitesnake at Hammersmith on the ‘Lovehunter’ tour. In
the summer of 2008, after 25 years and five divorces, they decided
to give things another go. We discussed the fact that although they
were a part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, the Merseysiders
actually pre-dated it, having been known (briefly) as AC/DC until
learning of Angus and company. “What people forget is that the
NOWOBHM seemed to take off overnight,” observed the extremely
quotable Buchanan. “We had been part of old ‘old’
BHM, if you will, and then this new movement came along. We were somewhere
in between. Now that we’re reformed, you might say we’re
part of the RWOBHM – which because Andy [Charters, guitar] and
I are Scousers could be shortened to the ‘Rob ’Em’.”
What a hoot! Later on Neil emailed me an MP3 of a new song called
‘I Believe’ that will feature on Marseille’s comeback
album, ‘Unfinished Business’. I don’t mind telling
you, it was superb.
In
the evening, after a long week of tape transcription, I headed to
central London watering hole the Crobar for a few libations, dropping
by the Record & Tape Exchange en route. The bargain racks seemed
bare till my gaze fell upon an interesting-looking album called ‘…And
I Mean It!’ by a female artist called Genya Ravan. I’d
never heard of her, to be truthful, but the presence of a very small
MainMan Management logo seemed cause for closer inspection. And there
in the tiny print on the inner bag I spotted that Side Two’s
opening cut, ‘Junkman’, featured not only a ‘Male
Lead Vocal’ contribution from Ian Hunter but also a guitar solo
from Mick Ronson. Right, I’m having that! It’s not a bad
album, either…
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
25th March
Damn
that bastard Alistair Darling for raising the price of cider by ten
per cent in this year’s budget as part of something called a
“vice tax” – may he be forced to listen to The Darkness
until the year 2016, and then die the death of a thousand cuts.
Thanks
to a commission from Derek Oliver, my past few days have been spent
working on an exciting project – a 3,000-word liner essay for
a new version of Survivor’s 1984 classic, ‘Vital Signs’.
Derek’s label, Rock
Candy Records are about to give a long-overdue facelift to the
Chicago band’s catalogue, though my understanding is that ‘Eye
Of The Tiger’ is exempt from this process. It was something
of a no-brainer when he asked which of the albums I’d like to
take on. ‘Vital Signs’ was the home of three US Top 20
hit singles – ‘The Search Is Over’, ‘High
On You’ and ‘I Can’t Hold Back’ – and
has always been my favourite Survivor release. Jim Peterik, Frankie
Sullivan and Jimi Jamison were kind enough to grant interviews during
which we reassessed the album and discussed its creation, likewise
its producer Ron Nevison. So now comes the arduous task of transcribing
the tapes…
And
still on the subject of sleeve-notes, EMI’s Hugh Gilmour has
emailed the artwork for Thunder’s six-disc ‘Live At The
BBC’ boxed set, requesting a second set of eyes during the proof-reading
stage. I wrote the text for that one, too, and Hugh’s done an
excellent job with the design. It’s lined up for release on
May 24.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
24th March
Though
I’d been told that Kobi Farhi, frontman and driving force of
the excellent Israeli prog-metallers Orphaned Land, would call last
night at 6pm for an interview, the phone didn’t ring. Then,
two hours and several tall glasses of scrumpy later, also 15 minutes
into the radio commentary of Palace’s vital game at Nottingham
Florist, it chirruped into life. Grrrrrrrr. What had happened was
obvious: the time difference had been miscalculated. With the game
at 0-0 and the Eagles playing well, I was torn. In the end I turned
the radio down low, pretended to be sober and spoke to Mr Farhi, who
transpired to be a fascinating bloke. Mixed by Steven Wilson (who
also played keys), Orphaned Land’s fourth album, entitled ‘The
Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR’, was five years in the making.
As you’d imagine, it’s a remarkable piece of work. I quite
expected Kobi to be serious and intense, but not at all… we
both laughed heartily when, discussing OL’s gig at the Underworld
on May 22, he revealed the band will be hiring in some local belly
dancers to recreate the mood of their homeland. It’s a show
I will **not** be missing.
To
be honest, the Orphaned Land interview turned out a welcome distraction
from a depressing night of football. It had looked as though the teams
would go in level at half-time till three minutes into stoppages when
Florist’s Wes Morgan – a fuggin’ centre-back, no
less! – struck a spectacular 25-yard effort past Speroni into
the top corner. With Matt Lawrence being sent off for deliberate handball,
there was no way back and although CPFC enjoyed plenty of possession
and almost equalised thanks to Darren Ambrose, the home side’s
second goal killed off both Palace and the game. Unbelievably, the
other relegation candidates all picked up points. I can’t help
but feel we are doomed.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
23rd March
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Winger.
The confirmation of Airrace as the main support on (most of) Kip and
company’s first UK tour in aeons was enough to get my good buddy
Steve ‘No Relation’ Way and I in the mood for a bit of
a road trip. And so, loaded down by three litres of cider for me and
a huge bag of jelly babies for Steve (c’mon, he was driving!),
we set off for the trek’s opening night, in Bristol. Our journey
down the motorway was enhanced by a soundtrack of Survivor’s
‘Ultimate Survivor’ collection, ‘Last Look At Eden’
by Europe, the Quireboys’ acoustic album ‘Halfpenny Dancer’
and, on the way back, FM’s ‘Metropolis’ and ‘Sting
In The tail’ by the Scorpions. Lo and behold, thanks to a useful
lead from Steve’s friend Lionel, whose house we dropped by before
the gig, we also found a cider farm. Reasonably-priced scrumpy…
Mmmmm.
Arriving at the Academy poor ticket sales of around 250 people had
meant the show was moved from the main hall to an upstairs bar area
with a low stage and sticky floor – yuk.
A short but punchy opening set from Dark
Horse, a local bunch who were hailed as ‘ones to watch for
2010’ by both Classic Rock and Metal Hammer magazines, left
me grinning from ear to ear. I’ve got Winger T-shirts that are
older than these little dudes, but the quartet’s (s)punky, slightly
AC/DC-ish though deeply melodic brand of hard rock, also their command
of the stage, left me in no doubt of Dark Horse’s immense potential.
A
muddy sound robbed Airrace of their usual richness and shine, but
with Keith Murrell in fine voice once again the sextet purred home
with ease. All but one song, ‘Better Believe It’, was
culled from the recently re-issued ‘Shaft Of Light’, the
likes of ‘Open Your Eyes’, ‘Promise To Call’,
First One Over The Line’, ‘Didn’t Wanna Lose Ya’
and ‘Brief Encounter’ glimmering like jewels in one of
P Diddy’s earrings (maybe if I mention the Puffster often enough,
he’ll buy CPFC?).
Stringing
songs together in an almost unbelievably slick display, Winger offered
a set that rippled with power and purpose. I was happy that they included
three tracks from the current album, ‘Karma’, with special
mention of ‘Stone Cold Killer’ and ‘Deal With The
Devil’, though it was the nonchalantly despatched ‘Rainbow
In The Rose’ and ‘Headed For A Heartbreak’ that
left me drooling into my pint-jar. Having overlooked such classics
as ‘Hungry’, ‘Time To Surrender’, ‘Loosen
Up’ and ‘Spell I’m Under’, I’ll give
the band the benefit of the doubt – the less than salubrious
surroundings may have affected the 75-minute performance. I’m
sure they’ll play for longer in London. Here’s the set-list:
‘Pull Me Under’, ‘Blind Revolution Mad’, ‘Easy
Come Easy Go’, ‘Stone Cold Killer’, ‘Rainbow
In The Rose’, ‘Deal With The Devil’, ‘Down
Incognito’, ‘Your Great Escape’, Reb Beach Guitar
Solo, ‘You Are The Saint, I Am The Sinner’, Drum Solo,
‘Headed For A Heartbreak’, ‘Can’t Get Enuff’
and ‘’Seventeen’, with encores of ‘Miles Away’
and ‘Madalaine’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
22nd March
Just
four months have passed since I saw Delain opening for Sonata Artica
and predicted that the Dutch symphonic rockers “are unlikely
to be a support act for much longer”. Well, I was right. The
band has just played its first headlining gig in the UK, wowing a
surprisingly full Garage (well, it was a Sunday night). To be honest,
I was somewhat underwhelmed by Achilla, another female fronted group,
who performed warm-up duties. Musically, the quartet were proficient
enough, but the vocals of Hungarian-born Martamaria are very much
an acquired taste (okay, that’s a polite way of saying they
bugged the shit out of me).
Two
albums into their own career, Delain, too, are a way off being the
finished article. But at times during a pulsating 80-minute set they
sounded utterly divine. Looking like a cross between Kelly Brook and
Rachel Stevens, 22-year-old Charlotte Wessels has a voice to complement
her flame-haired outer radiance. In an upcoming Classic Rock interview
I conducted with Martijn Westerholt, the former Within Temptation
keyboard player chuckled as he revealed: “I searched the whole
of the Netherlands for a singer with real identity. It went so badly,
for a while I actually gave up hope. And then I found somebody that
lived in the same street as my parents.” Now that’s a
**major** stroke of good luck. On at least two occasions Wessels had
to halt the show, managing to look embarrassed, amazed and delighted
as the audience simply refused to stop its clapping – a good
sign that Delain are on the right path. Here’s the set-list:
‘Invidia’, ‘Stay Forever’, ‘Frozen’,
‘Sever’, ‘April Rain’, ‘Go Away’,
‘I’ll Reach You’, ‘Come Closer’, ‘The
Gathering’, ‘Nothing Left’, ‘Sleepwalker’s
Dream’, ‘Control The Storm’ and ‘Silhouette
Of A Dancer’, with encores of ‘Virtue And Vice’,
‘Lost’ and ‘Pristine’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
21st March
The word ‘gutted’ doesn’t begin to cover
it. Having lead 2-0 and allowed Blackpool back into the game during
the second half, Palace were **one minute** away from securing three
invaluable away points when… do I need to say it… the
home side notched a last-gasp equaliser that sent the Eagles back
into the relegation zone. It mattered little that most fans of CPFC
would have accepted a point from a tough fixture against a promotion-chasing
team that rarely loses as Bloomfield Road, but the manner of result
felt more like a defeat than a draw. Afterwards, I was so pissed off
and depressed that I decided against going to the Islington Academy
to see Edguy and White Wizzard. Had somebody asked me how the Palace
got on, I might’ve punched them in the face.
Feelings are also running high over at the web forums of Wishbone
Ash and Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash, the friction spilling
onto my own guestbook after it was reported that my sleeve essay for
the forthcoming ‘Sometime World: An MCA Travelogue’ anthology
was amended at the insistence of the latter camp, then (apparently)
partially restored. With feelings running high – Andy Powell
has gone so far as to declare “war” upon MT’s clan
– and as a fan of both groups, I am simply not going to take
sides. It really is somebody else’s battle, and there will be
no winners (check out a small sample of the vitriol HERE).
So please note: All inflammatory guestbook postings past and future
will be removed.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
20th March
Hmmm…
last night offered a choice of two South London gigs; Steel Panther
at Brixton or Jethro Tull at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon? As much
as I enjoyed the Panther’s album, ‘Feel The Steel’,
they’re the kind of band – and I use the term loosely
– that you only need to see once. So Tull in Croydon it was.
Not a bad decision, as it turned out. Last time I saw Ian Anderson
and company was four years ago, at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on
a tour that revisited their classic 1971 album ‘Aqualung’.
This time they avoided a particular theme, offering instead what has
been termed a 'best of Tull' set-list, plus some ‘rare gems’.
Playing the flute on one leg, a time-honoured stance, and duck walking
theatrically across the stage, also sometimes mimicking Martin Barre’s
guitar lines with his flute (something that, when rested on his groin,
looks decidedly phallic), the bug-eyed, gag-a-minute Anderson is a
brilliant frontman. Barre also plays the flute whenever necessary,
notably during ‘Fat Man’, though mostly concentrates on
delivering those exquisite six-string parts. Despite having famously
beaten Metallica to a Grammy back in 1989, Tull are some way off being
a heavy metal band. That having been said, Barre lets rip like a good
’un during ‘A New Day Yesterday’, his own jazz-rock-flavoured
composition ‘Bug’ and the final run-in of ‘Aqualung’
and ‘Locomotive Breath’. Criticisms? Well, at 100 minutes
the set was a good half-hour shorter than the last time I saw the
group. Frustrating, given that ‘Too Old To Rock ‘N’
Roll’ and ‘Songs From The Wood’ were both included
earlier in the tour. Here’s what they **did** play: ‘Dun
Ringill’, ‘The Water Carrier’, ‘Life Is A
Long Song’, ‘Eurology’, ‘Nothing Is Easy’,
‘A New Day Yesterday’, ‘Tea With A Princess’,
‘Serenade To A Cuckoo’, ‘Fat Man’, ‘Bourée’,
‘A Change Of Horses’, ‘Bug’ (including Drum
Solo), ‘Budapest’ and ‘Aqualung’, with an
encore of Keyboard Solo/‘Locomotive Breath’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
19th March
With
no indication of when the official DVD of Led Zeppelin’s reunion
gig might be released, I was unbelievably happy to receive a copy of
a bootleg called ‘A Work In Progress’, which taps fan-filmed
footage from more than 15 different vantage points around the O2 Arena.
The audio quality is so pristine, not to mention free of audience chatter,
I can only assume it’s some sort of soundboard mix. Along with
the audio-visual sync, the rapid-fire editing is truly marvellous. It’s
a shame that the back of Ross Halfin’s head is so visible from
certain angles, but you can’t have everything. To those responsible
for the creation of this superb documentation of a legendary O2 gig:
THANK YOU!
This
past week two albums have been on almost constant rotation. As most
will know, the Scorpions are to call it a day after a world tour to
promote ‘Sting In The Tail’ (due March 22)… well,
all I can say is that they are signing off with a first-rate album.
The likes of ‘Sting In The Tail’, ‘Raised On Rock’
and ‘The Good Die Young’ have already been inserted into
the live set… I wish they were also doing ‘No Limit’
and ‘Rock Zone’. Roll on those UK dates!
Despite
having been almost literally bowled over by ‘Best Of Me’
after hearing it on Alice Cooper’s Planet Rock breakfast show,
I approached Ratt’s ‘Infestation’ (available through
Roadrunner, April 20) with caution. There was absolutely no need. Sure,
the occasional song is below-par, and Stephen Pearcy’s voice is
a little gruffer than I remember it, but but blow me down… overall
it’s a corker. Party rock ‘n’ roll, rodent-style,
is alive and well in 1987… er, 2009.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
18th March
This
is one of the most ridiculous stories I’ve ever seen. According
to The Sun, multi-millionaire rap colossus Puff Daddy… or
is that P Diddy?... is considering a move to buy Crystal Palace,
with a view to “bankrolling a return to the Premier League.”
And get this, it’s all because Puffy Boy **likes the name**.
Obviously, the rumour is complete bollocks, but should he opt
to become the new Selhurst Park messiah, would the man born as
Sean Combs change his name yet again, this time to C Pally? He
can call himself whatever he Goddamn likes if he saves my beloved
club.
And I, in turn, will change my own via Deed Poll to Dave Bling.
Here are two great gigs for the diary. Bachman-Turner Overdrive
legends Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are to warm up for their
slot at Classic Rock’s High Voltage Festival with a date
at London’s Garage on June 7. As someone that never saw
BTO but owns just about everything Randy Bachman has recorded,
it’s a show I will not be missing. The same applies to the
UK solo debut from former Emperor man Ihsahn, who will be performing
material from his swoon-inducing trilogy of platters ‘The
Adversary’, ‘angL’ and ‘After’ during
a Metal Hammer-sponsored gig at the Electric Ballroom on August
19.
|
|
| P.S.
Oooh, goodie – the latest issue of Classic Rock Presents
Prog has just dropped onto the mat. With Peter Gabriel in the
cover, as ever it has **loads** to read, including my own feature
on Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Something for the weekend…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
17th March
Last
night’s score: Crystal Palace nil, Leicester 1. The misery
continues. The Eagles went down to ten men just before half-time
as a consequence of Claude Davis’ senseless sending off,
but while some reorganisation was inevitable, I still cannot
believe Paul Hart’s substitutions. As if taking off Nathaniel
Clyne, the best player on the park, wasn’t bonkers enough,
the removal of Ambrose and Lee, leaving Carle and John on the
bench, was just… unfathomable. For about ten minutes after
the break, till the visitors took the lead, we adopted a 4-5-0
formation – with no striker!!! Then, having to chase the
game, the ball was hoofed up to Calvin Andrew, a guy whose effort
cannot be faulted but is really only of non-league quality.
Shocking. Simply shocking. It breaks my heart to say this: I
think we are going to get relegated.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
16th March
I
was upset to learn of the death of Carol Clark, the well-respected
former Melody Maker journalist. As well as working with her
on Classic Rock, I knew Carol since the 80s. She was a lovely
person, always up for a laugh but extremely principled when
it came to her work. A good example of Clerk’s skill as
a writer is her book The Saga Of Hawkwind, which approached
a potentially chaotic subject in a typically even-handed way.
Among my favourite memories of Carol was a record company coach
trip, organized by legendary publicist Keith Altham, to a pub
called The Trumpet in the midlands where the release of Slade’s
1985 album, ‘Rogues Gallery’, was being celebrated.
Everybody, especially Noddy Holder, got tanked up. Afterwards,
our party stayed at a local B&B and there was mucho boozing
till the early hours. Carol wore sunglasses and held court in
the back row during the journey home with a gang of friends
that included Last Of The Teenage Idols singer Buttz. My condolences
to her friends and especially her family, which includes a very
young daughter.
In the light of all this, it seems almost irrelevant to reveal
that a handful of FM tour dates have just been announced. But
they have, and it goes without saying that I will be at the
London show on July 9. For details go here.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
15th March
I’ve
only just found time to sit down and watch Heavy Metal Britannia,
a BBC4 documentary that was broadcast last Monday. Some great
quotes were offered, including Geezer Butler’s admission
that “the cocaine bill for [Black Sabbath’s ‘Volume
4’ album] was more than the recording bill”. It
was also brave of Jon Lord to ’fess up that during the
punk era “Deep Purple was becoming irrelevant, not just
[in a musical context] but to the people in the band”,
though on the whole I felt it was a bit disjointed and unfocussed.
Lemmy from Motörhead was thrown in towards the 90-minute
show’s end, almost as an afterthought, and in common with
its much-maligned prog-rock sister programme, at times it felt
like Auntie Beeb was once again soiling her hands with something
she neither understood nor cared for. As with the prog show,
you could have been forgiven for thinking that metal ceased
to exist once the NWOBHM was over. Sheer laziness on the part
of the producers, if you ask me. As entertaining as Bruce Dickinson
was (his jibe that “Saxon were our granddaddies; they’d
been doing working men’s clubs in Barnsley for years”
certainly made me giggle), the show cried out for someone like
Steve Harris to have joined Rob Halford in speaking out in celebration
of the music, instead of merely reciting the genre’s lineage
and explaining its mechanics.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
14th March
Having
been unable to make the trip to Oakwell, yesterday afternoon
was spent glued to the radio commentary of Palace’s game
with Barnsley. After a hotly disputed goal attempt from the
Eagles was ruled not to have crossed the line (Aaaaarrgggh!),
the home side began to batter the visitors. So well done to
keeper Julian Speroni, always the rock of CPFC’s rearguard,
for a string of what sounded like first-class saves that preserved
parity to earn a priceless point.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
12th March
Until
last night I had never seen a headline show from Katatonia,
the brilliant Swedish band that made one of the best albums
of last year in the Mikael Åkerfeldt-championed ‘Night
Is The New Day’. Although 12 years have passed since Katatonia
cut loose from their death metal roots to embrace more challenging
sounds, it’s taken them a while to make an impact on the
British market. So it was nice to see the Garage sold out for
their latest visit to London.
Their
support band, Swallow The Sun, are another favourite of mine.
Annoyingly, however, a 50-minute set was plagued by sound gremlins.
Whilst their huge keyboards and crushing guitars meshed almost
perfectly, the more subtle manifestations of Mikko Kotamäki’s
vocals weren’t always able to pierce the Finnish band’s
mesmerizing fusion of melodic death metal, doom and symphonic
elements.
Since
reinventing themselves Katatonia have found a whole new audience
with the Porcupine Tree/Opeth/Anathema fraternity, so there
were no complaints that Jonas Renkse failed to utter a single
growl all evening. Despite introducing two guest members after
the unexpected resignations of guitarist Fredrik Norrman and
bassist Mattias Norrman, also facing the Everest-esque challenge
of recreating the sonic textures of ‘Night Is The New
Day’ (something that, in all fairness, they needed samples
to achieve), the Swedish band delivered a display of composed,
majestic beauty that left a sold-out Garage swooning with delight.
Nobody seemed to mind that six tracks from the new album were
performed, or that Katatonia would only delve as far back as
1998, though the decision to play three songs that had never
previously been aired – ‘Omerta’ from Viva
Emptiness’, ‘Saw You Drown’ from ‘Discouraged
Ones’ and ‘The Great Cold Distance’ classic
‘Rusted’ – was a pretty clever sweetener.
On
the Tube during the homeward journey I overheard a conversation
between two smiling blokes who’d also been at the gig.
“How do you feel?” one asked the other. “Cleansed”
was his friend’s reply. Just like a few others in the
carriage, I nodded in silent agreement. Here’s the set-list:
‘Forsaker’, ‘Liberation’, ‘My
Twin’, ‘Onward Into Battle’, ‘Complicity’,
‘The Longest Year’, ‘Teargas’, ‘Saw
You Drown’, ‘Idle Blood’, ‘Ghost Of
The Sun’, ‘Evidence’, ‘Rusted’,
‘Day And Then The Shade’, ‘In The White’,
and ‘For My Demons’, with encores of ‘Dispossession’
and ‘Leaders’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
11th March
Should it turn out to be complete and utter bollocks
then don’t shoot the messenger but I’ve heard a
tremendously exciting rumour that Manowar are set to appear
with Iron Maiden at the UK’s Sonisphere on July 30. Joey
DeMaio and company are already doing several of the Sonisphere
dates in mainland Europe and the British site still says: ‘Special
Guests To Be Announced’, so it’s not beyond the
realms of possibility. Like I say, there’s been **no
official confirmation** of Manowar’s long-awaited
return to these shores, and it might turn out to be a vicious
wind-up, but… well, I just couldn’t contain myself!
P.S.
Have added some additions to the Great Rock ‘N’
Roll Quotes page.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
10th March
So much for the Palace Revolution. Last night’s
home defeat to Bristol Shitty, a club I simply cannot abide,
caused major distress here at Ling Towers – especially
as the visitors had been humiliated 5-2 at home by Doncaster
last weekend. An otherwise dour game was settled by a sensational
second half strike from Wolves loanee Chris Iwelumo. But what
concerned me most was manager Paul Hart’s clueless substitutions;
why the fuck did he see fit to withdraw playmakers Carle and
Ambrose?! And, worse still, leave Wayne Andrews on the pitch??!!
Thanks to Sheffield Wednesday being overturned by WBA we remain
outside the drop zone on goal difference but unless there is
a very swift improvement, I fear The Eagles are set to drop
into the third tier of English football.
The postie has just delivered an advance copy of Judas Priest’s
‘British Steel’ album, which receives a 30th anniversary
overhaul on May 10. This expanded version consists of three
discs; a re-mastered version of the original audio album, complete
with bonus cuts ‘Red, White & Blue’ and ‘Grinder
(Live)’, plus a concert recording of the band playing
the album in its entirety last summer in Florida (also including
several other songs from the set), and a DVD edition of the
same show. A Limited Edition Deluxe version adds a documentary
called ‘The Making Of British Steel’. Have just
been playing the audio segment, which was produced by Tom Allom,
and it sounds great!
Still
in Priest-like territory, a few words of praise for US Christian-rockers
Saint,
whose 2008 opus ‘Crime Scene Earth’ is forged from
the same kind of molten steel and has just been re-issued in
re-mixed form by Retroactive Records. The album actually includes
a reverential cover of ‘Invader’, from 1978’s
‘Stained Class’, but the tune that **really** tickles
my fancy is its swansong, ‘Lost’, which has a brilliant
chantalong chorus of: ‘Lost in the 80s/Van Halen Boulevard/When
Schenker rocked the world/I wanna be a rock star/Down to the
valley/The valley of the Priest’. But for the unforgivable
mention of ‘The V***ey’ that’s sheer bloody
poetry!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
9th March
Last night, thanks to an alert publicist, I narrowly
avoided wasting an entire evening. I’d agreed to head
over to South Of The Border in Old Street to check out The
Smoking Hearts, whose debut album ‘Pride Of Nowhere’
kicks ass in a major punkoid-metallic stylée. Those plans
would have been left in tatters when the neighborhood in which
the venue is located was struck by a sudden long-term power
failure. Fortuitously, James Sherry of Division Media called
just as I was preparing to leave. Oh well, deffo next time…
During
the daytime I did an enjoyable phone interview with Chris Babbitt
of Taking
Dawn, the fast-rising US band that support Airbourne on
their upcoming UK dates. Babbitt’s name really should
be ‘Rabbit’… The guitarist/frontman is being
talked of as an heir to Sebastian Bach’s motormouth messiah
throne. Well, he’s certainly got the gift of the gab.
And quantity aside, much of what he spews forth is eminently
quotable. Thankfully, ‘Time To Burn’, the Las Vegas
quartet’s debut album, merits the vast quantities of hype
that Roadrunner seem to be drumming up. I’ve just awarded
it [9/10] in the upcoming issue of Metal Hammer.
Still
on the subject of Roadrunner’s artistes, it’s disappointing
to learn that DragonForce have with split with ZP Theart, one
of the finest singers of the power-metal genre, due to “insurmountable
differences of musical opinion”. Make no mistake, those
are major shoes to fill.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 8th March
There’s
some fine reading matter in the new issue of Metal Hammer, dated
April (with Slash and M Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold on the
cover). Dayal Patterson’s interview with Varg Vikarnes
(AKA Burzum’s Count Grishnackh), is captivating in a train-crash
kinda way. Vikarnes shows not a slither of remorse whatsoever
for the past crimes, including murder and church-burning, that
resulted in a 16-year jail term. Elsewhere in a section called
Spanish Inquisition the magazine’s readers fire their
merciless, no-holds-barred questions at Lamb Of God’s
Randy Blythe, John Campbell and Chris Adler. Here’s a
sample: ‘I’m learning to play the guitar, please
may I borrow one of your Pantera songbooks?’ Someone else
wanted to know: ‘Did your band come up with its name while
yanking at each others’ mutton daggers in a frenzy of
angry toilet love?’ Another asked: ‘How accurate
was the movie Deliverance?’. Brilliant stuff! Fair play
to the LOG guys who take the abuse in playful spirit, responding
with their own jibes about this fair nation’s own weather,
food and dentistry (“Get some braces, you English twats!”).
Ya can’t beat a good argument, can ya?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
7th March
Crystal Palace’s new management regime is up
‘n’ running after yesterday’s priceless home
win over Sheffield United. Okay, the Blades were little more
than a bunch dirty cloggers who failed dismally to register
a serious attempt on target throughout the entire game, but
three points are three points. Well done to Messrs Hart, Freedman
and Pemberton for allowing the team to keep the ball on the
deck. A very encouraging start indeed.
The victory set me up for what turned out to be a fantastic
night’s rocking with Lynyrd Skynyrd, reaching Hammersmith
just in time for Gun’s warm-up spot. Mixing up a healthy
smattering of new material (‘Popkiller’, ‘Let
Your Hair Down’ and ‘Seraphina’) with tunes
from the past (‘Welcome To The Real World’, ‘Taking
On The World’, ‘Better Days’ and ‘Steal
Your Fire’, etc), it was refreshing to see them play to
a decent-sized crowd and receive a noisy, enthusiastic response
for their efforts.
Apart from the matter of its brevity, Skynyrd’s streamlined
and super-confident headline performance roared: “This
is how the masters do it”. The US band’s last British
tour in May ’09 offered a treasure trove of all-time classics
culled from the years 1973-1977. This time they added three
songs from their excellent current studio disc, ‘God &
Guns’. With guitarist Rickey Medlocke throwing rock star
shapes a-plenty, Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny
sweet-talking the crowd and the aptly-named Peter Keys proving
a capable replacement for the late, great Billy Powell, Skynyrd
purred through an economical though never less than riveting
90-minute display that left the sold-out Apollo bellowing for
more… which, of course, is the goal. Here’s the
set-list: ‘Skynyrd Nation’, ‘What’s
Your Name?’, ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’, ‘I
Know A Little’, ‘That Smell’, ‘Simple
Man’, Medley: ‘Whiskey Rock-‘-Roller’/‘Down
South Jukin’’/‘The Needle & The Spoon’/‘Tuesday’s
Gone’, ‘God & Guns’, ‘Still Unbroken’,
‘Gimme Three Steps’, Call me The Breeze’,
‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and a certain epic song about
a free bird.
_
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Saturday
6th March
Tele-sales calls are among my pet annoyances. So when
my office phone line rang at 10am on a Saturday, I prepared
to despatch a volley of abuse to whomever had the audacity to
interrupt my hard-earned leisure time. Imagine my surprise,
then, when the caller turned out to be Dan Reed, wanting to
know why I had not hung around to say ‘hi!’ after
last night’s gig at Union Chapel. “Did you hate
it?” he wondered. “Not at all,” was my reply,
though I came clean with my view that the show’s billing
as a ‘full electric band’ was a tad misleading.
After finding his way back with so many one-man acoustic shows,
I’d been hoping for a return to the ‘Funky Dan’
of his former band the Network. “Really?” responded
Reed, sounding as though the notion had only just occurred to
him. In fact, the 90-minute set had included only a handful
of songs from the DRN era, including ‘Rainbow Child’,
‘I’m So Sorry’, ‘Cruise Together’,
‘Ritual’ and unaccompanied keyboard-vocal renditions
of ‘Let It Go’ and ‘Stronger Than Steel’.
Though his acoustic contributions were a cornerstone of the
performance, I felt it wasteful to have a guitarist of Tommy
Denander’s talent seated on a stool, playing second fiddle
to Rob Daiker’s low-key electric solos.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big admirer of the new
material that Reed has concocted since returning from the wilderness.
‘She’s Not You’, for instance, works on so
many different levels. ‘Losing My Fear’, ‘Brave
New World’ and ‘Promised Land’ are not far
behind. And with his long-awaited studio album, ‘Coming
Up For Air’, now lined up for release through Townsend
Records on May 25, they are likely to take on an even greater
resonance. The biggest difference between ‘now’
and ‘then’ is that Reed’s tunes lack any sort
of vigour. Dan’s become a more spiritual person, which
is to be admired. But I cannot be alone in missing the days
when what went on below the waist – rhythmically and sexually
– was more reflected in his oeuvre. Here’s the set-list:
‘Feels Like Home’, ‘Coming Up For Air’,
‘Losing My Fear’, ‘Rainbow Child’, ‘I’m
So Sorry’, ‘Promised Land’, ‘Reach For
The Sun’, ‘On Your Side’, ‘Closer’,
‘Candlelight’, ‘Cruise Together’, ‘Sacred
Ground’, ‘Ritual’ and ‘Brave New World’,
plus ‘Let it Go’, ‘Stronger Than Steel’
and ‘She’s Not You’.
Before heading to the Union Chapel I attended a playback of
Masterplan’s new album. ‘Time To Be King’
is released via AFM Records on May 23 and heralds the return
of Jorn Lande, one of the nest rock singers around. Lande is
one of the few men capable of sounding like David Coverdale
**and** Ronnie James Dio, and although Mike DiMeo did a good
job of fronting Masterplan, on the evidence of what was played
– some songs were missing their final lead guitar parts
– they are all the better for having him back. Band-leader
Roland Grapow was on hand to talk us through each track. I laughed
when he revealed that ‘Blue Europa’, which name-checks
Winston Churchill and the SS, is about (BOO! HISS!) the European
Union… a subject that is, of course, **way** too big to
be covered in just four minutes or so. Grapow knew it, too,
smiling as he revealed: “I had to tell Jorn: ‘Please
don’t mention Adolf’.”
P.S. The Playlist and YouTube
sections have received their monthly updates.
_
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Friday
5th March
Cool!
Iron Maiden have named their (ulp!) 15th studio album, which
was produced by Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin/Aerosmith/Black
Crowes) and will be released in the summer. It’s to be
called ‘The Final Frontier’. Not a bad title for
sure, but the ‘final’ part is a bit worrying.
I’ve
been getting back into Reef. After transcribing my recent Classic
Rock interview with their singer Gary Stringer, I dug out the
West Country quarter’s debut album, 1995’s ‘Replenish’
– almost forgot what a fabulous, groovy and earthy band
they were. I must go and see them at Shepherd’s Bush Empire,
or better still at the ‘secret’ gig that Stringer
refers to here.
Talking
of which, I’ve received some e-abuse for electing to see
John Waite over Kiss (see Wednesday’s diary). What the
original post should probably have mentioned is that I’ve
seen two previous intimate club shows from Kiss. I was there
when the band opened the ‘new’ Marquee Club in August,
1988, as a warm-up for their appearance at Castle Donington.
Then, four years later, during the promotion of the ‘Revenge’
album, I saw them at The Stone in San Francisco, where I filed
this report. Given that Waite hadn’t
played London (so far as I know) in almost a quarter-century,
and that $immons and company play two nights at Wembley in two
months’ time, it was a bit of a no-brainer. So don’t
go calling me bonkers!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
4th March
There are just 98 days till the World Cup begins. Frankly,
on the evidence of last night’s game against Egypt, England
don’t stand a snowball in hell’s chance of winning
the tournament. Sure, the national side was missing several
key players (including the disgraced Ashley Cole), but their
first half performance was especially poor. Capello’s
decision to change things around after Mohamed Zidan put the
African champions ahead was vindicated, but the final score
of 3-1 flattered the Thee Lions. Peter Crouch equalised with
incredible style for a big fella but was blatantly offside for
his second goal and England’s third. Whatever anyone says
of Crouch, 20 strikes in 37 games – many of which were
off the bench – is an impressive stat. Bring in James
Milner for the overrated Lampard for me please, Fabio! Gerrard,
too, is living on his reputation.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
3rd March
It’s hard to believe that my last sighting of
John Waite was at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street wa-a-a-a-y
back in 1986. So imagine my frustration when I realized that
last night’s gig clashed with Kiss’ not-so-‘secret’
appearance at the Islington Academy. I had to return my guest
ticket for the latter, but even though Waite played for just
90 minutes – less than charitable, given the size of his
catalogue – I don’t regret doing so. As my friend
John Dryland and I enjoyed a pre-gig cider or three, UFO’s
Paul Raymond strolled into the World’s End, the boozer
above the Underworld. Paul and his other half, Helen, were fine
company and meeting them amplified the ‘refreshment’
factor.
The posters for Waite’s tour suggested he would revisit
solo material and offerings from his days with The Babys and
Bad English and, excepting a gratuitous cover of Dylan’s
‘All Along The Watchtower’ and a single-song encore
of the Zeppelin standard ‘Rock And Roll’, that’s
exactly what we got – a mouth-watering smorgasbord of
all that’s best about Lancaster’s finest export.
Although the Underworld was only two-thirds full, the crowd
went absolutely wild, and one of my fondest memories of the
night was turning around to survey the scene during ‘When
I See You Smile’ and realising that a beaming John Mitchell
of It Bites was just a few feet away to my left. We exchanged
knowing grins and got on with mouthing the lyrics to the Bad
English classic. Here’s the set-list: ‘Change’,
‘Back On My Feet’, ‘Encircled’, ‘When
I See You Smile’, ‘In Dreams’, ‘How
Did I Get By Without You’, ‘All Along The Watchtower’,
‘Mr Wonderful’, ‘Everytime I Think Of You’,
‘Suicide Life’, Guitar Solo, ‘Best Of What
I Got’, ‘New York City Girl’, ‘Missing
You’, ‘Midnight Rendezvous’, ‘Head First’
and ‘Rock And Roll’.
And so… the SE25 pantomime continues... Paul Hart has
been appointed Crystal Palace’s new boss till the end
of the season, with CPFC Legend Dougie Freedman returning to
the club as his right-hand man and Cup Finalist John ‘Pembo’
Pemberton taking charge of first-team coaching duties. It could
have been far, far worse. As I got in from the Underworld, administrator
Brendan Guilfoyle was on Sky Sports News claiming: “[Neil
Warnock] told me didn’t have the stomach for the fight;
if he wasn’t committed I needed to let him go.”
If that’s true, it’s funny/tragic that Warnock has
the “stomach” to take on the running of a club that’s
just one position above Palace in the table. A huge pile of
cash versus principles and loyalty? No contest, it seems. For
me, NW has gone from hero to zero in 24 hours.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
2nd March
Thankfully,
today is crammed with work – all enjoyable, and enough
to take my mind off the depressing situation at Selhurst Park.
I’ve got a phone interview with Rudolf Schenker of the
Scorps after lunch, before heading off for a face-to-face chat
with Judas Priest’s Rob Halford and Glenn Tipton. The
only bad news is that said arrangement excludes me from attending
a launch reception for the ‘new’ Jimi Hendrix studio
album, ‘Valleys Of Neptune’. I’ll then head
over to the Underworld to see a gig by John Waite… see
what I mean about a hectic schedule??!!
[Edit: Despite coverage on BBC’s Breakfast News and
right across the media, the official CPFC website now says that
QPR’s statement is “somewhat premature”, and
that discussions regarding Warnock’s release remain “ongoing”.
What an absolute farce.]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
1st March
It’s
10pm and my evening has burst into flames. After conducting
a great interview with former Survivor man Jim Peterik, I’d
settled down to watch some telly. The first text came from my
CPFC buddy Neil Pudney. Neil Warnock’s ‘transfer’
to QP-Hahaha was official. Oh, bollocks. It was inevitable,
but the reported compensation package of £1.5 million
that had been so vital to keeping Crystal palace running till
the end of the season had dwindled to a paltry £400,000.
Worse still we have no idea who will be in charge against Sheffield
United on Saturday, or for the rest of the campaign –
should the club last that long (and with the taxman appearing
to play hardball with Portsmouth, being wound up looks like
a distinct possibility). All the usual names are being linked
with the vacancy (listed in my own order of preference)…
Sir Steve Coppell, Gareth Southgate, Alan Smith – also
such non-CPFC names as Gary Megson and Paul Hart. The most unbelievable
one is… Iain Dowie. Holy. Fucking. Shit. The man that
lied to us and then walked out to join the Clowns. Had it happened
in an episode of Dream Team, you’d have said it was too
far-fetched for words.
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