Monday 31st March
Cool… Black Sabbath are to play an open-air
gig in Hyde Park this summer, along with Motörhead,
Soundgarden, Faith No More and many others. Might just
have to get along to that!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 30th March
I write this hampered by of the worst hangovers
in living memory. Following the disappointment (and injustice)
of losing in injury time at St James Park the previous
weekend, Palace faced Chelski at Selhurst Park. Eldest
son Eddie would later point out that Crystal Palace’s
team cost a mere £8 million to assemble, their opponents
a whopping £182.5m. So imagine my unadulterated
shock and joy when the Eagles caused a sensation with
a much deserved 1-0 victory thanks to an own goal from
J**n T***y. With other results going our way, the unexpected
three points could be utterly priceless at the season’s
end.
In stark contrast to 24 hours earlier, night #2 of the
Frantic Four at Hammy was a complete booze-fuelled knees-up.
Roared on by a humongously loud crowd, the second show
had the edge over the opening night. The set-list was
identical but Rossi seemed to be enjoying himself, going
so far as to introduce Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan
and encourage a bit of crowd participation during ‘Most
Of The Time’. Alas, it was all over too soon, and
I returned to the Duke Of Cornwall for a few nightcaps.
Walking back through the local park, refreshed as a newt
and with a kebab in hand, was a rather bittersweet experience.
My beloved footie club had humbled a team chasing the
Premiership title and I was still buzzing after a wonderful,
exhilarating display from Quo, but I knew that in less
than 24 hours I’d be seeing them again for what
will most likely be the very final time… I have
no plans to witness the ‘current’ line-up
(Quo Lite, Pantomime Quo, call them what you will) ever
again. That would be like getting to exchange bodily fluids
with the voluptuous redhead Joan from Mad Men, followed
by a ‘horizontal night in’ with EastEnders’
own Heather Trott… er, no thanks!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 29th March
Having seen the set-list well in advance, I’ll admit
to approaching the first night of the Frantic Four’s
residency at Hammersmith with an undercurrent of mild
caution. Reports of earlier shows had indicated tighter
performances and an improved degree of inter-group camaraderie,
but the sheer unadventurous nature of the repertoire –
‘Caroline’ replacing ‘Don’t Waste
My Time’ and a few extra minutes added to ‘Forty
Five Hundred Times’ (plus a bar or two from ‘Gotta
Go Home’) – presented a bit of a mental barrier
for me. With hindsight it was plain unrealistic to have
hoped for ‘Slow Train’ though it would’ve
been easy to add ‘Paper Plane’ or ‘Mean
Girl’, or even ‘Claudie’, ‘Softer
Ride’, ‘Break The Rules’ or ‘The
Mystery Song’. Despite indications to the contrary
there was no sign of the much-loved ‘jig’
section in ‘Roadhouse Blues’, and retaining
the same set-list (as near as dammit), the same Jackie
Lynton intro tape and the same ‘Hello!’ album
backdrop smacked a little of laziness.
All of that having been said, from my place in the third
row of the Apollo’s balcony I thoroughly enjoyed
the show. The decision to call time on the Frantic Four
is borderline mystifying. Alan Lancaster looks far healthier
than last time around, John Coghlan has shed some timber
and Rick Parfitt’s hair has grown back and the band
have become a well primed machine. I swear I even saw
Rossi smile! The band members gave a
great ‘Piledriver’-themed interview to
The Quietus which closes with Parfitt addressing the reason
for the decision to call it a day: “Getting the
band back together was a platinum moment, it was shiny
and wonderful. This time it will be gold, and I do not
want it to go down to silver and then to bronze.”
That makes sense, I suppose. But if they were to mix things
up, make the experience extra special again, this line-up
of the group could still have a rosy future. After
his criticism of the first Frantic Four tour, Francis
Rossi said: “Let’s do it again, but better”
. To that I reply, what they *should’ve* said is:
Let’s do it better and different.
Anyway… if you’ve not seen it, the set-list
ran as follows: ‘Junior’s Wailing’,
‘Backwater’/‘Just Take Me’, ‘Is
There A Better Way?’, ‘In My Chair’,
‘Blue Eyed Lady’, ‘Little Lady’/‘Just
Take Me’, ‘Rain’, ‘(April), Spring,
Summer And Wednesdays’, ‘Railroad’,
‘Oh Baby’, ‘Forty Five Hundred Times’
(including ‘Gotta Go Home’), ‘Big Fat
Mama’, ‘Down Down, and ‘Roadhouse Blues’,
with encores of ‘Caroline’ and ‘Bye
Bye Johnny’. After the show, which I watched in
an alcohol-free state, I was given I lift home to Catford
by my buddy Steve ‘No Relation’ Way. Having
sped around the South Circular I was back in my living
room by 11.05pm – amazing! Time for an early night…
today is gonna be humongous!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 28th March
A quick phone interview with Ginger Wildheart
to begin the day… nice! We hadn’t spoken in
a while and after ‘official business’ was
taken care of we chatted for a while about his role as
fill-in bassist for the near-legendary Starz gig at London’s
Garage last December. It was great to hear him talk with
such child-like enthusiasm (Yes, he’d love to do
it again!). Ginger is a genuine music fan.
“Is there anybody out there that wants to rock...?”
It’s here at last, the first of three boogie-tastic
nights at London’s Hammersmith Odeon with one of
my all-time favourite groups. And Wilko Johnson as the
support act – killer!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 27th March
Okay, I’m a wee bit flummoxed. John Wetton
has just Tweeted about having emitted a “groan”
whilst reading my “predictable” review of
Asia’s new album ‘Gravitas’ in the current
issue of Prog magazine. “So negative,” he
wrote. “A pity, as everyone else seems to like it.”
Okay, hold on a minute, what part of “‘Gravitas
could well mark a fascinating new start for Asia”,
“Asia in their full-on pomp-rock splendour”,
“a deliciously commercial hard rock tune”,
“Asia 2014 have sacrificed none of their Downes-fuelled
symphonic extravagance” and (in the tag-line), “even
without Steve Howe, they remain a serious proposition”
can possibly be construed as negative?!?
And as for everyone else seeming to like it… let’s
remind ourselves what other critics said about ‘Gravitas’.
It averages two out of five among posters at Progarchives.com
(“I have heard every album that Asia has put out
since their inception and I must say that ‘Gravitas’
is the band’s lowest point ever”), while Alan
Holloway at RockUnited.com, who like myself is a huge
fan of the group, called it “boring” and signed
off with the line: “I’ve a feeling this will
be [my own] biggest disappointment of the year.”
Sputnikmusic.com went one further with the verdict: “Essential
for those seeking a reliable cure for insomnia”,
Melodicrock.com opting for: “A moped in first gear.”
Okay, rant over. On a happier note, those that continue
dismiss hard rock as a dying genre should have been at
last nite’s sold-out London stop on Classic Rock/Metal
Hammer’s Lords Of The Riff tour. Monster Truck and
Scorpion Child simply ruled the stage, and what a crowd
response! I predict huge things for both groups.
Oh, and *huge* thanks to Liverpool FC for last nite’s
fine 2-1 victory over Palace’s relegation rivals
Sunderland. I kept in touch with the events at Anfield
via a series of texts with eldest son Eddie. I’m
appalled as anyone by the prospect of the Scousers (particularly
the grotesque Suarez) winning the title, but there was
huge relief as the final whistle blew some 20 minutes
into Monster Truck’s set.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 26th March
I was watching House Of Lords at the Underworld
last night and I clean forgot that their classic self-titled
debut had a song called ‘Pleasure Palace’.
It’s pretty obvious that James Christian has never
visited Selhurst Park. Hahaha.
Naturally I arrived in time to check out ColdSpell, the
Swedish hard rockers whose most recent album, ‘Frozen’,
was a right ol’ corker. Offering buoyant, air punching,
key-embellished choruses redolent of Whitesnake or, in
the case of ‘Fight Till The End’, like Gary
Moore in his hard rocking days, they hit the spot in no
uncertain terms, blasting through ‘Angel Of The
World’, ‘Keep On Believin’’, ‘Six
Feet Under’, ‘Paradise’, ‘Living
On The Run’ and ‘Eye Of The Storm’.
Their hour flew by remarkably quickly.
For reasons best known to themselves, the headliners elected
to kick things off by playing three songs without James
Christian, their bassist handling lead vox instead…
eh? When House Of Lords were good (viz ‘Love Don't
Lie’, ‘I Just Wanna be Loved’, ‘Slip
Of The Tongue’, ‘Sahara’ and some of
the newer stuff) they were excellent, but those taped
keyboards were an embarrassment. Under the same circumstances
of such shameless, flagrant pretence I know that I couldn’t
live with myself. And as for those bass, drum and guitar
solos – all with taped accompaniment – I have
but one word: ‘Gross’. All for the benefit
of about 100 people, too.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 25th March
What a great show from UFO in Southampton last
nite! They mixed up the set-list a little and really seemed
to be enjoying themselves – Moggie was hilarious
with his chat about twerking, the perils of paying homage
to Arthur Brown’s crown of fire, the Budget (“Hope
you’re all enjoying your 1p off a pint of beer!”)
and what sounded like a less than enjoyable time at the
recent Hard Rock Hell AOR Festival in Wales (“Less
Hi-Di-Hi, more The Great Escape!”). Thinking about
it, it was probably the first time in more than three
decades that I’ve watched the band sober (that’s
me, not them! Hahaha). Here’s the set-list: ‘Lights
Out’, ‘Fight Night’, ‘Wonderland’,
‘Let it Roll’, ‘When Daylight Goes To
Town’, ‘Baby Blue’, ‘Pushed To
The Limit’, ‘Makin’ Moves’, ‘Ain’t
No Baby’, ‘Only You Can Rock Me’, ‘Burn
Your House Down’, ‘Love To Love’ and
‘Rock Bottom’, with encores of ‘Cherry’,
‘Too Hot To Handle’, ‘Doctor Doctor’
and ‘Shoot Shoot’.
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, which complete
and utter plum decided that Y&T, Steve Hackett and
now Black Stone Cherry should all play separate gigs in
London on the same day??!! Words fail me...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 24th March
RIP Oderus Urungus of the Antarctica-based theatrical
rockers GWAR, AKA Dave Brockie – seen here reviewing
the singles for the pages of RAW magazine along with yours
truly. Brockie was only 50 years old – no age at
all when you think about it, and GWAR were always loads
of fun live, covering their audiences in buckets of fake
blood. Only last weekend I had read a really great interview
with Dave in the pages of Metal Hammer in which he told
of the time GWAR played a gig for a bunch of punk rockers
at a squat in Holland. “They had all saved their
vomit for a month in a big bucket and let it ferment,”
he reminisced. “When we came out onstage they threw
it at us, thinking we’d appreciate that. We didn’t.
We bring our own vomit, thank you very much.” The
world is a poorer place this morning. Here’s
the Classic Rock website story.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 23rd March
What a kick in the teeth. All of the newspaper
and web reports I’ve read confirm my own belief
that Palace deserved a point from yesterday's game against
Newcastle. With neither side having scored after 90 minutes,
it was announced that three minutes of extra time would
follow. It’s hard to sum up the sense of disappointment
and dismay when the home side went ahead in the 94th minute.
My gut informs me that a point lost could be crucial at
the season’s end. Gutted, gutted, gutted…
Not even a great, boozy night at Trillians and in several
pubs along the quayside could paper over the hurt.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 22nd March
…And we're off to St James’ Park.
Today is all about footie, booze, catching up with friends,
Trillians Rock Bar and blowing off a little steam. I’ve
a box of Rose wine for the train journey and hope to finish
the last few pages of Dave Lewis’ excellent book,
Led Zeppelin: Then As It Was Knebworth 1979. Come On You
Palace!
My Friday night was spent at the Underworld – briefly!
Though my sons were in my custody I had made plans for
a flying visit to Camden to check out Santa Cruz, who
were opening for Voodoo Six. But there was bad news…
just like last June (when the Finns supported Vega at
the Barfly) I had a cancelled train, and they'd already
begun by the time I arrived – FFS! The venue was
rather full and I found a decent vantage point just as
they played the excellent new single, ‘We Are The
Ones To Fall’. The GN’R-esque ‘Lay My
Love On You’ was dedicated to “all the laydeeeez”
which generated some squeals. After just one more song
(‘Aiming High’) they were gone, and it was
time to head straight back to Catford again but it was
enough to slam home the point that we will be hearing
much, much more from these Nordic hair metal dudes…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 21st March
Look what’s just turned up in the post
after I asked Derek Oliver for a set of the new Dokken
re-masters on his label, Rock Candy Records. Derek, I
love you… in a manly way, of course.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 19th March
These days my music is just about all that keeps
me going and/or borderline sane. I attend a lot of gigs.
Tyketto and Bonfire at London’s Garage were as good
as anything I’ve seen in a heck of a long time.
Support came from Summers, a young, twin guitar (i.e.
keyboard-less) five-piece from Southampton who have some
decent radio-friendly tunes including ‘Too Bad For
Love’, ‘I Came Here To Rock’ and the
Leppard-esque ‘What Every Girl Wants’. Once
the soundman turned up the vox I really enjoyed them.
It’s early days for the lads but at times their
singer Crash Summers sounded so much like Joe Elliott
that I chuckled aloud.
Save for allowing their drummer Harry Reischmann to play
a seven-minute solo (!) in the place of absent standards
‘Ready 4 Reaction’ and ‘Champion’,
special guests Bonfire were superb. Claus Lessmann still
has a fine set of pipes and the set built brilliantly
as they progressed through ‘Bells Of Freedom’,
‘Russian Roulette’, ‘Metal Mind’,
‘Hot To Rock’, ‘Don’t Touch The
Light’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘I Am The Sword
You Are The Stone’, ‘Give It A Try’,
‘Under Blue Skies’ and a rousing ‘Sweet
Obsession’.
The headliners were celebrating their quarter-century
anniversary, a fact that Danny Vaughn seemed very grateful
for. “All of this clapping and singing along, it’s
no longer about our egos,” the singer told the packed
and highly vociferous crowd. “Now it’s part
of the show; we want everyone to just let go of all the
shit that’s going on outside in their everyday lives.
That means the world to us.” Later on, ‘Sound
Off’ – one of four selections from 2012’s
highly underrated ‘Dig In Deep’ – was
dedicated to “Justin Bieber, Miley Cyris, Britney
Spears and Adam Lambert – all of the shit that we’re
forced to listen to day after day after day. People download
it because they’re mindless.” I couldn’t
agree more. Here’s the set-list: ‘Burning
Down Inside’, ‘Rescue Me’, ‘Faithless’,
‘Seasons’, ‘End Of The Summer Days’,
‘Sail Away’, ‘Here’s Hoping It
Hurts’, ‘Meet Me In The Night’, ‘Dig
In Deep’, ‘Lay Your Body Down’, ‘Sound
Off’, ‘Standing Alone’, ‘Catch
My Fall’, ‘Some Kind Of Wonderful’ (sung
by drummer Mike Clayton) and ‘Wings To Fly’,
followed by ‘The Last Sunset’ and ‘Burning
Down Inside’.
En route to the garage I met Tobias Sammet of Edguy for
a quick chat about his band’s new album ‘Space
Police – Defenders Of The Crown’ (Nuclear
Blast, April 21st). Sammet is riotous company and gives
great quotage. When I informed him that ‘Rock Me
Amadeus’, which Edguy have covered on the new elpee,
is among the most annoying songs of all time he chirruped
back brightly: “Of course it’s annoying –
this band is annoying in a way; we’ve made a whole
career out of that!” Honorary Englishman, and no
mistake!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 18th March
The new issue of Classic Rock’s AOR magazine
has arrived, with Derek Oliver’s epic piece on the
making of the Journey album ‘Infinity’ (their
debut with Steve Perry on vocals) as its cover story.
I chipped in with a few interviews of my own - Frédéric
Slama of AOR, Missing Persons’ Dale Bozzio, David
Young and The Duchess from Space Elevator and a news stories
on H.E.A.T. and Heaven And arth.
Here at Ling Towers it’s Prog magazine reviews day.
Luckily, I’ve hooked three belters: Don Airey’s
‘Keyed Up’ (which includes one of the final
recording by the late, great Gary Moore), ‘Disconnect’
by former Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson live guitarist
John Wesley (listen out for a cool cameo from Alex Lifeson)
and Epica’s ‘The Quantum Enigma’. It
baffles me when people say there’s so little great
new music around, that’s bollocks!
The Frantic Four’s new tour begins tonight in Germany.
I shall be dashing home from seeing Tyketto/Bonfire in
Islington to check out the set list. *Please* let ‘Slow
Train’ be included!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 17th March
It’s been a beautiful sunny day here in
Sarf London. Angel Witch @ the Underworld 20.12.08 was
the noisy soundtrack to lunchtime’s sweaty park
run. Taking the imaginary ticker tape to ‘Angel
Of Death’… perfect!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 16th March
The stress of watching yesterday’s footie
was getting to me so I needed a few pints of this tasty
scrumpy, brought back from Minehead a few weeks ago. *Sluurrrrrrps!*
The result was a hard-fought 0-0 draw. Though the Eagles
had two good chances to have won it at the death, a point
was a very useful result – especially as most of
the other results were favourable. Thank you Everton.
Thank you Southampton. And fuck you very much to the Geordies,
who succumbed lamb-like to the league’s basement
side Fulham.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 15th March
This afternoon my heart will be in Sunderland…
I wish I could’ve been there for such a crucial
game. Meanwhile, down in the championship's bargain basement
there’s a big relegation battle between Scumwall
and Clowntown Pathetic… to determine the identity
of South London’s Number Two. Goddamn it, if only
they could both lose.
My Friday was taken up by phone interviews with Clutch’s
Neil Fallon and A Jay Popoff, lead singer of the Orange
County pop-punks Lit, who are about to play a 15th anniversary
British tour for their ‘A Place In The Sun’
album. I prepped by bunging on said CD… hadn’t
heard it aeons and it was much, much better than I remembered,
especially the group’s biggest hit, ‘My
Own Worst Enemy’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 14th March
The end of another hectic week approaches: phone
interviews with Luke Machine from Maschine and Steve Hillage,
followed by a get together with the usual curry and beer
gang in the West End (still no beer for me though…).
After Classic Rock boss man Scott Rowley’s recent
epic Facebook about the merits of US cult series Breaking
Bad I ventured into Fopp Records at Cambridge Circus and
bought series 1-3 for £20. Scott claims to have
watched it “six months after everyone else”
but here in my little bubble on Planet Ling I am so far
behind the times, it’s almost hilarious.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 13th March
I’ve only got one gig this week, though
luckily it was by Transatlantic, the progressive rock
supergroup that feature members past ‘n’ present
of Dream Theater, Spock’s Beard, Marillion and the
Flower Kings. That’s enough for three shows by almost
any other group you could name!
In town to promote their fourth album, ‘Kaleidoscope’,
the band were augmented by Ted Leonard of Spock’s
Beard, who did an excellent job in the auxiliary role
usually filled by Daniel Gildenlöw, turning in a
whopping set that clocked in at two hours and 40 minutes
long – no wonder that in between outrageous bouts
of showboating (the drummer actually employs a roadie
to remove his stool – and quickly put it back –
freeing up maximum room to leap around!), Mike Portnoy
quipped: “Welcome back my friends to the show that
never ends… well, you knew what to expect when you
bought a ticket!” The size of the crowd confirmed
his theory, no bother.
Unsurprisingly, ‘Kaleidoscope’ was well represented
in a display of first class musicianship. From my place
in the balcony the sound was just about perfect and towards
the night’s end the Forum accompanied Neal Morse
loudly during an uplifting ‘We All Need Some Light’.
I loved it when, during ‘Ride The Lighting’,
the band launched into a Metallica riff and the sleeve
to the album of the same name was projected behind them
– proof that they *do* have a sense of humour. An
encore featuring abridged versions of ‘All Of The
Above’ and ‘Stranger In Your Soul’ set
the seal on an almost faultless evening… if you
ask me Morse and Roine Stolt’s unaccompanied bout
of guitar noodling was pretty superfluous. Here’s
the set-list: ‘Into The Blue’, ‘My New
World’, ‘Shine’, ‘Whirlwind’
Medley: ‘Overture’, ‘Rose Colored Glasses’,
‘Evermore’, ‘Is It Really Happening?’
and ‘Dancing With Eternal Glory’, ‘Beyond
The Sun’, ‘Kaleidoscope’, Guitar Duet,
‘We All Need Some Light’ and ‘Black
As The Sky’, followed by ‘All Of The Above’
and ‘Stranger In Your Soul’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 11th March
Here is a meteorological announcement: There’s
a strange bright object in the sky but the receipt of
the live albums from their 2 x festive shows (‘Back
To The Black Country’ and ‘The Xmas Show Live
2013’) has turned the afternoon quite Thunder-ous.
I really don’t mind because, as this
clip confirms, Sir Daniel of Bowes and company really
are one of the best live bands out there.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 10th March
I really enjoyed this evening’s phone interview
with a true hard rock legend, Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
A fascinating guy… very thoughtful. Surprisingly
generous with his time, too.
Obviously, the focus of our conversation was the Boston
band’s forthcoming
open-air gig on London’s Clapham Common, which
takes place this summer and also features Joe Bonamassa
and Thunder and many other names, though we also spoke
about the possibility of new music from Aerosmurf, the
mixed response to their last studio record, ‘Music
From Another Dimension!’ (which I reminded him wasn’t
quite the “raw, nasty, tough rock album” that
he had predicted!) and the guitarist’s fire-and-ice
relationship with fellow Toxic Twin, singer Steven Tyler.
Great fun…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 9th March
After a disappointing day at footie (and being
forced to watch The Voice when I got home), thought I’d
try a bottle of two of a drink that’s all the rage
right now. It seemed rude not to indulge in some Prosecco.
I liked the stuff and shall be having it again. The second
bottle might have been a mistake though…
Palace’s home game against Southampton was decided
by a single mistake – inevitably by a loose header
from ex-Saint Jason Puncheon. The Eagles’ spirited
display had deserved a point and with the season’s
end screaming towards us I'm struggling to work out where
many more wins will come from. It’s gonna go right
down to the wire…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 8th March
I’m enjoying a
nice bit of It Bites before I head off to Selhurst
Park for this afternoon’s game between Palace and
Southampton. What a fuggin' great band!!! The sun’s
come out, too, so I’m off for a park run. Amazing!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 7th March
Aw, I just woke up and realised that I’m
not interviewing Robert Plant after all today. It was
a bloody dream. That’ll teach me for reading Dave
Lewis’ incredibly thorough book Led Zeppelin –
Then As It Was At Knebworth 1979 so close to bedtime.
But seriously, what a darned good read…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 6th March
Here’s
a segment of my recent interview with California Breed’s
Glenn Hughes who, at the close of our conversation signed
off with the words: “You are speaking to the most
grateful man you will interact with this year. My football
club [Wolverhampton Wanderers] might be in the third division,
but coming back from the death of Black Country Communion
to something as wonderful as California Breed, I’m
happy beyond belief.” After thanking me for decades
of support the Voice Of Rock then spoiled it with: “Hate
to say it… maybe I’ll see you in the Championship
next year.” I don’t fucking well think so,
matey – CPFC are staying up!!!
Anyway, spring appears to have sprung and I’ve just
arrived back at Chateau Ling after a cool interview with
Eric and Erik from H.E.A.T. at the Columbia Hotel, a building
with plenty of personal history for yours truly. It was
at the hotel’s bar that RAW magazine got off the
ground in its earliest days, and the guys enjoyed hearing
the tale of the night the Sebastian Bach invited the whole
crowd of the Marquee Club back for a drink after Skid
Row’s quasi-legendary gig at the same venue. They
were both top fellas and I’ve been playing the new
album ‘Tearing Down The Walls’ twice or thrice
a day since it wormed its way under my skin. It’s
not as instant as ‘Address The Nation’ to
me, but it *is* a real grower…
Last night was spent watching England’s narrow win
over Denmark in a friendly at Wembley. A poor-to-middling
display, if you ask me. On such evidence, Hodgson’s
men will do well to get past the group stages.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 5th March
A great night was had at last night’s Uriah
Heep DVD concert shoot at Koko. The finished results are
sure to look and sound brilliant, and as predicted the
set-list was expanded to include two brand new songs (‘Can’t
Take That Away’ being one of their famous 12-bar
blues shuffles and ‘One Minute’ a hook-laden
mid-paced anthem), both of which bode bloody well for
a studio album that’s now 100% completed, Bernie
Shaw revealed from the stage. At encore time the band
repeated ‘One Minute’ for the benefit of the
cameras, and surprisingly the entire crowd was able to
sing along to its chorus – a sure sign of a bloody
good chewn. Now that bass player Davey Rimmer has been
confirmed as a full-time member of the group, it was nice
of Mick Box to have roared: “This one’s for
our Trev [Bolder]” as an intro to ‘Between
Two Worlds’. The unnerving similarity between the
last album’s ‘Nail On The Head’ and
the Gap Band’s disco track ‘Oops Inside Your
Head’ remains a sizeable mental hurdle but Heep
really are such a great live band that I could watch them
every nite of the week. Lucky old Scampi, the band’s
lighting engineer and tour manager, who gets to do exactly
that and is paid for the privilege! Anyway, here’s
the set-list: ‘Against The Odds’, ‘Overload’,
‘Traveller In Time’, ‘Sunrise’,
‘Stealin’’, ‘I’m Ready’,
‘Between Two Worlds’, ‘Can’t Take
That Away’, ‘One Minute’, ‘Nail
On The Head’, ‘Into The Wild’, ‘Gypsy’,
‘Look At Yourself’, ‘July Morning’
and ‘Lady In Black’, followed by ‘One
More Minute’ (reprise) and ‘Easy Livin’’.
I still cannot believe that I met the legendary Judas
Priest drummer Les ‘Feathertouch’ Binks at
the after-show bash. It makes me want to start the day
with this.
P.S. I’ve updated the Playlist
and YouTube pages as usual.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 4th March
After being informed that the guest list was
full, I’d all but given up on the hope of last night’s
gig from Blackberry Smoke. Just I trudged through the
front door of Ling Towers the call came that my name would
be included after all, so my trusty overnight bag was
dumped and I zoomed across to the Islington Academy.
As a last minute addition to the bill Nashville’s
own Cadillac Three opened the show in fine style, dishing
up a half-hour of gritty but tuneful Southern rock. I
was especially impressed by the title cut of the band’s
‘Tennessee Mojo’ album and the plaintive,
irresistible ‘White Lightning’. Song-for-song
they were as good as the headliners, and the crowd loved
them. Am looking forward to seeing them play a full set.
With their pronounced Aerosmith/GN’R-ish swagger
Million Dollar Reload were somewhat out of place on such
a spit ‘n’ sawdust orientated bill yet the
Irishmen commanded a strong reception as they belted through
‘Under Your Skin’, ‘Livin’ In
The City’ and ‘Bullets In The Sky’.
“I hope you’ve all come to boogie, baby!”
hollered Charlie Starr before one of the evening’s
most rollockin’ tunes, ‘Six Ways To Sunday’.
Well, we did our best but the Academy’s main room
was uncomfortably full, with scarcely enough room to scratch
an itch let alone perform a hoedown. Following last year’s
UK debut at an equally crammed Barfly, I really enjoyed
seeing (and hearing) what they could do on a decent sized
stage. It soon became evident that Blackberry Smoke are
the real deal. Starr informed us that ‘Sleeping
Dogs’ was a true story about a presumably violent
incident that took place in a bar in Austell, Georgia.
Maybe some cotton-picking son of a gun tried to take a
comb to the lead singer/guitarist’s facial hair,
who knows? However, the song bled into a fantastic, leisurely
version of ‘Midnight Rider’ which set the
place on fire. Later on they repeated the reaction by
dropping in on the Muddy Waters-popularised ‘Got
My Mojo Working’ during ‘Freeborn Man’.
You know you’re onto a winner when you watch a band
for 95 minutes and it feels like their played for a fraction
of that time. Here’s the set-list: ‘Leave
A Scar’, ‘Like I Am’, ‘Six Ways
To Sunday’, ‘Good One Comin’ On’,
‘Pretty Little Lie’, ‘Crimson Moon’,
Medley: ‘Sleeping Dogs’/‘Midnight Rider’,
‘Everybody Knows She’s Mine’, ‘The
Whippoorwill’, ‘Shakin’ Hands With The
Holy Ghost’, ‘Up In Smoke’, ‘Ain’t
Got The Blues’, Medley: ‘Freeborn Man’/‘Got
My Mojo Working’, ‘Restless’, ‘One
Horse Town’ and ‘Ain’t Much Left Of
Me’, with an encore of ‘Living In The Song’
and ‘Shake Your Magnolia’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 3rd March
I’m back from an excellent lightning visit
to Newcastle. During a smooth northbound train journey
I managed to finish the last third of an excellent book
titled Raising Hell On The Rock ‘N’ Roll Highway
by Tom Wright, a writer, photographer and former tour
manager for The Who and many more. Pete Townshend, who
wrote its foreword, credits Wright with great importance
in the Who’s formation which was enough for me to
open my wallet. For a while Wright was the manager of
the legendary Grande Ballroom in Detroit and his book
has a great, really well written chapter about that era
in his life which covers the MC5, the Grateful Dead, Zeppelin,
Arthur Brown and many more. It’s recommended to
fans of that halcyon era of music.
Arriving on Tyneside early afternoon I met Paul Ging,
the Classic Rock writer from the North East who was kindly
allowing me to kip at his place. After a nice lunch we
found a pub to watch the second half of the League Cup
Final. Believe me, there was no better bar to have been
propping up as Man City came from behind to thrash and
humiliate the Toon’s hated rivals, Sunderland. Glasses
of wine began to flow. Via my mate Kev Denman, who was
at the game, news came in that Palace were losing against
Swansea. However, there was deep, unmitigated joy –
comical to all of those in the pub, I’m sure –
as Glenn Murray’s coolly taken late penalty rescued
a priceless point.
After a couple more cold ’uns at the rock bar Trillians,
we bowled up at Brofest – a three-day celebration
of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal – a wee bit
later than anticipated but… shall we use the phrase
‘well-oiled’? What an incredible scenario,
bullet belts and long hair were mandatory; if you didn't
have a Witchfinder General back patch signed by all of
the original members you might as well have been a One
Direction fan.
Wearing Angel Witch T-shirts – odd, given the Canadian
whippersnappers were scarcely been born when that band
played the ‘old’ Marquee – Cauldron
were winding up as we arrived. “We’d like
to bring Mantas [from Venom] onstage” they cried
excitedly, and as the guitarist plugged in and rocked
out to ‘Die Hard’ Paul quipped: “That’ll
bring the age level up a bit!”
Praised by Lars Ulrich in current issue of Classic Rock’s
‘cult heroes’ section, special guests Jaguar
were amazing. The annoyingly frantic Jamie Manton might
be a bit of a show-off, bouncing around the stage on a
pogo stick and chattering like a deranged speed freak,
but he’s also an undeniably awesome singer. ‘Feel
The Heat’ had not played live for an incredible
32 years, and ‘Power Game’ proved beyond doubt
that Jaguar can still compete at a surprisingly high level.
And so to the moment I’d been waiting for…
the return of Vardis. Did the boogie-metallers disappoint?
Did they f**k!! To the sound of disbelieving cheers drummer
Gary Pearson’s daughter Stacey welcomed her “rock
god dad” to the stage for a first live appearance
in 27 years. Visually the trio are all but unrecognisable
– sporting a sensible haircut that negates the use
of the once-familiar talcum powder storm, guitarist Steve
Zodiac no longer goes barefoot onstage, either –
but close your eyes and it was like you were back in the
1980s. The hour-long set included three tunes from the
‘Vigilante’ album, soon to be on CD and iTunes
for the first time, but dwelled mainly on the classic
years. “Is it too fast for ya?” Zodiac asked,
catching his own breath after ‘Gary Glitter Pr 1’,
and smiling: “It is for us.” The more sedate
‘The World’s Insane’ offered a welcome
change of pace, and by the time the trio closed with a
wonderful ‘If I Were King’ any possible doubts
about their rebirth were extinguished. Here’s the
set-list: ‘Let’s Go’, ‘Out Of
The Way’, ‘Destiny’, ‘Dirty Money’,
‘Gary Glitter Pt 1’, ‘The World’s
Insane’, ‘Situation Negative’, Medley:
‘Don’t Mess With The Best (‘Cos The
Best Don’t Mess)’/‘Radio Rockers’,
‘Loser’, ‘Learn How To Shoot Straight’
and ‘If I Were King’.
Afterwards, Paul and I accepted an invitation from Irene,
the band’s legendary manager, to visit the dressing
room. It was great to catch up with everyone. Here’s
the pictorial evidence: L-R: Some handsome devil, Steve
Zodiac, Gary Pearson and Terry Horbury. Please note: No
alcohol was harmed in the taking of this photograph.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 2nd March
Another 7am start; finish off those Lynyrd Skynyrd
sleeve notes, a quick park run (time allowing) and off
to Newcastle for the Vardis reunion gig at Brofest (also
featuring Jaguar, Blitzkrieg and Atomkraft). All in a
day’s work!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 1st March
Black Stone Cherry at Koko. Two words: ‘hell’
and ‘yeah’! And yet for yours truly last night’s
gig at Koko was alcohol-free. With a weekend of fervent
tape transcript ahead I’ve been sat here at the
PC since 7am… yeah, it’s a glamorous life!
No two ways about it, having attended their shows since
they supported Hinder back in 2007 I’m a huge fan
of BSC. It’s been great to watch them climbing the
ladder so steadily. Clocking in at just under two hours
long, last night’s gig at Koko was an intimate ‘One
Night With’-type gig, complete with fan-requested
set-list and question and answer segments. It served as
an emphatic reminder of why the four-piece from Edmonton,
Kentucky are feted as heirs to a Southern rock crown still
held by Lynyrd Skynyrd. In a set crammed with regular
favourites and such rarely performed tunes as ‘Ghost
Of Floyd Collins’, ‘Devil’s Queen’,
‘Big City Lights’ and ‘Drive’,
we also got two hear ‘Me And Mary Jane’ and
‘Fiesta Del Fuego’, a pair of excellent-sounding
selections from the forthcoming fourth album, ‘Magic
Mountain’ (due on May 5th via Roadrunner Records).
The band also teased the crowd with snippets of ZZ Top’s
‘Just Good Paid’ and ‘Roadhouse Blues’
by the Doors.
Truthfully, the audience Q&As were largely redundant
as it was almost impossible hear what people were shouting
out, especially when they did so from the balconies, but
Koko roared with laughter when, having been asked “What
cowbell do you use?” drummer John Fred Young replied:
“The one off my cow!” The band are heading
back later this year for what’ll be their biggest
tour of the UK to date. In a recent Classic Rock interview,
guitarist Ben Wells told me: “When I think about
the size of the gigs we’re doing, I’m already
getting nervous about it all.” Till then here’s
the set-list: ‘Rain Wizard’, ‘Me And
Mary Jane’, ‘Ghost Of Floyd Collins’,
Medley: ‘Roadhouse Blues’/‘Yeah Man’,
‘In My Blood’, Question & Answer Session
#1, ‘Devil’s Queen’, Medley: ‘Just
Got Paid’/‘Soulcreek’, ‘Such A
Shame’, ‘Blind Man’, ‘Big City
Lights’, ‘Peace Is Free’, ‘Drive’,
Drum Solo, ‘Hell & High Water’, Q&A
Session #2, ‘Things My Father Said’, ‘Fiesta
Del Fuego’, ‘Backwoods Gold’, Q&A
Session #3, ‘White Trash Millionaire’, ‘Blame
It On The Boom Boom’, Q&A Session #4, ‘Lonely
Train’ and ‘30 Seconds Of Death Metal’.
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