| Friday
30th May
One of the perks of my job is getting to talk to all sorts
of interesting people. For instance, a few weeks ago I did a phoner
with Chris Dreja, one of two original members of the current Yardbirds
line-up (the other being drummer Jim McCarty). The 61-year-old rhythm
guitarist was great company, insisting: "I wouldn't still be
doing this if I didn't feel that today's band had integrity"
and pouring lavish praise upon the group's latest guitarist Ben King.
"The Yardbirds have always presented very interesting guitar
players," said Chris. "Ben was only 22 years old when he
joined us [in 2005], but he has characteristics of Eric [Clapton],
Jimmy [Page] and Jeff [Beck] and he's absolutely fearless."
Wondering whether that statement could possibly be true, last night
I boarded a Number 75 bus to Croydon's Fairfield Halls, where the
Yardbirds were playing on a double-header with The Zombies. I'm not
saying the show attracted an old crowd, but the woman two seats up
from me was 91 years old. Really. She kept turning her hearing aid
up and down, complaining the Yardbirds has been "too loud",
also causing a moment of divine comedy as the lights went down for
the headliners to take the stage. "WHO'S THIS, THEN?" the
old dear asked her husband at top volume. "The Zombies,"
he replied patiently. "THE WHO?" "No, The Zombies...".
I kid you not.
The show was surprisingly good. King really does have the makings
of a big star, and the Yardbirds ran through better-than-functional
versions of their hits, including 'Train Kept A-Rollin'', 'For Your
Love', 'Over, Under, Sideways, Down', 'Heartful Of Soul', 'Shapes
Of Things', 'Still I'm Sad' and 'I'm Confused' (a 1968 forerunner
of Zeppelin's 'Dazed And Confused'), plus a smattering of new material.
I'd definitely go to see 'em again. The Zombies were better still,
mixing original songs from 1964 onwards with three unreleased newies
('Mystified', 'I Do Believe' and 'Any Other Way'), a version of the
Alan Parsons Project's 'Old And Wise' (sung by Colin Blunstone on
the 'Eye In The Sky' album back in 1982) and the Argent classics,
'Hold Your Head Up' and 'God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You'. Whilst introducing
the latter, keyboard player Rod Argent pointedly failed to mention
the name of Kiss, who covered the song in 1992, sounding a trifle
flustered as he declared: "This was Number One for another group
several years ago but in 1973 Argent, wrote, recorded and had a huge
European hit with this song - WE DID IT FIRST!" Hmmm... I wonder
whether he returns the royalty cheques?
P.S. En route to Croydon I dropped by Selhurst Park's Club Shop, hoping
to buy son Eddie a late birthday pressie of a new goalkeeper's shirt.
Alas, they only had them in Meat Loaf or Action Man sizes. Bloody
typical. However, I did take some photos of our bricks in the CPFC
Wall Of Fame.
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Thursday
29th May
Dio and Girlschool played the Astoria last night. Sadly,
I couldn't vacate my desk in time for the opening set, but Ronnie
James Dio was in first-class vocal form during a delicious 95-minute
trawl through his back catalogue. Obviously, coming so soon after
last November's tour with Heaven And Hell, there was little point
in revisiting the material Ronnie recorded with Black Sabbath, so
the set-list was given a welcome overhaul. Here's what was featured:
'Holy Diver', 'Killing The Dragon', 'The Eyes', 'Don't Talk To Strangers',
Drum Solo, 'Sacred Heart', 'Rainbow In The Dark', Medley: 'Temple
Of The King'/'Kill the King', Instrumental Jam/Guitar Solo, 'Lord
Of The Last Day', 'Rock 'N' Roll Children', 'Stand Up And Shout',
Medley: 'Man On The Silver Mountain'/'Catch The Rainbow'/'Long Live
Rock 'N' Roll', 'The Last in Line' and a Trades Descriptions Act-defying
encore of 'We Rock'.
After the game I sped back to Catford where I'd Skyplussed the friendly
international between England and America. England's comfortable victory
over a weak USA side made me realise how much I'm gonna miss footie
this summer, especially as I don't plan upon watching much of Euro
2008 (so don't bother asking who I want to win the tournament; anyone
except Portugal, Germany and Croatia will do).
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Wednesday
28th May
Apart
from an extremely drunken afternoon at the Canterbury Fayre festival,
and an appearance with Van Hagar at an after-show knees-up in London,
I’d never actually seen Deborah
Bonham onstage before. So I came away from last night’s
album showcase at the 100 Club full of respect and admiration. Bonham
– okay, let’s get this out of the way… she’s
John’s sister and Jason’s aunt, but a gifted singer in
her own right – has crafted a highly enjoyable new album called
‘Duchess’ (Rhino Records, June 24) that even features
a guest appearance from Paul Rodgers on ‘Hold On’. Backed
by a band that included legendary sticksman Jerry Shirley (making
what was rumoured to be the ex-Humble Pie/Fastway man’s last
ever appearance behind a drum kit), Debbie displayed a set of strong
blues-rock pipes whilst previewing a broad cross-section of the record’s
songs, including ‘Love You So’, ‘Grace’, ‘Jack
Past Eight’, ‘Pretty Thing’, ‘Waiting So Long’,
‘Love Lies’, ‘Duchess’, ‘(If You) Had
A Little Love’ and ‘Hole In My Heart’. There’s
an interesting story behind the latter, which was brought to the band
in semi-written state by Jerry Shirley, who’d messed around
with it many moons ago with the late, great Steve Marriott. But the
set proper finished in emotional style with ‘The Old Hyde’,
a wistful, plaintive song that Bonham based on the farm in which her
family used to live, and how she’s looking forward to seeing
her relatives again. On paper it probably sounds cheesy, or quite
possibly morbid, but Deborah sang it so beautifully I couldn’t
give a damn.
_ _ _
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Tuesday
27th May
What
terrific fun was had last night when the Quireboys and Dan Baird's
Homemade Sin teamed up for a cold ‘uns at the Borderline. Sadly,
I arrived midway through the opening act, Diamond Dogs but was sufficiently
impressed to file their name away for future reference. Having interviewed
Spike for Classic Rock about the tour a few weeks earlier, the cheeky
Geordie had proclaimed: “The whole point is to put on an evening
of pure rock 'n' roll”... which is exactly what transpired.
Various members of the three groups trotted onstage and jammed for
a while, then disappeared to the bar - great fun. The QBs were debuting
material from a new album called ‘Homewreckers And Heartbreakers’
that hits the shops on July 30. The band had brought along some early
editions but quickly sold out – “Typical Quireboys mentality,”
noted Spike from the stage, “let’s release an album and
not print up enough copies.” Let me assure you, ‘I Love
This Dirty Town’, ‘One For The Road’, ‘Mona
Lisa Smiled’and ‘Late Nite Saturday Call’ (the latter
performed with Baird on backing vocals) are the band's best work in
many a long year.
Although
I consider myself a Georgia Satellites fan (having witnessed their
now legendary debut UK gig at London's Marquee in May 1987), I'd kinda
lost touch with the solo antics of their former guitarist/singer Dan
Baird. Backed by GS drummer Mauro Magellan and Jason & The Scorchers
guitarist Warner Hodges, Baird quickly reminded me why I used to love
him so much – ‘I Love You Period’, ‘Railroad
Steel’, ‘Keep Your Hands To Yourself’ and ‘Battleship
Chains’... Christ, what amazing songs, and delivered with such
honest, gap-toothed, shit-kicking passion.
_ _ _
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Sunday
25th May
Oh
dearie me. Hopes are fading of a full-blown Genesis reunion. Asked
the percentage likelihood of Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford,
Tony Banks and Phil Collins getting back together to perform another
tour based upon ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, as discussed
four years ago, keyboard player Bank tells Rolling Stone: “I
would give it 23.5 percent.”
Another
band that don’t look like working again anytime soon is West
Bruce & Laing. In an interview in the new issue of Classic Rock,
Jack Bruce is positively scathing about West. “I always used
to wonder how Leslie could stay fat whilst he was on heroin,”
he states. “He used to have a secret stash of food, while the
rest of us ‘normal’ folk would have a stash of drugs.”
On the possibility of WB&L’s return, Jack is more abusive
still: “They [Leslie and drummer Corky Laing] are always trying
to get in touch with me. I tell my manager to email back really abusive
things like, ‘I don’t want to play that fucking crap music
anymore’. And they still keep trying. How do you get these guys
to stop?” If you think **that’s** rude, wait till you
read what he says about Pink Floyd…
P.S. Here’s some great news… my ol’ muckers FM are
making good progress with their new album, which they intend to release
via their own label. Early song titles include ‘Runaway Train’,
‘Over You’, ‘Living For The Weekend’ and ‘Hello
Tomorrow, Goodbye Yesterday’. The chaps also seem likely to
record a studio version of ‘Dangerous’, an old favourite
that’s been around since their first album, ‘Indiscreet’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
25th May
With
London soaked in bright sunshine, yesterday was spent marching up
and down Portobello Market and visiting various pubs with a couple
of friends from America. To kill time on public transport I took along
‘Snakes & Arrows Live’ by Rush and Winger’s
‘Live’… both of which are marvellous.
Inevitably,
I ended up unearthing some bargains at the Record & Tape Exchange
at Notting Hill Gate. Purely on the strength of his song ‘Darlin’
Be Home Soon’, re-worked so brilliantly by Slade on their ‘Alive’
album, I picked up 1971’s ‘Cheapo-Cheapo Presents Real
Live’ by John Sebastian, plus a solo album from Roger Manning
of Jellyfish/Imperial Drag fame. Both were well worth the coupla quid
I spent. Also managed to read most of the new issue of Tight But Loose,
Dave Lewis’ excellent Led Zeppelin magazine. The O2 reunion
debrief was cool, likewise the first instalment of press cuttings
documenting the years 1968-1971. You really wouldn’t want to
have been the misguided US scribe that wrote: “John Bonham [is]
a very effective group drummer, but uninventive [and] unsubtle.”
In
the evening, the senior members of Clan Ling observed its usual tradition
of getting tanked off our faces and partaking of the farce that is
Eurovision Song Contest. It was good fun, but the biased political
voting of so many Eastern European nations is fast removing the competition’s
sheen for yours truly. Indeed, I wholeheartedly concur with ever-sarcastic
host Sir Terence of Wogan, who this morning raises question marks
over his continued stewardship, stating: “You have to say that
this is no longer a music contest.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
24th May
Though
I had been anticipating last night’s Robin Trower gig, I was
a little disappointed by the length of his eventual performance. Trower
might be 63 years old (according to Wikipedia), but surely the guitarist
and his band, which included the ever-excellent Davey Pattison on
vocals, could have managed more than an hour and 25 minutes? Especially
with the Astoria 2 being sold out. Okay, ‘Day Of The Eagle’,
‘Bridge Of Sighs’, ‘Twice Removed from Yesterday’,
‘Victims Of The Fury’ and ‘Too Rollin’ Stoned’
were all bloody superb, and it was great to hear the 1975 classics
‘Shame The Devil’ and ‘For Earth Below’ aired
live for the first time, but for a muso with a catalogue as enviable
as Robin’s, failing to meet the minimum union rate of an hour
and a half is pretty darned inexcusable.
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Friday
23rd May
Being
truthful, I probably wouldn’t have gone to London venue The
Fly last night had I not been asked to review Animal Alpha for the
fine folks at Metal Hammer – it would’ve been my loss.
Promoting an album called ‘You Pay For The Whole Seat, But You’ll
Only Need The Edge’, the Norwegian alternative metalheads will
soon be playing far bigger venues than this basement dive (indeed,
they have already been confirmed to appear at next month’s Download
festival). Fronted by the charismatic Agnete Kjølsrud, who
dresses as a scary clown, leaping off the monitors and smoking cigars
(!!), their 60-minute set mined such influences as System Of A Down
– not a co-incidence, as they were discovered by that band’s
producer, Sylvia Massey – Nine Inch Nails, Pantera, Rage Against
The Machine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They will go far.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
22nd May
R.I.P. Michelle Meldrum. The former guitarist of female rockers Phantom
Blue and leader of her own band, Meldrum, has died from a cystic growth
on her brain at the age of 39. I interviewed Michelle several times
during the Phantom Blue days… she was always terrific fun. My
condolences go to her family, which includes a three year old son,
Jake, whose father is Europe guitarist John Norum.
_
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Wednesday
21st May
One
of the things I enjoy most about progressive rock is its appreciation
of the ludicrous. Last night I went back to the Underworld for a show
featuring three acts signed to Inside Out Records, where my appetite
for all things ridiculous was satiated with consummate ease (though
sadly, it was seen by around half as many fans as the previous night’s
Royal Hunt gig).
Truth
told I was mainly there for Beardfish, a Mike Portnoy-approved Swedish
quartet who use Mellotron, swirling Hammond organ and old-school influences
to deliver prog the way it used to be. ‘Sunrise’, ‘Into
The Night’ and ‘Roulette’ were magnificent, but
then they stepped well and truly outside the box with a very weird
hard rock song called ‘The Gooberville Ballroom Dancer’,
which began with the lines: “He was a filthy motherfucker, by
the name of Dwight/He only bathed 'bout once a year, he didn't smell
alright’. Brilliant!
For
the initial part of their set, fellow Swedes Ritual seemed to be playing
different songs at the same time – most disconcerting. However,
they wound up in Celtic-tinged acoustic mode, which was far more enjoyable,
concluding with a half-hour epic titled ‘A Dangerous Journey’,
which tells the tale of a young girl called Susanna who according
to singer Patrik Lundström “gets bored with her cat, removes
her glasses, leaves them in the grass, puts them back on again and
is thrown into a surreal adventure”.
With
an early morning start planned for today, I didn’t hang around
to see headliners The Tangent. Things had already got a bit too surreal
for words…
_
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Tuesday
20th May
Aw
c’mon… where was everyone?! Royal Hunt played at the Underworld
last night, watched by yours truly and around another 100 punters.
All credit to the quintet, fronted these days by former Yngwie Malmsteen
singer Mark Boals, who ignored the dismal attendance to offer almost
two hours of colourfully pompous, melodic progressive power-metal.
The Underworld’s small stage seemed a little too cramped for
André Anderson’s enormous great banks of keyboards, the
confinement also forcing backing singer Maria McTurk into the wings,
though the set kept the fans happy by honing in on 1997’s ‘Paradox’
album and its just-released sequel, ‘Collision Course: Paradox
2’. Here’s what they played: ‘Principles Of Paradox’,
‘River Of Pain’, ‘The First Rock’, ‘Message
To God’, ‘The Clan’, ‘Long Way Home’,
‘Hostile Breed’, ‘Time Will Tell’, ‘Tears
Of The Sun’, ‘It’s Over’, ‘Chaos AC’,
‘Game Of Fear’, ‘The Mission’ and ‘Never
Give Up’, wit encores of ‘Can’t Let Go’, ‘Flight’,
‘Cold City Lights’ and ‘Last Goodbye’.
_
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Monday
19th May
Much
of the past weekend was spent enjoying a promo of Whitesnake’s
new three-disc retrospective, ‘30th Anniversary Collection’
(EMI Records, June 9). It includes most of the band’s best songs,
plus a smattering of Coverdale/Page material, a track from the new
‘Good To Be Bad’ album, and some stuff credited to David
Coverdale & Whitesnake (i.e. from 1997’s ‘Restless
Heart’ – originally intended as a Cov solo platter). A
new version of ‘Slave’ represents 2000’s third solo
album, ‘Into The Light’ (which I kinda enjoyed at the
time), but it’s odd that there’s nothing from ‘White
Snake’ (1977) or ‘North Winds’ (1978). The brand
new issue of Fireworks
magazine solves the latter mystery. “I could not secure the
rights to any of those songs,” an astonished David informs Kieran
Dargan. “Dear God, what’s the world coming to? I can’t
use my own songs. Haha!” What indeed.
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Sunday
18th May
Despite
the best of intentions, I watched the FA Cup Final after all. It felt
slightly blasphemous to align myself with Portsmouth after they had
fielded a weakened team against West Brom on the final day of the
ill-fated 2004/05 season, further greasing Palace’s slide from
the Premiership. I usually make a habit of cheering on the underdog,
but the thought of siding with the Welsh on anything was inconceivable.
In the end, Christ, what a shockingly tedious and underwhelming game.
In
the evening, Michael Katon – the boogie man from Hell, Michigan
– played a rare UK gig at the Half Moon in Herne Hill. Was it
worth the short bus-ride and the price of a few large vodka and Diet
Cokes? Of course it was. Although we’ve exchanged emails and
the odd phone call, I hadn’t seen Katon onstage since he played
the Marquee Club in Charing Cross Road; it would’ve been around
the time he released his ‘Proud To Be Loud’ album in 1988.
And yet with sunglasses perched on head, hair trailing way past the
shoulders and what looked like the exact same leather jacket he used
to wear, the guitarist/singer hadn’t changed a bit. We nattered
a little before the show and Michael handed me a copy of his new iTunes
download set ‘Bootleg Boogie’. Sticking to a three-piece
format, Katon’s band included Johnny ‘Bee’ Badanjek,
the drummer of Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and veteran of
tours with Edgar Winter, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Ronnie Montrose
and Nils Lofgren. Suffice to say, they kicked extortionate amounts
of ass.
Pulling
together the likes of ‘Get On The Boogie Train’, ‘Roadhouse
69’, ‘The Devil's Daughter’, ‘Red Moon Rising’,
‘Rip It Hard’, ‘No More Whiskey’, ‘On
The Prowl For A Hoochie Mama’, ‘Bad Machine’, ‘Whiskey
Hill’, ‘Motorcycle Blues’, the salsa-licious ‘Barbeque
On My Boogie’ and a slide-infused cover of the John Lee Hooker
standard ‘Crawling King Snake’, the show ran for a finger-lickin’
two hours, including just about everything I hoped to hear except
‘I Ain’t Ready To Go Steady’ and the title cut of
‘Proud To Be Loud’. Ah whatever… if and when Katon
and his group return, don’t miss ‘em.
_
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Saturday
17th May
There’s absolutely no point in attempting to hide the
fact that I consider Gene $immons a de$picably tire$ome, humourle$$,
wig-$porting $peck of humanity – so I won’t. But…
BUT… BUT!!!... Have you seen the set-list that Kiss are playing
on their latest bout of European dates?! Jeezus H Christ… the
whole of the ‘Alive!’ double-album, in almost its original
running order, and performed in replicas of their 1975 stage costumes
(though it’s too bad the original drummer and lead guitarist
were left at home), topped off by encores of ‘Shout It Out Loud’,
‘Lick It Up’, ‘I Love It Loud’, ‘I Was
Made For Loving You’ and ‘Detroit Rock City’. Now
**that** is gonna be impressive.
P.S. It’s the Cup Final today. Portsmouth, a team that I despise,
against the similarly revered Cardiff City. Sigh. And yawn. And indeed
barf. Who to support in such an ignominious showdown. At least Portsmouth
aren’t Welsh, I suppose. Upon reflection, maybe I’ll just
mow the bloody lawn instead.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
16th May
Well,
I’ve almost finished Mark Blake’s weighty tome on Pink
Floyd, Pigs Might Fly. Painstakingly researched, cleanly and brightly
written, and without a hint of bias regarding the vicious rivalry
between bassist/vocalist Roger Waters and the rest of the group, it
does Blakey – better known to some of his journo friends as
The Gloy Boy, for unsavoury reasons I won’t go into here –
proud. If a member of the Floyd broke wind or scratched a personal
itch between their earliest days in Cambridge and 2005’s Live
8 reunion, The Gloyster knew all about it. Perhaps the most darkly
fascinating segment comes when deejay Nicky Horne (then with Capital
Radio, now of Planet Rock) is despatched, at guitarist David Gilmour’s
behest, to interview the reclusive Syd Barrett for a special show
to preview the release of the ‘Animals’ album in 1977
(one of my fave Floyd platters, BTW… in fact I’m playing
it right now). Anyway, Horne bowls up at Barrett’s room at the
Hilton Hotel in Park Lane, explaining to the overweight, bald, eyebrow-less
person he meets that he’s been sent by Gilmore, only to be greeted
by the words “Syd. Can’t. Talk”, followed by the
shutting of the door in his face. How tragic.
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Thursday
15th May
Nice
one. Good ol’ Roadrunner Records have sent a ‘special
edition’ two-disc copy of ‘Watershed’, the new album
from Opeth. Just in time, as my well-thumbed
watermarked promo is beginning to skip in places.
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Wednesday
14th May
I feel like I’ve been mugged. Last night Crystal Palace
hauled themselves back into the game against Bristol City and came
within a lick of paint – Ben Watson’s penalty rebounded
against the post – from sealing another visit to Wembley in
a play-off final. But despite having bossed most of the match, silencing
the home crowd in the process, it was not to be. Once again Bristol’s
strikers produced two wonder-goals to turn the tide… ah well,
with thousands still being dragged from ruined buildings in Sichuan
and more senseless knife crime in London, there are more important
things to worry about. But I’m very proud of the way Palace
performed in the latter two-thirds of the season. If we’d had
Warnock (whose name I actually found myself singing at Ashton Gate)
as manager from August onwards, we’d have gone up automatically.
Champions in 2008/2009, that’s my prediction.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 13th May
Sadly, I must pass on House Of Lords at the Underworld tonite.
At lunchtime I will speeding off to the Westcountry, where I hope
to witness Palace becoming to fist side ever to make the play-off
final after losing the home leg of their semi-final. It’s a
big ask, but WTF. With CPFC, you never know what’s in store.
I don't think we **will** win, but given the strength and confidence
that Warnock has instilled into the side, I still reckon we **could**…
and that’s enough to carry me down the M4.
P.S. My aural fuel for the journey will be Testament’s mighty
fine newie, ‘The Formation Of Damnation’ (Nuclear Blast).
For quite some time, folks whose opinions I respect – Malcolm
Dome, Jerry Ewing, Hammer ed Alex Milas – have been telling
me about this album’s genius… now that I’ve heard
it I concur wholeheartedly. Messrs Ulrich, Hetfield and Rubin, the
gauntlet has been thrown down…
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Monday
12th May
Happy
birthday Eddie Ling! The Reuters news page has posted a rather fine
Q&A interview with Bruce Dickinson in which the singer addresses
his 1993 departure from Iron Maiden, also the scenarios that led to
his return to the band. “I didn't think they'd have any problem
finding another singer [after I left], but their subsequent career
path hit a few oily patches on the road,” says Dickinson. “[Meanwhile],
my own career fell off a cliff”. Reading it reminded me of the
occasion in 1998 when myself and Malcolm Dome accepted an invitation
to a Christmas party thrown by Rod Smallwood and Sanctuary Management.
A still-solo Bruce was present and just about everybody in the room
had enjoyed a few too many shandies. You could’ve knocked Malc
and myself over with a feather when a grinning Bruce took us aside
to reveal that he was seriously considering rejoining the band…
this was some way before it was officially announced to the press;
Blaze Bayley was still their singer. Talk about a metal moment in
time…
I
love the way that Dickinson likens the band he first joined in 1981
to the present-day line-up. “The way we play the songs now is
in many ways more powerful, it's more under control,” he observes.
“It's not like somebody running so fast that their legs are
running away underneath them, which is kind of what it was like in
the 80s. This is a mature runner now who knows the pace and has always
got something in the tank for the sprint when it's appropriate. We’ve
reached that sweet spot.”
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Sunday
11th May
I
**should** be disconsolate following yesterday’s first leg of
the play-offs. Losing 1-2 at home to Bristol City is a very disappointing
result, but fair play to the visitors who snuffed out the threats
of Victor Moses and Scott Sinclair by whatever means they had at their
disposal and scored two terrific goals, one a peach of a training
ground move and the other a 35-yard rocket that gave Speroni no chance.
With a second game to follow at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night, I still
fancy Palace’s chances of turning things around – the
odds of the Eagles playing as badly again must be somewhat remote.
But
what the heck… given the club’s early season form, even
being in the play-offs at all is a bonus. Next season we’ll
be a force to be reckoned with, so I’m not too distraught. Brilliant
sunshine is flooding in through my office window, the hangover is
almost non-existent and I’m playing The Isley Brothers’
‘Greatest Hits’… if there’s a better song
to suit the day than ‘Summer Breeze’ then I’d be
hard-pushed to name it.
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Saturday
10th May
Christ - it's 5.53am and there's around six hours to go till
the big kick-off, but sleep's the last thing on my mind. The house
is quiet as a mouse and Bob the dog is sat nuzzling my feet as I wade
through the emails.
As the division's form side, the bookies have made Palace the favourites
to win the play-offs but the equation involves three other teams -
Hull, Twatford and Bristol City, the latter of whom we play at Selhurst
at 12.15pm - who've performed more consistently than us throughout
the season. I hate it when the Eagles are expected to win, 'cos we
never do. Very shortly it'll be time for a vodka. Time to top up last
night's levels again, find the lucky shirt, drink out of the lucky
mug...
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Thursday
8th May
How upsetting. One of my favourite festivals, the Rock And Blues Custom
Show, has been called off after the organisers withdrew their application
for a licence amid fears of a biker war. Police intelligence had predicted
a clash between rival gangs over the shooting of 35-year-old Gerard
Tobin after a rival festival last August. This year's show was due
to feature Glenn Hughes And Friends, Molly Hatchet, Fastway, GMT,
Blackfoot, Magnum, Hanoi Rocks and Budgie - quite a bill here in Lingland.
On a more upbeat note, Al Kooper, who I recently interviewed for Classic
Rock, has sent a copy of his autobiography. It's been out of print
of a while and this new edition has been updated... hope that Backstage
Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs Of A Rock 'N' Roll Survivor
lives up to its fanciful title.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
7th May
Despite my state of exhaustion, there was no danger of nodding
off at last night's Def Leppard gig. It's been a while since Leppard
had played such an intimate hall as the Islington Academy, and with
the downstairs area full of cheering fans and the balcony stuffed
with media representatives making the most of a free bar, a good night
was had by just about everyone. Intended as a promotional bash for
the just-released 'Songs From The Sparkle Lounge' album, the band
featured four songs from their new baby, including my own favourite,
'Bad Actress' (which Joe Elliott grinned "isn't necessarily about
Lindsay Lohan - but it might be"). Elliott was clearly still
struggling with the illness that forced the cancellation of some US
not too long ago, but the band seemed to be having fun despite the
unusally crammed surroundings. Indeed, they even returned for an unscheduled
second encore, reeling back the years to their first two albums with
'Mirror, Mirror (Look into My Eyes)' and the timeless 'Wasted'. Here's
what filled Leppard's 75 minutes onstage: 'Let It Go', 'Action', 'Bad
Actress', 'Armageddon It', 'Rocket', 'Nine Lives', 'Hallucinate',
'Animal', 'Photograph', 'Pour Some Sugar On Me', 'Let's Get Rocked',
'C'Mon C'Mon', 'Rock Of Ages', 'Mirror, Mirror (Look into My Eyes)'
and 'Wasted'. Not bad at all, huh?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 6th May
It's lunchtime and I'm back from Selhurst, safely clutching
tickets for the home and away legs of Palace's play-off semi-finals
with Bristol City. Arrived at the ground at 6.45am to join the queues.
Luckily I'd brought Pigs Might Fly, Mark Blake's excellent and exhaustive
Pink Floyd book, to soak up some waiting time. I'm off to see Def
Leppard at the Islington Academy tonite; it's been a long day, might
have to invest in some matchsticks to prise the ol' eyes open. P.S.
Better late than never, here are this month's Playlist
and YouTube.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 4th May
Look - I;m vety drunk an typing carefully. Jyst home from
Selhurst.. Palace made the play-offb, winning 5-0 (yes. Very un-Palace-like).
I'm sitting here with FM's 'Indiscreet' blaring, an a dpint of wine
(with ice-cubes - ok it's gay). I Love fottbvall.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 3rd May
Following his diary entry of a few days ago, Ross Halfin
will be amused to learn that last night was spent at the Astoria 2,
enjoying a Wishbone Ash concert (my first sighting of them in three
years, in case anyone believes Ross' blatherings that I'm obsessed
by them). The band were playing their 1972 masterpiece 'Argus' in
its entirety. Tasty! Didn't make notes 'cos I wasn't reviewing, and
to be honest several glasses of white wine had served to lubricate
the gullet. But they did play all seven 'Argus' tracks in consecutive
order, with the ever-triumphant 'Phoenix', 'Living Proof', 'Blind
Eye', 'Jailbait' and 'The Way Of The World', from 1978's 'No Smoke
Without Fire', all surfacing the in the latter half of the 130-minute
performance. 'Happiness' and 'In Crisis' both represented the latest
disc, 'Power Of Eternity'. They might've done more new stuff than
that but, as I say, I was enjoying a liquid end to a tough week.
Speaking of the Ash, I was glad that guitarist/singer Andy Powell
enjoyed my five-page Classic Rock story on the making of 'Argus',
which of course touches upon the rivalry between Powell's Ash and
the rival incarnation fronted by ex-bassist Martin Turner. He was
disappointed but unsurprised by the quote from Turner - "Every
time I go to see Andy's band I always end up in the bar". If
you've read the piece and wondered why Powell was getting so uptight
regarding the ownership of the name - "The 'Martin Turner' part
getting left off the adverts causes a big problem. It mistakenly causes
people to think there are two versions Wishbone Ash", says Andy
- there was tangible evidence of his claim in the freebie newspaper
London Lite, which printed a colour photo of Turner in its gig guide
and began with the words: "The veteran British rockers, led by
Martin Turner..." Oh dear...
P.S. So that prize  Boris
Johnson is the new mayor of London. Rest assured, the idiots that
voted for Johnson on the strength of seeing him on topical TV quiz
Have I Got New For You will live to regret their foolishness.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Friday
2nd May
It's belated, admittedly, but here's my five penn'oth about
Whitesnake's new album. The impressive chart placings speak for themselves,
but whilst I've always been more into the band's blues-based era -
'Trouble' thru 'Saints & Sinners' - 'Good To Be Bad' is plenty
good enough. The band sound lively, the songs rock convincingly and
I love that cheeky cry of "eyyy-ooop" at the start of 'Got
What You Need'... Terrific stuff. The tour with Def Leppard will be
a corker.
Yesterday's postbag also included a promo of 'Calm Before The Storm',
the debut album by Lauren Harris (Demolition Records, June 23). Obviously,
it sounds nothing like Iron Maiden (her father is that band's Steve
- keep up at the back! - who cranks up the expectation levels by guesting
on a few of the record's songs). If you like Pat Benatar-style pop-rock,
chances are you'll be pleasantly surprised. Admittedly, I've seen
Lauren onstage a few times so I already knew the album's core, but
this is catchy, hummable stuff. Okay, it's very Benatar in places,
but who else makes that kind of music these days? Furthermore, there's
a bonus version of UFO's 'Natural Thing', and she's also recorded
her live favourite 'Come On Over', penned by Stray's Del Bromham and
Steve Gadd. The gal has taste!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 1st May
For the past few weeks I'd been planning on going to the
Underworld for last night's gig from NWOBHM survivors Blitzkrieg,
however the chance of earning a quid or two from interviewing Rick
Derringer put paid to that. Hahaha... not that it was a chore or anything.
As the man who inspired the title of the Steely Dan classic 'Rikki
Don't Lose That Number', Derringer turned out to be a pleasant, talkative
fella. Blitzkrieg will have to wait for another day.
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