Thursday 31st May
Off to the Borderline for Jettblack’s album
launch party. I felt a little sorry for Night By Night,
who opened the show as the venue gradually filled. However,
they’ve got some great songs including ‘Holding
On’, ‘Final Regret’ and the video tune
‘Time To Escape’, which kicks off with a stomping
riff akin to Budgie’s ‘In For The Kill’
before launching off into something that’s infinitely
more harmonious. The band still remind me of a younger
version of Def Leppard, which of course is no bad thing.
Regrettably, in the flesh Barbe-Q-Barbies weren’t
anywhere near as babealicious as their promo photographs
had seemed to suggest. The Finnish all-girl combo’s
brand of rock-a-boogie with a slight whiff of sleaze was
equally unremarkable, barring the odd anomaly such as
‘Twisted Little Sister’.
The Borderline was packed and sweaty for Jettblack, who
are spiritual descendents of such hairy melodic metal
behemoths as Whitesnake, Skid Row and Dokken. Lack of
confidence or false modesty will never be issues for this
fine quartet from High Wycombe. Anthems such as ‘Inbetween
Lovers’, ‘Temptation’ and ‘Less
Torque, More Thrust’ were lifted from an album called
‘Raining Rock’ that has yet to enter the public
domain but received rapturously by the crowd, and it’s
a stone cold certainty that they’ll be as popular
as golden oldies from last year’s underrated ‘Get
Your Hands Dirty’ by the time the band hit the road
again in October. Here’s the set-list: ‘Less
Torque, More Thrust’, ‘Inbetween Lovers’,
‘Get Your Hands Dirty’, ‘Prison Of Love’,
‘Sunshine’, ‘Not Even Love’, ‘Instrumental’,
‘The Sweet And The Brave’, ‘Feel The
Love’, ‘Two Hot Girls’, ‘Raining
Rock’, Slip It On’, ‘Sleep’ and
‘Dangerzone’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 29th May
Been out for a 6am run, showered, washed the
bedclothes, made sandwiches, got kids off to school, breakfasted
and watched an episode of Dexter... Phew! Now off to work
on Classic Rock news pages.
Bah! The Crystal Palace Garden Party, due to have taken
place on June 23/24, has been cancelled due to the promoter’s
discovering that “weather wear” has caused
the joists of its stage to become rotten. Hmmm…
given the fact that discounted tickets are being sold
at the Prog
magazine website this sounds a bit like Mötley
Crüe’s legendary ‘snow on the roof’
story to me. With Rick Wakeman, Hawkwind and more due
to have appeared, and the venue a short bus ride away,
that’s a show I’d definitely have attended.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 28th May
A Facebook posting from Krusher Joule reminds
me that Wendy O. Williams would have been 63 years old
today!! Where does the time go?? Here's a very
silly photo of WOW and I during a Metal Hammer photo
session / interview for the ‘Maggots: The Record’
album in London way back 1987. I agree with an email that
just arrived from Dave Reynolds: What always struck me
was how lovely Wendy to talk to, and totally at odds with
her fearsome rock persona.
Interesting……. Despite having repeatedly voiced
opposition to such proposals, Sebastian Bach has revealed
that four of Skid Row’s seminal five-piece line-up
are agreeable to the idea of reuniting. “Believe
it or not, I am one of the four who would do it,”
admits the singer. I wouldn’t mind betting that
bassist Rachel Bolan, who cannot stand Seb, is the fly
in the ointment. Would love to see it happen, though.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 27th May
Had a fantastic time at Crystal Palace FC’s
annual Beer Festival, which took place on three levels
of the Holmesdale Road stand. Bathed in scorching hot
sun and with 20 different types of ciders available, it
was the perfect way to limber up for the evening’s
Judas Priest gig at a sold-out Hammersmith Apollo. For
the record, my favourite tipple was Wylde Wood Vintage
Original (ABV 7.3%).
Kobra And The Lotus opened the show. Fronted by a cute,
blonde, leather-encrusted female, the Canadians metalheads
are Gene $immons’ favourite new band. Hmm…
wonder why? Focussing on material from their 2nd album
(self-titled, available via $Immons Records/Spinefarm
in August), material such as ‘Welcome To My Funeral’
and ‘50 Shades Of Evil’ represents a vast
improvement over their independent 2009 debut ‘Out
Of The Pit’.
A short (50-minute) special guest slot from Saxon was
brilliantly effective. Just look at the friggin’
set-list: ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’, ‘Hammer
Of The Gods’, ‘The Power & The Glory’,
‘I’ve Got To Rock To Stay Alive’, ‘20,000
Feet’, ‘Crusader’, ‘747 (Strangers
In The Night)’, ‘Denim And Leather’,
‘Wheels Of Steel’ and ‘Princess Of The
Night’. Biff Byford might as well have lobbed down
the proverbial gauntlet, yelled: “Follow that!”
and flounced off into the wings.
The ecstatic audience reaction would have told you that
Priest achieved their goal, yet I found their performance
disappointing. Sad to say, it’s pretty unlikely
that I shall go and watch them again. Instrumentally speaking
the band has survived the retirement of KK Downing, and
with a set that covered all 14 of the band’s Halford-fronted
studio records the show ran for almost two and a half
hours, but Rob Halford’s voice has seen much better
days. Just like at last year’s High Voltage Festival
it coped well enough at the start, and surprisingly he
made decent fist of ‘Beyond The Realms Of Death’,
but by the time ‘Painkiller’ came around it
sounded like an out of tune transistor radio with volume
cranked to the max in vain hope of compensation, concealment
or both. Here’s what was played: ‘Rapid Fire’,
‘Metal Gods’, ‘Heading Out To The Highway’,
‘Judas Rising’, ‘Starbreaker’,
‘Victim Of Changes’, ‘Never Satisfied’,
‘Diamonds & Rust’, ‘Dawn Of Creation’/‘Prophecy’,
‘Night Crawler’, ‘Turbo Lover’,
‘Beyond The Realms Of Death’, ‘The Sentinel’,
‘Blood Red Skies’, ‘The Green Manalishi
(With The Two Pronged Crown)’, ‘Breaking The
Law’, Drum Solo and ‘Painkiller’, plus
encores of ‘The Hellion’/‘Electric Eye’,
‘Hell Bent For Leather’, ‘You’ve
Got Another Thing Comin’ (which at 14 mins long
including Halford’s singalong intro and a guitar
solo from Richie Faulkner almost sent me to sleep) and
‘Living After Midnight’.
Arriving back in Catford I watched the highlights of the
afternoon’s friendly between Norway and England,
the first game with Roy Hodgson as manager. A 1-0 win
was a satisfactory result, though the second half performance
left much to be desired.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 26th May
To converse with Gary Rossington is always a
pleasure. Before heading off to Shepherd’s Bush
Empire for the co-header between Glenn Hughes and Fish,
I interviewed the veteran guitarist about Lynyrd Skynyrd’s
forthcoming album, ‘Last Of A Dyin’ Breed’.
Agreeable by nature and generous of quote, Rossington
is a true Southern gentleman. I’m looking forward
to seeing his band again at the Hammersmith Apollo in
a little over a week’s time.
With London still simmering in a heat haze there was just
enough time for a thirst quenching cider with my friends
Caroline Gibbons and Danny Gwilym before Fish took to
the stage to a hilarious intro tape voiced by a Lisa Simpson
soundalike. Clad in a long scarf and wearing specs Mr
Dick was in fine voice, bemoaning “the car park
that is London” and responding gruffly to requests
for ‘Grendel’, a song from the Marillion days
that he
will revive later this year. Some didn’t appreciate
his narratives about Lockerbie or the anti-Blair rants,
but they should know by now: Never heckle Fish. When some
prat bellowed: “5-1” in reference to Hibs’
recent thrashing in Scottish cup final the singer simply
emitted a monosyllabic glower of: “death”.
As another buffoon bellowed out for ‘The Perception
Of Johnny Punter’, a 12-minute epic from the Steven
Wilson-produced ‘Sunsets On Empire’ that had
already opened the set, Fish witheringly responded: “Already
done it. You should’ve come in earlier!”
Creatively speaking Fish is in something of a purple patch,
his most recent album ‘13th Star’ being his
best since the aforementioned ‘Sunsets On Empire’.
So I expected to have heard more than one of its selections
(namely ‘Openwater’). I certainly didn’t
expect him to close his set with ‘Forgotten Sons’,
one of two Marillion gems to raise its head in the 80-minute
display (the other being ‘Assassing’). Fish’s
set-list ran as follows: ‘The Perception Of Johnny
Punter’, ‘Credo’, ‘Assassing’,
‘Long Cold Day’, ‘Innocent Party’,
‘So Fellini’, ‘Openwater’, ‘Vigil’
and ‘Forgotten Sons’.
Alas, as Fish’s set drew to a close my eldest son
Eddie texted about a domestic incident that dragged me
back to Catford… can’t recall the last time
I missed a London performance by the Voice Of Rock, but
with an ambulance involved my family crisis was more important.
(For the record: All is now okay again at Ling Towers).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 25th May
Last night was spent in the Crobar where the
young Scottish band Estrella
performed an hour-long set as part of a launch party thrown
for their debut album. I’ve penned a few kind words
about the Bon Jovi/Def Leppard-ish strains of ‘Come
Out To Play’ for both Classic Rock and Metal Hammer
but was inquisitive about their ability to recreate its
songs in a live setting – especially as the keyboards
plastered so liberally all over its songs were performed
by none other than John Sinclair of Uriah Heep, Ozzy,
The Cult fame. Sinclair produced the record with assistance
from Ashley Howe, producer of Heep’s ‘Abominog’
and ‘Head First’ among many others, and it
was mastered by Richard Dodd (Heep’s ‘Raging
Silence’, Francis Dunnery, Joey Tempest).
Given the album’s reliance upon keys I was taken
aback to find that the Aberdonians don’t employ
a live ivories player. Using samples seemed like a bit
of a swizz. Resplendent in a Zakk Wylde-approved pair
of bell bottoms and confident enough to strut onto an
empty dance floor, fall to his knees and throw exaggerated
rock star shapes during ‘Do It Till We Drop’,
guitarist Luke Gunn showed big potential. There were times
when Estrella matched his precociousness but as a live
act they must improve to match the undoubted quality of
their album.
Estrella’s biggest problem? Their material lacks
consistency. The band have two great songs (‘Chance
Of A Lifetime’ and ‘Party’) and a hatful
of good ones, including ‘Come Out And Play’,
‘One Love’, ‘Don’t Forget Me’,
‘Whatever It Is’ and ‘Mona Lisa Smile’,
the latter of which displays a downright spooky resemblance
to ‘Voice On My TV’, a track from Heep’s
‘Raging Silence’. Regrettably, whilst their
studio counterparts sound okay ‘Do It Till We Drop’,
‘Shout’, ‘Rocker Lily’, ‘She’s
Got It’, ‘Last Mohican’ and ‘I’d
Give It All To You’ all fall into the category marked
‘filler’. However, time is firmly on Estrella’s
side and I’d definitely like to see them again.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 24th May
The weather remains fantastic. My working day
(which included phone interviews with Robert Cray and
ex-Audioslave/Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello)
has just been interrupted by an enjoyable run in a sun-kissed
local park with the iPod on shuffle. A bit of a 'Whoa!
Cool!' moment came when I realised how well Zeppelin’s
‘Heartbreaker’ segues into Wild And Wonderful’
by The Almighty.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 23rd May
With London basking in glorious sunshine it made
sense to imbibe a few glasses of ice cold scrumpy cider
before entering the Islington Academy 2 to check out the
new line-up of Gun. With bass player Dante Gizzi stepping
up to claim the role of frontman after Toby Jepson’s
departure, the Glaswegians have made a rather splendid
new album entitled ‘Break The Silence’. Though
it’s not due for release till July 9th they were
sufficiently confident to go for an almost 50-50 split
between new and old material. I was pleased by the inclusion
of ‘Lost And Found’, which with its slightly
T Rex-flavoured vibe and lyrics about “a brand new
sound” is to these ears the record’s strongest
tune. Of the other five newies, only ‘Caught In
the Middle’ failed to fulfil its studio potential
(the others being ‘14 Stations’, ‘Last
Train’, ‘Butcher Man’ and ‘Break
The Silence’).
Unencumbered by his bass guitar, Gizzi seemed at home
with the microphone. In truth, the sound was a little
muddy and his voice should really have been more prominent
in the mix though I suspect he does have the wherewithal
to adapt successfully to his new vocation. During a triumphant
‘Steal Your Fire’ he conducted a wild singalong
of just a couple of hundred people as though his band
were headlining at Murrayfield, Download or Rock In Rio.
When he announced “We want you to know that we love
playing these tracks as much as you love listening to
them”, Gizzi’s commitment to the Gun cause
was unmistakable. His introduction of ‘Money (Everybody
Loves Her)’ as “the fourth single from [the]
‘Taking On The World’ [album, a 1989 release
that Classic Rock once included a list of the 150 greatest
debut Albums of all time]” was also a pretty potent
reminder of the status once commanded by this fine, now
underrated band. In case you wondered, the other oldies
they included were ‘Don’t Say It’s Over’,
‘Seems Like I’m Losing You’, ‘Taking
On The World’, ‘Better Days’, ‘Word
Up’ and ‘Shame On You’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 22nd May
Big, big news for fans of Status Quo’s
classic four-man line-up. There have been many, rumours
but in a new interview with Sweden’s Nostalgia R'n'R
Magazine, Francis Rossi reveals next year's activities:
** The Frantic Four are going to tour (“in March,
8-10 gigs”)
** There will be a new album.
** The tour will concentrate on the “old stuff”.
** '(April) Spring, Summer And Wednesdays' and '4500 Times'
will be included.
** They will open with ‘Junior’s Wailing’.
** They will *not* play ‘Rockin’ All Over
The World’ (nor indeed, one assumes, The Birdie
Song AKA ‘Burning Bridges’)
** They will play Lancaster's celebrated 'Backwater' (Hopefully
'Just Take Me', too).
** It's even being speculated that there will be no keyboards.
** According to Rossi, the doctors can’t find “any
trace” of the MS that Lancaster was diagnosed with
a few years back!
You’ve no idea how happy the above makes me. And
lookee here… My ticket for Saturday’s gig
by Judas Priest, Saxon and Kobra & The Lotus has arrived.
The biggest problem? During the afternoon my fellow Eagles
supporter Neil Pudney and I will be attending a Beer Festival
at the ground of Crystal Palace FC at which some 20 different
types of cider are available. By the time I get to Hammersmith
I'll probably be talking Klingon.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 21st May
Since reuniting without their talismanic guitarist/singer
Francis Dunnery five years ago, It Bites are still struggling
to escape the shadow of ‘Calling All The Heroes’,
a Top Ten hit from 1986 that keysman John Beck sagely
tells the new issue of Classic Rock did for the band what
‘Hi-Ho Silver Lining’ achieved for Jeff Beck
(“It put him on the charts but didn’t represent
him at all”). Gradually, though, their fortunes
are taking a turn for the better.
Despite a clash with Steve Hackett across town, last night’s
show at the compact but ornate Bush Hall was sold out.
With the stage set up as a living room, the band were
in fine form, larking and joking as they performed their
wonderful new opus, the conceptual ‘Map Of The Past’
in is entirety. Just like Beck, drummer Bob Dalton had
braved the venue’s oppressive heat to wear the army
outfit that he sports on the record’s sleeve. “How’s
that working out for you Bob?” quipped frontman
John Mitchell. “Now I know how Captain Wainwaring
[of Dad’s Army] felt,” grinned the percussionist,
causing Mitchell to wonder aloud: “Did Captain Wainwaring
ever play the drums in a prog-rock band? Oh hang on, this
is England… he probably did!”
Let’s be honest: Performing the whole of ‘MOTP’
was a hefty risk, especially as it’s far less immediate
than its 2008 predecessor ‘The Tall Ships’.
Lasting for an hour – two-thirds of the performance
– the new album’s ten conceptually linked
songs were delivered in sequence, before the band played
three tunes from ‘The Tall Ships’, ending
things – finally – with a Dunnery era song
(‘Kiss Like Judas’). That there are no grumbles
whatsoever reflected the goodwill commanded by both group
and the record concerned. Me? I reckon the gamble paid
off. Catch the latest leg of this remarkable reinvention
when It Bites headline a night of the Celebr8
Festival in July or, according to Mitchell, during
another tour in November. Meanwhile, here’s the
set-list: ‘Man In The Photograph’, ‘Wallflower’,
‘Map Of The Past’, ‘Clocks’, ‘Flag’,
‘The Big Machine’, ‘Cartoon Graveyard’,
‘Send No Flowers’, ‘Meadow And The Stream’,
‘The Last Escape’ and ‘Exit Song’,
followed by encores of ‘Ghosts’, ‘Oh
My God’, ‘The Wind That Shakes The Barley’
and ‘Kiss Like Judas’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 20th May
Never, ever mix wine, cider, vodka and bourbon
during a single sitting... Despite a truly horrendous
hangover, I’ve just completed my Download Festival
programme copy. I shall celebrate this fact with a quick
run, before braving rail replacement services and a pilgrimage
to Shepherd’s Bush for a show by the mighty It Bites
in the company of pals Mark taylor and Sara Harding.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 18th May
It’s 10pm and I type whilst closing down
my office at the conclusion of one of my busiest weeks
in many a year. I was at my desk by 6am each day, remaining
there till 9pm or 10pm. Am looking forward to a nice,
relaxing weekend. Oh no, hold on a minute… there
are still some Download Festival programme notes to complete
and a big pile of CDs to review. D’oh!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 17th May
What incredible timing. Yesterday, on the second
anniversary of Ronnie James Dio’s death, Bill Ward
announced that he will not be playing with Black Sabbath
this summer. The group’s “representative”,
whomever that might be (!), apparently told him: “Come
to the UK, play for free and see how the first show [a
warm-up date in Birmingham] goes.” More insulting
still, Ward was also informed that he could be onstage
for a part of the Download Festival set – three
songs – but not all of it. I don’t blame him
for walking away with dignity... which is more than can
be said for everyone else involved.
My evening was spent at the Islington Academy. I’ve
been a fan of Delain, the Dutch symphonic metalheads,
since seeing them open for Sonata Artica on the same stage
three years ago. My review in Metal Hammer ended with
the words: “These guys won’t be a support
act for much longer”. Now touring their third album,
‘We Are The Others’, they are making very
good progress indeed.
Trillium, featuring the well respected singing tutor Amanda
Somerville, were the opening act. Somerville once stood
in for Simone Simons when the latter was too ill to partake
in a North American tour with Epica. Siren-like, sporting
exorbitant blonde tresses and with a friendly stage presence,
the Michigan native proceeded to deliver a vocal masterclass,
serving up the highlights of Trillium’s ‘Alloy’
album (‘Mistaken’, ‘Bow To The Ego’)
with ‘Set Afire’, a tune from her collaboration
with ex-Helloween/current Unisonic frontman Michael Kiske.
An appreciative response from the huge crowd suggested
that many attendees will be going away to Google the name
of Trillium.
In attempting to follow Somerville’s top drawer
display, Charlotte Wessels might well have made a noose
for her own neck. Charlotte is an extremely capable but
far younger singer. Much respect, then, for failing to
be intimidated by her illustrious special guest. Experience
has made Wessels a far superior communicator and the 25-year-old,
who has looked slightly ill at ease in the past, now controls
proceedings with consummate ease. As the band wound up
the 90-minute show with an encore that united two of their
finest tunes, ‘Control The Storm’ and ‘The
Gathering’, their future now looks extremely bright.
The set-list ran as follows: ‘Mother Machine’,
‘Stay Forever’, ‘We Are The Others’,
‘Go Away’, ‘Sever’, ‘Virtue
And Vice’, ‘Generation Me’, ‘Invidia’,
‘April Rain’, ‘See Me In Shadow’,
‘Are You Done With Me’, ‘Get The Devil
Out Of Me’, ‘Shattered’, ‘Babylon’,
‘Sleepwalkers Dream’, ‘Electricity’,
‘Not Enough’, ‘Control The Storm’
and ‘The Gathering’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 16th May
It’s amazing to think that 14 months have
sped by since my last sighting of Erja Lyytinen. In terms
of physical stature the Finn is tiny and petite, looking
dazzling in her pink and sparkly rah-rah skirt. And my…
what a player. Her slide solos are complemented brilliantly
by the accomplished guitar work of Davide Floreno, who
gets his own moment to shine during a lengthy –
at 15 minutes in duration, some might say excessively
long – rendition of ‘Not A Good Girl’
that brought the first of two sets to a close. The evening
revealed two brand new tunes; ‘At Least We Still
Fight’ was Lyttinen at her poppiest, while the guitars
of Erja and Davide integrated marvellously during the
airy, free-flowing ‘Change Of Season’, which
actually hinted at an Allman Bros-style melody when it
reached full flow. During ‘Skinny Girl’ Lyytinen
headed out into the crowd, who cheered as she supped a
drink at the bar before inviting ex-Savoy Brown man John
O’Leary to join in on harmonica. A great night came
to a close with an impressive encore version of Blind
Willie Johnson’s ‘The Soul Of A Man’.
Should you wish me to be ultra critical then Lyytinen’s
accent can at times be a little strong, but when placed
in the context of such exquisite musicianship that’s
probably a little harsh. For those that have yet to hear
her, try picking up a copy of the newly released live
CD/DV package, ‘Songs From The Road’. Meanwhile,
here’s the set-list: ‘The Road Leading Home’,
‘Voracious Love’, ‘Don’t Let A
Good Woman Down’, ‘It Hurts Me Too’,
‘Everything’s Fine’, ‘Grip Of
The Blues’, ‘At Least We Still Fight’,
‘Not A Good Girl’, ‘Things About Coming
My Way’, ‘Change Of Season’, ‘Crossroads’,
‘Skinny Girl’, ‘Oil & Water’
and ‘Soul Of A Man’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 15th May
Unable to get back to sleep after Bob The Dog
awoke me by barking loudly at a fox at the unearthly hour
4.45am, work has begun slightly earlier than usual –
just as well as there are various interview tapes to transcribe
and CDs to review. Phone chat appointments with Dave Brock
of Hawkwind and Bonnie Raitt are also booked in for later
this afternoon.
In the evening, on that grounds that I had front row tickets
for his previous show which took place at the exact same
venue in October, I’m opting to give Steven Wilson
at Shepherd’s Bush Empire a miss. After experiencing
the last one in such close proximity, there’s little
likelihood of improvement. So instead it’s off to
the Beaverwood Club in Chislehurst for a few vodka and
Diet Cokes with my boozing buddy Andrew Beare and another
look at the self-styled Queen Of The Slide Guitar, the
Finnish pocket rocket Ms Erja Lyytinen.
Still on the subject of SW, however, for the last few
days I’ve been aurally seduced by the self-titled
debut album from Storm Corrosion, a sombre new project
from the Porcupine Tree mainman and Opeth’s Mikael
Åkerfeldt. Common wisdom suggests that Storm Corrosion
represent the final part of a trilogy begun by Opeth’s
‘Heritage’ and SW's own ‘Grace For Drowning’
and it’s hard to argue with that. There are almost
no drums... it’s atmospheric film soundtrack music,
with a creepy, compelling edge – every bit as bewitchingly,
darkly wonderful as I’d hoped.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 14th May
For the past week or so I’ve been using
my rare moments of ‘down-time’ to dip in and
out of a great little compendium of music articles entitled
The Mammoth Book Of Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘N’
Roll (Constable & Robinson Books). Though under normal
circumstances I’d have zilch interest in reading
about Elvis Presley, Little Richard or Marvin Gaye, its
chosen selections are so well written as to be almost
fascinating. A Paul Di’Anno-era chapter called ‘Eddie,
The Maiden And The Rue Morgue’, first printed in
the Melody Maker in 1981, made me feel quite nostalgic,
as did Steve Sutherland’s grilling of David Coverdale
circa the ‘Saints & Sinners’ album in
late ’82. Meanwhile, the chapter by Chas Hodges
was so refreshingly honest and carefree that I shall seek
out a copy of the autobiography from whence it came, namely
Chas & Dave: All About Us.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 12th May
Happy 15th birthday to my sports bud, Eddie Lemmy
Selhurst Ling. No, I shall not be at Michael Schenker’s
Shepherd’s Bush Empire gig this evening, nor the
CPFC Player Of The Year bash: Instead it’s a takeaway
and as much rose wine as I can consume to numb the pain
of the Britain’s Got Talent final.
Last night was spent in a rather posh marquee on the fabled
Selhurst Park pitch for the end of season Fans Forum,
which featured manager Dougie Freedman, assistant boss
Lennie Lawrence, academy linchpin Gary Issott (a gentleman
who has performed miracles turning youngsters into professionals)
and members of the CPFC 2010 owners consortium. It was
intriguing to learn about plans of redeveloping the ground
(the relocation to Crystal Palace park is a non-starter,
it seems), the club’s game-plan to get back into
the Premiership and all-important details of its financial
state (£4.5m lost during the last year… phew!),
also the leakage of info on some summer transfer targets
(a South Korean striker? Wow!). Just like his on-pitch
formations (especially towards the end of the last season)
Freedman was way too cautious and dour, but I was impressed
by the way Steve Parish and Lennie Lawrence handled tough
questions and gave useful, believable, intelligent and
entertaining answers. During a discussion about strikers
forming partnerships I was astonished to hear Freedman
say of Clinton Morrison: “I didnae like the guy
as a person, I wouldn’t take a drink with him and
we didn’t exchange Christmas cards, but on the pitch
we played well together”. Most indiscreet considering
how guarded he was throughout. One thing was for sure:
I returned home in the knowledge that my precious football
club is in secure, caring hands.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 11th May
Very cool – just spoke to Machine Head’s
Robb Flynn for the Download Festival programme. It’s
always a pleasure to catch up with Mr Flynn, who I’ve
been interviewing since the long, distant (though extremely
memorable) days of the classic ‘Burn My Eyes’
album in ’94.
Much less cool – my chat with Bonnie Raitt was postponed.
The singer/slide guitarist, whose new album ‘Slipstream’
is terrific, has been suffering from a cold for the last
few days and with shows over the coming weekend her doctor
has advised her to pull all of her interviews. Bah!
I’m taking small yet significant condolence from
the receipt of a new concert release album from Yes. Issued
by Eagle Records on the 28th of this month, ‘Symphonic
Live’ is a single-disc document of the band’s
wonderful, orchestrally-enhanced ‘Masterpieces’
tour back in the summer of 2001. I was lucky enough to
have travelled with the group and seen this show twice
in the US – outdoors at the Wolf Trap Farm Park
in Virginia and 24 hours later at Connecticut’s
Uncas Pavilion – so although the CD is hideously
truncated (the show lasted for two hours and 40 minutes),
hearing it is definitely bringing back some great memories.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 10th May
I’m doing some research before tomorrow’s
interview with Bonnie Raitt. Of course, everyone knows
that ‘list’-based stories are complete crap,
designed purely to provoke debate, but Rolling Stone magazine’s
current chart of the 100 Best Guitarists Of All Time takes
the biscuit. I simply cannot believe they have placed
K**t C**ain at #73, from where he towers above the likes
of Rush’s Alex Lifeson, Mike Campbell from Tom Petty’s
Band, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Dimebag Darrell (RIP),
The Byrds' Roger McGuinn and Bonnie herself. Raitt, who
was had played exemplary slide licks for decades when
Cobain was still trying to fathom out how to open the
case, is placed a lowly 89th – some 16 spots beneath
Nirvana’s late ‘axe hero’. Bizarrely,
Rolling Stone also seem to believe that rhythm guitarist
James Hetfield is a superior player to Metallica’s
lead player Kirk Hammett. The results were apparently
“assembled a panel of top guitarists and other [music]
experts”, but the fact that RS could print such
drivel is, to me, absolutely shameful. Check
out the result for yourself.
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Wednesday 9th May
In between transcribing my interviews with Michael
Sadler and Jim Crichton of Saga, the forthcoming Gun album,
‘Break The Silence’ (produced by Dave Eringa
of the Manics fame and due for release via Ear Music on
July 9), has established itself as a new favourite on
my office Death Deck. With hand on heart I had minimal
expectations after the departure of Toby Jepson but...
wow. It contains some bloody great songs! One after another…
The group’s bass player Dante Gizzi as a ‘proper’
lead singer... who knew??! Only a buffoon would miss their
Download Festival warm-up show at the Islington Academy
on May 22.
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Tuesday 8th May
How exciting: I’m going to be involved
with the second issue of Classic Rock Presents Blues.
Just received a commission to interview Bonnie Raitt about
her new album, ‘Slipstream’, later this week.
Many of Bonnie’s records lurk within my racks of
vinyl and she has a fascinating tale… can’t
wait till our chat.
What an appalling shame to see Ca***ff City miss out in
the play-offs **yet again**. Hahahaha. Commiserations
on that 5-0 aggregate defeat to Wet Sham, Bluebirds. I’m
sure you’ll bounce back next year. Hang on, didn’t
we say that 12 months ago, and the season before…?!
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Monday 7th May
Bank Holiday? What bank holiday??! My weekend was
so darned busy that all hope of attending the Orpington
Record Fair, mowing the lawns and/or watching any of the
televised football was quietly but emphatically canned.
I transcribed a great interview with John Wetton about
the new Asia album, ‘XXX’ (which, incidentally,
is the best thing the band has done since its reunion),
tidied up some Pat Benatar sleeve notes that the singer’s
management wanted me to re-work, awarded 9/10 to the new
Rush album for Metal Hammer and made a good start on my
text for the Download Festival programme. Now that’s
productivity!
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Saturday 5th May
Here’s a real conversation that just took place
in the living room of Ling Towers…
At 8.30am... Eddie Ling: “Hey Dad, as there’s
no proper football this weekend, why don’t we watch
the DVD of Crystal Palace becoming the first team to beat
Br***ton at their new stadium?”
At 8.30am, and two seconds....Dave Ling: “Yessssssssssssssssss!”
Together (singing very loudly at the TV, as Glenn Murray’s
goal ripples the back of the Shiteon net, at 10.05am):
“WE CAN SEE YOU SNEAKING OUT!!!” My, that
brought back great, if slightly blurred, memories.
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Friday 4th May
Oh Lordy, I’ve only gone and done it again
– another sleep-free night after way too many beverages
at the Crobar. Then again, Your Honour, in a plea of mitigation
my offence did happen whilst watching the Quireboys…
it had to be done, right?
During the afternoon I attended the first of three media
playbacks for Rush’s hotly anticipated new album.
And you know what? ‘Clockwork Angels’ might
just be the Canadian band’s best and hardest-rocking
record since the celebrated ‘Moving Pictures’,
performed in its entirety on their last tour but recorded
as long ago as 1981. I particularly liked a song called
‘The Anarchist’ which begins with the type
of brutal guitar motif not heard since ‘Working
Man’ back in the mid-’70s. ‘Clockwork…’
is not consistently heavy, mind, though to these ears
it’s their most consistent set of choons in aeons.
Annoyingly, with Anathema, Manfred Mann’s Earth
and Train all in town, FOUR major rock gigs were competing
for attention on the same night. Due in no small part
to the fact that they were being supported by The Pat
McManus Band, the Quireboys threatened the most fun. Joined
from time to time by Keith Weir of the headliners on keys,
the former Mama’s Boys guitarist was on fine form.
Sure, he’s not the greatest singer in the world
but his voice has character and onstage its flaws are
less important. I almost had to wipe away a nostalgic
tear when his brother John jumped up to sing ‘Runaway
Dreams’ (complete with fiddle section) and ‘Needle
In The Groove’. Also included were two rather fine
tributes to Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore called ‘Return
Of The G Man’ and ‘Belfast Boy’. Wouldn’t
it be nice if somebody wrote a song about Pat McManus
someday?
And so the Quireboys took the stage. Spike was rat-arsed,
no two ways about it, but my… they put on a great
show. Maybe the best I’ve ever seen from the band.
In a great display of reciprocal camaraderie Pat McManus
joined them from time to time, whipping up a storm on
the fiddle, as one barroom standard followed another,
and one pint of cider was washed down by its even sweeter-tasting
successor. A fabulous evening that turned into a very
bleary-eyed morning.
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Thursday 3rd May
An extremely busy day of writing obituaries and editing
stories of the Classic Rock news pages – the former
task certainly makes you feel like an ambulance chaser,
but of course it has to be done. There seems to be so
many more fatalities than usual; this is the second issue
in three months which has filled an entire page of mini-obits
– 11 in total.
I also found the time to grill Joe Elliott about the collapse
of the Rock ‘N’ Roll All Stars tour, plus
two dudes from the prog-rock/metal band Headspace –
singer Damien Wilson and bassist Lee Pomeroy. The latter
chat was very amusing as besides being a member of It
Bites, Pomeroy also performs live with Take That. He told
a great story about the time he spontaneously wove a segment
of ‘Close To The Edge’ by Yes into TB’s
‘Love Ain’t Here Anymore’, and how it
remained there for a whole tour! “Absolutely nobody
realised but the guys in the band,” he guffawed,
“it was one of my proudest moments!”
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Wednesday 2nd May
On heavy rotation here at Ling Towers as I edit the
news pages of Classic Rock #172 are Hawkwind’s ‘Onward’,
the debut from Royal Southern Brotherhood (featuring the
hugely underrated Devon Allman) and Trixter’s excellent
‘New Audio Machine’. In advance of an upcoming
phone interview, I’ve also been getting to know
‘I Am Anonymous’, the full-length debut album
from UK proggers Headspace. It contains some really strong
tunes and Damian Wilson is one heck of a vocalist. Check
out the samples here.
Like many, I’m slightly perplexed by the appointment
of Roy Hodgson as new manager of the English football
team. Hodgson is well liked and respected within the game,
and unlike Harry Rednapp he has run things before at international
level as well as winning European honours. However, the
wheels fell off in no uncertain fashion during his time
as Liverpool boss. Despite all of this, I hope with all
my heart that Roy (not ‘Woy’, you nasty scumbags
at The Sun!) is able to prove himself the man for the
job.
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Tuesday 1st May
Jeeeeeez. It’s still peeing with rain and
there’s nothing much of note to report, but look
out for the monthly updates at the Playlist
and YouTube pages.
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