Monday
30th November
My
Sunday was spent in an unusually leisurely manner. Attempting
to cover from a post-Palace/Motörhead hangover, I
got caught up in the joy of watching England’s cricketers
murdering their South African counterparts and decided
that a hair of the dog might just be the best option.
Most unwise. One bottle of vodka later, I’d also
sat and watched the Everton-Liverpool and Arsenal-Chelsea
games without even switching on the computer. Yikes! Oh
well, with the most hideous of festive editorial deadlines
to contend with in the coming weeks, maybe I deserved
a bit of a rest…
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
29th November
Oh,
how I enjoyed yesterday. The perfect Saturday began with
Palace’s 3-0 all too easy demolition of Twatford
at Selhurst Park (Elton John, Graham ‘Turnip’
Taylor, Tina Wisby… your boys took one hell of a
beating). Victor Moses… what a player. And Julian
Speroni saving that penalty, tremendous. Celebrations
took place at Motörhead’s gig at the Hammersmith
Apollo. Girlschool offered a crisp, enthusiastic display
which ended in memorable fashion with Lemmy strolling
on to join them for the Headgirl classic ‘Please
Don’t Touch’. I hadn’t seen special
guests The Damned for many a long year, but they provided
fantastic entertainment from the first chords of ‘New
Rose’ to a roadie removing Captain Sensible from
the stage as he attempted to follow the last song, ‘Smash
It Up, with a spontaneous rendition of his solo hit ‘Happy
Talk’. Brilliant stuff.
Motörhead
played so loud, I found myself wondering whether that
little old man from the GLC still wanders around with
a volume-o-meter? If so, it clearly requires new batteries.
Even as I type, almost 24 hours later, my ears still ache.
The core of the band’s set has changed little these
past few years, though they at last they’ve dropped
the Bob Seger/Thin Lizzy standard ‘Rosalie’
for another cover tune, none other than Twisted Sister’s
‘Shoot ’Em Down’ – a great choice
if you ask me. It was good to see Würzel The Bastard
rejoin the band again (albeit temporarily), Lemmy’s
son Paul Inder also adding another guitar to the attack.
Here’s the set-list: ‘Iron Fist’, ‘Stay
Clean’, ‘Be My Baby’, ‘Rock Out
With Your Cock Out’, ‘Metropolis’, ‘Over
The Top’, ‘One Night Stand’, ‘I
Got Mine’, Guitar Solo/‘The Thousand Names
Of God’, ‘Cradle To The Grave’, ‘In
The Name Of Tragedy’ (including Drum Solo), ‘Just
‘Cos You Got The Power’, ‘Shoot ’Em
Down’, ‘Orgasmatron’, ‘Going To
Brazil’, ‘Killed By Death’ (with Paul
Inder) and ‘Bomber’, with encores of ‘Whorehouse
Blues’, ‘Ace Of Spades’ (with Würzel)
and ‘Overkill’ (with Würzel).
Saturday 28th November
Last
night was spent at the Forum in London’s Kentish
Town, watching excellent performances by Gong and Steve
Hillage. Having seen both acts at the Lounge On The Farm
festival in Canterbury back in the summer (check out the
diary for 11th July, 2009) I’ll refrain from going
into great detail, especially as the set-lists weren’t
hugely different. This time, though, Mike Howlett was
playing bass, and being indoors the band used its full
range of back projections. The results were stunning.
En
route to Kentish Town I stopped off at the Record &
Tape Exchange (again), locating some quite decent bargains.
A CD anthology from Zappacosta was snapped up (I only
have those albums on vinyl), as was Wigwam’s ‘Hard
To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roller’. Also stumbled
upon ‘Everything In Moderation’, an album
by Winterville, whose singer/guitarist Peter Shoulder
is now, of course, a member of Luke Morley’s new
group The Union.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
27th November
As
promised in yesterday’s diary, a few ciders and
voddie ‘n’ Diet Cokes travelled down the neck
at last night’s Islington Academy gig from Gun.
With ex-Little Angels/Fastway man Toby Jepson having found
his feet as replacement for Mark Rankin, the band’s
performance deserved to have been seen by a bigger crowd,
though the gathering did include Dan Reed, who told me
he was in London for some meetings and almost got up to
join the band for the encores, ex-Thunder/current The
Union guitarist Luke Morley and his manager Malcolm McKenzie,
plus three rather ‘refreshed’-looking members
of Airrace, Laurie Mansworth, Dave Boyce and Dean Howard.
I’ll have a pint of what they’d been on please.
Besides
delving into all four of their existing full-length discs
(even the previously disowned ‘0141 632 6326’
for ‘Crazy You’), the band introduced three
songs from their new mini-album ‘Popkiller’
(five tracks? I’d have said that was an EP, but
whatever…). The title cut is a snappy, hook-laden
little rocker and, based on a superb Jools Gizzi riff,
‘Let Your Hair Down’ has definite chart potential;
Gun have definitely moved their sound into more contemporary
territory, though I was marginally less taken with the
evening’s final newie, ‘Seraphina’.
I laughed as Dante Gizzi handed Jepson his bass to deliver
‘Something Worthwhile’, throwing in a few
ridiculous Ali G dance shapes along the way, though as
an ardent hater of The Police, the decision to merge ‘Inside
Out’ with ‘So Lonely’ almost caused
an outbreak of projectile vomiting from yours truly. Here’s
the set-list: ‘Welcome To The Real World’,
‘Don’t Say It’s Over’, ‘Seems
Like I’m Losing You’, ‘Popkiller’,
‘Money (Everybody Loves Her)’, ‘Taking
On The World’, ‘Let Your Hair Down’,
‘Better Days’, ‘Crazy You’, ‘Seraphina’,
‘Something Worthwhile’, Medley: ‘Inside
Out’/‘So Lonely’, ‘Steal Your
Fire’, ‘Shame On You’ and the inevitable
encore of ‘World Up’, the band’s rabble-rousing
hit re-make of the Cameo dancefloor favourite.
P.S.
I’ve been having some fun surfing around the new
Tigertailz website, www.tailz.tv,
which includes all manner of videos and interactive gubbins.
Worth a look if you’re a fellow Love Bomb Baby.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
26th November
The day started as usual. I was walking Bob the dog
around the park, discussing where to meet my friend Steve
Way before Palace’s game with Twatford on Saturday.
Then everything turned to shit when Steve’s text
chat included the words: ‘What a shame about Ronnie
James Dio’. Not yet having been online, Monsewer
Way (no relation) had to inform me that Ronnie has been
diagnosed with stomach cancer. Please excuse the pun,
but I was gutted. Ronnie is not only a musical hero but,
in my experience, a diamond fella. By all accounts they
caught the condition in its early stages, but… sweet
Christ on a bike… at 67 years young, that sounds
nasty. I will raise a glass of cider or three as a symbolic
toast to RJD’s good health at this evening’s
Gun gig. As the press release from his management states:
“Long Live Rock And Roll, Long Live Ronnie James
Dio.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 24th November
Just
about now, under normal circumstances, I’d have
been vibing myself up for tonight’s Dio gig…
but sadly, it’s been cancelled. With Ratt’s
show at Islington Academy and Slayer at the Forum also
both delayed till next year, it’s gonna be an unusually
quiet week. At least I got to talk to Luke Morley and
Peter Shoulder of The Union today during a quick interview,
and this evening I’m lined up to do a phoner with
John Baizley of the excellent band Baroness.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 23rd November
Compared
to the rest of the country, with bridges and people being
washed away by torrential rain in the north of England,
London got off lightly. As my son and I got soaked to
the skin whilst traipsing round Greenwich Market in search
of a birthday pressie for Mrs L, I cursed inwardly. Rather
selfish when one considers the suffering of others. There
was one major consolation: I picked up a mint vinyl copy
of Mountain drummer Corky Laing’s 1977 solo album,
‘Makin’ It On The Street’, for little
more than a song at Greenwich’s Record & Tape
Exchange… bargain!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
22nd November
I
was pretty happy with the score line of Coventry 1 Palace
1, especially as the home side might’ve taken all
three points after the Eagles took the lead – once
again courtesy of that man Darren Ambrose (goal #11 for
the season so far). With just one defeat in eleven matches
CPFC are becoming tough to beat, but those draws must
be transformed into victories if we are to have any hope
of making the play-offs… nurse, did I really just
write that?!
The
evening’s Gov’t Mule gig was superb entertainment
and, with two whopping great sets, even better value for
money (if you paid to see it). The band’s current
release, ‘By A Thread’, rates highly in their
seven-album catalogue, so I was kinda surprised they only
dropped four of its songs into he show. With my two favourite
Mule tracks, ‘Thorazine Shuffle’ and ‘Soulshine’,
ending the first set and the performance proper, the show’s
two hours and 40 minutes seemed to pass by in a fraction
of that time. Here’s what they played: ‘Brand
New Angel’, ‘Bad Little Doggie’, ‘Blind
Man In The Dark’, ‘Steppin’ Lightly’,
‘Mother Earth’, ‘Any Open Window’,
‘Frozen Fear’, Medley: ‘Kind Of Bird’/‘And
The Wind Cries Mary’, ‘Thorazine Shuffle’,‘Railroad
Boy’, ‘Monday Mourning Meltdown’, ‘Have
Mercy On The Criminal’, Medley: ‘Teaneck’/‘Eternity's
Breath’/‘St Stephen Jam’/‘Trane’
(including Drum Solo), ‘No Need To Suffer’,
Medley: ‘Gameface’/‘3rd Stone Jam’,
‘Broke Down On The Brazos’ and the ever-brilliant
‘Soulshine’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
21st November
Yesterday’s
phone interviews included Peter Hammill talking about
his upcoming solo gigs, Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia
and Jeff Scott Soto on the superb W.E.T. album. I’m
sitting here at my desk wishing that I was en route to
see Palace playing Coventry – the Ricoh is something
of a happy hunting ground for the Eagles, having won there
on all four previous visits. Instead, being unable to
get back from the midlands in time for tonight’s
Gov’t Mule gig, I’m listening to the new Slayer
album, ‘World Painted Blood’, at ear-torturing
volume. There’s no other way to do it, really. Anyway,
‘WPB’ is definitely one of the best albums
of 2009; shame the band has just postponed its UK dates
due to Tom Araya’s illness. Have also been listening
to Arch Enemy’s ‘The Root Of All Evil’
– a collection of old songs re-recorded by the current
line-up – much to the chagrin of the neighbours.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
20th November
I’ve
just received the re-mastered, triple-disc edition of
Hawkwind’s ‘Levitation’ from Atomhenge
Records. Featuring Ginger Baker on drums, ‘Levitation’
was my very first Hawkwind album; I bought it back in
1980 on blue vinyl and saw the band promoting it at London’s
Hammersmith Odeon, with NWOBHM boogie-blizters Vardis
as support. Consequently, ‘Levitation’ still
occupies a place in my heart. Coincidentally, I’m
currently reading Carol Clerk’s excellent book The
Saga Of Hawkwind and have just reached the ‘Levitation’
daze, so I feel compelled to correct something I wrote
in my diary not too long ago concerning this era of Hawkwind’s
complex history. A source informed me that guitarist Dave
Brock had ended Baker’s tenure in the band. In fact,
as verified by Hawks webmaster Dave Law who sent a recent
email, it was bassist Harvey Bainbridge who did the deadly
deed – albeit with the blessing of the rest of the
group (save for keyboardist Keith Hale, who also headed
for the door), resulting in the headline: “The best
drummer in the word has been sacked by the worst bass
player in the world”.
Anyway,
almost three decades later ‘Levitation’ stands
up incredibly well… does anyone else agree with
me that we must get the title cut, ‘Motor Way City’
or ‘Who’s Gonna Win The War’ reinstated
to the group’s live set before too long?
(Edit:
Dave Law tells me the band have been playing ‘Who’s
Gonna Win The War’ again recently… part-time
Hawks fans like me who needs ‘em?!)
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
19th November
This
latest ‘cheat’ outrage must compel football’s
governing authorities to introduce some sort of penalty
box refereeing technology. In an incident they’re
calling ‘The Hand of Frog’, France have wangled
their way to the World Cup finals at the expense of the
Republic Of Ireland, courtesy of a goal created by a blatant
handball from Thierry Henry. The match should be replayed,
no two ways about it. An utterly shameful situation.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
18th November
I
don’t suppose many people can claim to have seen
Bad Company and Yes on the same day? If so, I’m
now along them. I was at the Hard Rock Café for
yesterday’s Bad Co press conference (see Classic
Rock website story here),
at which Messrs Rodgers, Ralphs and Kirke performed four
acoustic numbers… ‘Feel Like Making Love’,
‘Shooting Star’, ‘Seagull’ and
‘Do Right By Your Woman’. Looking forward
to seeing them play a full-length set at Wembley Arena
on April 11.
Afterwards,
I trotted up and down Tottenham Court Road seeking a replacement
stylus for my turntable. The blank looks on the faces
of the shop assistants were pretty hilarious… I
might as well have been asking to buy a Penny Black stamp,
or a pet Dodo bird. Finally got one in the end, but…
phew… £19.95… that’s a bit steep.
Anyway, now I know what I’m looking for I’ll
pick up a few more online, just to be on the safe side.
Having
been warned that Yes would be onstage at 7.30pm prompt,
I arrived at Hammersmith Apollo nice ‘n’ early,
only to be told that although my name was on the guest
list the tickets were still being put into envelopes.
At 7.20, I was starting to gnaw my fingernails…
kinda pointless as proceedings didn’t begin till
8pm after all. There’s been a lot of cynicism regarding
the appointment of a tribute band singer, Benoît
David, as replacement for Jon Anderson. I’ll probably
hold fire in adding to that until I know what’s
**really** wrong with Anderson and whether he is, in fact,
ever coming back. Chris Squire has been quoted as saying
that the band will make a new studio album next year,
presumably featuring newcomer David. Hmmm…
I’ll
be honest, the earliest stages of last night’s show
were a little worrying. David does sound like Anderson,
but his voice seemed to lack the necessary power. And
with Squire and an unusually talkative guitarist Steve
Howe handling the song introductions, he looked a little
out of his depth. For me, including ‘I’ve
Seen All Good People’, usually an exuberant encore
number, so early in the set, fell rather flat. But gradually
things improved. The two tracks from ‘Drama’,
‘Tempus Fugit’ and ‘Machine Messiah’,
worked marvellously well, and though I remain a little
unconvinced by the contribution of Rick Wakeman’s
son Oliver on keys, overall the show receives a tentative
thumbs-up from yours truly. Here’s the set-list:
‘Siberian Khatru’, ‘I’ve Seen
All Good People’, ‘Tempus Fugit’, ‘Onward’,
‘Astral Traveller’ (including Drum Solo),
‘Yours Is No Disgrace’, ‘And You And
I’, Steve Howe solo (‘Corkscrew’ and
‘Sketches In The Sun’), ‘Owner Of A
Lonely Heart’, ‘South Side Of The Sky’,
‘Machine Messiah’, ‘Heart Of The Sunrise’
and ‘Roundabout’, with an encore of ‘Starship
Trooper’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
17th November
Ever
had what you think is gonna be a brilliant idea, only
for said stroke of genius to turn around and kick you
squarely in the bollocks? Instead of going overground
from south London and taking the tube, I thought I’d
use a different, quicker route to last night’s Alice
In Chains gig. But when my train failed to pull up at
Kentish Town, before gathering pace and speeding through
the next few stops, my pulse quickened. I knew its ultimate
destination was Bedford – ulp… that’s
Dave Lewis territory! Thankfully I was able to disembark
in St Albans (Hertfordshire) and dash across the platform
for a London-bound train, but it scuppered the pre-gig
meal I was supposed to be having with the record company
and, for a time, I was worried I might even have missed
the start of the show – my first opportunity to
check out AIC since their 2005 reunion.
To
my great relief, I arrived with minutes to spare, finding
a place in the balcony for what turned out to be a stellar
performance. ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’, the
band’s first album in 14 years, was among my favourite
records of 2009, and the four songs aired from it were
on a par with all the old favourites, especially the jarringly
heavy ‘Check My Brain’. The audience –
both sexes, all ages, from seemingly different rock cliques
– was another revelation, singing along to every
song. It was hard not to get caught up in their hysteria,
especially during an emotionally-draining climax of ‘Rooster’,
complete with grainy back-projections of the Vietnam war.
I’d have preferred to hear ‘Down In A Hole’
given the electric treatment instead of featuring in the
acoustic section, but that’s just quibbling. Here’s
the set-list: ‘It Ain't Like That’, ‘Again’,
‘Them Bones’, ‘Dam That River’,
‘Your Decision’, ‘No Excuses’,
‘Check My Brain’, ‘A Looking In View’,
‘Rain When I Die’, ‘Down In A Hole (Acoustic)’,
‘Got Me Wrong (Acoustic)’, ‘Black Gives
Way To Blue (Acoustic)’, ‘Sickman’,
‘Acid Bubble’, ‘Angry Chair’,
‘Man In Ihe Box’, ‘Lesson Learned’,
‘Would?’ and ‘Rooster’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
16th November
Having
been let down before by the band (or more specifically,
the erratic nature of Ian Gillan’s voice), I approached
last night’s Deep Purple gig at the Hammersmith
Apollo with trepidation. In the end, though, I came away
impressed by an above-par display. Restricting the set
to 100 minutes and allowing Ian several breaks paid huge
dividends, and it was great to see the band mixing up
the set-list to include such oddities as ‘Not Responsible’,
a bonus track from ‘Perfect Strangers’, and
the same album’s ‘Wasted Sunsets’. In
the past I’ve felt that Purple gave off a vibe of
going through the motions, definitely not the case in
this instance. It helped, of course, that my friend Andy
Beare and I had been put so close to the stage that we
could almost smell which cologne Gillan was using, and
it was nice to find we were seated next to Jerry Bloom
of More
Black Than Purple, who seemed like a decent fella.
Having lost a lot of weight, Gillan looked more than a
little gaunt but was in jocular form, and his introduction
to keyboard player Don Airey, “the number one supporter
of Sunderland Nil”, really made me giggle.
Here’s
the set-list: ‘Highway Star’, ‘Things
I Never Said’, ‘Not Responsible’, ‘Strange
Kind Of Woman’, ‘Wasted Sunsets’, ‘Rapture
Of The Deep’, ‘Fireball’, Guitar Solo,
‘Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming’, ‘The
Well-Dressed Guitar’, ‘Wring That Neck’,
‘No One Came’, Keyboard Solo, ‘The Battle
Rages On’, ‘Space Truckin’’, and
(grooaaaan) ‘Smoke On The Water’, with encores
of ‘Hush’ and ‘Black Night’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
15th November
Yesterday
morning was spent at the Olympia Record Fair, the organiser
of which, a guy called Rob, is an acquaintance of mine.
As I walked in the door, he grinned: “I’ve
got a present for you.” It was a mint-condition
picture bag copy of Crystal Palace’s FA Cup Final
single, ‘Glad All Over’ (b/w ‘Where
The Eagles Fly’). Rob also handed over a 7”
single of ‘Power To The Palace’, a single
from 1975 that’s still sometimes aired on matchdays
at Selhurst Park. Oddly it was co-written by someone called
Garry James… any relation to Thunder’s ’Arry,
I wonder? Picked up a few goodies at the fair, including
a couple more cheapo LPs by England Dan & John Ford
Coley, whose ‘Dr Heckle & Mr Jive’ I recently
acquired and was thoroughly blown away by. Pickings were
a little slimmer than usual, though…
Before
the evening’s Steve Hackett gig I found a Shepherd’s
Bush boozer in which to watch the friendly between Brazil
and a makeshift England side. Capello’s injury-depleted
team did well enough during the first half, but after
conceding an early headed goal never really looked like
getting back into the game.
Hackett’s
current disc, ‘Out Of The Tunnel’s Mouth’,
is his proggiest in many a year and I absolutely loved
the Empire show. I’d somehow got it into my head
that Chris Squire, who enjoyed playing on Steve’s
record so much they almost formed a band called Squackett,
would be playing on the tour. With Yes just about to go
on the road themselves, that was impossible. However,
the Chapman stick-sporting Nick Beggs, wearing headphones,
blond hair pulled into pigtails and sporting a leather
waistcoat, was such a top-grade replacement that his dodgy
past with Kajagoogoo was instantly forgotten. Over the
course of two hours and 20 minutes, Hackett got the set-list
– an excellent mix of latterday tunes, classic solo
material and vintage Genesis classics – just right,
and the band behind him, which included his flautist brother
John, was superb. On such stellar form, I’d go and
see him again anywhere anytime. Here’s the full
lowdown: ‘Mechanical Bride’, ‘Fire On
The Moon’, ‘Every Day’, ‘Emerald
And Ash’, ‘Ghost In The Glass’, ‘Ace
Of Wands’, ‘Pollution B’, ‘The
Steppes’, ‘Slogans’, ‘Serpentine
Song’, ‘Tubehead’, ‘Spectral Mornings’,
‘Firth Of Fifth’, ‘Jacuzzi’, ‘Defector’,
‘Horizons’, ‘Blood On The Rooftops’,
‘Fly On A Windshield’, ‘Sleepers’,
‘Still Waters’ and ‘Los Endos’,
plus the encore of ‘Clocks – The Angel Of
Mons’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 14th November
Oh,
what terrific news – John Waite is coming back to
the UK, with a date confirmed at London’s Underworld
on March 2. After the disappointment of his gig at the
Scala being cancelled, then missing the nearest show to
London – in Colchester – back in the summer,
I shall be there… with bells on. Likewise, Striper’s
gig at Islington Academy on January 24. I’ll never
forget that show they did at Hammersmith Odeon back in
May 1987. Raining Holy Bibles, it was…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
12th November
I’m
often asked which bands represent the future of the genre
we call classic rock (that’s with a lower case ‘c’
and ‘r’). Among the first names that generally
tumble from my lips is The
Parlor Mob, a quite superb young combo from New Jersey
whose debut album, ‘And You Were A Crow’,
was highly placed among my own Top 20 platters of 2009.
So last night I had a dilemma. Would I go and check out
TPM at the Barfly, or investigate another red hot, up
‘n’ comin’ (though admittedly slightly
older) US group, Shinedown? In the end I went with The
Parlor Mob. It was a fantastic evening, though not without
its frustrations. The band’s performance was plagued
by outside interference from the word go, with Mark Melicia’s
vocals mixed way too low for the first couple of numbers.
After he asked the soundman to rectify the problem, the
band’s gear – presumably hired or borrowed
– began to malfunction, resulting in long silences
between the songs. Eventually, with 70 minutes on the
clock and half an hour remaining till the venue’s
curfew, Melicia snapped: “Shit fucking equipment,
man. Shit fucking equipment. Due to this shit equipment,
this will be our last song. Hopefully we’ll see
you again… without shit equipment.”
How
incredibly frustrating for both performers and the packed
audience. Melicia has an effortlessly high-pitched voice
reminiscent of Robert Plant, Geddy Lee of Rush, Cedric
Bixler-Zavala from The Mars Volta and Budgie’s Burke
Shelley, and the band weave the most incredible sonic
tapestries I’ve heard in years. In addition to what
was presumably a brand new song, the title of which was
not introduced, the best bits of ‘And You Were A
Crow’ were trotted out, with special praise for
a jammed rendition of the ‘Dazed And Confused’-esque
‘Tide Of Tears’, their most commercial song,
‘Hard Times’, hitting an almost perfect patchwork
of classic-era 1970s rock (the way the guitar work of
Paul Ritchie and David Rosen ebbed and flowed reminding
me at times of the Allman Brothers) and crackling contemporary
energy. For all the technical flaws, I’m convinced
what I saw last night will be referred to as a seminal
concert in years to come. Here’s the set-list: ‘Real
Hard Headed’, ‘Dead Wrong’, ‘The
Kids’, ‘Everything You’re Breathing
For’, [New song], ‘Carnival Of Crows’,
‘When I Was An Orphan’, ‘Tide Of Tears’,
‘Hard Times’ and ‘Bullet’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
11th November
I
write this upon returning home from school. Yes, really.
A few days ago my youngest lad, Arnie, brought home a
printed sheet which requested the classroom presence of
a parent/guardian with whom to conduct some “one-on-one
workshop activities”. Yours truly drew the short
straw. How utterly surreal it felt to take my place at
a desk and sit quietly whilst the teacher blathered on
about ‘number lines’ and all sorts of new
educational techniques I’d never heard of…
so I nodded politely and let Arnie do all the calculations.
I was always way better with words than numbers. Some
things never change, though, and I did risk a detention
by scribbling ‘CPFC rule okay’ under the desk
when I thought nobody was looking.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
10th November
I’ve
just been reviewing the new Spin Gallery album for my
melodic column in Classic Rock – ‘Embrace’
is so good, I had to drop guitarist Tommy Denander a line
and congratulate him on a job well done. 18 months in
the making it cross-pollinates the West Coast-style melodic
craftsmanship of Mr Mister, Toto, Giant and Steely Dan
with the hi-tech modernism of Floyd, Peter Gabriel and
Sting. In a word: Brilliant. Metal Hammer have also asked
me to review Lita Ford’s comeback disc, ‘Wicked
Wonderland’. Jeez… Lita, what on God’s
green earth were you thinking, luv? Awash with industrial-lite
production effects, loops and detuned guitars, I’m
sorry to say that it borders upon the comedic. At least
the latest set of Procol Harum re-issues (‘Exotic
Birds And Fruit’, ‘Procol’s Ninth’
and ‘Something Magic’) are here from Salvo/Union
Square to restore a little sanity. Released in 1975, ‘Procol’s
Ninth’ is, in my opinion, one of the group’s
best records and I’m chuffed to finally have it
on CD.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
9th November
In
all the years I’ve been going to see Saxon –
the first time was at Motörhead’s Heavy Metal
Barn Dance at Bingley Hall in 1980 – I’m pretty
sure they’ve never played a duff gig. Last night’s
show at Koko in Camden was another first-class effort.
Suidakra, a Celtic-tinged melodic death metal from Germany,
opened proceedings with a decent 30-minute display. But
I was really looking forward to seeing special guests
Anvil again. “This beats the fuck out of doing deliveries
for a catering company,” roared irrepressible frontman
Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow, even playing slide guitar
with a dildo at one point as the Canadians blitzed through
‘March Of The Crabs’, ‘666’, ‘School
Love’, ‘Winged Assassins’, ‘This
Is 13’, ‘Mothra’, ‘White Rhino’
and, as Lips put it, “the national anthem of heavy
metal” itself, ‘Metal On Metal’. The
audience responded warmly, and I was pretty chuffed for
the guys.
With
Biff Byford throwing around amusing quips and amending
the set-list as he saw fit – ‘Broken Heroes’
was interjected unexpectedly in honour of it being Remembrance
Sunday, the classic ‘Motorcyle Man’ another
spontaneous addition – Saxon were amazing. Just
like Y&T the night before, they appeared to be having
bags of fun and during the encores Byford declared: “We’ve
got time for one more… maybe even two more. What
are they gonna do? Throw us out? I don’t think so.”
I’m not a fan of Koko as a venue, but the sound
was better than usual and I’m glad I gave up a precious
Sunday night to have been present. Here’s the set-list:
‘Battalions Of Steel’, ‘Heavy Metal
Thunder’, ‘Dogs Of War’, ‘Hellcat’,
‘Dallas 1PM’, ‘Are We Travellers In
Time’, ‘Broken Heroes’, ‘Motorcycle
Man’, ‘The Power & The Glory’, Medley:
‘Solid Ball Of Rock’/‘Back On The Streets’,
‘Iron Wheels’, ‘Lionheart’, ‘And
The Bands Played On’, ‘Ride Like The Wind’
and ‘Wheels Of Steel’, with encores of ‘Live
To Rock’, ‘747 (Strangers In The Night)’,
‘Crusader’ and ‘Princess Of The Night’.
P.S.
I’m still tittering at having seen Ch***ton Pathetic
crash out of the FA Cup on live TV to non-league Northwich
Victoria, whose fans taunted the Clowns with a cry of:
“You’re just a small town in Welling”.
Just to rub salt into the wound, Northwich are managed
by former Eagle Andy Preece. Take a bow, Agent P.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
8th November
Y&T’s
song ‘Barroom Boogie’ has a great lyrics which
go: “Woke up next morning with a trashcan head”,
and that’s exactly what happened to me a few hours
ago. My Saturday began with way too many vodka and Diet
Cokes before the Palace vs Middlesbrough game, which I’m
happy to say the Eagles won by a single goal, courtesy
of top scorer Darren Ambrose. I then rushed across London
to Y&T’s show at the Islington Academy, hoping
to arrive in time for a solo spot opening from Ron Keel.
I was in luck. “It’s been 23 years!”
hollered Keel to begin his one-man set, dipping in and
out of material by Steeler (‘Serenade’), Keel
(‘Tears Of Fire’) and Iron Horse before previewing
a song called ‘Does Anyone Believe?’ from
Keel’s upcoming reunion album, ‘Streets Of
Rock ‘N’ Roll’ (due via Frontiers Records
in January 2010). Ron still has a terrific voice, but
for me the acoustic route didn’t really do him too
many favours.
However,
the face-melters from San Francisco were quite sensational,
playing defiantly through a power cut during ‘Meanstreak’,
to take the audience’s cheers as the sound kicked
in again. Dave Meniketti still has a voice that most singers
would envy, and his band are committed to giving the fans
exactly what they pay for. Towards the end of a show that
lasted for two-and-a-quarter hours, and with the clock
ticking towards the venue’s curfew, Meniketti told
us: “We’re gonna take it till the last possible
second before they try to kick our asses out of here.”
With the group threatening to release a new studio album
of their own next summer – their first since ‘Endangered
Species’ in 1997 – and still among the most
consistently great live acts out there, I wish them nothing
but the best. Oh, and the night got better still when
my friend Andy Beare and I later stumbled upon a public
house that sold delicious (and extremely potent) scrumpy
cider… hence the aforementioned trashcan head.
Here’s
what Y&T played (**takes a deep breath**): ‘Open
Fire’, ‘Don’t Wanna Lose’, ‘Hang
‘Em High’, ‘Don’t Be Afraid Of
The Dark’, ‘Meanstreak’, ‘Dirty
Girl’, ‘I Surrender’, ‘Hurricane’,
‘I Believe In You’, ‘Eyes Of A Stranger’,
‘Midnight In Tokyo’, ‘Contagious’
‘Summertime Girls’ (w/guest Ron Keel), Blues
Instrumental, ‘Black Tiger’, ‘Squeeze’
(including drum solo), ‘Hell Or High Water’
and ‘Forever’, with encores of ‘Barroom
Boogie’ and… wait for it… the quintessential
‘Rescue Me’. Fugging brilliant.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
7th November
Even
from a fan like yours truly, Magnum have taken some stick
for their unadventurous set-lists of the past few years.
Last night’s gig at London’s Islington Academy
saw them respond belatedly, but with surprising force.
With such staples as ‘Just Like An Arrow’,
‘Start Talkin’ Love’, ‘Days Of
No Trust’, ‘How Far Jerusalem’ and ‘Rockin’
Chair’ all ruthlessly axed, the band played for
almost an hour before airing anything recorded before
2004’s ‘Brand New Morning’ album. So
there was a sense of relief when the opening bars of the
‘On A Storyteller’s Night’ classic ‘Les
Morts Dansant’ rang out. And then Bob Catley once
again said the words: “This song’s from the
new album,‘Into The Valley Of The Moonking’”.
Personally speaking, I had no issues with the band having
dropped so many classics; it was about time they mixed
things up. There were a few grumbles on the way to the
door but it was the brevity of the set, which lasted for
just 95 minutes, that frustrated me, also how packed and
uncomfortable the Academy was (hardly Magnum’s fault,
of course). Anyway, here’s the set-list: ‘Cry
To Yourself’, ‘Take Me To The Edge’,
‘Brand New Morning’, ‘The Moon King’,
‘When We Were Younger’, ‘No One Knows
His Name’, ‘Dragons Are Real’, ‘A
Face In The Crowd’, ‘We All Run’, ‘Les
Morts Dansant’, ‘All My Bridges’, ‘All
England’s Eyes’ and ‘Vigilante’,
plus a superb ‘Don’t Wake The Lion’
and ‘The Kingdom Of Madness’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
6th November
What
deep joy! Have just received a set of two-on-one double-discs
from Ironbird Records. The Europe one (‘Out Of This
World’/‘Prisoners In Paradise’) is especially
welcome as I’ve never owned either record on CD
before, and both are among my favourite records of all
time. But the package also contains similar releases from
Dangerous Toys (‘Dangerous Toys’/‘Hellacious
Acres’), Riot (‘Thundersteel’/‘The
Privilege Of Power’), Corrosion Of Conformity (‘Deliverance’/‘Wiseblood’)
and Britny Fox (‘Britny Fox’/‘Boys In
Heat’). Sadly, there are no bonus tracks but the
sleeve notes have been shared by my buds Malcolm Dome
and Jerry Ewing, who share pretty much everything these
days, I hear… even toothpaste and duvets. But that’s
another story.
P.S. The Playlist and YouTube
pages have just been given their monthly overhaul.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
5th November
The
newspapers are full of Bon Jovi fans griping about being
fleeced anything from £45 (for places at the back
of the hall), to £200 (for floor-level seating)
to an outrageous £1,275 (for those with a decent
view of Jon Bon Jovi’s nasal hair). To be perfectly
frank, I would probably pay £1,275 to **not** see
Bon Jovi these days.
Uriah
Heep, however, are another matter. Last night my friend
Steve Way and I zoomed across London for the band’s
low-key gig at the Garage, which took place as part of
Classic Rock’s Awards week. Approaching north London
we couldn’t believe the traffic. Then we spotted
a roadside sign offering ‘Match-day parking’
and realised that the Arse had a game in the Champions
League. Oh great – that was gonna make parking easy.
Somehow we located a space and took our place inside a
packed hall for a short but marvellously entertaining
display. To avoid unnecessary duplication my review for
the Classic Rock website can be viewed here,
along with some of Steve’s Brownie-cam shots. For
the anoraks among us, here is the full set-list: ‘Wake
The Sleeper’, ‘Overload’, ‘Tears
Of The World’, ‘Stealin’’, ‘Sunrise’,
‘The Book Of Lies’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Look
At Yourself’, ‘What Kind Of God’, ‘Angels
Walk With You’, ‘Shadow’, ‘July
Morning’ and ‘Easy Livin’’, plus
the encore of ‘Lady In Black’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
4th November
After
grabbing a few hours of shut-eye following the Crocks,
then preparing questions for today’s interviews,
I dashed off to central London for a hugely
enjoyable encounter with Europe’s Joey Tempest.
From there I grabbed the tube for a rendezvous with Pearl
Aday, who has just signed a deal for Classic Rock’s
label Powerage Records to release her debut album, ‘Little
Immaculate White Fox’. Pearl, who you’ll probably
know is Meat Loaf’s daughter, was recently quoted
as saying: “There is no real female rock anymore.
I will be the chick to bring it back.” She definitely
gives good interview. Afterwards I sat around to exchange
stories for a couple of hours with Pearl, her ‘other
half’ Scott Ian of Anthrax and Powerage’s
Derek Oliver and Darren Toms. Though I’d interviewed
Scott many times we had never really socialised before.
We chatted about his obsession with AC/DC (the depths
of which astounded me though, incredibly, Scott never
got to see the band with Bon Scott on vocals), and in
‘off the record’ mode we shot the breeze about
the prospect of a tour from the ‘Big Four’
of Thrash and, of course, Dave Mustaine. I was also able
to tease a couple of great anecdotes about Jim Steinman
from Pearl. Gosh… I hate my job (not)!
As
a point of principle, I’d long since decided against
splashing out thirty quid to attend Palace’s away
game with QP-Hahaha. Those jammy buggers have already
got more than enough money, thanks very much. 1-1 was
a pretty useful result.
Instead
of adding to Ecclestone’s coffers I headed north
to where Gotthard, one of my favourite up ‘n’
coming bands, were headlining the Garage. Having recorded
nine studio albums during the past 17 years, the Swiss
combo turned in a performance so exceptional it made me
wonder what exactly they must do to get a break in this
country. Steve Lee is one of the best and most likable
frontmen doing the rounds and I’ve never seen them
play anything approaching a bad show. Deserving of a far
better turnout, last night was no different. ‘Sister
Moon’ is the best song that Whitesnake have never
recorded, the acoustic section was great and though I’ve
always regarded their cover of Joe South/Deep Purple’s
‘Hush’ as a bit of a filler, as a crowd participation
number last nite it got the whole place rockin’.
Gotthard **do** have what it takes to make an impression
in this country (I’m told their regional gigs were
far better attended), I just hope they’ve the patience.
Here’s what was played: ‘Unspoken Words’,
‘Gone Too Far’, ‘Top Of The World’,
‘Need To Believe’, ‘Sister Moon’,
‘Hush’, ‘I Know You Know’, ‘Right
From Wrong’, Guitar Solo, ‘Unconditional Faith’,
‘Heaven (Acoustic)’, ‘Let It Be (Acoustic)’,
‘All I Care For (Acoustic)’, ‘One Life,
One Soul (Acoustic)’, ‘Shangri-La’,
‘All We Are’, ‘I Don’t Mind’,
‘The Oscar Goes To You’, ‘Lift U Up’
and encores of ‘Mountain Mama’ and ‘Anytime,
Anywhere’.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
3rd November
I
was among the revellers at last night’s fifth annual
Classic Rock Awards. Well, to be truthful there wasn’t
much revelling going on from me, as I was handling the
interviews with those that had won awards, or presented
them. As ever, the night took a long while to reach boiling
point. I turned up at 6pm and the work didn’t really
begin for three hours. That said, I had fun for a while
with the Uriah Heep fellas (it was good to meet drummer
Russell Gilbrook for the first time), also Steve Hogarth
and Pete Trewavas from Marillion. Carl Palmer took me
to one side to reveal that Emerson Lake & Palmer are
to reunite next year – it was later confirmed that
they will headline Classic Rock’s inaugural High
Voltage shindig, billed as “Britain’s biggest
and best Adult Rock Festival”, in London on July
26th – and after a gap of way too many years I caught
up with Joolz Gizzi from Gun.
With
the artists being funnelled from the stage to the waiting
paparazzi, then to Ross Halfin for exclusive CR photographs
and finally to me, things kicked into gear once the ceremony
began. By necessity some of the interviews (Ron Wood,
Mick Ralphs and Slash, for instance) were conducted far
quicker than I’d have preferred, though I spoke
to just about everyone on the magazine’s wish-list,
including Joe Perry, Nicko McBrain, Brian May, Joe Bonamassa,
Billy Gibbons, Steve Harley, Mike Portnoy and Rick Wakeman
(the latter had just presented the former with a new Spirit
Of Prog category), Tony Iommi and Biff Byford (Saxon’s
mainman was named Metal Guru), Pearl Aday (who had Scott
Ian on her arm), the Anvil guys and Kiss manager Doc McGee.
John Bonham’s Tommy Vance Inspiration Award was
collected by his mum Joan, 83, and sister Debbie, who
were both lovely. Paul Rodgers, who is not always an easy
interview, was also an absolute sweetheart on this occasion.
And Andy Copping who, collected Event Of The Year for
the Download Festival, went all coy when I pointed out
that Bon Jovi’s O2 residency has a gap during the
weekend of next year’s event.
As
the night’s top dog Iggy Pop was generous with his
time, and Chrissie Hynde (who presented him with his going
for Living Legend) looked absolutely stunning in skin-tight
jeans and thigh-high boots. Annoyingly, Pete Townshend
declined to come to the media area after presenting Wood’s
Outstanding Contribution prize, and as for Ginger Baker…
well, what they say about never meeting your heroes has
never been more true. On the other hand, sitting in a
corner of Halfin’s enclave and indulging in a leisurely
natter with Jimmy Page was probably my own personal highlight
of the night, despite having looked on agog as Slash,
Wood, Perry, Page, Jeff Beck and Paul Rodgers lined up
for Ross’ lens. Having avoided alcohol at the awards
– in such volatile environs it’s always best
to – I dropped into the After Show bash at the Embassy,
where the Quireboys were playing. Their set included a
less than pristine blues jam with Mick Ralphs, though
it was kinda fun. And then, having stepped over Saxon
bassist Tim ‘Nibs’ Carter en route to the
door, it was back to Trafalgar Square and the long night
bus journey back to South London. Oh joy!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
2nd November
Francis
Dunnery’s gig at Bush Hall was good, sometimes very
good, other times like listening to muzak renditions of
It Bites songs. I don’t know why he chose to call
his band The New Progressives. FD would probably agree;
at one point he joked about making the show more prog-friendly
by putting keyboard player Tom Brislin, who has played
with Yes, into a cape, further validating the tag by playing
an instrument he actually invented – the Tapboard
– during a performance which included ‘Back
In NYC’ by Genesis. Marillion’s Steve Rothery
walked onstage to play a lovely solo on Joy Division’s
‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. During the encore,
Dunnery tantalised the crowd by fooling around with the
intro to Genesis’ ‘Dancing with the Moonlit
Knight’. Okay, I hear you cry… so why was
the gig just not prog enough??!! For me, Dunnery and his
band were merely deconstructing (and indeed slowing down)
a selection of IB favourites, noodling away to extend
them beyond all real necessity. Francis provided some
hilarious banter and at times it worked marvellously,
especially a delicate stab at Japan’s ‘Still
Life in Mobile Homes’. It was fun to have seen once,
but I probably wouldn’t go again. Here’s the
set-list: ‘Kiss Like Judas’, ‘Whole
New World’, ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’,
‘Calling To You’, ‘Still Life in Mobile
Homes’, ‘Holiday’, Tapboard/Keyboard
Duet, ‘Sister Sarah’, ‘Underneath Your
Pillow’, ‘Yellow Christian’ and ‘Back
In NYC’ with encores of ‘Let Us All Go’
and ‘Still Too Young To Remember’.
Killin
some time beforehand I dropped into the Record & Tape
Exchange at Notting Hill Gate. My bargain-hunting sometimes
goes horribly wrong. Though it only came out in March
I picked up a brand new CD copy of Chris Cornell’s
Timbaland-produced ‘Scream’ for the princely
sum of a quid. Jeez, what a waste of moolah. It’s
horrid, horrid stuff. The same applies to a blind purchase
of ‘One Size Fits All’, an album by the Canadian
quartet The Nylons. “Hmmm, they look like a bunch
of fey new-wavers,” I thought whilst scouring at
the sleeve. However, a guest spot from Saga drummer Steve
Negus and the fact that it was on Attic Records made me
take a gamble. Um… anyone wanna buy an album from
Canada’s answer to the Flying Pickets?!
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
1st November
Today
offers another of those frustrating dilemmas: Europe’s
intimate soiree at the Garage, or Francis Dunnery’s
New Progressives at Bush Hall? I’m going with the
second option, purely because there will be a second opportunity
to see Europe at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in February.
Anyway,
I’m just home from a record fair in Orpington. I
wasn’t sent a copy of Aerosmith’s blues album
‘Honkin’ On Bobo’ when it came out in
2004, so didn’t mind paying a couple of quid for
it. Found a nice Counting Crows bootleg CD (‘Launching
The Satellites’) for the same price. Elsewhere I
managed to plug a couple of gaps in the collection with
vinyl albums by Sparks, BJH, Colin Blunstone and the Atlanta
Rhythm Section. It wasn’t until scouring the credits
that I realised Glenn Hughes supplies b/vs on the Climax
Blues Band album that I picked up (‘Lucky For Some’),
though Frankie Miller’s ‘Dancing In The Rain’
was specifically of interest due to featuring Brian Robertson
on guitar. Likewise, ‘Loaded & Live’ by
the King Earl Boogie Band, who feature Quo’s John
Coghlan on drums, found its way into the bag for nostalgic
reasons. Another nice one was a mint, double-gatefold
edition of the Charlie Daniels Band’s ‘Volunteer
Jam II and IV’, which features cameos from members
of the Marshall Tucker Band, Grinderswitch, Sea level
and several more. Time to crank up the turntable!
|
