Saturday
30th September
Doncha
just hate it when two potentially killer gigs happen on the same night?
Would love to have been at the Astoria to see Porcupine Tree, but
in the end opted for Y&T's return to the Mean Fiddler. The addition
of GPS - featuring former Asia alumni John Payne, Guthrie Govan and
Jay Schellen, plus the eccentric Ryo Okumoto from Spock's Beard on
keys - as support certanly helped to swing the decision. Their album
'Window To The Soul' is a strong collection of songs, and their decision
to ignore Asia material was a wise one. Allotted just 45 minutes,
they ran through 'The Objector', 'All My Life', 'Since You've Been
Gone', 'Window To The Soul', 'New Jerusalem' and 'Taken Dreams' with
enviable levels of musical skills, birthday boy Payne marshalling
the show with all his usual humour. Nipped into the GPS dressing room
afterwards to congratulate the fellas, and none other than Chris Squire
of Yes was hanging out there, too.
Y&T's last Fiddler appearance, back in June '05, was one of those
gigs that'll stay with you forever. Sadly, as often seems to be the
case when a band return quickly after decades away, they couldn't
surpass such a sterling display. All credit to Dave Meniketti and
company for mixing up the set, adding a pair of numbers from 1990's
'Ten' album ('Surrender' and 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark'). 'Dirty
Girl', 'Hurricane', 'Rescue Me', 'I Believe In You', 'Don't Stop Runnin'',
'Forever' and 'Black Tiger' all remain pedigree face-melters, but
the list of songs senselessly overlooked - 'Summertime Girls', 'Squeeze',
'25 Hours A Day', 'Knock You Out' and, incredibly, 'Open Fire' - ended
up counting against the San Franciscans in the end.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 28th September
Swoon!
It's melodic rock heaven - not only have Journey confirmed details
of a full UK tour in March (I'm reliably informed that Jeff Scott
Soto will continue to front the band for these dates), but John Waite
is to play a handful of British shows in November. Incredible news.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
27th September
See
what I meant back on Sept 4 about Michael Schenker being a Jedi master
in the art of crying wolf? Well, according to the neurotic guitarist's
semi-legendary website it seems that MSG's touring commitments are
mysteriously back ON again, with Japanese shows commencing on November
13 and British gigs a fortnight later. There's no explanation for
this change of heart nor news of the latest band line-up... and the
Teutonic One wonders why he's leaking fans faster than the Titanic?
Talking of all things German, last night I caught Blind Guardian's
first ever London show. When you consider the power-metal band have
existed since 1984, that's what you call keeping their fans waiting.
So the euphoric reaction of a packed Koko club should have been little
surprise. However, the fans roared along to every Tolkien-fuelled
lyric during a 105-minute set, and vocalist Hansi Kursch was gobsmacked
by their volume not only during the singalong section of 'Valhalla'
but by the way they continued to bellow its chorus of "Valhalla,
deliverance! Why you've forgotten me" even after the song was
over. Eventually Blind Guardian just stood back and let the crowd
continue for a few minutes, until Kursch barked: "Stop!"
(all that was missing was the part about "or you vill be schottt!").
By the final encores of 'Bard's Song' and 'Mirror Mirror' some of
the audience's tear ducts were starting to moisten, and quite rightly
so.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
26th September
Last night it was off again to my old haunt, the Underworld.
'In My Blood (En Mi Sangre)', the third album from London-based Gibraltans
Breed 77, has been on heavy rotation at Ling Towers of late, but although
I'd caught them playing the odd number or two whilst they opened for
various other bands, I'd never seen a complete headline show. I'm
pleased to report that they're good enough to justify a record that'll
surely be in my Top 20 come year's end. Laughingly dubbed "an
Elton John moment" by singer Paul Isola, the piano lighter-waving
ballad 'Look At Me Now' was a fine centrepiece of the performance,
equally colourful though harder-rocking moments like 'Petroleo (You
Will Be King)', 'Empty Words' and 'Alive' pairing their maraca-shaking
Latino roots and considerable dexterity with a Flamenco guitar with
unforeseen levels of heaviosity. The trouble is, these new songs are
so strong that they make Breed 77's older tunes sound pretty amateur.
And next time I'd like them to hang around for a good deal longer
than 65 minutes please.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
25th September
Combatting
the hangover from hell, the whole of yesterday was spent scanning
all the covers of Classic Rock magazine so far, from #1 (starring
Guns N' Roses) in November 1998, to the currently available #98 (featuring
Freddie Mercury). Why was I engaged in this mind-numbingly tedious
task? Well, believe it or not I'm the magazine's only employee with
a full set of issues, and our hundredth volume now looms ever nearer.
Aside from the fact that the marvellous debut album from Frost was
playing in the background - as superlative and challenging piece of
prog rock as you'll hear all year - you won't believe how nostalgic
it made me feel to see some of those old magazines again. The bullshit
we faced in putting them together was unbelievable, but our inner
belief never wavered. When we do reach the grand old age of 100, I'll
raise a glass and a middle finger to all those who tittered and said
there was no market for a magazine that covered Yes, Quo, Zeppelin,
Leppard and Cheap Trick. With an ABC figure (monthly average sale)
of 56,037, Classic Rock is now up 26.4% year on year, making us the
UK's fastest growing music title. Chew on that, bitches!
But here's the inevitable 'glass half empty' moment. Former Bad Company/King
Crimson bassist Raymond (better known as 'Boz') Burrell died over
the weekend, at his home in Spain. He was 60 years old. I never met
Boz, but his artistic value speaks for itself and my sympathies go
to all who knew him.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
24th September
Imagine
Battersea Dogs Home merging with Crufts, then throw in Girls Aloud
for good measure. That's how dog-rough I feel this morning. Palace
ascended to fifth in the table by beating Coventry at home yesterday,
an opportunistic goal from Clinton Morrison negating all the referee's
attempts to turn the game in the visitors' favour, and with almost
all my most despised teams (Scumwall, Shiteon, Charlton Pathetic,
Birmingham Shitty, the vile R*y K***e's Scumderland) failing to win
points, the evening's celebrations spiralled into a bit of a cider
and wine-fuelled bender. I know that I went to see Juicy Lucy at the
Borderline but apart from the somewhat disappointing attendance have
very little recollection of the actual show (a shame, as their 'Do
That And You'll Lose It' album is tasty) - somehow managing to board
the wrong train on the way home. Makes mental note: I will attempt
to act my age and not my shoe size in future.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 23rd September
Based on what I'd read beforehand, my expectations of night's
Brixton Academy gig from The Cult were almost nil. I've never been
what you'd call an especially big fan, the best show I ever saw them
play coming as openers for Metallica at New York's Nassau Coliseum
in July 1989. Back then Messrs Astbury and Duffy were zooming towards
Platinum status with a newly-released fourth album, 'Sonic Temple'.
The last Cult disc, 'Beyond Good & Evil', dates back to 2001 so
one can only speculate why they're back now. At one point Astbury
launched into a rant about the evils of nostalgia, but if that's not
what this tour's about where are their new songs? What self-obsessed
bilge.
Before the show Astbury had been slammed as "an overweight joke",
the band lambasted for an overall lack of commitment and a (gasp!)
75-minute set. In London they stretched things out for another 10
minutes and the tunes they played - 'Lil' Devil', 'Sweet Soul Sister'
(with Astbury barking out the chorus annoyingly), 'Electric Ocean',
'The Witch', 'Spirit Walker', 'Revolution', 'Rain', 'Wonderland',
an unplugged 'Edie (Ciao Baby)', 'Fire Woman', 'Peace Dog', 'Rise'
(the night's sole song from this millennium... what was that about
nostalgia again?), 'Wild Flower', 'Love Removal Machine', 'Phoenix'
and 'She Sells Sanctuary' - weren't bad at all. But with no support
band, and a show billed as 'An evening with The Cult', the brevity
of their time onstage hardly reflected value for money. If Ian and
Billy honestly claim to call 85 minutes 'an evening', the pair's respective
missuses must be frustrated by their definition of three and a half
minutes. Put it this way: if I'd shelled out 25 hard-earned smackeroonies
to see last night's show, and waited two and a half hours for it to
commence, I'd have left Brixton furious.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 22nd September
Caught a great gig from Joe Bonamassa at the Borderline last
night. This fella from upstate New York is like greased lighting on
the frets, and has oodles of personality. Although the latest album
'You And Me' is a huge step in the right direction, I wouldn't say
that all of his songs are good enough to achieve mainstream attention,
but the slide guitar-fuelled 'The River' was a definite highlight
and an encore of the ZZ Top classic 'Just Got Paid' that segued into
a powerful instrumental snippet of 'Dazed And Confused' by Led Zeppelin
was a great way to send people home salivating.
I've just been over at the new Classic
Rock website, where there's a highly amusing item about Joe Lynn
Turner and his fear that scaly alien shapeshifters are taking over
the world. Yes, the former Rainbow/Deep Purple/Yngwie singer has become
a devotee of David Icke, he even believes that Princes Diana was "murdered".
And the reason? "She was pregnant with an alien reptile!"
You gotta read it...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
21st September
Did a great phone interview with Paul Stanley last night.
The Kiss guitarist/singer releases his second solo disc, 'Live To
Win', on October 23. It's a really good album, sung with all Stanley's
usual gusto, though his list of collaborators (including Bon Jovi/Britney
Spears hitmaker Andreas Carlsson, John 5 of Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson
fame and the ubiquitous one-trick pony that is Desmond Child) have
given the project an appealing modern rock sheen. Although it's something
he insists he'd like to do, Stanley was unable to say for sure if
he'll bring his solo tour to the UK, or indeed whether Kiss are likely
to play here again. Although he wouldn't state it directly I got the
impression that Paul is tiring of working with Gene $immons, though
the quote "Do I question some of Gene's decisions? Constantly.
He does things that I'm at a loss to comprehend" was a pretty
big hint, as was Paul's admission that he'd only consider making another
Kiss record if he could assume complete creative control ("I'm
tired of too many people with too many opinions, and too many people
bringing in mediocre material"). Look out for the story in an
issue of Classic Rock that hits the stands on October 18.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
20th September
Thanks
to my friend Nige Glazier for one of the funniest links I've ever
seen. With its strap-line of 'You ain't a real man till you've had
a 'Wall fan!', Millwall FC's Pink Lions Forum
is the meeting place for knuckledraggers with a heart, and maybe a
hard-on for Julian Clary. I laughed so much whilst trawling through
this message board that I damned near wet myself. One thread was titled
simply 'Nigel Spackman' (the name of the second-from-bottom League
One club's beleaugered manager), and included the immortal phrase:
"He has to go. He is totally clueless. I bet he's good in bed,
though...". Well, the law of averages suggests that Spacko must
be okay at something, and being shagged by other men's a pretty good
place for him to start.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
19th September
Looks
like Michael Schenker might be serious about retiring after all. The
content of his website has been mysteriously removed, leaving only
an upside-down MSG logo. Ulp!
Poor old Norwich City fan and site regular Matt had the ill fortune
to sit behind my boy Eddie and I at Saturday's game and has left a
good-natured (I think!) message at the guest book, slating "scummer"
Shefki Kuqi for his magnificent winning goal and damning my eldest
son as a gloryhunter ("he only sings when he's winning").
I have only one thing to say to you, Matt. Click on this
link, then get orrrrfa moi land and back to your farm.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 17th September
Well,
I've been the subject of a vile wind-up. That 'Penis Wise for Palace'
rumour was propogated by two individuals that should know better,
hoping I'd be dumb enough to take the bait. Sadly, it worked. However,
all thoughts of replacing Peter Taylor vanished into the ether (for
the time being, at least) after yesterday's injury time win at Norwich.
The home side had dominated the first half and should've been two
or three up by the interval, but the Eagles were once again rejuvenated
after the break - Taylor must give sensational team talks, or be a
dead-eye with a teacup - and after having a goal disallowed the three
points were snatched in the game's dying embers, Shefki Kuqi heading
home powerfully from a pinpoint Mark Kennedy corner (how long has
it been since Palace had anyone to do that?). Kuqi used to play for
Norwich's arch rivals Ipswich, a fact that no doubt fuelled a spectacular
celebration that took place right in front of us. "Us?"
Yes... I took along my eldest son Eddie for his first CPFC awayday
fixture, so it was great that the train home was full of Palace fans
singing, "Kuqi in the 90th". Enjoy it while you can, Ed.
Those moments don't come along too often.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 16th September
Palace
boss Peter Taylor insists there's "no crisis" at the club,
despite slipping from top to 12th in the table after a win-less run
of five league and cup games. And yet I'm hearing disturbing rumours
about chairman Simon Jordan having approached Penis Wise - sorry,
you probably know him as ex-Chelsea/Scumwall dwarf-like tosspot Dennis
- to take over should the slump continue. This is most likely utter
fabrication, but should it happen I'd seriously have to consider terminating
my support of the club. I'm off to see us play in Norwich in a while...
let's bring home those three points, lads.
Oh yeah, it's interesting to note that Magnum are to call their forthcoming
studio disc 'Princess Alice & The Broken Arrow'. Seems that odd
titles are de rigeur again, given that Thunder have gone for the somewhat
unlikely 'Robert Johnson's Tombstone' with their own upcoming newie.
As my pal Jerry Ewing constantly reminds me, though, the one to beat
is Dave Greenslade's tongue-twisting 'The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony'...
er, you wot?!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 15th September
Logged on to find an email from Z Records boss Mark Alger
insisting this weekend's Z Rock gig will definitely be proceeding,
despite growing rumour to the contrary. Surfing on over to my regular
early morning port of call, the ever-entertaining noticeboard at melodicrock.com,
the same message was posted, explaining that headliners Firehouse
(whose own website insists they've pulled the gig) have "already
had their fee paid in full", also that flights were booked and
hotels settled up for in advance. The real problem? "A drum pedal,
which is now resolved." This statement - one of the most tragic
excuses since the Crüe cancelled a UK tour when the venues had
"snow on the roof" - caused me to spit out my tea, and literally
howl with laughter. Mr Alger, on top of shelling out for this now
legendary rhythm accessory, you also owe me a new PC monitor. Will
let you know whether Firehouse actually materialise for Z Rock - or
indeed if it even takes place.
One show that happened for sure was last night's London appearance
from Anathema. This fine yet disgracefully unsung Liverpudlian outfit
are becoming harder to categorise by the album, and for 100 minutes
they had the Scala eating from their collective hand, silently appreciating
subdued moments like 'A Natural Disaster', 'Lost Control' and 'Judgement',
and baying like wolves for the harder-edged 'Hope' and 'A Simple Mistake'
- the latter dedicated to my pal Malcolm Dome. The brand new track
'Everything' was pretty splendid, too. Although they experienced sound
problems at the start (a regular occurence at the Scala), Swedish
prog-metallers Wolverine's opening set also turned out to be rather
good.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 13th September
I'm in an utterly foul mood. Not only did Palace lay down
lamely and allow themselves to be steamrollered 2-0 by Southampton
last night, they also gave arguably the worst display I've seen at
Selhurst in yonks. The Saints are an okay side, but the Eagles were
never in the game. New signings Matt Lawrence and Stuart Green - the
former an ex-Scumwall carthorse who looks way out of his depth outside
of pub football, the latter... (ulp!)... manager Peter Taylor's son-in-law!
- don't seem to be the answer to the club's ingnominious slide down
the division - we're now in 12th place. And as for Shefki Kuqi, well
the words 'panic' and 'buy' spring to mind. What made it more galling
still was that I chose to attend this farcical game above two choice
gigs - Buckcherry at the Underworld, or the even more appealing combination
of Enslaved, Zyklon and 1349 at the Mean Fiddler.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 11th September
Palace dropped down to fifth after a rather upsetting 2-1
defeat at Luton on Saturday, then another place following Wolves beating
Leeds in yesterday's televised game. Of course, it all pales into
insignificance after what happened in New York five years ago. I'll
never forget where I was when the Twin Towers began blazing on TV;
trying to get through a previously arranged phone interview with Rory
Gallagher's brother, Donal. In the end, neither of us could concentrate
and ended up re-scheduling for another day. Even watching the plethora
of documentaries on the subject that filled our screens this past
week, many of which used re-cycled footage seen countless times before,
those feelings of revulsion and horror simply refuse to fade.
And how about this? Edward Van Halen phoned into the Howard
Stern Show over the weekend, telling the US shock jock that not only
is he now up for a VH reunion with David Lee Roth, but that instrumentally
speaking the band has now become himself, brother Alex on drums and
son Wolfgang (presumably on bass). Michael Anthony, who EVH sarcastically
refered to by his real name of Michael Sobolewski, can apparently
"do whatever he wants" in future... Ouch! From being one
of the finest groups on the face of the planet, what a sorry mess
Van Halen has descended into.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 7th September
Here's a public health warning: No matter how cold and refreshing
it might look, never drink Frosty Jack extra-strong cider. I use that
last word with extreme caution, as there can't have been a solitary
apple in the three litres of chemically contrived piss that I found
myself supping while last night's awful England game meandered towards
its painful conclusion. The 'new-look' (i.e. Beckham-less) international
side ended up scraping past Macedonia with a disputed goal that must've
crept over the line by a hair's breath. Painful, frustrating stuff
- especially as the bloody Krauts were busy banging 13 (count 'em!)
past hapless San Marino at the same time. For me, the so-called McLaren
revolution disappeared up its own sphincter during those cider-soaked
90 minutes of torture.
But there's also some uplifting news. The reunited It Bites have announced
their initial batch of tour dates, with shows in Workington, Rotherham,
Glasgae, Brum and Manchester. You won't find me anywhere but London's
Islington Academy on December 7.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 6th September
It'd been almost three weeks since my last gig, so I was
greatly anticipating seeing the Bottle Rockets at the Borderline last
night. Despite some false info causing me to miss the show's commencement,
the quartet from St Louis (Missouri) are a seriously underrated live
band. Their sound is an incisive combination of blues, Southern rock,
soul and country, with lashings of Wishbone Ash-style twin harmony
lead guitar thrown in for good measure. Much of the set was lifted
from current album 'Zoysia' (their sixth full-length offering). Among
the highlights was 'Blind'; its scathing attack upon American Idol
now directed at good-looking stars like Gwen Stefani who, to quote
the lyrics, "ain't got much talent and can barely sing".
I can't recommend the Bottle Rockets highly enough and promise to
be there in time for the start next time.
Before that, during the afternmoon, I had a lot of fun transcribing
my Kip Winger interview. The reunited Winger are coming in to play
the Firefest
at the end of next month, and a funny moment ensued on the tape whilst
the two of us attempted to work out when Winger had last appeared
on a UK stage. We agreed that the band didn't come here for their
last album 'Pull', which was released an incredible 13 years ago.
"You know what, Dave?" announced Kip sagely, after a moment
or two of silent mathematical contemplation. "We're both getting
really, really old." Oi! Speak for yourself, matey.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 5th September
Freddie Mercury would've been 60 years old today, and thus
as a pensioner eligible to travel for free on London Transport. Hard
to imagine, eh? RIP, Freddie. I'll be spinning a few of your old discs
today.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 4th September
The living soap opera that is Michael Schenker once again
excels himself. Last week Michael announced that MSG's US tour was
cancelled due to (and I'm quoting the statement directly) "serious
familiar problems of MSG singer Jari Tiura". Over the past weekend
the band's UK booking agent emailed me with the news that the band's
British shows were also being pulled. Now via Michael's all-too-intimate
website
we learn that the fracas with Tiura has become the straw to break
the camel's back, apparently forcing Herr Schenker to "quit playing"
for good. "I'm tired of changing musicians and singers,"
writes Michael in a response to an email from his latest ex-employee.
"MSG is finished and I am not inspired [to play music] anymore".
As we all know, Schenker is a Jedi Master when it comes to crying
wolf, and I'm pretty sure that's what he's doing again here. Let's
hope so anyway...
A big thanks to my former tape-trading buddy Tony Crowley from Norfolk,
who has very generously burned me a three-CD set of demos, outtakes,
alternate versions and different mixes of songs by glam-metal icons
The Sweet. The collection includes some darned fascinating stuff and
hearing it brought back several truly great memories.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 3rd September
Apologies for the site being temporarily offline. We've had
so many hits of late that webmistress Batttttty had to add a few extra
gigabytes to the data-transfer levels. Thanks to everyone that's stopped
by - I'll keep on writing this rubbish for as long as people continue
to read it.
I won't waste time praising the new-look England's five-goal victory
over Anodorra in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. The part-time opposition
was so appalling they made Broken & Homo Albion look like Brazil
on steroids; the total should really have reached double figures.
But points on the board are still points, I suppose. With Mrs L and
the Linglets away, I sat back, poured a few cold ones and got carried
away by some real football - a long-overdue encounter with Crystal
Palace's splendid centenary DVD. CPFC have experienced more ups 'n'
downs than even Paris Hilton's knickers during their now 101-year
existence... that's why there's never a dull moment supporting them.
This fine two-disc set is worth every penny of its £30 pricetag,
tracing the club's history from an outfit that began by wearing Aston
Villa's cast-off strip to its current status as a colossus in the
world game (cough!). I wiped away a nostalgic tear or two whilst reliving
a 5-0 trouncing of Man United during the club's first run in the top
flight, stealing the Second Division championship from under Br***ton's
noses in front of 51,000 fans in 1979 (witnessed as a schoolkid -
one of the greatest nights of my life), the Malcolm Allison-inspired
FA Cup giant-killings of Leeds, Chelsea and Sunderland, the Wright
and Bright years (including the FA Cup semi-final and final in 1990),
Dougie Freedman saving the club from relegation to Division Two with
a last-minute wonder-goal at Stockport and the Dowie-era promotion
run to the Premier League. Awesome, awesome stuff. Palace till I die,
and no mistake.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
2nd September
Holding the fort here in drizzly and windswept Catford while
the rest of Clan Ling takes a few days away. A sleeve essay for a
Yes boxed set (you might call it a Yessay?) must be completed by Monday.
So that second bottle of wine at the Crobar last night was probably
a big mistake. Got a mouth like one of Osama bin Laden's flipflops,
but I don't deserve sympathy.
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