|
Sunday
30th September
Having hauled my ass up to Lancashire for last season's
clash with Burnley, I resisted the temptation to do so again
this year. The result was identical, Crystal Palace taking the
lead (last time through Clinton Morrison, who's still stuck
on 99 club goals; yesterday via a sixth-minute Mark Hudson header),
only to concede an equaliser and for the game to end in stalemate.
The radio commentary suggested it was a fair outcome.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
29th September
I'd
been dying to see Kamelot for many, many moons. As well as having
collected their back catalogue, the Floridian group's latest
album, 'Ghost Opera', is a big favourite here at Ling Towers.
So it's galling to report that last night's appearance at the
Mean Fiddler in London was a gigantic disappointment. Why? Well,
their sound engineer had absolutely no clue. The band's most
siginificant assets are Roy Khan's stellar vocals and the riffery
of Thomas Youngblood, but until halfway through the 90-minute
show, both were strangulated to almost nothingness, along with
the female backing singer who'd been brought in to enhance the
band's more melodic moments. It was a crying shame; the records
suggest that Khan is a truly phenomenal singer, with all the
effortless range of a young Geoff Tate. In fact, Kamelot did
well to complete their performance at all given that stand-in
bassist Sean Tibbetts suffered a painful injury right at the
start.
"Our bass player has actually broken his leg. That's pretty
bad," announced Khan two numbers in (no shit, Sherlock).
"They're taking him to the hospital, but we're still gonna
do this without bass. Hopefully you guys have got good imaginations".
After the band struggled through a couple of songs, Tibbetts
was assisted back onstage to join them for the 'Epica' album
selection 'Descent Of The Archangel', rightfully receiving an
ovation for playing the rest of the show perched on (I believe)
the drum-riser. The full Kamelot set-list was: 'Solitaire'/'Rule
The World', 'When The Lights Are Down', 'Soul Society', 'Mourning
Star', 'Descent Of The Archangel', 'Abandoned', 'The Human Stain',
Guitar Solo/Jam, 'Centre Of The Universe', 'The Haunting (Somewhere
In Time)', 'Forever', Keyboard Solo, 'Ghost Opera', 'Love You
To Death', 'Karma' and an encore of 'March Of Mephisto'.
From my own perspective, opening act Threshold were far more
satisfying, romping through the best bits of their current disc,
'Dead Reckoning', like they were the event's headliners. I was
overjoyed that they included 'Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams', a
song that's destined to be among the very finest compositions
of 2007. Stagediving and hitting all the notes, original singer
Damian Wilson did an enthusiastic job of depping for Andrew
'Mac' McDermott, who quit shortly before the tour on the grounds
that he wasn't earning enough to support his family. If Wilson
can be persuaded to stay on with the band, Threshold's future
looks very bright indeed.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
28th September
Although
people whose opinions I respect assure me it's excellent, I've
yet to hear Fish's latest solo album. On the evidence of the
four tracks that the ex-Marillion singer performed from it last
night at the Shepherds Bush Empire, '13th Star' sounds reassuringly
like The Big Man's best work in many a long year. Fish's banter
with the crowd and put-downs of hecklers were almost as entertaining
as the actual music, which also homed in on Marllion's now 20-year-old
classic album 'Clutching At Straws'. The sound mix was absolutely
immaculate, with 'Sugar Mice' and the evocative 'Cliché'
(the latter based upon an exquisite solo from chrome-domed guitarist
Frank Usher) among the highlights of a wonderful evening. Here's
the full set-list: 'Slàinte Mhath', 'Circle Line', 'So
Fellini', 'Square Go', 'The Perception Of Johnny Punter', 'Manchmal',
'Hotel Hobbies', 'Warm Wet Circles', 'That Time Of The Night
(The Short Straw)', 'Dark Star', 'Sugar Mice', 'Vigil In A Wilderness
Of Mirrors', 'White Russian', 'Cliché',
'Incommunicado' and 'The Last Straw'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
27th September
Checked out the Alex
Skolnick Trio last night - what a surreal experience. The
Pizza Express Jazz Café was a central London venue that
I'd never visited before, except to eat at. But its dark basement
is well suited to live music, and with the sound of knives and
forks clattering in the background, the former Testament/Savatage
axe hero ran through some cunning jazz rock interpretations
of rock and metal classics, including super-smooth reworkings
of 'Still Loving You' by the Scorpions, Kiss' 'Detroit Rock
City', 'Electric Eye' by Judas Priest, Rush's 'Tom Sawyer' and
the Ozzy Osbourne classic 'Revelation (Mother Earth)'. You'd
be excused for assuming that it's all some horrendous gimmick,
of course, but the Trio's own material is well worth hearing,
especially when they heavy things up a little, as witnessed
by the evening's final song, 'Western Sabbath Stomp'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
25th September
It's
hard to believe that John Bonham died 27 years ago today. Wonder
what on earth Bonzo'd think of Zeppelin's reunion...?
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
23rd September
That's
a bit bloody annoying, Ratt's UK dates - their first here since
October 1990 - have been cancelled, with the band claiming it's
more important to write a new album than fulfil a commitment
to those who've bought tickets. How disgraceful.
Still attempting to recover from yesterday's splendid victory
over Sheffield United (after a dismal run of results, Palace
have deserved a little luck; I admit it, the last minute penalty
decision was harsh on the visitors), I'm trawling through various
magazine cuttings as I pen some sleeve notes for the first two
Spider albums, 'Rock 'N' Roll Gypsies' and 'Rough Justice'.
In Kerrang! #58, I stumbled upon a very entertaining feature...
the stars and their New Year's pledges of 1983/84. Here are
a few crackers that I thought I'd share:
•
Ozzy Osbourne - "To bite Malcolm Dome's nose off".
• Manowar: "To kill off all false metal" (we're
still waiting)
• Neil Murray - "To play as many gigs in '84 as I
was seen at in '83!"
• Pete Way of Waysted - "To earn lots of money to
buy lots of drugs".
• John Lodge of the Moody Blues: "To work harder
so I can get more money to extend my garage."
• Steve Clark of Def Leppard - "To give up all my
vices" (ouch).
• Phil Collen of Def Leppard - "To take up all the
vices that Steve is giving up" (thank goodness we has kidding).
• Michael Schenker - "To continue to keep myself
under control and not drink any alcohol".
• The Killer Dwarfs: "To spread heavy metal midget
mania everywhere".
• Eric Martin of Eric Martin Band: "Not to tease
Ross Halfin about being one of the Seven Dwarves."
• Steve 'Dobby' Dawson of Saxon: "To have dinner
with Mr Creosote".
• Uli Jon Roth: "To help change
the world."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
21st September
What
a bloody treat. My good friend Paul Newcomb happened to have
a spare ticket for last night's Sunflower Jam, an annual bash
held to raise funds for a charity of the same name run by Deep
Purple drummer Ian Paice's wife Jacky. Last year's inaugural
event generated over £90,000 and featured appearances
from Robert Plant, Ian Paice and Jon Lord, David Gilmore, Bernie
Marsden and Paul Weller among others. Mr Newcomb was in need
of a drinking partner and wondered if I'd be up for joining
him in a night of rock 'n' roll decadence. He didn't have to
ask twice.
Well, come mid-evening I found myself sat at a table at London's
plush Porchester Halls, sipping champagne (accompanied by white
wine chasers) and indulging in some exquisitely-prepared nosebag.
Up on the stage the house band was rotating an obscene amount
of talent that included Paice, Lord, Roger Glover - yes, three-fifths
of Deep Purple - plus Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzarena, Gary
Moore and lead vocalist Linda Lewis, who belted her way through
Ike & Tina Turner's 'Nutbush City Limits' with aplomb.
Moore then took over the stage for his own set, still backed
by Glover and Paice, before Status Quo trooped on for their
own mini-performance, running through 'Caroline', 'Roll Over
Lay Down', 'Down Down' (which is exactly where the drinks were
going), 'Whatever You Want' and a triumphant 'Rocking All Over
The World'. By this point, I'd lost all pretence of decorum
and Mr Newcomb and I were boogieing away like loons while other
less inebriated souls danced around thir handbags or looked
on in amusement/disgust. It was an incredibly enjoyable evening
for a great cause and I now owe my esteemed (or, in this instance,
well and truly 'steamed') amigo the mutha of all favours.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
20th September
I
witnessed a little piece of history last night at the Underworld
when Ginger of the Wildhearts joined guitarist Warner Hodges,
bassist Kenny Ames and drummer Fenner Castner - better communally
known as the instrumental players of Jason & The Scorchers
- for a set of some of the celebrated US cowpunk band's finest
songs (under the guise of Ginger & The Scorchers, natch).
I won't pretend to be a huge fan of the nomally Jason Ringenberg-fronted
outfit, though I have picked up three or four of their albums
from the cut-out bins. Besides an encore cover of Creedence
Clearwater's 'Fortunate Son', I had no trouble in recognising
'Lost Highway', 'Help There's A Fire', 'Shop It Around', 'Golden
Ball And Chain', 'Crashin' Down', 'I'm Stickin' With You', 'Harvest
Moon' and 'White Lies'. Ginger's assertion that the show would
be "an evening's entertainment you won't forget in a hurry"
was right on the money - and then some.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
19th September
Being
at Selhurst Park last night felt a bit like attending a pantomime.
With visitors Coventry City managed by a certain Iain Dowie,
and their squad including more ex-Eagles players than is advisable,
the game was punctuated by boos whenever The Elephant Man walked
down the touchline or the likes of Borrowdale or Adebola received
the ball, then resounding cheers as the spherical object came
to Dougie Freedman. The latter was ironic as after Palace weathered
an early storm to take the lead, Freedman was guilty of several
glaring misses that would've sealed the game. With no substitutions
being made, a visibly tiring CPFC appeared to sit back and invite
the visitors onto them as the clock ticked down, resulting in
an inevitable 87th minute equaliser that they simply didn't
deserve. Everybody in the ground could see it looming, so why
didn't Taylor? Sick as the proverbial parrot I exited thinking,
'I could've gone to see Kip Winger or Alter Bridge tonight,
and I chose this?' Then again, my mood had become particularly
sombre even before leaving home after learning of the death
of Tigertailz bassist Pepsi Tate from pancreatic cancer. Pepsi
was just 42 and, in my limited experience, one of the good guys.
Dowie may or may not be a despicable, lying traitor. Peter Taylor
quite probably is a useless manager that deserves the chop.
At the end of the day, there are more important things in life.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 18th September
Encouraging reports emanate from the rehearsals for Van
Halen's reunion tour. An old friend of Edward and Alex, Toto's
Steve Lukather was moved to proclaim: "I had a fucking
tear in my eye. They are ba-a-a-ack! If this ain't the rock
'n' roll event of the year then I'll be your fucking septic
tank salesman!" Some days earlier, Scott Ian had posted
with similar enthusiasm after witnessing another bout of preparation.
"Finally... a real full-blown arena rock act!" trumpted
the Anthrax guitarist, adding: "It's like listening to
the soundtrack of America since 1978. The kings are back!".
I've watched some of the YouTube footage that's out there and...
well, something seems to be missing. I guess you've gotta be
there to take it all in.
One thing that did stop me in my tracks is the new album from
Down, the New Orleans supergroup featuring members past 'n'
present of Pantera, COC, Crowbar, Superjoint Ritual and more.
'III: Over The Under' is nothing less than a monumental Southern-friend
sludgefest. Buy or die on September 24.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday
17th September
Curtailing a weekend away with the family, I zoomed
back to London to attend yesterday's world premiere of Tarja
Turunen's new album, 'My Winter Storm', followed by a press
conference from the former Nightwish frontwoman. Given that
Turunen made negligable contribution to Nightwish's creative
process, I was pleasantly surprised by the eight tracks that
were played (Tarja explained that the finished album will contain
14 songs, nine of which she co-wrote - one called 'Oasis' being
entirely self-penned). Sadly, her version of Alice Cooper's
'Poison' wasn't available to be played, but Turunen's two-and-a-half
octave voice remains bewitchingly unmistakable. 'Lost Northern
Star' and 'Ciarán's Well' were both far heavier than
expected, 'Sing For Me' an epic-sounding mesh of opera, symphonic-pop
and soft-rock, but more appealing than that description might
sound. The song Tarja wrote on her own, 'Oasis', is blissfully
serene; clear and refreshing as an alpine valley. I'll be truthful,
some of what was played sounded non-descript and forgettable,
missing the hooks that Tuomas Holopainen integrates into Nightish's
music with such apparent ease. But the highs were well worth
the less inspirational parts.
The question and answer session that followed wasn't too illuminating.
Along with representatives of several fanzines, a group of readers
of another UK rock mag had joined the grilling. So I can die
happy knowing which type of shoe Tarja would like to be reincarnated
as (**sighs deeply**). Alas, despite confirming that she has
heard one song from Nightwish's new album, 'Dark Passion Play',
Turunen stubbornly refused to divulge her opinion of it, even
professing innocent unawareness of 'Bye Bye Beautiful', the
song that Holopainen wrote about her sacking from the group.
Did I believe her? Hmmmmmm. Not really. But in a way, whilst
its lyrics seem unconnected to the controversy, Tarja's own
incredibly beautiful song 'I Walk Alone' might be interpreted
as the perfect response. I did manage to tease some interesting
comments from her in a one-on-one interview that took place
once the gathering had dispersed (look out for them in an upcoming
issue of Classic Rock), but it was a bit like getting blood
from a stone.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
16th September
Eldest
son Eddie and I sat through yesterday's mundane game between
two incredibly average Fizzy Pop League football teams, Norwich
and Crystal Palace. Frustratingly, the only goal went to the
home side, leaving the travelling Eagles faithful singing "We're
shit and we know we are" and the club stranded one place
above the relegation zone. Something's gotta change - and fast.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
15th September
In
harsh contrast to last Saturday, yesterday wasn't a good day
to be an English sports fan. After Kevin Pietersen told the
Australians he would like to "humiliate" them in their
ICC World Twenty20 clash, the batsman's words were stuffed down
his throat in no uncertain style, the Convicts registering an
eight-wicket victory. Then, in the evening, England were annihilated
36-0 by South Africa in the Rugby World Cup. 'Embarrassed' isn't
the word. My beloved Palace have an away fixture at Norwich,
a team with an almost identical record as us: one win, one draw
and two defeats. Manager Peter Taylor told the South London
Press last week: "At the moment, we are a team of passers,
instead of a team of dribblers." He's fooling himself.
We're a team of tossers and journeymen. Anyway, despite that
previous statement I'm off shortly to Sparrow Road...
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
14th September
The
BBC is reporting that 20 million fans have logged on to claim
tickets for Led Zeppelin's reunion gig - it's hardly a surprise,
is it? So there are 22,000 tickets up for grabs, and the registration
process closes at midday on Monday. Hmmm, sounds like I'll be
at home watching the Led Zeppelin DVD with a few cans on November
26. On a positive note, Harvey Goldsmith is refusing to rule
out the possibility of a tour. "You have to take it one
step at a time," says the promoter. "Obviously there's
frustration for all the fans who can't get tickets. I hope [the
band] does something else because they're really enjoying it,
and because this show is fantastic."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 13th September
So the much-discussed Led Zeppelin reunion is now confirmed.
Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham's
son Jason will attempt to wind back the years for the benefit
of 22,000 lucky fans at a charity show in London on November
26, with tickets distributed by raffle. The website went into
meltdown after Harvey Goldsmith's press conference, but I was
able to make my own application at 7.30am today - not that I
stand a snowball in hell's chance of getting in. But you've
gotta try...
To be honest, I'm amazed that I could even type my name and
address this morning. With England playing Russia last night
in a vital Euro Championships qualifying match - and winning
3-0 - I drank enough cider to anaesthetise a small family of
grizzly bears. The flags are still up all over the house, and
there are peanuts and bits of broken glass on the floor from
the pint that managed to slip out of my hand. What a bloody
marvellous result. But what a skull-fuck of a hangover. As I
told my puzzled son Eddie this morning, it's worth the suffering
when you win...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
11th September
One of the coolest things about having your own website,
and writing for two heavyweight magazines, is that people surf
by and offer you all sorts of free stuff. I could only manage
a couple of chapters of William Irwin's unfathomable Metallica
And Philosophy: A Crash Course In Brain Surgery, but I've higher
hopes for Defenders Of The Faith, an unofficial book on Judas
Priest written by UK scribe Neil Daniels. A cursory flick-through
reveals plenty of quotes lifted from my own interviews with
the band, including KK Downing's 2001 humdinger: "I can
state categorically that Rob Halford will never sing with this
band again, because he doesn't fucking deserve it."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
9th September
What
a weekend! Music Convention North East (see Friday's diary)
was very interesting, addressing quite a few subjects that new
hard rock/metal bands must address if they're to forge any sort
of career - making demos, playing gigs, hiring a manager, finding
a label, approaching the press, touring, etc. I learned about
some things that I'd rarely considered before. After a bite
to eat and watching two respectable local bands (Exitbyname
and Massacre On Broadway), I retired to the hotel bar with Dave
Thorne, Eric Cook and Eric's brother/Demolition Records colleague
Ged to sink some vodka and recount a few old war stories. Ged
took great pleasure in reminding me of the time when, back in
the late 80s, I accompanied his band Atomkraft on a trip to
Poland and got arrested for being drunk and disorderly after...
ahem... mistaking a police car for a taxi and attempting to
climb into it.
Yesterday saw England playing three crucial sporting fixtures;
football, rugby and cricket. The law of averages had suggested
that we'd win at least once, so I'd booked myself onto an early
train home and ordered an alarm call for 6.30am. Alas, I didn't
get to my hotel room till 4.30 on Saturday morning... skulking
into Catford in a tragically sleepless and hungover state. The
only sensible course of action was to drink a lot more; then
cheer like a loon as England's cricketers sealed a comfortable
seven-wicket triumph over India to win the series, then imbibe
more as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Owen and Micah Richards
put Israel to the sword, and finally, finish off the empties
as England scraped past the part-timers of USA with that other,
oddly-shaped ball in the first round of their attempt to retain
the Rugby World Cup. The latter looks a vain hope, but three
nil to the Ingerland anyway... I'll have another pint of cider,
plus a cherry brandy chaser please.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 7th September
Very shortly I'll be heading off to be a guest speaker at
the Music
Convention North East. My fellow waffle merchants include
former Mercury/Vertigo Records big cheese Dave Thorne (who now
manages Arch Enemy) and current Demolition Records boss Eric
Cook, the poor soul who used to be in charge of getting Venom
into the same room together, then keeping them there without
killing each other. The train journey to Stockton-on-Tees is
quite a haul, so it's terrific timing that the postman has dropped
off a weighty, six-disc Emerson Lake & Palmer boxed set
titled 'From The Beginning', plus four solo re-issues from Peter
Hammill (1981's 'Sitting Targets' through 'And Close As This'
in 1986).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday
6th September
Well
done Michael Anthony, who's biting his lip and responding with
dignity to questions about Van Halen's decision to reunite with
Edward Van Halen's 16-year-old son on bass. Despite learning
of his exclusion via the internet like the rest of the planet,
Anthony has gone on record as stating: "Wolfie is a great
kid, so don't judge him too harshly. I'm sure he'll do just
fine!" What a gracious fella.
P.S. Some new Ask
Daves have just gone up - sorry about the delay in replying.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday
4th September
Editor
Bruce Mee has kindly mailed me the latest issue of Fireworks
magazine, which contains a lovely interview with Paul Gilbert.
The former Racer X/Mr Big guitarist has always been refreshingly
modest in my own experience, and writer Mónica Castedo-López
presents him in the same flattering light. Given a platform
to say whatever he likes at the story's end, Gilbert doesn't
resort to lamely plugging a latest CD but replies: "Please
buy 'Go For What You Know' by Pat Travers and 'Bridge Of Sighs'
by Robin Trower, they are the great albums that most of the
modern heavy metal kids don't know. I got so much of my style
from those two records." A good point, well made.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
2nd September
I'm still smarting from yesterday's capitulation to Clowntown
Pathetic. To come out second best in a local derby is never
pleasant, but for such a game to be decided by a solitary Keystone
Cops-style goal is utterly infuriating. And that's before we
get into the visiting players rolling around and faking injures,
consistently getting away with climbing over our players in
ariel challenges and the two clear-cut penalties that the so-called
referee failed to award in Palace's favour.
On a happier note, a new package from Rock
Candy Records arrived whilst son Eddie and I were suffering
at Selhurst. The return of Dante Bonutto and Derek Oliver's
splendid re-issue label is a wonderful thing. The three newies
are Zodiac Mindwarp's full-length debut, 'Tattooed Beat Messiah',
'The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds' by The Throbs and, best
of all, the self-titled album from the Sea Hags.
This afternoon I nipped into central London and hooked up with
my old pals Steve Overland and Pete Jupp for an enjoyable chat
about FM's appearance at the Firefest. After 12 years away,
the duo have been pleasantly shocked by the response to their
reunion and whilst they were understandably cagey about the
current bout of activity leading to an album or perhaps some
further live work, it wasn't something they were ready to rule
out. It all depends on how much they and the audience enjoy
the gig in Nottingham on October 27.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
1st September
The
latest Playlist
and some new Quotes
have been added to the relevant pages. The Alice Cooper ones
come from an hilarious interview that appears in the current
issue of Classic Rock.
On Friday I sat glued to Sky Sports News as English football's
transfer window finally slammed shut, and whaddya know? We managed
to offload the hapless Shefi Kuqi onto Fulham, until January
(on loan, at least). Craven Cottage boss Lawrie Sanchez must've
been on the wacky backy, that's all I can assume. The Eagles
actually signed another loanee player of their own.
Manchester City's Paul Dickov is a dirty bugger that I've always
despised in games against us. Probably something to do with
the small man synrome. To be honest, I'm not that keen on seeing
him in a red and blue shirt, but will reserve judgement until
I've seen how the 34-year-old performs. The Palace bulletin
board was a hive of activity as the clock ticked towards midnight,
arguably the most astute posting of the night coming in the
Dickov thread. It read: Are we now offically a donkey sanctuary?
Um, perhaps so. Eey-aww and out.
|
