DAVE LING - ROCK JOURNALIST

DAVE'S DIARY

This journal of the comings'n'goings and musings'n'enthusings of Dave Ling
will be updated daily - except after nights of excess.

 

Tuesday 30th September

My Monday evening was spent at a plush central London members' club called Home House for the launch of Celebrating Jon Lord, a DVD/Blu-Ray and audio CD released a few days earlier by EarMusic. I had a bit of a fright on the train up to town when, having found a seat and taken out my BlackBerry, another occupant of the carriage seated opposite reached out and touched my leg (the last person to do that, I ended up marrying). Luckily, it was only Danny Bowes from Thunder who happened to be heading to the same destination as me – his company having filmed the concert concerned at the Royal Albert Hall.

Deep Purple's Ian Paice, Roger Glover and Don Airey were in attendance, along with several other of the show's participants. In town for the filming of a new video, AC/DC's Brian Johnson stopped by for a quick pint or two before zooming off elsewhere. Other assorted performers and/or liggers included Snakecharmer's Neil Murray and Micky Moody, Luke Morley from Thunder, The Temperance Movement's Nick Fyffe from and Murray Gould and Rosalie Cunningham from Purson.

The product is well worth the money. Check out this fantastic, symphonically enhanced version of 'Burn', featuring guests Glenn Hughes, Bruce Dickinson and Rick Wakeman.

 

Monday 29th September

This story about the geezer that spent 15 years excavating a secret tunnel from his bedroom to the local boozer has gotta be the best of the year so far. A great spot by my friend, the publicist Roland Hyams, who I'm willing to wager has a similar private excavation of his own, or is at least planning one. When I posted it on Facebook, a (female) friend wondered: "Wouldn't it be easier to just tell his missus: 'I'm going to the pub'?" My reply of: "Well, it all depends on the wife concerned" seemed quite obvious.

 

Sunday 28th September

What a day. What a night, What a hangover. Visited Heavy Load – what a fabulously retro place! – took the nightbus home and crawled into the pit at gone 5am… and slept till 3pm. Can't recall the last time I did that! (Or, more to the point, had the opportunity!).

Anyway… Palace fully deserved a priceless 2-0 victory over Leicester that really set off the evening's celebrations. Following some pre-gig libations at the Crobar I headed (almost) next door to the Borderline. Flanked by a pair of guitarists (one electric, the other acoustic) a warm-up set from Fiona was… in all honesty… somewhat hit and miss. Her mischievous between-song banter was impossible to dislike, ditto the quality of songs such as 'Talk To Me' and 'Ain't That Just Like Love' but the voice was, I'm afraid, very much the weak link.

Headliner Kip Winger was greeted by an eager crowd as he arrived onstage for the third of these annual unplugged shows, taking the piss out of yours truly even bore the commencement of his first number, playfully chastising me for my less than positive review of Winger (the band's) latest record, 'Better Days Comin''. "That's okay, we're good buds," he laughed, "be sure to buy him a drink… because he fucking drinks heavily!" I've seen a lot of these fan-focused unplugged gigs but it's hard to sum up the bonhomie between artist and audience at Winger's shows. His dry, self-mocking humour is just so refreshing. The show was being recorded for a DVD and early on he grinned whilst mock-chastising a cameraman: "Dude… don't film me from that angle, man, I'm 53 years old". Armed with just a trust 12-string he trawled through tunes old and new (including 'Midnight Driver Of A Love Machine' from the aforementioned 'Better Days Comin''), taking requests where appropriate. And it wasn't just the songs that the crowd got to pick. "Who shall we call?" grinned Kip, brandishing his mobile phone. "Alice Cooper!" shouted the guy next to me. "No… Alice never picks up." Instead, we got his Winger band-mate Rod Morgenstein who, caught on the hop, admitted: "Er… I'm out shopping for organic food!" How rock 'n' roll! And later on Kip called an equally surprised Kane Roberts, his guitar partner from the Alice days, who used the opportunity to plug a new song that's about to be released, "It's called 'What's Wrong With Me', and it's a question I've wondered for a long time," he informed us.

After completing the sensitive ballad 'Under The Condition', Kip grinned: "Dave Ling… I felt like I was singing that one to you. We had a real thing going there." Haha, I felt like the ground was going to open up and swallow me! At encore time a familiar face returned to the stage. "This is my dear friend Fiona, who I've known for 30 years," Kip grinned lasciviously. "She was only one year old when I met her… no, no, no… I didn't mean that, that's totally wrong!" Together they duetted on 'Everything You Do' (You're Sexing Me)', the song they did together back in 1989 on Fiona's 'Heart Like A Gun' album. The place went totally mad!

Here's the full set-list: 'Cross', 'Easy Come Easy Go', 'Can't Get Enuff', 'Who's The One', 'Steam', 'Headed For A Heartbreak', 'Blind Revolution Mad', 'Rainbow In The Rose', 'Free', 'Miles Away', 'Daniel', 'Under One' Condition', 'Battle Stations', 'Midnight Driver Of A Love Machine', 'Junkyard Dog' (Excerpt), 'Deal With The Devil', 'Hungry', 'Spell I'm Under', 'How Far Will We Go', 'Down Incognito', 'Madalaine', 'Seventeen' and 'Everything You Do' (You're Sexing Me)'.

 

Saturday 27th September

Well… knock me down with a feather, I've only gone and secured a *full* Saturday night away from Stalag Luft Ling. So, assuming that I'm still standing after pre-game drinkies, Palace-Leicester and Kip Winger & Fiona @ the Borderline, I might end up investigating the nightclub called Heavy Load that everyone's been waffling about of late. Think I deserve it! Note to self: It's a marathon, not a sprint!

 

Friday 26th September

So it's official… rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young has retired from AC/DC after a glittering 41-year career. Their label have informed us that 'Rock Or Bust', a brand new studio record featuring Stevie Young, nephew of founding members Angus and Malcolm, drops on December 1. Must confess, that title is a bit uninspiring, and the idea of a Malcolm-less line-up even more so, though after the unforeseen quality of its mega-selling processor 'Black Ice' I will of course keep an open mind. The statement says simply that "Unfortunately, due to the nature of Malcolm's condition, he will not be returning to the band." However, citing Australian sources the Daily Mail is reporting that the 61-year-old has been hospitalized and now suffers from the degenerative condition of dementia. Christ… for a guy who not too long ago was renowned for being a man's man, what a crying shame that would represent.

 

Thursday 25th September

Though my beloved Eagles ended up tumbling out of the League Cup at the hands of Newcastle, last nite's game presented an absorbing evening of knockout football, complete with disallowed goals, a sending off, penalties and the exquisite diving header from Paul Dummett than matched the visitors with Man Shitty in the competition's last sixteen. Warnock made 11 changes from the side that had beaten Everton a few days earlier whilst the beleaguered Pardew, who couldn't really afford to lose, fielded a slightly stronger XI. It was wonderful to see returning club legend Andrew Johnson come on as a substitute during the second half (see photograph), while CPFC Academy wonder kid Sullay Kaikai delighted the Holmesdale end by rifling in at the near post in the 90th minute to take proceedings to extra time. All of this, and a friendly pre-game greeting and conversation about the merits of the new Joe Bonamassa album with goalie Julian Speroni in the Players' Lounge, made it a night to remember.

 

Wednesday 24th September

There's some splendid news from those fine Thunder gentlemen. Guitarist/keyboard player Ben Matthews has completed his treatment for cancer, and according to a new statement from the group "he's recovering. He's been quite poorly, but he's very determined and making steady progress." Yay!

And there's further cause for celebration… Christmas is to come early this year! The mighty H.E.A.T. return to London on December 10 as part of a four-date whistle stop dash around the UK. If you haven't seen them yet, and you're one of those peeps that sits in the pub and blathers on about there being 'no great new rock bands' then do yourself a favour… buy a bloody ticket and check out this exceptional group before they make the step up to bigger venues! You won't regret it.

 

Tuesday 23rd September

Just been on the BBC iPlayer catch up on Friday's Chris Evans Show. I wanted to hear those three new Queen songs which appear on the much vaunted compilation album, 'Queen Forever' (released on November 10). They were surprisingly good, even 'There Must Be More to Life Than This', the duet between Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson. Brian May and Roger Taylor were both in the studio with Evans and it was interesting to hear the drummer volunteer: "We have our finger a millimetre away from the [announce] button" when the subject of a UK tour with singer Andy Lambert taking the place of Fred was raised. Not too sure that I'd want to go, being truthful, and the ethics of yet another compilation album being released are dubious at best – and that's before we get into subject of music from beyond the grave – but it's great that whole new generations continue to enjoy the catalogue of such a great, great band.

 

Monday 22nd September

Say what you like about Crystal Palace FC, I really don't give a fuck, but yesterday's amazing performance at Everton – where, as expected, the team went behind after less than ten minutes, only two win 3-2 (just like last season!) served to validate my enduring love for this great, spirited football club. It wasn't pretty, not by a long chalk, and Toffees fans have every right to blame their goalie Tim Howard who had a stinker, but three more points from the happy hunting ground of Goodison Park made me relieved and very, very happy!

Not that I could celebrate the first victory of the season, mind. I'd been struck down by an awful tummy bug for a chunk of the weekend. Tried to go for a short run hoping it might blow away the cobwebs but ended up puking behind a bush after a couple of hundred yards and spent most of Sunday wrapped in a duvet on the sofa feeling sorry for myself… till those goals from Jedinak, Campbell and Bolasie caused me to rise, Lazarus-like, and leap around the room like a complete loony!

 

Sunday 21st September

The time came when I could procrastinate no longer. Yes, it was the point of reckoning. Last night I sat down and played my promo copy of Status Quo's unplugged CD, 'Aquostic'. Two tracks in ('Pictures Of Matchstick Men' and 'Down The Dustpipe') and I hadn't taken the Cyanide tablet… yet. Okay, I really liked those versions of 'All The Reasons' and 'Reason For Living' – that was two good 'uns in a row… 'Mystery Song' was pretty good, too; hmmm, I thought, this could turn out better than I'd feared. And then… a rockabilly version of 'Again And Again'… no, No, NOOOOOO! Yikes! Skip past 'Marguerita Time' after a few bars (of course)… straight into 'Burning Bridges'. As if the original wasn't already execrable enough the 2014 re-make sounds like Steeleye Span after a weekend on the ale. So, so unutterably horrid… the words to describe this monstrosity simply don't exist. So my verdict on 'Aquostic' is as follows: Mostly pretty cool, but increasingly repulsive towards the arse-end. Would I play the thing again? Somewhat unlikely, if you want the truth.

 

Saturday 20th September

My Friday evening was spent at RAK Studios in St John's Wood, a facility once owned by the late Mickie Most. The place has some nice décor, as proven by this poster of those fab Heavy Metal Kids. I'd been invited to a preview of some songs from an album that won't be out till 2015: Clue, their drummer supports the same football team as me. Okay, okay… it's the newie from Thunder, their first studio recording since 2008's 'Bang!'. Messrs Bowes, Morley and James were in attendance and some chilled beers were sipped once the yardarm hour was passed. 'Arry looked pretty frail as apparently a band-only playback of the album had taken place 24 hours earlier and, by all accounts, the celebrations got "a bit out of control." At such an early stage I cannot be too specific about what I heard, save for saying that it was as fabulous as I'd dared to hope it would be. The songs ticked all the right boxes, and then some.

Aaah, my new running vest has arrived! Clearly, Merv Goldsworthy was listening to my rant about 'the pink option' when we spoke at the Cambridge Rock Festival about merch for FM's 30th anniversary tour. Cheers Merv! I shall wear with pride!

Friday 19th September

Well, last night I learned a couple of rather important lessons. Firstly, and most importantly, never visit Tufnell Park in North London unless absolutely necessary. I met up with my good friend Nick Shilton for some enjoyable chatter and a bite to eat before a gig by Spock's Beard at the Dome. Our meal was punctuated by sirens and all manner of disturbances outside of the restaurant, though it cannot be denied that the food was very tasty. Which leads me to my second point, never have a vindaloo curry and a mushroom pilau immediately before a lengthy progressive rock concert. Shilts and I were so carried away by the gossip that before we knew it there were just five minutes till show-time; upon entry we even had to pass the band lolling about on the venue's stairs before they headed stagewards.

I'm a huge and longstanding fan of this wonderful California-based group, having seen them on each visit to the UK with the exception of their tours in 1999 and 2001. In some way it's amazing that they continue to exist, given the departures of not one but two superb lead singers. Co-founder Neal Morse quit in 2002 after a well documented religious conversion, after which the band 'did a Genesis' by handing drummer Nick D'Virgilio the microphone, a place where he excelled until his own departure three years ago.

Amazingly, the band then found a third lead high quality singer in the shape of Enchant's Ted Leonard – someone 'up there' must definitely be smiling down on them. This was their second time in London to promote the well-received 'Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep'. Not only did the band play a longer set than at the Garage last May, they also trimmed down the amount of new tracks to four ('Hiding Out', 'Something Very Strange', 'Submerged' and 'Waiting For Me') and threw in a load of catalogue gems including a brilliant medley of selections from 2002's conceptual piece 'Snow', which saw drummer Jimmy Keegan 'do a D'Virgilio' of his own by heading to the front of the stage to deliver the beautiful ballad 'Carie'. Despite various unusual odours that had began to permeate the air during the gig's latter stages – Hmmm… the one who smelt it dealt it, surely? – the band seemed to be having a great time, and Leonard went so far as to throw in an additional song, the instrumental piece 'Skeletons At The Feast', simply because it had felt a little too early to say goodnight. Rounded off by the 22 technicolour minutes of 'Healing Colours Of Sound' this was a great, great show, and I'd go and see Spock's Beard on any given day of the week… just so long as it wasn't in Tufnell Park and providing the pre-gig scoff was a little less spicy. Here's the set-list: 'Day For Night', 'Beware Of Darkness', 'Hiding Out', 'Harm's Way', 'Something Very Strange', 'Mouth Of Madness', 'Snow' Medley, 'Submerged', 'Skeletons At The Feast', 'Waiting For Me' and 'Healing Colours Of Sound'.

 

Thursday 18th September

It's not often that I find myself nodding in agreement with Sharon Osbourne, but that's exactly what happened when I read her lambasting of U2 for spamming the iTunes playlists of 500 million people with a new album called 'Songs Of Innocence'. "U2 you are business moguls not musicians anymore. No wonder you have to give your mediocre music away for free cause no one wants to buy it," she blasts. "Jimmy Iovine, iTunes, U2, you're a bunch of megalomaniacs. FUCK YOU!" Go, Shazza! All the same, given the humungous profit margins involved – Apple are reported to have paid Bono and company a whopping $100m – I wonder how much of Osbourne's fury can be attributed to the fact that she didn't think of the idea first! Is it any wonder that one of the most Googled phrases this week is 'How to remove U2 album'?

In a broader sense I'm in total agreement with Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson, who says the U2 fiasco has served to "devalue music in the eyes of the consumer because they've sent a message to everyone that music is free, and that's disturbing." Speaking on behalf of "all the little fish in this enormous pond", Stryper's Michael Sweet is in agreement: "Why would anyone want to continue buying music when the trend is to receive it for free in their inbox?" Orange Goblin singer Ben Ward has also called the move "a violation of freedom", adding: "It just stinks of typical Bono pretentiousness – I don't like it." Neither do I…

*And breathe*… How cool to see on Facebook that Steven Wilson and his band have been London's AIR Studios working on a follow-up to 'The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)'. Ahead of its release early next year Wilson (pictured) comments: "It's another project where the music, story and visuals all work together. We're trying to raise the bar again – pretentious, and proudly so!" 'The Raven…' was my album of 2013, so, believe me, I'm counting down the minutes until the unveiling of its successor.

 

Wednesday 17th September

What a great cover story interview with King Crimson in the brand new ish of Prog magazine. Anything that can make a doctor's waiting room seem tolerable must be bloody fantastic! Band leader Robert Fripp is notoriously media-shy but along with the rest of the current seven-man line-up he spoke to the mag's representative Sid Smith. The quote of: "It's the first Crimson I've been in where there isn't at least one person in the band who actively resents me – I'm not used to that" is just brilliant!

On a much more downbeat note, it's deadline week once again and writing Classic Rock's obituaries section is an extremely depressing task, especially as this month we are saying goodbye to so many great musical talents (Jimi Jamison, Glenn Cornick, John Gustafson and a whopping nine others). Time to cheer myself by playing some Steely Dan, I think. Let's try 'Aja' for starters…

 

Tuesday 16th September

My delayed phoner with Tony Mills took place last night. We were set to talk about TNT's new audio-visual package '30th Anniversary 1982-2012 Live In Concert', but during our conversation I learned that the singer – who left the group not too long after the above show took place – has a new solo record on the way, complete with some interesting guests. Cool!

Oh look, just saw this wondrous photography on Facebook. It's safe to say that the lovely and extremely talented Kate Bush has just climbed several more levels in my humble estimation (if that were possible!).

 

Monday 15th September

Never underestimate the sheer hell of attending a gig in the capital on a Sunday night: Just one train every half an hour, the Northern line f**ked, and I had to speed-walk from King's Cross to Camden… I feared I would miss the start of a solo unplugged show of Mike Tramp. Luckily, I arrived at the Black Heart mere minutes before Tramp's arrival.

The former White Lion and Freak Of Nature singer was back in London for the last of 16 regional dates of varying shapes and sizes, having scaled down his operation somewhat. His backing band The Rock 'N' Roll Circuz were long absent, and post-show he hopped over to the merch stand to exchange copies of his latest CD and vinyl, 'Museum', for cash amid myriad photo opportunities (one of which is pasted here!).

I first met Tramp back in 1989 when snapper Peter Cronin and I flew to Toronto for a cover feature for RAW Magazine. Because I'd lambasted their critically panned new album 'Big Game', guitarist Vito Bratta would only be interviewed during his warm-up for the show, head down as his fingers flew up and down the frets, but the gregarious, ludicrous and ever-entertaining Tramp was an altogether different beast. We've stayed friends on and off ever since.

Fast forward 25 years and a one-man show at a London pub on a Sunday night is a long way from such glory days but the 53-year-old betrayed no hint of bitterness whilst recalling how White Lion had once opened their set with the ballad 'When The Children Cry' before 25,000 fans in support of AC/DC back in the days when, according to Tramp, his group were outselling the headliners "by ten to one". Little by little, piece by piece, Tramp is rebuilding his career. Just like its 2013 predecessor 'Cobblestone Streets', 'Museum' is a defiantly mature slice of singer-songwriter quality, new songs such as 'And You Were Gone', 'Mother', and the excellent 'Trust In Yourself' providing the breeze blocks with which the Dane has been painstakingly rebuilding his career. "This is how you and I are going to grow older together," he predicted, "this is a house that will stand for a long, long time."

The decades may have affected his voice a little but it's nothing a little tweak of the arrangements and tunings to a few White Lion gems can't fix, and Tramp spent more than two hours onstage, revisiting tunes from each era of the singer's career (except, of course, the Mabel years!) and of course telling some cool stories for good measure. With all hope extinguished of a reunion with Bratta, Tramp seems perfectly reconciled with where he is at this point in his life. Midway through the 'Pride' album's 'Wait' he smiled: "Right now I'm just gonna stand here and think about the great, great solo that Vito played on this song, but I'm not gonna ask why or when [White Lion might reconvene] because that was that and this is now."

The set-list ran as follows: 'Little Fighter', 'Revolution', 'Tell Me', 'Trust In Yourself', Medley: 'The Gathering'/'Turn The Other Way', 'Rescue Me', 'Hungry', 'Cry For Freedom', 'And You Were Gone', 'Hymn For Ronnie', 'What Am I?', 'Wait', 'Candle', 'Need', 'Mother', 'War Song', 'Broken Heart', 'Radar Love' and 'When The Children Cry', followed by a great version of Thin Lizzy's Southbound'.

 

Sunday 14th September

The extremely disappointing result of yesterday's game at Selhurst Park: Crystal Palace 0 Burnley 0… and it could've been far, far worse but for a stunning 84th-minute penalty save from Julian Speroni. The Eagles had much the better of the early exchanges but failed to take those chances, allowing their newly promoted back into the game. Last season's success was due to the accumulation of points taken from our relegation rivals and this was a match that we'd have won under Pulis.

Anyway… no time for self-pity. Today is a working day. I've got albums to review and had lined up three phone/Skype interviews: Tony Marshall of the new melodic hard rock band In Faith, TNT's US based singer Tony Harnell and another with Harnell's replacement in TNT, Tony Mills (possibly best known to those of us in the UK as frontman of Shy) that had to be postponed. It wasn't till later that I realised it would've been a bit like Monty Python's Bruces sketch, only replaced by people called Anthony… haha!

Saturday 13th September

Following an enjoyable phone interview a few weeks earlier I accepted an invitation to attend last night's gig at the Borderline by Danny Bryant, the UK-based guitarist who has just spent six weeks over in the States fronting the band of the ailing Walter Trout. Bryant revealed from the stage that Trout is "on the mend" following complications suffered after liver transplant and dedicated Dylan's 'Girl From The North Country' to the man that served as a mentor to him for the last two decades, taking things down to a whisper despite the selfish chattering twats at the bar to deliver a great, emotive solo. There's no doubt that Bryant's new album 'Temperature Rising' contains some quality hard rock-infused blues, and performed live tracks such as 'Take Me Higher', 'Best Of Me' and 'Razor Sharp' benefit from an additional vigour, with the slower, deeper 'Guntown' offering valuable light and shade. And as we all know, you can't really go wrong with a good cover of 'Hoochie Coochie Man'. The downside? Well… as you'll have gathered, I was impressed by his prowess as a guitarist though rather less so as a lead vocalist. Luckily he's also a very funny guy, taking the piss out of himself with a reference to the availability of a fitness video at the merch stand, "available on all formats including Betamax… but hurry while stocks last!" Earlier on in the show, for reasons best known to himself, Danny also interrupted a solo to lean forwards and kiss the hand of Classic Rock lensman Kevin Nixon with the declaration: "This guy down here is my favourite photographer in the whole world". Fellas… please… get a room! Yuk!

 

Friday 12th September
Well, it's official: Survivor's first ever UK tour, due to have taken place next month, has been cancelled due the tragic recent death of co-frontman Jimi Jamison. Fans had been hoping that the band would still make the trip with Dave Bickler alone handling the vocals. It seems that this remains a possibility for the future, as the announcement states that Survivor's US live commitments resume in Maryland on November 13, and: "Tour organizers are working with host venues to re-schedule the cancelled [British] dates."
Last night I interviewed a guy called Nevada Romo from the American band Anti-Mortem, who are taking part in the second, Classic Rock/Metal Hammer-sponsored Lords Of The Riff tour, which takes place in November, along with the equally highly rated Lionize and Kyng. Nevada's brother Larado, who has been called "a younger, more virile version" of Dave Mustaine, recently made the claim that "hard rock is stagnating", so it was interesting to hear Romo's views on that subject if, slightly predictably, he was unwilling to name and shame any guilty parties. All the same, Lords Of The Riff represents a great chance to catch three young bands for less
than a tenner. I shall deffo be at the London show on November 16.

 

Thursday 11th September

Here's my literary fodder for the next week or so… Though The Eye Of The Tiger, the autobiography of ex-Survivor man Jim Peterik. I've heard some positive reports regarding its contents and am really looking forward to settling down for a darned good read.

 

Wednesday 10th September

A chunk of last night was spent in the Crobar where a launch party for 'Elevation', the rather splendid new album by the band Skyscraper, took place. Two band members – my good mate Dave Boyce (ex-Quireboys/Airrace) and lead vocalist Lee Small (Shy) – were on hand to lead the festivities. It was a fun night and the album, which I reviewed for Classic Rock a couple of issues back, is great. Check out the video for its lead-off single, 'Monday Morning', here.

For fuck's sake… doesn't this bloke ever shut up??!! On the eve of the latest 9/11 anniversary, Ted Nugent has posted his most vile, racist rant to date, warning Americans and Europeans to arm themselves and, where necessary, give the "allahpukes" "two to the head". His statement can be read here … I have no words.

 

Tuesday 9th September

Well, f**k me… last night England won a game of association football. No really, it's true! Two goals from Danny Welbeck installed England in the driving seat of their qualification group, but let's not forget the crucial goal-line clearance from Gary Cahill or Hart managing to get a leg to Haris Seferovic's net-bound strike. Talk about heart-in-mouth! But it was a great result nonetheless…

It's been a day of pink 'n' fluffy melodic hard rock here at Chateau Ling, sifting through the best of October's releases for my next Classic Rock column. There's a bumper crop this time around: Vega's 'Stereo Messiah', 'Let It Ride' by DarkHorse (featuring ex-Danger Danger frontman Paul Laine), In Faith's 'There's A Storm Coming', Angels Or Kings (also known as AOK) and 'Kings Of Nowhere' and last but by no means least, Dennis DeYoung's double album/DVD, Blu-ray 'The Music Of Styx: Live In Los Angeles'. The latter is especially great, check out the promo clip here.

And still in the realms of AOR, I've got a bone to pick with Paul Elliott, whose Buyer's Guide on Europe in the new ish of Classic Rock dares to place the über-wonderful 'Prisoners In Paradise' in the third tier of overall greatness. Gooner… a pack of cotton buds is on its way to you in Bath!

 

Monday 8th September

Having seen them in superb form at last year's Giants Of Rock Festival in Minehead, I was looking forward to experiencing the Martin Barre Band as a headline act. Though a two-hour set included many tunes recorded by his former group, Barre has moved away from the prog of Tull to reposition himself in earthier, more fulsome and guitar-friendly territory. When I interviewed him recently he called it "thinking man's blues". Opening with Bobby Parker's 'Watch Your Step' and 'Steal Your Heart Away' by the Moody Blues, that description made complete sense. Co-guitarist Dan Crisp offered an approximation of Ian Anderson's delivery but didn't resort to mimicking those same idiosyncrasies, and with Richard Beesley's sax filling out the sound the band added bite and oomph to the likes of 'Minstrel In The Gallery', 'To Cry You A Song', 'Thick As A Brick Pt 1', 'Fat Man', 'Teacher, 'New Day Yesterday' and 'Locomotive Breath'.

Martin also demonstrated a good nose for a cover via the inclusion of Gov't Mule's hypnotic 'Thorazine Shuffle', 'Blackest Eyes' by Porcupine Tree, an almost Wishbone Ash-like version of 'Eleanor Rigby', Howlin' Wolf's 'Smokestack Lightnin'', the classic 'Rock Me Baby' and a take on Robert Johnson's 'Crossroads' reworked for mandolin and electric guitar. His between-song banter was cheerful and sometimes witty, and dedicating 'Song For Jeffrey' to Glenn Cornick, the ex-Tull bassist who'd died a few days earlier, was a lovely gesture. Yep… I would go and see the MBB again in a heartbeat. They're on tour till the year's end… go check them out.

 

Sunday 7th September

With no gigs or footie this weekend there's very little to report. Worked on some accounts, did a large pile of laundry, cleaned the shower (which was revolting), took youngest son Arnie shopping for clothes in Lewisham - *how much* for a Converse hoodie??!! – and still managed to find the time for a park run. Yawn…

 

Saturday 6th September

Awesome… the brand new Threshold album, 'For The Journey', has just arrived on double gatefold vinyl (complete with two bonus tracks). The UK band has been on a real creative roll for the past few years and this little beaut is bound to be one of my fave releases of 2014.

 

Friday 5th September

I sat around a little later than usual in my office, waiting to conduct a phone interview with Paul Rodgers – only to be informed that it wouldn't be happening as scheduled. Paul now wants to talk at the same time – midday PST, 8pm London – on Monday… a quarter of an hour into the Euro Championships qualifying game between Switzerland and England. Bollocks!

I was sorry to hear of the passing of the acid-tongued comedienne Joan Rivers. This is how I shall remember her, conducting interviews with the mighty GWAR and David Lee Roth on her chat show. BTW, Diamond Dave... can I have my living room curtains back please?!