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It's been a week of two Central London clubs with numbers in their names. Hopefully one of them will still be there this time next year...
The first Resolution Festival took place at The 100 Club last week - I say 'first' because it looks as though this one was such a success that there will be another one next year, which can only be good news if you think about it. I attended all 5 nights (I now have no money whatsoever!) and can indeed confirm that it really was a great event, with The Anti Nowhere League, 999, Ed Tudor-Pole, The Lurkers, Louise Distras, The U.K. Subs and Chris Spedding all delivering excellent sets and the Ruts D.C. night with The Duel being everything that we had hoped for and more. Audience numbers were good especially considering the time of year, and overall the event really was a wonderful thing to be part of.
Our gig on Thursday night began with a 5 o'clock soundcheck after which we all dispersed into the West End for food and to meet up with assorted friends and faces - I arrived at The Ship in Wardour Street to be confronted by Rat Scabies and various other luminaries, all of whom had clearly been there for quite some time (!) and who were unaware that we were playing just a few hundred yards down the road. Much jollity ensued when Dave and Segs arrived, and Rat made it along to our gig where I believe he was involved in a altercation which resulted in him being obliged to leave before the end. Oo-er!
I got back to The 100 Club to find The Duel sounding good and the place filling up nicely - by the time we went on at 9.30 it was pretty much full. Our set was notable for including the first electric performance of 'Secondhand Child', a new song that we played as part of our acoustic set at The Rebellion Festival last year and which will hopefully form part of an album that we're planning to record this year. Things began well and got better, and despite demands for a second encore being thwarted by an 11 o'clock live music curfew we all agreed that this was a great start to 2015. Onwards and upwards as the old saying goes.
Oddly enough I had another encounter with a rat on the way home, when I got off the train to be confronted by a particularly grim-looking rodent on the path out of the station. We eyed each other up (I'd like to think!) for what seemed like ages but was actually probably only a couple of seconds before my four-legged acquaintance skulked off into the nearby bushes. It was raining, and as I commenced my weary walk home I remember thinking something like 'I felt like a guitar hero two hours ago, now I'm stumbling home in the rain with only a rat for company - shouldn't I be in the back of a limousine snorting cocaine off a page 3 girl's arse with a £50 note?'
It's a funny old life sometimes isn't it?
Meanwhile Sunday saw an all-day event to mark the end of The 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street. After much speculation and despite a high profile petition corporate greed has won and the area is being redeveloped, which is likely to see an end to what has been a World-renowned focus for musical instrument shops, recording studios and the British music industry in general. As faceless Government goons - rats of another kind - line up to spout vacuous drivel about how they're 'ensuring the preservation of the rich tradition and heritage of the area' yet another piece of history is stolen from us in the name of 'progress'. Perhaps they'd like to explain how they intend to do that by pulling the bloody place down and turning it into a theme park?!? The bastards. Still this really was a day to remember, with people queueing around the block to get in and countless bands turning up for a chance to squeeze onto that strange little stage just one more time. Highlights were many and varied (The Fallen Leaves blistering set was probably the winner for me, but only just) and The London Sewage Company played 4 songs early in proceedings. I thought this would be my last appearance at the club, but I joined Sarah Pink there last night to finish her set with 'Teenage Kicks'. And with that I bade farewell to The 12 Bar Club - so hard to beat, as somebody once sang.
And so the new year begins. Oh hang on, didn't I say that last time...
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| Not a bad line-up eh? |
My first gig of the year as an audience member was at Tropic At Ruislip last Friday when I witnessed a performance by original Wishbone Ash bass player Martin Turner. Apparently legal restrictions mean that he's not allowed to call it something like 'Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash' - hence the rather unwieldy 'Martin Turner and friends play the music of Wishbone Ash... and beyond' on the poster. Strange days indeed. I don't mind saying that musically it's not really my sort of thing, but I went along as I have good memories of my older cousins in Birkenhead playing their 'Argus' album (among many others) when we used to visit them during school holidays in the 1970s. I also think that it's good to support live music in our area on a night when I'm not out playing myself although that probably sounds a bit self-righteous? Oh well - maybe it is! Anyway they were very good indeed, with probably the best sound that I've ever heard in the venue. I may not be rushing out to buy their entire back catalogue, but it was definitely a good show to start my gig - going year with.
And Sunday afternoon's Upper Cut show at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook was definitely a good start to my gig-playing year - it's always a bit weird starting at 5pm but there were quite a few people in and there was dancing more-or-less from the word go; our two sets flew by and we were still playing well past our allotted end time of 8 o'clock. Great stuff all round.
This week all roads lead to The 100 Club, where Ruts D.C. are among various luminaries playing at The Resolution Festival. After the splendid 'The Clash - New Year's Day '77' show on BBC4 last week I for one am definitely in the mood for some punk rock, and it doesn't get much better than this does it? See you down the front!
It's been a case of 'four-gigs-in-four-days-with-four-different-bands' for your humble narrator - I thought this was supposed to be a holiday weekend? Still it's good to be busy - here are the notes that I made as I went along:-
FRIDAY - THE UPPER CUT at PATRICK'S BAR, CRYSTAL PALACE.
When we played here last month the guv'nor kept telling us (and particularly me) that we were playing too loud, then at the end of our second set he said that I was the best guitarist that he'd ever seen, that we were the best band that he'd ever heard and then offered us more money to play another set. He wasn't there this time so we played two sets at a reasonable volume (honest!) and went home on time... there could have been more people there but it wasn't a bad turnout for a Bank Holiday weekend and those who were there certainly enjoyed themselves if their comments afterwards were anything to go by. A good start to the weekend.
SATURDAY - BIG AL REED AND THE BLISTERING BUICKS at THE CAT AND FIDDLE, WEST DRAYTON.
After a fairly busy day in the shop it was off to the venue formally known as The Rowan Arms, although I believe The Cat And Fiddle was it's original name? Either way Johnny Squirrel was once again excellent depping on bass, and with Al on top form the band sounded good - as with the previous evening there could have been more people there but again those who were there seemed to really enjoy it, even going so far as to applaud the band as we were leaving. Mind you, they may have just wanted us to go?!?
SUNDAY - RUTS D.C. at THE 3 CHORDS FESTIVAL, PENZANCE.
Now I'd been looking forward to this for quite some time - billed as 'Cornwall's First Punk And Pasty Festival' we were headlining the Sunday evening with 999 and Vice Squad also on the bill among many others. Our epic journey down to Penzance took around 6 hours but went very well - with Dave (drums), Segs (bass), Seamus (keyboards) and Nick (sound engineer) all coming down by train from various different parts of the country myself, Molara (vocals) and Mark (driver) met up with Tina the backstage co-ordinator who was very helpful as indeed was everyone else on the site. Somewhat inevitably pasties were on the menu almost immediately, although there were also some splendid homemade crumpets (oh yes!) among other culinary delights. I set up our merchandise next to Andy T. and his other half Cheryl (I was next to them at Rebellion too!) and said hello to Sarah Pink, Arturo from 999 and The Lurkers, Rebellion Festival supremo Jennie and a fair few punters who were looking forward to seeing us play. No pressure then...
Vice Squad sounded good as did 999 - leaving Mark behind the merch table I made my way backstage where Segs and Molara were in the middle of an interview with Steve from local radio station The Source FM (he presents the 'Punky Reggae Party' show - excellent!) With everything running late and a strict 11 o'clock curfew courtesy of the local council (whatever happened to anarchy eh?) there's something of a scrabble to set up - by the time we go on we know we've got to cut our set down, and Tina is going to give us a '10 minutes to go' sign when there's, er, 10 minutes to go. Three songs in and 'Back Biter' up's the ante, and with 'Something That I Said' nearly starting a riot the gig is shaping up to be a classic - until the dreaded sign from Tina brings us all back down to Earth. Segs tells the audience that we've only got time for three songs and asks what they want to hear? 'Mighty Soldier' sees the stage invaded by children (oddly appropriate given that it's about child soldiers in Angola) before 'Staring At The Rude Boys' and 'Babylon's Burning' bring our show to a premature end. The audience wants more and the band want to carry on playing but it's not going to happen. Shame.
With everything packed away we're invited back to The Farmers Arms by Taf the landlord for a drink. Or Two. At least. They serve Todka there - no I didn't know what it was either. I left at 6am - you don't need to know anymore now do you..?
MONDAY - BACK TO ZERO at THE BOOGALOO, HIGHGATE.
My alarm went off at 10.30am. The band are due to be leaving for London at eleven o'clock. I recieved a text message from Dave saying that they're all at the Waves cafe - I replied that I'd be there as soon as possible - and then attempted to move. Oooh...
Incredibly I would have got there on time if I could have found my way there, as it wasn't far at all; the problem was simple - everyone I asked for directions was a tourist except for one chap who said that he'd lived in Penzance all his life but had never heard of either the pub or the cafe. Strange! I eventually got there around 20 minutes after the allotted time to find that Mark and Dave had gone to retrieve the van and to attempt to raise Nick from his slumber - he eventually decided to catch a train later in the day leaving us to wend our weary way homewards. I spent much of the journey drifting in and out of consciousness (don't worry, I wasn't driving!) and wondering if I'd be back in time for my evening gig. Fortunately the journey went very well, and I arrived home in time to drop my gear off before heading up to Highgate for a gig with Back To Zero at The Boogaloo. It's a party to celebrate BTZ's songwriter Sam and his wife Jeanette's 20th wedding anniversary, and when I arrive everything is set up and ready to go. Sadly our show is blighted by the presence of one of those perpetually annoying volume restriction devices that mean that the band can never really relax during the show - it cuts the power during our second number and goes off again here and there throughout our set which consists of BTZ songs interspersed with an eclectic selection of cover versions chosen by Sam and his family. If you ever wanted to see a band play 'Starman', 'Le Freak' and 'I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor' then this was your chance...
And I spent a large portion of today asleep. You knew that I would didn't you?
