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So. 2018 then. Not a bad year?
No, not a bad year. Well, I didn't think that it was.
Then again considering that it began for me with my Dad catching The Flu then developing pneumonia I suppose I was rather hoping for it to improve... within a couple of weeks of that (and with him thankfully at home recovering) Ruts D.C. were gigging in Japan and Hong Kong then touring Australia and New Zealand before embarking on a British tour supporting Stiff Little Fingers. If that was all we'd done I'd be saying that it had been a good year, but we went on to play many more memorable shows - The Rebellion Festival in Blackpool is always a highlight, but the Rebellion Amsterdam weekend was wonderful; we also made our first visit to Denmark, played a tattoo festival in France, gigged on a boat up and down the River Spree in Berlin and more including a visit to Abbey Road Studios - little if any of which got reported here. It's all been on my Facebook page - which is a somewhat woolly excuse for this being only the twelfth blog posting of the year. There was a time when used to do that in a month. But I guess times change... maybe there'll be more here next year?
Talking of 2019, I'm hoping to play some more shows with Punky Reggae Party. Having first gigged with them back in the summer (an incident that incredibly is reported somewhere in these hallowed pages!) I've since played a couple more gigs with them including a fine show at The Cavern in Raynes Park just before Christmas - hopefully they will be many more to come, the first of which is at The Bread And Roses in Clapham on Saturday 19th January. I'm also putting another band together with some old friends, but more news on that as and when I have it. And Ruts D.C. are heading out on the '40 Years Of The Crack' tour in February, with (hopefully) more to come after that.
So hopefully 2019 will be a good year for me and my guitar - and I hope it is for you too.
Forwards!
So there you have it - around 30,000 miles (and what feels like around 30 hours sleep) later and we're back in Blighty. And it's cold. Bloomin' cold. I don't usually mind winter weather - in fact if I'm honest I often think that I prefer it to the summer in a way - but having recently spent the best part of two weeks in temperatures approaching and in some cases exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit I don't mind admitting that I'm considering reconsidering my stance on such things. But what a time we've had - the first ever Ruts D.C. shows in Japan and Hong Kong followed by two shows in New Zealand and five shows in Australia supporting The Stranglers - well it's hardly the worst start to the year ever isn't it?
Incidentally I spent the two weeks before we left to go on tour looking after my Dad who caught 'flu which turned to pneumonia - hopefully he's on the mend now but there were more than a few harrowing moments. Get yourselves a 'flu jab kids!
I managed to update my Facebook page at regular intervals throughout our jaunt, and the Ruts D.C. page includes a few live streams (I haven't worked out how to do that yet!) alongside Segs and Dave's observations on proceedings - if you'd like to see footage of me in an English pub in the middle of Tokyo eating chips with chopsticks there here's your chance... somewhat inevitably I've got the usual interminable pages of scribbly notes (Godzilla, lost passports and more) along with any number of photographs, some or all of which may one day find their way into these hallowed pages - but suffice to say that the whole experience really was unforgettable, and I for one hope that we return to all four locations before too long.
In the meantime since returning home I've seen The Damned at Koko (great stuff as usual) The Urban Voodoo Machine in Southampton (where I joined them for their encore - video evidence here, I'll learn the song better next time... if they let me have a next time!) and witnessed Terry from The Upper Cut playing bass with Zoot Money in Barnes (first set good, second set marred by not-at-all special 'special guests' and amateurish directionless hippie jamming - absolutely appalling and an insult to people who had paid to see it) as well as playing with Big Al and the boys and working in Balcony Shirts - business as usual, as usual... until next time...
A young man offered me his seat on a bus the other day. I guess this means that I'm now officially old?
Normally this kind of occurrence would be the signal for me to drift off into the usual whining, self-pitying 'what have I done with my Godforsaken life?' nonsense that I tend to get lost in whilst writing these hallowed pages - but not this time my friends, as it's time for your humble narrator to go on tour! And what a tour - we start in Japan; from there we travel to Hong Kong before meeting up with The Stranglers (did I really just type that?!?) for shows supporting them in New Zealand and Australia. As always I will be attempting to update my Facebook page as we go along, and the Ruts D.C. page will also carry details of our adventures as we wend our way around The World. Time to check if I've packed enough pants and socks... again... if you're coming to a show then please say hello - I'll be the old guy with the guitar...
Well let's start 2018 as we mean to go on - with some ridiculously good news! Well it's certainly ridiculously good news from my point of view - the first three Ruts D.C. gigs of the year have been announced, and they're all in previously uncharted territory for your humble narrator. We're playing two shows in Tokyo - yes, that's right, Tokyo - on the 27th and 28th of January followed by a show in Hong Kong on the last day of the month.
You know that bit in these postings where I put something like 'I can hardly believe what I type here sometimes'? Well here it is again - I can hardly believe what I type here sometimes. Seriously though, one of the first live albums I remember hearing was 'Made In Japan' by Deep Purple - it would have been a couple of years after it was originally released, and for whatever reason it made a big impression on me. I think that it was due to a number of factors - Ritchie Blackmore's still-incredible guitar playing, the power that the band played with, the songs, the sound... strange, because I didn't really like very much music like that at the time. Come to think of it, I still don't... anyway it loomed large in my mid-1970s listening, and as a result Japan attained a somewhat mythical status in my teenage mind. I've not been there or to Hong Kong before, and I genuinely cannot wait to do these shows. I'm very lucky to do what I do. I say that a fair bit too don't I?
We then travel to New Zealand and Australia for the previously - mentioned shows with The Stranglers. I can hardly believe what I type here sometimes. But you know that already.
Much has happened since last we spoke...
Ruts D.C. played five shows in Germany - after an inauspicious start that involved what might politely be described as 'total chaos' at Gatwick Airport we arrived in Berlin to find that our baggage hadn't made it across and so played at SO36 using borrowed guitars (amazing work by all at Muttis in getting this all together) and even though I say so myself, played it rather well. Instruments arrived next morning along with my clothes and effects pedals although Segs's stuff was sadly still back in Blighty so after a bit of shopping on his behalf we carried on to Hannover and Hamburg before heading to Magdeburg and Flensburg for arena shows supporting Die Toten Hosen. These were every bit as extraordinary as we were hoping that they would be - as always the scribbly notes were made on the way round so more words on the subject will hopefully (possibly?!) appear here before too long, but in the meantime the band and indeed my Facebook pages were updated regularly so there's more of the story there if you're interested.
After arriving home on Wednesday afternoon it was straight back to basics for your humble narrator with a day in Balcony Shirts yesterday; I'll be with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks tonight at The Halfway House in Rickmansworth (we played in front of over 5,000 people on Tuesday night - I wonder how many will be there tonight?) before Ruts D.C. play The Camden Rocks Festival tomorrow night. We're on at The Underworld at 7.30 - that's a good spot isn't it?
And talking of good spots, we're supporting The Stranglers in Australia and New Zealand next February! Oh yes!
So there you have it - after travelling somewhere between 25 - 30,000 miles (I must work it out one day!) we have returned from our epic journey to Australia and New Zealand. To say that it was great is an understatement of monumental proportions but I'm going to say it anyway - it was great. Once again I have pages and pages of barely legible scribble which I will attempt to decipher at some point in the coming weeks (months? years?!?) and type up on here, but suffice to say that despite being incredibly tiring it was every bit as enjoyable as I for one hoped that it would be. Great stuff - and there's more from Ruts D.C. next week when we play five 'Beautiful Nights' shows in Southend, Reading, Doncaster, Wolverhampton and Blackpool with The Levellers and Dreadzone. Full details of the shows can be found on this YouTube clip - I can't find a poster for the gigs so instead here's a photo of Dave, Segs and myself in front of a blooming great tree a couple of hours before we left for home. And why not?
Pretty cool huh? Well, I like it... in the meantime I'm off to sleep. This jet lag lark really gets to you doesn't it?
Good news for old punks such as myself - a series of box sets featuring bands signed to Virgin Records back in the day have been put together by Captain Oi! Records supremo Mark Brennan; somewhat inevitably it's the Ruts one that's been causing the most excitement in our house, but with collections by the likes of The Professionals, The Skids, Penetration and The Motors also available there's much to enjoy here. Most if not all can be purchased through the Captain Oi website - go on, you know you want to...
Not-such good news also arrived this week - Cockney Rejects bass player Tony Van Frater has died aged just 51. I can't pretend to have been his best mate, but I can honestly say that every conversation that I had with him was an absolute pleasure. He would always ask me how to play the Ruts song 'West One (Shine On Me)' - having spent far too long attempting to wind him up with answers like 'that's between me and Paul Fox' I eventually said that I'd show him it; he smiled, told me the chords and said that he'd known them all along. A cheerful and witty man, he will be missed by many.
Back to basics for me this weekend, with two gigs for The Upper Cut and a show with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks. The Upper Cut shows were both at regular haunts for the band (The Dolphin in Uxbridge on Friday and The Salmon And Ball in Bethnal Green on Saturday) and were tricky from your humble narrator's point of view as my normally trusty Gibson SG decided to malfunction. I thought it sounded a bit strange at the first gig, but decided it was just my ears; however after a few songs on Saturday it was clear that there was a problem with the pick-up selector switch - it was sticking in one position and crackling in another. After attempting to fix it during the show by swearing at it (Oh come on, we all do it don't we?!?) I had a closer look at halftime - the retaining nut had come loose so I tightened it up and got through the second set although there was still something obviously wrong. I opened the guitar up on Sunday morning and re-soldered the joints on the switch (dry joints are the enemy!) and used a generous amount of switch cleaner pretty much everywhere - thankfully it all sounded good when I plugged it in so hopefully that's sorted it out. In comparison Sunday's gig at The Halfway House in Barnes with Big Al and co. was an uneventful affair in that it all went swimmingly well, which I don't mind admitting was something of a relief given the previous couple of evenings.
After a gap of a couple of weeks it's now time for the next leg of Ruts D.C.'s Psychic Attack Tour 2015 - incredibly we are about to play 5 shows in Australia and 3 shows in New Zealand. I've not been to either country before, so to say that I'm looking forward to it all is something of an understatement - once again it is my intention that scribbly notes will be scribbled and Facebook postings will be posted, although as you can see it's going to be a busy couple of weeks...
Back home after two-and-a-bit weeks away - I've done my washing (well, most of it!) and sorted all my gear out so now it's time to get back to whatever it is that passes for 'real life' in my mad little world. At times like this it's always hard to work out what to do now - that said I'm back in Balcony Shirts tomorrow and gigging with The Upper Cut and Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks at the weekend so this time there's not much opportunity to debate that particular question.
Overall it was a great tour - well I think that it was. Only around 2,500 miles covered this time (!) but we played well, made lots of new friends (not least support band The U.K. Feds who were a great bunch of lads and who were consistently excellent throughout) and generally did what we set out to do. Highlights were many and varied - they often are - and although there was the odd low moment they were far outnumbered by the good bits. As usual I made some hard-to-read notes; as usual it'll be ages before I get around to writing them up here. But if you came to a show - thanks. I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did.
There are some reviews on the Aural Sculptors and Elvis In The Clouds blogs, and no doubt YouTube clips are appearing even as we speak, if there's any footage of Rupert Orton of The Jim Jones Revue on guitar or Supa 4 freestyling with us at the London show, or Mitt Gamon playing harmonica in Bristol then I for one will be very interested to see it. They were both high points, as were Brighton, Liverpool, Glasgow... well as I say, one day I'll write up those notes!
Next month Ruts D.C. travel to Australia and New Zealand - The Psychic Attack Tour 2015 continues...
Well having spent the last few weeks thinking that maybe, just maybe I'll get away with it this year I woke up on Friday morning with itchy eyes, a bunged-up nose and feeling as though I'd done a few rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime - yes, the hay fever season is upon us once again. Bugger! I spent much of the day dosing up with antihistamines and cursing the season that is summer, and much if that evening's Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks gig at The Ox and Gate in Neasden (or Dollis Hill, or Cricklewood, depending on which website you believe!) waiting for my my nose to betray me and make me sneeze at the most inopportune moment. I had bought a box of tissues along for just such an emergency - so in much the same way that if you take an umbrella with you it doesn't rain I of course didn't sneeze once throughout what despite being somewhat under-attended turned out to be a very enjoyable show. I hadn't been to the venue before but they seem to be working hard to make live music work there so let's hope that it's a success for them.
The next night it was back up to Camden Town for the second Saturday in a row to help Bears guitarist Lionel celebrate his birthday at The Fiddler's Elbow. With entertainment provided by Ed Tudor-Pole, Spizzology (the stripped-down version of Spizzenergi), The Bermondsey Joyriders and X-SLF a splendid time was pretty much guaranteed for all; everybody I saw played well although sadly I arrived too late to see Sarah Pink and indeed The Bears themselves and had to leave during X-SLF's storming set to get the train home. I met ex-SLF drummer Jim Reilly in the Gents toilet - seizing the moment I managed to blurt out 'hello-I'm-Leigh-out-of-Ruts D.C.-and-we've-got-a-mutual-friend-called-Roland Link' while washing my hands. This seemed to amuse my new friend Jim no end, who immediately insisted on taking me to meet his friend and bandmate Henry Cluney - much jollity ensued, especially considering that I'd never met either of them before. Nice chaps, and as I say the band sounded great.
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Yesterday's appearance on Music Scene Investigation was a bit of strange one even by my rather obscure standards - much of our time on air involved myself and Ian winding each other up about cheese boards, bread boards and all points in between. Somehow we (Andrea, Ian and myself) also managed to review three songs, all of which were very good and which made of a very interesting show as you can see for yourself if you click here. And maybe I will launch a range of combined cheese and bread boards one day...
On Wednesday night Ruts D.C. played at The Corn Exchange in Devizes as part of The Devizes Festival. Support came from 2 Sick Monkeys whose excellently breathless 30-odd minute set went down well with the early arrivers - and rightly so as they were great. Our show took a while to get off the ground - we were playing well but the audience seemed a bit reticent, although by the time we got to 'West One (Shine On Me)' things were all going in the right direction. A great night, and there are further great nights in prospect this coming November when the band visits Australia and New Zealand for the first time. Oh yes!
