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Following on from last weekend's Islington extravaganza Ruts D.C. have 12 gigs this month, starting in Leeds this Thursday - as the accompanying flyer shows we'll be covering a fair few miles, and it goes without saying (but I'm going to say it anyway!) that I'm really looking forward to getting out and about again. If you coming to a show then please say hello!
Meanwhile it's been three gigs in three days for your humble narrator, starting with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks at The Sunningdale Lounge in Sunningdale. It being the night before Halloween Al suggested that we play 'Monster Mash' - I remember the record well from when I was a lad (by the splendidly-named Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and The Crypt Kickers, although I believe The Misfits among others have covered it) and even though we hadn't had chance to rehearse it beforehand we played it well with the only downside to an otherwise good night for the band coming when somebody knocked Al's saxophone over. Fortunately it wasn't too badly damaged, but sadly the same thing happened the next night when the band played at The Black Horse in Eastcote. This time it was more serious as one of the keys got bent, to such an extent that we were obliged to leave several songs out of the show. Bah! Still I'm told that it's since been repaired, and once again 'Monster Mash' went well as indeed did the rest of the show. There are some pictures from the show on Al's Facebook page - as you can see I was too miserable to dress up for the occasion... ah well, maybe next year? And last night The Upper Cut played at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook. We've not played together very often lately so there were a few dodgy moments - still judging by people's comments afterwards everyone there everyone there enjoyed our efforts, and we managed to play the Cream (yes I know that it's a Robert Johnson song, but most people heard it first by Cream or Eric Clapton didn't they?!?) classic 'Crossroads' for Jack Bruce which has got to be a good thing if you think about it.
Right - tomorrow it's a day in Balcony Shirts, Tuesday it's a Ruts D.C. rehearsal and Wednesday I'm back in the shop before the first batch of shows in Leeds, Newcastle and Stockton-on-Tees start on Thursday. Busy busy busy - the rest of today off methinks...
In a week that saw the extraordinary news that Wilko Johnson is 'free of cancer' the music world lost reggae singer extraordinaire John Holt, glam rock hero Alvin Stardust, Chas & Dave drummer Mick Burt, 'Baker Street' sax man Raphael Ravenscroft and Cream bass legend Jack Bruce. Talk about not getting something for nothing eh?
On Saturday night Ruts D.C. headlined The Garage in Islington. We gathered at The Music Complex in Deptford on Friday to rehearse for the show - our time together began in the cafe opposite for what Segs dubbed a 'bonding breakfast' and a tactical discussion. Sometime in the next few hours we also found time to visit a secondhand clothing shop (I bought a black jacket which I wore next night at the show) and a Vietnamese restaurant (sweet and sour tofu - excellent!) as well as putting together a 75 minute set which included 'Different View' for the first time since 1982. I remember seeing them play the song several times and have always thought it to be one of the band's best songs so it was great to see it on the setlist at last. Needless to say we then repaired to The Little Crown for a couple of pints of their always - wonderful Guinness, during which Segs and myself suddenly remembered that we'd had a conversation with U.K. Subs guitarist Jet a few weeks earlier when we'd discussed the idea of him playing with us at the gig; text messages were sent, phone calls were made and a plan came together...
4.30pm the next day and we've just soundchecked with the afore - mentioned 'Different View', it's sounding great and spirits are high. We've got Bob behind the mixing desk, Owen is stage managing the evening and we've finished well within our allotted time. But surely we've forgotten something... as if by magic another guitarist appears, plugs into my spare amplifier (a Fender Blues Junior in case you were wondering; I'm using my 'usual' Blues Deluxe) and within seconds we're blasting through 'In A Rut' and sounding, well, like we usually do but with Jet joining us on guitar - in other words, pretty good!
After meeting up with various people at The Wig And Gown (an excellent punky pub just along the Holloway Road) it was back in time to catch most of the set from opening act The Duel, who sounded the best that I'd seen them for quite a while. Evil Blizzard were up next - with only 30 minutes to work with (I'm sure that they've got songs longer than that!) they got straight into things and left many - an audience member looking bewildered by the end of their first song. Surreal moment followed surreal moment - at one point they even had someone mopping up on the stage! - and I'm sure they had five bass players instead of the usual four at one point. Great stuff, and not an easy act to follow. We'd better get on with it then... and get on with it we did. Even though I say so myself we started well and got better as the show went on, with the only hiccup being a fault with Segs's bass during 'SUS' (Dave stated 'I bet you never thought you'd hear a drum solo at a Ruts show' then proceeded to play one!) Once that was fixed we carried on where we left off, with 'Different View' going down particularly well. In no time at all we're at the end of the set, and Jet joins us for a thunderous 'In A Rut' that brings the proverbial house down. We're on a curfew (there was a club night after our gig) but there's still time for an encore of 'Something That I Said' and 'Society' to finish a truly memorable show. Afterwards there time for a few drinks and to chat to quite a few people, after which we return to The Wig And Gown for, er, a few drinks and, er, to chat to quite a few people - which explains why I didn't get this written up yesterday. Well, I wasn't feeling too good...
But I felt better after reading this review from the always - excellent Elvis In The Clouds blog. Thank you Mr. Presley!
