'I'm back - in full attack...'

Friday 30th December at 4 pm, in seat 15D on British Airways flight number BA542 not long after take-off.

Well it's been a while since I've done this. Blogging I mean. I think that I've, for want of a better term, lost the habit. Time I got it back then.

Somewhere near the end of October - or was it the start of November? - my computer went wrong. I switched it on one night - to write a blog post if I remember correctly - and the screen remained defiantly white, albeit with a little question mark in the middle. A quick scout around the Internet (we've all got that on our phone these days haven't we? It's funny how you go to use it almost with out thinking isn't it?) revealed that it was likely to be a hard drive problem - so what was I to do? Hmm... I wonder if that computer repair shop down the road could sort it out for me?
Well it turned out that they could. Eventually. My new friend Terry phoned me after he'd had a look at it to tell that I did indeed need a new hard drive ('you have backed it up haven't you?' he asked somewhat ominously and clearly expecting the answer 'no' - yes, incredibly I had, and fairly recently too) and went on to tell me that being an 'old' (i.e. not 'new') MacBook there were limits to what could be achieved. 'How about a hybrid drive?' said he, rather more cheerily than he'd asked the previous question; he'd usually suggest a solid state drive but my ancient device wouldn't be able to cope with that but this would do the trick. Well it sounded like a good plan and was a lot less expensive than I was fearing so I gave him the go-ahead. 'No hurry' I replied when he asked when I needed the computer back. This may in retrospect have been a bit of a mistake.
After a week or so I called to see how things were going. My new mate Terry was still very much my new mate, and he lost little if any time in telling me that things were going well and that he should be able to have my computer back with me by, ooh, the end of next week. 'Oh that great' said I - it was only after I'd put the phone down that I realised that it would by then be over three weeks since I'd had the computer at home. I had several outstanding invoices to send (if you're a self-employed person like me then you'll know what I mean!) and had among other things an increasingly dim recollection of writing something called a 'blog'. I used to enjoy writing that, even if I was never really sure if anyone actually read it. I'd been able to update my Facebook page on my iPhone but writing anything more than a few words was just too fiddly. A snap decision saw your humble narrator purchase an iPad Mini as there were bills to pay online - it's amazing how much of that we all do online these days isn't it? - and anyway, I'd fancied an iPad for a while as it'd be handy for taking away on tour. I'm finding it less fiddly to use than a phone but trickier than a computer - oh well, I'm sure it'll be ok in the end.
In the meantime my afore-mentioned computer reappeared at the afore-mentioned shop. Hurrah! I rather nervously switched it on - it worked. Good! But wait a minute - something was different. Well, actually quite a lot was different. It was... well, it was like I remember it being when I first got it all those years ago. It's not how I remember it before it went wrong. Bugger! Oh hang on - I guess that means that I have to, I believe the term is, 'restore my last back up' from the external hard drive that I've got all this stuff sitting on. Well that should be simple enough shouldn't it? Well indeed it should, but after what felt like an age on the Internet I still could get the bloomin' thing to work. Terry - help!
'You probably need some iCloud settings updating, and maybe a few other bits and pieces looking at - drop it back into the shop and I'll sort it out for you' said my by-now-old mate Terry. Will do. Could I have it back a bit quicker than last time please?
Well it finally made it's way back to me just before Christmas and I'm pleased / relieved to say that it seems to working fine. Having spent years being clogged up to breaking point with far too much music in iTunes it's now less than half full - plenty of room for yet more music then - and it's good to have it back working at something faster than the proverbial snail's pace. I must still keep using the iPad though mustn't I? All's well that end's well - except that I tried to back it up last night (I thought that I'd better have a go!) and it wouldn't work. I'd better look up 'Time Machine Settings' or something like it when we get back hadn't I?

And it's been a while since I've done this too. Flown to a gig I mean. Ruts D.C. have a New Year's Eve gig at The Covo Club in Bologna. I think that the last time that I saw the original band was New Year's Eve 1981 at The Fulham Greyhound. That's 35 years ago. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun. Doesn't time fly anyway?
Since last we spoke here I've been gigging a fair bit, mostly with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks as well as a Boxing Night bash at The Dolphin in Uxbridge with The Upper Cut which all but erased the memory of our last not-so-good gig there. I've also worked many-a day at Balcony Shirts which has maybe not been quite as busy as at the same time last year, and spent most of Christmas Day ill with food poisoning or something like it. Urgh! I've managed to have a couple of much-needed quiet days after Xmas before before Segs, Dave and myself got together yesterday for rehearsal - buoyed by the recent news that 'Music Must Destroy' was voted Album Of The Year in Vive Le Rock magazine ('I'd like to thank the academy' etc) we spent four very enjoyable hours running through material for tomorrow night's show. 
A lot of people don't seem to be sad to see the back of 2016. There do seem to have been rather a lot of celebrity deaths don't there? Incidentally I was very saddened to hear that Rick Parfitt left the building just before Christmas - one of the great rock 'n' roll rhythm guitarists, I met him once and he seemed to be a very nice chap. And I was never exactly the world's biggest George Michael fan, but you can't deny that the guy could certainly sing... and then there was that little matter of the vote to leave The E.U. (am I the only person that thinks that we won't actually leave?) and the truly astonishing sight of someone who appears to be a complete and utter lunatic being voted President Elect of The U.S.A.; it remains to be seen how we fare in 2017 but surely it can't be quite as crazy as 2016?

Anyway the screen says that we're 51 minutes away from Bologna and I've got 'The Liberal Politics Of Adolf Hitler' by John King to read. That's quite a title isn't it? I'm told by the author that the band are in it somewhere (that wasn't the only reason that I bought it, honest!) so I'd better get on with reading it hadn't I? 

Saturday 31st December at 11.24 am, in Room 354 of The Ramada Encore Hotel in Bologna

Ah, that's better. I sometimes wonder if there's anything in the World that a hot shower or indeed a hot bath won't fix. Not that I had anything in particular that needed fixing, but you know what I mean I think.
It's a lovely sunny morning here, so perhaps I should be out and about rather than languishing in a hotel room. Fair point - but since we have a very long day in prospect (we're due on stage at 12.30 am) a lazy morning might be a good idea.

I bet you thought that
I'd made those names up?!?

'Twas a splendid evening just gone - we were met at the airport by Mars and Angela (I first met Mars several years ago when as a member of The Valentines he was backing T.V. Smith on some British dates) who took us to our hotel for check-in then to The Jukebox Cafe for some food. The Cafe (which incidentally serves such delights as Punkcakes, Eggy Pop and, believe it or not, a Ruts Burger - if you're in Bologna then visit immediately!) is part of The Covo Club - with no table available for a while it was suggested that we had a walk around town which turned out to be an excellent idea. Whilst musicians are lucky enough to find themselves in all sorts of interesting places there's often very little time to see anything other than where you're playing and where you're staying so it was great to be able to see some of the local sights. Mars recalled seeing The Clash play an open air show in the Town Square in 1980 - Topper was late so they played the first few songs with the drummer from the support band Whirlwind on drums before giving a blistering performance. 'It changed my life' said he, looking visibly moved. I bet that it did. They changed mine too.
Outside the cafe a board advertises the (very) imminent appearance of 'U.K. Punk Legends' Ruts D.C.; the jukebox is blasting out early Stones singles and the food is going down very well as is the local beer and wine. We all pretty much ran out of steam around midnight - it had been a long day. A taxi was called but few if any other attendees were leaving - The Jukebox Cafe looks like a good place to be.
Meanwhile I've got Creedence Clearwater Revival playing on the iPod (Keith Richards earlier, it's funny how some songs come to mind when you least expect it isn't it?) and I've got a bit of time to myself, which is good because J.K.'s book is every bit as good as I was hoping that it would be. It's all go isn't it? Well, it certainly will be later.

Sunday 1st January at 2.05 pm, in the hotel lobby

Ah - the wonder of the late check out. Mars spoke to the person behind the desk yesterday who apparently is a regular at the club. That was lucky.
We got back to the hotel not long after 5 am. It had been a long night, but a good one. Opening act Mars Valentines and The Illuminations had warmed the crown up with a set of suitably punky cover versions ('This Perfect Day' sounded particularly strong I thought) and had all looked as though they were having a whale of a time. They went on not long before midnight, and stopped after a couple of songs to open a bottle of champagne (or something very like it) and to toast the start of 2017. And why not? It was Mars's first stage appearance for over two years, and he made a great job of it. And let's face it, anybody who plays a Gibson Firebird has to be alright don't they?
When we were first offered the gig (not that long ago, around October if I remember rightly) I must admit that I for one was a little bemused. Are Ruts D.C. a 'New Year's Eve type of band'? I suppose the answer to that question is something along the lines of 'it depends on where you are on New Year's Eve'. They were certainly the right type of band for The Fulham Greyhound on NYE 1981, and it turned out that we were the right type of band for The Covo Club on NYE 2017. As previously discussed we'd not played a show since November, and while there was no reason that this show shouldn't have been a good one (after all we'd sounded fine in rehearsal) there is often an element of 'ring rustiness' in situations such as these. Thankfully that wasn't the case here, and our 18-song-set-with-a-4-song-encore roared by in no time - always a sign of a good show. Afterwards there was time for a drink (or two) and a chance to talk to some of the audience, many of whom were very emotional about our performance. It's easy to forget how powerful music can be - how it brings like-minded people together, how it can stir up often unexpected emotions and feelings, and how it can mean so much to players and listeners alike. This was definitely one of those nights, a pleasure to part of from start to finish. I often bang on about how lucky I am to be able to play music - I'm not going to do that again here (for once!) but suffice to say that it's good to be reminded of it sometimes... 

Monday 2nd January at 12.26 pm, back in Blighty and at home

So there you have it - a return to blogging after what feels like ages. It's actually only a few weeks, but having written something most weeks for the last 10 (10!) years it's something that's a bigger part of my life than I perhaps realise. I started it to learn to type and to find my way around a computer - despite still being a 'two finger typist' most of the time (thumbs and the odd second finger creep in here and there) I can now get up a reasonable head of steam, and whilst I wouldn't necessarily describe myself as being 'computer literate' I can do more on a computer than I ever could, especially when the damn thing works... I'm still not really sure that anybody reads this stuff, but I'm in too deep to stop now. So I'd better carry on then! Forward!

Oh and I nearly forgot - happy new year y'all!
(Assuming that anybody is reading this…)

From The West End to The North Bank

January is normally a quiet month gig-wise, and while this one has been no exception in many ways it's been nice to have a bit of time at home. That said there are always a few musical goings-on going on...

On Friday night I returned to Tropic At Ruislip to catch a splendid performance from Like The Beatles. Being a big fan of The Fab Four (the less-charitable might use the term 'Beatle Bore') it was great to see them playing less-than-obvious material like 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road?' amid the expected hits; I was also very impressed with the accuracy of the vocal harmonies that are such a vital part of those amazing records. The all-but-sold-out crowd seemed to enjoy ever minute of it, and I don't mind saying that I did too. I was far too young to have been able to see the original band, and whilst it would be churlish to suggest that a show like this gets anywhere near the excitement of an actual Beatles show if nothing else it does reinforce just how good the songs are. As if we needed reminding?

Saturday saw your humble narrator journey to Holloway for a London Sewage Company gig supporting King Kurt at The 12 Bar Club. Yes, The 12 Bar Club. With Occupy London er, occupying the old club in Denmark Street many of the fixtures and fittings have been moved from the original premises to Phibbers on the Holloway Road - I must say that it was a rather surreal experience to see pictures, staff and indeed club regulars all transplanted from the old place in the new place. Not bad, but definitely surreal... anyway I arrived to find the rest of our band all present and correct and King Kurt setting up so I took the opportunity to visit the wonderfully-named Piebury Corner a couple of doors down for, you've guessed it, a pie. And very nice it was too.
Back at the club our soundcheck was somewhat tense affair, with feedback, monitor problems and everyone having trouble hearing each other. Still we got it all together in the end, and by the time we took to the stage at half past eight the place was filling up nicely. Our set saw a few of the aforementioned soundcheck problems rearing their ugly heads again, but despite it all we played well and got a great reaction from the audience. In the interval I caught up with John King, Sarah Pink, Lee from Infa Riot, Tara from The Duel and more - see what I mean about people being transplanted from the old to the new! - before King Kurt played a storming set. A great evening all round, right up to the moment that I got back to Holloway Road tube station to find the service in disarray and no chance of getting home by train. Bah! Oh well - I made it to Piccadilly Circus, Marble Arch and the night bus home - that used to happen at the old venue too!

And last night I joined Segs and Dave at Jamm in Brixton to work on Ruts D.C. material that should hopefully come out as a 7'' single in time for Record Store Day on April 18th. I'll keep the exact details to myself for the moment, but I did record some backwards guitar on one of the tracks. Great fun - I knew all that time spent listening to 'Tomorrow Never Knows' would come in handy one day... 

'Oh Lordy, Oh Lordy...'

So - there is still little or no time to do anything but play the guitar (not all bad news then!) or help attempt to stem the Christmas tide in Balcony Shirts, and now I've managed to develop that most hideous of conditions - yes, I've got (gulp!) ManFlu. Oh gawd! I felt a bit rough last week but vast application of paracetamol coupled with what passes for a couple of early nights in my warped world seemed to have kept it at bay - but this morning I woke up feeling as though I'd done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime. Bugger! Oh well - time for more paracetamol and another early night then... maybe yesterday afternoon's Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks gig at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back? It was certainly a good show and it was great to see the lads again, but I was out on my feet by the end of it. And I feel worse now. Bah! And if that wasn't bad enough, I didn't get to see The Who - mind you, no one did!

In the meantime it was a great gig with T.V. Smith at The 12 Bar Club last Friday - with Goldblade, Eastfield, The Anabollic Steroids and Viva Las Vegas also on the bill it was definitely a good value evening, which began with a four song set from Sarah Pink (covers of 'John, I'm Only Dancing' and 'Teenage Kicks' alongside two of her own songs) before I walked down Oxford Street to catch a bit of the Human Punk night at The 100 Club. As I got there I bumped in to co-promoter John King just as The Pukes began their set - they're always good fun and this show was no exception, after which Andy the D.J. played 'The Price You Pay' by The Price. Weird! As Infa Riot began their second number it was time for me to return to my own gig - walking across the club I couldn't help but notice that someone had collapsed in front of the merchandise stall, I told the security men on my way out but the didn't seem to be overly concerned so let's hope the chap was ok.
Back at The 12 Bar Club Eastfield were roaring through their splendid set, followed by a typically upfront Goldblade gig with John Robb giving it everything as usual and the packed audience loving every minute of it. Meanwhile T.V. and myself met at the bar to discuss tactics - I was using an electric guitar for the first time and don't mind admitting that I was feeling a bit nervous, but as always the sheer quality of T.V.'s songs meant that the gig went well, to such an extent that we're seriously considering repeating the T.V.-on-acoustic / Leigh-on-electric again at the earliest opportunity. Great stuff! There was time to catch a few songs from Viva Las Vegas before clubbing together for a cab home - after all, there was a long Saturday in prospect...

As the Ruts D.C. bus pulled up outside The Fleece in Bristol I realised that I'd managed to doze off for a while at least. It's a great venue and Ziggy and Jon of Death Or Glory Promotions work tirelessly to put on gigs all the year round. We had a few monitor problems in our soundcheck but as always Bob got us a great sound, and while support band Criminal Mind warmed up the rapidly arriving crowd the scene was set for a memorable performance. As we began with 'Whatever We Do' it was clear that the crowd were on our side, and by the time we got to the rarely-played 'Dope For Guns' things were really taking off. Despite a couple of plastic glasses being thrown the atmosphere remained good throughout, with plenty of banter and each song getting more and more of a reaction. We ended to deafening applause, and our encore of 'Something That I Said', 'H-Eyes' and 'Society' finished a truly brilliant gig. As I walk of stage a chap stops me to say that he'd cried during 'Babylon's Burning', another said that it was the best gig that he'd ever seen - all the money in the World can't buy you moments like that. 
Afterwards there's time for a few drinks before heading off to our hotel - we hope to visit the bar for one last end-of-tour drink but sadly it's closed. Oh well, you can't have everything can you? - after all, as John Cooper Clarke once brilliantly asked, where would you put it?  
  

Different gear, still speeding...

Of course when I say 'time I got that bloody tax return finished then' what I actually mean is 'time I put all those receipts that have been in those two plastic bags for over a year in some sort of order then attempt to marry them up with bank and credit card statements before wrestling with the online tax return service'. Something like that anyway. Still I got it all done in the end - now I've got to start saving up to pay them...

As mentioned last time this is a relatively quiet week in Leigh's Mad World Of Guitars, although with quite a few gigs on the horizon it's very much a case of 'the calm before the storm'. Good! But I managed to see a couple more bands this week, starting with The Fallen Leaves at The 12 Bar Club. I met up with John King before the gig in The Champion - well to be more accurate I met him outside The Champion, where he was stomping about in a state of no little annoyance. 'There's only one guy serving and it's chaos' roared he, looking suitably disturbed. We decided to have another look inside - there were now two burly-looking chaps behind the bar and an air of calm prevailed so we ordered some drinks; from there we walked down the road to The Blue Posts, then along to The Tottenham... we made it to the 12 Bar Club in time to catch a fiery Fallen Leaves show, although by the time we got there I for one was feeling the effects of the previous few hours. And I certainly felt it the next morning...

Friday night it was time for a visit to Tropic At Ruislip to see Virgil And The Accelerators. I'd seen the band once before (back in April 2012 supporting the mighty Wilko Johnson) and was keen to see how things were developing for them. On Friday's evidence the answer would have to be 'rather well', as the good-sized audience loved the 2 hour show although I have to say that it all went on a bit for me in places - is a 20+ minute guitar solo legal?!? Still the encore medley of 'Thru And Thru' and 'Are You Experienced?' was undeniably impressive, and judging by the number of people who bought CDs and t-shirts the band are definitely going in the right direction. I still say that those solos were a bit long though...

My only gig of this weekend was with The Upper Cut at a private party in Ruislip. We'd not played together for a while so it was good to all get together again - we were playing in a marquee in the back garden of Tracy and Dave's house and overall things went well, with Mark from ME Guitars joining us for a few songs and plenty of dancing and merriment from all concerned. We're playing at The Admiral Nelson in Twickenham this Saturday in the midst of what promises to be a good weekend for your humble narrator, as Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks are also gigging all weekend (I'll be with them on Thursday and Sunday) and Ruts D.C. are at The Hare And Hounds in Birmingham on Friday. And if that wasn't enough Wednesday evening sees the first FFRUK night at The Intrepid Fox (formally The Archway Tavern) in Archway. Segs will be DJ-ing and there are several bands playing - well as I said earlier, things are about to get a lot busier...

In the name of love

This piece has taken quite a while to write, which is probably not that obvious from reading it. I'm not entirely sure that it's any good, or if it covers all or even most of my feelings about the extraordinary weekend that I've just experienced, but for better or worse here it is...

So there we are then, The 2014 Rebellion Festival. And what a wonderful event it was - well, I had a good time anyway! I spent a fair amount of it working behind the Cadiz Music merchandising stall with label supremo Richard England and his assistant Blaise, and although it was hard work (yes ok, not as hard as digging a hole or something like that, but you know what I mean!) it was generally really good fun. In addition to various Ruts and Ruts D.C. items (including the re-issue of 'Rhythm Collision Volume 1' and our new live album 'Live On Stage') we had albums and t-shirts from Wilko Johnson, The Cockney Rejects, Electric River, Eight Rounds Rapid and more, and over the course of the four days of the festival we met and spoke to literally hundreds of people; yes there was the odd nutter but overall it was something that was a real pleasure to be part of. 

It was good to catch up with various people too, many of whom I hadn't seen since last year's gathering while some like John King I'd arranged to meet at the festival. Somewhat inevitably this involved late nights and lots of drinking - well, why not eh? It's only once a year after all... 

However the real reason that I was there was of course to play with Ruts D.C.; following our performance at The 12 Bar Club back in February we were invited to play an acoustic show on Saturday evening as well as headlining The Pavilion Stage (formally known as The Bizarre Bazaar) the following night. In addition to these two gigs Segs and Dave were interviewed by Garry Bushell on The Literary Stage on Sunday afternoon, which was an amusing and lively session ostensibly to discuss the upcoming book on the band ('Love In Vain - The Story Of The Ruts and Ruts D.C.' which should be out in October) but which ended up covering all sorts of unrelated topics featuring much banter between all concerned. All good entertaining stuff, as was Bushell's interview with Pete Haynes earlier in the day, where Pete spoke of his new book 'Cool Water' and even gave your humble narrator a name check for encouraging him to pursue his gift for writing all those years ago. Well - I did!
The acoustic show took place at 9.20 pm on Saturday evening in the bar - throughout the preceding days I'd been aware that while many visiting the stall were looking forward to Sunday's electric set it was the acoustic show that had really caught people's imagination. 'What are you going to play?' was a common question, as indeed was 'how are you going to play it?' In an attempt to answer these and many other queries Dave, Segs and myself gathered in Segs's hotel room at half past three in the afternoon - well, there's nothing like leaving it until the last minute is there? As we were setting up before the show it became that we were going to be playing to a full house, to such an extent that by the time we kicked off the show with 'Something That I Said' there were so many people in the room that a visit from the local fire department would have surely resulted in the show being closed down. Given the unusual nature of the gig we chose some less likely songs from the band's back catalogue (including 'Dangerous Minds' and 'Despondency' from 'Animal Now') as well as giving the first-ever public performance of a new song 'Second Hand Child' - as the set progressed I for one was aware of the growing intensity of the show, and by the time we got to 'Babylon's Burning' things were at fever pitch with our last song 'In A Rut' instigating the sort of standing ovation that people like me can usually only dream about. Amazing. But things didn't end there, as next up was the mighty T.V. Smith. He began his set as a solo act but then invited me to join him and bassman Jonathan from his band The Bored Teenagers for a couple of songs before getting the rest of the band up to finish the show with three Adverts songs. You can see how it all ended by clicking here - yes, that is Attila The Stockbroker joining me at the microphone near the end, and yes, the drummer really is playing a cardboard box!

But if that was a good gig then the electric set the next evening took things to another dimension entirely. I wrote last time about how we were following Glen Matlock whose band was to feature Earl Slick on guitar - I'd hoped to meet him and so was well pleased when I bumped into him (literally - he came through a door as I was about to walk through it in the other direction!) and he turned out to be a very nice chap, as did drummer Slim Jim Phantom who was also playing with Glen. I missed most of their set as we were getting changed and working out a set list - as I walked towards the stage to get ready for our show I saw Mr. Slick again (I'm starting to sound like a stalker now aren't I?!?) who's comment 'all black - that's the way to go man!' has all but guaranteed that I'll never wear any other colour clothing on stage again. Well I will, but you know what I mean!
We were introduced on stage by Irvine Welsh, who is a friend of Segs's and who had also appeared on The Literary Stage earlier in the day; as he wrote 'Trainspotting' there was of course only one possible opening song... we usually open with a reggae - style song so starting with 'H-Eyes' caught everyone by surprise. Once again some less-than-obvious songs featured in the set, not least 'Demolition Dancing' which has always been a big favourite of mine - judging by the audience reaction quite a few other people like it too... without wishing to sound too big-headed there are some shows that you just know are going to be special, that are just that little bit better than usual, and as we neared the end it was clear that this was going to be one to remember. Despite being told that there was a curfew and that we couldn't come back for an encore the audience simply refused to leave, even when the crew began dismantling the drum kit. We eventually returned for a blazing romp through 'Society' which ended what was a truly unforgettable performance and - dare I say it - one of the best things that I've ever been part of.

Gatherings such as this seem to contain so many high points, and yet I've found that there's often a defining moment which somehow focuses the overall feeling into a few words or a single statement - this time the one that sticks with me occurred in the backstage bar in the early hours of Sunday morning after our acoustic show. Segs and I were talking to Doug, who knew Malcolm Owen when he (Doug) was in his early teens. I said something about how it must have been an extraordinary experience - Doug just smiled and said 'he taught me dignity, and he taught me pride'. 

His words hung in the air. I can still hear him saying them now. I hope that I hear them forever. 

Fight for your right to party

Another busy few days then...

On Thursday work continued on the Back To Zero album. Not for us a multi-million pound budget in a huge expensive recording studio; oh no - myself and Squirrel overdubbed our guitar and bass parts in his kitchen as Sam sat at the kitchen table manning his computer. Isn't technology amazing? We've now recorded all the backing tracks and even though I say so myself it's sounding really good and I for one can't wait to hear the end result.

That evening I found myself at The 12 Bar Club with John King, Pete 'Manic Esso' Haynes and his mate Laurent. After a suitably entertaining evening myself and Esso left in good time (we've both missed our last train home after similar evenings at said watering hole) only to be thwarted by problems on The Metropolitan Line. We sat on the (stationary) train for what felt like ages listening to 'we're being held at a red signal' / 'a train up ahead has broken down' / 'there are trains backed up along the track' - type announcements - still it gave us even more time to put the world to rights...

I spent part of a rather bleary Friday running through some songs for the weekend's Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks gigs - somewhat worryingly I found myself with more than a few 'how does the middle bit go?' moments when I played the songs - maybe it was because I was tired or maybe I wasn't quite on the ball? Either way I fell asleep mid-afternoon - not something that I like to do, but sometimes you just have to don't you? Well it had been a long day on Thursday and I was aware that the next couple of days were going to be very busy; also my back was still playing up a bit. Not good!

I'd not been to The Chippenham Hotel in Maida Hill before - according to it's website Joe Strummer's pre-Clash band The 101ers used to play there regularly, and I must say that looking at it on Friday evening you didn't need to use much imagination to see that it could well have been quite a thriving venue back in the day. It's still a pretty good place now, and although there could have been more people in attendance those who were there were an enthusiastic bunch with a fair amount of dancing and general jollity all round. A good gig, made even better by the fact that we were rebooked for January 25th at the end of the evening. Excellent!

There were a lot more people at The Dolphin in Uxbridge the next night - when we arrived the party was in full swing, with plenty of young people looking as though they'd been there for quite a while... I wouldn't say that the atmosphere could have been called hostile but I definitely got the feeling that things weren't quite right. Then again our first set was well received, and I began to think that I was worried about nothing - but three songs into our second set I saw a couple of likely lads squaring up to each other at the bar just a few feet to my right. There were a couple of young ladies trying to separate them and maybe it was all going to be ok - but no, the shouty guy on the left won't let it go, I started to think that maybe I should say to Al that we should stop playing as sometimes these things get worse if people can't hear themselves - but then again if we stop it draws attention to the situation which could accelerate things... suddenly Noel the guv'nor stepped in and removed the shouty guy from the premises in no uncertain terms. It takes a lot of guts to do something like that in my opinion (like all six foot tall men I'm a complete wimp!) and Noel did it in seconds. He definitely knows how to run a pub! Thankfully the rest of our show proceeded without incident, and if anything the band played even better than they did the night before. Good!

It was an early start for your humble narrator on Sunday - after three late nights in a row (and Saturday in the shop) I was feeling rather bleary, and with a 10am kick off to contend with things were only ever going to get blearier. When Back To Zero arrived at Mushroom Studios there seemed to be some confusion as to whether we were booked in or not, but thankfully room 2 was available so we set to work preparing for this coming Saturday's show at The Railway Hotel in Southend. Over the next four hours we worked up a set of BTZ songs and an eclectic selection of cover versions, and by the end of the session pronounced ourselves pleased with our efforts. An amusing moment occurred when Barrie Masters of local heroes Eddie and The Hot Rods suddenly appeared in the room with us - he'd been told that Squirrel was there and as he hadn't seen him to talk to for many years he'd called in to say hello. Good job we hadn't been playing one of his band's songs eh?!?

And last night it was up to Madame JoJo's in Soho for the last of the Monday punk and reggae nights - myself and Esso got stranded in The Ship for rather longer than we thought we would meaning that The Duel were already on stage when we arrived. They were sounding good and there were plenty of people in the club - these nights seem to have been a success, which can only be a good thing for live music in my not-so-humble opinion. We left as Segs was getting going with his DJ set - well after Thursday night we were taking no chances...

Hot in the city

Here's a pop quiz question for you - 

What song title do Wreckless Eric and The Temptations have in common?

Any idea? I have to hurry you... no? It's 'I Wish It Would Rain', five points if you got that one. 

They're both really great songs too, as you can hear here and here...

Actually I for one don't wish it would rain, but it feels as though everyone else does. Aren't people moaning about the hot weather a lot? They'll be complaining that it's cold soon. Mind you my hay fever is approaching new highs - or perhaps that should be new lows? Hmmm... maybe the heat is getting to me...

With no gig of my own on Friday night I decided to catch a couple of local shows, starting with Covered In Skas at The Carpenters Arms in Hayes. I'd heard a fair bit about the band (a couple of their biggest fans Kate and Tony get band shirts printed at the shop) and had been trying to see them play for what feels like ages but their appearances always seemed to coincide with my gigs so it was good to catch them at last. They play everything from original ska classics to material from the Two Tone era and on the evidence of their first set on Friday they play it very well indeed. From there it was off to The Crown in Cowley to see the second set from Tiny Tina. I've known their singer Miri for a while - she's sung a couple of numbers with The Upper Cut from time to time and it's great to see her out with her own band now. As you might expect there are a fair few Tina Turner songs in their set, and the band made a pretty good job of things especially considering that dep drummer Mark only got offered the gig earlier in the day. A good evening all round.

Having seen two bands on Friday it was time for me to play in two bands on Saturday, starting with Back To Zero at The Borderline in London at The 'Summer In The City' all-dayer. We were originally due to play at 4 o'clock in the afternoon but that was changed to 6.40pm earlier in the week - as amps and drums were provided I went up on the tube and got to the venue around half past five in time to see an excellent set from The Aardvarks. Well let's face it, any band that plays 'Run Run Run' can't be bad can they?
I'm pretty sure that the venue had air conditioning although as we went on stage it was so hot that it was difficult to tell. Squirrel's bass cut in and out during the first number - the sound engineer apparently said to him that it was due to vibrations making the lead come out of the back of the amplifier and that it was 'always happening'. Eh? If it's 'always happening' then why not do something to, er, stop it, er, always happening? Or is that just me? Given these sorts of problems I thought that we played very well under the circumstances, with Craig again joining us for several songs (including 'London's Pride') and our encore of 'Land Of 1,000 Dances' bringing the proverbial house down. There was time for a drink after the show (good!) and to see a song and a half from Squire before wending my way to The Dolphin in Uxbridge where Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks were playing a set at guitar dep Pete's wife Elaine's birthday party. Again it was ridiculously hot but again the band played well. It was a long evening though...

I spent a fair bit of Sunday asleep. What with the heat and the hay fever I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Ooh now I'm moaning about the weather... still I made it back up to The West End with John King and Pete 'Manic Esso' Haynes to see The Crows at the 12 Bar Club. We got there at half past eight just as they were starting - Richie from Biteback on acoustic guitar and Jennie (one of the people behind The Rebellion Festival) on vocals (joined for the first time by Sarah Pink on harmony vocals for a few numbers) gave an engaging performance which was well received by all concerned. And afterwards there was time for much drinking and conversation - always a good end to the weekend don't you think?

And there's just time for a quick plug for this Friday's Upper Cut show at the aforementioned Dolphin - it's the Friday before my birthday (that's on the 24th) and in my world is the nearest that I get to a birthday party - if you're in the area then it would be good to see you. The night after that Big Al and co. play at The Rowan Arms in West Drayton and on Sunday The Upper Cut return to Colnbrook for a 5pm show at Ye Olde George Inn - another hot weekend's gigging in prospect then. Good!

'...but it helps...'

I've been listening to 'Aladdin Sane' by David Bowie a fair bit lately (well to be pedantic I've been playing it in the background while I've been doing other things) and I'd all but forgotten what a great album it is. To my ears there's not a bad track on it, Mick Ronson is in 'guitar god mode' throughout and the songs are some of Bowie's best - mighty stuff. Track one side two (in old money) is 'Time' - it caught my ear a couple of minutes ago as I reflected on how busy the last week has been and how little time I have to do things like write a blog piece at the moment. So here is an edited (sometimes very edited) version of the highs and lows of life in mad-guitar-World since last we spoke, taken from scribbly notes made along the way and some rather blurred memories. Maybe one day I'll get chance to write the 'full' version, but in the meantime...

WEDNESDAY 8TH MAY - RUTS D.C. REHEARSAL in DEPTFORD

With a London gig looming on Friday our heroes return to The Music Complex in Deptford for a session that should have seen us joined by Tenor Fly and Rob from The Alabama 3, both of whom will be appearing with us as special guests at the show, and both of whom had called to say that they couldn't make it before we'd even started playing. Hmm... a chance setting of 'slapback echo' on the P.A. system had Segs singing in a spoof rockabilly manner - we then spent much of our time playing attempting to play our songs in said style before adjourning to The Little Crown and deciding to form a group called Rockabilly Solution. No, really, that was what happened. Even I couldn't make that up.

THURSDAY 9TH MAY - THE U.K. SUBS / T.V. SMITH at THE 100 CLUB in LONDON

After a day at Balcony Shirts (yes, I'm still working there in between all this other stuff) I should really have gone home and got an early night in preparation for the afore-mentioned London show. Instead I went to The 100 Club. I really must try to look after myself a bit better don't you think?

T.V. Smith - analysis is futile. Simply brilliant
Interval - meet up with T.V. and Gaye, Tara and Andy from The Duel, various Phobics, my mate Tom, Coppo and Lynda, arch Price fan Romford Dave and more. Excellent.
The U.K. Subs - analysis is futile. A punk rock institution.
After the show - meet up with all of the above again and introduce myself to U.K. Subs guitar hero Jet who turns out to be a very nice chap. Excellent.

FRIDAY 10TH MAY - RUTS D.C. GIG at THE UNDERWORLD in CAMDEN

Over 200 tickets sold and a good walk up is expected for our 'Rhythm Collision Volume 2' launch gig - no pressure then. I'd not played at The Underworld before - great support sets from Electric River and Dirty Revolution before a potentially classic Ruts D.C. show is interrupted when Molara gets hit in the face by a plastic glass thrown from the crowd. (Yeah I know the term 'plastic glass' makes no sense but you know what I mean I think.) Aside from that the show goes brilliantly well and my old mate Big Andy copes manfully with utter chaos on the merchandise stall after the show. I shake hands with the entire audience (well, it felt as though I did) and ponder why anybody would buy an overpriced watered-down drink and then throw it or the empty (plastic) glass that it came in at a band that they've paid to see and therefore presumably enjoy listening to. Fail to find a satisfactory answer so go across the road to The Mango Room where Segs is DJing. When we got there he was at the bar - he was still there when we left...

And here's 'Mirror Smashed' from the show - even though I say so myself, we played well!

SATURDAY 11TH MAY - RUTS D.C. GIG at THE BOX in CREWE

Seamus after breakfast
 outside the venue -
'nice friendly atmosphere'...

Arrive at The Box to be told that all but one of our rooms at the adjoining hotel were 'trashed last night' (their words not mine) and so most of us were now staying at The Ramada Encore but would be coming back for breakfast in the morning. Strange but true. Soundcheck a bit fraught due to a lack of local crew (cue 'no crew in Crewe' gags) and a lack of microphones which resulted in a bit of rearranging of various things already on stage (we were supporting Spear Of Destiny) and meaning that I ended up not having a vocal mic. There's a fully signed 'Live At Leeds' album above the sound desk - if I had one of them then I'm not sure that I'd let it out of the house. Our show goes well until a rather peculiar chap starts shouting abuse and making various well-known gestures at Seamus from the front of the crowd. He copes well but once again a potentially excellent show gets a bit soured. The guy finds him in the bar afterwards and continues winding Seamus up until he loses his temper and slaps him. A scuffle ensues - where are venue security when you need them? We get back to the van to discover that we've got a flat battery. Bugger.

And here are the last two songs from our set - and why not?

SUNDAY 12TH MAY - THE UPPER CUT at YE OLDE GEORGE INN in COLNBROOK

We eventually got a jump start from one of the venue's security men (I decided not to ask him where he'd been earlier!) and got to the hotel to find the bar still open. Good. Buy some drinks and meet some lads who were at the show and who loved our performance. One of them spots my Dr. Feelgood badge and announces that he's a big Wilko Johnson fan - much jollity ensues, as eventually does nowhere near enough sleep. We make it back to the venue for half past nine - breakfast there has previously been described as 'legendary' by several sources and has since been described by some other less complimentary words by various band members. My namby-pamby poncy vegetarian egg on toast is fine-ish. Spend much of the journey South drifting in and out of consciousness before arriving home with an hour to spare before leaving for a 5pm Upper Cut gig at The Olde George in Colnbrook. Yes, I thought it was a bit if an odd time for a gig too. Play a rousing (if slightly jet-lagged from my point of view) performance to an enthusiastic audience who include a man who spends a fair bit of our set singing along whilst using a chair leg as a microphone. As the leg is still attached to the chair this is a somewhat dangerous concept... get home sometime after 8 o'clock, have a sandwich and think that maybe I should have an early-ish night, but instead go to The Load Of Hay to meet East for a drink. Or two. Or three. What was that about 'looking after myself'?

MONDAY 13TH MAY - THE OLD FIRM CASUALS at THE FIDDLERS ELBOW in CAMDEN

After a busy day in Balcony Shirts I met John 'Football Factory' King at Chalk Farm tube station before going at The Enterprise where I saw Romford Dave (who'd also been at the Ruts D.C. gig on Friday - 'we can't go on meeting like this' etc etc) and spent £3 on a portion of chips and quite a bit more on two drinks. No, I don't know why either. Got to The Fiddlers Elbow, said hello to Lee from Infa Riot and then realised that I was in a room with an almost endless amount of very scary-looking skinheads. As I went to the bar to get some drinks (obviously!) I heard the words 'Is that a Tootal?' I turned to see a giant man pointing at my scarf; I then said the words 'yes it is' in a voice that sounded to me to be at least two octaves higher than normal. 'Looks good mate' said he cheerily. Meanwhile, in the background, an Oi! band was playing...

Angry Agenda - aptly named as they all seemed to be very annoyed about something. Very good though.
Control - initially had trouble getting the bass guitar working. Got there in the end. Also very good.
The Old Firm Casuals - roared through a blazing hour of melodic anthems. Great stuff.

Considered staying for another drink with John and Lee after the show as they were hoping to get a word with Lars but I was flagging (perhaps unsurprisingly!) a bit and so decided to leave after the band finished so as not to be worrying about missing the last train. Woke up as my train pulled in to Pinner station -  in my delirium I'd got on the wrong train and now had to get back to Harrow-On-The-Hill in time to catch the last Uxbridge train. Only just made it - but at least I made it. I'm bloomin' tired now though...

...and I expect I'll be bloomin' tired this coming weekend too, when Ruts D.C. play at The Globe in Cardiff on Friday evening and The Bearded Theory Festival in Derbyshire at 3.30pm on Saturday. Can't wait!

'You don't have to be mad to work here...'

Well that's another busy few days been and gone - it all gets a lot quieter in a few weeks time which I don't mind admitting that I'm not looking forward to. In the meantime...

Thursday then, and time at last for Back To Zero to take to the stage for the first time in getting on for 33 1/3 years. You couldn't make that up could you? 'It feels like we've been rehearsing for ages' said Squirrel a few minutes before the show was due to start, 'and yet I'm not sure that it's been enough'. I knew what he meant but decided to tell myself that it was all going to be brilliant - which I'm pleased to say that was how it all turned out to be, but more about that in a minute. 

Your humble narrator
in mod mode.
I must buy myself
a better shirt!

I arrived at The Fiddlers Elbow in Camden around 6.30pm just as Eat This were soundchecking with 'Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand' - always nice to hear a Who track being played! The evening (which also featured The Duel and The Phobics) was to promote the recently released 'See You On The Other Side' Paul Fox tribute CD, with all money raised going to The Michael Sobell Hospice where Paul was cared for towards the end of his life. As you might expect on an evening such as this there were more than a few familiar faces in the building - punk promotess Sarah Pink and John 'Football Factory' King among them - as well as a fair-sized crowd, all of whom saw excellent sets from all the bands. The Phobics sounded tight and powerful as did The Duel (who finished with a fine version of 'Babylon's Burning') and although I missed a bit of Eat This due to packing gear away and getting changed what I did hear sounded good to me. I described the Back To Zero set to Andy the drummer as 'a loosener' - his comment that he considered it to be 'a strengther' probably gives a better view of the show, which saw Sam coming into his own as a guitarist / frontman and the rest of the band (Stuart on keyboards, Squirrel on bass and your humble narrator on the electric guitar) matching him moment for moment. The first show by a band is always an odd one - it's often a mixture of 'let's get this one out of the way' and 'right, we've done the rehearsals now let us get at 'em!' which certainly describes how this one felt for me. One thing we all agreed on was that it was a good start but the best is yet to come - and that wasn't a bad feeling to have.

And here are a fine set of BTZ photos taken by Rhiannon at the show, while Joe's Gig Vids has a song from each of the bands ...

On Friday Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks returned to The Swan in Iver. A good-sized audience saw a good-sounding show - Bob did a good job depping for Dave on drums, Pete joined us on guitar for a good few numbers and some very good looking young ladies had a good time dancing, particularly in our second set. Hmmm... some nights are just 'good' aren't they? This was one one of them!

And so to Saturday and The Mods Mayday 2013 in Cambridge. The evening also featured Squire and The Killermeters and took place at The Ida Darwin Social Club (in the grounds of the Ida Darwin Hospital, which itself is part of The Fulbourn Hospital a.k.a. The County Pauper Lunatic Asylum For Cambridgeshire, The Isle Of Ely And The Borough Of Cambridge - oh yes!) which for the evening became The Alley Club. Paul the promoter distinguished himself immediately by bringing out cases of lager and promising imminent pizza and chips (top man!) and with Squire arriving later The Killermeters were first to soundcheck with us close behind. Craig was joining us on vocals for a few songs (he was one of the band's singers first time around) and although we were initially too loud on stage (whoever heard of an electric guitar being too loud?!?) we got things sounding good in the end. Or did we? Our first number was dogged by feedback which threatened to all-but-scupper the song - we got through it and I for one found the burst of audience applause at the end something of a relief. From there on in things improved dramatically, with our version of 'Making Time' by The Creation upping the ante and the last song 'Your Side Of Heaven' bringing the proverbial house down. A quick encore of 'Land Of A Thousand Dances' and it was all over - but it turned out to be a great show after a shaky start. Well - that's better

Back To Zero at Mods Mayday Cambridge 2013 -
Leigh, Sam, Andy, Squirrel and Stuart

than a shaky show after a great start... back at the bar a very nice chap called Bryan comes across and says that he saw Ruts D.C. the previous weekend in Minehead and thought we were great. Good man! A young lady comes over with a copy of the BTZ single and asks me to sign it, she looks disappointed when I tell her that I wasn't in the band then but she cheers up when I direct her to Sam and Andy. In the meantime The Killermeters are playing a fine set of mod-pop songs (once again good to hear a Who song or two) and I see Mike Herbage from Department S for the first time since I depped on bass with them last year - I also met Mark the bass player for the first time at our Camden show. 'We should get a gig with the two bands shouldn't we?' is his cheery suggestion - well, I'm not going to tell him that he's wrong... by now Squire are on and 'Walking Down The Kings Road' sounds as good as I remember it sounding all those years ago. We all reflect on what a great night it's been - and it has, even with a 'we are the mods' chant or two. Well - they are!

And here is 'Back To Back', our second song from the show...

Sunday's duo show with Big Al Reed at The Coy Carp in Harefield could easily have been something of an anti-climax after that but I'm pleased (and not a little surprised!) to say that it wasn't. It was the first live music evening at the pub - always good to see another place trying to put a band or a duo on - although I remember going to The Mystery Blues Club to see bands like The Hamsters play Sunday lunchtime shows there back in the 1980s. For this show we were joined by Pete for a fair bit of the evening (as well as joining us on Friday he also depped for me with the band on Saturday evening while I was off modding around) and after a quiet start the second set saw much dancing and merriment all round with the promise of a return show, maybe with the whole band. A successful evening's work - and last night I made another visit to The Three Wishes in Edgware for their jam night. Big Al, Pete and myself played a couple of songs with the houseband before the venue bought out the sandwiches to honour Al's birthday this week. All good stuff, although I don't half feel tired now...