From Down Under to The Underworld

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!

Ireland life, Ireland live

Friday 13th January at 10.10 am, in seat 22c on Aer Lingus flight E1233 not long after take off from Gatwick Airport

I don't think that I've been in a plane that's taken off through snow before. Hmm... no, I'd remember wouldn't I? It was a good deal bumpier than I would have liked, but we're up in blue skies now thank gawd.

I really liked this poster!

Neither The Ruts or Ruts DC ever played in Ireland back in the day so tonight's show at The Voodoo Lounge in Dublin is definitely something of an event. Well, it certainly is for me - I first went to Dublin in 2001 with Neck and have played there a fair few times since then although not for quite a while so it'll be good to play there tonight.
Since last we spoke there have been no gigs for your humble narrator, although since I've not been feeling 100% fit lately that for once hasn't been a particularly bad thing. That said I have been to see a few bands - I kinda think that if you're not out playing then it's good to be out watching some one who is, if only to support the venue that putting live music on. Does that sound self-righteous? It's not supposed to, although maybe it does, or indeed is... anyway The Bluerays played at The Halfway House in Rickmansworth last Friday, and very good they were too - with Chris Hunt on drums the band offered up a good selection of cover songs (some obvious, some not-so-straightforward) to the appreciation of the good-sized audience. And it was great to catch up with Chris and to see him behind the kit, I've played here and there with him over the years and he's always excellent.
The now-annual Resolution Festival has been happening at The 100 Club - I've been to less shows than I'd have liked this year but was very pleased to catch a blistering performance by T.V. Smith and The Bored Teenagers on Sunday (sadly a tube strike meant that there were less punters than predicted but 'twas nevertheless a fabulous show) and an excellent show by The Sex Pistols Experience on Tuesday. 
In the meantime Britain is falling apart due to cold temperatures and the afore-mentioned snow - isn't this sort of thing supposed to happen in winter? Ah well - at least we're good at falling apart... anyway it was an early start so it's time to attempt a snooze...

Saturday 14th January at 1.15 pm on the road between Dublin and Belfast

Did you see what I did there? 'On The Road'. I always wanted to say or indeed write that, I sound just like Jack Kerouac don't I? Either that or I sound like a sad and lonely middle-aged man desperately trying to make his life sound more interesting and indeed romantic than it actually is. 
Well it's difficult to think how last night's gig could have gone any better than it did, although when we abandoned our soundcheck as none of us could hear what any of us was playing in didn't necessarily look as though a good night was in prospect. 'Don't worry' said Bob our soundman, 'it'll sound fine when there's a few people in here'. I've heard that a few ti...

4.00 pm in Room 315 at The Ramada Encore Hotel in Belfast

...at which point my pen ran out. Bugger!

As I was saying - the 'it'll sound fine when...' clause gets used by soundmen the World over with varying degrees of success, either because nobody turns up to watch the gig or because loads of people turn up and it still sounds awful. Happily this time Bob was proved to be correct as the place was pretty much full when we went on and the sound did indeed dramatically improve. It's good when that happens... with an audience that could politely be described as 'enthusiastic' the show went from good to great in no time at all - as our new friend John put it after the show, '2017 started here tonight'. Support came from local heroes Paranoid Visions who were probably the best that I've ever seen them which made it a cracking night all round. Hopefully we're in for another good one tonight - promoter Seamie used to play drums in The Bankrobbers who I remember seeing way back in 1981 supporting, of all people, Ruts DC. And if that's not a good omen then I don't know what is!

Sunday 15th January at 9.42 am in the same hotel room

Ooo my 'ead 'urts. Still I've only got myself to blame. As always. Well, that and the drinking. 

Breakfast I think...

4.14 pm in seat 18C on Flight EZY844 not long after take off from Belfast Airport 

Worrying. Very worrying. Well I think that it is. Well, it is isn't it? How much better an alcoholic drink makes you feel sometimes, especially when you've had rather a lot of them the night before. Maybe I shouldn't be saying that here. Maybe I shouldn't be saying it at all. Ah well - I just have. 
It was a long, long night, but a good one. If I'm honest (and I always try to be - don't you?) I'd have to say that we might have played a bit better the night before but not by much, although the sound seemed to be a bit better in Dublin (which is rather ironic if you think about it given how our soundcheck had gone) which resulted in me missing a couple of cues and accents in songs. Excuses excuses... maybe I'm being a bit over-critical as the audience loved it but you have to keep standards up don't you? Well, I think that you do. The Black Box Theatre seems to put on a lot of very diverse entertainment, and it's great to see such a good venue doing so well - and it was great to see my old mate John Ford who now lives nearby, and I must mention that Stop Stop Start Again provided splendid support too. Another roaringly good evening or indeed weekend - and there's another in prospect next week when we play The Ruhrpott Ska Explosion Festival in Dortmund. Excellent. 
Time for another snooze...

Tuesday 17th January at 2.37 pm, back in Blighty and at home

Somehow - and I for one am not sure how, given how knackered I was - I went to see The Lurkers playing the last night of The Resolution Festival on the way home from the airport. Strange but true. And if you're interested both the Stop Stop Start Again and Ruts D.C. shows are now on YouTube and can be seen here by clicking on the band names in this sentence. See what you think!

Tougher than the rest

Well, you know how this is going to work by now don't you? I make some weak (increasingly weak to be honest!) excuses about having no time to do anything other than work in Balcony Shirts, then I bang on about the things that have happened to me when I haven't been working in Balcony Shirts. Simple eh? Except this time it deserves more… or is that just egotism on my part? After all, it doesn't really matter what I write here does it? Not compared the death of Muhammad Ali anyway. Mind you, not much matters next to that does it? Whatever your opinion of boxing it's impossible to deny that Ali was one of the great figures of the 20th Century, and given the reaction to the news of his passing it's surely difficult to think that he won't be one of the great figures of the 21st Century and beyond. For what my opinion is worth he was, is and always will be a truly remarkable figure in history who transcended sport, politics, race and religion to inspire countless people to achieve things in their lives that they never have otherwise been able to do. That goes beyond any analysis - put simply, the world has become a better place for him having lived on it.

Right - let's get onto the 'I haven't had much time this week…' stuff - 

- I saw Wilko Johnson at Rough Trade East.
The extraordinary renaissance of The Canvey Island Assassin continues with the publication of his autobiography 'Don't You Leave Me Here', and last Thursday's early evening event saw the man himself interviewed by Zoe Howe about the new book and more. Hang on a minute - didn't she write a book with him a while back? Well yes she did, which has prompted more than a few 'so what's in this book that wasn't in the other one then?' questions; sadly I've not had time to read the new one yet (obviously!) so I can't answer that potentially rather awkward query, but I can confirm that both were on good form during the admittedly often rather contrived inquisition. I managed a quick chat with Zoe and her husband Dylan afterwards as well as catching up with Wilko's son and Eight Rounds Rapid guitar man Simon, after which I hightailed it across town to Denmark Street…

- I attended The WitchDoktors's album launch night at The Alley Cat Club.
…where I arrived just in time to catch a couple of songs by The Healthy Junkies before The WitchDoktors gave a blazing performance in support of their new release 'Voodoo Eye'. I've seen them a few times here and there - they always give a good show and this was no exception. Great stuff - and the album is excellent too.

- Roger Cotton died.
I played quite a few shows with Roger, and The Flying Squad recorded with him in his studio - he was a great bloke and and a fabulous musician who I'm very proud to have known and worked with. A very sad loss.

- I played a show in Rickmansworth with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks.
A lively evening at The Halfway House saw Big Al's two daughters winning friends and influencing people with their, erm, 'flamboyant' style of dancing. That's all I'm saying here, as I'd like to keep my job.

- I didn't play a show in Bethnal Green with The Upper Cut. 
Our run of bad luck at The Salmon And Ball continued when the PA system went wrong during our second number - despite repeated attempts at continuing we eventually gave it up as a bad job and went home. Bugger!

- I went to see Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium.
On June 5th 1981 I witnessed a (literally) life changing performance from The Boss and the boys (no ladies in the band in those days!) at The Wembley Arena. 35 years to the day later I saw him and The 'heart-stopping, pants-dropping, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making, legendary' E-Street Band put on a 3 1/2 hour show that might not have been quite as transcendent as the one that I saw all those years ago, but still left little if any doubt that they are indisputably one of the greatest bands of all time. Highlights were many and varied, but a mention has to be given to a devastating version of 'Candy's Room' - is there any greater moment in rock music than the first note of the guitar solo? - and 'Because The Night' which was as intense and powerful a performance as anything that I can remember seeing from him or indeed anybody else. Magnificent. 

And talking of magnificent, what better way to end this posting than with a quote from the late and undeniably great Muhammad Ali himself - 

'Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power that it takes to win when the match is even'.

There's nothing to add to that is there? Thanks Champ.

European Son

So - the people of Great Britain are to vote on whether or not they think that the country should stay in the European Union. Exciting eh? 
Actually most people that I've spoken to seem to think that 'exciting' is probably the very last word that they'd associate with it. Is it just me or is nobody outside of headbanging right wingers and careerist politicians even the slightest bit interested in it? Nevertheless it gave rise to an amusing start to the week yesterday, when a BBC film crew turned up in Uxbridge to film local shopkeeper's opinions on the upcoming EU referendum. Excellently they started in Balcony Shirts - I managed to keep well out of the way of the camera (do not play, do not give the game away!) while Scott did a splendid job, making a 'EU IN OR EU OUT?' t-shirt while recounting the story of the shop's 'Uxbridge Says Yes To Boris' and 'Uxbridge Says No To Boris' shirts. All good stuff, and lots of publicity for both the t-shirt shop and our friends in Nightfly Records and Horsepower Hairdressing. And why not?

Meanwhile it's been four gigs in four days for your humble narrator, starting on Thursday night with the first visit this year for Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks to The Sunningdale Lounge. A friend of Al's got up and played two songs on bass ('Mustang Sally'  and 'My Babe' since you were wondering - I thought that he crammed in a few too many notes, but that's probably just me) and a similar thing happened next night at The Halfway House in Rickmansworth where another of Al's pals got up and played harmonica (rather well as it happens) on 'Hoochie Coochie Man'. We got through our Saturday night show at The Black Horse in Greenford without any similar incidents and it was probably the best show of the three although none of them were exactly bad gigs. Then on Sunday afternoon The Upper Cut returned to The Queen's Arms in Colnbrook for a boisterous performance which wasn't perhaps our most technically accurate show ever but which certainly had plenty of energy.

This week it's back to Dollis Hill and Harefield for Big Al and the boys. Continuation continues... 

Respect the chemistry

After the madness of the Bank Holiday weekend it's been a quieter week in mad-guitar-world, which as I occasionally observe here isn't necessarily been a bad thing from time to time. Balcony Shirts is very busy at the moment so there's been a fair bit of work there with more to come, and I've been doing dangerously-grown-up things like putting all the last few month's receipts and bank statements in order with a view to filling in this year's tax return in the not-too-distant future. This seems to have come around rather quickly again, but with Ruts D.C. gigs starting in August and continuing for much of the rest of the year I think that it's better to get it done now while I've got a bit of time rather than rush it before gig frenzy breaks out. Well that's the plan anyway - we'll see what actually happens... I've also finally caught up with the rest of the world and begun watching 'Breaking Bad' - it's very good isn't it?  

In the meantime it's been back to the pubs for your humble narrator this weekend, with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks playing The Halfway House in Rickmansworth on Friday evening and Ye Olde George in Colnbrook on Sunday afternoon. In between times The Upper Cut returned to The Kings Arms in Harefield on Saturday night for a gig that started slowly (The F.A. Cup Final had not long finished when we arrived) but which livened up considerably with the arrival of several young ladies out on a hen night. 'Caan yew plaay 'Go Yer Own Waay' by Fleetwood Mac?' slurred the really rather good looking blonde girl as her friends passed the bottle of champagne around - sadly we couldn't which was a bit of a shame as I'd love to have seen what would have happened if we could... our inability to perform what presumably was one of their favourites didn't seem to hamper their enjoyment of the evening, and fairly soon they were joined on the dance floor by more than a few likely lads (at least one of which ended up flat on his back on more than one occasion - pace yourselves boys!) along with people asking if they could play harmonica with us, people asking if their mate could play harmonica with us, people asking if their boyfriend could play harmonica with us - all in a day's or indeed night's work. Oh and my old friend Steve and his wife Jan turned up, I played our last few songs on his old Les Paul because, well, he asked me to and it would have been rude not to! The Big Al bashes went well too, with Al and the band on top form and everything going in the right direction. A good weekend all round then, and with The Upper Cut are out and about again this week in Barnes on Friday and Colnbrook on Sunday, and The London Sewage Company playing their second gig at The Dublin Castle in Camden Town on Thursday there's plenty to look forward to in the next few days.

Now - do I sort out some receipts or watch the next episode of 'Breaking Bad'? Tricky...

Islington... and on... and on...

There's not been much time for blogging this week, what with the Bank Holiday ensuring that none of us know what day it is - or maybe that's just me? 

I had three gigs to keep me out of mischief over the weekend - The Upper Cut played The Salmon And Ball in Bethnal Green on Saturday night (the audience included several cheery gents who went to school with members of The Small Faces and two very good-looking young blonde ladies who indulged in some rather, er, exhibitionist dancing) whilst Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks played a private party in Wendover on Sunday afternoon (the marquee in the back garden just about kept the torrential rain out, to the immense relief of all concerned) and a Bank Holiday Monday early evening show at The North Star in Iver where the layout of the pub meant that most of the band played to a substantially-sized pillar. I also managed to get along to The Feathers in Rickmansworth on Sunday night after our gig to see another splendid performance from The Razors, and worked in Balcony Shirts on Saturday and Tuesday - but now all roads lead to Islington where Ruts D.C. are playing a show at The Islington on Saturday evening as part of our successful PledgeMusic campaign. Well to be pedantic, not all roads lead to Islington as I'll be at The Dolphin in Uxbridge the previous evening with The Upper Cut, but you know what I mean I think... the band will be playing acoustic and electric sets, there'll be a Q & A session with the band (which will also include Roland Link, author of the about-to-be issued-at-last book 'Love In Vain - The Story Of The Ruts And Ruts D.C.') chaired by Paul Trynka and it has all the makings of being a night to remember. I'd tell you some more about it but to be honest that's all I know. No, really, that is all I know about what we're going to do - which is why we're rehearsing tomorrow...

'I've got dreams to remember...'

So - how do I describe the last few days? 

Well yesterday is reasonably straightforward to get to grips with - I got up, did my washing, caught up on phone calls and went to see a great gig by The Razors at The Feathers in Rickmansworth. Easy. It's the previous few days that's a bit trickier to put into words.
Here, in essence, is what happened -

Wednesday - rehearsed with Ruts D.C. during the day and The London Sewage Company in the evening.

Thursday - travelled to Paris with Ruts D.C., where we stayed in Montreuil in anticipation of playing a show there the following evening.

Friday - Ruts D.C. played said show at Cafe La Peche, part of which was filmed for inclusion in 'Tracks', a long-running Arte television show.

Saturday - travelled back to London where I played at The Shepherd's Bush Empire with The London Sewage Company and The Water Rats in King's Cross with Neck.

And that, in simple terms is what happened. But there was more, so much more to it all than that.

When you're a kid trying to learn to play the guitar, you dream a lot. Well I certainly did. I've realised that some musicians are more career-orientated from the word go when it comes to what they want out of playing music. Some want money, some want fame, some want sex, some want drugs, some want all of the above and more - and some of course get all of the above and more. I realise now that I was much more naive than that - maybe that's why I don't get very much of any of the above? On the other hand I get to do the things that I do - and that's alright. 

So what were my dreams about? Well as I say, I was pretty naive; I wanted to play music here, abroad, on television, in big venues, in bands that people had heard of - and I did all of those things in the last few days. Pretty good huh? Well I think it is - maybe one day I'll get some of the other things too? 

Blackpool Tower looks different
at this time of year...

The gigs themselves were great. Really great. Ruts D.C. last played a show way back in January at The 100 Club and rehearsals since then have mostly involved working on new material, so this week's get together was to revise our live show. And revise it we did - alongside the new song 'Secondhand Child' we also added a version of 'Brand New Cadillac' which Segs had sung at last month's Joe Strummer film gig; I'm not sure how long it'll stay in our set but it's certainly good fun to play and it made a good encore song. A film crew from the French and German television show 'Tracks' filmed part of our performance and an interview with Dave and Segs; they also filmed us at the Le Rond Point bar which has been our virtual home for the duration of our visit. We were staying next door at The Hotel de Belfort and had gone there shortly after our arrival on Thursday evening - Segs used to live in Paris and his astonishing command of the French language (or more specifically Parisian French, which I'm told is quite different) meant that we were accepted almost immediately, and indeed were in there until closing time. Despite our headaches we returned there the next day for lunch (which I missed as I decided to be a tourist and head for Place de la Concorde for some sightseeing) and for some food before the show. If I was to say that Segs was presented with a large bottle of red wine by Omar the owner as we were leaving for London on Saturday morning then you'll realise how well he was thought of in said establishment. The presence of the TV film crew also shows how well The Ruts and indeed Ruts D.C. are thought of in France - the 'Chorus' footage remains the best visual record of the original band playing live, and anticipation of our show was high. I don't think I'm being big headed when I say that we delivered the goods - you know when you've played a good show in the same way that you know when you've played a bad one, and this was definitely a good one. Our next gig is in Bedford on April 25th with The Neville Staple Band, and I'm looking forward to that being a good one too. Well you have to think like that don't you?

And then there was Saturday. After our Eurostar journey (isn't The Channel Tunnel an amazing thing?) I got something to eat before heading to Shepherd's Bush where I was playing at The Empire with The London Sewage Company supporting The Men They Couldn't Hang. The Empire. I've seen so many great gigs there over the years - The Who, The Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop... and then there are those OGWT gigs from back on the seventies that I used to watch in between dreams - Rory Gallagher, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton... I'd not played there before and it has always been a place that I hoped that I'd play at one

Your humble narrator on stage
at The Shepherds Bush Empire.
Or is it a dream?

day. Things like this have a habit of being something of an anti-climax, and I was all too aware that this could happen here - thankfully our breathless 30 minute set was all that I hoped that it would be. And it was impossible to look out from the stage and think of the other people who had stood where I was now standing. I get far too romantic about this stuff sometimes don't I? Or maybe I don't get romantic enough? I should perhaps had stayed there all evening, watched main support band Merry Hell and headliners TMTCH, had a few drinks, talked to anybody that wanted to talk - but no, I had work to do. Neck were headlining an Easter Rising Commemoration gig at The Water Rats at 10.30, and as I left The SBE just after nine I'd be lying if I didn't say that part of me wished I was staying - but the other part of me was looking forward to playing at another venue that had previously eluded me on my (ahem!) musical journey through the venues of the World. Two name London venues in the same night - well, why not? And the Neck show was great too - it's good when that happens. Then again The Metropolitan Line was closed so I had a long and circuitous journey home - I don't remember that being in any of the dreams... 

Yeah I know, this piece is all a bit garbled - you should see the stuff I've left out!!

Now you see him, now you don't

Well that was a highly enjoyable weekend's gigging :-

On Saturday night Department S played at Electrowerkz in Islington. I'd not been to the venue before, and it's certainly worth a visit - good stage, sound and lights (even if they did overdo the smoke machine here and there!) although the promoter and door staff were a little, shall we say, over-enthusiastic - when I tried to go out for food and drink before the show I was told that I couldn't leave as I didn't have a wristband on. I attempted to joke about it with a comment along the lines of 'but you'll recognise me, I'll have the same face and everything' the promoter - well I think it was the promoter, I'd all but stopped caring whether the silly little man lived or died by that point - started whingeing about, er something or other... let's hope he hasn't got a really sad little life or anything like that eh?
Anyway aside from that oaf's pathetic antics the evening went swimmingly, with Jonestown kicking things off in style and Spizzenergi as entertaining as ever. Our show was well-received by the good-sized audience (I'd wondered if it being Valentine's Day numbers might have been down but there were plenty of people in attendance, even despite the clearly-incompetent promoter. Good!) and if anything was a better performance than our December gig. It's a great band to play in - they're looking for a permanent guitarist but I'll be happy to be there as often as they want me to be.

And here from Saturday night is 'Going Left Right' by Department S and 'Where's Captain Kirk?' by Spizzenergi. Watch out for Spizz falling off the stage at the end of the song - fortunately he wasn't seriously hurt but as the caption says, blink and you'll miss it!

That evening was bookended by two Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks gigs - on Friday night at The Halfway House in Rickmansworth, and on Sunday afternoon at The Horns in Watford. Both were good shows, with Sunday's gig being a particularly good one in my not-so-humble opinion. Mind you when the venue is as good as The Horns you've only got yourselves to blame if you don't play well! After our gig fellow guitar man Pete and myself stayed to watch a few numbers from Spiderbites, and very good they were too.

This week Big Al and Co. visit Hillingdon and Hoddesdon on Saturday and Sunday while The London Sewage Company play The 12 Bar Club in Holloway with The Bermondsey Joyriders and The Phobics on Friday. This night is to celebrate the first release on 12 Bar Records, a 7" single (remember those? Of course you do! Ruts D.C. are going to release one soon...) from the afore-mentioned Bermondsey boys entitled '12 Bar Beat'. Now that should be a good night! And all three gigs are in places with names that begin with the letter 'H' - what can this mean? Answers on a postcard please, usual address...

Pictures at an exhibition

Bob Gruen is a name that is synonymous with rock music photography. Last Thursday evening I found myself at The Huntingdon Gallery in Shoreditch at an exhibition of said photos, and very good it was too. (Incidentally you may well be wondering how on Earth a herbert like myself got invited to a gathering such as this? Simple - Dave Ruffy was drumming in the band that played at the after show party. There is rarely mystery in life is there?) Myself and Segs (accompanied by Vivien of Holloway and her friends) arrived to find things in full swing and the walls adorned with some of the most iconic rock photos of them all. The man himself was in attendance (I managed a quick hello and got a nod in return) as were various other luminaries (including Martin Chambers and Jim Jones - oh yes!) and with a free bar the atmosphere was predictably jovial. Unsurprisingly people started to leave when the bar closed - most made their way around the corner to The Ace Hotel (although we found ourselves in the nearby Dragon Bar for a wee while) where Walter Lure led a band that also featured Neil from The Montecristos through a set of Johnny Thunders songs and rock 'n' roll standards. Their raucous rough-around-the-edges show (which featured a guest appearance by Marc Almond singing 'Brand New Cadillac') went down well with all concerned, after which I was obliged to leave at some speed to get a tube train home. As I made my way towards Liverpool Street Station I was accosted by a rough-looking chap asking for money 'to get some heroin, anything, even a few pence would help'. Such is life that I ran for it, albeit with 'Chinese Rocks' ringing in my ears. And did I really bump into Kate Moss on the stairs? Yes, incredibly, I did.

With no gig of my own on Friday night I found myself doing what I often do in this situation - going to watch another band play. And what better place to go than Tropic At Ruislip? It's always a good venue to support methinks, and it was excellent to see it so full when I arrived. ELO Again were the featured act, and I was intrigued to see how they would fare, as The Electric Light Orchestra material features some very complex arrangements. I'm pleased to say that they sounded very good indeed, and the sold out crowd loved them from the first song to the last. Personally I prefer the earlier songs ('Ma-Ma-Ma Belle' being a particular favourite) but there's no denying the excellence of Jeff Lynne's songwriting. And you forget just how many hits they had don't you? 

Two gigs from Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks this weekend, the first of which was at The Halfway House in Rickmansworth. I'd not played with the band for what felt like ages - it was actually less than a month, but as I say it seemed a lot longer - so I spent a bit of time revising the material, and I'm glad that I did as there are more than enough twists and turns in the songs to catch you out if you don't know them. It was a good gig although it's not the easiest place to play - there's not a lot of room, and you can't play too loud (never a good prospect!) but overall I think we didn't do a bad job, with the only downside being a drunk fella who kept wanting to try my hat on. Silly boy.
The next afternoon we returned to Ye Olde George in Colnbrook for a show that I for one thought was much better than the previous evening's effort - The Upper Cut are back there on Saturday 1st November which should hopefully also be a good night, as should this coming Saturday's 12 Bar Club gig by The London Sewage Company. Well, that should be good if last night's rehearsal is anything to go by... and then my friends, Ruts D.C. play in London - but more about that next time.

'You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.'

We've been an obituary - free zone here in Leigh's Mad World Of Guitars for a while, so...

Billy Rath, the bassist in Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers left us last Saturday - his place in rock 'n'roll history is assured thanks to him playing on the legendary 'L.A.M.F' album (the story of which is long and tortuous and has given rise to various different versions being released over the last 30-odd years; the amount of time people have been prepared to spend working on the album is perhaps the best testament to it's greatness - for example you can find two 'fan produced' versions of the record here and here...) and of course his participation in the band's live shows. His death leaves Walter Lure as the only surviving member of the classic Heartbreakers line-up - but 'L.A.M.F.' will be with us forever.

Richard Attenborough died yesterday - his performance as Pinkie in 'Brighton Rock' is rightly hailed as one of his best but I'm not sure that I've ever seen else that's as downright creepy as his portrayal of mass murderer John Christie in '10 Rillington Place'. And where would we be without 'The Great Escape'? Just because we've all seen it so many times, it doesn't mean that it's not a great film. I'm sure it'll be on again at Christmas...

And it seems ages since the sad news of Robin Williams committing suicide. If all he'd done was provide us with the quote that I've stolen to head this blog posting then his loss would be a sad one, but it's always a shame when someone loses their fight. Well, I think that it is anyway.

Meanwhile as I type this it's early on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, and I should be getting ready to go to Ye Olde George in Colnbrook for a 5pm show with The Upper Cut - but I'm not. Our singer Terry has an ear infection (ouch!) and so had to pull out of the gig on Saturday morning - at which point the baton was passed to Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks, who were given the gig sometime on Saturday afternoon... until we were told yesterday that the show had been cancelled. Bugger! Oh well - I suppose that you don't miss what you never had? Still Saturday night's show at The Paddington Packet Boat in Cowley went well, with Andy from Back To Zero doing a fine job depping for Dave on drums; he returned for yesterday afternoon's show at Sally B's in Hoddesdon which ended with the club guv'nor taking to the microphone to say that we were the best band that had ever played there. Mind you he then said 'next week we've got a band that I've never heard of' before leaving the stage to general hilarity. I liked him... on the way home most of the band stopped off at The Feathers in Rickmansworth to catch the second set from The Razors, who among other luminaries feature Dave Ruffy on drums. Great was the drinking and cavorting from the assembled multitude, and rightly so as the band sounded great.

Right - since I've got an unexpected afternoon off it's time to finish filling in that tax return that's been annoying me for the last week or so. Oh hang on, I'm still waiting on those bank statements that I ordered last week. Bah! I wonder how easy it is to change bank these days?

'If we drink we will die, and if we don't drink we will die...' (a.k.a. 'Lost In the Supermarket')

Four gigs in four days is always a good thing in my little world...

Thursday night saw a swift return to Sunningdale for Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks following our debut show at The Sunningdale Lounge a mere two weeks ago. I don't mind admitting that I wondered if this was all a bit too soon and therefore there wouldn't be too many people in attendance but I'm pleased to say that despite the rain there were plenty of people there. When I'm gigging elsewhere my good friend Pete Kerr deps for me, and we generally do shows together when we are both available - however he was working away so I found myself in the relatively-rare-these-days situation of being the 'only' guitarist (Al plays guitar on some numbers, but you know what I mean I think) which took me a few songs to get used to; still with Al on top form thing went well until 'Shakin' All Over' which went a bit wrong when Al managed to get his top E string caught under the pickup on his Gretsch causing him to go to the wrong part of the song. Still we recovered well, and a real one-off moment occurred when a young lady requested 'Brown Eyed Girl' - Al couldn't remember the words so said something like 'do you know this one Steve?' It turned out that Steve Brookes did indeed know it (albeit in the key of E rather than the more usual G) and sang it very well - I really must ask him about The Jam next time I see him... 

The next evening we found ourselves in the perhaps-unlikely setting of The Battle Of Britain Club in Uxbridge. The club is on what used to be The R.A.F. Camp (it's currently being redeveloped as a housing estate) which is also the site of The Battle Of Britain Bunker which I'm told is a very interesting place to visit. It's usually members only but when bands and / or events are on that rule is relaxed, and we played three 40 minute sets to an appreciative if somewhat small audience. With beer at well under £3 a pint I'm amazed that there weren't more people there - I'm considering joining myself!

On Saturday night The Upper Cut returned to The Halfway House in Rickmansworth for the first time since September 2011. That night my amplifier blew up (!) but this time I managed to get through the show without any problems aside from the guv'nor telling us to turn it down several times throughout the evening. We did our best but it's difficult to play the sort of music that we play at a low volume. Well, that's my excuse anyway... mind you that could be why my amp exploded! In the meantime bizarre displays of Cossack dancing took place only a couple of yards in front of us (cue 'I'll have a pint of what they've had' gags) so there were definitely a few lads that enjoyed what we did. Well, I guess they enjoyed it - perhaps it's time for a chorus or two of 'The Cossack Drinking Song'?

And yesterday The Upper Cut made a 5pm appearance in Colnbrook at Ye Olde George Inn. It being a Bank Holiday Weekend we were part of the 'Family Fun Day', and with live music also happening out in the garden we wondered whether we would be better playing outdoors rather than in the bar. Eventually it was decided that indoors was best, and our two sets were witnessed by a cheery assortment of locals (with the odd ex-girlfriend thrown in) amid much drinking, dancing and merriment. I suppose that's why they call it a fun day? This is a venue where they, as the old saying goes, 'pass the hat round' (in this case, my hat) as the band is finishing - I got the job of counting the coppers and was amused to find a supermarket trolley token among them - you know, those things you can use instead of a pound coin. What can this mean? Answers on a postcard please, usual address...

And today I've got 'White Men In Hammersmith Odeon' by The Clash playing in the background as I type this (The Clash really were brilliant weren't they? And this show is extraordinary, as this clip of 'Armagideon Time' shows) and with Ruts D.C. playing in Serbia this coming Friday there are strings to change and stuff to sort out for then. I've also got songs to learn for the next night when I'm playing at The 12 Bar Club (alongside Chris Pope and The Legendary Groovymen) with the astonishingly-named London Sewage Company - more news on that as and when I have it... oh, and Big Al and the band are in Colnbrook on Sunday afternoon, so it's another busy weekend in prospect. Good!

Arguments For Socialism

'The House will forgive me for quoting five democratic questions that I have developed during my life. If one meets a powerful person - Rupert Murdoch, perhaps, or Joe Stalin or Hitler - one can ask five questions: what power do you have; where did you get it; in whose interests do you exercise it; to whom are you accountable; and, how can we get rid of you? Anyone who cannot answer the last of those questions does not live in a democratic system.'

  - Tony Benn, during his final speech to The House Of Commons, 22nd March 2001 

Tony Benn died on Friday. For what my opinion is worth I think that he was a remarkable man, and that The World is a lesser place for his passing. I met him a few times - you can read the story of one such encounter here if you like - and on every occasion he seemed to me to be an absolute gentleman, which considering that he spent much of his life among professional politicians counts as a real achievement if you think about it. In the last few days it's been interesting to hear the odious, self-serving creeps that currently inhabit our government attempting to say something vaguely nice about a man that they so obviously hated for his honesty and conviction, two qualities that they themselves wouldn't know if their miserable, corrupt little lives depended upon it. It's easy to criticise Benn for being an idealist, or for being unrealistic about how his ideas would translate into the 'real' World, but I think that misses the point - here was a man who was unafraid to state his beliefs and stand by them, which is perhaps something that many in Westminster won't do or indeed can't understand. Strange isn't it? You might have thought that they'd realise that honesty and integrity are actually qualities worth having, rather than saying anything that they think might make them more attractive to us long-suffering members of the general public regardless of whether they believe it or not, all for a fear of making themselves unelectable or because they are obliged to tow the party line. As we sink further and further into coalition - orchestrated oblivion we need men like Tony Benn (and indeed Bob Crow) more than ever - but where are they going to come from? Now there's a question...

And if that's not bad enough, Scott Asheton has died. Also known as Rock Action (that's got to be the best rock 'n' roll name ever hasn't it?!?) he was a founder member of The Stooges, and is so by definition one of the most influential drummers of all time. His work on 'The Stooges', 'Fun House' and 'Raw Power' helped to inspire countless punk players, and when the band reformed in 2003 he and his late brother Ron finally received the recognition (and indeed financial reward) that they so richly deserved. Iggy Pop's comment that 'I've never heard anyone play the drums with more meaning than Scott Asheton' says it all - a very sad loss.

In the meantime Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks played at The Halfway House in Rickmansworth on Friday evening. With Dave busy elsewhere Mac Poole depped on drums - since we were all there early it was great to have chance to talk to Mac about some of his illustrious past, and I must admit that I could have listened to his stories of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and The Move (among many others) for hours. But we had a gig to play, and a good gig it was too, with more dates being offered at the end of the evening and a positive reaction all round.

The next night The Upper Cut returned to The Load Of Hay in Uxbridge for the first time in quite a while. Sad to say the place seems to have gone downhill since I used to book Sunday night acoustic gigs there a few years ago, to such an extent that they ran out of lager and indeed quite a few other beers during the course of the evening. Strange - you realise that a pub without beer is, well, not very much at all really... as a result several people went home in disgust and others expressed their general annoyance to all and sundry - I must admit I was more concerned when my amplifier blew a fuse when I first turned it on, although it thankfully worked fine for the rest of the evening. An odd night.

And yesterday was of course St. Patrick's Day - it was also time for another Reggae Punk Monday at The 12 Bar Club. Heroically resisting the temptation to order a gallon of Guinness I thoroughly enjoyed Dave Kusworth's brand of low-slung-guitar-powered rock'n'roll but had to leave for the last train home before The Duel played. Oh well - there's always next Monday... hopefully...

Tools of the trade

I take a lot of things with me when I play a gig. Well, I think I do. If I'm using an electric guitar I take a guitar (or two) along with an amplifier (obviously!) and several leads (you've got to have some spares haven't you?) along with effect pedals if needed; I also take some tools (screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters etc) along with things like spare fuses and valves. I've only got one acoustic guitar so as there's no spare for that I always make sure that I've got plenty of strings with me - mind you I take plenty of strings with me even when I've got a spare guitar. Part of this neurotic attention to detail is probably that I'm neurotic (!) while the rest is the ever-popular 'if I take it, I won't need it' syndrome - a bit like thinking that if you take an umbrella with you it won't rain... and normally that line of thinking seems to work, as I rarely need to use any of the myriad spares that I take with me. I'd like to think that I look after my equipment, and generally I try keep everything in good working order - which is why when something does go wrong it comes as something of a shock...

I was halfway through my solo in 'Maggie May' (the first song of The Uppercut's second set at The Halfway House in Rickmansworth) on Friday night when a very strange sound came from my amplifier - a kind of spitting, crackling noise which lasted a few seconds then stopped. On the one hand I was pleased that it had stopped, on the other hand I was somewhat dismayed to find that everything had stopped and no sound whatsoever was forthcoming. Not good. Worse still, the little red light on the top on my amplifier (a Fender Blues Deville in case you were wondering) had gone off. Not good at all. I took my guitar off as the rest of the band ground to a halt; I made a quick 'erm, my amplifier's gone wrong' announcement, and then made myself concentrate on the optimistic thought that 'it must be the fuse' - which was 'optimistic' because that was pretty much the only thing that I knew how to fix...

As I undid the screw on the plug I wondered what I would do if changing the fuse didn't solve the problem; when it didn't solve the problem I swore a bit. Quite a bit if I remember rightly. When that didn't make the amplifier work it was time for another approach. In one of the compartments in the top part of my toolbox (which is so unfeasibly large that I can also keep all the leads and pedals in it) were some other, smaller fuses. I remembered buying them from Maplin in Uxbridge, ooh, 15 years ago, maybe more, they're for the fuse that's inside the back of the amplifier where the valves are. I'd better try that one then.

I took the fuse out of the amplifier and held it up to the light. It's one of these little glass ones that you can see through, and even through the tinted glasses that I wear when I'm gigging I could see that the wire in the fuse had broken - in other words it had blown. Great. I'll replace it and then we're back in business - provided of course that there isn't a fault somewhere in the amplifier and it blows the replacement fuse. If that happens then we're in trouble.

As I went to switch the amp back on I looked around to the rest of the band, all of whom were looking at me with what I took to be a mixture of apprehension and optimism; I said something like 'as Dave Allen would probably have said, if you have a God then hope that he is with you now' and switched the amp back on. The red light lit up, a beautiful sight. I waited a few seconds... it was still on. Now the moment of truth - try the guitar... I thought it crackled a bit, but maybe that was just me. The red light was still on. Good.

We debated what to do next, eventually reaching the slightly bizarre decision that we should restart the song from the guitar solo rather than from the beginning. So we did. The guitar sounded great, better than before. Surely a fuse can't make any difference to the sound? Of course it can't.

'That was a good fuse that you put in there' said Roger cheerily. We'd finished a fine show and were feeling great. He went on to say that he thought the guitar had sounded better than before the fuse had blown. I told him that I thought it sounded good too. Strange. I looked at the control panel on the top of the amplifier. The volume was higher than I'd had it earlier in the evening. A lot higher. I must have knocked it when I was leaning over it to change the fuse. So that's why it sounded better!

I was in the shop all day yesterday and didn't feel too well when I got home; I woke up today with what feels like a bit of a cold. Bah! Still I thought I'd plug my amp in this afternoon to see how it was sounding - it made a horrible high pitched screaming noise, and that was before I'd even plugged a guitar in! Looks like I'd better ring Roger the amplifier repair man in the morning...

In the meantime a splendid time was had at The Crown And Sceptre in Uxbridge (now that's something that I never thought that I'd ever write!) on Wednesday evening when Darren and Simon hosted their first Good For Nothing club evening. I met Esso from The Lurkers there just after 9.30; sometime after 10 o'clock Colour Me Wednesday played an excellent acoustic set to an increasingly appreciative audience. The rest of the evening saw slightly bewildered pub regulars recoiling in confusion as their requests for tracks from the likes of Pink were met with replies along the lines of 'sorry we haven't got anything by them'; Esso and myself were approached by a less-than-sober chap who asked us to feel his biceps (I'm not making this up, honest) and when the music was over the pub guv'nor seemed optimistic about upcoming Wednesday gatherings, which should hopefully bode well for the future. This week Scott from Balcony Shirts is playing an acoustic set, aided and abetted by at least one other member of the shop staff. It should be fun.