'And red mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City'...

It's my birthday on Friday, and starting then I've got 3 gigs in 3 days with 3 different bands. I realise that for most people that would not constitute a reasonable way to celebrate such an event, but you won't be surprised to hear that it fits the bill just fine for me... The Upper Cut play The Dolphin in Uxbridge on the day itself, the next night Big Al and the Blistering Buicks are back at The Brushwood Inn in Hillingdon and on Sunday Neck play The Ambition Festival in Croydon. Excellent!

And it's been 3 gigs with 3 different bands since last we spoke, starting with The London Sewage Company at The 12 Bar Club in Holloway on Friday. It was singer Barnet Mark's birthday, and with The Fallen Leaves and Chris Pope among the other acts on the bill a splendid time was guaranteed for all. I'd spent the day with Noel and Rob (incidentally that's Rob on bass in this legendary clip. Oh yes!) from Menace rehearsing for our upcoming acoustic show at The Rebellion Festival - when I got to the venue The Love Me Tenders were roaring through their set and sounding good to me. Next up Chris Pope who played with customary commitment and energy, with new songs and Chords classics sitting together well. By the time we went on around half past nine the place had filled up nicely and our set saw much merriment on the dance floor. It also saw various items of underwear thrown at Mark who then got covered in silly string followed by an inordinate amount of flour amid scenes that wouldn't have been out of place at a King Kurt gig. He took it well, but I suppose he had to if you think about it. The Fallen Leaves then gave a wonderful performance - I hadn't seen them for a while and had all but forgotten how much I like them. After that it was time to leave for the train home, but not before bidding Mark goodnight - he was wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and an increasingly confused expression. And why not?

On Sunday afternoon The Upper Cut made their latest appearance at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook. It being a very hot afternoon I for one was half-expecting a low audience turnout but I'm pleased to say that there were plenty of people present, including Blistering Buicks Big Al and Pete both fresh from The Uxbridge Auto Show. Despite the heat we gave an energetic show that wasn't without incident - I was interrupted mid-solo by a young lady who I think was trying to tell me that I was playing too loud (I couldn't hear what she was saying as I was playing too loud) while later a table collapsed for no apparent reason (at least none that I could see) and a young couple kept telling us that they'd tried to book us for their wedding a year or so ago (we hadn't been available, although no one could quite work out why). All in an afternoon's work.

And last night Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks played The Ox And Gate in Dollis Hill. A Tuesday night gig is rare enough, but a seven o'clock start at a Hungarian food night qualifies as 'previously uncharted territory' on more than one level. Howard once again made a great job of depping on drums, I met Aussie Rob who used to play in Swervedriver and Curve and who knows the lads out of Menace and everyone else enjoyed the free food, especially Al who at one point had possibly the biggest sausage that I've ever seen (oo-er missus etc) on his plate. 

Me? I bought myself a veggie burger. Of course I did. 'If they give you lined paper, write the other way', as someone once wrote...

Ace of clubs

It's been a week of two Central London clubs with numbers in their names. Hopefully one of them will still be there this time next year...

The first Resolution Festival took place at The 100 Club last week - I say 'first' because it looks as though this one was such a success that there will be another one next year, which can only be good news if you think about it. I attended all 5 nights (I now have no money whatsoever!) and can indeed confirm that it really was a great event, with The Anti Nowhere League, 999, Ed Tudor-Pole, The Lurkers, Louise Distras, The U.K. Subs and Chris Spedding all delivering excellent sets and the Ruts D.C. night with The Duel being everything that we had hoped for and more. Audience numbers were good especially considering the time of year, and overall the event really was a wonderful thing to be part of. 
Our gig on Thursday night began with a 5 o'clock soundcheck after which we all dispersed into the West End for food and to meet up with assorted friends and faces - I arrived at The Ship in Wardour Street to be confronted by Rat Scabies and various other luminaries, all of whom had clearly been there for quite some time (!) and who were unaware that we were playing just a few hundred yards down the road. Much jollity ensued when Dave and Segs arrived, and Rat made it along to our gig where I believe he was involved in a altercation which resulted in him being obliged to leave before the end. Oo-er! 
I got back to The 100 Club to find The Duel sounding good and the place filling up nicely - by the time we went on at 9.30 it was pretty much full. Our set was notable for including the first electric performance of 'Secondhand Child', a new song that we played as part of our acoustic set at The Rebellion Festival last year and which will hopefully form part of an album that we're planning to record this year. Things began well and got better, and despite demands for a second encore being thwarted by an 11 o'clock live music curfew we all agreed that this was a great start to 2015. Onwards and upwards as the old saying goes. 
Oddly enough I had another encounter with a rat on the way home, when I got off the train to be confronted by a particularly grim-looking rodent on the path out of the station. We eyed each other up (I'd like to think!) for what seemed like ages but was actually probably only a couple of seconds before my four-legged acquaintance skulked off into the nearby bushes. It was raining, and as I commenced my weary walk home I remember thinking something like 'I felt like a guitar hero two hours ago, now I'm stumbling home in the rain with only a rat for company - shouldn't I be in the back of a limousine snorting cocaine off a page 3 girl's arse with a £50 note?' 

It's a funny old life sometimes isn't it?  

Meanwhile Sunday saw an all-day event to mark the end of The 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street. After much speculation and despite a high profile petition corporate greed has won and the area is being redeveloped, which is likely to see an end to what has been a World-renowned focus for musical instrument shops, recording studios and the British music industry in general. As faceless Government goons - rats of another kind - line up to spout vacuous drivel about how they're 'ensuring the preservation of the rich tradition and heritage of the area' yet another piece of history is stolen from us in the name of 'progress'. Perhaps they'd like to explain how they intend to do that by pulling the bloody place down and turning it into a theme park?!? The bastards. Still this really was a day to remember, with people queueing around the block to get in and countless bands turning up for a chance to squeeze onto that strange little stage just one more time. Highlights were many and varied (The Fallen Leaves blistering set was probably the winner for me, but only just) and The London Sewage Company played 4 songs early in proceedings. I thought this would be my last appearance at the club, but I joined Sarah Pink there last night to finish her set with 'Teenage Kicks'. And with that I bade farewell to The 12 Bar Club - so hard to beat, as somebody once sang. 

Jonesing for Jones

Post tour psychosis has all but worn off, so it's back to the real World - sort of...

'Twas an interesting evening on Wednesday, which began at The Islington in, er, Islington where Word In Your Ear presented a live show by Duncan Reid and The Big Heads and an interview with T.V. Smith. I remember The Word magazine being a good read so was interested to see how the evening would go - when I arrived T.V. was readying himself for his slot. He was interviewed by Alex Gold (who is also in DR and the BHs) and also read a couple of stories from 'Book Of The Year' his latest volume of tour diaries, and very entertaining it was too. After a short break Mr. Reid and co. took to the stage, and I must say that they were absolutely excellent. With two very good-looking young ladies on guitar and drums they blasted into their set with great energy and aplomb - such was their brilliance that I considered not leaving early to go to The 12 Bar Club, but in the end the lure of The Fallen Leaves proved too much. However I will be doing my best to catch Duncan Reid and The Big Heads again as soon as possible.
I arrived at The 12 Bar Club just as The Transients were finishing with 'Another Girl, Another Planet'; after catching up with club manager Mark (who of course is also the singer in The London Sewage Company - we're playing at the club on Saturday 18th October) it was time for The Fallen Leaves whose blazing performance might well be one of the best shows I've seen them play. A terrific night all round.

And it was a terrific night on Friday when The Upper Cut played at The Dolphin in Uxbridge. Sadly there haven't been too many shows for the band lately, which is a real shame as when we do get together it's pretty much always an enjoyable experience; with no time to rehearse we could have been a bit tighter here and there but that aside it was a fine gig with everyone on top form. Perhaps rehearsing would have ruined it?!?

Saturday night saw The Jim Jones Revue play their farewell show at The Forum in Kentish Town. I got there just as Walter Lure was taking to the stage with 'One Track Mind'. As the sole surviving member of Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers he waved the New York rock 'n' roll flag with great aplomb - and it was great to Darren from The Black Bombers up there on bass too. Next up was 'surprise guest' Nick Lowe who played a solo set on acoustic guitar - I've always been a big fan of Basher, and I'm pleased to say that he sounded as great as ever. An already excellent evening then took off into the stratosphere as The Jim Jones Revue gave an astonishing performance that served as both a masterclass in live rock rock 'n' roll and a fitting end to one of the great bands of the last few years. It's a shame that it's all over, but I for one will keeping an eye out for what the various members do next.
   
While The Jim Jones Revue were raising the roof in Kentish Town the first night of Polyfest II was happening at The Half Moon in Putney. Ruts D.C. headlined the second night on Sunday - we were due to play '3 or 4 songs' but in the end played 7, and a splendid time was had by all. With all proceeds going to The Teenage Cancer Trust it was I feel a fitting way to honour the memory of Poly Styrene - let's hope it happens every year.

And here is a review of the event courtesy of the excellent Elvis In The Clouds blog which pretty much sums up proceedings...

Last night the afore-mentioned London Sewage Company had a rehearsal in preparation for the afore-mentioned 12 Bar Club gig. With new songs to work on and old songs to revise everybody got on with the job in hand, and with another rehearsal booked for next Monday we should be in good shape for the show. In the meantime there are Big Al gigs to play and Ruts D.C. gigs to prepare for, so it's back to the real World - sort of... 

Euroman cometh home

Well, we did it. Nine gigs in nine days (with nein days off!) organised for us by The Muttis Booking Agency in Germany, Poland and Austria followed by a show with The Cockney Rejects at The Dogtown Streetpunk Weekend Festival in Oslo on Saturday. Highlights were many and varied, and since I wrote (well, scribbled some semi-readable notes as we were going over various bumpy roads) what feels like thousands of words while we were on our travels the full story will hopefully appear in these hallowed pages at some point in the not-too-distant-future. In the meantime Dave and Segs posted daily diary entries on the band's website and Facebook page, and I even managed to put a few bits and pieces on my Facebook page too. It really was a great tour - many thanks to Mutti and Katya for their never-ending help, to Vom who put us up after our Dusseldorf gig (we spent much of the night in his subterranean bar!) and to The Tips who played at the afore-mentioned Dusseldorf show (we did 4 shows with them last year, and it was great to catch up with them again) and who very kindly gave me a copy of their excellent new album 'Trippin'' and the t-shirt that I'm wearing as I type this. Great stuff all round.

Now it's back to Blighty and back to basics, with an Upper Cut gig at The Dolphin in Uxbridge on Friday, while Ruts D.C. play POLYFEST II at The Half Moon in Putney on Sunday. In between those two it's the 7th annual Paul Fox Social Club night at Wealdstone Football Club on Saturday night, and on Wednesday I'm hoping to be at The 12 Bar Club for The Fallen Leaves - as I say, it's back to Blighty and back to basics... but before I go here is a clip of Ruts D.C. in Torun a week ago - enjoy!

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...

'If you see Sid, tell him...'

Another week, and I still can't hear properly thanks to earwax. Bah! June going into July is not a good time of year for us hay fever sufferers... still there have been some good musical goings-on in the last few days, not least the latest 'first-Wednesday-of-every-month' Fallen Leaves show at The 12 Bar Club. Support this time came from Sid Sings who I thought were absolutely excellent, to such an extent that I thought that The Fallen Leaves might have a bit of trouble following them. However halfway through their first number it was clear that they were on top form, with Rob's guitar sounding as mighty as ever and the band with him every step of the way. A fine evening.

Last July I saw Sylvain Sylvain supported by The Duel and The Bears at The 100 Club. This July I saw Sylvain Sylvain supported by The Duel and The Bears at The 100 Club. Both were highly entertaining evenings but this year things had changed... Sylvain appeared in a trio last year whereas this time he played a solo show on acoustic guitar - his triumphant 'hello London!' as he arrived on stage was somewhat tempered by his realisation that he has forgotten it and would therefore have to go back to the dressing room to collect it! Last year I joined The Duel on stage to play 'Babylon's Burning' - no Ruts songs were performed this time (although Segs was DJ-ing between the bands, and making a very fine job of it I must say) and the band played to backing tracks (I never did find out where Pumpy the drummer had got to) which made for a very different show from the band. Indeed the only thing unchanged on both evenings was The Bears, and they may even have played the same set both times. And why not? 

  

On Saturday night The Upper Cut played their first show at The Salmon And Ball in Bethnal Green. We used to play down the road (literally!) at The Misty Moon, and while there was nothing particularly wrong with that venue I must say that I very much preferred playing here, although I was a little disappointed to find that it wasn't a Cannon And Ball theme bar; thinking about it I suppose that if it was it would have been called The Cannon And Ball rather than The Salmon And Ball... 

I made my second appearance of the year on Music Scene Investigation on Sunday evening, participating in an excellent show with Rich, Ian and Tom. You can watch it here if you like - there were some very good songs sent in this time weren't there?

And last night it was time for a London Sewage Company rehearsal - we're playing at The 100 Club next week, which isn't bad for a band that formed to play at a birthday party back in May. And I must say that we're sounding good - we're getting together again before next Thursday's show, after which it's time for some more Ruts D.C. gigs. Busy times... oh yes!

'You don't know anywhere that I can borrow a bass from do you?'

It's 10 o'clock on Friday morning and I've just answered the phone to John 'Segs' Jennings, bass guitarist (and vocalist, lest we forget) with popular punk rock / reggae combo Ruts D.C.; the above line was not perhaps one that I was expecting to hear him say, although if the time that I've spent mucking around with guitars have taught me anything then it's to expect the unexpected...
We (Ruts D.C.) are off to Yorkshire to play a show at The Willowman Festival near Thirsk; Segs, sound man Nick and driver / backline man Jon (making his debut working with the band, we met him on the Damned tour last year and he also runs Abatis Studios) had met at Driving You Crazy in Brentford to collect a splitter bus, and when Segs got the merchandise and his bag out of the taxi he discovered that he'd left his bass guitar at home. Bugger! As we talked over options (Did I know anyone? Did he know anyone? Would it be simpler if he just went home and got his?) he then revealed that due to a booking mix-up we were going to have to come straight back after the show as we would have to get the bus back to DYC before 9am Saturday morning rather than later in the day as we'd thought when we booked ourselves a hotel near the festival site. Bugger! Again! So far, so bad - but as always with this sort of thing there's no point in worrying or moaning about it (although we did try a fair bit of swearing!) as you just have to get on and sort the situation out. After we'd both rang around trying to find a suitable instrument for him we quickly realised that it would indeed be easier if he just went home for his and then travelled up by train to meet us at the hotel that we would have been staying in (!) We also steeled ourselves for the long late night drive home - or rather Jon did, as it was him who would be doing the driving... meanwhile Dave was driving to Kensington with merch girl Rhiannon to pick up the drum mat that he'd mistakenly left in Brighton at last weekend's gig - he was originally going to leave his car near me and then travel up with us in the bus before returning the next day to collect his car and drive to his Saturday night gig, but as he was running late he opted to drive up to Yorkshire and stay the night at the hotel (well, we had the rooms booked and it was too late to cancel them, and we were meeting Molara there anyway) before driving back for his gig the next day. Keep up at the back there...

Actually once all of this had been decided upon the rest of the day went remarkably smoothly - we all met up at The Black Bull in Northallerton (pity we weren't staying there, it looked like a really nice place!) and from there made our way to The Willowman Festival where we played a storming set headlining The Willow Wobbly Stage (!) and had a very good ending to what might have been a very bad day... except of course that wasn't the end of the day, as we then had to drive back to London, a job that Jon (ably assisted by a suitable amount of coffee) accomplished with great aplomb. Hopefully his first day hasn't put him off working with us in the future, as it was a great pleasure to have him along with us.

Your humble narrator
on Sunday evening -
note the lack of audience!

I spent a fair bit of Saturday morning drifting in and out of consciousness before admitting defeat and going back to bed. As I went to lie down my phone rang - Segs's opening line of 'are you still alive?' gives you some idea of how he (and indeed I) was feeling... still it's amazing what a bit of sleep can do, and come the evening I was readying myself for an Upper Cut gig at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook. With Roger drumming elsewhere we've got Richard Hudson (a.k.a. 'Hud') on loan from The Good Old Boys - by the time I arrived at the venue he was all set up and ready to go. Rehearsal consisted of a drink and a talk through some of the songs, and barring the odd mad moment we played two 45 minute sets to the increasing approval of the assembled multitude, with Hud playing brilliantly and a good time being had by all. Well, we certainly enjoyed ourselves... I think this was the first Saturday show at the venue (it's usually a Sunday afternoon gig) and they're talking about making it a regular occurrence - with more and more venues closing it's great to see somewhere that's increasing the number of shows that they're putting on. Excellent!

And last night Back To Zero played at The 100 Club, on a splendid bill that also featured The Fallen Leaves and Eight Rounds Rapid. I was told that our set was a bit loud in the room - hopefully that masked the appalling amount of errors that I made (I was away for Friday's rehearsal - well, that's my excuse anyway!) although Sam's grin as I fluffed the opening riff of 'Talking To Myself' meant that I certainly hadn't managed to hide anything from him! Meanwhile The Fallen Leaves and Eight Rounds Rapid were both as brilliant as ever, with the only downside to things being the rather low audience numbers. To be fair the place did fill up as the evening went on, but surely it should have been packed for a bill as good as this - shouldn't it? Well, I think that it should!

Creepy Crawley

I'm sure like me you were saddened to hear of the death of Rik Mayall last week. Although I can't claim to have followed every aspect of his career I remember Kevin Turvey well, and even though I somehow managed to all but completely miss The Young Ones (no, I'm not sure how either!) his appearance as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder II remains something of a classic, as does his all-too-accurate portrayal of scheming Tory MP Alan B'Stard in The New Statesman. We need more characters like Mr. Mayall don't you think?

Last Wednesday evening Back To Zero gathered at Soundlab Studios in Loughton to rehearse for this Sunday's show at The 100 Club with Eight Rounds Rapid and The Fallen Leaves. We tried a couple of new songs, ran through all of our older material and all agreed that we were really looking forward to this weekend's gig. Well, it is a rather excellent bill even though I say so myself! And talking of rehearsals The London Sewage Company were last night working towards our second public performance, which will be at the afore-mentioned 100 Club on July 17th supporting Menace and The Morgellons. Now that should be an interesting evening...

And it was certainly an interesting evening on Friday, when Ruts D.C. journeyed down to Brighton for a show at The Concorde 2. Now I've got some rather odd memories of this venue - the only time I'd previously played there I managed to break the headstock off my guitar (remind me to tell you the story one day!) and I was last there back in December 2006 when among others I saw Paul Fox play. Now I was about to play some of his best riffs on the same (repaired) guitar. I was halfway through the guitar solo in 'West One (Shine On Me)' when I realised that not only was I standing on the same side of the stage as he'd been when I saw him there but I was also more-or-less exactly where I was when my guitar got broken. As I remembered him saying how he always made a mistake when playing this particular solo, I - you've guessed it! - made a mistake. Hmmm... but this didn't put a dampener on what was overall an absolutely brilliant evening, despite the early showtime (it becomes a club at 11 o'clock and they rather unsubtly shepherd everyone out when the gig ends) and the heat (what a night for the air conditioning to fail!) Earlier I'd seen ex - Newtown Neurotics drummer Simon Lomond for the first time in ages (The Price used to support them back in the day and I saw them live many times) and he had Rupert Orton of The Jim Jones Revue with him who I'd not met before but who turned out to be a massive Ruts fan (good man!) He asked if we were going to play 'Something That I Said' - I told him that we hadn't worked a set out yet, but I'd make sure that we'd play it. (And we did - Segs gives The JJR a namecheck at the start of this clip from the show.) I also met photographer Syd Shelton (he took photos of The Ruts and many other bands as well as being very involved in Rock Against Racism) as well as seeing Adrian who writes the always-excellent Aural Sculptors blog, Andy Peart from Vive Le Rock magazine, original Price fan Dave Nash - it really was a night to remember in so many ways, not least as Horseman joined us for this unique version of 'Jah War'. Great stuff all round - and here is a review of the evening from the Nigeyb's World Of Joy. Nice photos don't you think?

As if to prove the old adage that you don't get something for nothing in life Saturday began with the realisation that there was only cold water to shower with. Oooo! If you ever find yourself about to check into The Ramada in Crawley then you might like to ask them if there's any hot water before you decide to stay there... we'd made the hour-ish journey there after the Brighton show in a bid to lessen the journey to Santa Pod Raceway where we were playing at The BWM Rally the next night; despite the freezing cold wash this proved to be a reasonable decision as we made it to The Ibis in Wellingborough before three in the afternoon. As we turned off the main road Segs smiled - 'I don't believe it, we're booked into The Priory!' We weren't - it was the pub across the road, not the well-known rehabilitation centre - but Dave and myself did accompany him to said establishment for a couple of drinks before heading back to our hotel to prepare for the gig (in my case by sleeping!)
We arrived onsite to find that the previous bands had run late, and with people already leaving to watch the England vs Italy World Cup game we eventually got onstage at 10 o'clock. Overall I thought that we gave a good show, but although we went down well the show lacked the somewhat triumphant nature of the previous night's proceedings. Ah well - the people that we spoke to afterwards really enjoyed it, so maybe I'm being a bit over-critical (again!) And we made it back to our hotel in time to see the second half of the match, so it wasn't all bad news by any means. 

And I made it back home the next day in time to join Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks for a 5pm show at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook. I felt tired - let's face it, I was tired! - and as such didn't feel that I played too well, but no one complained. Well, not to my face anyway! 

Back in the garage - sonically speaking

This is Pete Townshend's 69th birthday - with rumours of a new Who album and tour this is definitely something to celebrate, as is the 20th anniversary edition of 'Definitely Maybe' by Oasis which is released today. They're still a band that split the jury (click here to read what a couple of my, er, 'professional acquaintances' think of them, and to hear my thoughts on what turned out to be one of their last gigs - so far...) but love 'em or hate 'em you still can't ignore them. For what my opinion is worth theirs is one of the great debut albums of all time, and if I ever write a song that's half as good as 'Slide Away' then I'll be very happy indeed.

Before last weekend's Serbian adventure I managed to catch a couple of gigs in good old London Town :-

On Tuesday (May 6th if you're taking notes - incidentally if you are taking notes then why are you taking notes?!?) I got a teatime phone call from Dave Ruffy asking me if I'd like to see The Sonics at Koko that very evening. There's only one answer to that isn't there... I met up with him in Camden Town at 8.30, and by the time we'd had a drink on the venue's roof garden it was time to find a vantage point for the show. The Sonics were a band that I remember by reputation a long time before I actually heard a note from them - they were often referred to as 'prototype punk' and 'the ultimate garage band' and photos showed them to be a brooding and menacing bunch, which was more-or-less the way they were reputed to sound. Given their influence on many-a punk it was fitting that they were introduced by Glen Matlock; after a slightly strange delay as they all ambled on and leisurely picked up their respective instruments they careered into 'Cinderella' and what followed was a veritable masterclass in out-and-out rock 'n' roll. Larry Parypa's guitar sounded magnificent as he hacked out primal riffs and slashing chords (even if he himself looked a little bewildered at times!) and drummer Dusty Watson had the mighty Mr. Ruffy voicing his approval throughout, which has to be a good thing if you think about it. A cracking evening, as was the next night at The 12 Bar Club when the garage theme continued as The Fallen Leaves continued their 'first-Wednesday-of-every-month' residency. Support this time came from The Len Price 3, who I've been trying to get to see for quite some time - I've been following their movements via the always-excellent 'Retro Man' blog (which incidentally has just published this review of Captain Sensible's birthday gig - thanks Steve!) and their splendid latest album 'Nobody Knows' has rarely been my turntable lately. (Ok, it's really a CD player, but that doesn't sound as good does it?!?) I'm pleased to say that they didn't disappoint - to say that they look distinctive is something of an understatement, with their red and blue striped blazers, white shirts and black trousers combining to create a technicolour spectacle that perfectly complemented the explosive power (pop) of their material. So many great bands have emerged from the so-called Medway Scene (The Prisoners and The Milkshakes being probably the best known, but there are many others) and judging by this performance The Len Price 3 are worthy successors to all of those bands. So great was their performance that I don't mind admitting that I wasn't sure how The Fallen Leaves were going to follow them, but as always they were absolutely superb. Their next 12 Bar Club gig is on June 4th, and they're at The 100 Club with Eight Rounds Rapid and Back To Zero on Sunday 22nd June - now there's an evening I'm really looking forward too!

Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks returned to The Paddington Packet Boat in Cowley on Saturday for a show that started quietly (it was Cup Final day and as you might expect a lot of people had gone out to watch the match and then gone home early) but turned out to be ok in the end. Al asked me if I'd like to go to the jam night in Edgware tonight, but much as enjoy playing and seeing some of the people there I've made the (ahem!) momentous decision not to go - to be honest I've had enough of the snide comments and the insults, which saddens me as I say I like to go along and play. Hmmm... then again Ruts D.C. play VegFest in Bristol this Saturday followed by an appearance at Strummercamp on Sunday - I really must stop letting loud-mouthed nobodies and idiots at jam nights upset me mustn't I?

The feelgood factor

Lee Brilleaux died on April 7th 1994, 20 years ago yesterday. He was one of the greatest rock 'n'roll frontmen of them all, as this fabulous live footage of Dr. Feelgood at The Southend Kursaal in 1975 amply demonstrates. A biography of the man himself is being written by Zoe Howe - click here to find out how you (yes, YOU! And for that matter, ME!) can help make it happen. Strange but true!

Having not been at the FFRUK Reggae Punk Monday nights at The 12 Bar Club for the last few weeks I've now found myself at said establishment three times in the last seven days...

Last Tuesday myself and Back To Zero drummer Andy attended a launch party for Chris Pope's great new album 'Peace Of Mind'. Pope (that's also the name of the band) took to the stage at the early hour of 7.40pm and delivered a blazing set of songs from the new release alongside Chords classics 'Now It's Gone' and 'Maybe Tomorrow' with 'Mutiny On The Thames' sounded particularly good to my ears. Back To Zero are playing with Pope at The 100 Club on Easter Sunday 20th April ('The Groovy Easter Eggstravaganza') alongside The Legendary Groovymen and The Sha La La's which should be a night to remember, especially if Pope play as well as they did here.
The next night it was time for The Fallen Leaves to host their latest 'first-Wednesday-of-every-month' club night - I arrived in time to catch The Transients who I've seen a couple of times on these evenings and who sounded splendidly garage-y with their cover of 'See No Evil' causing much mouthing along with the words from the enthusiastic audience. Actually come to think of it quite a few of their own songs received the same reaction, which can only be a good thing. The Fallen Leaves played as excellently as they always do, with frontman Rob Green looking  sharp and authoritative while Rob Symmons's guitar rampaged around the room in time-honoured fashion. Their 'long held belief' that 'a good idea played badly is better than a bad idea played well' always makes me smile, but it must be said that they have an abundance of good ideas played very well indeed. Funnily enough Back To Zero are appearing with them at The 100 Club (on Sunday 22nd June, with the wonderful Eight Rounds Rapid also on the bill) as well. Co-incidence? Yes!
And it was Reggae Punk Monday last night - Demon Smiles were roaring through their last few songs as I arrived, and very good they sounded too, although the guitar could have used a bit of bottom end on it in my not-so humble opinion... I caught a couple of minutes each of Spitune and Daughters Of God (both a bit scary-sounding for a wimp like me!) but missed The Duel as it was getting late and I had to leave for the last train home. I wonder if they will ever run tube trains all night..?

In the meantime it's been three-gigs-in-three-days for your humble narrator, starting with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks at The Swan in Iver on Friday evening. We'd not played there for a while, and a fair-sized audience turned up to see a good show that didn't quite get into the 'great' category, although it came close a couple of times. The next night The Upper Cut returned to The Dolphin in Uxbridge - when I was there last month I spent far too much of the evening being violently sick, and while thankfully nothing quite so untoward happened this time it was still a bit of an odd evening. We began our first set to an unusually empty room; fortunately by the time the time for our second set came around the place had filled up and the show took an upward turn as a result. And with Dave away elsewhere Roger from The Upper Cut filled in on drums with Big Al and co. the next afternoon at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook. With no rehearsal possible a suitably 'simple' set of songs was decided upon, and Roger did an absolutely excellent job throughout. Then again, he usually does.

This Saturday Ruts D.C. are playing at The Circus in Helsinki - no I've never been either - and I'm really looking forward to this, not least because one of the bands on the bill is called Anal Thunder. Oh yes! More news as and when I have it, as they (whoever 'they' are) say...

The end of the year show

My last gig of last year saw your humble narrator depping with Mr. Tibbs at The Greyhound in Chalfont St. Peter. When I first got offered the gig Martin the singer said that I'd be 'standing in for Tony', which I didn't think too much about - until a perspective setlist arrived by email and it dawned on me that in addition to playing guitar Tony also plays keyboards on quite a few numbers, which of course meant that I'd have to play something that at least approximated to the keyboard rather than the guitar part on those songs. Confused? So was I! Add the fact that it being New Year's Eve we were playing something like 40 songs over three sets and I suddenly found myself with rather more work than I might at first have thought. Still it's better than sitting at home wishing that I had a gig... in the event it turned out to be a highly enjoyable affair - singer Martin and drummer Bruce used to be in The Cane Toads,  and with that band's guitarists Pete and Malcolm both attending the atmosphere was good from the word go. Chris the bass player made a very good job of some very tricky material ('Rio' anyone?) and new-ish guitarist Stuart played very well throughout. Me? I'd be lying if I said that I didn't put a foot wrong all night (there were a lot of songs, some of whom I was very unfamiliar with - well, that's my excuse anyway!) but overall I was pleased with my efforts, and it was certainly interesting trying to get some of the keyboard parts onto guitar. Audience-wise we began with studied indifference and the ill-advisedly-clad young ladies (surely they must be freezing?!?) asking for Amy Winehouse songs ('do we look like we can play any?' said Martin derisively) with sweary young chaps attempting to impress them by dancing wildly though not particularly well; we ended with a full dance floor, a girl asking if she could do a 'new year rap' (Martin let her do it, none of us could understand a word that she said) and proclamations that we were the best band ever. New Year's Eve eh?

I spent the first evening of 2014 with Pete 'Manic Esso' Haynes at The 12 Bar Club in London. We arrived just in time to miss Black Juju - a shame since we both agreed that any band named after an Alice Cooper song would be well worth checking out - but were there in time to see The Transients, who I really enjoyed (let's face it, anybody that plays 'The Good's Gone' and 'See No Evil' has to have something going for them haven't they?) although I missed a fair bit of their set as I received a phone call from Segs telling me that he was due to be playing guitar at Ronnie Biggs's funeral on Friday. Weird! While I was talking to him Esso ran into rock photographer Paul Slattery who he last met back in the late-70s when Paul accompanied The Lurkers on a tour of Ireland - much jollity ensued with some very funny stories of those dim and distant times. Excellent. By now Special Branch were on playing Dr. Feelgood songs a-plenty among the older rhythm and blues classics. Hmmm... don't I play in a band like that?
On to the main event - The Fallen Leaves. I saw a few songs by them at the same venue several months ago and had been looking to catch a full gig since then; they feature original Subway Sect guitarist Rob Symmons and later Subway Sect singer Rob Green who has a fine line in onstage comments ('we play simple songs for complex people') as well as namechecking Leonard Sachs in 'The Good Old Days' and pouring himself a cup of tea from a thermos flask during guitar solos. I suppose they're best described as a garage band, but whatever label you choose to use I thought they sounded great, with loads of energy and the Symmons guitar sounding like the musical equivalent of a scythe. Great stuff all round.

Last night I made my first visit to Tropic At Ruislip for quite a while, to see Who tribute band Who's Who. It's easy to be cynical about tribute bands (and I sometimes am!) but arriving to find the venue nearly sold out can only be a good thing can't it? I've regularly referred to my enthusiasm for The Who on many occasions in these hallowed pages, and as such I find myself sometimes being over-critical of any Who tribute band - however in the case of Who's Who I can only say that they make a difficult job sound easy, and as with pretty much every other time that I've seen them play they sounded absolutely tremendous. But like I say, they usually do.

And tomorrow night I make my first appearance of the year on Music Scene Investigation, reviewing three songs that have been sent in for consideration by new artists. It's always an interesting show, so if you're anywhere near the Internet at 9pm then why not tune in? It'll be good to have you along.

So - 2014 then. Let's see what happens next...