Devon is a place on Earth (sorry!)

...and I just about got them learned, for a show depping with Utter Madness at Seaton Town Hall in Devon on Saturday night. I'd received an e-mail from Tony (vocals) a couple of weeks ago asking if I'd be available for the gig - I replied that I was, but then heard nothing. When I asked Ian (saxophone) about it at The Hilton gig last month he said something like 'oh yes, it's on, but that's all I know about it'. I eventually got another e-mail from Tony last Wednesday evening with the venue details, set list (2 x 45 minute sets, with several songs that I'd not played before - gulp!) and a musing along the lines of 'our drummer's got a slipped disc so if I can't find a replacement then we'll have to blow the gig out'. Thankfully a drummer was found (well, put it this way - I didn't hear that the gig was off!) and when myself and Jon (bass) arrived everything was set up and ready to go. After saying hello to regular keyboard man Richard (more about him later) I met Dan (drums) and Aaron (backing vocals, depping for Ray who normally handles the Chas Smash role in the band) for the first time. They're both in ska covers band Big 10 and from the first moments of the soundcheck it was obvious that they knew exactly what they were doing, and with everything sounding good a fine evening was in prospect.

Showtime is 8.30 so there's time for some chips and a couple of drinks before we made our way to the stage. From the moment I picked up my guitar it was obvious that something was wrong - high-pitched, almost ultrasonic feedback meant that a hearing aid loop had been switched on in the venue. We asked for it to be switched off, and a couple of numbers in that seemed to have happened, but it was clearly switched back on during the interval and remained on for the rest of the show, making my job trickier than it might have been - I had to make sure I turned my guitar volume down in between the songs, and be careful not to face my amplifier during the songs. Still none of this seemed to bother the audience who behaved as though it was the real Madness on stage, with much dancing and merriment throughout. I managed to start 'Special Brew' in the wrong key (yes, I know it's not a Madness song - the band added several songs by the likes of Bad Manners and The Beat to the set) which caused first shock and then amusement among band members - remind me to check that next time!

Much of Sunday was spent recovering from getting in around 3 a.m., as well as still feeling a bit out of sorts after the Zurich journey - recovery was so much easier when I was younger! Still it was a cracking evening at The Load of Hay, where the ever-wonderful Kris Dollimore gave another astonishing performance which showcased material from his new album 'No Ghosts In This House' alongside the established favourites. Highlights were many and varied although his version of Jimi Hendrix's 'Castles Made Of Sand' has to be seen and indeed heard to be believed. All of this in front of 20 or so people - if I hear one more person moaning that they've got 'nothing to do', 'nowhere to go' or that there's 'nothing happening locally' then I fear I will do something that will result in me ending up in prison... on a lighter note it Kris told me a couple of excellent stories, about working with Adam Ant, (Kris told him that he liked his jacket - when the tour was over Adam sent him it!) about how Johnny Thunders was playing Kris's Zemaitis guitar when he started to have a coughing fit ('I thought he was going to die while he was playing my guitar!') and how Dee Dee Ramone once phoned him up in his mum and dad's kitchen - a much funnier story than it would sound written here, honest!

After a busy Monday in the shop (don't forget to have a look at our 'bread song' video here - over 2,000 views so far!) it was time for The Price to return to Ruff Rockers for a rehearsal for this Sunday's gig. We've not played together since last May (the story why is on our website forum) and it took us a while to get going again but after a few songs we were starting to sound like a band again. Memories were strained as we attempted to remember some of the less obvious songs from our back catalogue, and there should be a couple of surprises in the show. Let's hope they're not surprises to us...

More rehearsing on Tuesday, this time with T.V. Smith. We're playing at The 100 Club on April 16th (I've never played there before - excellent!) and with his new album 'Coming In To Land' going to be available for the first time on the night we're going to be playing several songs from it - not sure how many yet, but we ran through a few to see what would and wouldn't work. He gave me an advance copy of the album to work from, it's playing in the background as I type this and it sounds absolutely excellent - I'm off to do my homework on the songs before getting together with him prior to the gig. In the meantime he's on tour in Britain playing a set of Adverts songs backed by Italian punksters The Valentines which should be unmissable. So don't miss it!

In the evening it was off to the Academy in Oxford to see The Stranglers with support coming from Wilko Johnson. Not a bad bill don't you think? As I found myself a vantage point in preparation for Wilko taking to the stage a cheery chap asked me what the first band had been called - I said that we should be able to get the name of the front of the bass drum when the kit gets carried off, as it was obscured by a monitor speaker at the front of the stage... ah there we are, Mike Marlin. The cheery chap said that he thought they were brilliant, one of the best bands he'd seen in ages - I decided not to tell him that I thought they'd been almost unspeakably bad, a tuneless sub-hippie dirge with a singer who should just stop trying to be a singer and a band who put so little into their performance that not one of them appeared to break sweat despite being under stage lights and all hearing hats, scarfs and jackets, and who all sounded so dull that they wouldn't have noticed if you'd blown the venue up around them; instead I just said 'Wilko Johnson's on in a minute, see what you think of him'. Well I don't know what he thought but I think it was a great gig from someone who finally seems to be getting the recognition that they deserve. Wilko was back on the Telecaster after using a Stratocaster for the last few gigs that I've seen him play (good!) and he sounded fabulous, assisted as always by the mighty Norman Watt-Roy on bass and an unnamed drummer (I wonder where Dylan Howe has gone?) as he powered through 30-something minutes of rocket fuelled rhythm and blues. And he looked great too, as these photos show... The Stranglers looked pretty good too, and they certainly sounded good, with the expected classics sitting alongside some of the more obscure tracks from their dim and distant past that even had some of the diehard fans scratching their heads in half-recognition. I first saw them over 30 years ago, and when I see them these days I always think 'I really must get myself one of their compilation albums one day' - and I'm right, I must. A great show.

Right - back to Utter Madness keyboard player Richard, who among his many attributes is involved with Glee Club UK. Now I must admit to not knowing very much about all things Glee-related, but somewhere during the course of Saturday evening I somehow agreed to record the guitar parts on his / the club's version of Bon Jovi's 'Livin' On A Prayer', despite being possibly the least qualified guitarist ever to attempt the style of playing required by the song. To this end I've been attempting to decipher the playing on the track (having heard it what feels like a million times today I'm almost starting to like it, although am I the only person who thinks it was lifted from this?) and leaving aside the fact that I don't have a talkbox handy I haven't done too badly. At least I don't think that I have - we'll all know soon enough...

Happy birthday Tel!

It was my little brother Terry's birthday last week, and what better present could an old punk like me get an old punk like him than a ticket to see The New York Dolls at The Forum in Kentish Town on Friday...

Support came from The Urban Voodoo Machine who in addition to having the scariest drummer most of us will ever see (he's green!) include ex-Godfathers guitarist Paul Ronney (he played in one of the later line-ups) and ex-Blubbery Hellbellies accordion man Slim in their ranks. They're a very visual act, and describe themselves as 'bourbon soaked gypsy blues bop 'n' stroll' which strange as it may seem is a pretty good description of what they get up to on stage. Well worth keeping an eye out for methinks.

The Dolls kicked off just after 9 p.m. with a chaotic 'Looking For A Kiss' (you'd think that the P.A. would have been switched on when they started wouldn't you? Well- it wasn't!) before blistering versions of 'Cause I Sez So' and 'We're All In Love' made it obvious that we were going to see a classic gig. 'Yeah London' drawled David Johansen as he took off his scarf- yeah London indeed... no one drawls like Johansen and no one teeters quite so close to the edge of chaos like The Dolls- Sylvain Sylvain (Johansen- 'London's own Sylvain Sylvain; let's say his name backwards shall we- oh, it's Sylvain Sylvain') counted in 'Pills' which ground to an almost immediate halt when his guitar malfunctioned, then seconds later he counted it in again as if nothing had happened. And when a guy got on stage and danced around between Johansen and guitarist Steve Conte the band just laughed; I've seen incidents like these send primadonna ain't-never-beens into a petulant frenzy but The Dolls hardly seemed to notice that anything untoward had happened. In my not-so-humble opinion The Dolls play some of the greatest rock'n'roll any of us will ever see or hear. It really is magnificent stuff- and Conte signed my copy of his latest album when I bumped into him by the merchandise stall. Top man!

I'd originally had no gigs this weekend and had intended to go to see local heroes The Cane Toads at The Old Fox in Ickenham on Saturday evening, but I received a call from old drumming mate Roger Brewer earlier in the day to see if I was available to play guitar alongside him in The Lee Ryder Band at The Sportsman in Croxley Green. Much as it would have been good to see The Toads (I'm playing with them in a few weeks time so could have got an idea of what songs they're playing these days!) in my world it's always better to play than to listen... myself and Roger arrived just as Lee (vocals and guitar) Vince (bass) and Paul (keyboards) were loading their gear in (their regular guitarist is Simon who also plays in The Ali Mac Band among others, and who I depped for last week in that band- weird!) I set my amplifier up in front of the entrance to the gents toilet ('don't worry, they close it during gigs' said Vince, adding 'and anyway, it's obvious that it's your territory isn't it?' Hmm- let's hope so, and let's hope there's another toilet somewhere in the building!) and then joined the rest of the band for a tactical discussion. The Lee Ryder Band don't bother with silly things like rehearsals or setlists (good boys!) so it's follow-the-leader time with Lee asking us if we know a Peter Green song called 'Love That Burns'- Vince mumbled something like 'is it a good idea to start with a song we don't know?' Good question- but we did it anyway! I used my Gibson Les Paul Standard for the first time in ages which took a bit of getting used to- it's quite a bit more powerful than the Telecaster I use with the CBB show and feels a lot different too. I used a Marshall BB-2 Bluesbreaker pedal in the first set as a volume boost for solos but it made things sound a bit compressed so I switched to my MXR Micro Amp for the second set which seemed to do the trick. I'd not met Paul before (and if you've not either you can click here to find out how he usually occupies his time!) and thought he played some excellent solos, and Lee himself was on fine form throughout a highly enjoyable evening with the only really odd moment from my point of view occurring during 'Little Wing' when a guy walked past me and climbed over my amplifier on his way to the toilet...

Last night saw Kris Dollimore return to The Load of Hay for his second show there this year. Since then he's released a new album 'Now Was The Time' (some of which was recorded in his cellar!) which is every bit as good as his first release '02/01/1978'; he arrived just as I was setting up the P.A. system (I book occasional Sunday night shows there, the next one being John Hegley on January 10th) and it was great to be able to spend a bit of time talking with the man himself. The first time I remember speaking to him was at a Godfathers gig at The Town and Country Club back in the mid-'80's when I think we discussed Zemaitis guitars- he played one at the time, the lucky lad! These days he's playing an old Gibson 330 electric and a new Martin acoustic, both of which sounded fabulous during a show that was even better than the one back in May. Showcasing a fair few tracks from the new album he also played a cracking version of 'She Does It Right' (slower than the original, with a much bluesier riff) and his own extraordinary instrumental arrangement of 'Jolene' which he's considering renaming 'The Bastard Son Of Jolene' as he's changed it so much! As with last month's Attila gig I heard every excuse imaginable from people who couldn't/didn't come along ('I'm going out for a curry', 'I'm at a jam night' etc) and like then I despair of people who complain about how there's never anything to do but who didn't make the effort to see what turned out to be one of the best gigs that I've seen this year. Oh well- it's their loss, as they say... he'll be back at the same venue in around 6 months time- let's see what excuses they come up with then shall we?