Reviews
Feel the Benefit; – Brudenell Social club – 25/01/14
Deal Or No Deal
Cows on Parade
The Witch Stripes
The Spills
EK
Monster Killed By Laser
Los Pecadores
The Red Pills
What Lays Dormant
Heck/Classically Handsome Brutes/Veins/Relics – Key Club – 08/11/15
And then chaos did ensue.
Oh my beautiful chaos, how thou doth speak to the crazy of my mind.
When Veins are the first band of the night, you know you’re in for a wild ride…I dare you to try and put one of your genre labels on them. (or any of the bands tonight for that matter.)
Next up, I’m happy to say that I now, finally, fully GET Classically Handsome Brutes. First time I saw them I loved it but struggled a tad. It’s all that crazy off beat weird time signature (whatever the technical words are) jazz influences in the Rock/Metal/pick your own label from many that they do. But of course, the answer is always stop thinking about it, the back of your brain totally gets it and it will make you dance appropriately.
Then Relics did what Relics always do. They make the hair fly, the guitars get bigger and bigger, the legs akimbo poses come out, the foot stomping heavy bastard bass and drum, the fist in the air and head banging a plenty…And that’s just us….I wouldn’t recommend taking your brand new air guitar to their show because trust me, you will break it.
And then….the thing happened – Four years ago, the then Baby Godzilla, now Heck, played in Carpe and if it wasn’t for photographic evidence, I would have doubted my own memory that it was THAT chaotic. That…wow, am I really witnessing this?. And tonight reminded me that it was.
Within two minutes of their set starting the lines between band and crowd had already blurred. There was no such thing as us and them, we were all in that shit together.
The music is a pounding thrash of a tribal beat urging you on to do whatever the fuck you want to it.
Some people pay forty or more quid to see a loud band and then say [me puts on a wanky voice] “oh my god man, the wall of death was so brutal”
Shut up you airy fairy trendy at a chimps tea party with your xylophone.
When your wall of death involves the singer, WITH his guitar and mic on it’s mic stand, then you can come and compare scars.
Circle pit, yeah, sure. Everyone running around in a circle…How about running round with half the band, circling the dude stood on a box screaming and beating his guitar like he’s trying to kill a whale and you are more than welcome to jump on his back and scream down the mic with him.
You want your band on stage, in front of you????? How about one hanging off the pipes, one stood on the bar, one half way up the stairs at the back, hanging off like he’s going to die if he slips.
What about dragging your mic stand off stage, slamming it down in front of a crowd member, and making them scream into it?
Who puts their guitar round a random crowd members neck and picks up the one that another band member dropped and carries on playing with that?
There is no us and them when you go and see a band like this: they just make the music and we and them do what it makes us.
There was only one accidental bloody nose and that was from a crazy crowd member whirling like a windmill on speed and the lady ran up to the toilets, got some loo role and was back in the middle of the chaos holding it there to staunch the bleeding within two minutes (that’s a rarity at things like this though.)
Veritas Festival – The Primrose – 01/05/22
One of the things I loved about tonight and always have with Veritas nights is that I will see way more weirder shit at their nights than anywhere else.
I know there’s a huge Math Rock influence in some of the band but there’s also the chaos of fucking with time signatures or all that clever shit that takes us a song or two to catch up with and find how to dance to it.
The highlight of tonight was Apogee who are like 18 or 19 years old and like, young as fuck and everything but they did shit Frank Zappa would be proud of.
But then we had Nik’s band who he hasn’t been on stage for 6 fucking years and man, what a fucking journey their songs took us on.
Tunes that start somewhere and end up in the fucking stratosphere of journeys.
I love the internal journeys I went on during their set more than anyone else’s tonight.
And then we rounded off with Blank Atlas who came up from fucking Bristol to do their shit tonight for maybe three pound profit each band member and I’ve supported them a couple of times and man, I always lose my dancing shit to them.
There were more than a few opportunities tonight for me to get a set list but I didn’t (do wish I’d got the Apogee one though) because I just had my eye on the thing you can see in the pic below that is now on my wall.
Tonight wasn’t about any individual band; tonight was about this running order poster that is part of the legacy of all this shit I see.
Tonight was an amalgamation of awesome shit that Nick and Joe put on and it’s a family and community of a bunch of people digging the shit out of another bunch of people who make ROCK AND ROLL for the pure fucking love of it.
…we even had massive long winded technical difficulties before two of the bands and I even went for a wee and a beer during one of them and it still wasn’t sorted when I got back upstairs.
It was long winded ruining the flow malarkey.
Shit happens.
But what as I stood watching the band getting more and more peed off because they were like chomping at the bit to release the beast, they had to stand there and wait while the sound dude sorted the shit out (he also didn’t/couldn’t so the as I learnt after, the fillers in of the silences were absent.) I’m groovy that the sound dude did his best and probs not his fault but I felt slightly robbed of a thing a friend spent lock down creating.
Still totally fucking ace though.
Nights like tonight make me feel safe in that when I do eventually die (113 years old dontcha know) there will still be young kids not just making but also digging, Rock and fucking Roll.
Most of the crowd tonight, give or take a couple, were probably half my age or some shit and they were fucking bossing the bands.
HRH Punk – Sheffield Academy – 03/10/21
Hung Like Hanratty
Potential Victims
The Members
The Meffs
—————-
Liines- Ritz
Bo Ningen – Gorilla
Kikaguku Moyo – Gorilla
Slith – Deaf Institiute
PINS – Ritz
The Mysterinnes – Ritz
Fu Manchu – Brudenell – 16/09/12
[Facebook post upon getting home]
Goddam that was pretty mint. Mintier than a mint imperial in mint sauce with a polo mint on top served by Mrs McMinty from Mint town.
My neck hurts, my head is soooo full of swirly riffs I can feel the Earth spinning on its axis and for the first time since probably Pelican and Torche years ago, my ears are actually ringing after a gig.
Bloody brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant.
At this very moment in time, my life is EXACTLY 100% perfect…It’s a really rather jolly feeling 🙂
Goodnight World. You’ve been good to me.
Karma To Burn – The Well – 02/09/12
Oh my giddy aunt I’m so buzzed up….
THAT, THAT, THAT THAT THAT right, is why we LOVE Rock ‘n’ Roll. A bunch of blokes who have been doing it for over 15 years just rocking the shit out and having bloody good fun while they do it.
1 1/2 hours of non stop music. No talking, no singing, just balls out, stoner rock and roll. Heavy as hell, fast as eff and low down and dirty as a sleazy mo fo in a cheap two dollar ho motel.
There really is no other feeling better than being part of something so wonderful as that.
My first ever paid gig (apart from getting paid in beers and stuff) and you know what? It was much the same as any other gig I’ve done really…except it WASN’T by a million billion trillion miles.
Somebody actually gave me money for doing what I love and for making people happy. I almost feel cheeky but I so totally didn’t because, I’ve earned it 🙂
After my set this guy came up to me and he was shaking my hand and saying thank you because he loved my set. And then he said, ‘I thought I was the only one.’
And I asked, ‘Only one what?’
And he said, ‘The only one who thought reality TV was evil.’
Man, that was it. We were talking a million miles an hour about the badness of it and then he told me how he got divorced because his wife watched so much of it that he ended up throwing a bottle through the telly (and I wasn’t happy with the violent side of it) and when she asked why, he said, ‘because you’re wasting your life watching other people’s fake lives instead of living your own. Let’s go out and play bingo (apparently she loved bingo until she got into the telly shit) or go to the pub and talk to our friends.’
And they ended up getting divorced. But, as much as he loved having found a kindred spirit who not only agrees but stands up in front a bunch of strangers and actually says so. I was thinking, ‘no, thank you for letting me know, in your drunken way, that I’m not just talking bollocks on stage and I do actually have something important to say and it isn’t just me who thinks like this.
It is a mother flipping privileged to go on stage and make someone feel like that…and then to get paid for it as well!!?!?
…Oh yeah, and uber thanks to Dani for coming out. I was fully ready to do that on my own. It’s what I do. But to have a friendly face, that was a nice bonus 🙂
Chebfest – The Library – 22/08/15
Unfortunately a leaking roof cut this gig short as it got worse and worse as time went on was leaking in by the electrics when they called it.
Thankfully we got as far as Severed Heaven who are an all girl Black Metal band and were bloody brilliant. I tried to book them for Bad Brains but they couldn’t do it.
After them though the leaking was too bad so about half 7 after being there since 5 it was all over.
Tim Loud/Laura Kelly/Mystery Blues Band – Carpe Diem – 20/08/15
Today I saw things.
I saw a man called loud who was a bit but not very but it was an unplugged acousticy type nigh. Sometimes I don’t think people really realise how much of a Punk he really is.
And I saw another incarnation of the Mystery Blues Band (even though they’ve played in that incarnation before) and they did Heroin, right there on stage. In front of a bunch of people, four guys did Heroin right in front of everyone (lol. It’s a song by Lou Reed if you’re a silly person and don’t know that) – the MMB doing ‘Heroin’ is really rather groovy to watch…You don’t cover that song unless you’re in it for the long haul.
And in the middle of it all, I saw a lady do magic. She was like a foot pedal loopy pedal music layer singy voice guitar banjo wizard.
Saw her once before and she totally inspired me to go out and buy a thing that does a thing so that I can use it on stage.
And this time,..I stole a line off her. it wasn’t a mega line or anything but it did have the word ‘Monsters’ in it. So I’ve decided to fined myself in a zone one day and write a short silly poem around that line…I have a feeling it’s going to have ghosts and ghouls in it…..wish I could do it as a Tim Burton thing again but I think you only ever get one of them.
So anyway, I love seeing people do complicated music. And with Girl Sweat the other night and Laura Kelly tonight, both totally mega different but both like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time but you’re an octopus so you have 8 of them.
It really is dead good going out and watching people do things.
Easy Star All-Stars – Brudenell – 05/08/18
I was stood, at the front, right in front of a bass speaker and I could actually feel (in the groinal area if I stood still and anywhere if I was dancing) the actual blast of air when it thumped out.
They were doing, ‘Time’ and I needed a rest so I leaned my arms on the monitor, I put my head down to get some oxygen, my heart was pounding like a bloody jack rabbit, my T-shirt was dripping and stuck to me most uncomfortably, my jeans were doing the same, the music was lifting, a drop of sweat dripped off my beard onto my arm and the bass was making my trousers wobble if they weren’t stuck to me and I breathed in, and I smelt the grease and metal and history of the monitor.
Indiepunkdance Day – The Black Swan, Bradford – 04/07/15
Leedstock – The Fenton – 29/06/19
DJ Ant Black 6.00 onwards
Godfather 6.45 – 6.55
Will/Ben/Sean (jam) 7.00 – 7.30
Wilson 7.45 – 8.15
Godfather 8..30 – 9.00
Red Pills 9.15 – 9.45
Sawsound 10.00 – 10.30
Holly & Will 10.45 – 11.00
Stuart & ? (jam) 11.00 onwards
Goldsounds Festival – Brudenell – 20/05/18
Dude York
Anna Burch
Fangclub
Skeggs
The Regrettes
Now Now
Bully
City Calm Down
Turnover
Veritas Festival – Woolpack – 16/04/17
LINE UP
Brawlers
Youth Man
Treason Kings
The King is Dead
Nova Hands
Blank Atlas
Tirade
The Settes
Trigger Thumb
Skull
Scribble Victory
Absolutely incredible day. A list of bands to die for and Youth Man were easily my highlight. I was throwing myself around like a loon. Lead singer was a whirlwind, music was proper Punk and totally blew me away.
Swag – Youth Man album, signed set-list which the drummer wrote 2 minutes before the gig started, resting on his drums.
Stiff Little Fingers – 18/03/15
Met Michelle there.
34 years since I first saw them and apart from looking older, they were the same. It was a great gig even if blatantly over sold. But highlight was that –
during an early on song the guitarist broke a string and they cut the song out while it got sorted. So when they came to the encore, Jake burns said that he felt like we were robbed of a song so, “We’ll do you one extra. This is a song we never really play on tour anymore but we’ll do it for you now.”
it was only Barbed Wire Love, my favourite track of theirs.
Made me very happy….and all due to a lucky coincidence of a broken string.
This was the first time I had dry ice while I was on stage.
It was awesome. It felt totally Rock ‘n’ Roll and he got a bit carried away with it and it filled half the room in front of the stage so I could hardly see anyone and it was like I was up in the clouds, all alone, doing my poetry to other clouds.
A very happy moment.
Techno/Industrial gig – Carpe Diem – 05/02/14
First time I was on a poster in a record shop.
Nick Oliveri – Brudenell – 11/06/14
Amazing solo show with just him, a couple of guitars and an amp or two. Very low key show. Then he proceeded to play his history with Kyuss, Dwarves, Mondo Generator, QOTSA songs and a couple of covers.
We drank his Tequila (shared the bottle out from stage) got on stage with him to sing, ‘Feelgood Hit of the Summer,’ hung out with him after, got to hear some ace stories about the ‘old days.’
Will carried his guitar out to the car for him, and got a bottle opener as a reward and we both got a pick
Not even 3/4 full either so lots of room to dance.
Awesome show.
Sex Pistols + Buzzcocks + Slaughter & The Dogs – Lesser Free Trade Hall – 20/07/76
Older brother took me to this as an excuse as we were supposed to be staying at a friends house.
I was made to sit at the back and stay there until the end so that I didn’t get knocked over or anything.
I didn’t know any of the bands at the time and don’t remember what they played. I just remember being a scared nearly 13 year old.
I do remember how FUCKING EXCITING it all was though.
Wish I could remember more but what the hell, that’s enough I guess.
Monsters of Rock, Donnington – 27-29/08/82
Great day out – Very hot and sunny – Some fools set fire to a telegraph pole when it got dark – and the bottle throwing got WELL our of hand. Especially for Meatloaf.
LINE UP
Diamond Head
Dio
Twisted Sister
ZZ Top
Meatloaf
Whitesnake
Tommy Vance (DJ)
READING FESTIVAL – Reading – 27-29/08/82
FRIDAY
Against The Grain
The Angels
Overkill
Stampede
Tank
Praying Mantis
Baron Rojo
Randy California
Diamond head
Budgie
SATURDAY
Just Good Friends
Bow Wow
Rock Goddess
Grand Prix
Bernie Torme
Ore
Cheetah
Gary Moore
Blackfoot
Tygers of Pan Tang
Iron Maiden
SUNDAY
Terraplane
Chinatown
Spider
Marillion
Twisted Sister
Wilko Johnson & Lew Lewis
Bernie Marsedn’s SOS
Dave Edmunds
Y&T
Jackie Lynton Band
Michael Schenker Group
Evile/Trigger the Bloodshed/Mutant – Rio’s, Leeds – 26/04/09
Mutant first up and although never having heard of them they seem to have a serious following as the floor was 3/4 full. 30 seconds into the first song and it was a sea of heads banging and hair flailing which looked cool from where I was stood and must have looked awesome from the stage. They seemed slightly unprofessional, but none the worse for it. They may just not be used to it all yet but they had a bloody good time (as did we).
Trigger The Bloodshed next who replaced the original support at 2 days notice and a change of pace into Death Metal which I think may not have been the best choice. Either everyone was having a rest from Mutant or they just didn’t get it which is a shame as they were pretty darned good in my book – a bit of a shaky start, but by track 3 they were full on head banging death metal.
Finally Evile – the floor filled up again and heads were banging, circle pits were circling, and a full on mosh pit opened up. Everything a thrash metal gig should be: Loud, fast, hard and heavy, and as fun as fuck.
Twisted Sister – Metro, Ashton – 12/04/83
Still around number 10 in the Top Gigs of All Time –
Me n Frank drove there in The Beast. Knew we were onto a good thing when the intro man says, “I’d like to introduce all the way from the United States of America – TWISTED FUCKING SISTER” … and the crowd went wild. Gig was LOUD and pounding and fast and heavy as fuck. Dee was on fire and in a mega angry mood at the record companies who had just ripped them off and he made no bones about it during his rants.
Highlights have to be us screaming, “I’m a sick motherfucker” about 4 times at the top of our lungs at Dee’s Behest before he follows it up with, “Well alright you sick motherfuckers this one’s for you it’s called, Destroyer” and Mark Mendoza’s bass kicks in and yer stomach does a belly flip at the awesomeness of the moment.
If you could have bottled the sweat and energy and testosterone at that gig you could have powered the friggin’ Space Shuttle with it.
Cities in the Park – Heaton Park – 04/08/91
Happy Mondays
808 State
Electronic
De La Soul
A Certain Ratio
A nice hot sunny day. Had to smuggle the weed in in our socks and kept nipping to the portaloos to roll one.
Right down near the front stage left for 808 State. Vaguely remember Electronic being good with a cool light show. And only thing I remember about the Happy Mondays was being about halfway back stage centre dancing us heads off.
Took about 50 hours to get out of the damned place in the Capri.
Pelican + Torche – Sheffield Corporation – 13/09/08
Knowing nothing about Torche except I’d heard they were, ‘pretty good’ I was totally fucking blown away. It’s hard to explain how exciting and totally invigorating seeing this bunch is. They played through the set with hardly a pause for breath, guitarist swinging his axe around like Leatherface with his chainsaw, big old grins on their (especially the singer) faces obviously really enjoying themselves and all while belting out an absolutely unholy racket.
Last track, ‘Meanderthal’ was easily the dirtiest, filthiest, sludgiest piece of music I’ve ever heard rumble from a stage. With amazing timing from the drummer to rival Adrienne Davies from Earth: Approximately 8 or 9 minutes of sheer stoner rock heaven.
Sadly Pelican had sound problems to start with, making it difficult at times to tell what bloody track they were playing (which considering Torche had absolutely awesomely, spot on sound this is kinda weird). First two tracks had the guitars almost drowned out by the drums. Things gradually improved though but it was only about half way through their (rather short) set before the sound could be considered worthy of the band. Nevertheless, this is Pelican and soon enough you’re lost in those massive, complicated, chaotic soundscapes they fill your head with.
Had a good old leap around and air guitar session in the pit though. Along with the grand total of 5 or 6 other people in there.
Torche were definitely the winners tonight but only because of the sound problems for Pelican
SWAG – Tusk album, Resisting the Dreamer signed by Pelican
Fu Manchu + Truckfighters – Academy 3 – 29/11/07
Undoubtedly one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands I’ve seen in a loooong time. Can’t believe I’ve managed to miss them all these years.
And support band Truckfighters were great. Singer giving it his all and a guitarist leaping around, scissor kicking every few minutes. And a mountain of a drummer pounding the skins. Reminded me of the energy that used to pour off the stages at old punk gigs.
Sandy got all jealous cos she’s known about them for ages and has 2 of their albums and never seen them. But then I was jealous that she’d known about them for so long and I hadn’t, so we decided it evened out.
Swag – Yellow 12″ signed by all of the Truckfighters.
and You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead – Music Box – 10/2/07
Once again Trail of Dead amazed me: For the 5th time I’ve seen them they walked on stage and I went, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot you looked like that’. Because they do not look like rock stars. But, when they pick up their instruments and start playing gorgeous rock n roll, they are the epitome of rock n roll stars.
Don’t ask me how. I don’t know why…
They’re always bathed in strange coloured lights, usually orange or blue. They are excellent musicians. 2 singers. A bassist who plays great drums. They don’t pull rock n roll poses. None of this wanky talking to the crowd, here’s-a-funy-story kind of thing. Jjust a bunch of Rock ‘n’ Roll people playing great Rock ‘n’ roll.
and can you ask for anymore…………me thinks not.
CULT OF LUNA – Music Box – 10/2/07
Missed first band, Bossk.
2nd Flatpaktmind. Caught 2 or 3 songs and they were very Pelicanesque except for the shouty singer who I didn’t think really fitted as he overshadowed/got in the way of the music whenever he sang.
Cult of Luna were awesome. very, very like Pelican (although really it’s Pelican who sound like them having started at least 4 or 5 years after). Flatpaktmind should pay attention to these guys: Yes they also have a shouty singer but no he isn’t the main focus. The music is the most important thing and his voice complements that perfectly. So you get 15 minutes of downtuned dirty, noisy guitar riffage then the singer does about 10 lines or so and then it’s back to another 15 minutes of music. An excellent combination.
The major difference between these and Pelican is that Luna are much less complex than Pelican (like, anyone could possibly make more complex music than Pelican). But that’s not such a bad thing as I’d guess it makes them a lot more accessible to people, especially with having a singer too (albeit one who probably only sings for a maximum of 15 minutes throughout the whole gig).
Highlight of the night has to be the 3rd track they played. When the keyboardist suddenly picks up a guitar and joins in with what was already a stunning piece of music. So just when it seems to have reached some kind of crazy crescendo where it cannot possibly get more full on/staggering/immense/whatever he joins in so that you have a drummer, a bassist and 3 pummeling, filthy guitars pounding out some amazing soundscapes…WOW
Music like this really really enters your head and messes about with your mind. You end up with no room for thoughts because the sounds are so all encompassing that they virtually take over every bit of your brain except for the bits that keep your body boogying…When the 3rd track finished (about 20 minutes worth) I realised that I hadn’t opened my eyes, taken a drag of my cig or even swigged me cider all that time due to my being on another planet somewhere.
To quote some hippy form the Woodstock movie, ‘This music sends me, baby’
65 DAYS OF STATIC – Academy 2 – 03/04/06
Yet another stunning set by 65 Days. This time things were (if possible) louder, and even more frenetic than usual with Rob hurling himself around the stage with wanton abandon. And he wasn’t the only one. How there were no casualties on such a small stage with three near lunatics leaping around remains a mystery.
The set contained all the usual suspects but each one seemed to have an extra oomph somehow (maybe they just had everything turned up to 11) and the final tune was a staggeringly ferocious version of Retreat Retreat. When the asteroid finally strikes the Earth and there’s chaos and mayhem everywhere, this is the track that God will play.
As usual with 65 Days there were many converts too. I’m not sure if even half the crowd knew who they were at the beginning but they sure as hell did by the end. Proven by the size of the queue at their end of the merchandise desk.
Sadly for Hundred Reasons, who were the nights headline, they had absolutely no chance of competing. And after one song I left to go chat to the merch guy and get a few things signed by the boys. I did go back in for the last half hour or so of Hundred Reasons and enjoyed them a lot more then when I wasn’t quite so Staticed up.
Swag – Running order poster, Hundred Reasons set list, 2 7″ singles and 2 stickers & 4 badges.
FLOGGING MOLLY – Academy – 10/7/06
A top class shindig and no mistake. We had Drunken Lullabys and that Dirty ol Bastard song and everythin.
And just when they can be the most fun thing ever they do that, ‘There for the Grace of God go I’ and that ol’ lone Irishman singing a lament really kicks in in a proper melancholy way.
But then when it’s over it’s straight back into a shindig. with arms-a-flailing and legs-a-leapin like a crazy old loon.
Flogging Molly are possibly the most fun I’ve ever had at a gig since the good old punk days….in that kind of way.
A totally bloody brilliant band live and no mistake.
SWAG – None but I did lose a stone in weight thru leapin around like a fool for 2 hours
MONDON GENERATOR – Roadhouse – 01/09/06
You could see how this night was gonna go from the offset – A drink of proper Scrumpy cider followed by a Jagermeister before we left home then off to Grand Central for a pint of cider and a Russian drink from under the counter from Graham that tasted like medicine except much more naughtier. Then suitably fortified for a night of rock n roll debauchery it was off to the gig…..
GU MEDICINE were up first and once again they put on a great show. No pretensions or anything just pure, dirty, rock ‘n’ roll. And holy shit was it loud. I could feel my trousers wobbling from the bass…lovely. Plenty of air guitar on show from the crowd too (erm…mostly from me and Sandy).
By the end of their set it was getting hot and sweaty: guess we should a seen what was coming from that.
MONDO GENERATOR took to the stage to an enormous roar from the crowd with Nick shirtless again and looking every inch the rock star and commanding the stage like the master he is. The first song was interesting as it reminded me again that he can sound a lot like Angus Young when he wants to (or dosen’t want to maybe) and it set the pit going too. And being only 1 row from the front Sandy & I were swept up in it for the rest of the night.
The set was fast and furious (as was the pit) including somewhere in the middle a QOTSA track, tho I’m buggered if I can remember what it was, but it was good. Surprisingly though they weren’t as loud as GU MEDICINE but that’s not to say it wasn’t LOUD it’s just that GU were FUCKING LOUD.
Neither of us has moshed that much for years and by the end the sweat was dripping off of us like crazy and tshirts stuck to skin in a most unpleasant way. I have 2 bruises and one gashed finger and a very sore shoulder from somewhere and it was worth every drop of blood/ache or pain.
Managed to meet Nick after to get a few things signed and he really is a nice guy. And he liked my AMEN T-shirt and loved Sandy’s SLAYER tattoo.
SWAG – between us, 5 CD’s (3 GU & 2 MONDO) all signed and 2 T-shirts
AMEN were great but the definite highlight was (unanounced) TV Smith played an acoustic set as support.
Met Casey afterwards but not TV Smith. So was outside by the stage door and someone left it open so I sneaked back in, up the back stairs and into Academy 3 where he was chatting with some of Amen. So I just busted in, chatted to him. Told him how long it was since I’d last seen him and remarked on how great it was to see him onstage again. And then cheekily got one of Amen to take the following pic…
Swag – Running order poster signed by Casey and ticket signed by whole of Amen and TV Smith.
Very possibly the most gifted guitarist I have ever seen.
The Hendrix comparisons are, unfortunately, unavoidable. And looking a little like him helps too. Jones plays rock blues just the way Hendrix did. He plays with his teeth, behind his head, between his legs (in a very suggestive manner) and most impressively, lying on his back with his legs in the air playing with the soles of his feet.
He wandered into the crowd numerous times and at one point laid his, much abused and probably long suffering Fender Strat, flat on someone’s table and knelt down as if worshipping it while still playing and without breaking the momentum in the slightest. He grabbed empty beer bottles and played some slide. Then virtually had sex with it before sliding it across the floor from one side of the room to the other.
And to top it off the guy plays three hundred miles per hour faster than the speed of light. I have never seen hands move that fast.
He played an absolutely blistering first set which won over any doubters there may have been in the room. Every single person there was diggin what he was laying down.
The interval saw him and his bass player selling CD’s and DVD’s from on stage and signing free tour posters for almost everyone in the room. Shaking hands, bumping knuckles, kissing the ladies and loving every minute of it.
The second half got off to a storming start with Sunshine of Your Love and soon everyone was up and crowding around the stage dancing and singing and generally being worked up to fever pitch by yet more displays of this man’s phenomenal gift. Playing one handed while shaking hands with the crowd was a great thing to see but to be stood less than a foot away from him when he stands, right in front of you, stock still, legs astride and plays two guitars at once and his hands are at your eye level is something that’s seared into your brain as a memory that will last for ever.
And finally when the show’s all over he spends the next hour chatting to the crowd, signing more things, posing for pictures, kissing all the ladies and all with a huge smile on his face (which was present throughout most of the evening). And you realise that not only have you just seen a genius at work but you’ve also met a very charming, sexy, charismatic and just, darned all round nice guy.
The energy, spontenaiety, showmanship, riffs and so on of a Carvin Jones show really do give one a sense of what Hendrix might have been like, except faster.
So as we were virtually thrown out of Life Cafe because we couldn’t stop talking to him, looking at him, pleading with him to come for a drink with us and holding his hand (you know who you are) we bid farewell to a rock ‘n’ roll whirlwind who played a set list to die for…….
(In no particular order)
Purple Haze
Boom Boom
Sunshine of Your Love
All Along the Watchtower
I Just Wanna Make Love to You
Red House
Mustang Sally
(and many more that elude me for the moment but I’ll add them as I remember)
n
Undoubtedly one of the best rock re always bathed in strange coloured lights, usually orange or blue. They are excellent musicians. 2 singers. A bassist who plays great drums. They don
ArcTanGent Festival – Bristol – 15/08/19
Easily one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to. Completely full of weird and strange and different bands.
Big Lad
Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard
Bossk
Pigs x7
Nordic Giants
Carpenter Brut
Daughters
Memory of Elephants
A.A. Williams
Cattle
Rad Pitt
65daysofstatic
Zu
Russian Circles
Modern Misery Vol 1 – Key Club – 31/08/19
Acolytes UK
Horses In Transit
AlasBlackArches
Defining Lines
Surya
Veritas 5th Birthday – Temple of Boom – 21/09/19
Blank Atlas
Nova Hands
Kovax
Rothschild
Tirade
FURR
Godfather
Psych Rising – Night People – 05/10/19
Korto
Pale Rider
Hey Bulldog
Kill Your Boyfriend
Servo
Frankie Teardrop Dead
Psychic Lemon
Phobophobes
The Telescopes
The Gluts
Gnod
Snakes Don’t Belong in Alaska
Whitesnake – Manchester Apollo – 05/04/84
Set List
Gambler
Guilty of Love
Ready an’ Willing
Love Ain’t No Stranger
Here I Go Again
Slow an’ Easy
Crying in the Rain
(including John Sykes guitar solo)
Soldier of Fortune
(Deep Purple cover)
Keyboard Solo
(Jon Lord)
Drum Solo
(Cozy Powell)
Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City
(Bobby “Blue” Bland cover)
Fool for Your Loving
We Wanna Thank You
Slide It In
Don’t Break My Heart Again
Carpe Reunion – Fenton – 27/05/18
A Short Dark Stranger
Godfather
Hell Fire Jack
Negative Panda
The Red PIlls
Surya
Negative Panda was a one off reunion and Red Pills was their first gig back after hiatus.
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