Charlie Harper Spanish Hall, Winter Gardens Blackpool 5th August 2023

A little bit of Chaz tonight. Here is the irrepressible Mr Harper playing acoustically in Blackpool back in 2023. Tonight I am starting 'An Anarchy of Demons'.

Many thanks to Chatts for the share.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-NB5uzj7XO6

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-zz43vmuZiY

 

Billy Idol Cruel World Festival Pasadena CA 20th May 2023

 

Billy Idol is not well represented on these pages as neither he nor Generation X for that matter have ever appealed to me. It always seemed to fly in the face of all that punk stood for to disband and high tail it to the US in order to become a bona fide 'rockstar'. There is also the other consideration that I really don't go for their material.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-NhuC5eurxo

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-wz8MhgofrS

Public Image Limited O2 Academy Bristol 28th September 2023

 

Okay, like him or loathe him, John Lydon's name is pretty much as synonymous with the term 'post-punk'  as it is with 'punk'. We can argue into the middle of next week whether Lydon was responsible for punk and/or post punk but whichever side of the fence that you sit on it is undeniable that the bands that he was in, the Pistols and PiL, were a huge driving force behind these two musical ideas. Between them, Lydon, Wobble and Levine laid down something of a road map in 'Metal Box' that set the direction of British independent music for several years of the 1980s.

Like many bands Public Image Limited have suffered their trials and tribulations and there have been less than great albums released over the years. But when on form, the band have shone. This was repeated to a certain extent (at least in my opinion) with 'This Is PiL' when a version of the band (essentially the 'Album' era formation minus John McGeogh) reformed, buttered by the proceeds from some TV advertising that Lydon had been involved with.

Thanks to Chatts!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-uCG6rivUBD

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-9STu4HDEw9

Killing Joke Royal Albert Hall London 12th March 2023

 

A rather poignant one this one, being as it was Geordie's last gig. As yet a gig not released and nothing on the cards. I did go to this gig and it was great but I was still miffed to have missed the warm-up gig at the 100 Club. In a foyer area I remember hearing something behind some manner of display. On peeking around it threre was none other than one Paul Cook and a mate, no doubt he was avoiding multiple requests for selfies etc.

Were it not for the loss of Geordie, I am sure that Killing Joke would have had a few more years/albums in them and who knows what we could have enjoyed, but I could never envision it without that guitar style of his.

Many thanks to Chatts for the share.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-w2H3z7kaoQ

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-9NIUYmcxXf

The Vapors Cruel World Pasadena CA 20th May 2023

 

Following on from last weekend's northern adventures with The Vapors here for your listening edification is a short festival set from 2023's 'Cruel World' event, a West Coast celebration of New Wave music, a type of festival that seems to be very popular at the moment in the US.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-BcOxBz9Lp2

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-KOQwUg4wCK

TV Smith Soda Bar San Diego 15th October 2023

 

Here's TV Smith on his first tour of US back in October 2023 playing a brilliant set of Adverts' material. The Adverts' flame only burned for a short time but it burned intensely, two albums of brilliantly crafted songs that captured at least as well as the Pistols (as far as I am concerned) the relentless shittyness of adolescence in mid 1970's Britain. For my part I didn't share that frustration, on account of being seven in 1976!

Well, in 2025 Tim returns, once again reuniting The Adverts and The Damned in a manner of speaking. The first of three unholy partnerships, the two bands will forever be associated with the chaotic youthful exuberance of 1977 (The Ruts and the Anti-Nowhere League later stepped into The Adverts shoes in their close associations with The Damned). He takes his Adverts repertoire back out on the road with The Damned across both North and South America.

I would live to see the pairing in the UK sometime later in the year... let's see.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-a5vpGnFwQX

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Cg9lJRLbXT

Thanks to the original uploader.

Ruts DC Der Hof Dusseldorf 15th November 2023

 

Gunta and I had the highest of hopes to get to this gig (or any of the European gigs for that matter, but this one in particular). We are fairly regular visitors to Cologne but have not paid a visit to Dusseldorf for quite a few years now, since Gunta's aunt Margot died and we had to sort out her 'estate' as well as funeral arrangements. A word of advice to all those people of my age and above... get a will sorted. On the occasion of her aunt's passing Gunta had to negotiate all of the necessary arrangements under German law which was a challenge and a half for a relative without a will! Here, all of these years on, we are still extremely grateful to a guy called Peter who also happens to be the person responsible for the sharing of this great record of the band's gig at Der Hof.

I have said it with every post I make on Ruts DC, but they are like a gigging machine and when they are not on stage they are preparing their next release in rehearsal or in the studio. It is an impressive work rate that this trio have going. It makes the UK Subs look like slackers!

A great career spanning set and I just love 'Despondency' being in the set.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-8Xe5fTUBRx

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-aVndqOaqKO

Ruts DC in Dusseldorf

15th November 2023

(Photo: Ashley Greb)

The Shepard Risset Glissando

According to Wikipedia the Shepard Risset Glissando (the Shepard tone) is an auditory illusion where a tone appears to continually ascend or descend in pitch when in fact it goes no higher or lower.

The Shepard tone is used quite extensively in the film industry as an auditory device in a cinematic score since it is understood to create a feeling of unease or tension in the listener.

Listening as I was recently to a radio documentary called 'The Ghost In The Machine', when at a point approximately 27 minutes in, the narrator gives an example of the tone both ascending and descending, something struck me. Now, I am no sound engineer but listening to these two tones, I hear strong similarities with some of the noises that Dave was making in the studio at around the time of 'The Raven' and 'The Gospel' albums, specifically the departure of the alien craft that closes the latter album and the run out on 'Genetix' on the former album. 

The band always said that there was a bad or negative 'vibe' going on at the time. Was it the case that Dave and the band were aware of the Shepard tone and along with the heavy substances in use at the time, aspects of the music they were surrounding themselves with was a contributing factor to the perceived negative atmosphere within The Stranglers' camp at the time? 

Just a thought.

The 'The Ghost In The Machine' documentary can be found here.

Shane MacGowan - Punk Poet Extraordinaire (1957 - 2023)

 

Right on the back of the news of Geordie’s death, the punk fraternity were hit with another huge loss. Shane MacGowan, original punk ‘face’ (Shane’s ears graced quite a few early photos of The Jam and The Clash), singer with the Pogues and later The Popes. Shane had been hospitalized with encephalitis for some time and things were not looking too hopeful for any kind of recovery. Then, there was some on-line pre-Christmas cheer with the news that he was out of hospital and homeward bound. I cannot say what happened next, whether he suffered a relapse or in fact his doctors and family knew that the end was near and he was discharged to allow him to be at home in his final days. It does not matter of course because either way the voice of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s London Irish has left the bar for the last time. 

At the same time that Shane was starting to make a name for himself, on stage rather than off, with his band  The Nipple Erectors, The Specials were melding the music of an earlier generation of immigrants into England with punk. A couple of years later, Shane’s next band, The Pogues, were doing something very similar. For The Specials it was the Blue Beat rhythms that the Windrush generation brought with them from the Caribbean that they so brilliantly combined with a punk energy/attitude. For The Pogues it was traditional Irish folk music that they again stunningly warped with punk. For me, the comparisons of the two bands can be taken a step further. Both bands formed during dark times in England… individual members of The Specials and the band itself existed at a time when the far right had a following that had not been seen since the Blackshirts of the B.U.F.. Their gigs were dogged by the National Front and British Movement hell bent on disrupting their gigs. Similarly, The Pogues came to prominence at a time when the IRA were very active in England. I cannot speak from experience, but London Irish life in the early ‘80’s could be unpleasant at times. 

I saw The Pogues several times in the mid to late 1980’s thankfully. How can you adequately describe a Pogues gig….. a drunken party executed with the intensity of a pitched battle. I have been to hundreds of punk gigs over the years but I have never witnessed drunkenness on such a magnificent scale! And on each occasion I too was one of those drunken good natured combatants. 

Off stage, I used to see Shane occasionally in Camden where we decamped to every weekend from where we were living in Kilburn, but I never spoke with him unfortunately. As I write this, Shane’s funeral cortege has passed through Dublin. Photographs indicate a huge outpouring of love and emotion for the man and his music. 

Many bands, especially Stateside have adopted the musical style of The Pogues, but not have managed to achieve poetry, passion and sheer fun of the original.

Thank you Shane MacGowan (& The Pogues). 

'Then they'll take you to Cloughprior and shove you in the ground

But you'll stick your head back out and shout "We'll have another round."'

Geordie Walker 1958 - 2023

 

More bad news pouring in on social media this evening. Geordie Walker, originator of the grinding guitar that made Killing Joke sound like a band without equal has died at the age of 64. 

This site, in its usual, rather insignificant way will mark this huge loss to the punk community in the coming days. 

999 Musiktheater Piano Dortmund 11th November 2023

Thanks as ever to my friend Peter for sharing this recent gig that 999 played in Dortmund recently. A great solid set as always from one of the most important band's in my world! They seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves right now. Stuart posted that as of 19th November the band had clocked up 38 gigs in the year... fair play to a work rate like that from a band that mark their 48th anniversary next month. 

We were hoping to make it over to Germany for this one. We haven't been to the area since Gunta's aunt died in Dusseldorf some years ago and we have yet to see 999 abroad. However, she has just embarked on a degree course and is having to study for the first time in 40 years, so leisure time is a little restricted for now! Sadly, Ruts DC in Dusseldorf went the same way this year too. Next year we will do better!

Enjoy!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-6qFy9lPbVT

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-9GK8W7LZZW

Stranglers bassist JJ Burnel on how he stays fit: ‘No sex or drugs – just rock n roll’ Daily Telegraph Interview (19th November 2023 - The Telegraph)

 Couldn't bring myself to purchase The Telegraph, but for anyone who missed it here's Liz Kershaw's interview with JJ from 19th November 2023.

You know you’re getting on a bit when your pop idols become pensionable – and that’s if they’re lucky. In recent years, so many of mine have sadly slipped off all too soon to that great gig in the sky. Others have simply slipped on stage. Bruce Springsteen, 74, took a tumble during at least two gigs on his recent 50th anniversary world tour and had to cancel a few nights because of a mystery illness. Earlier this year Madonna, 65, (who also famously had a fall at the 2015 Brit Awards) was hospitalised due to a bacterial infection and had to postpone her 40th anniversary tour. Mick Jagger, 80, meanwhile, takes a preventative approach and travels with a mobile gym and a physiotherapist. 

Clearly it’s a perilous business being an ageing rock star. So what does it take to ensure you’re stage-ready at 9pm when your peers are settled on a sofa with a cup of tea? Bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel is now the last man standing from the Stranglers’ original line-up. 

Next year, at 72, he’ll notch up half a century as the driving force of one of our most innovative and enduring British bands. He lives with his partner in Provence, in his French parents’ old house, but was recently in the UK for the launch of his autobiography, Strangler in the Light, and to rehearse for the band’s Golden Anniversary tour, on which he’ll once again be thrashing his bass, karate-kicking at the crowd and ripping off his soaking shirts to get his pecs out. Fifty years on, Stranglers’ gigs are still mostly sold out – and an energetic business. So how does Burnel stay so fit?

“Touring is exhausting. You have to keep in good shape. It’s all down to respect for the people who’ve paid good money to see us. How many bands are still going strong after 50 years and can sell out the Royal Albert Hall in seconds? I used to be a punk and, as an angry young man, I was very anti-authoritarian and always getting into punch-ups. But this tour won’t be Last Night of the Punks. These days I’m much more disciplined. And I’m not ready to retire yet!

I’m a seventh dan in karate – [one of] the highest rated in the UK – so I’ve always worked really hard on keeping myself fit. I’m always busy with band stuff but I never miss exercising, indoors or out. My “religion” dictates that I do at least one training session every day. I do up to 100 press-ups and sit-ups and work on kicks and exercises to work the different muscle groups – whether I’m in a hotel room or at home, where I also do cold-water swimming in my pool or a nearby lake. Or I walk a mountain trail. But I don’t run because it’s bad for the joints.

The best exercise is to be on my feet on stage. Moving about on stage stops my backache for a couple of hours. I try to give it my all and I lose about two litres [3½ pints] of fluids during a gig – by the end I’m completely drained. 

These gigs will be more than three hours long, and mainly in seated venues, with an interval… or rather a comfort break – a lot of our fans have been with us since 1974. 

All the playing and travelling is gruelling and it’s so easy to let yourself go. So as well as making time for exercise, I insist on eating healthily: mostly protein and greens. I always eat breakfast – usually eggs, sometimes with bacon and brown sauce, but no bread and always fresh coffee. I’ll have a salad for lunch and in the evenings, at home, I like to cook fish, lobster, meat and veg. I’m partial to truffle oil and a dollop of crème fraîche. On tour we have a couple of cooks with us. If I do have to grab any junk food I’m filled with self-loathing!

Being French I like a small glass of rose with my lunch, home or away. But there’s no other booze before the gig. The band do enjoy a well-deserved drink while we chat through our post-match analysis. If we’ve had a really good night we might pop a bottle of champagne and then a couple of bottles of red. But nobody needs a hangover, just plenty of sleep. I’ll usually get to bed by 1am wherever I am and fall asleep to Debussy. And I don’t get up until 11 unless I have to be up and on the road early. I know it doesn’t sound very “sex and drugs and rock ’n’ roll” from the guy who was NME’s Stud of The Year in 1977! But still, I hope I’m not your standard septuagenarian.

I was only 21 when I met the other guys from the band. I’d just dropped out of uni when I picked up a hitchhiker near Guildford one night and met his mates, and next thing I was invited to replace him in their band. We all lived hand to mouth above the off licence owned by our drummer, Jet Black. By 1976 we were getting 200 gigs a year in pubs. Jet would collect our 25-quid fee and then treat us to Kentucky Fried Chicken, which I loved back then – though I wouldn’t touch it now. 

I had no fat on me but I wasn’t scraggy. I was a little kid in London in the hungry 1950s, when food was still rationed. But my dad was tall and muscular, from Viking stock, and my mum was tall and beautiful, so I had good genes. So I was already over 6ft at my all-boys grammar school. I played rugby and as I was always getting into fights I’d taken up boxing, so I already had muscles when I discovered a karate club at uni.

As a student I had no idea how to talk to girls. Six years later, when the Stranglers were on stage there for the first time, I was an absolute babe-magnet! There’d be girls queueing up outside my hotel room door. And then top models are all over you and you’re invited to fashion shows and Grace Jones jumps out of a cake for you at a party and famous rock stars’ wives are blatantly chatting you up… It all got so weird. How did I cope? I was like a kid in a candy shop – I just went for it! I’m told I’m still cute, but actually I’m not that bothered about sex anymore. Lower testosterone – it’s a fact of later life.

On this tour we’ll be playing songs from our catalogue of around 200 from 18 albums. We’re playing some of the more obscure ones live for the first time. Back in the day we were trying to be clever and they’re quite complex arrangements and hard to play now. I’m having to get my head – and fingers – round all the notes and regain muscle memory. To be honest, we were off our heads on mind-altering drugs back when we wrote them.

For one whole year, me and some of the other guys decided to take heroin to see if it inspired us creatively. We’d inhale lines of heroin (for a high) mixed with coke (for energy). It did produce a different kind of album! But I was going to bed at dawn and sleeping all day. I was 30 and in a pathetic physical state. As thin as anything, just skin and bones. Dave [Greenfield], our keyboard player, took charge. I went cold turkey, which was grim, and after two or three days I vowed I’d never touch the stuff again. 

What saved me was that I never injected anything. That and karate, which has helped me hold back – though getting injured goes with the territory. I’ve torn cartilage, muscles and tendons, broken bones and had two screws in my leg and done a whole Stranglers tour on crutches. But karate has kept me on an even keel and, as well as keeping me physically fit, it’s a much-needed coping mechanism. A way of life. A philosophy. “Never give up. Persevere. Remain faithful. Respect yourself and others.” I now share this with the students at my Shidokan karate school in London, which I set up more than 30 years ago.

Emotionally, the last six decades have been a real rollercoaster and at times I have struggled with my mental health. At my lowest point I tried to top myself. Our fifth album, [The Gospel According to the] Meninblack, came out in 1981 and went straight to number eight in the charts, but the next week it had disappeared. We were skint. I thought it was all over, so I took myself off to my garage… Luckily I really was a failure! 

Hugh Cornwell, our singer, called me after a gig in 1990 and said he was leaving us. All the band’s assets were then frozen. I had no money. I had to sell my motorcycles to feed my kids. The highs have been getting my pride and the band back on track.

The Stranglers have never been seen as soppy, because we’ve never written love songs. But on our last album, Dark Matters, in 2021, two songs are about love. One [And if You Should See Dave…] for my friend of 45 years, Dave Greenfield, who we lost to Covid. Plus The Lines is about still being able to love yourself when you look in the mirror and have to face up to ageing.

Some of my peers are having Botox and dying their hair. I think they look ridiculous. I just accept the wrinkles and white hairs – as well as a bad back, detached retinas and hearing loss. I’ve yet to write a song about incontinence! 

One thing that I’ve learnt over the years is that you can’t go on stage wasted. If I am tired one morning, that’s a pain, but if it gets so that I wake up every morning knackered, then I’ll think about packing it in. But I have to be doing something. I can’t bear lying around on beaches. I’d still be revving up my motorcycle or hiking with my dog in the mountains. And jamming in a local blues band with a founder member of the Yard Birds. Oh, and enjoying the Telegraph crossword every Saturday! And my little grandkids, aged two and three, who are the real stars now. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m a big softy really.”

I Smell A Rat - Hurrah!!

 

Jean Jacques Burnel 'Strangler In The Light'

 

First and foremost, well done to Coarsegood books for producing such a well presented book. Being something of a bookish type I do appreciate good presentation and this publication has that in abundance. But as they say, 'You can't judge a book by its cover'. Indeed not and this was an initial concern of mine. A long career in the rock 'n' roll business can play havoc with one's powers of recall, something to do with all of the late nights I think! I'll be honest here in that I feared that Mr B's memories of critical creative times for the band i.e. around the time of 'The Raven' and 'Gospel' albums would be somewhat hazy on account of those late nights, but happily this was not so.

I like the fact that the book is structured in terms of themes rather than having a chronological presentation, this breaks up what is ultimately a very well known story for a great many readers. Early in the book, JJ elaborates on his sense of being different. It cannot have have been easy growing up with French heritage 10 years or so after the Second World War. My family have first hand experience of this. My wife is half German and half Latvian. Born in '65 and raised in Coventry, 25 years after Goebbels boasted of the city being 'Coventrated'. The fact that my in-laws dressed her up in a Heidi outfit didn't really help matters. Roll the calendar forward some 30 years and we find ourselves sitting in the Junior School headmasters office as he apologised for the nazi taunts that our kids had been subjected to in the playground. Kids are very cruel, so just like the narrator in Johnny Cash's 'A Boy Named Sue', our JJ had to learn to give it out.

'And he said, "Son, this world is rough

And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough

I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along

So I give you that name, and I said goodbye

And I knew you'd have to get tough or die

It's that name that helped to make you strong"'

And it seems that there were parallels with Mr Burnel Snr and Sue's old man.... both were good in a fight as indeed was Grand-père Burnel too! Forget the Biffa Bacon family of Newcastle, enter the Biffa Burnels of Normandy!

Some chapters filled in gaps in my knowledge, for example a more detailed exploration of JJ's life long commitment to martial arts and the strength (mental) and discipline it has given him over the last five decades. For the bikers out there he spends time on his passion for motorbikes, no so interesting for me, unsteady as I am on a push bike. However, his involvement with Shidokan and bikes are two elements that alongside music maketh the man, so the detail needs to be in there.

What I did particularly enjoy were the conversations covering his like in music outside of The Stranglers. From 'Euroman Cometh' through to the Gankutsuou soundtrack material, there is a diversity there that shows that creatively, he is much more than a hooligan bass player! A particular favourite of mine is 'Un Jour Partfait', which perhaps I have Hugh and his waning interest in the 'other' band to thank for as JJ had to seek other creative avenues for his musical creativity. Interesting that this French only release was not well received in the Mother country. Also of interest is the time he spent supporting, promoting and producing young European bands, Taxi Girl and Polyphonic Size in particular (see the previous post where Taxi Girl's 'Seppuku' demos are shared).

Perhaps one area that has not been the subject of quite so much Stranglers' lore concerns the relationships and dynamics of the band over its near 50 year existence. This part of the book is saved for the last chapter entitled 'Membership'. Obviously, Hugh's departure is right out there in front. The fact that these two surviving original Stranglers only interact by sniping periodically in press interviews continues to sadden me. But, these two men have 140 years plus life experience between them so if the issue hasn't been resolved by now I guess it never will be. I suppose that elements of those personality  traits that made them difficult and defiant individuals when the band started out still come into play 33 years after Hugh walked away.

The story of Paul's time with the band pretty much correlates with my view of Hugh's replacement. An affable and able vocalist but one who was never really Stranglers' material. After 16 years in the fold, Paul's commitment seems to have evaporated at a time when the band had been at their lowest career ebb (at the time of Paul's departure, half of 'Norfolk Coast', the return to form album, was done, so whether the band fully knew it or not, recovery was just around the corner). Of course I was not party to what went on, but I can well imagine that with Baz Warne now in the band (in place of Paul's ally John Ellis) and JJ's and Baz's developing musical partnership, Paul Robert's felt increasingly marginalised and jumped. As for John Ellis, well it is enough to say that I doubt whether he will be reading the book any time soon. 

But what of Jet and Dave? JJ talks of a couple of rows that he had with Jet towards the end of the big man's tenure on the drum stool. JJ lost it a couple of times when Jet messed up or played too slow. I think I saw one of these outbursts at a soundcheck in Dunfermline.

When JJ talks of Dave it is clear that there was a very special bond between the two men, also apparent when the former performs 'And If You Should See Dave'. I did not realise that his health problems were as serious as they were. I knew that he had COPD and that his love of a drink occasionally made for some interesting and quirky keyboard moments. I was also aware that he had been told to reign it in before gigs and that did make a difference, but I did not know the difficulties that he was in (and of course why should I!). Either way, for many, including me, he was the sound of The Stranglers, the piece of the puzzle that set them apart and afforded them the great success that they enjoyed.

So then, a great book that offers something new even to the most knowledgeable members of the fan base. Thank you JJ! 

Ombudsmen Hope And Anchor Islington London 2nd November 2023

 

This is the second time that our daughter has had the honour of playing in one of the most hallowed gig spaces in the UK... at least in my old eyes! However, she takes it all in her stride.

So, this then is the second London gig for Manchester based four piece, Ombudsmen. A planned date at the Dublin Castle fell victim to a planned rail strike earlier in the year. On this occasion I was gutted to be absent as work commitments had taken me to Copenhagen for the two days spanning this gig. The gig line up was the same as the Hope gig that took place in March of this year, the difference being that that gig was a matinee and this was an evening affair. 

On this return date they have more product to promote, an E.P. CD entitled 'Terms & Conditions Apply' (available from https://ombudsmen.bandcamp.com/album/terms-conditions-apply ).

I did note this week that Kid Kapichi have adapted the same 'Neighbourhood Watch' logo for their new album, but Ombudsmen got there first. The adaptation was done by Mo Andrews and captures the band rather well, but then again I am a little biased in my view here!

'Terms & Conditions Apply' move the band ever forward from their first E.P. 'Fizzy Milk'. Both E.P.s are played in full in this Hope & Anchor set. Both of these E.P.s appear on Spotify too.

It is very difficult to apply labels to the band as they do not fit neatly into a defined genre, as much as a musical cliché as that may sound. There are elements of punk, electronica, funk, psychedelia and dare I say it... prog in their multi-layered tunes. The bass drives the songs whilst the guitar brings an urgency to the proceedings, a sound that compliments the vocals. Of the vocals, Mo's vocal styles vary across the set, I can hear Ari Up, a bit of Grace Slick on the somewhat psychedelic 'Yourself Is Everywhere' as well as a liberal measure of Lene Lovich. 

The band play quite regularly in the Manchester area as well as further afield with recent gigs in Liverpool, Bradford and Nottingham. Hopefully, more London dates will come their way and hopefully, if that is the case, I can arrange my time better such that I am in the same country when they next play there.

Anyway, here is the gig in full. Once again I am very indebted to Lee McFadden for sharing this recording. Cheers!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-rPc8IFCvDc

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Desf0w15TJ

Devo Eventim Apollo 19th August 2023

 

So here then is that gig. Thanks to the original Dime uploader (Hotpoint). A great night that I will remember for a long time to come.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-DYaZeNWfTr

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-9QO09Ql5nl

Devo Eventim Apollo 19th August 2023 - A Review

 

Well this was the one that looked to be the event of the summer. Devo bowing out after a staggering 50 years as a band that has entertained and confounded in equal measure. Once describing themselves to Tony Wilson as 'the fluid in the punk enema bag' Devo, the boys in the high vis boiler suits, espoused the theory of De-evolution, a simple premise that rather than evolving as a species, human-kind was doing the exact opposite and becoming less organised and increasingly dysfunctional (switch on any new programme today and you may be inclined to agree with them).

So, this was my first (and last) time of seeing Devo and I was exited at the prospect, something rather rare for me and gigs these days. We headed to the Duke of Cornwall pub just around the corner from the Eventim Apollo (Hammersmith Odeon to anyone over the age of 50) where I was amused to see, and not in the least bit surprised to see, a throng of people sporting energy domes. I was even more amused when a couple walked past the pub in the direction of the venue wearing improvised yellow boiler suits topped of with 'budget energy domes' courtesy of the garden section of Home Base... actually plant pots.... absolutely brilliant. 

As we entered the art deco auditorium a lone man could be seen with a couple of turntables in the middle of the expansive stage. That was Rusty Egan, formerly of The Rich Kids and Visage who was trawling through some electronic hits of the early 1980's. 

With Rusty gone, Rod Rooter, the band's music executive creation introduced the band to the stage from a huge cinematic backdrop, that promised something akin to a Kraftwerk gig but with guitars!

Photo: Paul Jenner.

Opening with 'Don't Shoot (I'm A Man) from 2010's 'Something For Everybody', the band's last studio album, the audience were soon into more familiar territory with the likes of 'Going Under'. Girl U Want' and 'Whip It'. The visual accompaniment to the music was as stunning as it was garish.... Total Devo! Of course the band went through their repertoire of images, from the 'Whip It' outfit to the 'Are We Not Men?' yellow Hazmat get up!

Halfway through the set they delivered the Holy trinity of 'Are We Not Men?' tracks, 'Uncontrollable Urge', 'Mongoloid' and 'Jocko Homo' at which point I was pretty much in spud heaven!

Photo: Paul Jenner.

It was in fact pretty much a greatest hits set but such a stylish way to bow out. Proceedings were wrapped up by Booji Boy's rendition of 'Beautiful World' and just for 90 minutes within the walls of the Hammersmith Odeon it was... even if Devo didn't mean it!

My only disappointment of the night was that by the time I left the pub for the gig the merch stand had sold out of energy domes and I so wanted one, although where on earth you could wear one, if not at a Devo gig, I have yet to fathom!

Thank you Devo, for daring to be different!

Gary Numan St John-at-Hackney London 16th October 2023

 

Following on from the previous post here is the first of the London dates and an excellent effort it is too, great sound. Thanks to Chatts for the share!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-vJ2ispBQ4k

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-ktXtD5MRWU

01. Intro/When The World Comes Apart
02. You Are In My Vision
03. Stories
04. For The Rest Of My Life
05. The Life Machine
06. Metal
07. I Am Screaming
08. The Machman
09. Lost
10. Mercy
11. Ghost Nation
12. Everyday I Die
13. Down In The Park
14. Crime Of Passion
15. Bleed
16. And It All Began With You
17. Jo The Waiter
18. Cars
19. Are 'Friends' Electric?

Gary Numan St John-at-Hackney London 16th October 2023 - An Opinion

Gary Numan

St John at Hackney London

16th October 2023.

It's early evening, Monday, and I am making my way to Church. No, I have not seen the light, rather I am here for one of those increasingly popular music gigs (with a difference) in a functioning, consecrated Church. Perhaps it was the Union Chapel in Islington that started this trend but it seems to be gaining traction as a thing to do for those intimate 'songs and stories' kind of gig. I am guessing that it is a lucrative option for the Church as well. I would imaging that more money goes over the bar in two hours than makes it into the collection plate over a month of Sundays! That must be true judging by the price punters were being charged for drinks on the night.... £6.20 for a 330ml can of 4% beer for the curious.

Even stranger than the setting was the fact that the man we had gathered to see on this pleasant October evening was none other than Gary Numan, a man who for the last 30 years has filled his albums with songs robustly denying the existence of God and yet here he was brazenly knocking out his tunes acoustically in several of the many houses that seemingly belong to God with no repercussions whatsoever. At the very least I would expect one of the band to be struck down by a thunderbolt from the miffed man upstairs... but nothing, he and they made it through this eight date mini-tour completely untouched by the wrath of God!

With no support, the time prior to the band's stage entrance was taken up with a preview of the film of last year's return to Wembley Arena. I did find it a little odd to see fan's going through their routines to a two-dimensional screen Numan! Each to their own I suppose.

The band appeared on stage to little fanfare which kind of set the tone for tonight's performance, very informal and very relaxed. In all of the many times that I have seen Numan he had more interaction with the audience tonight than in all of the other shows put together and that was right and proper as he took the time to explain the songs and the circumstances under which they were written.

What I really appreciated about the set, and this was something that Gary was at great pains to explain, was that the band did not opt for the obvious ballady songs that clearly lend themselves to a pain free acoustic treatment. The trick is to rework some of the big, booming electronic floor shakers and make them work in an entirely different setting. That said, the acoustic style is already well suited to some of the very old Tubeway Army material as that was pretty much semi-acoustic in the first place. Thus we were treated to 'The Life Machine', 'Crime of Passion (two songs I never reckoned on hearing him ever play) and of course 'Jo The Waiter'. Throw into the mix 'Everyday I Die' and this is as close as I'm gonna get to seeing 1978 Tubeway Army!

That is the beauty of such acoustic gigs, they give the artist absolute freedom to do something different, something for an appreciative audience that is far from the norm. I guess (and Gary's often repeated references to how much he enjoyed this first acoustic tour as well as the opportunity to take the audience each night on a bit of a journey) it must be refreshing to play some of the songs you have been playing every night for 45 or more years well..... differently!

I will not give my opinions too much on the songs, but there was nothing in there that blatantly did not work once reworked. And just to say it was great to hear 'Stories'! The recording will follow so you can come to your own conclusions.

Judging by Gary's toothy grinning throughout the set I can only assume that for him this format and these dates have been an overwhelming triumph for him. And, for us the punters that can only be good news, giving him as it does a new engaging string to his musical bow. Well done that man!

Tom Robinson Band The Junction Cambridge 6th October 2023

 

The Undertones are approaching the end of a long tour to mark the 45th anniversary of 'Teenage Kicks' the band's classic paean to the teenage condition. In fairness, on the night genuine teenagers were few and far between! Across the UK dates, support slots have been shared between the Tom Robinson Band, The Rezillos and Neville Staple's From The Specials. Come Cambridge, came TRB. The only other occasion on which I have had the pleasure to see TRB was at the 'Great British Alternative Music Festival' at Butlins in Skegness in 2019. Then, Tom, 69 years old at that point, announced that in 2020 there would be a special gig event to celebrate the bass player's 70th birthday. Of course, an unforeseen medical emergency put paid to that and so much more. So on this night, Tom, 73, takes to the stage with the support of a walking stick, the result of a recent knee replacement operation he explains. The stick is soon cast aside before Tom defiantly removes his glasses. There are some serious protest songs to be sung here tonight and the man refuses to be encumbered with such symbols of age!

Tom Robinson Band

The Junction Cambridge

6th October 2023.

'Winter of '79' opens the set, followed shortly by 'Grey Cortina', a scathing observation on a car much favoured by 'straights', members of the lad culture of the 1970's who caused regular trouble back in the day for punks or anyone that failed to conform to their standards of normality for that matter.

'Wish I had a grey Cortina

Whiplash aerial, racing trim

Cortina owner - no one meaner

Wish that I could be like him.'

One of the faster songs in the TRB arsenal, Tom explained that even some of his younger band members struggled keep up with the song. He said the challenge was to bring the song in at under two minutes. They did it! 

Tom said from the stage that over the years he had repeatedly been asked about his brother Martin. He has no brother called Martin, rather a bit of poetic licence was coming into play in the man's songwriting at the time. He did however say that his drummer did have a brother that went by that name who had sadly passed away recently, so the brilliant 'Martin' was dedicated to him. 

'Martin' was the first of two dedications on the night, the second being to the TRB stalwart guitarist Danny Kustow who died of pneumonia in 2019. The man on the guitar this night had the responsibility of delivering a brilliant 'Too Goo To Be True' in Danny's honour.

John Peel, got his first mention of the evening (no prizes for guessing where his second mention came from!*). On 'Listen to the Radio (Atmospherics)' Tom sang of his reliance on the DJ's broadcasts during a low point and a self-imposed exile in Hamburg in the early 1980's.

'Glad To Be Gay' was of course in there, along with an explosive 'Up Against The Wall'. Now, 2-4-6-8 Motorway has never been a song that I liked particularly but tonight it had an interesting twist as Tom described a motorway journey out of London to Cambridge (the town of his birth), name checking the likes of Harlow (where I toil during the week), Bishops Stortford (where I live) and Saffron Walden (where he went to school). 

The set was drawing to a close, and it was a long set for a support band... but then again support was a bit of a misnomer, this was more of a double header, certainly so gauging by the audience reaction to TRB. They closed with 'Power In The Darkness'. It was inspirational stuff, humorous and political... but not preachy, Tom Robinson is not one for lecturing from the stage, his music is quite capable of conveying the politics without the need for lengthy explanations.

I love The Undertones, and they played brilliantly as ever on the night, but on this occasion in Cambridge, TRB won convincingly on points. The Undertones case wasn't helped that there was something of an issue... the band's sound? (sound out front sounded perfect), but whatever it was, Paul looked capable of murder for the first 5 or 6 songs!

* The Understones introduced 'Teenage Kicks' with reference to John Peel, who opened the Junction venue in the early 1990's.