10/12/2011 Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth @ Nambucca

Subject	Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth @ Nambucca
DateCreated	12/28/2011 5:19:00 PM
PostedDate	12/29/2011 8:41:00 AM
	Back up to the Northern part of Holloway Road after being at The Garage down the other end a couple of nights ago - much smaller venue but much better bar tonight! Friendlier and more rock 'n' roll staff here at Nambucca too. Unfortunately I don't manage to make it down in time to catch The Duel who are on first. No London Pride tonight on the real ale pump, but the Bombardier is an acceptable substitute and much cheaper than any of the inferior beverages The Garage has to offer. The evening is off to a good start already! It gets even better when the Witchdoktors take to the stage.  I've not seen this band before although I have had them recommended to me. This lot are a proper rock 'n' roll band and they are really good! The bass player looks very familiar - it's the bloke from the Gasoline Queens. This band look the part as well as sound it - well they do while you can still actually see them. Then the smoke machine kicks in... This is the one thing which consistently annoys me about this venue - the totally over the top use of the smoke machine!  It doesn't take much smoke to make photography virtually impossible - I know several 'proper' photographers who find trying to take pictures at this venue extremely frustrating. It's so bad tonight that the band virtually disappear in the dense fog produced by this infernal machine's operator - the band feel driven to comment on it themselves during their set as they can't see us either!  Smog aside, I really enjoy this band's set and will certainly be seeing (hopefully) them again. Fortunately, most the smoke clears before tonight's headliners hit the stage. I've seen Steve Conte several times already - playing with the legendary New York Dolls, and more recently in ex-Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe's new band. Now he's back in town with his own band Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth Although I've been impressed by his guitar work with those two other bands, I've not heard anything by this band at all and go into this show totally cold without knowing any of the songs - only what I've heard by word of mouth - and the word is that this is a really good rock 'n' roll band. It turns out that that IS the (crazy) truth! Not knowing any of the material doesn't matter at all - within a few bars of the first song I am hooked. This band has some really good songs, and there is certainly something a bit special about Steve's guitar playing - he's just a natural - one of those players who doesn't appear to have to even try - the music just happens. Unlike in the Dolls and Mr Monroe's outfits he's the only six stringer in this band, but he just carries it all so effortlessly - it's not often you see a player of this sheer quality. He can shred when he want's, but that's not what he's about. The music is dirty and mean, but there's something very casual and relaxed about which makes it flow so easily while still really grabbing you by the throat and demanding your attention. Some people just are rock stars. Some just look the part and have all the carefully practiced moves - some just try too hard. It's something you've got or you haven't - Steve Conte most definitely has it. You watch the show and you wonder why he isn't already a massive rock star? There are some people who have 'Rock Star' going right through them like the words through a stick of rock (no pun intended) - they are just born with it. This is one of those people. Some people want to have it, some think they have it, but Steve Conte has it. And yet, hardly anyone has heard of him. Maybe he's cool with that and is just happy doing what he's doing? Some people just should be rock stars though. This band has a very strong New York vibe to it - they feel very much a product of it's dirty streets. They are also a really tight outfit who play amazingly well together, and yet it still feels very loose and relaxed - if that makes any sense? Although they drip the Big Apple's juice all over the stage and Steve has toured and recorded two albums as a member of the New York Dolls, he most definitely doesn't try and sound like the late Johnny Thunders like many other guitarists do - in fact he seems to deliberately steer away from it. It has to be said, Steve is an infinitely better guitarist - yet there is definitely something of the Thunders spirit in the air. Almost like a ghost, Johnny's influence still seems to seep through somehow. There is no doubt Steve Conte has 'lived the life' of a decadant rock 'n' roller, and this is strongly reflected in the subject matter of his songs. From the sleazy 'Gypsy Cab' to the dirty street rock 'n' roll of 'The Truth Ain't Pretty', the up-tempo fun and catchy pop/rock of 'Strumpet-hearted Monkey Girl' to the gritty and rollicking 'Junk Planet' - it's all here. Get the album - it's really good! Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth turn in without a doubt one of the best and most fun rock 'n' roll sets I've seen all year. I'm an instant convert and will definitey be going to see this band again when they return to the UK. I suggest you do too.

PS: This venue closed in early 2014.