20/6/2012 Gasoline Queens, Brijitte West, and Peckham Cowboys @ The 12 Bar Club

Subject	Gasoline Queens, Brijitte West, and Peckham Cowboys @ The 12 Bar Club
DateCreated	6/24/2012 6:14:00 PM
	A midweek trip to the 12 Bar Club. A good 3 band bill for only £6 on the door, and a bottle of Newcastle Brown or similar is still under £4 - but only just! This place is one of the best value for money venues in town and has an atmosphere that's hard to beat. First on tonight is a late addition to the bill. Ex-New York Loose singer Brijitte West makes a return to the live scene after a break since the shows around the release of her debut solo album. Tonight's show is a acoustic(ish) set assisted by Keef from Dead Identities and Richie from Kitty Hudson - both of whom are in Brijitte's full band The Desperate Hopefuls. The setlist consists of songs from Brijitte's solo album, and this acoustic presentation really highlights the quality of the songwriting. This is an enjoyable set and shows that Brijitte has still got it - lets hope that as this gig went so well she will be back soon with the full electric band... Next up are the Gasoline Queens - who seem to be popping up everywhere at the moment! This bunch of London rock 'n' rollers have some cracking songs of their own, as well as doing an excellent cover of the Dogs D'Amour classic 'Last Bandit' - not that surprising when at one point they were Tyla's backing band and effectively were Dogs D'Amour! Their own material is in much the same vein - so if you like the Dogs then you'll probably find it worth checking these guys out as well. They did a fine job supporting Tyla's current version of Dogs D'Amour in London last year, and have very recently supported ex-Wildheart Danny McCormack's band the Yo-Yo's too. As usual the Gasoline Queens turn in a good performance tonight, although I think they are restricted somewhat by the confines of the 12 Bar Club's tiny stage. In spite of this in my opinion they have the best set of songs of the night. And so onto the final band of the night. Eventually. The Peckham Cowboys take to the stage about an hour late. This south London crew have been building a bit of a buzz, and although tonight's other acts have each brought a fair few people in the door - the room is packed by the time this bunch of spivs take to the stage. Unfortunately I was engaged elsewhere when they started their set and had trouble finding any room to see them properly in the cramped confines of the club's tiny back room. This mob of dodgy geezers fronted by Marc Eden of Men And Gods, ex-DNA Doll and near member of Velvet Revolver, along with ex-Quireboy Guy Bailey on guitar sound not unlike what you would expect the sum of those parts to be, although so far they haven't really convinced me with their songs or live performances - but they seem to have convinced plenty of other people judging by the reception they get tonight. However, before I managed to get into a position to be able to take any pictures their set is over - after only about 15 minutes! Personally, I don't think this is good enough for a 'headline' band with supposedly a whole album's worth of songs under their belt - after all, this gig is supposed to be their 'Album release show' for 'Flog It'. Tonight they don't do enough to sell me their album and I spend the last of my cash on a bottle of Newcastle Brown instead. These spivs will have to try harder than this to flog me their black market wares. I know Marc auditioned for Slash when they were putting together the band that eventually became Velvet Revolver, but going on an hour late and then only playing for 15 minutes is not unlike the behaviour of a certain other singer Slash used to be in a band with... Still, in spite of the headiners not giving much value for money (in my opinion although I know people who will disagree) it was still a great value for money night overall at the 12 Bar, and as midweek shows here finish much earlier there is still plenty of time to catch the tube/train home. A well worthwhile Wednesday night out and still back home at a reasonable time.