13/12/2014 Dragster, Paradise Alley & Healthy Junkies @ The Unicorn

Another Saturday night in Camden - this time at the monthly 'Rock 'N' Roll Rendezvous' club which is always a good night. In my usual disorganised state I don't arrive in time to catch all the opening acts - missing Sarah Pink's set completely, and only catching part of Dirty Habit. The latter are a female fronted three piece from Manchester mixing rock 'n' roll attitude with punk and metal - the metal being provided by the guitarist with his mean looking Dean guitar. Unfortunately by the time I'd got myself a beer (not always quick at this venue) and got my camera out they finished their set. I hope to catch them again sometime and see the whole show...

Next up were recently reformed 1990's Glam/sleazesters Paradise Alley. The band played well and the singer had great boots. The songs aren't bad either.

If you think one of the guitarists looks familiar it might be because Taj also plays with the current lineup of the London SS - see my previous Blog post. Brady from that band is also present in the crowd tonight.

It's the second time I've seen the band in 2014 and they play better than the last time I saw them when they sounded like they could use more rehearsal time.

Next up is the hardest rocking band of the night.This is dragSTER and they mean business!

The singer Fi's hat has been borrowed from London SS/Hollywood Brats guitarist Brady who is down at the front enjoying the show!

Although Dirty Habit had a heavy sound earlier, Dragster have a meaner and more intense vibe.

This band impressed me the previous time I saw them at this venue and they are just as good tonight. They play hard and mean, but they have good songs too - something many of today's heavier bands tend to overlook in their efforts to be heavier and more aggressive than all their peers - who are also doing exactly the same thing and ensuring they all sound the same too. Most those other bands are easily forgettable clones of eachother - but you'll remember this lot.

This is another band featuring a singer with great boots! Dragster definitely have the most animated singer of the night - Fi is a real ball of energy and attitude and the rest of the band really play like they mean it.

As usual at these monthly  'Rock 'N' Roll Rendezvous' nights Healthy Junkies finish off the show with their mixture of punk, pop, and grunge tinged tunes. This band are consistently one of the best performing acts on the circuit - going to show that hard work and just getting out there and playing all the time really can make all the difference to how good a band are.

Of course it helps if a band has good songs too - Healthy Junkies now have two albums out and they have loads of excellent songs to choose from. There are plenty of bands out there who build a reputation from energetic live shows, but nobody remembers their songs - because they aren't actually very good. Healthy Junkies have songs you can remember - especially if you see this band more than once - then they really start getting stuck in your head.

It's been another top value for money night - free admission and cheap beer even by pub standards. It was cool to meet some of the Team Rock Radio crew too. The Unicorn is a venue I always enjoy going back to - unlike some of Camden's much more famous ones.