This is becoming a yearly thing now - a Wolfsbane tour including a gig in London just before Christmas. As usual the venue is full and the atmosphere is terrific - everybody singing along to their favourite Wolfsbane songs!
Sunday 23 December 2018
23/12/2018 Wolfsbane @ O2 Academy Islington
Monday 17 December 2018
Ginger's Birthday Bash 2018
Yes, it's that time of year again. The Garage seems to be becoming the regular venue for Ginger's Birthday Bash - if memory serves me correctly this was the first venue to house this popular event, although it has been at various other places over the years. This is probably my favourite venue for the event, although not entirely due to the building itself - which I am not so keen on these days. However, it is particularly easy for me to get to personally - and also has the major advantage of being only a couple of minutes's walk from a Wetherspoons as well as the station, which is even closer!
There is no support act as such as the whole evening is Ginger and friends on stage. Needless to say, I find myself in the aforementioned pub before the show - where fortunately I manage to discover the stage time at the venue - enabling me to stay in the pub till literally the last minute and avoid being ripped off by the venue's overpriced bar. As always, the show is sold out and the venue is rammed!
The evening's show started with a few (semi) acoustic numbers from Ginger's recent country flavoured album Ghost In The Tanglewood. Then as more musicians appear things gradually get louder. Share Ross from Vixen on bass, Denzel of the Ginger Wildheart Band on drums, and The Rev from the infamous Towers Of London - who has since played live with The Prodigy, been in The Howling, and more recently Ginger's power pop/punk side project Hey! Hello!.
With most of Hey! Hello" apart from singers and bassist in the house we get treated to some of that band's songs before things start to get heavier.
The guests are coming thick and fast, some more familiar than others, some for the first time at a Birthday Bash, and some repeat offenders. Making his Birthday Bash debut is punk legend Charlie Harper - still fronting UK Subs at 74 years old and showing no signs of slowing down!
Frank Turner appeared again - now becoming a Birthday Bash regular. Then came something a bit special - a reunion of a very early Wildhearts lineup - not since 1992 have Ginger, CJ, Danny, and Bam all played together. And to celebrate the event we get a bunch of very early pre-Earth Vs songs from the first 2 EPs 'Mondo Abimbo' and 'Don't Be Happy...'. This is the highlight of the night for many of us present. Then Bam handed over the drum stool to more recent Wildhearts drummer Ritch for a run though a bunch later classics from 'Earth Vs...' onwards through 'P.H.U.Q.' and 'Fishing For Luckies'.
Then towards the end of the show ex-Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe returned to the stage after 'Kicking Out The Jams motherfuckers' earlier in the evening. Michael has enjoyed a successful solo career, and Ginger even played guitar in his band for a while.
The show finished off with the almost inevitable Wildhearts classic 'I Wanna Go Where The People Go'. As always the atmosphere in the venue has been amazing and we have had a terrific evening's entertainment! See you again next year then?
There is no support act as such as the whole evening is Ginger and friends on stage. Needless to say, I find myself in the aforementioned pub before the show - where fortunately I manage to discover the stage time at the venue - enabling me to stay in the pub till literally the last minute and avoid being ripped off by the venue's overpriced bar. As always, the show is sold out and the venue is rammed!
Sunday 2 December 2018
2/12/2018 The WiLDHEARTS & The Amorettes @Koko
So after the events of yesterday, what I really need is a good night out so I can put everything out of my mind for a while.....
Enter the WiLDHEARTS.
It's not often these days that I get the chance to see the Wildhearts twice in London in one year. Also, for the second time this year I get to see The Amorettes. So down to Camden I go. The show is at Koko. Normally I'd have gone to the Hope & Anchor pub opposite the Purple Turtle for a drink or two beforehand, but both those places have closed now. I figure I might just have time for a quick pint in the pub opposite the venue instead. I enter the Lyttelton Arms to find the people running the place are obviously on the ball - Therapy? are blaring out the speakers and the place is full of people in Wildhearts T-shirts. However, the pub is so full they are three deep at the bar and it will obviously take ages to get served. I abandon the idea of a drink before the show and head back over the road to the venue with a few minutes to spare before The Amorettes hit the stage.
The original plan for tonight's show was for the Wildhearts to be supported by.... themselves as 'The Mood Swingers' playing a set of covers. This looked like being enormous fun, but Ginger has been having some problems with his voice recently and his doctor advised him strongly against performing twice in one night. So we get the Amorettes instead - which is absolutely fine with me!
Well - it's The Amorettes Jim, but not as we know them. Well not quite anyway.
In spite of the altered lineup the Amorettes turn in a great performance as usual and vox/guitarist Gill Montgomery is on fine form.
It's good to see this band making making steady progress over the last couple of years, with ever better live performances and strong materiel on their latest album Born To Break. They are certainly moving on and breaking away from their older 'female Airbourne' tag. Although not at their best tonight due to the temporary lineup change, I am already looking forward to seeing them back firing on all cylinders in 2019....
Next we get Ferocious Dog. I'd never heard of them before, but apparently they feature Fruitbat formerly of Carter USM. All their folk/punk songs sound pretty much the same to me as I feel I've seen all this done before, but better - although it wasn't my sort of thing then or now.
Although some people are obviously getting into it, Ferocious Dog fail to hold my attention at all. I soon find myself wandering off around the venue looking for possible vantage point for taking some half decent pictures of the headliners. I fail.
So, here we have the Wildhearts playing their classic debut album in full. Again. I have the T-shirt from last time. This time it's the album's 25th anniversary. Still, 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts' remains the band's 'Appetite For Destruction' or 'Led Zep 1' and I never get tired of hearing these songs. In fact, most of the album has remained in the band's setlist for virtually their whole career, and if you put together a 'Wildhearts Greatest Hits' set then most of the songs on this album would surely feature on it.
This looks like a sold out show, and as usual at a Wildhearts gig the atmosphere is amazing - if anything it's more so than usual as the anticipation for hearing those songs again is electric! Also, Danny McCormack is back in the band - something that seemed highly unlikely to ever happen. The bass player from the 'classic' lineup remains a very popular figure with the fans, although due to his ongoing problems with his 'new' leg he can only manage to stand unaided for the first song or two - something which is hopefully only a short term problem. Predictably, the place goes wild for the opening song 'Greetings From Shitsville', and the pace doesn't let up for the following 11 songs as the band tear ferociously through the first album - also including 'Caffeine Bomb' which wasn't only the original album release and only appeared later as a single before being included on later album pressings. The band are really on fire tonight and this is one of the best Wildhearts shows I have ever seen!
After the band have charged enthusiastically through the whole album they leave the stage briefly for a short break - before returning for a seven song 'encore' containing a fairly predicable but highly popular list of fan favourites/'Greatest hits - including Danny taking lead vocals for 'Anthem'. The ever popular '29 x The Pain' and 'I Wanna Go Where The People Go' bring the show to a close - and we've all got sore throats by now from singing along! Full setlist here.
Expect to see more from The Wildhearts in 2019, with a tour and festival appearances - plus a brand new album!
Enter the WiLDHEARTS.
It's not often these days that I get the chance to see the Wildhearts twice in London in one year. Also, for the second time this year I get to see The Amorettes. So down to Camden I go. The show is at Koko. Normally I'd have gone to the Hope & Anchor pub opposite the Purple Turtle for a drink or two beforehand, but both those places have closed now. I figure I might just have time for a quick pint in the pub opposite the venue instead. I enter the Lyttelton Arms to find the people running the place are obviously on the ball - Therapy? are blaring out the speakers and the place is full of people in Wildhearts T-shirts. However, the pub is so full they are three deep at the bar and it will obviously take ages to get served. I abandon the idea of a drink before the show and head back over the road to the venue with a few minutes to spare before The Amorettes hit the stage.
The original plan for tonight's show was for the Wildhearts to be supported by.... themselves as 'The Mood Swingers' playing a set of covers. This looked like being enormous fun, but Ginger has been having some problems with his voice recently and his doctor advised him strongly against performing twice in one night. So we get the Amorettes instead - which is absolutely fine with me!
Well - it's The Amorettes Jim, but not as we know them. Well not quite anyway.
There is no sign of bassist Heather McKay. Her place is filled by Morgan Pearce who does a perfectly competent job of standing in for drummer Hanna's sister. (it emerges later that Heather is absent due to a family bereavement)
Next we get Ferocious Dog. I'd never heard of them before, but apparently they feature Fruitbat formerly of Carter USM. All their folk/punk songs sound pretty much the same to me as I feel I've seen all this done before, but better - although it wasn't my sort of thing then or now.
So, here we have the Wildhearts playing their classic debut album in full. Again. I have the T-shirt from last time. This time it's the album's 25th anniversary. Still, 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts' remains the band's 'Appetite For Destruction' or 'Led Zep 1' and I never get tired of hearing these songs. In fact, most of the album has remained in the band's setlist for virtually their whole career, and if you put together a 'Wildhearts Greatest Hits' set then most of the songs on this album would surely feature on it.
Expect to see more from The Wildhearts in 2019, with a tour and festival appearances - plus a brand new album!
Saturday 1 December 2018
How come it never rains.... Part 2: Do bad things come in threes?
It's now December and winter is looming. I've been thinking of taking the bike off the road for the winter as my journeys to work on it have ceased to be enjoyable due to the cold and the dark. Any time now the council will start putting salt on the roads again - not good for a motorcycle made mostly of aluminium!
Very early on Saturday morning I'm woken up by someone at the door. I decide it's either somebody ringing the wrong bell by mistake or trying to stuff leaflets though letter boxes - I'm not getting out of bed. A bit later at around 7.30 it happens again - but whoever it is is being more persistent. Not in the best of moods I crawl out of my pit - maybe it's the police and there has been some sort of incident outside? It's my next door neighbour. He tells me my bike has been stolen during the night! He says he heard a clinking sound at about 3.30 in the morning - he looked out the window but couldn't see anything. When he went out to work later there was only a motorcycle cover attached to a padlock and chain thrown on the grass next to where my bike was parked. Closer examination of the chain showed an attempt had been made to cut through it with bolt cutters, and when that didn't work an angle grinder had been used. You would have thought the noise from that in the middle of the night would have woke up the whole neighbourhood? The clinking noise my neighbour heard was obviously my motorcycle chain.
The theft must have been planned in advance. A few weeks ago I was out working on my bike when a kid on a moped rode into the car park and rode round without stopping but blatantly having a good look to see if there was anything worth nicking - he had a good look at me and the bike as he rode off again. It was pretty obvious what he was up to. A while after that I came out one morning to find the cover had been half pulled off my bike overnight. Someone had obviously been having a good look to see what sort of machine was hidden under the cover. A similar thing had happened with my previous bike a year or so ago, but as no one ever came back to steal it I assumed it wasn't what they were looking for and they were only interested in mopeds and scooters. Also, my bike was a single seater so no use for the sort of crimes that involve having a passenger on the back. I assumed that was also the case this time and my bike wasn't the sort of machine they were after. It looks like I was wrong. The bastards must have planned the robbery in advance - maybe waiting until they had a buyer lined up. They must have been well organised and came round mob-handed in the middle of the night. The bike under a cover, chained up, and had the steering lock on. It was right up against a kerb with cars on the other three sides - so they must have had enough people to lift the bike up (weighing over 400 pounds) over the kerb and into the back of a waiting van. As well as footprints I found a mark the sidestand had made digging into the grass as they got it over the kerb.
The police were absolutely fucking useless - apart from giving me a crime number for insurance purposes. I had reported the recent incident with the pulled off motorcycle cover (as well as the similar incident last year) but they said there was little they could do at the time. All the local polices stations have been closed over the last few years and the nearest one is now in Colindale - a 25 minute drive away. The only thing locally is a part time 'plastic police' pop-up cop shop style thing in the village - but it never seems to be fucking open! I checked it's opening times online and walked down there when it was supposed to be open - but it was shut! In past experience I have found ringing 101 to be fucking useless - endless menus and keypad pressing sending you round in circles without ever getting to actually speak to anyone. I eventually had to resort to reporting the theft online without any contact with a human being. In due course I got an e-mail giving me a crime number, but little else. A few hours later I actually received a phone call from a forensics officer - who told me they weren't even going to bother sending anyone round to check the cut through chain and lock for fingerprints. No one from the police came round at any point to look at the scene of the crime or to ask me for any details or information as to what had happened - not even a phone call, apart from the forensics to tell me they weren't interested in coming round to check for any evidence. The police could hardly be less interested - this must be a great time to be a criminal. Not only are the police totally powerless to prevent crimes such as this (mine wasn't the only motorcycle to be interfered with on the estate) but when thefts like this happen they make no effort whatsoever to investigate or catch those responsible. The criminals involved know they can operate with virtually no fear of being caught or any attempt being made to trace them.
For the second time in just over a year I have been forced to become an ex-biker, and this time after 39 years on and off it looks like being permanent. To say I am gutted is putting it mildly. It's not just the money I am losing - I had a £900 excess on my bike insurance so I've lost that straight away. Plus well over £300 I just spent on new tyres and brake pads. Owning that bike for just five months cost me a lot of money! Assuming the insurance pays out I'll still only get about half what it was worth, and certainly nothing like what I paid for it even though I got it at a very good price. Although it was a 2005 model in was in virtually mint condition and only had about 14,000 miles on the clock - it was barely run-in! It was the fastest and most powerful bike I've ever had, but I didn't even have it long enough to get used to it - I didn't even have it for a whole summer. I only got the chance to have two good days out on it. The fucking scum who took it have pretty much finished me with motorcycles for the rest of my life. I thought I had a good few years of biking left in me, although maybe on a more 'sensible' machine as I grew older, and a Super Sports Triumph Daytona 955i wasn't exactly sensible although it was a lot of fun. I am highly unlikely to ever be able to afford to replace it - and even if I bought another bike the low-life thieving bastards who stole this one will be watching to see if I get another one now they've had one off me. If I get another bike it's virtually certain they will steal that too, and there is nothing the police will do either to prevent it or catch those responsible. The same day my bike was stolen I got an e-mail from the police to say they would be closing the case.
Being a biker has been part of who I am for 39 years, and now those cunts have even taken that from me - a part of my personality, part of my very identity has been taken away from me as well as my bike. And I feel totally powerless to do anything about it. I may feel gutted by all this, but I am also very angry about it. I feel like a special chapter of my life has been ended by factors totally out of my control. Part of who I am has been taken away as well as part of my freedom.
I had virtually no car or motorcycle accidents or claims ever until just over a year ago and was on maximum No Claims Bonus. Then in little over a year I had had one motorcycle written off under me by a BMW, my car written off by that bitch a Range Rover who blamed me after admitting it was totally her fault, and now a stolen motorcycle too. My No Claims Bonus is toast, and my insurance costs are going to rise massively - all due to other people! Surely this must be the end of my run of bad luck? They say things come in threes so....
Very early on Saturday morning I'm woken up by someone at the door. I decide it's either somebody ringing the wrong bell by mistake or trying to stuff leaflets though letter boxes - I'm not getting out of bed. A bit later at around 7.30 it happens again - but whoever it is is being more persistent. Not in the best of moods I crawl out of my pit - maybe it's the police and there has been some sort of incident outside? It's my next door neighbour. He tells me my bike has been stolen during the night! He says he heard a clinking sound at about 3.30 in the morning - he looked out the window but couldn't see anything. When he went out to work later there was only a motorcycle cover attached to a padlock and chain thrown on the grass next to where my bike was parked. Closer examination of the chain showed an attempt had been made to cut through it with bolt cutters, and when that didn't work an angle grinder had been used. You would have thought the noise from that in the middle of the night would have woke up the whole neighbourhood? The clinking noise my neighbour heard was obviously my motorcycle chain.
The theft must have been planned in advance. A few weeks ago I was out working on my bike when a kid on a moped rode into the car park and rode round without stopping but blatantly having a good look to see if there was anything worth nicking - he had a good look at me and the bike as he rode off again. It was pretty obvious what he was up to. A while after that I came out one morning to find the cover had been half pulled off my bike overnight. Someone had obviously been having a good look to see what sort of machine was hidden under the cover. A similar thing had happened with my previous bike a year or so ago, but as no one ever came back to steal it I assumed it wasn't what they were looking for and they were only interested in mopeds and scooters. Also, my bike was a single seater so no use for the sort of crimes that involve having a passenger on the back. I assumed that was also the case this time and my bike wasn't the sort of machine they were after. It looks like I was wrong. The bastards must have planned the robbery in advance - maybe waiting until they had a buyer lined up. They must have been well organised and came round mob-handed in the middle of the night. The bike under a cover, chained up, and had the steering lock on. It was right up against a kerb with cars on the other three sides - so they must have had enough people to lift the bike up (weighing over 400 pounds) over the kerb and into the back of a waiting van. As well as footprints I found a mark the sidestand had made digging into the grass as they got it over the kerb.
The police were absolutely fucking useless - apart from giving me a crime number for insurance purposes. I had reported the recent incident with the pulled off motorcycle cover (as well as the similar incident last year) but they said there was little they could do at the time. All the local polices stations have been closed over the last few years and the nearest one is now in Colindale - a 25 minute drive away. The only thing locally is a part time 'plastic police' pop-up cop shop style thing in the village - but it never seems to be fucking open! I checked it's opening times online and walked down there when it was supposed to be open - but it was shut! In past experience I have found ringing 101 to be fucking useless - endless menus and keypad pressing sending you round in circles without ever getting to actually speak to anyone. I eventually had to resort to reporting the theft online without any contact with a human being. In due course I got an e-mail giving me a crime number, but little else. A few hours later I actually received a phone call from a forensics officer - who told me they weren't even going to bother sending anyone round to check the cut through chain and lock for fingerprints. No one from the police came round at any point to look at the scene of the crime or to ask me for any details or information as to what had happened - not even a phone call, apart from the forensics to tell me they weren't interested in coming round to check for any evidence. The police could hardly be less interested - this must be a great time to be a criminal. Not only are the police totally powerless to prevent crimes such as this (mine wasn't the only motorcycle to be interfered with on the estate) but when thefts like this happen they make no effort whatsoever to investigate or catch those responsible. The criminals involved know they can operate with virtually no fear of being caught or any attempt being made to trace them.
For the second time in just over a year I have been forced to become an ex-biker, and this time after 39 years on and off it looks like being permanent. To say I am gutted is putting it mildly. It's not just the money I am losing - I had a £900 excess on my bike insurance so I've lost that straight away. Plus well over £300 I just spent on new tyres and brake pads. Owning that bike for just five months cost me a lot of money! Assuming the insurance pays out I'll still only get about half what it was worth, and certainly nothing like what I paid for it even though I got it at a very good price. Although it was a 2005 model in was in virtually mint condition and only had about 14,000 miles on the clock - it was barely run-in! It was the fastest and most powerful bike I've ever had, but I didn't even have it long enough to get used to it - I didn't even have it for a whole summer. I only got the chance to have two good days out on it. The fucking scum who took it have pretty much finished me with motorcycles for the rest of my life. I thought I had a good few years of biking left in me, although maybe on a more 'sensible' machine as I grew older, and a Super Sports Triumph Daytona 955i wasn't exactly sensible although it was a lot of fun. I am highly unlikely to ever be able to afford to replace it - and even if I bought another bike the low-life thieving bastards who stole this one will be watching to see if I get another one now they've had one off me. If I get another bike it's virtually certain they will steal that too, and there is nothing the police will do either to prevent it or catch those responsible. The same day my bike was stolen I got an e-mail from the police to say they would be closing the case.
Being a biker has been part of who I am for 39 years, and now those cunts have even taken that from me - a part of my personality, part of my very identity has been taken away from me as well as my bike. And I feel totally powerless to do anything about it. I may feel gutted by all this, but I am also very angry about it. I feel like a special chapter of my life has been ended by factors totally out of my control. Part of who I am has been taken away as well as part of my freedom.
I had virtually no car or motorcycle accidents or claims ever until just over a year ago and was on maximum No Claims Bonus. Then in little over a year I had had one motorcycle written off under me by a BMW, my car written off by that bitch a Range Rover who blamed me after admitting it was totally her fault, and now a stolen motorcycle too. My No Claims Bonus is toast, and my insurance costs are going to rise massively - all due to other people! Surely this must be the end of my run of bad luck? They say things come in threes so....
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