9/8/2020 Jimmy C & The Blues Dragons @ St Mary's Tower

Ironically after several months of Covid-19 lockdown and therefore no gigs, the first band I get to see post-lockdown is the last band I got to see before lockdown. It's Jimmy C & The Blues Dragons again, but in a very different venue. In fact this outdoor venue is totally unlike any other I have ever been to. St Mary's Tower is all that remains of a church dating back over five hundred years.

It really is a special place, and a very unusual music venue - quite unique. Music events here are free, although today's is in aid of a cancer charity so donations are very welcome. It's just round the corner from Hornsey Station on the line out of Kings Cross so very easy to get to. On a nice summer's day St Mary's Tower is a lovely place to visit, but if it wasn't for Jimmy C & Co I would never have known it was there - even though I sometimes pass nearby on the train and have driven/ridden just round the corner from it many times. It turns out that Jimmy lives locally and has already played a few events here.

There is no stage as such, but the band set up on the steps just in front of the tower which just as good -  with plenty of room for a full band including horn section.

The outdoor acoustics are surprisingly good and it is a very pleasant place to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The tower itself is quite spectacular and has been rebuilt and added to at various times over the past few hundred years.

I can't imagine the previous users of the church could ever have imagined the use it is being put to now, but Jimmy is obviously loving it!

There are a few guest musicians - including a horn section and Max from Lord Algae. Jimmy C & The Blues Dragons crank out their brand of rock and blues to their usual high standard. Jimmy performs one of his own songs today which has a very specific and historical connection to this place. The song is called 'Jacob Walker' and is about a man who is buried in the churchyard just yards away from the spot where Jimmy is singing about him. The song tells the story of a slave who travelled from America with his mistress to become 'her faithful servant' in Highgate - they both died only two weeks apart in 1841 aged 39 and are buried together here in St Mary's churchyard. This place certainly has some stories to tell. When the band had a break I took time to have a good look at the tower and also explore the churchyard - there are information boards scattered around and I found it all quite fascinating.

As there are no 'facilities' as such like toilets or refreshments you need to improvise a bit by bringing your own food and drink - but the nearby Great Northern Railway Tavern seems happy to let people attending events at the Tower use their toilets - which also gives me a chance to pop in for a pint - they have some nice ales in there and it's a proper old fashioned pub.

All in all it's been a very nice day out with some good music and some interesting history to delve into - I shall definitely be back.

Super Saturday?

Pubs. I don't think this will be 'Super Saturday' - I think it's more likely to be 'Stupid Saturday'. Seeing the recent moronic behaviour of football fans in Liverpool and the countless thousands of idiots crowding onto the beaches at Bournemouth I am only too well aware that these are the sort of people - amongst the worst that British humanity can offer. that will be cramming into the pubs today. I am not anxious to join them. Our (in)glorious Prime Minister has appealed to people to exercise their 'common sense ', but a large proportion of our modern day society have shown that they don't have any! It doesn't take a genius to figure out that any attempt (if any is even made by these people) at 'Social Distancing' will go out of the window after a few pints - it's human nature and pubs are meant to be social places. With the new restrictions they won't be.

'Going to the pub' should be in informal and spontaneous thing, but now you will have to book a table in advance. How is this going to work for the many people who go to the pub on their own just for a pint or two and to see who is around? And with reduced capacity inside you will probably find there are no tables left available if you ring to book one. And like restaurants tables may only be available for a limited time - so having a 'session' will be out of the question. Apparently if you are outside in the beer garden and it pisses down with rain you may be refused entry into the pub to take shelter due to social distancing rules. Doesn't sound like a fun day or night out does it? I have absolutely no interest in going to the pub under those conditions.

Also, with the increased staffing that will probably be necessary along with reduced capacity meaning less paying punters I suspect many pubs will struggle to just break even never mind make a profit - and with most having several months back-rent still to pay due to the enforced closure. It's not surprising that some pubs don't think it's even viable to open up for the time being - will they survive?

Pubs will become regulated 'No fun zones' with no standing at the bar or anywhere else. Queues for the toilets will be too much to endure for many - especially the old or those with medical conditions. Pubs may become old codger free zones as these valued regulars no longer feel welcome or find pubs provide an environment they can no longer remain in. I look forward to be being one of the 'old codgers' in my local one day, but now this may not be possible...

I am actually desperate to get back to the pub, but only if and when it get's back to something like it used to be before lockdown. Maybe it never will. To me pubs and the live music scene are a vital part of our culture, and I would be incredibly sad to lose those things as that is where virtually all my friends come from as well as most of my social life.

I have missed the pubs a lot over the last four months, but I know I can survive a few more months without them if I have to - and it will be hard not being able to go to the pub during the summer. But with all the current restrictions in place it doesn't look like being an enjoyable experience at all so I will give it a miss until things improve.

I think there is likely to be a spike in a few weeks time as a direct result of the latest easing of lockdown and idiots like we have seen in Bournemouth and Liverpool - so I don't think we will be getting back to anything like 'normal' any time soon. The dreaded 'R' number in London went up to 1.1 the day before the pubs were allowed to open again - so maybe we will have to wait for a vaccine before we can get back to normal - and that might be at least a year away...

So if DAB radio is mostly shit audio quality and fails to live up to it's initial promise then what about apps?

To continue from my last post....

So DAB radio has turned out to be disappointing due to most stations broadcasting in muddy sounding mono and not living up to what we were initially promised. 'Great sound quality' we were told. 'Really clear sound' we were promised. Well what a load of bollocks that turned out to be - with (very) few exceptions. So if you like rock music and good quality sound then what else is there in 2020?

FM radio is still a thing, but there not so much left on there these days amid the pirate stations and other interference. The 104.9 frequency once occupied by the great (in it's earlier days) Xfm has now after various and increasingly dire takeovers been inherited by Radio X. This station evolved from the former Xfm as it ditched it's old 'Alternative' tag and lost it's independence. It used to play a wide variety of rock music from classic rock to indie, grunge, shoegaze, punk, alternative, and heavy metal. You could hear Pulp sandwiched between Metallica and Iron Maiden. Then maybe Oasis or blur followed by Motörhead or AC/DC. The Sex Pistols rubbed shoulders with Suede and Bowie. They played bands like The Wildhearts that other stations wouldn't play. You could hear heavy metal and punk in the daytime. It was great! Since it's rebrand as Radio X it's playlist is much narrower and focuses on indie while seemingly obsessed with the 1990's. Great DJs like Ian Camfield and Claire Sturgess who absolutely (no pun intended Claire!) love music have been replaced by 'personalities ' - presenters who love the sound of their own voice instead and have little or no interest or knowledge of music. Ironically, although Radio X are on DAB it's virtually old AM quality mono and the station sounds far better if you listen to it on old fashioned steam powered FM stereo.

So if there isn't much on FM these days and most rock stations on DAB sound shit, then what is the alternative? Virtually all DAB/FM stations also broadcast over the internet. Actual 'Internet radios' are a thing now, although not many people seem to have them. I've never had one so don't ask me if they are any good - if you want to know more, Google is your friend...

So, as I said more or less all DAB radio stations also broadcast online. It is even still 'broadcasting' if it's online? We'll save that argument for another day...  So even if you don't have a proper radio you can still listen on your PC or laptop. And guess what? All these stations that broadcast in shitty mono DAB are in reasonable quality stereo if you listen online.  But maybe you don't want to slow your computer down with extra windows or 'Players' by tying it up with streaming online audio while getting on with other work or gaming? Or maybe you don't have decent speakers connected? Or maybe you just don't want to be tied to your desk and maybe one room while listening to the radio?

So what else is there? Oh yes, apps. Nearly every radio station now has it's own app you can download for free onto your phone or tablet. In fact some stations are on app or online only now - mainly because it's cheap, although online only stations such as TotalRock have been around nearly as long as the internet itself. Sadly, TotalRock don't seem to currently have an app. I've got to say, I've never been very keen on listening via an app on my phone for various reasons; If I'm out and about I don't want to use up all my data, and radio apps gobble it up pretty quickly. My Wi-Fi at home is pretty good and my broadband is OK most the time, but there are plenty of things that can (and do) go wrong between my home and wherever their  audio is streaming from. Also, some apps are more reliable than others. So I often find that listening via app is a bit flakey. One of the great things about FM or DAB is that virtually as soon as I press the power button I am listening to live radio. If I don't have a phone or tablet already powered up and online I have to wait for several minutes for it to power up, let it fuck about with any downloads and/or messages & social media notifications etc before I can hear any music. This isn't acceptable. Especially in the morning when I'm in a rush to have breakfast and get ready to go out to work. Apps can be temperamental, forget your login details, or just refuse to play. Also, a certain online/app only rock station has to regularly apologise for it's stream going down....

However, apps do have their advantages. Those DAB stations that have shite quality mono audio (see my previous rants) have much better quality sound via their apps and stereo too - so in spite of all the hype and bullshit about quality clear sound on DAB they sound far better through an app and earphones plugged into your phone. Or bigger and better speakers connected to your phone via Hi-Fi.

I have just got a really nice sounding stereo DAB radio with Bluetooth connectivity - so I can listen via phone app/Wi-Fi though the radio. And Planet Rock now sounds far better than on DAB and is in stereo too! Suddenly I don't hate apps so much. I did previously plug my phone via an aux socket into my Hi-Fi to get decent audio quality (although still with flaky app/net issues) but Bluetooth makes this easier and more enjoyable - although it's one more thing to go wrong. Apps can also be useful for listening in the car to stations that aren't on DAB or FM - I refuse to listen to Planet Rock in my car as even though my car's built in Infotainment system sounds pretty good the P.R. DAB signal is still muddy sounding mono and sounds shit. But I can listen via the Planet Rock app via Bluetooth and it is stereo and so much better sounding.

Apps also (mostly) tell you the artist and song title - unlike some DAB stations some of the time, and also have very handy 'Listen again' features on most stations so you can listen to your favourite shows if they aren't on at a convenient time.

I assume if you are still reading this you are probably a rock fan - if not there is unlikely to be anything here you'll be into, but you never know...

So what apps do I recommend?

Primordial Radio Rising from the ashes of Team Rock Radio - originally on DAB, then app only. With a new business model and growing slowly but steadily for several years now Primordial is a subscription only app & online station with probably the widest selection of rock music you'll find anywhere. Rock, but with less roll, it leans towards the harder more extreme forms of metal, but you'll also find classic rock (but not overplayed like most stations) punk, grunge, blues, maybe an old school 1950's rock & roll song, and the odd fun curveball you really wouldn't expect! If like me you don't like 'singers' who grunt, growl, and scream you might not be very keen on some of the more extreme stuff they play, but the people are nice and there is a FREE 3 month no strings attached trial subscription offer at the moment so it's well worth downloading the app and giving it a try. Use this code. There is also a 'On Demand' feature to listen to or repeat your favourite shows, and there are podcasts too. No cleaned up 'radio edits' - just music as the artists intended it to be heard. Totally independent and advert free they answer to no one and play totally what they (and hopefully you) want. Because Primordial aren't owned by anyone else they play a lot of artists that Planet Rock & Kerrang won't play because they are in the pockets of advertisers and record companies...

Feedback Radio Starting late in 2019 this station has also risen from the ashes of Team Rock. Featuring guitar based rock of 'All Eras, All Genres' but mostly less extreme than Primordial - although there are a couple of shows specialising in the heavier more extreme side of things. Blues musicians Big Boy Bloater, Kris Barras, and Jack Hutchinson have their own shows. Metal Hammer and Classic Rock magazines both have their own shows too. And legendary rock DJ Nicky Horne has a great show on the station as well. There is loads of music from new bands, as well as sparingly played old classics, punk, rock & roll, indie, metal, blues, and old bands you'd forgotten about or never heard of. But the quality is first rate! There is probably more music on this station than any other - minimal chat, no news or on air adverts at the moment. Independently owned and definitely driven by people who love music. Like Primordial no Nanny State 'radio edits' - as these stations are online only and not broadcast over radio airwaves there is no Ofcom to answer to so they can get away with swearing in song lyrics. This station plays music for grown ups. No 'Listen again' feature yet, but this seems to currently be the most stable app and steam going. A breath of fresh air - this is the rock station that plays the music Planet Rock and Kerrang! should be playing but won't. Feedback Radio is currently the only station that ticks all my boxes as far as genres and eras go, so I am finding myself listening to it more that any other station at the moment.

Planet Rock One of the best apps for features, and it also sounds much better than the station's output on muddy sounding mono DAB. Less adverts while listening on the app too. More new music and new bands these days compared to what this station used to play, but otherwise tired and unimaginative programming with the same songs and artists constantly played to death! The New Rock and the Blues shows are well worth a listen, and Danny Bowes and Alice Cooper's shows are entertaining.

Kerrang! Radio Owned by the same people as Planet Rock but aimed at a teenage audience. No longer on DAB or FM - just app/online only Less Classic Rock (although still playing the token obvious songs) and more grunge, nu-metal, screamo, etc. Like Planet Rock this station sounds much better and in stereo on the app compared to it's even more shite low bitrate mono DAB signal.

Hard Rock Hell Radio. Formerly TBFM (Total Biker FM) this station is now less independent than before but still plays a wide variety of rock music. App and website more flakey than most so I didn't include a link as it crashed my PC.

Locally (for me) there is EN5 Radio available on the TuneIn Radio app. I am a bit confused by the concept of a 'Local' internet only radio which claims to have listeners all around the world. I get how an FM station can be 'local' and broadcast to a small local area, but what's 'local' about the internet? It's not a 'rock' station, but does feature a weekly hour of Symphonic Metal - check out John McCann's 'Metal Maelstrom' show at 21.00 on Wednesday nights if that's your bag.

So as far as I'm concerned apps definitely aren't the future of radio, but they have their uses and are here to stay. They are far too unreliable for me to do without a 'proper' radio at home or in the car as they have a tendency to just STOP without warning at fairly regular intervals - usually just as it's getting to my favourite part of a song or somebody is actually saying something interesting. Even if an app is pretty stable you are still at the mercy of continuous internet/broadband/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth coverage at home, work, or in the car. It only takes one thing in that chain to go down and your 'radio' stops dead - and often takes some fucking about from you to get it going again. If I'm just popping out in the car to do my shopping I'm not going to spend time messing around with apps and Bluetooth just for a short drive - I'll go straight to whatever (stereo) DAB station is currently playing a show that I like. I try to listen to Dewsbury on Primordial in the car on my way home from work, but the app doesn't seem to get on well with my phone/SatNav on my phone so I usually have to give up as I'm not prepared to spend 5 minutes fucking about trying to make it all work before I can drive off. The Kerrang! app can be temperamental  in my car too and 'forget' my settings. - so it's back to NME or 6Music on DAB for my journey.

The Great DAB Swindle continues....

I had a rant about this a while ago, but a few things have changed since then so I'll give an update. Xfm went downhill and eventually rebranded itself as Radio X. All the old DJs who actually cared about music were replaced by 'personalities' who knew or cared little about music but cared a lot about themselves and the sound of their own voices. Most of them are incapable of carrying a show on their own. The station had already given up it's 'alternative' status while it was still Xfm, but as Radio X it became a station that sidelined rock and alternative music and played almost nothing but indie bands, while seeming obsessed with the 1990's. Xfm's old good quality stereo DAB signal was downgraded to a lesser quality mono signal - so my original reason for getting a DAB radio was gone, although Radio X do still broadcast in London on Xfm's old 104.9 FM frequency in stereo. Ironic as now the station sounds far better on old fashioned FM than it does on new fangled DAB.

The old standby The Arrow had a good quality stereo 128kbps signal, no adverts, and no DJs or news, but a rarely refreshed rock playlist that seemed to include no music made after the 1990's. It must have been a computer broadcasting from a cupboard somewhere in London, but I never managed to find out who funded it. Or why. Maybe it was just there to promote DAB radio? Eventually the signal was downgraded to 96kbps mono as well. Later the quality was restored to 128kps stereo, but adverts started appearing -  I guess the money was running out, and eventually it stopped broadcasting and quietly closed in September 2019.

Kerrang! Radio also went downhill. After splitting from the magazine of the same name many years ago it started to add more poppy music to it's playlist and it now seems to aim very much for the schoolkid market. It still plays more current metal as well as newer bands who sound very much to me like pop bands pretending to be 'rock' in a bit for credibility - some of them are virtually boy bands in rock clothes and really belong on Radio 1 not on a 'rock' station. Although these bands all pose around with guitars on stage you often can't hear any guitars in their mix at at all on the radio - which is ironic as the station is named after the sound of a power chord played very loud on an electric guitar!  It's DAB signal was poor quality 80kbps mono and eventually stopped broadcasting on DAB although it was still available on FM stereo in London for a while, and then the FM signal was dropped too. Kerrang! Radio is now only available online or via an app.

The many Absolute radio stations all have really shit quality mono DAB signals crammed into their bandwidth - it's all about money. Their premier Absolute Radio station is a poor quality 80kbps mono, and their Absolute Classic Rock (for those determined to only live in the past) is an even more shite 64kbps. The sound quality is so bad I can't bear to listen to them. Absolute is all that's wrong with DAB radio; The potential is there for great quality clear stereo sound, but after all the hype instead we have foisted upon us a return to the poor quality AM radio mono sound from tiny transistor radios in the 1960's. Progress - what progress? We are actually listening to worse quality sound now than on FM stereo in the 1970's and 80's. I refuse to put up with this shit.

Team Rock were a new contender on DAB for a couple of years. No adverts and a very promising start with a fiercely independent ethos, although poor quality mono sound. Loads of great new bands, and a very welcome return to the airwaves of Nicky Horne - once of Capital Radio with his great 'Your Mother Wouldn't Like It' rock show. It seemed too good to be true, and with a poor business model ultimately it proved to be so and they went bankrupt - largely due to the exorbitant cost of a DAB licence. Some of the people involved went on to form online/app only Primordial Radio - which from a modest start is slowly but steadily growing with it's no ads/subscription service. Also from the ashes of Team Rock Feedback Radio appeared in late 2019 playing all eras of guitar based rock. It's only available online or via app, although it does look very promising and now features a show by Nicky Horne.

Planet Rock are still going and are now owned by Bauer Media who also own Kerrang! Radio among many other stations. Unlike Kerrang! Planet Rock are still on DAB, but no longer at their old excellent quality stereo 128kbps signal. Like most if not all Bauer's stable they broadcast in poor quality low bitrate mono - currently at a feeble 80kbps. Personally as someone who takes my music seriously I find this insulting. I invested in a separate DAB tuner to replace my old FM tuner in my hi-fi stack, and now own a total of 4 stereo DAB radios if I include the system in my car - so I am quite offended that after all the hype about how great DAB sound quality is I am still expected to put up with low bitrate poor quality mono DAB sound quality from most stations. There is even a current advert on Planet Rock plugging the wonders of DAB radio and how you get 'crisper sound' from it. Not on Planet Rock you don't! Ever get the feeling you've been swindled?

It's not all bad news though; As some stations fall by the wayside new ones pop up. There is even a new DAB station specially for builders! Fix Radio pays a mixture of indie and pop, with the odd classic rock song thrown in. It's another station that seems to be aiming for a slightly older audience judging by the amount of 90's and 00's music they play, although there is some new stuff too. Ugly Phil was good on the breakfast show but was made redundant in April. Unfortunately Fix broadcasts in poor quality mono, but stereo is available on their rather good app. I don't like listening on apps though - they tend to be too flakey and unreliable. I might write a separate post about apps... Another new DAB station leaning towards rock is NME, but this seems to be just a test signal and is only available in London. NME seems to be taking on from where The Arrow left off - no presenters, news, or adverts and it just seems to be a computer playing indie and rock, but with a wider time scale and genre mix. NME does currently broadcast in good quality stereo so is worth checking out and maybe adding to your presets.

Only the BBC seem to be able to continue broadcasting on DAB at an excellent quality 128kps in stereo for 6 Music and Radio 2 - with makes it so much more of a pleasure to listen to. Consequently most of my DAB listening time is now spent on 6 Music - although I do often get frustrated with how much talking there is on a station called 6 Music!

A few years ago there were several dedicated ROCK stations broadcasting good quality stereo sound on DAB. Now there are virtually none and we are expected to put up with muddy sounding mono signals. It's not good enough.

A rant. This fizzypopvirus is getting to me - and I haven't even caught it. Yet. *offensive language*

<rant> Nice simple easy afternoon - or so I thought. Finished work at lunchtime and just a couple of quick things to do on the way home - should only take 5 minutes or so. Pop into the bank to pay a bill. Only a small amount on a credit card - which I shouldn't have had to pay at all if Farcebook hadn't tricked me into paying extra for an advert for one of my gigs after giving me free credits for adverts. Cunts. Actually, I thought I'd already paid this bill via online banking a week ago so I'd forgotten about it. What I didn't know was that my payment had been immediately returned - for reasons unknown, although I had already successfully used this payment method between these same two accounts last year. Then a credit card bill arrived for the Farcebook ad this week - with interest as I apparently hadn't paid it! Cunts.

10 minutes at the front of a non-moving queue with only two cashiers working. Then told I can't use my debit card from my other bank to pay the bill. No cash on me. Bank's own cashpoint out of order. Directed to another one a few minutes walk away. This one confirms I have plenty in my account - then refuses to let me have any of it. I only needed a fiver! Minimum amount the machine will dispense is £10 - so I ask for £10. It still won't give me any of my own money. Walk further down the road to cashpoint number 3 - it generously lets me have £10 of my own money. Ironically I used to have an account at a bank at the location of cashpoint #3 where I could have done all this business in one go, but Barclays in their wisdom decided to close it. Walk back to the other bank with folding in hand to pay their credit card bill -there is now a queue.🙄 Eventually I get to the front of the queue. Again. And payment is finally paid. It's taken me over half an hour to pay one bill for £2.40 (plus interest) at the bank. Thanks a million Facebook. Cunts.

So, onto the chemist to pick up my prescription. Fortunately it's only next door to the bank - so this shouldn't take long. Wrong. Actually it's taken a week already: There are 3 people queuing OUTSIDE the chemist. WTF? Due to all the current shit going down because of the fizzypopvirus they are now only letting 3 people into the shop at a time - 1 in 1 out. I have to wait ten minutes in the cold wind just to get into the pharmacy. This is something else I originally did online last week. Leave 2 working days to allow enough time before picking up your prescription from the pharmacy said my doctor's practice web page. I left 3 days. And then they had no trace of it when I arrived to pick it up.. Here I am a week later and it has finally turned up over the internet. Only it's STILL not ready and can I come back in half an hour? I give up and go home to get something to eat. My journey home should only have taken 5 minutes or so longer than usual to complete those 2 simple tasks.- I eventually arrive home nearly an hour later....

I have another go at picking up my prescription a couple of hours later on my way to do my weekly shop. There is now a queue of about 8 people waiting to get into the chemists. I say 'queue', but actually in this country people no longer seem to know how to queue - they just mill around and then all rush up to the door when the pharmacy assistant let's someone out. Cunts. Us British used to be so good at queueing once - society is rapidly breaking down. It's even colder waiting outside now and I have to wait considerably longer than last time, but I eventually get to the front of the queue. Again. And get my prescription. One week and three hours after I first went to pick it up - there was no queue system to get in last week. Guess what? They didn't have any hand sanitiser.

So now I just have to get my weekly shop done. I arrive around my normal time - to find I don't have to struggle to find a parking place. Which is unusual. In fact there are plenty of places. It looks like the panic buyers have been busy while I was at work earlier. Cunts. There is no sugar - for the second week running. No eggs, no toothpaste, tinned soup, baked beans, other tinned food or cashew (or any other kind of nuts) but I do manage to get everything else on my list. No toilet rolls, soap, hand sanitizer and so on of course. SO many empty shelves - all for NO reason It's like there is a fucking war on! I notice the shelves are also empty of all the beers drunk by the less discriminating, but there is still plenty of my current favourite ale.

So after several hours spent running round on errands I look forward to winding down after the working week by getting to the pub by mid to late afternoon to relax with a couple of pints.

Oh.....

</rant>

Sorry, but I really needed to vent after a long and needlessly frustrating afternoon - I know other people are going to have it FAR worse than me over the next few months or longer. But half an hour (mostly waiting outside in the cold) just to pick up a prescription at a chemist, endless supermarket shelves empty of the basics, and all pubs ,clubs, and music venues closed down - is this going to be the new 'normal' for the foreseeable future? What have we done to deserve this?

13/3/2020 Jimmy C & The Blues Dragons @ St Harmonicas Blues Club

A gig on Friday the 13th - what could possibly go wrong? This is my first visit to St Harmonicas Blues Club. It's moved from it's original location near Broomfield Park - a place that has childhood memories for me, and now it's at the nearby Southgate Club. Like much of North London Southgate has lost most of it's pubs as well as it's cinema, and the Police Station has shut. There isn't much to do in the area so I'm interested to check the place out. It's run on traditional 'club' lines instead of being like a pub or normal music venue, so I have to sign up as a member as this is my first visit and am issued with a membership card. The £5 membership lasts for a year so it seems like good value for money if I visit more than once or twice...

Anyway, I'm hear to see Jimmy C & The Blues Dragons - a band I've seen once or twice back in Barnet. I feel a bit out of place - I'm not used to clubs like this. It all feels a bit formal to me - all seated and a very middle aged and upward clientele. Not a rock 'n' roll crowd at all, and unusually there is no one here that I know. But it's the music I'm here for, and it's great. It's blues based rock - some original songs mixed in with a load of blues standards. Jimmy C always looks like he absolutely loves what he's doing - there is always that big trademark smile across his face. He sings well and is a terrific guitarist. The Blues Dragons are a great backing band as well - this is all top quality professional stuff.

I wasn't wild about the club itself - it's just not my sort of place, although I'd certainly go back it there was a band I was interested in seeing. And tonight's entertainment was top notch. Little did I realise that it would be the last gig I would go to for quite a while, and I wouldn't end up up getting good use out of my one year's club membership - in fact I would never get to use my new membership card again....

14/2/2020 Rachel Stamp @ The Underworld

This marks the return of a band who have been away for a while. As a result this is an event and the venue is full.

Unlike many bands returning after a few years away, this is the full original lineup - exactly what the multitude of fans want to see.

Costume changes, mood changes, the spirit of Bowie is in the room - his influence is never far away with this band.

Glam is back.

And rock is back. OK - we knew it never went away.

I am not the only one who thinks Shaheena looks amazing - she doesn't seem to have aged in the slightest.

I said rock is back - well the one who adds most the rock to this band's pop and glam is the fantastic Robin Guy on drums. Said by AntiProduct's Alex Kane to be "the best drummer in the UK" - and I wouldn't argue with that. His CV is amazing. He is back in more ways than one as he has had a big battle with cancer involving major surgery, but you would never know it from tonight's stunningly powerful performance. He is the ultimate showman drummer, but his playing is also amazing! He brought tonight's set to an end with the classic Motörhead 'Ace Of Spades' double stop ending - just for fun and because he could.

This was a really great rock show. A small intimate venue with a terrific atmosphere, and a fantastic performance by the band playing all the hits and more. One of the best gigs I've been to for a long time.

9/2/2020 Supersuckers @ The 100 Club

Like Danko Jones and Backyard Babies (see my previous post) The Supersuckers used to be one of my favourite live bands, but like the aforementioned acts in more recent years they have lost their edge and started to seem a bit tired. They are playing smaller venues these days too - last time I saw them it was in a small room at a converted railway station in Hackney - and it wasn't full. Still, they have some great songs so I thought I'd give seeing them at the legendary 100 Club a try.

I really miss the twin lead guitar attack of earlier versions of the band - 'Metal' Marty Chandler is great, but with only three members the band is really missing something as far as I'm concerned.

Bassist/singer Eddie Spaghetti is now the only original member of the band, and it doesn't have the spirit it once had.. Don't get me wrong - they are still a good band, but not the memorable one they once were.

They still have a load of good songs, but there is also a lot of newer material that is less so. Still, this is Supersuckers in full on 'Rock 'n' roll' mode instead of their 'country' mode they also tour and record in - so it's not going to be a boring show.

"Who want's to inspect Marty's guitar?"

"Nice huh?"

Fortunately they still play 'Born With A Tail' - not to do so would be like Motörhead not playing 'Ace Of Spades'!

A good night of rock 'n' roll, but not the great one I was hoping for. That said, Supersuckers are still a bad attitude kick-ass rock & roll country punk band that make Jason & The Scorchers look like a bunch of cissies. But not the band they once were. Let's hope by the time they come round again they will have rediscovered their mojo, and maybe got an extra guitarist back in.

1/2/2020 The Wildhearts & Backyard Babies @ The Forum

The Bull & Gate is crap these days so I went to the Southampton Arms up the road instead - much better for ales! More like a proper pub too.

Suitably refreshed I headed down the road to The Forum. For many fans The Wildhearts and Backyard Babies together is a dream bill. In fact I think it nearly happened a few years ago and a poster even appeared, but it all seemed to fall through for some reason before tickets actually went on sale. But now it really is happening and a lot of people including me are very excited. I think the show is sold out.

Backyard Babies used to be one of my favourite live bands about 20 years ago, but like Supersuckers and Danko Jones who also used to be fantastic live acts back then they seemed to lose their edge and started to seem 'tired'. I think Backyard Babies realised this and went on hiatus for a few years. They have put out two new albums since their return - one good, and one less so, but I haven't been able to catch them live again. Until now.

After hearing one or two good reports since the band's comeback I had been looking forward to seeing them again. However...

I was distinctly underwhelmed by their set tonight. The band played OK, although I've seen them better and with a lot more energy - although to be fair they are a lot older than when I first saw them back around 1998.

The problem for me wasn't so much the band's performance - it was the setlist. Most Backyard Babies fans would agree that their finest album was one of their earliest - 'Total 13' is regarded as a classic. It was hearing 'Bombed (out of my mind)' from this album on the radio that convinced me (rightly) that this was a band I had to go and see play live. But I don't think they played a single song from 'Total 13' at this show! If this was their own headline show I would have asked for my money back - and not playing 'Bombed...' was for me like the Stones not playing 'Satisfaction'.

However, I am glad to report that The Wildhearts didn't let me down. With their latest album with Danny McCormack back on bass duties they have been in fine and ferocious form both on record and as as live act.

The recent and aptly titled 'Renaissance Men' album has two or three new songs that instantly became fan singalong favourites, and the band themselves are playing better than ever.

The Wildhearts are just as relevant in 2020 as they ever were, and their lyrics and the anger contained in the new songs is now more topical than ever before. Ginger writes his best songs when he's been going through a bad time and is pissed off with the world - and there is a lot to be pissed off with in the world at the moment. However, that has resulted in some new Wildhearts songs like 'Let 'Em Go', 'Diagnosis', and 'Dislocated' that I think are future classics - every cloud has a silver lining. Of course we still get a load of the old favourites, but not quite as many as before - partly as the band don't want some songs to get too tired even if they are still popular crowd pleasers, but also because they need to make room for some of the new songs - which are really good and already popular with the fans. So now we  don't get the hugely popular '29 x The Pain', and one or two others which have been in nearly every Wildhearts set for many years. I expect those songs will return at some point and others will fall by the wayside, but who want's to hear (or play) exactly the same songs at every gig for thirty years? Oh yeah - Rolling Stones fans - and make that fifty years. Even with one or two old favourites missing I doubt anyone goes home disappointed - virtually every stage of the band's career was covered. The Wildhearts seem to be on a roll right now, but all too soon the show was over and it was time to go home.

30/1/2020 Girlschool @ The Underworld

First gig of the year, and it's a good one! The Underworld isn't the best venue when it's packed, but a Girlschool gig is always great fun - if sometimes a little chaotic!

With many albums under their studded belts this band have a large back catalogue of great songs to draw from when putting a setlist together. The first couple of albums probably have the most well known 'crowd pleasers', but their most recent albums have plenty of quality material as well - even though today's 'rock' radio stations refuse to ever play anything from them, but that's another story...

There has been a lineup change since I last saw the band - original bassist Enid has gone (again) and Tracey Lamb from Rock Goddess is back in Girlschool. Again. There seems to have been quite a game of musical chairs with bass players in female hard rock bands recently with bassists from Syteria (guitarist Jackie from Girlschool's other band), JoanOvArc, Rock Goddess, and Girlschool all moving - often between the same four bands! Tracey fits in perfectly though - as she was in the band for a while before she already knows most the songs, and she obviously gets on well with the rest of the band.

There are newer songs in tonight's set, but mostly it's the 'hits' that get played and not much from the middle period of the band's career. Probably the best choice. The band still play really well and are obviously really enjoying themselves - not just 'going through the motions' like some bands from the NWOBHM era do.

4/1/2020 A night at the Dublin Castle: The storm before the calm...

Pretending to be a bass player on this occasion - I think I got away with it. We were worried not many people would come out for a gig so early in the New Year, but actually between all the bands we got a really good crowd in. Not sold out, but the venue was surprisingly full - we thought we'd only be playing to a handful of people, but in the event we got quite a few people in specifically to see us. It was great to play this legendary Camden venue - and on a Saturday night too!

The promoter was pleased and had since talked about getting us back for another gig in the summer, but little did we know what the future held. Covid-19 ensured that by March there would be no gigs for anyone - for the rest of the year. So that was my last gig with any band for the next 18 months or so...