19/1/2023 Big Boy Bloater & The Limits @ The 100 Club

It was kind of appropriate but a complete coincidence that on my way to an evening of 'the Devil's music' (ie; The Blues) I arrived at the station to find this carriage awaiting me. Not for the first time I may add...

A good omen for the night I think. 😈

I arrive at the 100 Club in time to see Laura B & Her Band. Closer to swing, jazz, and jive to pure blues, but still very entertaining. Laura has great stage presence and a terrific voice!

And on to tonight's headliner. Since moving to France Big Boy Bloater has only been able to make around one trip a year back to the UK. This January sees him back in his old home country for a short tour with his band The Limits.

The world famous 100 Club is pretty much the perfect London venue for this guy.

Bloater isn't yer normal generic bluesman - he puts a different twist on things with the subjects he covers in his songs. And he also likes to tell a good story.

He's a pretty good guitarist too, and has backed up some well known figures on the blues scene as well as performing original material with his own band as seen tonight.

As well as social comment and observation there is a lot of humour in his songs, but much of his humour is very dark: Failed relationships (Oops Sorry) and serial killers (Insanely Happy) seem to crop up quite a bit, as do robots (Robot Girlfriend) and 1950's B-movie style monsters (It Came Outta The Swamp). And booze (Friday Night's Alright For Drinking).

This might be 'the blues', but it is also fun - it's not all doom and gloom and there is some lively full-on old school rock 'n' roll as well like 'Devils Not Angels' - if you want to dance - there are songs for that too! There is stuff going on in the songs on different levels and different vibes, but you will be entertained!

14/1/2023 Electrics @ The Spice Of Life

It's years since I've been to The Spice of Life to see a band - this place is virtually a secret music venue in the heart of the West End. As you walk in at ground level it's largish bar with all the old pub character stripped out of it, but downstairs is an intimate bar and music venue. It's cheap to get in to see three or four bands, and the bar has real ales at surprisingly reasonable prices for the West End and it's tourist traps. It's only McMullens so the ale isn't up to much, but compared to what else is on offer in the area I'm not complaining.

It's only the second time time seen ⚡Electrics⚡, although I think they have been going for several years. I saw them supporting Dirty Strangers at the Dublin Castle last year, and I think just missed their set when they previously supported the same band at the Mau Mau Bar a while back - it's a shame it's taken me so long to discover them. There is no sax player at tonight's show unlike the first time I saw them, but it's still an enjoyable show.

It's dirty rock 'n' roll with a bit of a New York influence - via Portobello Road and Stonebridge Park. There is a distinct punk edge and attitude - with song titles like 'No Shit'.

Electrics are good musicians with some catchy and memorable songs - I shall definitely be going to see them again...

Next up are Pseudonym. A band with a decent frontman playing generic indie rock. Decent enough musicians, but not much in the way of memorable songs.

Final band of the night is Alphawaves. The frontman appears to be trying to be a more rock 'n' roll version of Van Morrison - and like 'Van the man' seems to maybe take himself a little too seriously. He's a good guitarist and makes an effort to 'perform', but the music isn't in the same class as the pop/rock classics of the 1960's onward that he seems to be trying to emulate.

I give Alphawaves a chance and watch them for a few songs, but don't stay to the end and wander back upstairs with my drink. Soon afterwards I ironically find myself up the road in another pub that used to be the Marquee Club.

7/1/2023 The Boys, The Vulz, & Continental Lovers @ The 100 Club

Saturday night finds me back at the 100 Club for a pretty good bill. First up are the Continental Lovers - a band I finally saw for the first time at the Dublin Castle last summer. I thought they were pretty good and had a cool New York/punk/rock 'n' roll vibe going on, but could really use a second guitarist. They have since addressed that, and are definitely a better band as a result. Unfortunately the new guy is on the far side of the stage and can't be seen in my pictures, but he does bring some added depth to the sound..

Continental Lovers are finally the full package now with their expanded lineup - good songs and sound, plus image and stage presence.

The opening band are from Nottingham, but the second act hail from closer to home...

In fact The Vulz lead guitarist Gary Pearce actually resides in Barnet.

The Vulz are straightforward UK style old school punk and very entertaining.

Headliners The Boys are genuine punk originals from the first wave of UK punk, and one of the very first to release an album - their self titled debut had some great tunes and earned them the well deserved title 'the Beatles of punk'.

Although currently only featuring two original members they are still a good live band with a great back catalogue. At first glance it appeared they had comedian Bill Bailey on lead guitar - again on the far side of the stage so not really visible in my pictures...

Can you spot a member of the infamous Hollywood Brats and later the legendary London SS excitedly pointing at his former Brats bandmate keyboard player Casino Steel?

All in all another pretty good night out for a reasonable price at one of London's best music venues. 😊

Sorry about the even worse quality of my pictures than normal - my PC is currently refusing to load pictures into my usual software for editing for reasons unknown.😠