30/10/2022 Spizzenergi, The Witchdoktors, & Healthy Junkies @ The Dublin Castle

 Another good bill at the Dublin Castle. First up are Camden regulars Healthy Junkies.

I have seen this outfit countless times now. There have been various lineups of the band over the years, but always featuring the core of Nina on vocals and Phil on guitar. They are always well worth seeing with their mixture of catchy punk/glam/grunge tunes played with passion and verve.

Next are the Witchdoktors. This is that rare beast these days - something I call a proper rock 'n' roll band. The music isn't just a style or genre - real rock 'n' roll is a spirit. and this lot have it in spades!

Sure, they can play - but real rock 'n' roll isn't about technical perfection, being in perfect time and tune - although you don't tend to ever notice these boys put a foot wrong. They play full-on old school rock & roll but with a punk edge - which is how I suspect many true rock & roll bands were in the 1950's even though 'punk' wasn't even a thing back then. Yes, they have some great tunes - but they also play them with fire & brimstone! Many bands who are excellent musicians technically can 'play' rock 'n' roll. Except they can't. Because they don't actually 'get it'. They can play all the right notes, but still be boring. They don't understand what rock & roll is actually about - attitude and rebellion. The Witchdoktors know exactly what it's about - and their cranked up high energy shows are all the better for it. Good rock 'n' roll makes people want to dance - and you will always find plenty of that going on at a Witchdoktors show.

And so to the headliners. Spizz himself is a well known character on the scene, with his carefully constructed persona and talent for self-promotion - often popping up at other band's gigs. But any scene needs it's characters, and Spizz makes an effort to be entertaining and draw you into his world.

Over many years Spizz has built up a loyal fanbase for his 'brand' - so Spizzenergi gigs tend to be well attended. He is good at self-promotion, but he works hard on stage too.

It also doesn't do any harm that in recent years he has put a really good rock 'n roll band together to back him up.

It's actually quite impressive that he has managed to keep his career going since 1979 based on just one song! Although to be fair 'Where's Captain Kirk?' is a very good song and quickly became a punk/new wave classic - a rightly deserved status that it retains to this day. Sadly it's the only Spizzenergi song that anybody apart from hardcore Spizz fans can name, and his live sets tend to have quite a few covers thrown in like Roxy Music's 'Virginia Plain'. That's not to say that Spizzenergi aren't worth catching live if you get the chance, because as I said - Spizz has a great band. And you will always get to hear that song about a Star Trek character - and who doesn't want that?

So, another good and entertaining bill at the Dublin Castle. And in spite of all the 'Live music is dead' naysayers there is a good crowd in the venue on a Sunday night out to have a good time and prove them wrong. In fact virtually all the gigs I have attended this year have been well attended, and some have sold out.