28/5/2022 Syteria @ The Cart & Horses

...So I leave the Bike Shed Motorcycle Show at Tobacco Dock when it closes at 8.00 and get the train(s) to the gig - which takes a surprisingly long time considering both places are in East London.

The brand new Elizabeth Line/Crossrail is now (partly) open. I thought as it goes from East to West and most of my journeys in London go North to South I wouldn't have much use for it, but less than a week after it finally opened I was on it - twice in one night. In spite of all the media hype it's still not actually finished and won't be for another year - and you can't currently travel on it from one end to the other as it's split up into 3 sections and you have to change trains twice. However, I can report that the new stations are massive and the trains themselves seem about a mile long! However, inside the trains don't seem any better then the latest ones I use regularly on GNR - and on leaving Liverpool Street the information screens in the train aren't working. 😕 After I eventually get to Liverpool Street (via DLR & tube) The Lizzy Line train reaches Maryland pretty quickly, and I find that the venue is virtually within sight of the station - so it should be quite easy to get to in the future.

The Cart & Horses is a recently refurbished East London pub where Iron Maiden apparently played their first ever show. To be honest I doubt very much if anyone from the band or the audience in the pub that night would recognise anything at all if they stepped into the same pub in 2022. However, the people in charge of the place now have obviously spent a great deal of money modernising the pub for better or worse, and the Iron Maiden connection is now the pub's entire raison d'être. The target clientelle is obviously rock and heavy metal fans, and the place is virtually an 'Iron Maiden' theme pub - but I don't see anything wrong in that. At least the pub still exists - which is more than can be said for my local pub in Barnet that Iron Maiden once played in.

Predictably, the Maiden theme extends to the beers on offer - Trooper obviously, but also all the other currently available Iron Maiden beers from Robinsons brewery. The only snag is - the pub has no real ales available on draught at all - not even Trooper! 😮 Not good enough! The other Maiden beers on offer tend to be in small bottles and work out very expensive so you are better off sticking to Trooper as it least it comes in large bottles and is far better value for money. The usual common keg beers are available on tap for the less discriminating beer drinkers...

A new feature of the pub is it's dedicated music venue downstairs. I am guessing that this room now taking up most of the pub's beer cellar is the reason for the lack of real ales available on draught. 😞 At least there is a bar downstairs, although you have to go back upstairs when you need a piss. The new downstairs music room is modern and well equipped though. - lacking the traditional 'rock 'n' roll toilet' venue vibe with it's suspect smells and sticky floors. At least everything is painted black - as it should be. 👿

It's great to finally see Syteria back playing a London venue that is actually in London - unlike last time they played a 'London' show on tour... Actually, it's great to see Syteria after lockdown etc, now that bands can finally actually start to get out on tour again. Syteria is the side project of Girlschool lead guitarist Jackie Chambers.

Girlschool tend to have a lot of downtime between festival appearances, tours, and making new albums - so as Jackie likes to keep busy she formed her own band in her home town of Leeds. Two albums later and they are out on tour again.

Now they have new music to promote in the form of new single It Hit Me. It's much more poppy and commercial that the band's usual heavier and harder hitting songs, but ironically has been played on Planet Rock national DAB radio! Don't worry - the band haven't 'sold out' and gone lightweight, 'cos when they play this song tonight it sounds very different (and much better) than the 'single release!

Apart from this one new song, all the other material played tonight is harder and heavier - at times sounding quite like Girlschool - which isn't that surprising as some of the songs were written for Girlschool but not used.

There has been a change to the band lineup since I last saw the band; Keira Kenworthy has left to play bass in JoanOvArc and her place is now filled by the very capable Steph Dawson.

As the band are currently on tour they are tight and polished - they sound excellent - apart from the guitars being too quiet, but that's due to the venue's sound mix and not the band themselves.

As the band now have two full albums of their own music to promote there are no covers and Jackie doesn't show her punk roots with the band's often played in the past cover of the Ramones classic 'Rockaway Beach'. Fortunately Syteria's own material is strong enough to stand on it's own - 'Revolution' from the band's debut album 'Rant-o-Bot' is particularly catchy.

There is strong material on the band's second album 'Reflection' as well like rebel rouser ''Make Some Noise!', with 'Asylum' and 'Plastic Fantastic' also being standout tracks.

I'm not usually a fan of drum solos but...

...this is really good, and well choreographed as the rest of the band sit down on the stage to showcase Pablo Calvo enjoying his moment.

Then it's back to business as Julia resumes her duties fronting the band. She has a great voice and doesn't have to resort to screaming or shouting as is currently fashionable in the metal scene - give me a proper singer any time!

All to soon (actually well over an hour after the band took to the stage) the show starts to draw to a close...

...Syteria are getting their stagecraft well honed by now..

...and build up to a big ending for their final song of the night...

...Syteria show they are a polished and professional act ready for bigger stages.

This band certainly know how to end a show! Hopefully it won't be too long before they make it back to London again.

So, back to the Elizabeth Line for a straightforward journey home? Just getting from Shadwell to Maryland should have taken just over half an hour, but actually took over an hour after I tried to second guess the TFL Journey Planner on my phone thinking I knew a better route the planner had missed.. Getting home from Maryland should have taken not much over an hour...I left the venue in time for the the train around 11.00 - so far so good. I got to Finsbury Park where I had the option of the Piccadilly line to Cockfosters or my preferred faster GNR to New Barnet. I found there was a GNR suburban train even sooner than expected so I jumped on. It seemed to good to be true - and the train duly sailed through New Barnet at high speed without stopping - until Potters Bar. 'Oh well' I thought 'It will take longer but I'll just get the next train back to New Barnet'. Only there wasn't one - they had finished for the night. No buses that time of night either. So I had a six mile walk home to Dark Towers - cross country in the middle of the night. At least it wasn't cold or raining. My simple hour or so's journey home took three hours in the end. A lesson learned the hard way - don't try to second guess the TFL Journey Planner - you might think you know better and there is a quicker way, but there probably isn't.

28/5/2022 Bike Shed Motorcycle Show part 1: No pictures of bikes...

I really enjoyed the Bike Shed Motorcycle Show in 2119, but due to Covid-19 there hasn't been one since. Until now. As one ticket allows you to go to the show multiple times over the weekend, and the fact that my transport situation has changed since 2019 I decided to go on Saturday and again on Sunday. On the Saturday there was a gig (also in East London) that I also wanted to go to - so for this reason it made sense to use public transport, and then I could have a few beers at the gig later. I also got to use some the brand new Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) which has been open for less than a week - huge new stations and the trains seem about a mile long! Also, 'cos I'm a big kid at heart I wanted to make the last part of the journey to Shadwell on the DLR - so I could sit at the front of the train and pretend to be the driver! Yes, this is still a bit of a novelty to be as I don't get a chance to do it very often - or at all for the last three years due to Covid restrictions. I make no apologies for my behaviour - I wanted to be a train driver when I was a kid. Then on Sunday I planned to actually go to the show on a motorcycle - which I couldn't do last time as my bike had been stolen the previous December and I didn't think I would be able to get another one.

So, I arrived as planned after pretending I was driving the DLR train. The bike show was excellent as expected with many interesting machines on display. It is basically a custom bike show rather than a trade show trying to sell new bikes, so there are many weird and wonderful motorcycles on display - some are interesting from an engineering point of view, while some are literally works of art. However, I decided to avoid taking any bike pictures until Sunday to avoid any duplication. As this event being organised by the Bike Shed there is lots of other cool stuff going on too - you can get a tattoo, get your hair done, buy bike clothing, get a wide variety of street food, enjoy a drink at the bar or other beer outlet, or catch some live music.

Most of the acts were a little too 'Country', acoustic, or 'Americana' (I can't stand that made up bullshit term) for my taste, but Logan J. Parker managed to get my attention.

Imagine Amy Winehouse, but with a guitar and playing more blues influenced stuff, with maybe a little funk and country thrown in.

Logan is a natural and relaxed performer, and her band are good musicians although I'd prefer to see her with a more rockin' band. However, I will be seeing another blonde with a guitar and a much harder rocking band elsewhere in East London later - so this is something different to relax to before I head to the Bike Show's 'pub' for a beer before getting on the train to tonight's gig in Stratford...

15/5/2022 Big Boy Bloater & The Limits @ The 100 Club

Big Boy Bloater has been around for quite a few years on the UK blues scene, as well as playing with other artists both live and as a session player in the studio. I am late to the party and he has only appeared on my radar in more recent years - via Team Rock Radio, and a live session on Nicky Horne's excellent show on the now defunct Vintage TV. More recently he was a DJ on the great and much missed Feedback Radio. His radio shows were great fun and showcased his love and deep knowledge of 1950's (and onwards) blues, rock & roll, and R&B. However, being a musician is his main gig and in the last ten years or so he has been recording and touring with his band The LiMiTs. Since he moved to France live appearances in the UK by Big Boy Bloater & the Limits have been scarce, and as I had never seen him play live this short UK tour with The Limits was too good to miss!

The sound mix on this tour is being done by ex-Team Rock engineer/producer, ex-Feedback Radio main man and now Primordial Radio presenter Adam Whalley - it sounds pretty good too - this boy know's what he is doing. The iconic 100 Club is the perfect venue for music like this having in the past hosted so many blues and rock legends. And me. But tonight we are here to see someone far more deserving of your time. Big Boy Bloater is one of those artists who other musicians go to see, and tonight I spot members of The Urban Voodoo Machine lurking in the crowd.

With several albums under their belts the band have plenty of material to choose from when picking their setlist. Most of tonight's set comes from the band's last two albums 'Luxury Hobo' and 'Pills'. The songs are old school R&B, rock & roll, and blues based, but with a more modern lyrical twist like 'Robot Girlfriend'. The music sounds quite bright, bouncy, and uplifting - but if you listen more closely the lyrics are often very dark and touch on subjects like mental heath issues and serial killers like in 'Pills', 'Insanely Happy' and 'Every Path Has It's Puddle'. There is some dark humour ('Robot Girlfriend' again) in there as well as dealing with matters of the heart - so it's not all doom and gloom. The lyrics are witty and often put a different twist on familiar social situations - there is plenty to digest as well as entertain with songs like the surely Chuck Berry inspired 'Oops Sorry', and 'I Love You (but I can't stand your friends'. 'It Came Outta The Swamp' is a cautionary monster tale in the blues tradition, while I can identify with songs like 'Messing With The Booze' and 'Friday Night's Alright For Drinking. I think most people will find some songs they can identify with - hopefully not including the ones about serial killers!

Bloater himself has an engaging personality and a good (if sometimes dark) sense of humour - you get the feeling he would be good company down at the pub while sinking a few beers. However, in spite of the sometimes dark subject matter, this is basically a rock & roll show - and rock & roll is meant to be fun! 'Devils Not Angels' is an all-out rocker to get your feet moving and tonight is fun - for an hour or so we are well entertained by Bloater's friendly persona and charisma - he is one of those characters you can't not like. And the music is pretty good too; Big Boy Bloater is an excellent guitarist and singer, while The Limits (Steven Oates, bass guitar & Matt Cowley, drums) provide a tight and dynamic rhythm section. This has been an enjoyable and entertaining evening of live music, and afterwards I enjoy a chat with Bloater himself - it's great to finally meet after thoroughly enjoying his radio show and all our intereactions. I also buy the exclusive limited edition 'Live' CD only available on this tour - although obviously it's not a recording from this actual tour it makes a great souvenir of tonight's show.

Hopefully it won't be too long before Big Boy Bloater returns to our shores for some more shows, but it's unlikely to be before next year...

In the meantime - Feedback Radio may no longer be around, but look out for Big Boy Bloater temporarily back on the radio on another station soon...  😉

29/4/2022 King Salami & The Cumberland 3 @ The Hope & Anchor

I seem to be at this venue more often than any other since live music started to finally return after lockdown. Nice and easy to get to on the train so I'm not complaining. I wrote recently about how the Witchdoktors were a 'proper' rock 'n' roll band. There aren't many of them about these days, but here is another one.

Last time I saw this band was at The Gaff in Holloway Road - which gives you some idea how long ago that was - about 12 years actually. I saw King Salami and the Cumberland 3 at that much missed venue and I've been wanting to see them again ever since, but circumstances kept getting in the way. Until now.

Tonight they are at the excellent 'Rockaway Beach' club at the Hope & Anchor in Islington - one of London's best known pub rock venues with a very rich musical history. This monthly club night specialises in dirty rock 'n' roll and punk - right up my street and I don't make it down as often as I should. I was really looking forward to seeing this band again as they were so good the previous couple of times I've seen them. I think the lineup has changed a bit since then, but they are still really great! If anything, his majesty King Salami himself has got even better.

He also now has the best hat to be found on the head of any member of any band around.

This is rock 'n' roll stripped down to it's purest simplest form, and it's all the better for it - there is nothing here that's not needed.

Here is a band who still remember that rock 'n' roll is meant to be fun!

As well as 1950's rock 'n' roll and R&B there is a nod to punk - underlined by 'The King' referring to his guitarist as 'Captain not Sensible'.

Intended or otherwise there is certainly a visual similarity to the legendary guitarist from The Damned. As well as the music being great, the band have a terrific frontman with great stage presence.

The King exudes a confident and unique stage persona - you will remember this guy and his band if you see them

The band's name also gives a theme to some of their songs and their sausage related themes - like 'Do The Wurst', 'Less Bone - More Meat!', 'Goin Back To Wurstville,

It's not just terrific rock 'n' roll - the singer is also very entertaining between songs and has a fine line in funny banter!

There are plenty of bands around with good singers, but very few of them have that 'cheeky chappie' charisma that makes you remember them.

If you want a fun and entertaining night of old school proper rock 'n' roll - these are your guys!

1/4/2022 Warner E Hodges Band + Witchdoktors + Dead Hombres @ The Hope & Anchor

The evening kicks off in good style with Dead Hombres - who also supported the Warner E. Hodges Band at the Dublin Castle last December.

This band have a very authentic 1950's Gretch guitar/Fender amp sound. Similar attention has gone into their retro rock 'n' roll image to match their gritty sound. Their songs aren't too shabby either and they make an excellent act to kick off tonight's proceedings. Tonight was supposed to be the debut of the band's new singer Marie, but unfortunately a motor accident on the way to soundcheck put a stop to that. Apparently Marie is OK and will be making her first performance with the band later this month. Tonight Nigel continued with lead vocals as if nothing had happened, but will be stepping back from the mic in future to concentrate of guitar duties.

The next band take things up another gear. The Witchdoktors are what I call a 'proper' rock 'n' roll band.

A mix of 50's style rock & roll, 60's trash/surf rock and a bit of a punk edge. What is and isn't 'rock & roll' is a very subjective thing, and everybody will have a different opinion. I think it's a much overused term these days used to describe almost any form of rock music - when I heard a DJ on Xfm describe Coldplay as a' rock 'n' roll' band I knew it was time I found myself a new radio station. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned the Witchdoktors are very much a rock 'n' roll band and are true to it's spirit - unlike many bands I hear described as 'rock 'n' roll'.

Warner E. Hodges must like the UK - even with Covid-19 still around he is starting to tour here not once but twice  a year! At a time when many US artists won't come over at all. He only played in London about four months ago, and now he's back again - and already has another UK tour planned for October. Sorry about the shite pictures of the back of people's heads but it was a sold out show and I didn't want to force my way to the front and stand in front of people shorter than myself.

The Warner E. Hodges Band are less of a pure rock & roll band than the previous act as there is a little country mixed in - and a large helping of hard rock. No 'War Pigs' again, although to be fair the band now have two new albums to promote - and if you really need to hear their amazing version of 'War Pigs' you can buy their live album. To be honest that song might be a little too close to the bone at this particular moment in time....

There is no set list as such - Warner just reads the room and makes it up as he goes along. There are less covers and more original songs on this tour, although AC/DC fans in particular would have gone home happy. Warner likes to keep things spontaneous, and there are certainly some surprises tonight - who would have expected a country rock band to do a Wildhearts cover? I know certain members of the band would have particularly enjoyed being able to play 'My Baby Is A Headfuck'! You also wouldn't expect a country rock band to kick into a really great full on punk rock version the the Sex Pistols 'Holiday In The Sun' - with it breaking the Big Bopper's 'White Lightning' in the middle before launching back into a very spirited version of the Sex Pistols classic, but that's exactly what happened! Those two songs went down an absolute storm with the crowd. Jason & The Scorchers 'White Lies' was a great but not unexpected cover as Warner was and still is a member of that country/punk band. A rockin' version of John Denver's 'Country Roads' was pretty inevitable too, but the set was still mostly from Warner's own albums. One cover which felt more timely than ever was Neil Young's 'Rockin' In The Free World'...

All in all a terrific night at one of London's small but legendary venues. I look forward to seeing this band again later in the year...

11/3/2022 The Sam Walker Band @ Club 85

It's been a long time since I've been to a gig out of town, but this Friday night finds me hitting the road and driving out to Club 85 in Hitchin. This is a surprisingly large and rather good music venue - much better than you would expect to find in a Hertfordshire town. The event is a night of female fronted music to celebrate International Women's Day.

Unfortunately I don't arrive in time to see the first acts - a shame as Andrea Wilde & the Whiskey Chasers sound like they might have been right up my street. Cara Beard goes on soon after I arrive.

She sounds pleasant enough in an inoffensive pop kind of way. She can sing well enough and has decent stage presence.

However, with no bass player and a guitarist who spends much time fiddling with a keyboard or laptop much of the music we are hearing doesn't sound like it is being played live. Personally I find that unconvincing.

Samantha Walker is probably best known to most people as the former bassist/singer with JoanOvArc, and previously was in The Suffrajets with her sister Shelley on guitar. Sam left JoanOvArc around three years ago due to other commitments, but has now found time to launch her solo project.

Although billed as the Sam Walker Band and playing her own new songs, the whole band are either ex or current members of JoanOvArc and are no strangers to Club 85.

In fact bassist Keira has played at this venue before with her previous band Syteria with Girlschool guitarist Jackie Chambers. Girlschool have played here in the past too. And talking of guitarists, it's no surprise that Sam has got her sister Shelley involved with her new project.

Like Keira, Shelly is a current member of JoanOvArc, and no doubt pleased to be playing a 'hometown(ish)' gig as the sisters originally hail from nearby Stevenage. As well as being interested in seeing what Sam Walker has been doing musically since leaving her last band, I was also keen to see a reunion of sorts of the early lineup of JoanOvArc - especially as I suspected the amazing Debbie Wildish might be behind the drumkit. I was excited to find my suspicions were correct!

It was terrific to see Debbie the 'smiley drummer' playing with the Walker sisters again after she also left JoanOvArc due to other commitments. She really drives things along with an urgency and energy few drummers can match and it's always a pleasure to see and hear her play as she so obviously loves what she is doing. The same very much applies to Shelly - especially when she gets an opportunity to really tear it up in a solo!

However, this isn't a JoanOvArc show. Sam has switched from bass to guitar for her solo material, leaving bass duties in the more than capable hands of Keira - who is a terrific player in her own right.

Sam's solo songs are less out-and-out rock than JoanOvArc, but highlight her amazing vocal range and more commercial songwriting style - very much an artist to keep an eye on.

Sam also puts the guitar down for a while to concentrate on putting her new songs over with her voice.

As the evening draws to a close some covers are thrown into to mix and Keira gets to show off her slap bass skills during a Stevie Wonder cover.

Then the ante is upped with a version of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' - featuring an exceptional solo from Shelley.

By this time the crowd are getting whipped into a frenzy and there is a lot of very energetic dancing going on.

By now the band are starting to move into full-on all-out ROCK JoanOvArc territory and the energy level is rising rapidly.

The girls give it the 'big rock ending' to the show. No actual JoanOvArc songs have been played by the end of the set, but the crowd are screaming for more.

Although this is billed as a Sam Walker Band show everyone on the stage is a current or ex member of JoanOvArc... Rather than leaving the stage and coming back for an encore the band respond to demand from the crowd to do 'Just one more' - a familiar rumble comes from Debbie's drums and the band launch into JoanOvArc's 'Live Rock 'N' Roll'. It's one of their older but best songs - a real hard rocking crowd pleaser.

It really is the perfect song to end the evening on a high energy note.

Sam's solo stuff sounded excellent and everyone played well as they always do - every member of this band is a superb musician, but it wasn't until halfway through this song that things really fired off big time and it was like JoanOvArc at their best.

It really was a terrific way to end the night! The actual current lineup of JoanOvArc should be back in action later this year with their new singer who is currently having to take a break for health reasons. And Sam Walker will also be back with her band for more live shows and more new music....