26/9/2006 Towers Of London (sort of) @ the Borderline

Subject	Towers Of London (sort of) @ the Borderline
PostedDate	9/26/2006
	I had been really looking forward to this show when it was first announced. However, it emerged two key members of the band had been sacked after a recent incident in Japan and it seemed doubtful this gig would even take place.  The promotions people assured me the show was definitely still on so down to the Borderline we went - not expecting much, but curious to see what the remainder of the band could do in the circumstances. We wondered if replacement members could be found and rehearsed in the little time available? At the time the show was due to start the venue only looked about half full - I already knew that some people had decided not to bother attending in light of recent events.  We noticed that there was no drum kit set up on the stage - in fact there was nothing apart from a single Marshall amp. This was not encouraging, and also discounted the possibility of a rumoured 'acoustic' set. I looked round for some of the usual familar faces I see at Towers gigs, but many were conspicuous by their absence... Amusingly, there were virtual  look-a-likes for every member of the band - including the newly ex-members. There also seemed to be plenty of 'industry' present at what was due to be an important show for the band as it was to launch their forthcoming documentary series on Bravo TV. Some time later than they were supposed to 'Towers Of London' took to the stage - maybe they were waiting to see if the venue filled up? It did fill up by the time just Donny and Dirk took to the stage for what was effectively a 'Tourettes Of London' performance of only five songs. Towers Of London are a band - not just two people, but two people was all we got tonight. I glad it was a free show 'cos I certainly would have felt cheated if I'd had to pay for a ticket. Interestingly, I saw bass player Tommy in the crowd - why wasn't he playing? This seemed very odd as with just singer Donny and rhythm guitarist Dirk on the (very empty) stage they really needed to fill the sound out as much as they could. I admire the two Tourette brothers for their sheer front (something they never seem short of) in getting up and playing this important show on their own, but to me and everyone else I spoke to it just wasn't working. Donny is a great frontman, but he needs a good band behind him to give him something to work against. There were some fans down the front who seemed to be loving it, but as far as I was concerned Donny isn't a strong enough singer and the songs aren't strong enough to stand on their own with this lineup - these are rock 'n' roll songs and this needs a full-on rock band blasting it out to make it work. This band needs a 'guitar hero' like the recently departed Rev and a drummer like the also now absent Snell to make it all happen. A couple of the band's hardcore fans I spoke to at the gig were very disappointed with the show - one even saying it was 'the end'. Even if the band can get through this and carry on with new members then it is certainly the end of an era. The Rev will be a very hard person to replace - not many guitarists could fill his shoes. Even if the band manage to find top quality replacements for the two missing Towers I doubt it can ever be the same again. I had a chat with bassist Tommy afterwards and asked him why he didn't play this gig? He claimed he was far too drunk.  He certainly was very drunk, but there wasn't even a bass amp set up on the stage... He was emphatic that Towers would continue though, and insisted "This is only the beginning!" Watch this space...