7/5/2008 The Jim Jones Revue @ the Dirty Water Club

Subject	The Jim Jones Revue @ the Dirty Water Club
PostedDate	5/7/2008
	It's my first visit to the Dirty Water Club for a while - I'd like to go more often really, but on the occasions when there is a band I'm interested in seeing it usually clashes with something else.  I'm there to see the Jim Jones Revue - I haven't heard of any of the other acts on the bill.  I arrive just before 9.30 - which is when  Jim Jones & Co. are supposed to be on stage. Instead I find lots of drums being set up at the front of the stage - and none at the back!  So on comes this ten piece band, five of whom are percussionists - it's possibly the oddest set-up I've seen - one singer and five 'drummers' at the front, and one bassist and three guitarists at the back. Why? Who knows... Anyway, it makes for an interesting spectacle - for the first song or two anyway... Sorry for the (even)  poorer than usual quality of the pictures - as it was a hot (for May) night I decided to travel light and left jacket & camera at home so used my phone for pictures instead. Unfortunately, it's hard to remain interested when you can't really hear the vocals or guitars and bass as the wall of drums tends to drown everything else out - plus they seem to play basically the same rhythm all the way through every song. To the bar... The Jim Jones Revue are pretty good tonight, although the sound mix isn't that great. The guitarist has gear which should give a good authentic '50s style rock 'n' roll sound - Gretch guitar and Fender amp, but tonight it just sounds all crunchy and distorted. Not smooth and warm distorted like you should get from good equipment - just crappy cheap sounding noise.  I can't hear the bass much either. The piano is good though - not as clear sounding as the recent Madam JoJo's gig, but this guy is a great rock 'n' roll piano player - and you don't hear many of them these days.  Poor sound aside, this is 100% pure old style rock 'n' roll - totally undiluted by anything that might be currently 'in' or considered 'cool' - and all the better for it! This is a genuinely exciting rock & roll band.   As those of you 'in the know' (and if you're reading this you probably are) already know, anything the music press or industry hype as being currently the 'in thing' or 'cool' is usually anything but. This lot are unlikely to appear in NME, Kerrank! or even Classic Rock. I doubt the band are bothered though - they know what real rock 'n' roll is about even if the ex-college fashion-led brigade who dictate in the media what they think we should like haven't a clue. Meanwhile, the people who listen to mainstream radio and watch MTV moan there aren't any good bands anymore - there are plenty right under your noses you idiots - you just have to get up off your fat arses and prise yourself away from your TV/X-Box/Wi, etc and find them. Sorry - rant over! If you like your proper old '50's/early '60s rock 'n' roll then just go and see this band - this is what I imagine it was actually like back in the day... So, onto the headline act. Some American band I'd never heard of, featuring an overweight middle aged guy with glasses who perved over the girls in the audience and progressively removed his clothes until he was only wearing his boxers. Sorry - I just didn't get it. At all.