15/11/2012 Lick That @ The Old Bell

Subject	Lick That @ The Old Bell
DateCreated	11/16/2012 5:11:00 PM
	A chilly November night finds me heading over to Enfield. Although I've had The Old Bell recommended to me a few times this is the first time I've actually visited the place. It seems to have gained a reputation as Enfield's best current music venue, although I don't think it has much competition these days. It certainly doesn't seem a bad place, although it's not exactly crowded this Thursday night. It scores very poorly on the ale front though; Two handpumps on the bar but neither of them in use. There is nothing else on tap that I want to drink, so I settle for the old standby of Newcastle Brown. After I've had 3 bottles of this it runs out. Didn't they know I was coming? Just as well I'm not here for the beer...  The reason for my attendance tonight is: No - I've not come to see a giant bone! I am here to witness the return of the band Lick That. If you ever used to watch those old TV rock shows Raw Power and Noisy Mothers hosted by Ann Kirk and infamous rock DJ Krusher then you might have seen this band's video. After many gigs, some TV and radio play and various lineup changes the band split up in the mid 1990's. Now they are back for one night only in a special reunion show - made possible by rhythm guitarist Debbie visiting the UK from the USA where she now lives. No one could trace the band's most recent drummer Graham AKA Shred so tonight we have Matt who drummed in an earlier version of the band. He does a pretty good job tonight considering he's only had a couple of rehearsals and he's had to learn the more recent longer and more complex songs from scratch. This doesn't stop the band from rocking out big time! This is the band's first gig in 16 years, and I think considering they have only had ONE rehearsal with the full band they play amazingly well tonight. They are obviously also having a great time! Lick That play what I suppose could be described as progressive metal with a hint of punk fury and aggression. The standard of musicianship is very high and apart from the odd glitch due to lack of rehearsal they are very tight - helped by the fact that three of them play (mostly) covers together regularly in their other band The Haunting. The energy level is high throughout - and bassist Jason is even higher - often several feet in the air! In fact, Jason rocks so hard tonight that unfortunately there is some collateral damage: It's not clear exactly what happened, but our bass hero had jumped from the stage area and was leaping about all over the shop like a man possessed! The pillar in the picture may also have been involved... Electric basses are pretty rugged instruments compared to six string guitars. Many six string players only take one guitar to gigs and it's extremely rare for a bass player to bring a spare, but Jason has and before the song has even even finished he's back in action - what a trooper! This band and their music are really good - they so much deserved to get further than they did - even now they sound far better than many much more well known known bands on the current club scene. Although I'm not familiar with most of the material this is a really enjoyable show - the band's sheer enthusiasm and exuberance is contagious! It's a long time since I've seen any band rock this hard in a pub. The band tear though their one and a half hour set without a break and with massive enthusiasm - they are obviously having a fantastic time playing together again after all these years! The gig is a great success. As the band have enjoyed it so much, as have the crowd of hardcore fans from back in the day that it now looks like this won't be the last ever Lick That gig. It now looks like maybe in a year or so when Debbie next visits the UK she will reunite with Witchy, Shag, and Jason again for another gig. If it's at The Old Bell again then hopefully the pub will have had time to sort the beer situation out...