A new venue to me, in a part of town I rarely venture to. However, it's not too hard to get to - just a couple of trains for me, and easy to find as I walk up Stoke Newington Road. £8 isn't bad to see a couple of good bands, and I'm already pretty sure I'm going to enjoy both of them. I'm not disappointed either. A bit of research beforehand reveals that the venue sells 'craft beer'. Craft beer = expensive at the best of times, and a check on the venue's website reveals West End prices - which I'm not prepared to pay in the Dalston/Stoke Newington area. Further research reveals that there is a Wetherspoons just a few minutes walk up the road - so this is where I do all my drinking before and after the gig. On arrival at the Rochester Castle I notice that I'm not the only one who has had exactly the same idea and I see a few people in there who are also at the gig later - one of them even wearing the headline band's T-shirt! An increasing number of people seem to be avoiding drinking at the overpriced bars in music venues these days and doing their drinking in the nearest 'spoons or other nearby pub instead. I wonder if music venues are wondering why their bar takings seem to be so low? The Rochester Castle has more character than 'yer average Wetherspooms and is a genuinely old pub - I find out later that it used to be a music venue in it's own right and a lot of very well known punk bands played there back in the day. I find several ales and ciders at around 6% - stronger than I usually find in my local 'spoons. I like this pub!
Suitably refreshed I head back to
Haunt - which seems a pleasant enough place that also specialises in vegan food if that's your kind of thing. I see a few familiar faces in the crowd. downstairs in the basement where the bands play - it's quite a good turnout for a Wednesday night in a virtually unknown music venue that
isn't in Camden or the West End - actually it's quite full. It's a good few years since I've seen
The Ramonas. I saw the original lineup soon after they formed, as well as other lineups later - I think the whole band must have changed several times over since they started. Still, it's a Ramones tribute so you know
exactly what you're gonna get. And that is what we get. All the'hits' and more - loud, fast, and in your face. It's a lot of fun! Which is just as it should be. The original Ramonas were great, and this lot are pretty good too. It's a tight and well drilled set - these girls have obviously rehearsed hard to get this good. There's no messing about - one song straight into the next with the regulation 'WUN-TOO-FREE-FOR! It's exactly what you want from a Ramones tribute - most of your favourites played hard and fast.
I'm particularly pleased as my favourite Ramones album 'Rocket To Russia' is heavily featured. My only criticism with their representation of the Ramones is that although the drumming is fast, hard, and powerful - it doesn't have that really fast beat on the hi-hat that Tommy and later Marky perfected. The original band's drummer Taz taught herself how to play drums from scratch
just to play in the Ramaonas and she had that cymbal thing totally nailed! There is a bit of a lull towards the end of their set when the singer announces that they are going to play a couple of songs of their own. Don't get me wrong - they are OK, but it's
not what we paid our money for. If they want to do their own songs maybe they should do them under another name? 'cos maybe a couple of our favourite Ramones songs that got missed out of tonight's set could have been played instead of their own songs. Just sayin'.....
So, onto the headliners.
I'm sure the Ramones must have been an influence on
Duncan Reid and the Big Heads, and Duncan's first band
The Boys were one of the first generation of UK punk bands who appeared soon after the Ramones changed everything - but this band don't sound much like the
massively influential New York band at all. And nor are they meant to.
Duncan's old band The Boys were known as 'The Beatles of Punk' for good reason - they might have had a rough and ready sound, but they had really good catchy tuneful songs. The Big Heads frontman and bass player obviously learned a lot about songwriting during his time with The Boys, and he has put this to good use with his current band.
The tunes are great, and the songs tell interesting stories based on real-life experiences. The punk edge is still there though - more noticeable in the band's high energy live shows which I actually prefer to the slick and maybe over-sweet sound of the band's studio recordings.
The live situation is where Duncan Reid and the Big Heads really shine - this is a tight and dynamic live band.
Three albums into this band's life and they are building up a strong catalogue of material to pick their set lists from - no need for this band to just keep playing the same ten or so songs at every gig like some bands seem to for years. This keeps things constantly fresh, evolving, and interesting.
There is one tense moment when Duncan nearly get's his teeth knocked out by the microphone after an over-enthusiastic dancer at the front sends the mic stand flying into the singer's face - playing rock 'n' roll is not without it's risks!
As usual, the band's own repertoire of catchy pop songs with a punk edge is filled out with one or two Boys songs such as 'First Time', 'Brickfield Nights', and the
Hollywood Brats 'Sick On You' (as covered by The Boys on their first album) to bring the show to a climax. Everybody goes home happy. And I go back to the pub for another hour...
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