23/12/2018 Wolfsbane @ O2 Academy Islington

This is becoming a yearly thing now - a Wolfsbane tour including a gig in London just before Christmas. As usual the venue is full and the atmosphere is terrific - everybody singing along to their favourite Wolfsbane songs!

We get the normal self deprecating humour from 'Dark Lord of Metal'  Blaze Bayley answering the inevitable chants of 'You fat bastard!', and the band play a blinder! A great night as always! I pick up a rather cool '2019 All Or Nothing' tour T-shirt to remind me of how good a night it was.

Great songs, a fine standard of musicianship, and one of the best frontmen in the business - Wolfsbane shows are always enormous fun!

Ginger's Birthday Bash 2018

Yes, it's that time of year again. The Garage seems to be becoming the regular venue for Ginger's Birthday Bash - if memory serves me correctly this was the first venue to house this popular event, although it has been at various other places over the years. This is probably my favourite venue for the event, although not entirely due to the building itself - which I am not so keen on these days. However, it is particularly easy for me to get to personally - and also has the major advantage of being only a couple of minutes's walk from a Wetherspoons as well as the station, which is even closer!

There is no support act as such as the whole evening is Ginger and friends on stage. Needless to say, I find myself in the aforementioned pub before the show - where fortunately I manage to discover the stage time at the venue - enabling me to stay in the pub till literally the last minute and avoid being ripped off by the venue's overpriced bar. As always, the show is sold out and the venue is rammed!

The evening's show started with a few (semi) acoustic numbers from Ginger's recent country flavoured album Ghost In The Tanglewood. Then as more musicians appear things gradually get louder. Share Ross from Vixen on bass, Denzel of the Ginger Wildheart Band on drums, and The Rev from the infamous Towers Of London - who has since played live with The Prodigy, been in The Howling, and more recently Ginger's power pop/punk side project Hey! Hello!.

With most of Hey! Hello" apart from singers and bassist in the house we get treated to some of that band's songs before things start to get heavier.

The guests are coming thick and fast, some more familiar than others, some for the first time at a Birthday Bash, and some repeat offenders. Making his Birthday Bash debut is punk legend Charlie Harper - still fronting UK Subs at 74 years old and showing no signs of slowing down!

Frank Turner appeared again - now becoming a Birthday Bash regular. Then came something a bit special - a reunion of a very early Wildhearts lineup - not since 1992 have Ginger, CJ, Danny, and Bam all played together. And to celebrate the event we get a bunch of very early pre-Earth Vs songs from the first 2 EPs 'Mondo Abimbo' and 'Don't Be Happy...'. This is the highlight of the night for many of us present. Then Bam handed over the drum stool to more recent Wildhearts drummer Ritch for a run though a bunch later classics from 'Earth Vs...' onwards through 'P.H.U.Q.' and 'Fishing For Luckies'.

Then towards the end of the show ex-Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe returned to the stage after 'Kicking Out The Jams motherfuckers' earlier in the evening. Michael has enjoyed a successful solo career, and Ginger even played guitar in his band for a while.

The show finished off with the almost inevitable Wildhearts classic 'I Wanna Go Where The People Go'. As always the atmosphere in the venue has been amazing and we have had a terrific evening's entertainment! See you again next year then?

2/12/2018 The WiLDHEARTS & The Amorettes @Koko

So after the events of yesterday, what I really need is a good night out so I can put everything out of my mind for a while.....

Enter the WiLDHEARTS.

It's not often these days that I get the chance to see the Wildhearts twice in London in one year. Also, for the second time this year I get to see The Amorettes. So down to Camden I go. The show is at Koko. Normally I'd have gone to the Hope & Anchor pub opposite the Purple Turtle for a drink or two beforehand, but both those places have closed now. I figure I might just have time for a quick pint in the pub opposite the venue instead. I enter the Lyttelton Arms to find the people running the place are obviously on the ball - Therapy? are blaring out the speakers and the place is full of people in Wildhearts T-shirts. However, the pub is so full they are three deep at the bar and it will obviously take ages to get served. I abandon the idea of a drink before the show and head back over the road to the venue with a few minutes to spare before The Amorettes hit the stage.

The original plan for tonight's show was for the Wildhearts to be supported by.... themselves as 'The Mood Swingers' playing a set of covers. This looked like being enormous fun, but Ginger has been having some problems with his voice recently and his doctor advised him strongly against performing twice in one night. So we get the Amorettes instead - which is absolutely fine with me!

Well - it's The Amorettes Jim, but not as we know them. Well not quite anyway.

There is no sign of bassist Heather McKay. Her place is filled by Morgan Pearce who does a perfectly competent job of standing in for drummer Hanna's sister.  (it emerges later that Heather is absent due to a family bereavement)

In spite of the altered lineup the Amorettes turn in a great performance as usual and vox/guitarist Gill Montgomery is on fine form.

It's good to see this band making making steady progress over the last couple of years, with ever better live performances and strong materiel on their latest album Born To Break. They are certainly moving on and breaking away from their older 'female Airbourne' tag. Although not at their best tonight due to the temporary lineup change, I am already looking forward to seeing them back firing on all cylinders in 2019....

Next we get Ferocious Dog. I'd never heard of them before, but apparently they feature Fruitbat formerly of Carter USM. All their folk/punk songs sound pretty much the same to me as I feel I've seen all this done before, but better - although it wasn't my sort of thing then or now.

Although some people are obviously getting into it, Ferocious Dog fail to hold my attention at all. I soon find myself wandering off around the venue looking for possible vantage point for taking some half decent pictures of the headliners. I fail.

So, here we have the Wildhearts playing their classic debut album in full. Again. I have the T-shirt from last time. This time it's the album's 25th anniversary. Still, 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts' remains the band's 'Appetite For Destruction' or 'Led Zep 1' and I never get tired of hearing these songs. In fact, most of the album has remained in the band's setlist for virtually their whole career, and if you put together a 'Wildhearts Greatest Hits' set then most of the songs on this album would surely feature on it.

This looks like a sold out show, and as usual at a Wildhearts gig the atmosphere is amazing - if anything it's more so than usual as the anticipation for hearing those songs again is electric! Also, Danny McCormack is back in the band - something that seemed highly unlikely to ever happen. The bass player from the 'classic' lineup remains a very popular figure with the fans, although due to his ongoing problems with his 'new' leg he can only manage to stand unaided for the first song or two - something which is hopefully only a short term problem. Predictably, the place goes wild for the opening song 'Greetings From Shitsville', and the pace doesn't let up for the following 11 songs as the band tear ferociously through the first album - also including 'Caffeine Bomb' which wasn't only the original album release and only appeared later as a single before being included on later album pressings. The band are really on fire tonight and this is one of the best Wildhearts shows I have ever seen!

After the band have charged enthusiastically through the whole album they leave the stage briefly for a short break - before returning for a seven song 'encore' containing a fairly predicable but highly popular list of fan favourites/'Greatest hits - including Danny taking lead vocals for 'Anthem'. The ever popular '29 x The Pain' and 'I Wanna Go Where The People Go' bring the show to a close - and we've all got sore throats by now from singing along! Full setlist here.

Expect to see more from The Wildhearts in 2019, with a tour and festival appearances - plus a brand new album!

How come it never rains.... Part 2: Do bad things come in threes?

It's now December and winter is looming. I've been thinking of taking the bike off the road for the winter as my journeys to work on it have ceased to be enjoyable due to the cold and the dark. Any time now the council will start putting salt on the roads again - not good for a motorcycle made mostly of aluminium!

Very early on Saturday morning I'm woken up by someone at the door. I decide it's either somebody ringing the wrong bell by mistake or trying to stuff leaflets though letter boxes - I'm not getting out of bed. A bit later at around 7.30 it happens again - but whoever it is is being more persistent. Not in the best of moods I crawl out of my pit - maybe it's the police and there has been some sort of incident outside? It's my next door neighbour. He tells me my bike has been stolen during the night! He says he heard a clinking sound at about 3.30 in the morning - he looked out the window but couldn't see anything. When he went out to work later there was only a motorcycle cover attached to a padlock and chain thrown on the grass next to where my bike was parked. Closer examination of the chain showed an attempt had been made to cut through it with bolt cutters, and when that didn't work an angle grinder had been used. You would have thought the noise from that in the middle of the night would have woke up the whole neighbourhood? The clinking noise my neighbour heard was obviously my motorcycle chain.

The theft must have been planned in advance. A few weeks ago I was out working on my bike when a kid on a moped rode into the car park and rode round without stopping but blatantly having a good look to see if there was anything worth nicking - he had a good look at me and the bike as he rode off again. It was pretty obvious what he was up to. A while after that I came out one morning to find the cover had been half pulled off my bike overnight. Someone had obviously been having a good look to see what sort of machine was hidden under the cover. A similar thing had happened with my previous bike a year or so ago, but as no one ever came back to steal it I assumed it wasn't what they were looking for and they were only interested in mopeds and scooters. Also, my bike was a single seater so no use for the sort of crimes that involve having a passenger on the back. I assumed that was also the case this time and my bike wasn't the sort of machine they were after. It looks like I was wrong. The bastards must have planned the robbery in advance - maybe waiting until they had a buyer lined up. They must have been well organised and came round mob-handed in the middle of the night. The bike under a cover, chained up, and had the steering lock on. It was right up against a kerb with cars on the other three sides - so they must have had enough people to lift the bike up (weighing over 400 pounds) over the kerb and into the back of a waiting van. As well as footprints I found a mark the sidestand had made digging into the grass as they got it over the kerb.

The police were absolutely fucking useless - apart from giving me a crime number for insurance purposes. I had reported the recent incident with the pulled off motorcycle cover (as well as the similar incident last year) but they said there was little they could do at the time. All the local polices stations have been closed over the last few years and the nearest one is now in Colindale - a 25 minute drive away. The only thing locally is a part time 'plastic police' pop-up cop shop style thing in the village - but it never seems to be fucking open! I checked it's opening times online and walked down there when it was supposed to be open - but it was shut! In past experience I have found ringing 101 to be fucking useless - endless menus and keypad pressing sending you round in circles without ever getting to actually speak to anyone. I eventually had to resort to reporting the theft online without any contact with a human being. In due course I got an e-mail giving me a crime number, but little else. A few hours later I actually received a phone call from a forensics officer - who told me they weren't even going to bother sending anyone round to check the cut through chain and lock for fingerprints. No one from the police came round at any point to look at the scene of the crime or to ask me for any details or information as to what had happened - not even a phone call, apart from the forensics to tell me they weren't interested in coming round to check for any evidence. The police could hardly be less interested - this must be a great time to be a criminal. Not only are the police totally powerless to prevent crimes such as this (mine wasn't the only motorcycle to be interfered with on the estate) but when thefts like this happen they make no effort whatsoever to investigate or catch those responsible. The criminals involved know they can operate with virtually no fear of being caught or any attempt being made to trace them.

For the second time in just over a year I have been forced to become an ex-biker, and this time after 39 years on and off it looks like being permanent. To say I am gutted is putting it mildly. It's not just the money I am losing - I had a £900 excess on my bike insurance so I've lost that straight away. Plus well over £300 I just spent on new tyres and brake pads. Owning that bike for just five months cost me a lot of money! Assuming the insurance pays out I'll still only get about half what it was worth, and certainly nothing like what I paid for it even though I got it at a very good price. Although it was a 2005 model in was in virtually mint condition and only had about 14,000 miles on the clock - it was barely run-in! It was the fastest and most powerful bike I've ever had, but I didn't even have it long enough to get used to it - I didn't even have it for a whole summer. I only got the chance to have two good days out on it. The fucking scum who took it have pretty much finished me with motorcycles for the rest of my life. I thought I had a good few years of biking left in me, although maybe on a more 'sensible' machine as I grew older, and a Super Sports Triumph Daytona 955i wasn't exactly sensible although it was a lot of fun. I am highly unlikely to ever be able to afford to replace it - and even if I bought another bike the low-life thieving bastards who stole this one will be watching to see if I get another one now they've had one off me. If I get another bike it's virtually certain they will steal that too, and there is nothing the police will do either to prevent it or catch those responsible. The same day my bike was stolen I got an e-mail from the police to say they would be closing the case.

Being a biker has been part of who I am for 39 years, and now those cunts have even taken that from me - a part of my personality, part of my very identity has been taken away from me as well as my bike. And I feel totally powerless to do anything about it. I may feel gutted by all this, but I am also very angry about it. I feel like a special chapter of my life has been ended by factors totally out of my control. Part of who I am has been taken away as well as part of my freedom.

I had virtually no car or motorcycle accidents or claims ever until just over a year ago and was on maximum No Claims Bonus. Then in little over a year I had had one motorcycle written off under me by a BMW, my car written off by that bitch a Range Rover who blamed me after admitting it was totally her fault, and now a stolen motorcycle too. My No Claims Bonus is toast, and my insurance costs are going to rise massively - all due to other people! Surely this must be the end of my run of bad luck? They say things come in threes so....

30/11/2018 Bernie Torme @ The Black Heart

Friday night finds me heading down to The Black Heart in Camden to see a guitar legend, but first I have an appointment at the bar - yes, Brewdog! Rapidly refreshed I get to the venue in time to see Smoking Martha.

This mob are all the way from Australia and have been hard at work touring the UK. Their sound is raw dirtyrock 'n' roll. They look and sound like they mean business! Like their compatriots AC/DC they are tight and hard, but without sounding too similar.

I don't know when Smoking Martha will be back in the UK, but this is definitely a band I'd be interested in seeing again.

Next up is a band who have been treading the boards on London's toilet circuit for a while - Katalina Kicks. They are grungy and very intense - with a powerful and manic drummer!

By the time the headliner takes to the stage the room is packed. Due to the crowded room and previous experience of Bernie Torme playing very loud I decide to enjoy the show from a safe (for my ears) distance!

Bernie is promoting his new 'Shadowland' double alum and this gig is the last but one show of his 'Final Fling' tour. Don't worry - the guitar legend isn't planning to give up playing live - he's just not going to tour any more. From the look on his face during tonight's show he is still thoroughly enjoying playing live! As usual, Bernie has very good musicians backing him up. He is on fine form tonight and wrings his Stratocaster to within an inch of it's life! His trademark guitar pyrotechnics litter the set and we are treated to a wide cross-section of his musical career. Obviously his solo work is heavily featured as he has a large back catalogue - so of course we get 'Turn Out The Lights', as well as the classic Gary U.S. Bonds cover 'New Orleans' from his days in the Gillan band and their appearance on Top Of The Pops.  There is also a surprise in the set when Bernie introduces a couple of songs with some emotion in his voice - saying "I haven't played these songs for over thirty years" before launching into Ozzy Osbourne's 'Suicide Solution' and 'Crazy Train'. Older rock fans will be aware of the poignancy and significance of Ozzy songs from this era and the connection Bernie has with them even though he didn't play on the albums they appeared on... Tonight was certainly a bit special.

23/11/2018 JoanOvArc @ The Amersham Arms

Friday night finds me heading south of the river. It's rare that I head down this far - on my old map it says 'Here be Dragons!'. Improved transport links make it more viable these days, but even though I only need two trains to get to New Cross it still takes well over an hour. However, I know JoanOvArc will make it worthwhile. I am also interested in checking out a venue that's new to me and looks like having quite a few events I'll like coming up.

The Amersham Arms in New Cross is a pub venue with a surprisingly large room out back where the bands play, but the ales are expensive for what seems a fairly run down working class area. As a music venue it seems well set up though. - a large stage and a decent PA.

JoanOvArc are on good form tonight, although I don't think they have any other form - I've seen them countless times and they've never been less than excellent. In fact I've seen them so many times that I'm running out of things to say about them without constantly repeating myself. I'm glad to see they seem to be getting out and playing live more often again, after been rarely seen on the live scene for a couple of years or so - possibly due to their previous management, but their current mob seem to be much more enthusiastic and on the ball!

There is a change of lineup in the band tonight - the band's usual drummer the amazing Debbie Wildish is absent tonight due to other commitments, and her place is taken by Charlotte from Haxan - who does a pretty good job standing in for one night. Don't worry Debbie fans - she'll be back for the next gig! 

As this is a headline show JoanOvArc get to play a long set. We get the band's usual powerful and passionate performance, with a mixture of the old favorourites like 'Live Rock N Roll', 'White Trash', 'Dragon In The Sky', and 'Seeds Of Summer', along with newer songs like from their latest album Ride Of Your Life like 'Running Away', 'Work', and also new single 'Girls Wanna Rock'.

As the set draws to a close the band are joined by a guest - Sam from Haxan joins drumming sister Charlotte on guitar/vox for a cover - I can't remember which song as I'm writing this months later....  Shelley Walker hands over her guitar to Sam for the song and takes a spare guitar and amp instead - which then refuses to work!

As JoanOvArc's set comes to an end the crowd are still demmanding more. With no one from the venue trying to stop them, the band launch into a load of classic rock covers - including a spectacular 'Whole Lotta Love', and songs by AC/DC and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Stand-in drummer Charlotte really steps up to the plate on these cover songs - probably because she's far more familiar with them than playing JoanOvArc songs - she seems particularly good on the AC/DC song. The show ends with JoanOvArc doing an outstanding 'Freebird' that would leave most other bands for dead!

After the end of the show the venue security quickly hustle everybody into the front bar - annoying as I would have liked to have had a chance to talk to the band. By this stage the front of the pub seems to have turned into some sort of club night - playing utterly shite music and with an irritating crowd of trendies. This doesn't encourage me to hang around and buy any overpriced beer so I head for the station - and then things start to go wrong.... My efforts to find out train times before leaving the pub were a waste of time - the train I was planning to catch has been delayed, and is eventually cancelled. The same fate befalls the next two trains as well.. After an hour I'm cold and bursting for a piss, and of course there is nowhere to go and there are loads of people on the platform also waiting for a train. There is NO information provided about the train service - everyone is left in the dark. Eventually a train arrives - on the opposite side of the station and everyone has to rush over to the farthest of the four platforms is case it leaves without us! Just when things seem to be looking up I find this train won't be going as far and Highbury & Islington. A while later I find myself stuck at Dalston Junction as the train company have decided to terminate it there. By now I am desperate for a piss. Guess what? Dalston Junction has no toilets. The next train isn't due for some time. I am eventually forced to leave the station and go for a piss outside in some undergrowth before the next train arrives. My journey home which should have taken not much over an hour eventually takes over three cold and miserable hours thanks to the shit late night train service! This doesn't encourage me to go to any more gigs in New Cross....

16/11/2018 Supersuckers @ Oslo

Tonight finds me off to Oslo to see a band. "Wow - that sounds a bit far" you say? Not really - it's a new venue in Hackney - no planes required to get there - just a couple of trains. In fact the venue is in the old Hackney Central station building. This means the station, venue, and nearest Wetherspoons are all very close by - which is handy. The venue itself is actually in a very attractive (from the outside) old building. Suspecting that the oddly named Oslo will feature an overpriced and not to my taste selection of beers I head for the nearby Baxters Court after getting off the train - which turns out to be a good move as I manage to time my arrival at the venue just before the band hit the stage, although actually getting in and past security seems to take an unnecessarily long time considering I already have a ticket - this place needs to get it's shit together. Also, when I went for a piss later the building/door layout meant anyone on the corridor outside had view of people actually pissing in the toilet when the door was open - well fucking dodgy! How can this be allowed to happen in 2019?

Once I get in I find the band playing in a surprisingly small upstairs room - not tiny, but smaller than The Garage or other London venues I have seen them in in the past.. The room is pretty full, but not packed so maybe it didn't sell out? Last time I saw the band was at the much larger Islington Academy. Bar issues aside I think I prefer this place though - it's more intimate and less corporate.

It's a few years since I've seen Supersuckers - who apparently think the Rolling Stones don't hold the copyright to the title 'The Greatest rock 'n' roll Band in The World'. Cross country music with punk, rock & roll, and mix in Motörhead, The Ramones, and ACD/DC then you might get some idea of what Supersuckers are like - country music was never this fast and LOUD!

Supersuckers used to be one of my favourite live bands, but like Backyard Babies and Danko Jones I thought they lost their edge a few years ago. Something else has changed with the band that I didn't know about - they have now slimmed down to a three piece. Guitarists Dan 'Thunder' Bolton and Rontrose Heathman have both gone since I last saw the band, with 'new' guy 'Metal' Marty Chandler now the sole 6 stringer. He is pretty good though! There has been a bit of a 'revolving door' for Supersuckers drummers for years and Chris Von Streicher is now occupying the drum stool - he's pretty good too. Frontman/bassist Eddie Spaghetti is now the only original member, and he has been out of action for a while due to throat cancer - bad news at the best of times, but even worse if you are a singer. His voice doesn't sound like it used to, but to be honest he was always more of a shouter and screamer than a singer - 'hollerin' as he describes it. Eddie is an excellent frontman all the same, and you can definitely detect Lemmy as an influence - not so surprising as this band have always been fans of Motörhead, and Lemmy liked Supersuckers too.

I'm missed this band on their last one or two visits to the UK, but I think one of them was touring to promote one of their new 'country' albums so I wasn't so bothered. Now they are back as a full-on rock 'n' roll band though, and when I found out they were going to play their 'Evil Powers Of Rock 'N' Roll' album in full I knew I had to get a ticket! I love that album - it is such a terrific collection of really great songs! As advertised, they duly played the whole album, and I loved every minute. Just hearing that alone I would have gone home happy, but there was more...

I have to say that this certainly wasn't the best lineup of the band I've seen, but even in their slimmed down form Supersuckers are still a great rock 'n' roll band. The rest of the setlist spanned the band's 30 year career - including the crowd pleaser 'Pretty Fucked Up'.  To be honest I found the lead song 'The History Of Rock 'N' Roll' from the new album 'Suck It' rather disappointing, but after hearing 'The Evil Powers Of Rock 'N' Roll' album in full almost anything would be an anti-climax.  However, the band redeemed themselves by finishing their set with the brilliant 'Born With A Tail' from their excellent 'Sacrilicious' record - I reckon that is still their best song and sums their whole attitude up perfectly. That's enough to send me home happy!

20/10/2018 Warner E Hodges Band @ the Hope & Anchor

Out to gigs 3 nights in a row - 4 gigs in 6 days. This used to be nothing unusual, but it's taking me a while to get back into the swing of things. Maybe there aren't so many shows happening these days that I want to go to? I think more gigs are slipping under my radar unseen these days - MySpace used to be great for keeping track of things before Tom sold it and it was ruined after being taken over. Twitter is of limited use, and Facebook is shit There are certainly less venues - partly thanks to CrossRail. However, there are certain small venues that seem to survive through everything and the Hope & Anchor seems to have been around forever. The small room downstairs where the bands play has changed dramatically though - with the bar and stage now in completely different places! About the only thing that hasn't changed much is the toilets, although they are even more disgusting now. However, it's easy (for me) to get to, a reasonable price on the door, and the ales on tap on the ground floor aren't too outrageously priced - it's a good place to visit with a nice vibe and a rich musical heritage. U2 played their first London show here - to 7 people! There are a lot more people than that here tonight....

It's good to see the return of the Darrel  Bath Band after the guitarist playing solo gigs for a couple of years or so. The rhythm section are good and solid. Darrel has a great feel for the guitar and is one of the most natural players I've ever seen, but to be honest this isn't one of his better nights - I think he may have been slightly 'over-refreshed' on this occasion.

 

Darrel has a rich back catalogue to draw from, both from his solo albums as well as bands he's been in such as the Crybabys and Dogs D'Amour - plus the odd blues standard. There is no reference tonight to his punk past in bands like UK Subs and The Vibrators though.

The place is absolutely rammed for tonight's headliner - hence the lack of pictures - there just wasn't room to wield a camera! Jason and The Scorchers guitarist Warner E Hodges has once again assembled a mighty fine band to back him on his European tour. Not only is he sharing the stage with another Jason - this time Jason Knight on bass - once of Lick That, Planet Of Women, and more recently The Haunting AD and Binge Drinking. but also on second guitar is a new and very capable addition in the form of Ben Marsden from The Main Grains. Put together this lot make a shit hot rock 'n' roll band!

Although Warner is known for his country-rock background, with his solo act he takes things right back to his ROCK roots. He is a huge AC/DC fan and one of their songs opens the set. Along with a bunch of his own songs we also get some unexpected covers by Black Sabbath (War Pigs) and Queen (Tie Your Mother Down).. Also a louder and faster version of John Denver's 'Country Roads' -  It's all pretty rockin'  stuff and enormous fun!

19/10/2018 - Part 2. JoanOvArc @ Big Red

So after hotfooting it from Camden Assembly to Big Red on Holloway Road I find I am actually in plenty of time to catch JoanOvArc doing what they do best - rocking out on front of a live audience. This is something the band absolutely love!

JoanOvArc have played here before and always draw a good crowd. The good thing about this venue is that it's a ROCK bar, and as well as their own existing fans, the regular and random punters here who have no idea who the the band are tend to be quickly won over before the band have finished their first song!

I've seen JoanOvArc many many times over the years, and they are always great - tonight is no exception. Anyone thinking a bunch of girls are going to play lightweight music or a load of soppy ballads are in for a shock - a BIG shock! This band rock hard from their first song. If they weren't so loud you would hear a lot of jaws hitting the floor when people hear how good they are.

Earlier, before the band took to the stage I bumped into a shady but familiar looking character at the bar. Having seen him at one or two previous JoanOvArc shows I guess what was going to happen later, and sure enough it did. Midway though their set the girls were joined on stage by actor John Altman AKA 'Nasty Nick' from Eastenders.

This will have come as no surprise to existing fans of the band as John appeared in a Christmas video singing the old classic rock & roll cover 'Wild One' best known as being sung by Iggy Pop. Mr Altman has previous form in the rock business after taking over from the late Gary Holton as singer with the Heavy Metal Kids - so he knows what fronting a rock band is all about. Sorry for my pictures being so shit - the smoke machine makes it very difficult to to take pictures without using flash and my camera's autofocus is shite in poor light.

JoanOvArc have built an impressive back catalogue of their own songs over the years, some of which remain live favourites to this day. Last time the band played at Big Red it was to launch their new album Ride Of Your Life - this time they are here to promote their new charity single in aid of the Pink Ribbon Foundation -  Girls Wanna Rock  And to that end they are joined on stage by another special guest - Steph the star of the video who also fronts her own band Flowerpot. Needless to say, JoanOvArc go down a storm at Big Red - effectively playing to their 'home crowd' even though the band originate from Stevenage.

This being a headline spot on a two band bill (Flowerpot were supporting but I missed them as I was otherwise engaged in Camden) JoanOvArc have time to play a longer set than usual. So after playing at least an hour of their own original material they launch into a few covers - not just as 'crowd pleasers' but because the band just love playing a few of their favourite rock classics - no 'Ace Of Spades' this time, but they do play a really good 'Whole Lotta Love', and I get embarrassed by being given a name-check from the stage before the band play 'Freebird' - a song which they play an amazing version off - this is one of the few live bands who can genuinely move me with the pure passion they play their music with. Their version of 'Freebird' is really something special.

JoanOvArc are the perfect end to a night of terrific live music spread over two different North London venues - look out for them playing in Camden in 2019....

19/10/2018 - Part 1. Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts @ Camden Assembly

A busy night - a busy week in fact. Out at a gig last night, and tonight there are two gigs I want to go to. Fortunately they are not too far apart - so if stage times permit....

My first port of call is Camden Assembly - formerly The Barfly, and The Monarch pub before that. The building has seen a massive refurb since it closed as the Barfly. The old painted walls outside have been stripped back to the original ceramic tiling - which is actually very nice! Downstairs has been stripped out and redone with new furniture - and new very expensive beer prices! The days of me drinking at this venue and it being reasonably priced are gone. To be fair, at least there is transparency on the bar pricing with the cost of beers being clearly displayed in large letters over the bar - a great improvement on many music venues - where you can get a very nasty shock when you find out how much the pint you just ordered costs! I head straight upstairs - where I find more changes. A new PA system, and the old Barfly stage backdrop has been replaced with some stupid thing with a wall of hundreds of lights pointing at the crowd! Who dreams all this crap up?

Anyway, I'm not here to marvel at this shiny 'new' venue - I'm here to see the act formerly known as Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors. Now as a result of being signed by a record company they are Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts. Don't worry - it's still the same people in the band and the same songs! Like the venue they just look smarter now. Yes, they are all in suits - they scrub up well though. I've never seen bassist Rob Lane in particular look so smart! The important things are unchanged: Ryan Hamilton is in a very 'up' and optimistic frame of mind with the way things are now heading. He is an excellent and very engaging frontman - funny, very natural, and entertaining. He is a man truly in his element and happy to be playing packed out club shows with a very good band.  The style of music is country tinged rock and Ryan has a very relaxed and easy going manner on stage - his banter with the crowd is very natural and he tells some very funny stories between songs. This is an evening of great entertainment and the atmosphere in the room is wonderful. All too soon the show draws to a close - much too early for both crowd and artist. It's a Friday night in Camden and no one want's to go home this early - I don't think it was even 10.00 but the curfew is kicking in and the venue are kicking us all out to make way for the club night. Mr Hamilton doesn't think much of this, and nor do we - but on this occasion it actually suits me well as I have somewhere else I need to be ASAP....

18/10/2018 Saint Agnes @ The Borderline

I'd been hearing good things about Saint Agnes for a while before I finally managed to see them at Camden Rocks Festival last summer. They were one of the best acts I saw at the festival in 2018 and I knew I had to go and see them again. So I find myself at The Borderline this Thursday night. The venue has changed dramatically since my last visit, and not for the better in my opinion. The old bars and split floor level that allowed for good views even from near the back or side have all been swept away - to be replaced by a long and shiny completely new bar area towards the back. What was once an intimate club venue full of character and atmosphere has been refurbed into a bland and sterile room designed to part punters from their money as quickly and efficiently as possible. Past experience of the venue's once reasonable but in more recent times rapidly inflated beer prices mean I don't go near the bar. I took the precaution of a visit to the ex-Marquee Club Wetherspoons down the road first...

The Borderline is packed! I didn't realise the band had already built up such a following - this is a very impressive turnout for a pretty underground band on a Thursday night. The atmosphere is dark and brooding before the band take to the stage - there is menace in the air. Something very dramatic is obviously about to happen. And it does.

The stage set is dark and atmospheric - it matches the band's performance perfectly.

The music is dark and heavy - imagine if Led Zeppelin wrote the soundtrack to a Hammer horror film.

There is definitely a strong blues influence at work here, and you very much get the feeling you are listening to 'the Devil's music'.

Kitty the singer is quite an enigma and somehow seems not quite of this world - like a much darker version of Katie Jane Garside from Queen Adreena. She invites all the girls in the room up for a stage invasion during one song - a risky idea as unless it's the last song you are probably going to want to somehow get them all off the stage again for the rest of the show. However, I get the feeling that Saint Agnes are not a band afraid to take risks.

Kitty's performance is mesmerising and slightly disturbing - this is a band you will definitely remember if you see them live. Saint Agnes don't just play their songs - they give a real performance.

Some bands just get up on stage and play their songs - often very well, but it's all a bit clinical and sterile. There is nothing clinical and sterile about Saint Agnes - they are raw and visceral - dark and disturbing. Not for nothing do they call their fans 'The Coven'. Well would you really expect anything less of a band with a song called 'The Witching Hour'?

All too soon, the band's performance is over. And it's not yet the Witching Hour. It's not closing time either - some ne'er do well suggests we go to the pub. No one cares if it's a 'school night' - we repair to The Angel nearby.....

15/10/2018 The Brutalists (and some Quireboys) @ Mau Mau Bar

Out on a Monday night again - often the best stuff isn't to be found at weekends so people who won't go out on a 'School night' are losing out. Tonight finds me at one of London's coolest and most intimate venues. Mau Mau Bar in Ladbroke Grove is a tiny and very non-corporate venue with a vibe not unlike the much missed 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street, although this is even smaller! Beer and cider is from bottles and cans only, but not as expensive as you might expect for a West London music venue. The reason I'm here is to see ex-Quireboys bassist Nigel Mogg's new band The Brutalists. The band take their name from the Brutalist form of post-war architecture - an ugly utilitarian form of building - punk architecture? Like the architectural form, this band's music is basic, but in a good way. For his new band ex-North Londoner but now LA resident Nigel Mogg has decided to step away from the bass and try his hand fronting a band instead. He seems to have taken to frontman duties like a duck to water.

Nigel has all the moves, and like his former bandmate Spike would appear to have been studying Rod Stewart closely, but more for his moves than his sound. You'd think Phil Mogg's 'young' nephew had been doing this for years - he certainly looks like a natural. His singing ain't bad either.

The rest of the band are all American and include early LA Guns rhythm guitarist Mick Cripps, although their sound is actually more British. The Brutalists sound very much like a 1970's London pub rock band - but a very good one! They remind me a lot of Dr Feelgood. and if you are a fan of that band then you'd probably be into this lot too. Even though they don't actually sound that much like the Canvey Island heroes. they have a similar vibe about them and are a very tight band indeed.

I really enjoyed The Brutalists set. They are on their debut UK tour along with Dirty Strangers on their 'There's Still Room To Rock N Roll' tour as well as promoting the first Brutalists album. This is one of the best new bands I've seen in ages!

Finishing off tonight's show are The Dirty Strangers. This band have gone through many lineup changes since the 1980's and are very well connected - both Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood have played on their albums in the past, and although this band has quite a punky pub rock sound, they have a bit of a Stonesey vibe about them even when playing without any Rolling Stones members. So what's the next nearest sounding thing to having Rolling Stones members in your band? Having Quireboys members in your band! And so we have Guy Griffin from that band helping out on guitar tonight - hidden on the left behind Dirty Strangers mainman Alan Clayton in the picture below.

As if having one Quireboys guitarist wasn't enough - partway through the set they are joined by ex-Quireboy Guy Bailey! And ex-Quireboys bassist Nigel Mogg looks on from only a few feet away looking well into it all. Wow - 3 current/ex-Quireboys all playing on one night in the same tiny West London venue!

If only all three Quireboys could have all been on the stage at the same time! Never mind, it still feels like quite a special evening and there is a really cool atmosphere in the place. And guess what? It was free to get in!

I had an interesting chat with Nigel Mogg later - I already knew we'd gone to the same school in North London, although we didn't know each other at the time as we were in different years, but as we compared tattoos we discovered we had something else in common - we both have almost identical tattoos on our forearms in tribute to Lemmy.

Mondays may be shit, but Monday nights don't have to be!

23/9/2018 MCN Supersprint @ Alexandra Palace + a rant on current motorcycle design

It's many years since I've been to a motorcycle show, but seeing as I've been a biker again for a few years and this one was virtually on my doorstep it seemed too good to miss. Also, the 'Supersprint' concept seemed like fun! It's several years since I've been to Alexandra Palace - I think the last time was an Alice Cooper show. But this time I'm here in daylight - the distant London skyline has certainly changed a lot since I last stood here...

Alexandra Palace is a spectacular venue for all sorts of events, but the MCN Supersprint is something a bit different - a motorcycle show and a sporting event. Sort of. Arriving after two in the wet afternoon on the Sunday got me in at the discount price of only £10 - great value for money! The motorcycle show side of things is pretty conventional, but the 'Supersprint' turns out to be a lot of fun! It's a very informal type of indoor motorsport, with some celebrity riders from the varied forms of motorcycle sport - from road racing to trials and including some world champions. There were no prizes - this was strictly for fun, although the various 'races' and 'trials' certainly brought out the competitive side to the riders and there was great (but good humoured) rivalry! The various competitions were designed to be fun - and they were! World Superbike Champion and I'm A Celebrity winner Carl Fogarty competed against the likes of World Trials Champion Doug Lampkin, TT ace John McGuinness, and road racers Chris Walker and Jamie Whitham.  The varied 'races' and challenges included slalom, wheelie and other tricks of skill. It was all highly entertaining!

Also appearing on the indoor 'race strip were demonstrations of various exotic machines from vintage racers to more modern sporting machines like this Triumph Speed Triple. I was particularly interested to see and hear this in action as it was very similar (although this is an earlier model) to my bike which came to grief (and me with it, although unlike the bike, I survived) last year. Unfortunately, I didn't see it run, so I guess it was demonstrated earlier in the day or on the Saturday. A shame as these Triumph triples sound fantastic!

I did see/hear some other amazing machines demonstrated though - including a vintage 6 cylinder Honda racer which sounded amazing. Many of these racing bikes have no silencers - so you can imagine how loud this all was indoors. I loved it! There was also a show of custom bikes - many old, new and amazing machines to feast the eyes on. Honda, Kawasaki, and Triumph all had stands showing off their latest machines, and it was interesting to be able to try them for size. There was also other exotic and highly desirable machinery on display - this new but very retro looking Brough Superior SS100 particularly caught my eye! This old British make favoured by Laurence of Arabia has recently been revived. This machine of more of a work of art than a motorcycle, but if you are (very) well minted you can buy a brand new one now to ride on the road. If I won the lottery....

In the background are two of the most desirable bikes of my youth: On the right the 1000cc 6 cylinder Honda CBX, and in the middle a 1000cc Laverda Jota triple. I could only dream of owning superbikes like this back in the day, but my most recent Triumphs would leave either of them for dead now!

I didn't take many pictures as the new bikes  from the major manufacturers as they are well covered in the media and you can easily find them for yourself, but if you want to know more and see some of the Supersprint action check out the MCN page on the event. However, I did have a few thoughts after trying out for size and comfort some of the latest machines.....

<rant>

I was pleased to see many of the latest bikes from some of the big manufacturers on display. I was very interested in being able to try out these machines for size and comfort, but was surprised and disappointed in what I found: My last two bikes have been a Triumph Speed Triple and a Triumph 955i Daytona so I was particularly interested in what Triumph had to offer. I was thinking one of the Triumph twins might be more suitable for me these days, as although I love the character and performance of the big triples I have to accept that my reflexes aren't as sharp as they once were for 'on the edge' riding. On examining the newest Triumph twins I noticed something odd about the exhaust pipes leading to the silencers - all was not what it seemed. Part of the 'exhaust pipe' was actually fake and merely a piece of single sided metal trim giving the appearance of a straight pipe leading to the silencer - while the actual exhaust pipes took a sharp diversion into a large metal collector box hidden under the engine before turning back onto course for the silencers. Maybe this goes some way to explaining why all the modern Triumph twins are so heavy - why does an 800cc twin weigh noticeably more than my 955cc triples? Something is wrong here! Even the apparently stripped down 'Bobber' and (ironically named) 'Speedmaster' models are surprisingly heavy for basic 2 cylinder parallel twins. Euro 4 regulations? The new Royal Enfield twins are air cooled and appear to have none of this bullshit and fakery about their exhaust systems, while still meeting Euro 4 - so what has gone wrong at Triumph?

I tried out many of the latest bikes for comfort. Again I was disappointed. Why the silly thin seats that are currently fashionable? - particularly on imitation hardtail 'Bobbers' with the less than comfortable suspension on the UK's shockingly potholed roads. Also, why the silly little petrol tanks on nearly all modern machines? My last two Triumphs both had 21 litre tanks - and even then had a range of well under 200 miles. So why have so many new bikes have tanks of only around 16 litres? The new 'Street Twin' and 'Scrambler' models from Triumph only have 12 litre tanks - absolutely pathetic for 800cc machines! ! I refuse buy a bike with a tank as small as that. Are these new machines designed just for posing round town on - quick sprints between urban petrol stations? I want to actually GO places on my bike - without have to keep stopping for unnecessary fill ups. You should be able to cover distance quicker on a bike, but you won't if you have to make all those extra stops to refuel. On my Speed Triple and Daytona I had a nice comfortable fat tank to grip between my knees. I tried all Triumph's current twins and found nothing to grip with my knees! Stupid little petrol tanks again - before visiting the bike show I really fancied several models in Triumph's twin range, but after sitting on all of them nothing felt 'right' - I just didn't feel comfortable on them at all. Their petrol tanks appear to have recesses for your knees, but these seem just for show as the tanks are so small and narrow I find it not possible to comfortably grip them between my knees - it's as if they are designed for midgets or children! I am 6' tall BTW. I left the show feeling there isn't a twin in Triumphs current range that I'd buy even if I won the lottery. I did like the new Street and Speed triples, although I think they look ugly compared to earlier models. The 1200 Tiger did actually feel comfortable, if very cumbersome and top heavy - I'm not sure I'd want to venture off road on one. I don't think many owners do - it's a two wheeled Range Rover and you never see them with mud on them either!

Sorry if these seems an anti-Triumph rant - I love the two I've owned, but I can't imagine buying any of their current range. Other big manufacturers left me disappointed too - why are most modern bikes so ugly? Kawasaki had some interesting models at the show, and I liked the new Honda Fireblade - it compared well with my 955i Daytona although obviously more modern with even better performance. However, the new Honda CB1000R just looks like a piece of crap! I'm sure it's actually a very good motorcycle underneath, but just fucking look at it! It looks like a joke bike and exhibits what to me are some fashionable but poor design features common to other new bikes: USD forks? Yes, these are basically a good feature and improvement, on the track, but on the road the difference is largely theoretical. Any reduction in unsprung weight is good for handling and roadholding, but then for road use guards have to be added to protect the exposed (now lower) sliders from grit/stones/dirt - thereby adding to unsprung weight, so any advantage is minimal. The reasons for USD forks on road bikes are more fashion/marketing than genuine improvement.Why not just fit fork gaitors instead of these stupid and ugly guards?  Which brings me from front to rear suspension. WTF is going on here? I like single sided swinging arms, but the 'fashionable' rear end on the CB1000R (and other current bikes by other makers) is just fucking stupid from an engineering point of view. Re: my point on reducing unsprung weight to improve roadholding - the effect of adding a light 'hugger' mudguard to the front end of a swinging arm is minimal. But Honda have added a bulky piece of kit on the rear end of the swinging arm that actually extends beyond it and increases unwanted pendulum effect with even more unsprung weight! Adding the totally unnecessary weight of rear lights and number plate onto the end of the swinging arm is just fucking stupid! And how well are the lights/electrics going to stand up to the long term constant hammering they will be subjected too on an unsprung part of the bike? Put the lights and number plate back in a sensible place like they used to be under or behind the seat - surely having these items at higher level increases safety and visibility. I bet the CB1000R's lights look good bouncing up and down with the wheel when you ride at night! There is no need for all this - it just total marketing bullshit as well as poor design. And Honda even describe this bike as 'Neo Sports Cafe' - what utter pretentious Hipster bollocks!

Apparently sales of new bikes are falling drastically. Maybe it's because the major manufacturers are not making the sort of machines that real bikers actually want? Too much bad design, ugly bikes, too many features people don't want or need - and too much fashion-led marketing bullshit? Even if I won the lottery there aren't many new bikes available today that would actually tempt me regardless of price. Manufacturers - if you want better sales - GIVE US THE BIKES WE ACTUALLY WANT!

</rant> Rant over.

I enjoyed my visit to the MCN Supersprint and I hope the event will return in 2019 - in spite of the lowish attendance on the day I went. Maybe the ticket price was a little on the high side for what wasn't a major event? It was a good day out as far as I was concerned though, and I would definitely go again.

PS: The 'rant' section above is an edited version of something I originally wrote for the letters page of Bike magazine, but they didn't use it as it was far too long. I had a lot to say!

3/9/2018 Porcelain Hill & Lord Algae @ The Unicorn

Monday night. In Camden? Yes - it's a 'School night'. Guess what? Getting to bed an hour or so later now and then won't kill you. Yes really - you'd be surprised. Apparently, Monday night is 'Blues Night' at The Unicorn. Which is odd as I'd describe neither of these acts as 'blues bands' - although of course being 'rock' means their music is blues based if you dig down deep enough. I like blues, but that's not why I'm here. A few weeks ago at another band's gig I randomly discovered an amazing but unknown American band who had been hard at work touring the UK's toilet circuit. I told a musician friend of mine about this band as I thought he might like them, particularly as his own band and the US act are both power trios.  So I was quite surprised when a few weeks later both bands turned up on the same bill at one of my favourite Camden venues! Coincidence?

My friend's band were on first. They are called Lord Algae - formerly the 'The Lord Algae Review'. They are a rock covers band, but a very good one. They put their own twist on the songs they cover, and don't play all the same tired old standards that most rock covers acts play. The set is very varied, veering from 1950's rock & roll, to James Brown, and the next minute they could be playing Motörhead!

The standard of musicianship is very high - frontman Max plays bass like Jack Bruce, while singing with a much grittier bluesy voice. Guitarist Jimmy reminds me of the late Gary Moore at his hardest rocking and most bluesy, while the drummer does the best Keith Moon impression I've ever seen - without actually making and effort to look like 'Moon the Loon'. This is a top quality band, and the music is played with a rare and genuine passion for the songs. This band is well worth catching if you see they are playing in a London pub near you

Next up we have a very different power trio, but an amazingly good one! There are only a handful of people there to see the bands in this Camden pup on a Monday night, but Porcelain Hill play this gig as if it's a packed out sweaty club show on a Saturday night!

The energy level is sky high from the moment these guys hit the stage!

From what I have seen so far, this band play every show as if their lives depended on it - even to a handful of people in a pub on a Monday night. This band take no prisoners!

The songs are their own apart from one or two covers, but this band are so good that it doesn't matter if you've never heard their songs before.

Porcelaine Hill put on a show, but they don't need fancy clothes, lights, or stage props - they are the show. The frontman puts a new twist on the old 'playing-guitar-behind-your-head' trick and plays a whole song (including a pretty good guitar solo) with his guitar behind his back. And makes it look easy.

The music is basically ROCK, but with funk, soul, and blues mixed in. If you can imagine the Jimi Hendrix Experience crossed with Cream then you are in the same ball park. The musicianship is electrifying!

These guys play like they mean it.

This is how you play rock 'n' roll!

Go and see this band if they head your way - you won't regret it. They are coming back to the UK in spring 2019.

People who won't go out 'because it's a school night' are missing out BIG TIME!