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!
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