9/2/2020 Supersuckers @ The 100 Club

Like Danko Jones and Backyard Babies (see my previous post) The Supersuckers used to be one of my favourite live bands, but like the aforementioned acts in more recent years they have lost their edge and started to seem a bit tired. They are playing smaller venues these days too - last time I saw them it was in a small room at a converted railway station in Hackney - and it wasn't full. Still, they have some great songs so I thought I'd give seeing them at the legendary 100 Club a try.

I really miss the twin lead guitar attack of earlier versions of the band - 'Metal' Marty Chandler is great, but with only three members the band is really missing something as far as I'm concerned.

Bassist/singer Eddie Spaghetti is now the only original member of the band, and it doesn't have the spirit it once had.. Don't get me wrong - they are still a good band, but not the memorable one they once were.

They still have a load of good songs, but there is also a lot of newer material that is less so. Still, this is Supersuckers in full on 'Rock 'n' roll' mode instead of their 'country' mode they also tour and record in - so it's not going to be a boring show.

"Who want's to inspect Marty's guitar?"

"Nice huh?"

Fortunately they still play 'Born With A Tail' - not to do so would be like Motörhead not playing 'Ace Of Spades'!

A good night of rock 'n' roll, but not the great one I was hoping for. That said, Supersuckers are still a bad attitude kick-ass rock & roll country punk band that make Jason & The Scorchers look like a bunch of cissies. But not the band they once were. Let's hope by the time they come round again they will have rediscovered their mojo, and maybe got an extra guitarist back in.

1/2/2020 The Wildhearts & Backyard Babies @ The Forum

The Bull & Gate is crap these days so I went to the Southampton Arms up the road instead - much better for ales! More like a proper pub too.

Suitably refreshed I headed down the road to The Forum. For many fans The Wildhearts and Backyard Babies together is a dream bill. In fact I think it nearly happened a few years ago and a poster even appeared, but it all seemed to fall through for some reason before tickets actually went on sale. But now it really is happening and a lot of people including me are very excited. I think the show is sold out.

Backyard Babies used to be one of my favourite live bands about 20 years ago, but like Supersuckers and Danko Jones who also used to be fantastic live acts back then they seemed to lose their edge and started to seem 'tired'. I think Backyard Babies realised this and went on hiatus for a few years. They have put out two new albums since their return - one good, and one less so, but I haven't been able to catch them live again. Until now.

After hearing one or two good reports since the band's comeback I had been looking forward to seeing them again. However...

I was distinctly underwhelmed by their set tonight. The band played OK, although I've seen them better and with a lot more energy - although to be fair they are a lot older than when I first saw them back around 1998.

The problem for me wasn't so much the band's performance - it was the setlist. Most Backyard Babies fans would agree that their finest album was one of their earliest - 'Total 13' is regarded as a classic. It was hearing 'Bombed (out of my mind)' from this album on the radio that convinced me (rightly) that this was a band I had to go and see play live. But I don't think they played a single song from 'Total 13' at this show! If this was their own headline show I would have asked for my money back - and not playing 'Bombed...' was for me like the Stones not playing 'Satisfaction'.

However, I am glad to report that The Wildhearts didn't let me down. With their latest album with Danny McCormack back on bass duties they have been in fine and ferocious form both on record and as as live act.

The recent and aptly titled 'Renaissance Men' album has two or three new songs that instantly became fan singalong favourites, and the band themselves are playing better than ever.

The Wildhearts are just as relevant in 2020 as they ever were, and their lyrics and the anger contained in the new songs is now more topical than ever before. Ginger writes his best songs when he's been going through a bad time and is pissed off with the world - and there is a lot to be pissed off with in the world at the moment. However, that has resulted in some new Wildhearts songs like 'Let 'Em Go', 'Diagnosis', and 'Dislocated' that I think are future classics - every cloud has a silver lining. Of course we still get a load of the old favourites, but not quite as many as before - partly as the band don't want some songs to get too tired even if they are still popular crowd pleasers, but also because they need to make room for some of the new songs - which are really good and already popular with the fans. So now we  don't get the hugely popular '29 x The Pain', and one or two others which have been in nearly every Wildhearts set for many years. I expect those songs will return at some point and others will fall by the wayside, but who want's to hear (or play) exactly the same songs at every gig for thirty years? Oh yeah - Rolling Stones fans - and make that fifty years. Even with one or two old favourites missing I doubt anyone goes home disappointed - virtually every stage of the band's career was covered. The Wildhearts seem to be on a roll right now, but all too soon the show was over and it was time to go home.

30/1/2020 Girlschool @ The Underworld

First gig of the year, and it's a good one! The Underworld isn't the best venue when it's packed, but a Girlschool gig is always great fun - if sometimes a little chaotic!

With many albums under their studded belts this band have a large back catalogue of great songs to draw from when putting a setlist together. The first couple of albums probably have the most well known 'crowd pleasers', but their most recent albums have plenty of quality material as well - even though today's 'rock' radio stations refuse to ever play anything from them, but that's another story...

There has been a lineup change since I last saw the band - original bassist Enid has gone (again) and Tracey Lamb from Rock Goddess is back in Girlschool. Again. There seems to have been quite a game of musical chairs with bass players in female hard rock bands recently with bassists from Syteria (guitarist Jackie from Girlschool's other band), JoanOvArc, Rock Goddess, and Girlschool all moving - often between the same four bands! Tracey fits in perfectly though - as she was in the band for a while before she already knows most the songs, and she obviously gets on well with the rest of the band.

There are newer songs in tonight's set, but mostly it's the 'hits' that get played and not much from the middle period of the band's career. Probably the best choice. The band still play really well and are obviously really enjoying themselves - not just 'going through the motions' like some bands from the NWOBHM era do.

4/1/2020 A night at the Dublin Castle: The storm before the calm...

Pretending to be a bass player on this occasion - I think I got away with it. We were worried not many people would come out for a gig so early in the New Year, but actually between all the bands we got a really good crowd in. Not sold out, but the venue was surprisingly full - we thought we'd only be playing to a handful of people, but in the event we got quite a few people in specifically to see us. It was great to play this legendary Camden venue - and on a Saturday night too!

The promoter was pleased and had since talked about getting us back for another gig in the summer, but little did we know what the future held. Covid-19 ensured that by March there would be no gigs for anyone - for the rest of the year. So that was my last gig with any band for the next 18 months or so...

23/11/2019 The Hip Priests @ The Black Heart

Out at a gig in a typical 'rock 'n roll toilet' for the second night running - actually this place has some of the worst toilets of any London music venue. However, The Black Heart seems to have become the most likely venue in London to find 'The most prolific band you've never heard of' AKA The Hip Priests when they make a raid down south from their native Nottingham.

To be honest I can't remember much about this gig over two years after it actually happened - apart from that it was very crowded and very LOUD.

Also, that The Hip Priests still sound like a mixture of The Stooges, Motörhead, and MC5. All of which obviously makes them really great.

And that they played 'Zero Fucks Given' and 'Shit Island' - a song which seems to be ever more apt for our times.

22/11/2019 The Spangles @ The Hope & Anchor

I've been trying to catch this lot for a while, but they don't often get down to London from Leeds and when they do it usually seems to clash with something else. There are only three people in the band, but they are all known on the scene from other outfits. When bassist Danny McCormack rejoined The Wildhearts the Main Grains were effectively over, but now part of that band has resurfaced with guitarist Ben Marsden and drummer Ginna forming The Spangles. I'm getting quite used to seeing Ben playing at this venue now as I've also seen him playing here a couple of times with the Warner E. Hodges Band - more about that in other posts on here...

Joining on vocals is Ginna's ex-Phluid bandmate Polly Phluid, who can also be seen singing with The Idol Dead. I didn't know he could play bass as well as sing but he's actually rather good at it.

The Spangles sound rather like you might expect them to if you were familiar with the members other current and past bands - it's punky rock 'n' roll and it's fun. They are all musicians who have 'paid their dues' over the years, and if you put the three of them together you get a pretty good band. I will definitely be looking out for them in the future.

16/11/2019 Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons @ The Dublin Castle

Back to one of London's best music venues to see Basingstoke's best band. Well probably anyway - I haven't actually seen every band in Basingstoke. Or any of them to be honest apart from this one, but I'd be very surprised if any of them are as good as Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons.

This band are a unique mixture of influences - from a singer mixing up Tank Girl with Catwoman, to a rockabilly guitarist who also likes Motörhead, and a drummer who puts disco beats into rock & roll songs. But put them all together and it works. Really well.

Oddly, they don't have a bass player - although they did the first few times I saw them. I don't know exactly what happened, but they have decided since that they can do without a bass player. They certainly seem to be managing OK without one.

Although there are some more modern influences this band are very firmly influenced by the classic rock & roll and rockabilly of the 1950's, albeit with a punk and very in your face attitude.

If you want to be highly entertained by some vintage sounding rock 'n' roll I can highly recommend catching Pussycat and The Dirty Johnsons if they head your way. And buy their albums - I picked up their latest one 'Ain't No Pussy' at the merch stall and wasn't disappointed.