Live review: The Long Ryders 229 London – [16 Oct 2024]

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40 years ago The Long Ryders released their 1st LP Native Sons, to critical acclaim, and apparently in the process unwittingly invented ‘Americana’.  I indeed bought said LP and treasure it to this day.  I really can’t remember how they came to my attention (at same time as Green On Red and REM I think) else they may have inexplicably passed me by.   When I saw they were touring and playing the LP in its entirety I just had to go reminisce and be part of rock ‘n’ roll history😊.  As it happens it’s not lost any of its lustre, is still a lovely and relevant piece of work that has stood the test of time.

Having seen them 18 months back I knew what to expect – The Long Ryders are a top live band led by the indomitable barmy Sid Griffin; Greg Sowders wearing a Stetson looking like a retired Texas Ranger and Stephen McCarthy erring on the accountant look.  They are supplemented by Murry Hammond (from the Old 97’s) and a 2nd drummer (not seen that since the Glitter band 😊) plus the occasional horn section.

The Long Ryders are:

  • Sid Griffin – Guitar/vocals
  • Murry Hammond (from the Old 97’s) – Bass/vocals
  • Stephen McCarthy – Guitar/vocals
  • Greg Sowders – Drums

So how to describe them?  60’s psychedelia, Alt.Country, slightly Monkees, Byrdsy – basically lots of twangy guitar riffs.  They come into their own live delivering songs with passion, energy and a sense of fun.

Sid Griffin is a consummate and witty performer – give them what they want!!  His energy levels are  undiminished and in-between songs he’s a funny fucker. The hair is now whiter but it’s still a shaggy sweaty mop from back in the day.

Setlist (Click on links to view YouTube videos)

  1. Gunslinger Man – (Two-Fisted Tales, 1987)
  2. Seasons Change – (September November, 2023)
  3. September November Sometime – (September November, 2023)
  4. Final Wild Son – (Native Sons, 1984)
  5. Still Get By – (Native Sons, 1984)
  6. Ivory Tower – (Native Sons, 1984)
  7. Run Dusty Run – (Native Sons, 1984)
  8. (Sweet) Mental Revenge – (Native Sons, 1984)
  9. Fair Game – (Native Sons, 1984)
  10. Tell It to the Judge on Sunday – (Native Sons, 1984)
  11. Wreck of the 809 – (Native Sons, 1984)
  12. Too Close to the Light – (Native Sons, 1984)
  13. Never Got To Meet The Mom – (Native Sons, 1984)
  14. I Had a Dream – (Native Sons, 1984)
  15. I Want You Bad (NRBQ cover)
  16. State of My Union – (State of Our Union, 1985)
  17. Greenville – (Psychedelic Country Soul, 2019)

Encore:

  1. White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane cover)
  2. Lights of Downtown – (State of Our Union, 1985)
  3. Looking for Lewis and Clark – (State of Our Union, 1985)

The lights dimmed, the near sell-out crowd roared, and the guitars twanged to ‘Gunslinger Man’.  They twanged even more on the Byrdsy ‘September November Sometime’ a quintessential Ryders song and a personal favourite of mine.  Then Sid announces they are playing the whole of ‘Native Sons’ in chronological order – perfect!  So from the off it’s all ass-kicking attitude, on ‘Final Wild Son’

Sid and Stephen regularly took turns for lead vocals and traded guitar solo’s respectfully.  Stephen is more sedate during his solos whereas Sid on the other hand (with trusty Rickenbacker) is in constant motion making machine gun shapes, wailing legs and striking poses.  Hell they all really look like they are enjoying themselves not surprising really given the enthusiastic audience and classic songs like ‘Run Dusty Run’, ‘(Sweet) Mental Revenge’, and ‘Tell It to the Judge on Sunday’ they get to play.

Tools down and off for the briefest of interludes and lots of hollering.  Upon returning Sid says “on a personal level thank you for making so much noise as I’ve a lot of family here tonight, and they weren’t so sure about the career path I took” – tee hee!!  At the start of their dreamy version of Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’ (sung by Murray) he says “kids there’s something to be learned here so pay attention”.  They finish off with the rousing audience participation sing-a-long that is ‘Waiting For Lewis and Clark’ the final icing on a class night. Catch them while you can folks, definitely worth the ride.

Morton Valance

The support act were a London band called Morton Valence, whom I’d never heard of but turned out to be a very fine band indeed with some beautifully eerie slow burning country style songs.  The 4 piece were fronted by a beanie wearing singer with acoustic guitar and a lovely Irish lady on keyboards.  Chatting with the band afterwards it turns out they have released quite a few albums already so I’ll have to check them out as they sounded interesting and different.  I felt obliged to buy something as let’s face it any band that gets to mention Hieronymus Bosch in a song has got to have some degree of intellect 😊 and wit. I enjoyed their set, they were engaging.

Marko [18 Oct 2024]

Review:  Black Uhuru – Jazz Café London [24 July 2024]

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Black Uhuru were:

  • Derrick ‘Duckie’ Simpson – Vocals
  • Andrew Bees – Lead vocals
  • Elsa Green – backing vocals
  • Supported by some old black session musicians (bass/drums/keyboards/rhythm guitar) and a white dude with tattoos on lead guitar.

Luckily I saw the classic lineup of Black Uhuru in 1982 at Wembley Stadium supporting the Rolling Stones (alas I recall nothing from the day).  These days only Duckie remains as the stalwart holding their formidable legacy together so I was really looking forward to seeing them.

A sweaty night in the small but packed Jazz café in Camden finally saw the return of Black Uhuru (and about bloody time given all the previous cancellations!!).  Duckie and Andrew are a total contrast. Duckie barely moves, totally laid back, and just adds the odd bit of singing when required until he takes over lead vocals towards the end of the gig and even then barely breaks into a sweat.  Andrew on the other hand is a dynamic live wire, doing all the reggae moves and engaging the audience in singalongs.  He certainly has stage presence!  The rest of the band basically blend into the background (most with their dreads hidden in their tams), doing their job with minimum fuss.  They are a solid unit – pulsing repetitive hypnotic bass/drum really driving the beat for the whole evening.

Duckie’s performance was pretty much that of an interested bystander watching and conducting his band.  There were a number of occasions when Andrew had to restart a song, band obviously out of step, so they hadn’t had sufficient time to practice for this gig?  Not that this bothered the mixed crowd who danced and sang along enveloped in the rhythmic sound.

Set List (Click on the links to see the YouTube videos)
These are the songs I remember:

  1. I Love King Selassie – (Live, 1984)
  2. What Is Life? – (Anthem, 1984)
  3. Shine Eye Gal – (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1983)
  4. Plastic Smile – (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1983)
  5. Black Uhuru Anthem – (Anthem, 1984)
  6. As The World Turns – (As The World Turns, 2018)
  7. Spectrum – (Strongg, 1994)
  8. General Penitentiary – (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1983)
  9. Sponji Reggae – (Red, 1981)

Encore

  1. Solidarity – (Anthem, 1984)
  2. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1983)
  3. Happiness – (Sinsemilla, 1980)
  4. Sinsemilla – (Sinsemilla, 1980)

The nearly 2 hour set was sprinkled with classic hits from their 80’s heyday and newer tracks from their last LP.  Some tracks were elongated into a rhythmic jam with the groove simply moving your body to the beat.  The diverse audience of young/old black/white is a testament to Black Uhuru’s enduring reggae greats legacy.  The band and audience connected on many levels (umm is that dope I smell?), there is a timeless appeal to their music.

All in all it was a night to celebrate Black Uhuru as true ambassadors of ‘proper’ reggae. Thank you Duckie for keeping the fire burning!

Marko [29 July 2024]

Review: Body Count live at the O2 Forum Kentish Town – 30 June 2024 (Merciless Tour)

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Amidst the sirens and flashing blue and red lights the Gangsta rap metal boys from south central LA launch tonight’s sonic onslaught with “Body Count’s in the House” or their eponymous 1st LP and for the next 90 minutes the noise never lets up.  It’s no frills, Rock N Roll! 

The tone for the night was set as they launched into Slayer’s ‘Raining Blood/Postmortem’, then ripping into ‘Bowels of the Devil’, and ‘There Goes the Neighborhood’ before introducing us to a new song ‘The Purge’.   Ice-T told the crowd that he judges how good Body Count concerts are by how brutal the mosh pits are. Que circle in the pit ready for the mayhem about to begin for a new song written especially for a good old mosh ‘The Purge’.  To be fair the pit started on the very first song and continues throughout the night – high-energy moshing, circle pits, crowd surfers and beer flying everywhere.  Fun to watch.

Ice dedicated “Manslaughter” to the death of real men “ladies have you noticed your man has a vagina” and “they have more products on the cosmetics shelf than you” 😊..   ‘Necessary Evil’ and ‘Psychopath’ were ace, for the latter Ice took off his cap and put tights over his face – very bank robber!  “Talk Shit, Get Shot” and “No Lives Matter” are great singalongs before the last song ‘Cop Killer’ brought mayhem and middle fingers in the air along with an impressively loud ‘F**K the police’ chorus.

Body Count Set list (click on links to see YouTube videos)

  1. Body Count’s in the House – (Body Count, 1992)
  2. Raining Blood / Postmortem – (Slayer cover)
  3. Bowels of the Devil – (Body Count, 1992)
  4. There Goes the Neighborhood – (Body Count, 1992)
  5. The Purge – (Merciless, 2024)
  6. Point the Finger – (Carnivore, 2020)
  7. Manslaughter – (Manslaughter, 2014)
  8. Necessary Evil – (Born Dead, 1994)
  9. Psychopath – (Merciless, 2024)
  10. No Lives Matter – (Bloodlust, 2017)
  11. War / UK 82 / Disorder – (Exploited Cover)
  12. Drive By – (Born Dead, 1994)
  13. Voodoo – (Body Count, 1992)
  14. Talk Shit, Get Shot – (Manslaughter, 2014)
  15. Cop Killer – (Body Count, 1992)

Encore

  1. Born Dead – (Born Dead, 1994)
  2. This is Why We Ride – (Bloodlust, 2017)
  3. Comfortably Numb ‘rap’ – (Merciless, 2024)

Ice then introduced us to what he said he invented i.e. a virtual encore.  Basically at 66 he’s too old to piss off backstage only to come back on so the lights are dimmed for 15 seconds, the band pretended to leave the stage before turning around and playing ‘Born Dead’.  He then explained revenge is the answer to killings and not reporting them to the police and engaged us to listen to the lyrics of ‘This is Why We Ride’.  They were about to call it quits but as the crowd was so good they agreed to play one last new song.  He teased us about what band they would cover this time and to everyone’s surprise it was Pink Floyd.  A wonderful rap full of emotive lyrics that make your hair stand on end all to the sounds of ‘Comfortably Numb’ – what a fucking way to go out, seismic – check out the video link.  This will be a staple set finisher for years to come a total classic on first hearing.  “Can you mother fuckers hear me?”.

Review Body Count playing "Cop Killer" live at the O2 Forum Kentish Town 30 June 2024

Body Count are:

  • Ice-T – Lead vocal
  • Ernie C – Lead guitar
  • Vincent Price – Bass
  • Juan Garcia – Rhythm guitar
  • Will “Ill Will” Dorsey Jnr – Drums
  • Sean E. Sean – Vocals
  • Little Ice – Vocals

Awesome riffs and blisteringly fast solos from Ernie C (looking like a deranged Donald King), ably supported by Juan on rhythm flying V.  The back beat was delivered lightning quick from Ill Will attacking the drums and in your face bass lines from Vincent Price.  Ice-T was a magnificent sweary beast of a man all night full of passion and humility.  Plenty of social commentary “shut the fuck up bitch” to a lady annoying him at the front; racial equality has been his main aim since he started; the hopelessness of war and why can’t we all live together?  Oh and the odd gun reference 😊…

The ‘skull n gun hoody’ black stage set back drops pretty much explain all you need to know about Body Count and rap superstar Ice-T – thank fuck he went metal!!  Body Count still matters!

Marko [1 July 2024]

Ps – I’ve decided to have a new feature to my blogs called ‘Nick’s view from the bar’ – which involves my mate Nick’s take on the gig stood propping up the bar and drinking way too much 😊.  More to follow..

Bruce Dickinson Live at London: The Mandrake Project Tour 2024 Highlights

On By markosgigarchiveIn gig review2 Comments

Well here I am at a loose end so let’s see what gigs are on in the smoke tonight.  Bruce Dickinson ah ha! – ok let’s see if there are any tickets.  Resale yes at £55.  Popped out and then revisited same site at 3pm and would you believe it £32 – I’ll have some of that.  So quick change and tube into London. Thanks to TFL closing Kentish Town tube for a year I have to go to Tufnal Park instead and walk, luckily it’s not that far.  Quick stop at a Japanese noodle bar and a couple pints in pub and I’m in.

Now this is a first for me. I don’t know any of Bruce’s solo material bar a few single from ‘Tattooed Millionaire’.  So I did a bit of digging to work out the set list and band members.

Last time I was here it was called the Kentish Town and Country club, not that I remember as it was a seriously long time ago and I was ratted.  The place was packed and steaming hot for this sell out show. Luckily I stood on the steps so had a great elevated view of proceedings.  The lights go down and monologue for ‘The Invaders’ (for you youngsters out there it’s a 1960s American Sci-Fi series) “The Invaders, Alien beings from a dying planet …” blasts out.  The band waltz on stage and are greeted with a barrage of “Brucie, Brucie” from and ardent crowd.  Worth milking it for a short while until they launch into ‘Accident Of Birth’.  It’s not long before he lifts his arms and, using his synonymous Maiden catch phrase, “Scream for me, London!”.  And yes they did!

This short set of 5 UK dates is to promote his lasts LP ‘The Mandrake Project’ and the 4 he played were good. Between songs, Bruce is his normal chatty self, with several dialogues throughout the set e.g. a tale of female vampires needing sex before ‘Many Roads To Hell’.  Tonight’s set surprisingly covers the majority of his solo career, a pretty even spread are his 1st album.

Set List (click on link to watch YouTube video)

  1. Accident of Birth – (Accident of Birth, 1997)
  2. Abduction – (Tyranny of Souls, 2005)
  3. Laughing in the Hiding Bush – (Balls to Picasso, 1994)
  4. Afterglow of Ragnarok – (The Mandrake Project, 2024)
  5. Chemical Wedding – (The Chemical Wedding, 1998)
  6. Many Doors to Hell – (The Mandrake Project, 2024)
  7. Jerusalem – (The Chemical Wedding, 1998)
  8. Resurrection Men – (The Mandrake Project, 2024)
  9. Rain on the Graves – (The Mandrake Project, 2024)
  10. Frankenstein – (Edgar Winter Group cover)
  11. The Alchemist – (The Chemical Wedding, 1998)
  12. Tears of the Dragon – (Balls to Picasso, 1994)
  13. Darkside of Aquarius – (Accident of Birth, 1997)

Encore:

  1. Navigate the Seas of the Sun – (Tyranny of Souls, 2005)
  2. Book of Thel – (The Chemical Wedding, 1998)
  3. The Tower – (The Chemical Wedding, 1998)

Once things for certain, having seemingly recovered from his well-documented throat issues he was at the top of his ‘air-raid siren’ game vocally, very impressive.  The band is well oiled, guitarists Philip Nãslund and Chris Declerq regularly take turns in lead and rhythm and the extremely seductive dread locked Tanya O’Callaghan putting stationary bassist to shame!  Drummer Dave Moreno is sweating and pounding the drums as if his life depended on it and the steampunk clad Mistheria fiddled with keytar strutting his stuff like a lead guitarist and enamouring the crowd to clap, sings and basically have a damn good time.  During longer solo’s Bruce would have breather at the back to get ready for the next vocal assault. One big negative for me was the bands dreaded virtuosic ‘look how competent I am on my instrument solo’s’ especially on ‘’Frankenstein’ where they all had a bloody go starting off with the drums.  Hell I hate those things.  They could have squeezed another song in instead!!

The Band are:
Philip Nãslund and Chris Declerq – guitar
Tanya O’Callaghan – bass
Dave Moreno – drums
Mistheria – keyboards, keytar.

The backstage visuals consist of UFO based themes and plenty of old B&W footage from old horror movies.  Lighting is generally dark and sparse bar some occasional strobe lighting. The entire time the audience were either clapping, singing or waving in unison, a devoted crowd indeed many sporting Iron Maiden insignia’s.  All in all an entertaining evening with pretty much every song receiving a standing ovation.

Bruce was sporting leather trousers, tour t-shirt, cut-off denim jacket and wool beanie throughout – he must have sweated off some pounds this evening.  He loves hamming it up with on the bongo’s and acts the demented demon whilst waving his arms about on the theremin – all very Vauderville 😊.

Black Smoke Trigger are the support act.  Not bad, their lead singer was a charismatic chap with a wonderfully husky voice. Some of the songs were pretty good, I wonder if they will break into the big time?

Marko [26 May 2024]

Live review: The Gaslight Anthem at the Roundhouse London [24 March 2024]

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Support was from Texan Emily Wolfe, who came on later and played on two of the Gaslight Anthem’s songs. She can defo play guitar but the music wasn’t for me so I’ll skip her slot and get to the main attraction.

Brian looked way different to the last time I saw them almost exactly 10 years ago.  He’s got long unkempt hair, he’s put on some timber (middle aged spread 😊) and he’s wearing a Black Sabbath Vol 4 t-shirt – a nod to greatness.  They are across the pond for the UK/EU ‘History Books’ tour and this is the 1st of three nights at the Roundhouse which attests to their enduring popularity.  Tonight’s sell-out crowd of die-hard fans is buzzing with excitement, and a huge roar hits the band as they get on stage and launch full on into ‘Positive Charge’ from their latest LP.  Swiftly followed by ‘Hand Written’ and ‘Old White Lincoln’ the crowd are stomping, waving, jumping and singing along in unison.

In fairness Brian could just have played rhythm guitar all night as it seemed like the vocal crowd knew all the words to every song they played and sang along continuously – a sight to behold – a truly religious experience of sorts.

New Jersey’s finest are Brian Fallon – Vocals, rhythm guitar; Alex Rosamilia – guitar, Alex Levine – bass; Benny Horowitz – drums with touring members Ian Perkins (rhythm guitar, keyboards) Bryan Haring – keyboards.

The Majority of tonight’s set is from ‘The 59 Sound’ and ‘Handwritten’ with some nice surprises from their early days from ‘Señor and the Queen’ and ‘Sink or Swim’ (check the set list).  Basically loads of crowd favourites, let’s face it they have a top back catalogue to choose from, supplemented by 3 songs from the new LP ‘History Books’ and a couple from ‘Get Hurt’.  It appears that they change the set list most nights which is great news for fans who may have bought tickets for a couple of shows and also for the band as I guess it gets kind of boring (and would sap your enthusiasm) playing the same songs over and over night after night.

The Gaslight Anthem Set List (click on link to watch the video)

  1. Positive Charge (History Books, 2023)
  2. Handwritten (Handwritten 2012)
  3. Old White Lincoln (The ’59 Sound, 2008)
  4. Biloxi Parish (Handwritten 2012)
  5. Red Violins (Get Hurt, 2014)
  6. High Lonesome (The ’59 Sound, 2008)
  7. The Patient Ferris Wheel (The ’59 Sound, 2008)
  8. Mulholland Drive (Handwritten 2012)
  9. Here’s Lookin’ At You Kid (The ’59 Sound, 2008)
  10. The Spirit of Jazz (American Slang, 2010)
  11. 1930 (Sink or Swim 2007)
  12. Halloween (Get Hurt, 2014)
  13. I Coul’da Been A Contender (Sink or Swim 2007)
  14. The Weatherman (History Books, 2023)
  15. Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts (Señor and the Queen, 2008)
  16. Howl (Handwritten 2012)
  17. Mae (Handwritten 2012)
  18. Michigan, 1975 (History Books, 2023)
  19. Great Expectations (The ’59 Sound, 2008)
  20. 45 (Handwritten 2012)
  21. The ’59 Sound (The ’59 Sound, 2008)

Brian only interacts with the audience a couple of times during the show as one punkier classic rock slab blends into another for more joyous crowd revelry.  Comparisons with Bruce are inevitable, Brian certainly owes a debt of gratitude to the Boss but IMHO I prefer The Gaslight Anthems more up tempo beat and lyrics reflecting on times long gone by or just storytelling.

The sound was a bit too hazy for my liking (vocals didn’t stand out) and the lighting a bit hit and miss – too many red/blue hues but just a slight grumble. 

The show is interspersed with a few slower tunes – ‘Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts’, ‘Mae’ and ‘Here’s Lookin’ At You Kid’ which turned into a total reverie sing-along!  My personal favourites were ‘The Spirit of Jazz’ and the final 3 blistering tunes of ‘Great Expectations’, ‘45’ and ‘The 59 Sound’.  Everyone, including the band, had smiles on their faces.  A truly euphoric 90 mins of delightful driving rhythms powerfully resonating with the ordained crowd.

Marko [ 27 March 2024]

Gig Review : Judas Priest / Saxon / Uriah Heep – Ovo Arena Wembley 21 March 2024

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What a line up – Judas Priest, Saxon, Uriah Heep – and what a great night of heavy metal and rock by three bands at the top of their game.  I’m just going to leave this statistic here for you, Rob Halford is 72, Biff Byford is 73 and Mick Box is 76.  Get out and see these bands before it’s too late!!!

It’s been 9 years since they last hit our shores and yes they are here to showcase their new LP ‘Invincible Shield’ but tonight the Priest set consisted 70% of 70s and 80s output, 20% from the latest LP and a couple of songs 1990 and 2014.  A career spanning best of that tells you something about the strength of their early output compared to the latter years.  

Original Judas Priest members, in order of longevity, Ian Hill, Rob Halford and Glenn Tipton (who appeared for the last 2 songs having been forced off the road with Parkinson’s disease), were supplemented by long standing regulars Scott Travis and Richie Faulkner and touring member Andy Sneap.  All resplendent in black leather and studs with Rob going off stage after each song (for oxygen I guess given he’s a sprightly 72 😊) and changing his leather top every few songs – he must have worked up a sweat as he constantly wore 2 leather jackets.  The final change for the encore was to a floor length sleeveless denim coat emblazoned with band patches – reminded me of 70s Quo fans style (that said I’ve never seen so many patched denim since the early 70s at the show tonight – old rockers never die!!)

To be fair all 3 singers on tonight’s bill have still got outstanding vocal dexterity.  They all have outstanding dynamic ranges which given their ages is surprising.  The band are tight and don’t put a foot wrong throughout a night of heavy metal anthems.  You know it’s going to be good from the start when they launch into the blistering ‘Panic Attack’ followed by a salvo of ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ and ‘Breaking the Law’ when Ritchie, Rob and Andy do a little shimmy move during the guitar solo – great stuff (watch the video via the link further down this blog).  Loads of archetypal metal axeman posturing from Ritchie, Ian doing the usual bassist thing but Rob still gets the audience gaze, striking as he is with tattooed bald head, nose ring, long white beard and leather clad head down singing into the mic.

Judas Priest Set List (9:20 – 22:55) (click on link to watch video)

  1. Panic Attack (Invincible Shield, 2024)
  2. You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (Screaming for Vengeance, 1982)
  3. Breaking the Law (British Steel, 1980)
  4. Rapid Fire (British Steel, 1980)
  5. Sword of Damocles (Redeemer of Souls, 2014)
  6. Love Bites (Defenders of the Faith, 1984)
  7. Saints in Hell (Stained Class, 1978)
  8. Crown of Horns (Invincible Shield, 2024)
  9. Turbo Lover (Turbo, 1986)
  10. Invincible Shield (Invincible Shield, 2024)
  11. Sinner (Sin After Sin, 1977)
  12. The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) – (Killing Machine, 1978)
  13. Painkiller (Painkiller, 1990)

Encore:

  1. Electric Eye (Screaming for Vengeance, 1982)
  2. Hell Bent for Leather (Killing Machine, 1978)
  3. Metal Gods (British Steel, 1980)
  4. Living After Midnight (British Steel, 1980)
Judas Priest – – Wembley Arena 21 March 2024
Judas Priest – – Wembley Arena 21 March 2024
Judas Priest – – Wembley Arena 21 March 2024
Judas Priest – – Wembley Arena 21 March 2024

Priest’s stage set is excellent – great lighting, a large 3 pronged backdrop playing videos or showing the band members in full swing and a invincible shield trident lowering occasionally centre stage for further effect.  There is the occasional between songs banter, Rob introduces Ian “Ian, say hello, how you doing tonight?  Ian has been here as long as I have, we’ve been playing heavy metal for over 50 years, that’s a long time”.  Then the band launch into ‘Invincible Shield’.  And Drummer Scott Travis launches into a prologue about the tour then in as a typical American he says “but we knew the last show in the UK had to be in London, England (like we don’t know where it is 😊) and it’s been the best audience we have had so far…” before giving the drums a damn good clattering as he launched into ‘Painkiller’.

For the encore ‘Electric Eye’ the sound of engines ignites and Rob emerges in a plume of smoke on his Harley motorcycle clad in leather, chains and muir cap – Hell Bent for Leather indeed!!!  The special guest Glen Tipton comes on for the last 2 songs to massive audience approval and the bad finish triumphantly with the sing along ‘Living After Midnight’ – a perfect end to a great night.  Rob is indeed a metal god!

SAXON

The Band are “Biff” Byford (vocals), Brian Tatler (ex Diamond Head) and Doug Scarratt (guitars), Nibbs Carter (bass) & Nigel Glockler (drums).  They are here to promote their new LP ‘Hell, Fire and Damnation’ however 70% of the songs tonight are from their NWOBHM 80s heyday.  That said the 3 songs they did play sounded great especially ‘There`s Something In Roswell’ and ‘Madame Guillotine’.  Biff Byford was in his element, exciting the audience in his thick Yorkshire accent, to have a fucking great time. A classic line from him was “The bill tonight is fucking great, even I’d buy a ticket and I’m from Yorkshire”.

Saxon – Set List (click on link to watch video)

  1. Hell, Fire and Damnation (Hell, Fire and Damnation, 2024)
  2. Motorcycle Man (Wheels of Steel, 1980)
  3. Sacrifice (Sacrifice, 2018)
  4. There’s Something in Roswell (Hell, Fire and Damnation, 2024)
  5. And the Bands Played On (Denim and Leather, 1981)
  6. Power and the Glory (Power & the Glory, 1983)
  7. Madame Guillotine (Hell, Fire and Damnation, 2024)
  8. Heavy Metal Thunder (Strong Arm of the Law, 1980)
  9. Dallas 1 PM (Strong Arm of the Law, 1980)
  10. 747 (Strangers in the Night) –  (Wheels of Steel, 1980)
  11. Denim and Leather (Denim and Leather, 1981)
  12. Wheels of Steel (Wheels of Steel, 1980)
  13. Princess of the Night (Denim and Leather, 1981)
Saxon – Wembley Arena 21 March 2024

All the classics are played during their 60 mins: ‘And the Bands Played On’, ‘747 Strangers in the Night’, ‘Wheels of Steel’ and the crowd choice of ‘Dallas 1 pm’ based on the noise level when Biff gave us 3 songs to choose from.  Saxon were actually really very good and engaging. Loads of top riffs, blistering solos and Biff with a powerful commanding front man display.

URIAH HEEP

Mick Box is such a good guitarist, which I don’t think he gets enough credit for.  Heep are a great live band and they started with a couple of lively newer songs ‘Save Me Tonight’ and ‘Grazed By Heaven’ which got the set off to a blinder.  Bernie Shaw`s voice is very powerful and compliments the thumping Hammond organ driven songs well.

Although coming on at 18:30 and only given 35 minutes Heep delivered a mix of epic old prog classics and crowd pleasers ‘Gipsy’, ‘Rainbow Deamon’ and ‘Easy Livin’ which sat neatly with quality dynamic new songs that show they still have got it.

Uriah Heep – Set List (click on link to watch video)

  1. Save Me Tonight
  2. Grazed by Heaven
  3. Rainbow Demon
  4. Hurricane
  5. Free ‘n’ Easy
  6. Gypsy
  7. Easy Livin’

Bernie Shaw (vocals), Mick Box (guitar), Phil Lanzon (keyboards), Dave Rimmer (bass),  Russell Gilbrook (drums) are a well oiled machine on top form tonight.  Bernie said “There’s around 150 years of music in here tonight” and he was not wrong!

Marko [23 March 2024]

Review: The Tiger Lillies – Lessons in Nihilism @ Wilton’s Music Hall [27 Feb 2024]

On By markosgigarchiveIn gig review1 Comment

This is the 5th time I’ve seen The Tiger Lillies and once again have left with a smile on my face (only just mind as their ‘assistant’ David Hoyle was extremely irritating and added nothing to the music imho – but more of that later).

The music speaks for itself – vaudeville for the modern age, cabaret with a twist, avant garde Brechtian with eastern European gypsy leanings. Martyn Jacques is both the leader and writer of all the dystopian songs of love, death, drugs, hookers, colourful characters, dark macabre and seedy underbelly of life in the world of sub culture.  All those early years living above a whore house in Soho certainly did the trick (wink 😊).

Tonight the trio consist of:

  • Martyn Jacques: vocals, accordion, piano, ukulele
  • Adrian Stout: double bass, theremin, musical saw, jaw harp
  • Budi Butenop: drums, percussion

They are doing a short residency at Wilton’s Music Hall (20th Feb to 2nd March) in support of their new album ‘Lessons in Nihilism’ and played it in its entirety over two sets 19:30 – 20:20 and 20:40 – 21:30.  So more new twisted songs for the majority of the very diverse audience to engage with.

After every 2 or 3 songs the band sat down and we had to listen to a, thankfully relatively short, boring unfunny diatribe about politics, war, gender, and society from Blackpool’s very own David Hoyle.  Old queens never die they just get sadder I guess.  Even worse he bloody well sang a song assisted by Adrian on theremin.  Whatever the reason for having him on the bill is completely lost on me as it had nothing to do with the excellent music the band was playing and added nothing to the evening.  I’d rather have the band play more songs after all they have a huge back catalogue of excellent songs. 

As always the band were immaculately dressed suits, hats and grease-painted circus faces. Adrian and Budi had similar makeup accentuating their lines to almost Halloween skeletal appearance while Martyn had panda like face paint.  He wore a FCK PTN sticker (wonder what side he’s on 😊) on his bowler hat and cut and an imposing figure.  Occasional glimpses of his long pony tail flowing down his back during the quicker moments of accordion mayhem.

Most songs lead with the accordion with just a few guitar led ones such as the ghostly ‘Dying Clown’ accompanied by Adrian on theremin and Budi on washboard.  Unusual instruments of the day were Martyn’s 18” mini guitar in reverse (alas no pics) and Adrian playing the musical saw which had a wooden skull handle – top stuff!! Even the jaw harp made an appearance on one song.

‘Gone Wrong’ and ‘Come on Down’ are good old foot stomping gypsy based tunes.  Lots of sad melancholy soulful tunes too such as ‘Rest in Peace’ and ‘Time to Die’ are great vehicles for Martyn’s distinctive high falsetto voice.  ‘Disintegrate’ starts off Gypsy style then goes off into improvised Jazzy passages with the band giving it all they had.

The Tiger Lillies @ Wiltons Music Hall
The Tiger Lillies @ Wiltons Music Hall
The Tiger Lillies @ Wiltons Music Hall
The Tiger Lillies @ Wiltons Music Hall
The Tiger Lillies @ Wiltons Music Hall
The Tiger Lillies @ Wiltons Music Hall

I bought the CD and have been listening to it constantly while writing this piece.  It’s an excellent album, stark realism and great lyrics.  I highly recommend listening to it in the dark with a bottle or two of something by your side!

Set list

  1. Gone Wrong
  2. Bleached Earth
  3. Dying Clown
  4. Come on Down
  5. Time to Die
  6. Celebrity
  7. Disintegrate
  8. Blamed
  9. Rest in Peace
  10. No Sin
  11. Disease
  12. Kick a Baby (Urine Palace, 2007)
  13. Banging in the Nails (The Brothel to the Cemetery, 1998)

To finish off we had the excellent ‘Kick a Baby’ and ‘Banging in the Nails’ the latter of which had Budi doing a protracted drum solo which was rather good given his small drum kit.

It’s always a pleasure watching The Tiger Lillies – a truly one of a kind band and experience.  I was lucky enough to have my CD signed by the band as well as a few photos with them.  Thanks chaps keep it up.  Can’t wait till next time you are in London.

Marko [28 Feb 2024]

Review: The Bites – The Black Heart, Camden 8 Dec 2023

On By markosgigarchiveIn gig review2 Comments

A strange one this for me – I didn’t know they were in town until I saw a gig list in Classic Rock magazine 12 hours earlier. So bought a ticket and at £14 an absolute steel for a band I’m sure are set for much bigger things.  I decided to go based on their ‘Do Me a Favor’ single and their great band logo!  Apart from that I know jack about these LA boys.  Also I’d never been to the Black Heart either, and as I discovered it’s a proper RnR bar with an upstairs capacity of 170 which sold out. A low ceiling, poor lighting, suspect mixing (drums out did the guitars) and crowd face to face with the band made the evening quite interesting.

The stage is tiny, and with 2 supporting acts – Circus 66 and White Raven Down there was lots of squeezing around the kit. It was good to see the support bands loading/unloading their kit, reminded me of the old days.  White Raven Down looked interesting but pressed for time they only played 5 songs which were a good introduction to this hard rock power trio.  Worth delving deeper.

So it turns out my intuition was right, The Bites look the part, they kick ass, they have top riffs, they have a charismatic lead singer, they are a bit tongue in cheek, they look like they are having the time of their lives – living the dream – they may well be the next big thing in rock n roll.

The band consist of: Singer – Jordan Tyler; Drums – Mark Highlander, Guitars – Dustin Coon, Jono Richer, Bass – Zack Currier.  All accomplished musos on a mission to be the next Motley Crue/Poison/GnR. It’s all about the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll lifestyle!! They are indeed a good time party band with a gratitude to their audience!

So they played their Squeeze LP in full tonight and they attacked every song with attitude and vigor. Given they had very little room on stage they managed well to take centre stage with the twin guitarists vying for attention with Jordan and even the bassist coming out of his tiny corner occasionally. Every song is high octane delivered with maximum pleasure, the raw energy and enthusiasm are commendable.  Jordan has all the hallmarks of a great frontman, tattoos a plenty, swagger, audience interaction/participation, the moves etc. I’d love to see him work a bigger audience.

The engaged audience knew the songs and sung along when requested.  The young girls next to me were loving it and headbanging away to most songs.  An interesting mix of audience to be fair, old rockers to teenagers – so they have appeal to a wide demographic.  You can’t help loving watching them strut their stuff without a smile on your face. So to pigeon hole them it’s a bit of 70s glam, 80’s hair metal/sleaze, and retro rock meddling the present and the past together nicely.  As I didn’t know the songs prior to the gig It’s hard to say what the highlights were – lets just say not a dud number all night.

‘Do Me A Favour’ extended into a 10 minute affair with band introductions and oh no a drum solo 😊!  Now Jordan may be full of bravado but hyping up Mark as the “the greatest RnR drummer of our generation” may be a bit wide of the mark, good as he is!

Setlist (click on link to see YouTube videos)

  1. Knockin’ on the Door
  2. Squeeze
  3. Dirty City
  4. Medley – inc. Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’
  5. Love Affair
  6. Wild Animal – Bad Bad
  7. Good Love
  8. Cold Clean Lady
  9. Heather Leather
  10. Do Me A Favor
  11. Pretty Boys
The Bites – Black Heart pub Camden
The Bites – Black Heart pub Camden
The Bites – Black Heart pub Camden
The Bites – Black Heart pub Camden

At the end of the gig they took the time to chat with the audience, sign stuff and pose for photo’s and were very polite and friendly and engaging in conversation.  I think they would be a good bunch to got out  for a beer, or 8, with.

So to sum up – big riffs, big solos, big attitudes and big ambitions.  A gig bursting with energy throughout which connected with the audience and created a party atmosphere.  Their single ‘Do Me A Favour’ is as catchy ass as anything you’ll hear.  After a very promising start it will be interesting to see if their next LP can continue the solid base they have built.  I think they have a bit of The Darkness about them – lets hope they make it to the next level – routing for you guys!

Marko [9 December 2023]

PS – Thanks for signing the vest and posing for pictures!

Review: Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch Rock Party Tour – Shepherd’s Bush Empire London – 21 Oct 2023

On By markosgigarchiveIn gig review1 Comment

Toyah and Robert Fripp brought a dumbed down, less flashy, version of their Sunday Lunch YouTube sensation to a packed enthusiastic Shepherd’s Bush Empire crowd.  To most peoples disappointment Toyah was actually all covered up in a gold lame sequined dress, and Robert was dressed sensibly (shirt, tie, waistcoat), as befitting a man of a certain age – 77.

A strange couple then – Prog Rock God Robert Fripp from King Crimson and wife Toyah Willcox of punk/new wave fame in the 80’s.  Something obviously clicked as they have been happily married since 1986 and it was obvious to everyone at the gig that they are totally smitten with each other still – good on them!  Robert was rooted to his stool the whole gig and constantly gazing at his wife in a bemused and loving way – with an occasional wry smile.

Toyah at 65 still looks great and is a bundle of energy bopping around the stage, dancing feverously and spending time longingly looking at and touching Robert during his many guitar solo’s.  On the whole Toyah’s vocals are pretty good, she held the crowd’s attention but for me I would have liked the sound up more, it wasn’t that loud.

The gig has two sets starting at 20:00 with a 20 min break.  The band comprises 8 in total (2 keyboards, 3 guitars, bass and drums and Toyah).  The stage is pretty spartan but has lots of blow up unicorns, hearts and crowns strewn about it.  The lighting was somewhat basic too.  The songs themselves are a eclectic mix of many genres.  A few Toyah songs plus stuff that Robert has been directly involved with, songs by friends of theirs or just songs they like – see the set list further down.

They kick off with Toyah’s ‘Thunder in the Mountains’ so a good start.  Between each song Toyah enthusiastically regals us with stories about the upcoming songs and why the song/artist is special to them.  Robert occasionally butts in to correct Toyah with a bit of comedy banter in grumpy old man style.  Toyah is constantly bigging up Robert to the crowd – yes we know he has played on many a classic record and knows pretty much everyone in the business.  It does get a bit sycophantic but what the hell it was fun.  

There was a long introduction to ‘It’s A Mystery’ and how she thought it was shit it but the record company insisted she release it as a single – and they were right as it was shifting 75k units a day for 6 weeks and went up to number 4 in the charts. She invited the audience to video the song and have good memories – to quote her  “I hope you had your first date to this song, your first shag to this song, or you sir your first mullet”. Yes we were all laughing!

Setlist Toyah and Robert Fripp (click on link to watch YouTube video)

  1. Thunder in the Mountains
  2. Heart of Glass
  3. Are You Gonna Go My Way
  4. Echo Beach
  5. It’s a Mystery
  6. Paranoid
  7. Sunshine of Your Love
  8. Tainted Love
  9. Kashmir

break

  1. Enter Sandman
  2. School’s Out
  3. Sweet Child o’ Mine
  4. Fashion
  5. Sharp Dressed Man
  6. Rockin’ in the Free World
  7. Relax
  8. Rebel Yell
  9. I Want to Be Free
  10. Heroes
  11. I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll

He has worked with, produced and toured with so many over the years e.g. Blondie, Lenny Kravitz, David Bowie and is friends with many more stellar artists like Robert Plant.  So therefore we get  covers of ‘Heart of Glass’, ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’, ‘Kashmir’, ‘Heroes’ etc.   Lots of heavy stuff as well ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘School’s Out’, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, ‘Paranoid’, ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ all done in the best possible taste – apart from perhaps some dodgy flirting inuendo during Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s ‘Relax’ when she rubs up to Robert and drools “when you want to come” – get a room 😊!!!  This was probably the worst cover of the night.

Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ got everyone up on their feet and was introduced as an anti-war song, and Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ is an all time classic.

So basically the Sunday kitchen shenanigans don’t really work in the live environment and it ends up as a good quality karaoke night out.  A night of fun and self-parody and I’m sure everyone left with a smile of their face.   They have found a niche for themselves on YouTube with over 120m hits, long may they continue to be relevant. I wonder what Robert really thinks about it all – now he’s more popular and well known than ever.  At £40 a ticket a damn good night out.

Marko [23/10/2023]

Review: The Sisters of Mercy – Roundhouse London 22 September 2023

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I was looking forward to the hypnotic sounds of the Sisters, but alas the Roundhouse was just about pretty damn useless for both sound quality and lighting.  I know it’s the first gig of the mini tour but you’d think the crew might have worked it out by now.  SOM have some top tunes, but tonight they didn’t do justice to any of them.  A lacklustre performance from Andrew Eldritch, just as well the lighting was so dark, we couldn’t see him squirm!  The singing was impenetrable, mixed way to low you could barely make out the words.

So, my first time at the Roundhouse – great place for a gig, with an interesting history.  The venue looked like 90% full and you could sense an eagerness in the air from the crowd, which was a healthy mix of young and old. The stage was dark, the lighting was colours from the dark spectrum and they dressed all in black as you’d expect – which inevitably led to a very dull spectacle of silhouettes adorning the stage.

We are from Leeds declared Andrew on one of the rare times he spoke between songs.  That was the clearest I heard him all night.  Sisters have a decent enough back catalogue from which many good songs were played tonight.  Their usual brooding, atmospheric sound was just basically noise – no one instrument stood out.  So as suggested already, Andrew was pretty average in vocal and lead man department tonight.  Ben Christo (lead guitar) and Dylan Smith (guitar) both looked and played the part even though you could barely see them and their sound mix was dreadful.  Ravey Davey (nurse to Doktor Avalanche) sat behind 4 laptops in charge of drum machine and other computerised noises – you couldn’t call him an active member of the band!

The Sisters of Mercy Setlist (click on link to view YouTube video)

  1. Don’t Drive on Ice
  2. Ribbons
  3. I Will Call You
  4. Alice
  5. But Genevieve
  6. First and Last and Always
  7. Dominion / Mother Russia
  8. Summer
  9. Marian
  10. More
  11. Instrumental 86
  12. Doctor Jeep / Detonation Boulevard
  13. Eyes of Caligula
  14. I Was Wrong
  15. Crash and Burn
  16. Here
  17. Vision Thing
  18. On the Beach
  19. When I’m on Fire

Encore

So as you do when you get to a certain age I had to make a quick visit to the toilet and everyone in there was complaining about how bad the show was “the worst I’ve seen them in 20 years” said one with nods of approval.

For the first hour I was near the front, middle.  However when the mosh pit kicked into action after a couple of songs it basically became a crush and I ended up on the barrier.  I migrated to the bar at the back for the rest of the set so as to get a view from afar.  So a lot of the audience were reveling in the performance, I however walked away disappointed. My LA friends came over for the gig, and even now I’m not totally sure what they thought of it or whether it was worth the trip for them (apart form seeing me and my cat of course which was defo the highlight!!)

Apologies for this being so short, it was nothing to linger on about in my opinion.

Marko [24 Sept 2023]