Going to 11 - or maybe higher!

The days of "Dad, you're too difficult to buy a Christmas gift for" are long gone and on 18th Feb I happily went along to the first of my Christmas presents - The Jesus and Mary Chain performing their debut album Psychocandy.

So it was off into Newcastle for a drink and a bite to eat prior to the gig, headed on to Pink Lane and ventured into The Forth, ordering their 3 for £10.00 taster platter. Some lovely squid in black pepper, perfect with an ice cold cider!

Quick look at the watch, just after 7.30 pm, the support band should be on now (doors were at 7pm) so off on a short walk to the O2 Academy.
Once inside it was pretty clear we must be too early, maybe about 50 people milling around in the venue, ahh well makes it easier to get served at the bar, so JD's 'n' coke duly purchased we made our way to a decent spot, dead centre just in front of the mixing desk. I say 'we' because apparently the missus also benefits from my gig ticket gifts!

After about a 30 minute wait on come the support - The Membranes - a band I've not heard, but I did recognise the singer and bassist ( John Robb) from a few punk documentaries shown late at night on BBC4. A sound reminiscent of early PIL, they played an energetic 'post punk' set and despite imploring the crowd to dance - I suspect this was an ironic request - the crowd stayed rooted to the spot, drinks held firmly in hand. Greeted with appreciative applause, they soon finished their 45 minute set.

By now a sizeable crowd had filled the Academy and as is usual the two 6' 6" members of the crowd decided to stand inches in front of us and off we went on the side step shuffle to try and get a half way decent view.

It was approaching 9.30 pm before The Jesus and Mary Chain took to the stage and singer Jim Reid announced they would be playing  a short set by way of an introduction before performing Psychocandy in full.

They launched into April Skies and were sounding really good, rattling through the set, over far too quickly for me! When they came back, it all went horribly wrong. Everyone apart from the vocals was turned up to '11' and, although you expect distortion from TJaMC this went way beyond listenable. The vocals were completely overwhelmed, totally lost in a sea of distortion and feedback with ever rising volume levels - my ears are still ringing!

Now the O2 has never been great for sound but with this level of volume you really need a sound engineer on top of his or her game; tonight we were just left to suffer and the songs became indistinguishable from one another as the feedback and distortion took centre stage. I don't often leave gigs early, this would be only the third time in some 43 years, but it was becoming painful and to be honest a bit pointless, it was simply just noise. So we left with about 20 minutes of the set still to play. I think if we'd stayed any longer we would be walking out into the cold North East air with bleeding ears!

I don't mind loud, in fact in the right circumstances LOUD is good, but at this gig it just ruined what could have been a classic night.

Some great Prog!

Midlake at the Playhouse July 10th, part of the Mouth of the Tyne Festival and I have to say an inspired booking by who ever organised the event. It's not often I get to see the same band twice in the same year, but I'd seen Midlake earlier at the start of the Antiphon tour back in February, so it was going to be interesting to see how the sound has developed. It's definitely fuller sounding and is all the better for it, good tracks on the album have become excellent live vehicles for the band, in fact I'd now say Antiphon is my fave album by them.



September 22nd, Anathema at Newcastle's O2 Academy this time with the missus who had dismissed the last band we saw together, Midlake – the Glasgow gig, as not being Rock 'n' Roll enough for her.

We caught a few songs from support band Mothers Cake and I'm afraid they didn't impress.

There seemed an interminable wait while the stage was made ready for Anathema, probably due to them being moved to the smaller hall, maybe a little over 200 in the audience, where as the night before they'd sold out in, yes you guessed it, Glasgow! It was a tight squeeze for the six of them on stage.

The audience were well up to this one and they were greeted by a mighty cheer and roar as they took to the stage and opened up with The Lost Song parts one and two from new album Distant Satellites, listened to in silence by a totally engrossed crowd, literally erupting in to applause and cheers when the song ended. Next up was Untouchable parts one and two, a real fave of mine, and once more the audience we totally in to what was being presented to them, no one talking through the set, everyone concentrating on the gig, which was wonderful.

This was a real old school gig, no flashy visuals, basic lighting and I think it was all the better for it. The music stood on it's own and the vocal interplay between Lee Douglas (much given to doing 'thumbs up' to the crowd!) and Vincent Cavanagh was excellent. They played tracks from the past 10 years including a wonderful version of 'A Natural Disaster' from 2003.

Like all the best gigs it was over far too soon, I could quite happily have listed to them in to the small hours, in fact once we got home 'Universal' was quickly placed in the CD player and left playing as we drifted off to sleep.

Three of a different kind

We have to go back to April 14th 2014 for the Within Temptation gig, one I was attending with good friend Gordon Smith, we'd both been looking forward to catching them live after being impressed with a couple of their recent albums including new release Hydra. So a leisurely meet up and a couple of pints before heading across to the O2 Academy only to be greeted by the longest queue to get in I'd seen for some time, right around the block the Academy is on and then almost all the way along an adjoining street, clearly this was a sell out! By the time we got in the support band Delain were already part way through their set, pretty good sound but lacking that 'killer' song.

Waiting for Within Temptation gave us time to take in the staging, an impressive stage set including some back projection. We didn't have to wait to long and they burst on to the stage all guns blazing and before we knew it we were four songs in to the set and Faster was blasting out. It was around this time that it became clear, at least to me, that something wasn't quite right. There's definitely another vocal track coming through it dawned on me that lead singer, Sharon Janny den Adel, was using a vocal track to support her voice. It became obvious a couple of songs later when the vocals were clearly separate. Now don't get me wrong when you have a sound as full as Within Temptations then maybe the vocals do need some help from technology. But for me, especially after a excellent Amaranthe gig earlier in the year, something about the performance was lost and towards the end I have to admit to being a little bored, so much so that we left early to grab a final couple of pints.

Fast forward four weeks to May 10th and it's off up to Glasgow to take in Tori Amos, courtesy of a TicketMaster freebie after the Midlake ticket cock up! Apart from the first couple of albums I wasn't really up to speed with Tori's later works but I'd always found her interesting so was anticipating a good, classy gig. Well maybe anywhere else, but not Glasgow! Lots of audience noise and calling out, you'd think it was a Slayer gig! But Tori Amos was excellent, everything you could hope for for a one woman performance, Crucify was electrifying live and a great cover of the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams made for a classic gig.

Moving on to June 14th brought yet another trip up to Glasgow, rapidly becoming my go to place for a gig. This time it was Television performing Marquee Moon, surely one of the iconic albums of the New York Punk scene and also it happens to be one of my fave albums of all time. Taking in this one with my son Rory we had a leisurely day in Glasgow, sampling some fine foods and ales before heading to the O2 Academy on Sauchiehall Street. Don't recall much about the support but Television were everything you would want from these aging punksters, at times absolutely brilliant, particularly on the track Marquee Moon and at other times shambolic and  seemingly disinterested, perhaps most evident during the encore Little Johnny Jewel which was great, but when Tom Verlaine encouraged the band to stay on stage they launched in to what is best described as a bit of a dirge finishing with a track called Psychotic Reaction a cover of a Count Five song... I'd never heard of Count Five either! Despite all that it's been one of the best gigs so far this year.

Amaranthe 02 Academy Islington London

Amaranthe, Deals Death and Smash it to Pieces rescheduled for 5th April 2014 at the 02 Academy Islington, London. A specially built venue apparently so was expecting good things acoustic wise.

Three bands from Sweden on the bill and all for around £20.00 I've got the Nexus album by Amaranthe, but the other two bands would be new to me.

Smash it to Pieces were already on stage when we got there a little after 6.30 pm, another early start so that the venue could be turned in to a  'club' for the evening. We'd be leaving the venue a few minutes after 9.30 pm!

Smash it Pieces were pretty good, in a kind of Staind way. Although I doubt I'll be rushing out to buy their debut album.

A short break and next up were Deals Death, described as melodic death metal on the metal archives website, whatever the description, they were great fun, loud, fast and not overcomplicated. They must have been growing their hair since they were about 10 as the stage was frequently just a mass of the stuff whirling round.

Another short break and on come Amaranthe, even louder than Deals Death but the acoustics were holding and all three vocalists (yes three!) were nice and clear. Formed in 2009 with 2 albums under their belt. There was a great atmosphere in the venue and both support bands were greeted enthusiastically but when Amaranthe took to the stage the crowd  went in to overdrive, much punching of the air and devil horns alongside a few 'hearts' directed to female vocalist Elize Ryd. They raced through their set and included a good number of tracks from Nexus all of which sounded harder and heavier live, pity about the drum solo tho' I've never been a fan of them. All to soon they'd left the stage and the crowd were definitely up for more, so on comes the bassist and runs through a somewhat bizarre 'comedy' routine, it was all getting a bit Spinal Tap, but all was restored to normal when the rest of the band returned to the stage to finish with two songs from their Nexus album, Invincible and the title track. Great stuff and so it was time to leave the venue to the 'clubbers'. Apparently they are going to support Within Temptation on a tour in North America, if they are in your area get along to see them, you won't be disappointed.
Full playlist
Future On Hold,  1.000.000 Lightyears,  Infinity,  Automatic,  Drum Solo,  Burn With Me,  Leave Everything Behind,  Afterlife,  Razorblade,  Amaranthine ,Mechanical Illusion,  Electroheart,  Hunger,  Theory of Everything,  Call Out My Name,  Encore: Invincible,  The Nexus

Midlake : Glasgow 02 Academy

So it was up to Glasgow, with my missus (suspect she was only coming along for a bit vintage shopping!) daughter Lani and future husband Pete to see Midlake on their Antiphon Tour, one of only a handful of dates in the UK.  We'll just skip over the mess Ticketmaster made of the ticketing!

First up were support band Horse Thief, managed to catch the last few songs of their set, sounded okay although a bit Mumford and Sons sounding for my tastes. A short intermission, there was a 10pm curfew on the gig, presumably to fill the venue with clubbers later on, but seeing as how it was pouring with rain I think it may have been a quiet night, there just didn't seem to be that many people out.

So on came Midlake to a really warm reception, They opened with tracks off new album Antiphon which were very good, 4th track Rulers, Ruling all things  from Courage of Others dispelled any doubts around original singer Tim Smiths departure and we knew it was all going to be alright! In fact they played tracks from all four albums, the material from Courage of Other and Trials of van Occupanther being given a serious 'cranking up' in a live setting. All the tracks were greeted loudly and enthusiastically by the audience. Roscoe was definitely a highlight alongside Van Occupanther. The gig wasn't a sell out by the way and the missus decided it wasn't rock 'n' roll enough for her tastes! But the rest of us had a great time.

Oh and discovered a new beer too... Joker IPA, very easy to drink!

Comin' in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down.

It was a cold, grey damp Thursday afternoon in South Gosforth when having gotten all my timings wrong for wandering around Majestic wines and meeting up with a friend I found myself with a couple of hours to kill. No problem I thought, just go to the Brandling ( a pub last visited when I was in the 6th form at St Mary's) and have a couple of quiet pints. Well quiet was out the question as the place had a couple of large raucous groups in and there's nothing that makes you feel more like 'johnny no mates' than standing at the bar on your own when everyone else is laughing and the air is filled with loud chatter!

Still all was not lost, there was always the Millstone to try, so I braved the rain and wind and headed there, pushed open the door to be met with the unmistakeable aroma of Christmas dinner and the gentle hubbub of conversation, this will do I thought so a pint of Tyneside Blonde was duly ordered.

Pint in hand I took in the bar, which turned out to be full, all the tables and chairs taken, across in the corner a banner proclaimed 'Vieux Carré Jazzmen'. Aah great I thought some Jazz for the afternoon, maybe some mellow Miles or John Coltrane maybe even a bit Sonny Stitt. An announcement from the band area "will the gentlemen of the orchestra please come and attend to their instruments" Sure enough half a dozen guys made their way forward and the unmistakeable sound of instrument being prepared filled the air. One of them wanders to the microphone, welcomes everyone for coming and duly announces that todays session would start with a song from 1925! Oh god no... not trad jazz a music form I've never liked or appreciated, time to drink up and head for Newcastle and with three quarters of a pint to finish it wasn't going to be a quick escape.

So the band started up, now here was something new, this wasn't the Trad Jazz I'd heard in the past. This was something more melancholic, slower paced and definitely more pleasant on the ear! These guys were/are consummate musicians, playing with some style and a clear love and feeling for this music. The audience were clearly enjoying it too, applauding every solo  and generally getting in to the swing of things. Before I knew it I'd ordered a second pint and was applauding the end of the session. Next to me at the bar was a guy who’d been ‘foot tappin’ along to the tunes, so I turned to him and asked a little about the band, discovering they've been around in one form or another since the fifties and the trumpet player, Fred Rowe was in his mid eighties and the average age was comfortably in the 70's, new found admiration for these guys!

Third pint ordered and time for the second session to start. My old fears returned as the first couple of songs sounded, at least to my ears, that each of them were playing a different tune. But then Minnie The Moocher was introduced as the next song, the only song played that I recognised the title of, being familiar with the Cab Calloway version. Now this one was different and actually had an air of authenticity about it that said "I was here first" and contained enough ho di ho's in it to keep everyone happy as the audience joined in!

Pint no. 4 was duly ordered, this Tyneside Blonde is a lovely pint and goes down easily! The band were coming to the end of their set and finished with a song called Goin' or maybe Comin' home, for me this was the best tune played it had a distinct feel of the Blues to it and so ended the session to appreciative applause from everyone in the audience.

With the 21st century speeding past outside it was time to leave the warmth and comfort of the 1920's behind and get some Christmas shopping done and meet up with my friend. Now if you've ever got a bit time to kill and happen to see the Vieux Carré Jazzmen are playing, do yourself a favour and "come in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down."

1978 an eclectic mix!

No  Reading festival this year, heading off to Knebworth instead. I still managed to cover a pretty wide range of musical styles from The Ramones to Tangerine Dream.

The year started off with a tremendous gig from Ultravox on January 20th at Newcastle Mayfair a couple of days after my birthday, starting the set with one of my favourite tracks 'Hiroshima mon Amour'. Such a pity that John Foxx would leave, although I did get to see the Midge Ure version of Ultravox a couple of times through the 80's and Vienna is a great album, for me those first two Ultravox albums were the best!

March brought Eddie and the Hot Rods, who had Squeeze and a band called Radio Stars on the line up. Radio Stars must have impressed as I do own one of their albums, but I really cannot recall anything about the gig.

By way of a contrast at the end of March I went to see Tangerine Dream, well I say I, by this time I was 'going steady' (lol such a dated thing to say!) with a girl I'd met at Art College the previous year, Sheelagh Connelly, so gig costs had now doubled!! Tangerine Dream were awesome, probably the first gig where I'd seen a full laser light show and Tangerine Dream are comfortably in my top 10 for albums owned!

In April it was the turn of Manfred Manns Earthband once again, this time on the Watch tour, another gig now forgotten .

So along comes Summer and what would turn out to be the last time I would see Genesis for almost 30 years at Knebworth Midsummer Nights Dream Concert. The real treat was getting to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and opening the gig... Devo dressed in white boiler suits and orange propeller hats they were the perfect start to a great day. We also got Jefferson Starship,who due to domestic differences between Grace Slick and her long time partner, guitarist Paul Kantner, performed without her, she returned to America before the gig. It was the first time the Starship had ever played without her. However, they pulled out all the stops and received a standing ovation at the end of their set. Although I do recall an incredibly boring bass guitar solo, wonder if Spinal Tap saw it too!
Oh and Roy Harper played a short set at the last minute while we waited for Genesis to get themselves sorted!
I've got a bootleg of the Genesis set and apart from the awful Follow You Follow Me, they were actually pretty good even without Steve Hackett. However the ...And Then There were Three album was the end for me and I'd not be buying any more Genesis releases for a long long time!

Two special gigs towards the end of the year, both for very different reasons. The first was The Ramones, now I know there's alot of people out there who regard The Ramones as incredibly influential and although I'm prepared to concede that point I have to say that on that September night in Newcastle they were awful, eclipsed only by Wayne County and the Electric Chairs a year earlier at Reading '77

Luckily the year would end on one of the best gigs in a while. AC/DC at The Mayfair on the Powerage Tour, Bon Scott on vocals belting out Whole Lotta Rosie, Hell ain't a Bad Place to be and of course Problem Child and Let there be Rock all the time knocking back Snakebites in the horrible Mayfair plastic glasses - great stuff and proper Rock 'n' Roll not this Mumford and Sons crap that gets peddled for rock these days!