I went to an odd kinda pub, for a gig, in Coventry, The Shakespeare, to see a band called Iron Horse.
The place was heaving and seemed to be a trendy kinda hangout... the kinda of place you would go for a drink, before going night clubbing. So it seemed strange to look around the place to see the odd (old I might add) rocker.You could tell who they were, with the tattoo's and leather and the girlfriend /wife hung on the arm still wearing the same short dress they'd probably worn at the rock club of the time, many years ago. And that's not to say they didn't look bad then or even tonight (most anyway), although some were a little more filled out!
Anyway back to the band. I'd gone down expecting to see in the line-up, my old band producer Spike (Andy Faulkner) but got Tim, a bass player from years ago, off the Coventry rock circuit, that I'd been part of myself. Also from the same scene was guitarist Baz Eardley (from Chevy) who I'd also known.
But the main focus of the band which was noticable from the off, was one Brummy (I think) lad, Wardi. The kind of showman/vocalist that even in a small venue like this can get the audience going and you feel you don't want to miss any of his antics, ie slapping a girls ass as she walks past on 2 ocassions. She obviously enjoyed it as she was at the front by the end of the set, ogling him. But take note she was a typical trendy but amused by this rocker.
Anyway on to the music and yes they were all covers but what great tunes they are, we got a couple of AC/DC, Hell Ain't a Bad place to Be, Riff Raff, Flick of the Switch and a bit of Highway to Hell, (Sorry I can't count) some Lizzy, Emerald, Rosalie, ZZ-Top,Tush, UFO's Doctor Doctor and a great version of Stay with Me. We were treated to an excellent drum solo, about 4 mins long, which seems unheard of in a pub nowadays I would think, but brilliant all the same.
Wardi did some walk about stuff, which went down well, but with a cordless mic would of worked better. The guy still backcomb's his hair from the look of him and reminded me of Stevie Jaimz.He got the crowd going from the off by getting them to tell him to F' off and also played onthe fact that he and his band were old, reminding us at different intervals. But considering he is old, he was stripped to the waist from the start and encouraging others to do the same. One girl who, got more pissed as the night went on, asked for a song request, to which the reply was'yes if ya get yer tit's out' which she proceeded to with a quick lift of her shirt.
So a great night, I'm deaf now by the way, but hope to catch the band again. Spoke with Wardi after the show and seemed not a lot of gigs currently on the cards.I asked them if they had management and he said no but could do with it.... Almost as though he was expecting me to say I was interested......

Oh and one last thing.... Ain't it strange when ya go to gigs these days , there are always people you recognise..... cuz they are all friends of yours from My Space...lol

Five Stars Given..... But not for Ginger, read on.........



We went down to the Worcester show at the Marr’s Bar. An hour’s drive and I hate to say it, but it was, without doubt, the worst show I have seen Ginger play and I’ve seen a few. But there will be more about that later.
But 1st off though, a mention to the support bands who were both memorable and unmemorable.
The 1st band up, who I have no idea of their name, were out of place musically I thought, although they played acoustically as the show had been advertised (Ginger being the acceptation playing electric). The songs seemed to drift by and over my head. The music seemed a little more middle of the road and pop orientated, and as the wife put it, ‘more her style’. So at least she enjoyed them. The trio were made up of a guitarist and a bassist and vocalist. The only real memorable part of their performance was the lead singer stepping aside for a guest girl vocalist, but even then fairly normal sounding. Oh and the lead singer’s t-shirt stood out as being rather nice and colourful even with the drug related logo.

Now, onto what turned out to be the main attraction of the night (for me anyway), Eureka Machines. I’d never heard of this band before or should that be duo as they were for this gig. They were noticeable from the moment they were spotted behind the merchandise table. The pair of em were sporting matching black suits, black shirts and white ties. I put me foot in it when enquiring as to if the cd’s being sold were that of the 1st band on. The guy replied with a ‘no, my band are on next’ Now these guys got the crowd ready for a good rocking' night from the moment they hit the boards. The banter began from the front man, Chris Catalyst, as soon as he hit the boards, with apologies for a bad cold and wanting a bit of sympathy from the crowd. I knew within a matter of the 1st few bars of the 1st song ‘Scream Eureka’ that these were going to play my kind of tunes. One of the lines in the 1st tune ‘Don’t ignore us people bore us, open wide and sing the chorus, are ya with us….’ Seemed to sum them up. So what were they like you ask? Well very catchy tunes played in a semi acoustic style with duo harmony vocals shared between them both. Davros seemed to be the shy yet younger one of the two with the natural blonde spiky hair, with Chris being the witty frontman complete with Mohican and large sideburns. Oh and did I mention the pair had white loafers on to complete the black suits A couple of stand out tunes were ‘Story of My (Fuckin) Life’ and ‘The light at the end of the tunnel’, complete with it’s trick repeat of one line at the end of the song begging the question ‘Is it over?’, Classic. Their own tunes were then topped off with according to Eureka Machines’ the best song in the world’, Wichita Lineman, and ended the set with a rousing and audience participated version, of the second best song in the world Aha’s ‘Take On Me’. Well to say I didn’t sprit over and snap up the 3 cd’s on sale would be an under statement. Even got the things autographed… Oh and Davros gave me that ‘I knew you would be back’ look upon my return. Enough about them now….. Ps I haven’t stopped playing the cd’s yet, there so damn good! They remind me of Honeycrack (well I read somewhere Chris is a friend of Willie Dowling’s) and Wow! The full band versions of the songs are brilliant. I look forward to catching the full lband line up later in the year.

Now onto the Ginger one…… What can I say, but by the end of the night I thought what a rip off ‘Take the Money and Fucking Run! ….. Ginger was in a grump from the moment the screen went up on the stage and made it quite clear from the off and from the look on his face all the way thru (the hour that we got), with the only banter from him for the evening being to moan about the sound and it was going to be a bad gig.
It all seemed to me to be a money making tour/gig knowing that Ginger fans will turn out in the droves to see him play in any format. So minimal people to pay and pocket the cash himself, for minimal effort it would seem. Even down to letting the audience sing 29 times the pain, where incidentally he knocked the mic stand over towards me and being the helpful chap I am I repositioned it correctly only to get a dirty look from Ginger and have it pushed into the audience again in readiness for the Jack Black look-alike who was on stage (playing bongo’s for free I might add, more money saving ideas) to push the mic out into the crowd for people to sing into. And then to top off the gig we didn’t get one encore and not even with the crowd in full singing voices with ‘Don’t worry bout me… summed Ginger up in Worcester.
Helping out on 2nd guitar was Scott Metzger and not Scott Sorry as I expected. Mind you, I really expected to see Jase Edwards playing alongside Ginger, as I’d literally bumped into him upon entering the bar, so was surprised to find him not on stage. Incidentally the Marr’s Bar had advertised him as playing in the line up.
As I said though Ginger didn’t play acoustic but Scott did really shine on some of the guitaring when he was not tuning up or replacing strings. Reminded me of some great Thin Lizzy guitar work.
But just to put into perspective I really enjoy the songs that Ginger has produced on his solo work ( Ginger and Willie Dowling are two of my favourite songwriters), I’m not massive on the recent Wildhearts stuff, and have seen him several times over the past few years but that gig has just about done it for me, as far as going to watch him play live again (a Sonic Circus gig excluded maybe). The last time I spoke with Ginger was at a gig in Nuneaton, where I asked him for a photograph and he refused in his grumpy style….. Maybe I should of learnt my lesson then.

And now the 1st Review.....Found out in Space.......

REVIEW: NIKKI SIXX’S HEROIN DIARIES IS A DELICIOUS TASTE OF EXCESS
August 21st, 2007 by Vince Neilstein

Sixx A.M. - The Heroin DiariesIt’s no secret that Nikki Sixx was always the songwriting brains behind the Motley Crue brawn. But it’s not the party anthems that the Crue bassist is known for that make his new album The Heroin Diaries — the soundtrack companion to the soon-to-be-released autobiographical book of the same name — one of the best releases so far in 2007. Nay, The Heroin Diaries is a full on concept record. Crue fans looking for shout along, fist-in-the-air anthems will throw this album back up on eBay, but forward thinking intellectual-minded music fans will revel in the complexity and cohesiveness of this piece.

Where it would have been easy to release a mediocre CD to accompany the book as a quick cash-grab, Sixx has gone above and beyond and created one of the best concept records written in the past several years. The album is actually released under the band name Sixx A.M.; producer/writer extraordinaire James Michael, with whom Nikki has worked in the past, lends his dynamic voice to the album in addition to his work behind the boards, and guitarist DJ Ashba (ex-Beautiful Creatures) is the perfect choice for guitar. The Heroin Diaries comes off as a full-on conceptual piece, one that would certainly stand on its own without the accompanying literature. The songs are both intricately arranged and hooky, a tough balance to strike; the production is grandiose but not overambitious; and the story is, of course, riveting. Even if we already know the beginning, middle, and end from countless VH1 Behind the Music reruns, Sixx and Michael have crafted the story and the words and intertwined them with the ebb and flow of the music, and the resulting record serves as a modern reminder of what the word “album” actually means.

The songwriting team of Sixx, Michael and Ashba is a slam dunk both on paper and in practice. Sixx and Michael are no strangers to each other, having worked together on several other collaborations including Saliva’s radio ballad “Rest in Pieces.” Both Michael and Ashba are credited generously in the liner notes as co-writers, suggesting Sixx A.M. is in fact a working, collaborative effort rather than just a vehicle through which Nikki Sixx can express his ideas. These are all men who know the definition of a song; they fully understand what makes a good one, and nearly every effort here is stellar. What’s surprising, though, is how well everything comes together to form a cohesive album. I can only assume James Michael had a lot to do with this, bringing the pieces together and creating a single work of art, much like Bob Ezrin did with Roger Waters’ good but slightly disjointed demos for Pink Floyd’s magnum opus The Wall (a work Michael may or may not have openly referenced with the helicopter sound effect on “Heart Failure” and phone-off-the-hook drone of “Courtesy Call”).

The structure of The Heroin Diaries is true to concept record form. The record is like a Broadway show that plays out before the listeners ears. There is an intro — “X-Mas in Hell” — a chilling spoken-word piece of heroin-addled desperation; a middle — “Intermission” — a fully orchestrated manic realization in which the string section and piano convey the realization of addicted helplessness; and an ending — “Girl With Golden Eyes” — the music and spoken word vividly capturing Sixx’s day by day withdrawal and addiction recovery, building to an epic crescendo. The obligatory final relapse of “Courtesy Call,” brilliantly summed up by the inevitable line “This is just a courtesy call” leads to the triumphant 12-steps style apology “Permission” and the time-to-start-life-fresh look forward, “Life After Death.”

Fittingly, each and every song plays a role in the story, and the music always seems to echo the sentiment. “Heart Failure” is a brooding, heavy, guitar-driven track chronicaling Nikki at his lowest of lows, while “Life is Beautiful” is an upbeat, optimistic, riff-based rocker looking back at life through the eyes of someone who has learned a thing or two from their journeys. The drugged out, Robert Smith-esque “Pray For Me” perfectly captures the “strung out but don’t give a shit” attitude of a younger Sixx, while the melancholy, acoustic guitar-driven tale of relapse “Accidents Can Happen” recalls failed efforts of sobriety.

As good as Sixx’s songwriting is throughout both this album and the entire body of Motley Crue material, I can’t help but feel like James Michael comes off as the true all-star on The Heroin Diaries. The fact that Michael lends his rich, dynamic voice to this album is a fabulous and welcome bonus, as this album could have easily suffered from vocal mediocrity, but Michael’s production is where he shines brightest. The production is deep and lush throughout, with layers upon layers of guitar parts only serving to accentuate the intended attitude rather than clutter things up. Full-on string orchestrations and piano balladeering weave their way in and out of the album in good taste, as does the occasional electronic sample, background keyboard texture and background vocal. The album is, without a doubt, Sixx’s work first and foremost, but Michael has done precisely what good producers do; taken good ideas and made them great via additional writing, arrangement tweaks, and a keen ear for appropriate production. I’m unclear on how much of a role DJ Ashba played in this capacity, but he certainly deserves at least a pay on the back as well in his first significant release since leaving the Beautiful Creatures almost 5 years ago.

It is incredibly reassuring that The Heroin Diaries is so good. All of the aforementioned perks of this album make it a great listen through and through, and the conceptual nature is testament to the fact that despite the increasingly single-oriented music market, concept records can still be relevant. Lastly, it’s great to know that at least one member of Motley Crue is doing something worthwhile and pushing the envelope. One member is busy whoring himself out to reality TV and booze cruises and constantly forgets the words to his own songs. Another puts out flavor-of-the-moment crap music of whatever happens to be popular that day, while another is too crippled to do much at all (bless his soul). Meanwhile Nikki Sixx, the survivor, the warrior, is pushing along and making truly meaningful, intricate music that is a big step forward and truly shows a sense of artistic development. I genuinely hope that this album gets the recognition it deserves beyond being the companion to a book that will no doubt be of the shock and awe variety (See: The Dirt). Congratulations to Nikki Sixx for a fine, fine work of music, that while it might not change the face of the current music scene, it certainly represents a personal accomplishment and step in the right direction

-VN

http://rockconfidential.com/magazine/news/preview-the-heroin-diaries-by-nikki-sixx/

Tommy Cooper classics

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Two Aerials meet on a roof - fall in love - get married The ceremony was rubbish but the Reception was brilliant.
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Man goes to the doc, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doc says "I'll give you some cream to put on it."
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"Doc, I can't stop singing the green green grass of home." "That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome. " "Is it common? " "It's not unusual."
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A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet.
My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him? " "Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him" So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth. Finally, he says "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? Because he's cross-eyed? " "No, because he's really heavy"
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Doctor, I can't pronounce my F's, T's and H's."
"Well you can't say fairer than that then"
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Two elephants walk off a cliff...... boom boom!
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So I went to the dentist.
He said "Say Aaah."
I said "Why?"
He said "My dog's died.'"
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So I got home, and the phone was ringing. I picked it up, and said 'Who's speaking please?' And a voice said 'You are.'"
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So I rang up my local swimming baths.
I said 'Is that the local swimming baths?'
He said 'It depends where you're calling from.'"
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"So I rang up a local building firm, I said 'I want a skip outside my house.'
He said 'I'm not stopping you.'
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, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu. But I think it's Colin.
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So I was in my car, and I was driving along, and my boss rang up, and he said 'You've been promoted.' And I swerved. And then he rang up a second time and said You've been promoted again.' And I swerved again. He rang up a third time and said You're managing director.' And I went into a tree.
And a policeman came up and said 'What happened to you?' And I said 'I careered off the road.
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Now, most dentists' chairs go up and down, don't they?
The one I was in went back and forwards.
I thought 'This is unusual'.
And the dentist said to me Mr. Cooper, get out of the filing cabinet.'
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So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me "Can you give me a lift?" I said "Sure, you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it.'
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Two cannibals eating a clown. One says to the other "Does this taste funny to you?"
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Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, and the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off.
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You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said 'Parking Fine.' So that was nice."
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A man walked into the doctors,
The doctor said " I haven't seen you in a long time "
The man replied "I know I've been ill"
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A man walked into the doctors, he said "I've hurt my arm in several places"
The doctor said "well don't go to those places"
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I had a ploughman's lunch the other day.
He wasn't very happy.
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I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.
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I bought some HP sauce the other day. It's costing me 6p a month for the next 2 years.
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Two blondes walk into a building..........you'd think at least one of them would have seen it.
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Phone answering machine message -
"...If you want to buy marijuana.............press the hash key..."
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I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. He said, "No, the steaks are too high."
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My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli.
A strong currant pulled him in.
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A man came round in hospital after a serious accident.
He shouted, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!"
The doctor replied, "I know you can't, I've cut your arms off".
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I went to a seafood disco last week...and pulled a muscle.
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Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly. They lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it.
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Our ice cream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with hundreds and thousands. Police say that he topped himself.
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Two fat blokes in a pub, one says to the other "Your round." The other one says "So are you, you fat slob!"
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Ireland 's worst air disaster occurred early this morning when a small two-seater Cessna plane crashed into a cemetery. Irish search and rescue workers have recovered 1826 bodies so far and expect that number to
climb as digging continues into the night

Altough only a 3rd of a way through this book..... My friends you should read this! I've found it enjoyable and the memories have flooded back to me of a yesteryear when I 1st got into rock music and wanted to be in a band! I'll post more when I finish the book or maybe before!

I just finished reading this book and found it enjoyable. It bought back a lot of memories for me of getting into Rock music and then moving on into the Glam period. Can't say I agreed with all of the comments that were made in the book, but it is obviously only one person's memories and thoughts of the times. There would of been things I may of added to it but they were m experiences of the time. Anyway I enjoyed it overall.
I now find my self wanting to hear some of the bands that Seb Hunter played in, out of curiousity, Trash Can Junkies and Cat Balou? Anyone got any stuff?

Check it out here...Hell-Bent-Leather-Confessions-Addict/dp/000716176X/sr=1-1/qid=1166290285/ref=sr_1_1/202-8835705-1439825?ie=UTF8&s=books

The Handsome Beasts kicked off the night with what was old fashion NWOBHM. No complaints there as it was rather refreshing in a strange kind of way. The guitarist soon showed us all a distinct Zak Wylde sound, complete with the Les Paul target guitar. The sound he had was quite superb. In fact you could not fault the overall sound of the band, even with the lead singer’s jibs at the sound engineer. The band were solid and tight, but were sure not Handsome Beasts, and I mean that in a nice way. Great bunch of guys as we chatted with ‘em after. They seemed to remind me of other bands from the NWOBHM era, although I couldn’t place a finger on whom. The singer was entertaining with his banter between songs and had there been a larger audience I’m sure they would have had them headbangin in the palm of there hands. I look forward to a new cd from this bunch.

So, onto the main band that we had all come to see, G.M.T. They were to say the least, very loud, very tight, and rather excellent. We were treated to great mix of songs from the Torme and McCoy school of rock. Included in the set was a song from McCoy’s post Gillan band, Mammoth. The song being Fatman. The set seemed to be lacking any of Robin Guy‘s past material though. It does seem to be a Torme McCoy project though, judging by the album credits.
A lot of shouting for Gillan material, which was not surprising considering the amount of Gillan songs played…. Trouble, New Orleans and Smoke on The Water, which was introduced as a kind of cover.
The set was kicked off with a rousing version of Wild West, followed swiftly by Star. We got a selection of new songs also from the new Bitter and Twisted album. Cannonball and Rocky Road (a heavy rock sounding kind of Pogues type song) are my faves from this, at the moment. Gotta say though that the encore song was a little weak for my taste.
McCoy was solid in his bass playing although his dress sense was as good as ever (see pics) topped off with the ever present dark sunglasses, beard and bald head. Torme (dressed in his standard regimental jacket) didn’t over do the soloing and had all the poses down to a T still. I could still visualize him playing Reading festival. He has aged a little but ain’t we all, but he can still play amazingly, even though a little loud for most. I’ve not seen Bernie play since his days with Phil Lewis fronting the band , which was probably about 15 years ago. Robin Guy was, well, to say the least Amazing! What a drummer and what a showman! This Guy is breathtaking to watch playing! Great down to earth Guy (lol) too. Got chatting with him before the band went on. Mentioned to him at this point, that I’d supported Bernie’s band at the General Wolfe in Coventry about over 20 years ago. Robin said he’d tell Bernie (never thought he’d tell him).
Anyway hung around after the band had finished with the hope of meeting Bernie again. He came out from the dressing room and headed straight towards me and surprisingly shook my hand 1st. He went into full conversation with me. I don’t how true it was, but he said he could recall meeting me, and the gig at the General Wolfe all those years ago. He then proceeded to tell me a few personal things, about staying out of the spotlight for numerous years and spending time with his family. John McCoy joined in the conversation and surprised me at how friendly and funny he is, as he looks/seems so unapproachable. He joked that he remembered me too!
Upon meeting the guys and reflecting back, it made me think how still down to earth and genuine they are. It’s always a pleasure to chat with band members that I’ve looked up to over the years. And even more pleasurable to find that they are not up their own arses, like some who don’t give ya the time of day! Good on ya GMT! I’d go see them again and look forward to it!
They certainly rocked my 44th Birthday! My ears were shot to pieces the next day and the Guinness and Newkie Brown certainly gave me a BIG hangover! lol

*UPDATE* A message from Bernie Torme......

"Andy, Thanks for the review, btw you're not the only one who thought it was too loud, my ears are still recovering! " 10/31/2006 12:36 PM

Right then 1st off we went out to the gig on a bit of a downer, after watching England play in the World Cup and losing on penalties to Portugal. We were due to go out and watch the game over at the venue, but decided against at last minute and decided I'd drive to the venue also. It was such an extremely hot day also which contributed to it. Anyhow we got over to Nuneaton and found the venue after stopping someone for directions.
We arrived around 7.50 and got in a couple drinks and then me and Panee went and sat outside for a while. We became a little unsettled though when a couple of lads on the grass behind us began messing around. Two supposedly mates as they later preached, decided it would be fun for one of them to smash a pint glass over the other guys head while he was talking on the phone. The bouncers came and moved 'em on while other people shouted at them for being so stupid. Anyhow at this point, the venue had opened up , upstairs so we made our way in. So entrance fee was reduced from £12 to £10 as the support had not turned up. We hung around for a while having a drink and trying to keep cool. Random was hanging around so had a quick chat and got a pic with him before the band came on at around 9.30.
Ginger, Random and Jason hit the stage and we were greeted with a lot of talk amd humourous ramblings, from Ginger, before finally playing some songs.
The Setlist was more or less as follows;

Answering Machine
Top of the World
Drunken Lord of Everything
Only A Problem
One Love, One Life, One Girl
Inside Out
Someone Who Won't Let Me Go
There's Only One Hell
Headfuck (although the chorus was changed to chants of Random!)
Suckerpunch
Sick of Drugs
Cheers
Always On My Mind
Girls Are Better Than Boys
Geordie in Wonderland
Vanilla Radio
I Wanna Go Where The People Go
29 x the Pain
Ginger seemed on top form while on stage with his in between songs banter, as was the ever entertaining Mr Random. Ginger pretty much wanted to play all night it seemed. The band came off at around 11pm and most of us thought that was it for the night until word came back that Ginger was coming back on. So we got treated to a second set, which began with Random throwing coloured plastic balls into the audience. What fun everyone had with them! What was noticeable this time round with the gig was that it was not that acoustic, In my opinion all they need was a drummer/ percussion and we could of had a fuller sound. Anyhow the band left stage at around 11.50pm and that would of seemed to be the end.... but then Random Jon returned to the stage to grab his bottle of wine. The audience then that was left, then proceeded to chant stuff at Random.What followed was a one man support/ headline act. A mix of over the top stand up humour (Although the air was thick with blue letter words) and songs. Even Ginger came out to watch from the dressing room door. I commented to Ginger from where I was standing at the back that he was no longer needed, as Random was doing fine on his own. I dunno if that went down well or not?
Random proceeded on stage with the mic to begin with and then picked up Ginger's guitar to knock out some tunes. The lights were back in full swing also.What a funny bloke Random is.
We decided to leave and left Random to it for probably another 10 minutes. On the way out I asked Ginger if I could take a pic and it was an abrupt and final 'No' being the answer. He seemed rather grumpy when asked and made me feel rather disappointed that he should be like that. So off to the car and just as I was about to get in Jason came past with his wife and daughter. I stopped him and asked if I get a pic with him and he agreed. I was very surprised how friendly and pleasant he is.I mentioned Ginger was not too happy and he said he had had a lot on and was probably tired. On that not we headed home and got in just after one and proceeded to have a couple of glasses of wine to end the night off.
Oh yeah it was also great to meet up with Wild Dan and Hannah, who I kinda knew through the internet. Although by the end of the night Wild Dan was rather worse for wear. Great people all the same!

It was a hot day and after finishing work it at 4pm, I made a mad drive home in the car amongst all the crazy drivers on the road. I got myself a bath and grabbed my cash tickets camera etc... Oh and Panee and we took a walk down to our local bus station. We went to McDonald's on route for a bite to eat. We queued for the bus along with all the other people going to the gig. Couldn't believe there were no extra buses put on, but what's new?
Anyhow the bus got stuck about 1/2 a mile from the stadium so we all decided to get off and walk. We called in at a club near the arena and had a couple of beers. £6 for 2 beers and a small bottle of wine, can't go wrong. Arena prices had to be in the 3 to £4 region for a pint. I know a small bottle of water was £1.50. Anyways we headed to the gig a little later than planned and by the time we got into the stadium Nickleback were just starting the 3rd from last song. The stadium was not so full at this point and the sound was pretty echoee. I thought to myself 'I hope Bon Jovi don't sound like this!' The size of the stadium quite surprised me. I'd not been to a big gig like this in many years, so maybe that's why I was surprised by the size. Anyhow Panee pushed us both forward as far as we could go in the standing area we were in.
Bon Jovi hit the stage at exactly 8pm. The band appeared on the main stage at the front while Jon Bon Jovi, complete with guitar, strolled out on a platform out into the audience just out in front of where we were stood. Panee couldn't believe how close she was to a major Rockstar!, remebering this was her 1st experince of going to a rock gig on this scale. She could never dream of going to a concert like this in Thailand and being this close would never of happened. They kicked off with Last Man Standing from the current Have a Nice Day Album. They then proceeded to play 'Rocking all over the World (yes the Quo song)' The sound had improved drastically at this point and the stadium had also filled up.
They played for 2 1/2 hours and played just about all the classics and stuff from the latest album. The band also seemed to be making the sound rather larger sound by the inclusion of an extra keyboard player and a guy who swapped between playing extra guitar and even 2nd bass, which was noticeable on 'Keep The Faith'.
The light show was something else, although no pyro technic's. Mr Bon Jovi came out into the audience again before the night was through. There was plenty of audience participation also which is to be expected with the singalong style of songs that Jovi play. I had not seen them in over 12 years (Milton Keynes last time) and they were as good if not better! Richie Sambora took over on lead vocals on a couple of songs in the set also. My only complaint was that they didn't play what I call mine and Panee's Bon Jovi signature tune, One Wild Night, and Bounce, one of my ffff.. favourites! But we certainly had 'One Wild Night' and yep we would go again even though it took us an hour to get home!

Oh and just to top off a perfect gig, I got a e-mail I wrote, commenting about how good the gig was, printed in our local newspaper!

The Garage Islington London 27th January 2006.

We got into London around dinner time and went to do a bit of site-seeing before checking in at our hotel in Islington. We headed to the gig around 5.30pm and after a short tube ride to Islington, went for a couple of beers in a local pub. Then me and the Missus went out into the snow, as it was snowing by this time although only a little.We got in the queue, in the cold, for about 6.45pm, outside The Garage. Doors opened around 7.05 and we headed towards the front of the stage and staked our spot. I got us some drinks in, and bought a T-Shirt before the 1st act came on, which to our surprise was a troupe of Can Can girls and not a support band as we had expected.

This was then followed shortly after by a guy sticking nails up his nose and swords down his throat. He invited a Sue Pollard lookalike up on to the stage to help with the nail stunt. He then invited my wife up on to the stage to help out with a stunt involving sticking a balloon up a nostril and blowing it up with a balloon pump, up the other nostril. He got her to stand at the front of the stage while she did this so she could not see what he was doing. She imagined from the faces she was pulling, that it was something really disgusting. For the final stunt he put a dagger down his throat to which some one shouted ' Do It Sideways', which got a big laugh. He invited more people to give some abuse which they did. He then picked on some guy on the front who he said laughed at anything! Anyway the 3rd act came on and did a bit of a strip routine and proceeeded to put on a metal crotch piece and then turned a grinder on herself. From what I heard though the act was cut short as it was a danger to the audience.

Then on to the main act and what we had all come to see. Weall waiting to see who was going to be in Ginger's band. The sound of the introduction tape playing GTT sent chills down my neck. The band came on and burst straight into Ugly from the new album. Most noticable person was Random Jon Poole and the fact that he pointed straight at my wife in recogonition of knowing her from the Marquee a year or so earlier. He came on wearing a black suit sand sunglasses and some bum fluff on his cheek.

Jase Edwards from Wolfsbane fame was on 2nd guitar.Hardly recognisable now with the beard and the enormous size of him. The drummer Steve( who some thought was Steve Danger from Wolfsbane also) I didn't know. Incidently Steve Danger was actually there as a roadie and was the guy with no hear and pink wristbands. The two backing singers I didn't know, and didn't really stick out as anything special and were purely there for backing vocals and not eye candy. And I learnt after that Luis on keyboards was the guy who played on Ginger's album also (Check out the sleeve notes for Keep It Cool).

Songwise Ginger was here to promote the new album and that is what we got, bar a few songs at the end. Ginger was on top form chatting between songs. I noticed also that there was no alcohol on stage, only bottles of water and they never smoked until nearly the end of the set.. Ginger looked quite healthy and happy compared to seeing him on last years acoustic tour. He seems very excited about forthcoming events coming up throughout this year... Tour, Record company etc.

Ten Flaws Down was my favourite song of the night, about half way through the set, and was made all the more exciting by Conny Bloom joining the band half way through it and then leading into Sonic Shake. He stayed with them on and off then till the end of the gig. Dunno if Conny is a permanent fixture in this new band though. Surprised at how similar in image style, Ginger and Conny are. Almost like two brothers up there.

The Man Who Cheated Death , surprised Ginger, when everyone took over singing the 1st verse. This is out of context here, but it struck me that it was a Robbie Williams moment as in his song, Angels, when the audience takes over. Ginger said he was surprised everyone knew the song as the album had only been out a couple of weeks. Did he forget it was available on MySpace last year and he played during his acoustic tour last year also?

The evening seemed quite short though, even with a 10.30pm curfue. They were finished well before that though. The band encored 1st off, with some of what Ginger called, his favourite songs. Starting with David Bowies, Boys keep Swinging, followed by Nazereth's Love Hurt's which sounded a little out of tune. Ending the 1st encore with Elvis Costello's Pump It Up.

The Audience then sang Don't Worry Bout Me, which the band joined in on. The night was finished with the only Wildhearts song of the night 29 x the Pain. Brilliant night and the volume was not as loud as expected as I could still hear when leaving the venue. The audience were not as rowdy as a Wildhearts audience but then maybe the Ginger style on this new album is not that kind of in yer face rock either?

The setlist and pics from the gig can be found in the photo section of this site.

Quite a surprise to see The Yo Yo's coming to play a gig in Coventry. But the Jailhouse has been getting some quite decent bands to play and the turn out to see them seems to show there is an audience for them them too, even mid week as this one was. We arrived after the 1st two bands had played and Iwas quite surprised how full the pub was. The bill had advertised four bands so quite surprised to find there were actually five playing. Me and my mate Fred had a couple of drinks at the bar before going through to the band room to watch who we throught were gonna be The Yo Yo's on and were surprised to find Antiproduct hitting the stage. Now I've seen this lot before and they are very good at what they do but I've never gone out of my way to get into their music. They play their own brand of over the top shock/ glam rock. The front man, who's name escapes me now, is very energetic and in your face literally. He came flying off the stage a few times and the 1st time I thought he was gonna knock my drink out of my hands as he leapt off the stage towards me. His band consisted of three girls on bass and guitars, all dressed quite kinkerly in rubber and leather, and a male drummer who dressed like he'd just walked in off the street. Anyhow we watched a few songs and I got the feeling I seen similar kind of show before and the Wrathchild memories sprung to mind. So a few songs in and we retired into the other room to the bar. Upon entering we met up with Danny from the Yo Yo's who was in hyper mode waiting to go on stage. Chatted to him for a few minutes and got a couple of pics with him, which was cool. The guy is such a down to earth, friendly and funny person. We had actully seen him earlier in the night comparing tattoo's with a girl in the bar. Danny has the beginnings of a new tattoo on his back which is the drawing off the cover of the latest Yo Yo's mini album.
After Antiproduct had played we made our way back through to the band room and waited in antisapation for The Yo Yo's to hit the stage. 1st song up was 1000 Miles The band was tight and apart from Danny's vocals a little low in the mix , which was resolved after the 1st song. They were excellent and worth the wait. Danny seemed pretty cleaned up although the drink began to take it's toll on him towards the end of the set. I probably didn't help with a guy in the audience buying them all what look like whisky and coke, about half way through the set.
Omega Male was the 1st new song from the latest album and was the second song in. It seemed to blend right in with the old songs that much that I didn't realise it was one of the new tunes, as it never stood out on the album. The new album though really is a pretty bad production along side Uppers and Downers though. Took me a lot of plays to get into it. But all thenew songs that got an airing tonight sounded great and not out of place. Tattoos don't last forever was dedicated to Danny Frye (I'm not to sure who he is myself) and Danny got a little upset with a guy at the back who seemed to be disrespectful. Rich Jones got danny to laugh it off a bit though before plough into the song. The band seem to pay as much attention to the banter between songs as they do to the actual playing of them. One quite funny moment came before playing Rock City. If ya know this tune you will know it is one big chorus, with every other line a change. Anyhow one guy at the front offered to jump up and sing with the band but said he only knew the chorus which amused the band enormously. Anyhow the band were on for about an hour and did one encore which Danny swapped bass with Tom Spencer for his guitar, to play a song I didn't recogonise and guessed it was a cover. A brilliant gig which sent me home with Rock City ringin' through my head. Look forward to them returning to Coventry, possibly with Plan A or even Ginger in Tow !!??!!?
Not much chance of The Yo'Yo's returning as two nights after this gig the band pulled out of the tour. No official reason has yet been given but there web site was shut down almost immediatly.

Skandal - Stripclub Neon.

Well the demo landed on my door mat and I faced the daunting task of listening to and reviewing a band I knew nothing about.
1st track up Desperado, and immediately thought of Motley Crue with the guitars opening chords. The winey vocals and backing kicked in and it was all early Crue, even early Tigertailz soundin. Song was kinda catchy on 2nd play.
2nd track,Endless Abuse, kicked in similarly but the vocalist sound changed to a kinda Alice cooper sound, which continued for the following 2 tracks, Teenage Vamp and Shock Rock Romeo. They seemed confident musicians but nothing new really that a few other bands are doing out there. Once you’ve heard it a couple of times it became boring to me. Maybe a better production would of lifted it a little. For me just Ok, so out of ten, a 2 maybe a 3.

Undercover Slut.-Drama Sick Democracy

What could I say about this band, I listened to them once and hated it! Just not my style of music. Again all capable musicians and maybe appeal to people in this field of rock, but for me a big thumbs down.

Ginger Jackdaw4 and PlanA Acoustic Gig.
Venue: The Rugeley Rose, 17th .June 2005.

The venue was pretty easy to find as we arrived from Coventry at around 6.15pm. Took about an hour to get there driving. Left us with some time to go and get some food before going into the Rose. Kebab, chicken and chips were the order of the day.
Rugeley struck us as a very small quiet town and quite an unusual place for a band of Ginger’s status to come to play. The Rose is situated behind the local police station and noise curfews are strictly kept to, as we were to find out later.
We hung around outside the Rose for the doors to pen at 7.30. We got the chance to hear PlanA sound checking while we waited. Anyhow we collected our tickets upon entering and then had a couple of drinks before going through to the band room, to see the 1st band, PlanA play. All the times seem to have changed as they were a little late on. But Plan A was definitely worth the wait and the entrance fee alone. Now here was a band I expected to fall a little flat on their faces with their brand of Punk / Rock. Normally the music from them is just in ya face! But yes the brilliance of the songs really came out in the acoustic performance. Gary Mills on drum / guitar and Nick Peckham on bass did a fine job of backing vocals for Jef Streatfield on lead vocal /guitar. Of the new songs , which was only one, 2nd song in, ‘Station’ had some great vocal work on it and some great stabby stop and start bits in it. Some real thought gone into how to put there songs across in this acoustic style. ‘She said’ had a real bouncy feel to it with some accompaniment on a drum by Gary Mills. ‘Hey Ho’ had a great audience participations with them all joining in for the ‘Hey Ho, Hey Hey Ho’, brilliant!
Jackdaw4 or should that be 2, followed with brilliant and underrated Willie Dowling! Wasn’t sure what to expect from J4 after the excellent and brilliant produced album. How could the songs from the album transfer to an acoustic setting. Again very surprised! Opening with the set with’ Stupid’. Some great catchy poppy rock! Willie the ever entertaining showman between songs. Willies partner in crime on 2nd guitar seemed a little out of place when 1st setting eyes on him. Looked as though he should have been playing in a club band. He proofed to be an excellent choice to be playing with Willie and as it turned out, he was Willie’s friend, from his long lost school days! Whether this guy is part of the J4 line-up on the album, I don’t know. The album was obviously given some plugs throughout with the line @we need some petrol money to get home so go buy it’ Now ya can only assume they got it, as they had gone home before Ginger had finished. Revelation of the night for Willie was telling us about his friendship with Midge Ure and seeing him on This is Your life, and writing the same title song about the said programme. Upon playing the song Willie moved from the guitar and onto the keyboards. Of the songs from Willie’s past that we got were Honeycrack’s ‘Sitting at Home’ and the nearly/should have been classic ‘The ballad Vera Daydream’ from Willie’s days in The Grip. Yet again when I’ve seen Willie recently he played another song from his past that sends a chill down my spine. What an amazing song Vera daydream is! Now if I hadn’t shouted out for Vera Daydream, we’d have got another Grip song the excellent although a verging on political, ‘England Your Dead!’, so maybe it gives me an excuse to see them again on this tour if only to hear ‘England…’ The set was finished off with what I can only imagine is one of Willie’s favourite songs, which was also covered by Honeycrack, the Beatles song, ‘Hey Bulldog’.

Ginger hit the stage just before 10pm, and was a little late. Whether this was the cause of unhappiness on his face or the fact that they had been forced to play as a duo, again I don’t know. Apparently he's off for the entire tour, spending some time doing some
personal stuff. Anyway, they opened with a new song, Man Who Cheated Death . Plenty of hilarity with Clamp Abuse stories of getting clamped visiting London and Wank Abuse, when Ginger heard a guy next to us shout ‘wank’ in a quiet moment. The songs took on a different direction from there with everyone shouting ‘wank at every oputunity. The guy who shouted it didn’t think it too humourous and after some banter with Ginger, he was offered £10 to leave! The set was cut short due to the 11.00pm curfew, although Jef, joined them for the encore, of Sick Of Drugs which took us up to 11.10pm. Good to see Ginger and Jef on good terms.
As we left the building there was a small group of Police officers headed towards the Rose to check the music had stopped I can only assume. We hit the road at 11.15 and arrived back in Coventry by 12.15. Jackdaw4 playing all the way home. Then it was chillout time with a couple of beers after what was an excellent night out!