January 2017 – Gig Addiction

The Wildhearts, The Main Grains, Massive Wagons, Rock city, Nottingham 27-1-17

Been really looking forward to this one as it’s a one-off UK gig where they will play ” Fishing For Luckies ” (I suspect it’s also being taken as a warm up for the Japanese shows coming up where they will do the same). It was a bit touch & go if i’d make it as earlier in the week i got my MRI results & for a second time, my brain tumor had grown. Fortunately, i didn’t have to restart my chemo this day (as they wanted) & we agreed to restart next week.

As ever, i took the train to Nottingham. Only this time i was meeting a friend from London who’d never been to Rock City before. We both stayed at same hotel “Rooomzzz” which is right next door to Rock City. Once again, it was early doors @RC. After numerous phone calls, i was hoping tonight would be some what better than the Pretty Reckless debacle of getting in ! We turned up about 20mins early & all ran smooth. Only slight downer was the balcony wasn’t open. But i still got my bar stool under the stairs.
First band tonight is “The Main Grains “. I’ve not seen them before & all i know about them is that Danny McCormack is the main guy ! Obviously, with his Wildhearts past, i’m expecting something interesting. Tonight, Danny is playing the show sat on a seat (In case you didn’t know, in 2016 he suffered an aneurysm & further complications meant he had to have his leg amputated at the knee). He does look as though he feels at home up there. They kick off with “Unscrewed”, which is also the first song on their debut album “Don’t Believe Everything You Think”(or is it an EP as only 7 songs & clocks in around 20mins). Straight away there’s a good vibe in the room. They continue with “Happy Round Here”. This really has a Wildhearts kinda sound to it. Very upbeat. Next we get “Spend Your Money”. This has a lovely deep bass intro to it. The song’s maybe a bit basic, but it rocks nicely.
“I’d Rather Be In California” is another “happy” sounding song. Again, a very Wildhearts kinda vibe to it.

A couple of drum hits & a familiar sounding guitar riff & they’re playing a cover of The Undertones”Teenage Kicks”. (Gosh that takes me back to my youth! Think i got a 7″ on green vinyl back in the day. Or was it “Jimmy Jimmy” i got ? Old age…). I think they played about 4 more songs after that. It was great to see Danny with a big smile up there. Overall, a great start to tonights proceedings.

Next it’s “Massive Wagons “. Again, a band i don’t think i’ve seen before. I loved the intro they used : “Rock And Roll Preacher” by Slade. Actually, as the night went along, it dawned on me that Baz sounded a lot like Noddy Holder with his vocal style. The band have been around a few years & i’m surprised i’ve somehow missed them. Over all, to me, they have a great classic British rock sound. I’d like to see them again. They dedicated a song to Rick Parfitt,namely, “Back To The Stack” :

So to the headliners, The Wildhearts. This was a pretty last minute gig,tagged on after the rescheduled Manchester gig. It will be a special one as they’re playing “Fishing For Luckies”. I suspect they’re also treating Rock City as a “warm-up” for the Japan shows where they’re playing FFL. When the lights went down the fantastic crowd/family started singing & it was marvelous. Before even hitting the stage,the Wildhearts totally owned Rock City . “Inglorious” really kicked things off nicely. After that, the familiar intro to “Sick of Drugs” had the crowd sounding even louder & Gingers smiles getting bigger. It must be such a rush to have an audience “woah-whoah-ing” like that.
Before “Schizophonic” Ginger thanks everyone for coming down to this special show. He says how it’s “..great to play an album 20 years after you made it & it’s fucking wierd”.
He also says he “…can’t believe it that both Danny McCormack & me are still alive!”. Again, its bloody brilliant how the audience sing along with the guitar at the beginning.

This is such a fuckin great night already ! There’s quite a few fun, or funny moments, moments during the show. It’s cool when Ginger mentions that “…some people think that Dunc got treated badly in Manchester. So throw some money up on stage for him ! ” He quickly realises what he’s let himself in for & says “Notes! Paper money” as a barrage of coins hit the stage ! So funny 🙂 (According to what Dunc has since posted online, he got £17.50)
Another fun moment was after “Soul Searching on the Planet Earth (Different Kind of Love)”. Ginger said something like “…we did something yesterday which was really fuckin freaky so we’re gonna try it again tonight. We want you all to click your fingers “. That was an interesting way to start the next song “Do the Channel Bop”.
We get another 3 or so songs before it’s encore time.

A chair being brought onstage signals the return of Danny McCormack. He stays there for the rest of the night.
First encore song is the ever powerful crowd pleaser ” Suckerpunch”. Unfortunately it seems that Dannys equipment isn’t quite set up as he’d like. It’s till “My Baby Is a Headfuck” that it’s sorted out. A great version of the song is played & the audience seems so loud shouting “Headfuck.Headfuck…” Love it 🙂
For “Geordie in Wonderland” C.J. gets the crowd waving their arms & everyone joins in singing. This is the definition of a community spirit for a band. Everyone sings at the top of their voices (& sometimes are louder than the band!). The last songs of the night are “I Wanna Go Where the People Go” , “29 x the Pain” & the quirky little thing which Rich sings ; “Duck Song”. It’s lovely to see Mr Poole & C.J. hug Danny afterwards. Ginger makes sure everyone stays to pose for a photo or two by Trudi before leaving.
A fantastic night with smiles all around. My only small dissapointment was that i didn’t manage to get an event T-shirt as they’d all sold out.

Tyketto, Romeos Daughter, rescue rooms, Nottingham 22-1-17

I took a later train than usual as it was a much quicker journey. Checked into “Rooomzz” hotel & had a little relaxation before going to the venue. After the total clusterfuck with entry at rock city a couple of days back, i phone Rescue Rooms to arrange everything again….& try make sure no one pinches my stool like what happened at the last gig here ! Whilst waiting to be sorted out, i bumped into Rob Maher. Hadn’t seen him in ages. Was just about to have a chat with him & security said i could go in. Tonight it was a much smoother entry 😉 Got the spot i wanted & the bar stool was in place.

About 30mins after doors, the lights go down & it’s the familiar sounds over the PA as the intro to “Heaven in the Back Seat”. The band are right on it. Hard to believe this song is so “old”. As with most of they’re songs, there’s a timeless quality to them. Oh, just need to point out that they have a stand in bassist as Ed Poole is away doing his other gig with Bonnie Tyler in New Zealand. Next up we get “Attracted to the Animal” (from the 2nd album ” Delectable”). 3rd song, from 3rd album is “Touch” This is quite interesting. Did they do it deliberately or was it just the way it happened to be albums 1,2,3, ? Not that it matters, it’s all great stuff. Next we get another from the album titled “Spin”. This time it’s the song “Radio”. It’s great to see everyone up on stage really enjoying themselves. Whilst the audience isn’t exactly jumping around like crazy (you don’t get that at RD shows) they are very appreciative. I see a couple of lasses, a few people back, who are really into it dancin away. That’s good to see.
It’s now time for a bit more audience participation during ” Bittersweet. ”

There’s only about 4 more songs left & they just seem to fly by. These last songs are “Alive” , “Inside Out”, the super emotional “I Cry Myself To Sleep” & finally ” Wild Child “.
Not long back i saw “Heart” at a couple of UK shows & forgot that they had covered ” Wild Child “. They play it slightly different, but of course, it’s Romeos Daughters song & cannot be topped 😉

So that was a very nice warm up to this evening 🙂

After a while it’s time for Tyketto. Tonights show was a rearranged date from last year (as was the whole UK tour). Considering it was a Sunday, there was a fantastic turn out. Just goes to show that if you have a quality line up people will come. During the intro tape, something that stood out to me (apart from the classic music clips) was when the narrator said something along the lines of “…..switch your phones to camera mode….”. I thought that was pretty cool, as i take that as they’re accepting the fact that so many people nowadays will not only take photos, but also record short clips. (Oh how times have changed since i snuck my video camera into Rock City back in ’95 & filmed their gig secretly 😉 ) I guess some of the crowd have been doing this for a while as the guys directly on both my left & right seemed to film the whole show of their Panny TZ cameras 😉
Tyketto kick off with, er… ” Kick Like A Mule ” 😉 After that, Chris plays the memorable riff to “Wings” & Danny asks ” …Nottingham are you ready to sing?..” But of course we were ! Hey it’s Nottingham & a pretty much full house.

After Kick, they go straight into ” Wings “. Such a classic & mighty fine vocals from the crowd. No holding up, we get another timeless classic ” Rescue Me “. Man, only 3 songs in & the night is on fire already. Judging by the smiles on stage, the guys are having a fantastic time.
About midway through tonights set they crank out “Dig In Deep” followed by the amazing “Standing Alone” . It’s astounding that after all these years Danny sounds as good as he ever has done.

There’s only another 5 or so songs before the end of the set. They finish the main set with “Love To Love”.
Of course, there’s been a song missing tonight & it has to be the encore as it just defines Tyketto. Yup, you guessed it, “Forever Young”. What a great night out it’s been.

True to their word, both bands came out afterwards for chats & photos. You don’t have to pay extra for that unlike some bands. (Though of course it’s cool if the punters buy some merchandise as it all makes a difference 😉 )

I go downstairs to briefly meet/chat with Leigh & Craig. Walking up to Leigh, it’s so nice she says ” Simon ! I saw online you were coming “. Again, it’s nice when someone you’ve admired for years says something nice like “…it’s good to see you’re still going to gigs despite what you’ve had to put up with..”. That means the world to me, thank you. Both Leigh & Craig seem taken aback when i show them where i had my brain biopsy done. We were talking about gigs at the same time & i said in my lifetime i’ve been to over 900 shows. Craig kinda misheard me & thought i’d had that many operations ! Leigh soon put him right though 😉
All in all, it was a great night out. Two quality bands for a very reasonable ticket price. These kind of gigs are so much better than arena shows as far as i’m concerned.

Pretty Reckless, Cruel Knives, Rock City, Nottingham, 19-1-17

I’d been looking forward to this one for a while. Not only the gig, but a chance to spend a little time with someone. Unfortunately, the latter plans fell apart.”The System” seems to do that sometimes. Can be so frustrating… So anyway, i decided to not go too early as i’d only end up spending money around Nottingham!

I was very curious how the support act “The Cruel Knives” would be. If you’re not aware, they are a new band formed by a couple of the guys from “Heavens Basement” (what a great band they were) namely ; Sid Glover & Rob Ellershaw . The band is completed by Tom Harris & Al Junior. They’ve obviously got some good connections in the business as they are now opening for The Pretty Reckless all around the UK/Europe.
Upon arrival at Rock City, i noticed they hadn’t posted the times for the night. Also, they’d not put out the barriers. Immediately, i thought something wasn’t quite right.
There wasn’t a queuing system, it was a mess. Some people had paid extra to be VIPs. What they were supposed to get for that was EARLY ENTRY + a poster. (Ah yes, i remember doing VIP for TPR which included a photo with the band…which didn’t happen. But hey they’ve got your money & when you try arguing , well it’s pointless…).
So, as there was no info being given out, there were quite a few punters who were not impressed. From a personal point of view it was getting really hard for me to stand outside for so long. I eventually had to sit on the steps. But the biggest annoyance was one of the RC security guys! When one of the VIPs tried asking him a question, he said something like ” Calm down !”. Erm no mate, YOU are the one that needs to calm down & LISTEN to the people who have paid to see the show. He was basically a bully. Totally ignorant & showed no compassion what so ever. The problem was that the band were very slow with soundcheck so doors just kept getting pushed back. I understand if security are not getting good info, they are in an awkward place. But as an example of how differently some security deal with this, later on, the HEAD of security came out & said something like “….they’ve told us they’re going to be a while…”. He then said “….i interpret that as it will be a long time….”. He was calm & collected as he told this message, unlike the arrogant twat from earlier on. Good vs bad eh? I won’t even bother mentioning about the whole early entry & bar stool for disabled people like myself & the others….
The only good thing(s) to come of the delays was i saw an old mate who i’d not seen since around the time of my seizure & also got chatting to a couple who’d traveled from Mablethorpe area. (Hello if you’re reading this !) When we finally got in, i helped them by showing where to go & also got them a bar stool.
I got my fave spot on balcony so was reasonably happy.

So first up it’s “The Cruel Knives” . First song everything just seemed too loud & had a poor mix (maybe they didn’t get a line check due to TPR taking so long?). As they went along, it did improve. It’s good to see that Sid hasn’t changed & is still the show-off in the band 🙂 (That’s meant in a nice way. He knows when the cameras are on him & hes a fantastic guitarist). I was unsure if it really was Rob Ellershaw up there ! The new “Liam Gallagher” hair style totally threw me 🙂 Hearing everything for the first time is always hard to take in. Overall, i thought there were some good songs & it’s all very upbeat. There’s potential as, to me, they don’t sound like most of the typical young bands. It’s more solid rock. I wanna see them again.

The sound of “Hells Bells” & various other classics are played over the PA before The Pretty Reckless take to the stage. The guys just casually walk on & start playing, then Taylor comes on. The screams from the girls in the crowd are very loud ! As ever, Ms Momsen is sassy wearing her long leather coat. I don’t care what anyone says, this really is the Taylor Momsen show. Tonight we get songs from the past few albums, starting with old favorites “Follow Me Down ” & ” Since You’re Gone “. As i don’t have the latest album, i didn’t know what to expect from the new stuff. “Oh My God ” is typical TPR with a barrage of drums. By now either the sound is getting better or i’m just getting used to it ! Interestingly, the next song, “Hangman”, is something very different for TPR. It’s nice to see the variety going on in that song. One of the biggest problems tonight are the long silences between songs. It kinda kills things. Blaming it on the jet lag is a cheap get out clause.

Ah cant beat a bit of classic TPR! Great vocals from rock city crowd 🙂
Tonights show features a bunch of songs from the latest album “Who You Selling For “. There are way too many silences between songs. A few problems with equipment ( “….my mic stand keeps falling over….hired gear haha…”) & a general lack of flow. Jet lag eh ?! I don’t think they reached their stride tbh.

Towards the end of the set they play ” Living In The Storm” & that was the most animated we saw Taylor tonight.

Of course, all that buggering about & delayed doors has the knock on effect because there’s a curfew of 10pm tonight. Yep, you guessed it, the club/disco is from then. So a few songs must have been dropped from their set. Even though their set was officially over, the crowd kept shouting for an encore. When the house lights went up, there were certainly a few “Boos” in the crowd. I hope they bring their game next time so we don’t feel so cheated….