MR BIG , The Answer , Faster Pussycat , Rock City ,Nottingham 16-11-17

This was a bit of a strange one. To start off, It was an interesting, if mismatched line up. I’d never seen so many disabled people at a RC gig. I got chatting with a couple & we both agreed that after all the years that RC has been here, it’s amazing they’ve not got a better way in for people in wheelchairs (They have two members of security who carry the person up the steps at the back of the venue). We also had similar stories about how sometimes the security just don’t follow the instructions that we have been given about entry. If you’re not aware, the general idea is that disabled customers should pre-book saying what requirements are needed for them for the show. They should take priority entry & get seats (if required) & be in the venue before the mad rush of everyone piling in. It just doesn’t work that way very often nowadays. There must have been about 12+ people who needed seats tonight & they only placed TWO on the balcony! I went to the bar & said more seats are needed. The reply was “We’ve used them all” That was complete bullshit as i’ve seen the stacks of seats previous time i’ve been there. They managed to find me a smaller stool, but, i’m sure there were a lot of unhappy coustomers that night. Another thing about tonight was how early the doors were : 5.30pm ! I’m sure that caught out a lot of people with such an early start (Hello Ady ๐Ÿ˜‰ ) They really do need to inform the punters when there’s such an early start. Why such an early start ? Because the crappy student night seems to be more important than the gigs nowadays ! (The only way they can get 3 acts to play/finish before 10pm, is have a ridiculously early start time)
I thought that this gig would be very busy, but it wasn’t the case : They didn’t sell enough tickets to open the balcony ! I suppose it’s best to have a full downstairs than a half empty floor & balcony though ๐Ÿ˜‰ So, to the gig/bands :
First up was Faster Pussycat. The first time i saw them was the legendary night when they opened for Guns N Roses at this venue back in 1987. They were great back then. The last time i’d seen them was at Yardbirds in Grimsby, about 7 years ago. Tonight at RC, i didn’t have a clue as to if there were any of the original members on this stage tonight! If it was Taime on vocals, then he’s lost a lot of weight since i last saw him. As for the bands show, to me, it just felt like they were just going through the motions. There was no spark or excitement up there. I was a bit dissapointed.
Next up it was “The Answer”. They are a genuine “back to the roots” bluesy rock n roll sort of band. They always deliver a great show. Of the multiple times i’ve seen them over the years, i didn’t see a single bad gig by them. On top of that, they are very nice people to talk with. They were easily the highlight of the night for me ๐Ÿ™‚

Finally it’s time for Mr Big. I’ve never been that much of a fan of theirs tbh. Saw them at the height of their fame at RC back in 1992. Think i only saw them one more time after that till tonight. They started their set with ” Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy” ( aka Drill Song ;-))

Played a lot of the old classic era songs. But one the guitar/bass solos started i just got bored of it tbh. I think my comment on the night pretty much summed it it ” Too much guitar wankery” ๐Ÿ™‚ Whilst some people love that sort of stuff, i’m just not into it at all.
I guess that overall, it was a decent night out, with different bands that played totally different styles of music & good value for money. Band of the night for me was most certainly The Answer. Afterwards, i arranged to meet Ady at the pub. We had a good catch up & i put him straight about a lot of stuff that he wasn’t aware of (about my condition) . I don’t think we’d had a proper chat since seeing Delain in Amsterdam…

Guns N Roses,Faster Pussycat , Hunters Club, @ Rock City,Nottingham, 5-10-87

00167 GunsRockcityScans0563

One of those shows where you just had to be there. Pretty legendary night. Good quote of the night ” You’re packed in like sardines”. To this day, i still don’t know exactly what happenedย at the end of “Paradise City”, but whatever it was, it pissed off Axl : ” Fuck face ! Just for that you can suck on the encore ! “. Sure enough, they didn’t come back on for an encore. I think this might have been the shortest show they played on the UK tour ๐Ÿ™ Actually, when they’d finished, loads of people just stayed there. They played WASP Wild Child over the PA & people were still shouting for Guns. We expected to get em back, but didn’t ;-(