Recent gigs: Peace / Sex Pistols Experience

I had hoped to go to a couple of gigs this weekend but unfortunately didn't make it after going back to work part-time had left me feeling far too tired. But I'm now going to cast my eyes back on April when I managed to get out and see a few bands... and had a bloody great time. After the triumphant Dexy's gig at Gloucester's Guildhall Arts Centre it was a mere eight days until I was back in that venue, for a very different show. I was there with my friend Tom ( of The Sensitive Bore fame ) to see up-and-coming Birmingham bands Peace and Superfood.

And very impressive they were too. Superfood are an extremely promising band, heavily indebted to Britpop ( especially Blur ) and obviously still inexperienced... but very talented. For a support band in a small venue they went down amazingly well with an audience that was equal parts teenage indie kids and curious, older gig-goers like me. I spoke to the band's guitarist after the show and he seemed knocked out by the reaction. He'd better get used to it...

Peace themselves were fantastic: a very tight, competent band mashing up Britpop, Shoegazing and Psychedelia with some memorable tunes and an overwhelming peace 'n' love vibe  -  of course! All the great songs from their album In Love ( album of the year? ) were given an airing, with the poppier stuff like Lovesick sounding almost feral when played live. And the crowd went nuts. Peace are clearly heading for the big time  -  and an appearance on last week's Later... With Jools Holland will certainly help with that.


You can read my full gig review from Louder Than War here...

And two days before the Peace gig we took a trip down to Bristol's Fleece to see top Punk tribute band The Sex Pistols Experience, supported by my mates, the mighty Chinese Burn. "We" in this case were myself, Sarah and our friends Jacqui and Caz  -  all out for a night of rock 'n' roll mayhem... as the next photo shows :-)

 ( This is how exciting it is backstage: I don't think Jacqui's even awake... )

Although there's some question about the validity of tribute bands, it has to be said that the Sex Pistols Experience are good at what they do: aping the sounds, mannerisms and voices of a great band with almost supernatural accuracy. It can descend into an almost cartoon-like state at times but they always keep the joint rocking. "Johnny Rotter" in particular is spookily similar to his gobby inspiration on stage, but a friendly, softly-spoken Northerner offstage. The band went down a storm with the Fleece's mohican-sporting audience, as did the boys from The Burn...

Because I'd been away from the gig scene for so long and missed The Burn's recent support-slot with Stiff Little Fingers, it was good to see them in action again and catch up with some fellow fans after what seemed a very long time. I went down the front with Caz and a few others... but got a bit battered. I definitely don't have the strength I used to :-) And, speaking of "battered", Glenn dedicated their cover of Beat On The Brat to me, saying it was good to see me back. And I even got a round of applause! Cheers, mate!

As before you can read my full review of this gig from Louder Than War here...

Dexy's at Gloucester Guildhall 13/04/13

A few weeks back I finally saw one of my favourite bands of all time play live at my favourite venue  -  the mighty Kevin Rowland and his revitalised Dexy's ( minus the "Midnight Runners" ) at Gloucester's Guildhall Arts Centre. This was the first gig I'd been to after finishing my radiotherapy and, even though I was still feeling under the weather, I was determined to go. I'd already missed a couple of gigs I had booked tickets for  -  local boys Chinese Burn and Noise Agents supporting Stiff Little Fingers at the Guildhall, and The Gaslight Anthem at the Bristol O2 Academy  -  which was annoying, but couldn't be helped. Dexy's, however, were a special case. Their music had meant so much to me over the last 30 years and I'd never had the chance to see them until now.

All things considered, I did pretty well. I dragged Sarah and my mate Kev along as well for moral support. Kev isn't a great live music fan but had a good time and I'm certainly glad he came along.
Dexy's were amazing! A highly theatrical performance of recent album One Day I'm Going To Soar, packed with the patented Dexy's brand of emotionally-charged Soul and Folk music. Main man Kevin Rowland ( it was all about the Kevins! ) was wonderful  -  still a totally unique, passionate frontman with his fantastic voice as powerful and moving as ever. After playing the album in its entirety Dexy's came back for an oldies set which, I have to admit, left me a bit emotional. I never thought I'd see Dexy's play live and to hear such awesome songs as Until I Believe In My Soul and This Is What She's Like played so beautifully... well, I was overwhelmed.

Apart from our seemingly never-ending PC problems ( I'm typing this on Sophie's Netbook ) the main reason this review's taken so long to appear is that I was waiting for my full report on the gig to be published on the Louder Than War website. They've been having their own technical difficulties but things seem to be sorted now. I also have two other gig reviews in the pipeline for the site which I will post here when they're running at LTW.
My full Dexy's review can be read ( should you want to, of course... ) here:
http://louderthanwar.com/dexys-at-gloucester-guildhall-arts-centre-130413/

The Dandy Warhols are Louder Than War

My review of the Dandy Warhols gig at Heaven last month is now up on the mighty John Robb's excellent music website, Louder Than War. You can find it here as well as lots of other great stuff. Thanks to reviews editor Guy Manchester for sorting it out.

As ever I've been to more gigs than I've managed to blog about this year. Hopefully I'll get round to posting a gig roundup before the end of the year. So, if you're interested in The Beat, EMF, Penetration, From The Jam, The Twang or obscure bands from Gloucestershire you're in the right place...

Update 30/12/12
I posted my LTW Dandy's review on the lovely Zia's Facebook page and her very gratifying response was "Right on man, thanks! That show was a blast for us as well!"

Ash at Gloucester Guildhall

Last Wednesday, Northern Ireland's finest - Ash - brought their 20th Anniversary tour to Gloucester's good ol' Guildhall.

After a fairly lukewarm reception from the Guildhall audience last time they played here ( in 2009 ) the band this time received the rabid adulation they deserve as the crowd went mental. As seen below...

Yep, that's my mate Glenn and me in the middle of the heaving crowd, having ( in the words of Iggy Pop ) a real cool time. Well, I say "cool" but it was actually boiling hot in there... but a great laugh. Glenn turned to me just after I took this picture to say "I'll never stop doing this!" Couldn't agree more! The bloke behind us in yellow doesn't seem quite as happy :-)

Ash were, as ever, very loud, very enthusiastic and very tight - playing a seemingly endless succession of exciting, singalong Punk / pop classics.

You can read my full review ( if you want to, of course ) over at Louder Than War...

Here we are again, outside the venue, with me looking like a beetroot ( did I mention it was damn hot in there? ), clutching the gig poster I blagged from the girl at the box office.

And Glenn with two of the lovely ladies in his life, girlfriend Sam and his daughter Millie.

Great gig, guys... let's do it again soon!

UK Subs / Demob

Last Saturday I went down to Bristol to see the seemingly-immortal UK Subs and local legends Demob tear the roof off the Fleece, and to celebrate/commiserate my impending redundancy. I went with two of those Chinese Burn boys, Ben and Glenn ( not Ben and Jerry... ) and Glenn's lovely girlfriend, Sam... and we were all ready for a bit of Punk Rock action.

A good time was had by all ( even though my ears have only just recovered, 3 days later ) and an appropriate amount of alcohol ( hic! ) was consumed. You can read a full review here in my first piece for Jon ( Goldblade ) Robb's wonderful website, Louder Than War. I'm over the moon ( as they say) to be contributing to such a cool site and hope to write some more reviews in the very near future. A big shout out to Guy Manchester for getting me on board the good ship LTW.

Cheers, mate!

And here are a few photos from the gig, starting with Charlie, Alvin, Jet and Jamie - the UK Subs...

And Gloucester Street Punk heroes Demob in full effect...

Great gig, great company, good times...

Update ( 23/05 ) Since this review was posted on LTW it's been re-posted and spread all over t'internet like some kind of Punk rash :-)

Especially pleased to see it crop up on the F/Book pages of the Subs, Demob and the mighty John Robb himself, who said "Thanks for writing it and please send more stuff!"

Just try and stop me ;-)