Sham 69 again

I saw Sham 69 again last night and they were better than ever! The atmosphere at The Hippo was excellent and I think the Shamsters responded to a crowd who were eager for a good time. And leading the revellers were my friends Steve and Carolyn. Carolyn's usually the punk rocker of the two but Steve had been on the Stella and having lost his inhibitions set about loosing everyone else's.

He dragged me and Carolyn down to the stage for the support band Russel Can't Drive. Although these guys messed about a lot, they were actually very tight and I enjoyed their set. They did a cover version of a song that's really bothering my mate Gary. He recognised it but not enough to really place it. He's now on a mission to identify it and can't rest properly until he can.

Russel Can't Drive may not be able to drive but they rock and are on tour soon. Catch them if you can.

Sham 69 have been playing for years and their experience shows. They know how to work a crowd but they do so effortlessly. One day I'd like to hear them play Unite and Win again as this is one of my favourites, a real rebel rousing foot stomp.

And the tickets were only a credit crunch busting 8 quid! Now that's what I call music and good value.

The Wedding Present

I saw The Wedding Present play at The Hippo in Plymouth on June 20th and thought they were brilliant. When I was a student in Coventry they were spoken of frequently but, as far as I can tell, I never heard any of their songs. Friends of mine knew about them but never imparted their knowledge to me.

So when some of my mates mentioned they were going to see them in Plymouth I quickly checked them out on the internet. Hearing them for the first time, they sounded like a cross between The Smiths and Joy Division.

I also discovered that they'd had 18 Top Forty singles in the UK without hardly anyone noticing.

There was quite a gang of us at The Hippo in the end. Unlike when I was a student, word had spread in an understated kind of way. Those who knew of The Wedding Present playing that night had perhaps mentioned it to only a few of us and, when they had, they'd typically omitted to say that they were going along. Only The Usual Suspects (Garry and Rich) had been sufficiently effusive about this underground band to announce their intentions and Gary'd never heard them before.

For Rich in particular, that night was a big re-union. He'd seen The Wedding Present many times before and had obviously gone to their gigs with half the population of Plymouth because they all recognised him. Even Gary and I, who are not natives of Plymouth, saw a few familiar faces.

The Wedding Present are great live and Gedge has an impressive collection of guitars. He even had a guitar monitor who handed out a fresh one from the racks at the back of the stage. I can't be sure but I don't think he played any more than twice and most only once.

Afterwards, Gedge and Terry de Castro, the bass player (whose knees we'd been admiring all night) were by the merchandise stand. I like this kind of approachability. Many bands could learn from this.

I was sufficiently impressed to download an MP3 album off Amazon when I got home that very night. It's been a long time since I've seen a band without knowing their songs beforehand. I reckon I should do this more often but I feel it's unlikely I'll be so pleasantly surprised as I was by The Wedding Present.

I just don't understand why their followers are so reticent. So, to buck that trend, here's a link to the
The Wedding Present Scopitone site.

Stiff Little Fingers and Chelsea at The Hippo

I've just about got my voice back after a week. I'm still typing this in, though - my voice recognition software is a but "mazed" as we say round here. Stiff Little Fingers delivered the goods again at The Hippo last Friday (March 27th) and although I was succumbing to the snots I was determined to see them - that's SLF, not The Snots. It probably wasn't a very wise thing to do but when did common sense come into rock'n'roll. I wouldn't have missed it.

Our party numbered about thirty in the end and we all met up beforehand in The Union Rooms on Union Street in Plymouth. As we approached The Hippo we could see groups of people being turned away. Many of them asked us if we had tickets. Fortunately, we did although my mate Martin, who came down from Exeter, must have got one of the last ones. He picked it up on the door and drew many envious glances.

The Hippo has recently been refurbished but, to those who new it, it looked just the same. I'd never crossed its threshold before but the atmosphere was brilliant - crowded but brilliant. It holds between 250 and 300 I suppose and there were at least that crammed in. And some of them had been at The Middle Aged spread - it's like Growing Up Spread but for the more mature punk rocker - so its was really packed.

There were some almost full length mirrors by the bogs that caused some confusion. Some friends of mine (you know who you are) emerged from the Ladies to be faced by a sea of bodies. They noticed what looked like a low wall nearby and went towards it to step over it and take a short cut but - just at that very moment - another pair of girls emerged out of the crowd on the other side of the low wall and came towards them. Hilary and Tania (oops their names slipped out there) took steps to avoid them only to have these vaguely familiar newcomers step to the same side. After a short jig, the four of them noticed everybody else was laughing at them and realised their mistake.

I've done the same thing once before in a night club. I've even seen one bloke demand of himself "What are you lookin' at?" not unlike Travis Pickle in Taxi Driver. But he (and Hils and Tan) had been at the pop - I was sober.

We missed Mad Dog MacRae - I'm not really gone on Pogues-like music - but I'm glad I saw the other support band. I'd never heard of Chelsea before. Those in the know didn't rate them but I thought they were good and I find myself tempted by their back catalogue or even some of their more modern stuff. A large part of Chelsea went on to be Generation X and their line up used to change frequently. Over the years they've stabilised and enjoyed something of a renaissance as Old Skool Punk becomes classical music - I always knew it would.

Anyway - how many other punk bands have had a football team and a posh London suburb named after them?

Stiff Little Fingers blasted the crowd with songs as topical as ever after the latest violence in Northern Ireland. That's why this gig was so popular. Everyone was there to enjoy themselves, sing along and wave and point fingers at the appropriate moment.

But it was hot. It took me back to my student days in Coventry down at The Dog & Trumpet. I reckon the best way to keep cool is to dance but cool is a relative term in such an environment - by the end of the evening the walls were running with sweat.

After the traditional Alternative Ulster as an encore, the DJ span some classic ska songs so we didn't want to go home. In the spirit of self parody the ladies piled up their handbags and the rest of us formed a circle and went One Step Beyond on the very slippery dance floor. I could have danced all night.

The only thing that could have improved the evening was SLF doing Listen. Perhaps it was just as well - staying quiet during that song is impossible. I doubt my voice would ever have been recognised again by man or IT equipment.

Maybe next time though guys?

Stiff Little Fingers again

I'm really looking forward to seeing this brilliant band again on Friday 27th March, this time in Plymouth at The Hippo, which was The Hub. Plymouth gets by-passed by too many bands so I'm hoping The Hippo (short for hippodrome?) will be a regular draw to those of us who like both kinds of music - punk and rock. It's a new venue for me but some of my mates say it's pretty good. What we're hoping for is a great gig from SLF, so good they'll include Plymouth on all forthcoming tours. I saw them in Falmouth last summer and I've been up to Bristol to see them many times in the past so want them to remember this gig and come back. (Photo from Kev-inr's Flickr photos)

To that end, about 30 people have been enticed into going. Some of us have seen Fingers before but most of our party are coming along because they've heard so much about SLF from the rest of us. I hope there's a good turn out but it'll be a new experience knowing so many people in the audience.

Just by way of an example of the devotion this band's live performances create, My mate Gary will have seen them over 30 times by the time he sees them on Friday. He's not sure of the exact number but he his first ever show by them (as well as a who's who of other punk rock legends) at the Rock Against Racism gig in London in 1978.

I've seen them eight times, all this century. I secretly envy those who haven't seen them play live before. I can't imagine that they'd not be very favourably impressed and have a great time. But having seen them this often, I know what I'm in for. It helps if you know all the words, too.