Category Archives: Music

Toyah – Live Review

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Toyah

Saturday 27th August 2014

The Tivoli, Buckley

It was Saturday night, live music on at the Tiv from alternative 80’s legend Toyah – where was everybody?  The place was mostly empty!

Yes, it’s another live music review at Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub – and this time we’re back to that old favourite, The Tivoli in Buckley.

I remember seeing Toyah Wilcox on Tiswas one Saturday morning, when I was about eight.  I thought she was cool (and a bit cute).  I’ve also seen Toyah live before at the Tiv, in the early 90’s when she appeared there with Girlschool.  So I got to hear a few of Toyah’s hits in a rocked up style, along with some Girlschool tunes and some covers (I remember a bit of Zeppelin in the set).

And many of my Virtual Hot Tub pals will also be aware of the time last year at Birmingham NEC Memorabilia, where I met the star in question.  She signed my old Official Toyah Annual and I grabbed a sneaky photo.

You can probably imagine that I was quite stoked to hear that Toyah would be performing just up the road in Buckley.

The date for the gig had been changed previously, so maybe this re-scheduling was to blame for the low turn out.  The Tiv was about a quarter full, prompting Toyah herself to declare “It’s like playing a private party!” – she was far from disheartened.  Toyah was in fine voice and full of energy, bouncing around on the stage.  Between songs, there’s a brief introduction which really does make the whole gig a very intimate experience.

Meeting Toyah at NEC Memorabilia Nov 13
Toyah annual – autographed!

Obviously we get the established songs: “It’s a Mystery”, “I Want to be Free”, “Be Proud Be Loud Be Heard” and many more.  Plus there are some welcome covers such as “Rebel Yell” and “These Boots Are Made for Walking”, which fit in really well with the more expected numbers.  The band are also very impressive and the whole performance is professional, but down to earth.

It’s over far too soon.  Despite a small audience, it was a great gig with a relaxed atmosphere.

Karma to Burn – Live Review

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Karma to Burn + Desert Storm + Bad Earth

Thursday 28th August 2014

The Live Rooms, Chester

Another gig at the Live Rooms in Chester – and tonight it’s a night of stoner rock!

The first band on are Bad Earth.  Unfortunately (and as per usual, looking back at my previous gig reviews!) I missed the start of the set.  I saw most of their performance, however – and Bad Earth deliver a great selection of thunderous tunes in a Kyuss vein.  Awesome quality for an opening band, we are definitely not in the Kansas dust bowl of amateurs tonight.  These guys are professional and they rock.  I’ll ensure I catch the full set next time.

Up next are Oxford based Desert Storm.  Any punter would be expecting more of the same, but this band roar off in another direction.  Their sound is more riff based and reminds me of Clutch.  I love Clutch.  Their singer looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo, and when he opens his mouth I first detected what I thought was a Death Metal bellow.  This instantly warped into a honey and bourbon drenched growl that was more Howlin’ Wolf than Napalm Death.  Astonishing.

I thoroughly enjoyed Desert Storm, and happily recommend them to anyone who loves chunky, funky guitar riffs with a bluesy, earthy voice whirling around it.  Wish I’d bought the CD. Karma-To-Burn-UK-Tour-2014

The unusual aspect tonight is that I have never listened to any of the bands before, not even the headliners.  I had heard of Karma to Burn, but not actually listened to them.  Now what the smart 21st century kids do is check out a few tunes first on YouTube or Spotify, to see if the band in question appeals.  But that’s not very stoner rock, is it?  We’re talking about bands forged in the fires of Master of Reality and Volume 4, not the digital age.  Also, it’s more of an adventure to take a chance!

Karma to Burn are from West Virginia, USA.  They play a set that is instrumental.  That’s without vocals, kids!  Not an easy task to pull off – without vocals the listener doesn’t have as many clues to song structure.  However there are less distractions from the mighty attack of guitar/bass/drums and the atmosphere that Karma to Burn are able to create.

With barely a breather between tracks, the riffs are constantly washing over the audience relentlessly.  The band create a psychedelic assault, as if in a Grand Canyon watched over by an Olympian Billy Gibbons.  It is indeed incredible, and unlike anything I’ve witnessed before.

The moral of this story is, take a chance on live music, you never know what you’re going to find.  Whilst it’s always a buzz to see a band you’re already a fan of, sometimes a little adventure is what we need.

Good night, and God bless.

The Live Rooms web page is here.

Karma to Burn’s website is here.

Desert Storm and Bad Earth both appear to have Facebook pages, check ’em out.

Rewind Festival Playlist

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Rewind Festival 2013 – Playlist

Around this time last year, we visited Rewind Festival to celebrate the stag do of my great pal Jarrod.  A fine crew of chaps were assembled for a weekend of much hilarity and fabulous entertainment.

Set in Henley-on-Thames, Rewind festival offered a feast of musical acts from the 1980’s.

Some of the gang are returning this year, unfortunately I can’t make it due to family commitments.  Never the less, in honour of our 2013 adventure – and as a “bon voyage” to my comrades for this year – I’ve compiled the following playlist.

To compile this playlist, the acts had to have performed over the festival weekend last year.  They also have to actually be in my music collection, in iTunes.  I was quite surprised that there were several acts who performed that I don’t actually possess any recordings of.  No matter – this list consists of what I actually own.

  1. Doctor & the Medics – “Spirit in the Sky”
  2. The Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight”
  3. Billy Ocean – “Love Really Hurts Without You”
  4. Nik Kershaw – “Wouldn’t it be Good”
  5. Heaven 17 – “Temptation”
  6. Kim Wilde – “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
  7. The B-52’s – “Roam”
  8. Belinda Carlisle – “We Want the Same Thing”
  9. Go West – “We Close Our Eyes”
  10. ABC – “The Look of Love”
  11. Pointer Sisters – “Jump (For My Love)”

Short but sweet.

A big shout out to Jaz, Gol, Tone, Baz, Adam, Si, Brendan and of course the one and only Richard Minshull esq.  What a top quality bunch!

And to those of you going this year – hope you have an amazing time!

You can read my review of Rewind Festival 2013 here.

The website for Rewind Festival is here.

The Misfits – Gig Review

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The Misfits

Thursday 26th July 2014

The Live Rooms, Chester

Way back in 1988, as a young skateboarding rapscallion, I bought a vinyl copy of The Misfits album “Walk Among Us“.  I’d heard Metallica’s cover of “Last Caress” and decided to invest in some tunes by the group.  It was a gamble – I had no idea what the rest of their music sounded like.  Neither “Last Caress” nor “Green Hell” were featured on that particular platter.  Nevertheless, I decided to hand over my saved up dinner money to try it out, after some deliberation.

That was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  “Walk Among Us” is, quite simply, one of the best records ever, of any genre.  Any initial trepidation I had was annihilated as soon as the furious pace and sing along vocals were heard.  My ears were opened.  It didn’t hurt that all the songs were about cheesy old B-movies, either.

So imagine my delight when I heard that The Misfits would be playing in Chester, only a few miles from home.  One of my favourite bands ever, so close – there was no way this gig was going to be missed.  I bought tickets immediately.

OK, so Jerry Only is the only (see what I did there?) original member performing under The Misfits name.  No Glenn Danzig, no Doyle.  Even though I’m a huge Danzig fan, I wasn’t going to be precious.  This was a momentous opportunity. images

Besides, there’s Dez Cadena on guitar, who has a fine punk rock pedigree from his time in Black Flag.

So disbelievers be damned, The Misfits gig was on!

I missed the support band though.  Sorry.

The Live Rooms was previously a comedy venue, now it’s showing bands.  It’s a cool venue and worth keeping an eye on to see who to expect.  On this night, the place was absolutely packed out with all manner of black clad loons, anticipating the arrival of the legendary Misfits.  I certainly felt excitement in the air.  Everyone seemed to be hyped up for this gig, me included.  After all, a band like The Misfits playing in these parts is pretty much unheard of.

So the band arrive on stage and are welcomed like all conquering heroes.  As I was stood there, I couldn’t really believe I was experiencing this in person.  The Misfits – here and now, churning out monster hit after hit.  I’m sure others felt the same.

They start with some great tracks from the most recent album, “The Devil’s Rain“.  We also get a smattering of songs from the 90’s era of the band, with “Scream!” a real stand out.  I dig these Graves era tunes, and most of them hold up really well, even against the old Danzig classics.  Only does a fine job of howling out the vocals whilst thundering along on the bass too.

Those old tracks certainly bring a smile though.  “She”, “Bullet” and “Where Eagles Dare” practically tear the roof of the place.  But when we get to gems from “Walk Among Us“, I’m as happy as Bela Lugosi on 31st October.  “Vampira” is probably my favourite Misfits song, so a treat to hear that.  We also get “Hatebreeders”, “Astro Zombies”, “20 Eyes” – the list goes on. Misfits-promo13c

In fact it’s amazing how much material the band get through.  They play a nearly two hour set, and bombard the audience with song after song.  There’s barely a breather between each track.  The Misfits play fast and intense.  All credit to drummer Eric Arce – the Devil knows how he keeps up the relentless pace.  The audience respond with slam dancing/mosh pit craziness like I’ve not witnesses for many a long year.  It will be interesting to see whether the management have second thoughts about booking similar bands in future…

Our only down side  this evening is the sound, which isn’t the best.  From Jerry’s side of the room, where I’m standing, the guitars at the opposite side are frequently lost.  Cadena’s vocals are largely inaudible.  There was a story going round that Dez was suffering with a throat infection, hence why we get a roadie singing the (very good) Black Flag cover.  When we can hear Dez, he’s great.  Still, seems to me like there was some issue sound wise here, though.

The Misfits are exactly what I expected, and that’s fine by me.  From the dry ice enveloped opening, through raucous punk rock and over the top delivery, this is what I paid my money for.  More than just delivering the goods though, The Misfits were genuinely exciting to see.  I’ve seen novelty bands before and while they were fun, they were nothing like this.  This isn’t a tribute band, it’s a well honed, obliterating machine.  It drags us through all eras of The Misfits’ revered history and leaves you grateful to have been a part of it.

Absolutely phenomenal.  Thank you Jerry, Dez and Eric.  Long live The Misfits!

Please check out the Live Rooms soon – if they’re going to support bands like this, you need to support them!

The Misfits web page is here.

The Live Rooms web page is here.

Chester Rocks 2014

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Chester Rocks

Saturday 7th June 2014

Chester Racecourse

I went to the first Chester Rocks festival at the Racecourse back in 2011.  The main reason for this was to see the living legend, Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop.  With the Stooges, no less.  Performing songs from (one of the greatest albums of all time) “Raw Power”!  That was not to be missed, not when Sir Iggy and pals were playing so close to home.  Also playing on the day were attractions such as Feeder and Leftfield – so a bargain of a day out right on my doorstep.

That was the “rock” (as in “Chester Rocks”) day.  The previous day had seen a pop theme with McFly, The Saturdays, Sugababes and some geezer called Taio Cruz (is that how you spell it?  How the flip do you say it??!).  Our rock day saw glorious weather and a fun day out, and the consensus was that this event would be a great annual fixture, should we see more of the same in the future.

Alas, Chester is a city (small C) with no culture.  No cinema, no theatre, few options for live music.  Culture, in Chester, is thousands of drunken, vomiting Hollyoaks wannabes watching horses run round a field.  And so, alas, Chester opted to jettison the “rock” for the far more lucrative teeny bopper pop market.  Chasing the dollar won out, though Rocks was retained as a (somewhat inappropriate) name. CR1

This year, I was lucky enough to be offered a couple of free tickets for the Saturday, and happily snapped them up.  Although none of the bands were favourites, it was a chance to enjoy a day out and see some live music.  So why not?

The featured acts – three big name bands, plus local support – were all on the big main stage on the field.  Quite an impressive place for the smaller bands to play.  The only negative was looking to be the weather – a thunder storm that morning with more forecast for that evening.

The first band I caught were local Chester band The Suns.  I’d never seen them before, but had heard some good words in advance.  I was expecting some friendly, straight forward Indie, but they were very different.  Taking to the stage in black suits, with a vocalist with a massive beard, they actually sounded more like a rockabilly band.  Oh wait – I get it!  Sun Records – The Suns?  Bloody marvellous!  The rumours are true, The Suns are fantastic.  Full of swagger and charm, they’re like The Hives if they’d been formed in 1956 by Elvis, Cash and Perkins.  Catch them soon.  Band of the day and no mistake.

Next up were The Fallows, another local band.  Coincidently, I had seen this band before at my previous visit to Chester Rocks.  Back in 2011, Shaun Ryder had disgraced himself with an incompetent, puked-up set of utter shit.  I wandered off to see a Battle of the Bands in another area, where I found The Fallows making Ryder look like a lager chimp.  Four years later and The Fallows are on this huge main stage.  They’re still great.  The singer has obviously been to Indie School, where he majored in Richard Ashcroft; but fair does he’s got the balls to superstar it up, way up there.  There are hints of U2 and The Verve, and the rumbling bass helps make this set another success. CR2

Purge are next.  Never heard of ’em, but they had to be on soon, judging by the number of punters wearing their t-shirts.  They brought the whole fan club.  Hailing from Manchester,   these guys are more of an early RHCP/Primus hybrid.  Bring the funk!  Good fun, these boys have tons of confidence and are worth keeping an eye on.

Before Purge’s set began, we had a fine example of the type of punter Chester Rocks attracts.  Purge fans were waving a huge, home made blanket banner – and a group behind who had their view obscured were unhappy.  So riled were they, they barged in and grabbed the banner down and made off with it, in an eruption of petulant self-righteousness.  Obviously they don’t go to gigs much.  Can’t see?  Move.  It’s a big fucking field.

The main bands of the evening were The Hoosiers, The Feeling and Razorlight.  Can’t say I’m familiar with any of them.  It’s light weight, inoffensive Indie pop – though it all seems to blur into one another.  A couple of songs I recognised from DFS adverts.  They’re all enjoyable and nice enough.  I don’t really want to say a bad word about any of the bands, as despite the rain, it’s a jolly day.  I won’t be buying their music, but for a free evenings entertainment I ain’t complaining.

Just think how cool it could have been though.  From Iggy Pop to Hollyoaks.  Where next?

Elvis Lives!

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What if… Elvis Presley hadn’t died in 1977?

Another great thing about the White Bear in Mancot is that they have live music on Saturday nights.  Whether it’s a full band or a lone artist, there’s usually some entertainment on.  And very good they are too.

One night I witnessed an Elvis tribute night, which was excellent.  Andy Wright was the performer, and he put on a great show.  Two sets of classics from the King, complete with jump suit outfit and giant lit up Elvis back drop.  He had the voice and mannerisms dialled, not being afraid to stay in character with his between song banter.  Brilliant fun.

Another section of the performance intrigued me.  For the encore, Andy sang several songs that Elvis hadn’t actually performed*.  The reason that they hadn’t been covered by the King was that they were, for the most part, songs written after his death.  Thus, we were regaled by songs such as Purple Rain and Folsom Prison Blues.  A fantastic idea – very different and thought provoking. 2013-11-30 22.52.14

It got me thinking.  What if Elvis Presley hadn’t died on August 16th 1977?

What if, in an alternate reality, Elvis had lived on?  Maybe the 1980’s would have been a barren patch creatively.  Perhaps a half hearted come back tour, a residency in Las Vegas.  Perhaps the Elvis show would run to parody and be devoid of both true spectacle and triumph.

Perhaps in the 1990s, Rick Rubin would have decided to record something stripped back, honest and gritty with Elvis?  To put the King back on his throne and return him to his glorious past?  Used contemporary songs to showcase the immense talent that this fallen icon still possessed?  Remind us all why we loved Elvis in the first place, and what a force to be reckoned with he still was?

Something vaguely similar happened in the 90’s with Elvis’ contemporary Johnny Cash.  In another dimension, would the King have recovered his cool in the same way?

This thought led me to create the playlist below.  Twelve songs by newer artists that I think would have been fantastic for Elvis to cover.

Just imagine: Elvis Presley – and his recent Rubin produced comeback album “American Recordings: Long Live the King”.

  1. “Wicked Game” (Chris Isaak)
  2. “American Nightmare” (The Misfits)
  3. “Mama Said” (Metallica)
  4. “Crazy in Love” (Beyonce)
  5. “You Shook Me All Night Long” (AC/DC)
  6. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (U2)
  7. “Blood and Tears” (Danzig)
  8. “When the Going Gets Tough” (Billy OCean)
  9. “Mystify” (INXS)
  10. “Stranger on the Town” (The Damned)
  11. “Mysterious Ways” (U2)
  12. “Hip to be Square” (Huey Lewis & The News)

Some of those choices may not be obvious, if you’re not familiar with the bands.  Take my word for it, Elvis singing Misfits and Danzig songs would be awesome.  Glenn Danzig reminds me of Presley anyway, a lot of the time.  And The King’s voice would be perfect for The Damned and Metallica tracks.

Disagree with my song choices?  Have more ideas for songs for Elvis?  Leave a comment and let me know.

You can visit Andy Wright’s Facebook page here.  Get in touch and book him.

Another Random Bike Ride Playlist!

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A cheeky little playlist from a few weeks back.  You know the score: hit shuffle, see what music provides the soundtrack for my bike ride.  This adventure was around fifteen miles.

  1. GBH – “Do What You Do”
  2. Revolution Mother – “Runaway Train”
  3. The B-52s – “Mesopotamia”
  4. Big Black – “Bad Penny”
  5. Jimmy Sabater – “La Flauta”
  6. Elton John – “Circle of Life”
  7. Big Chief – “Cop Kisser (Mack Fucks Up the Scene at the Freezer)”
  8. Kenny Rogers & The First Edition – “Heed the Call”
  9. Mudhoney – “In My Finest Suit”
  10. Queen – “Bijou”
  11. Machine Head – “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
  12. Ugly Duckling – “Smack”
  13. The Yardbirds – “Evil Hearted You”
  14. Audio Bullys – “Take You There”
  15. Ramones – “Poison Heart”
  16. PJ Harvey – “Down by the Water”
  17. Mikis Theodorakis – “Fragosiriani”
  18. Living Colour – “Ignorance is Bliss”
  19. Slash – “Doctor Alibi”
  20. GangStarr – “You Know My Steez (RMX)”
  21. Kiss – “Comin’ Home”
  22. Corrosion of Conformity – “Loss for Words”
  23. Iggy Pop & The Stooges – “Consolation Prizes”
  24. Public Enemy – “Can’t Truss It”
  25. Revolting Cocks – “Prune Tang”

Electric Eel Shock – Gig Review

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Electric Eel Shock + Saltwater Injection

Thursday 1st May 2014

The Compass, Chester

Finally – Chester is building up a few venues to see some live music.  Forget the joke that is Chester Rocks (LOLZ! etc), there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  On a quiet Thursday night at the start of May, that light was Electric Eel Shock.

The Compass is an older pub/venue just outside the City centre, now reborn with a new name.  I paid a measly £9 to get in and see three bands.  Have a few drinks, rock out on a school night.  What could be better?

The first band up were a local band in a pop punk vein.  I have loads of Descendents and SNFU albums, but that whole Sum 41 thing ain’t my scene.  The kids could play, but not on my shift.

Next up, we have another local band – Saltwater Injection.  A two piece, you may be fooled into thinking White Stripes, before the noise starts.  No chance – think more early Bleach-era Nirvana spitting out Black Flag covers, you’ll be more on the map.  A great set, these guys are worth keeping an eye out for – Hardcore punk and a nice line in political scorn as well!

Funny thing about The Compass – upstairs is pretty small.  And on this night at least, the back half of the room is closed off.  So when Electric Eel Shock erupt onto the stage, it’s like having three tiny Japanese Metal demons go bananas in your living room.  EES rock the place like they’re headlining Wembley Stadium – standing on monitors, waving the mic stands at the audience for sing alongs, throwing the horns.  And the drummer is naked except for a sock to cover the family jewels. EES

Musically, it’s Hard Rock/Heavy Metal in the traditional sense – some Maiden, some Lizzy, some AC/DC, a little G’n’R; with a liberal dash of punk energy.  It’s all the classic rock bands you love in a new, crazy head-banging package.  The only song I’m familiar with (“Goodbye Peach”) is nowhere to be heard, but no matter – there’s plenty of new rocking anthems to meet and greet.

The set includes a few covers: Electric Eel Shock’s takes on “Paranoid” and The Halen’s “Hot For Teacher”; plus The Wurzels’ classic “I am a Cider Drinker”!  What the living fuck??!!  Believe me, this song works!

Electric Eel Shock deliver one of the most bonkers – and fun – gigs I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s full-on good time rock’n’roll.  The audience love it, the band love it.  Check out EES if you can, and if you’re in Chester – The Compass needs to be on your list of places to visit.

The Compass website is here.

Follow Electric Eel Shock on Facebook or follow them on Twitter: @eel_shock

And follow Saltwater Injection on Twitter: @SaltWaterInject

Random Longboard Playlist

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A longboard is, for those who don’t know, a skateboard.  A very long skateboard.  It’s great for just cruising around on, carving, getting a little speed.  Recently I went for a skate on my longboard, and hit shuffle on Ipodicus.

I was rewarded with the following soundtrack.  The random tunes varied across numerous genres and kept surprising me as I rolled around.

  1. AC/DC – “This House Is On Fire”
  2. Television – “Prove It”
  3. Thin Lizzy – “Mama Nature Said”
  4. Kool & The Gang – “In the Hood (Beat System Remix)”
  5. Pixies – “Tame”
  6. Dead Kennedys – “Hellnation”
  7. Weezer – “Run Away”
  8. Syd Dale – “Disco Tek”
  9. Black Flag – “Out of This World”
  10. El Cabrero with Pedro Bacan – “Con Tristeza Y Con Locura”
  11. Volbeat – “Magic Zone”
  12. Robert Johnson – “Cross Road Blues”
  13. Queen – “Made in Heaven”
  14. The Monkees – “Words”
  15. Public Enemy – “Incident at 66.6 FM”
  16. No Doubt – “Don’t Speak”
  17. Yomanda – “Synth and Strings”
  18. Viking Skull – “Beers, Drugs and Bitches”
  19. Hysterica – “Devil in Me”
  20. Discharge – “The Nightmare Continues”
  21. Camarosmith – “Choker”
  22. Britney Spears – “Boys”

There you go – some interesting choices from Ipodicus there.  The highlight was Syd Dale, that is a tune!

If you’d like to read more about my longboard, you can check it out here.

New Year – New Playlist: Part 3

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The last few songs…

OK, so I know it’s not even New Year any more.  It’s almost May.  But we’ve only just got round to finishing off this A – Z playlist game, so I’m posting it no matter what.

The idea was to play one song by an artist, moving alphabetically through the iPod list.  No repeats.  This time however, we had to repeat the artist – as there’s only one band in my iTunes beginning with X.

  • Al: Van Halen – “Panama”
  • Ness: Vile Valo & Natalia Avelon – “Summer Wine”
  • Al: Waylon Jennings – “Theme From The Dukes of Hazzard”
  • Ness: Weezer – “Hash Pipe”
  • Al: X-Ray Spex – “Identity”
  • Ness: X-Ray Spex – “The Day the World Turned Day-Glo”
  • Al: The Yardbirds – “Shapes of Things”
  • Ness: Yes – “Owner of a Lonely Heart”
  • Al: Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction – “Prime Mover”
  • Ness: Zombina & the Skeletones – “Your Girlfriend’s Head”

That’s the end, sorry it took a while to finish the list off!

The can read Part 1 here.

And Part 2 is here.