INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - LIVERPOOL DAY 3

THE PEPPERMINT APES

BRUISE


YANI MARTINELLI


LAURIE BIAGINI


THE SOUNDCASTERS


JUNEBUG


RICHARD SNOW AND THE IN LAWS


RALPH


MIKE BADGER

DAVE RAVE

RALPH WITH THE REAL LIVE ANNE-MARIE

DAVE RAVE WITH THE REAL LIVE ANNE-MARIE

GIG: International Pop Overthrow Day 3
DATE: Thursday 27th May 2010
VENUE: Cavern Pub and Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool
COST: it’s supposed to be all free
RATING: Bongo Beat ruled the Cavern again

LINKS:
www.myspace.com/internationalpopoverthrow.com
http://www.internationalpopoverthrow.com/

First the intro blurb and disclaimer…….International Pop Overthrow, organised by David Bash visits Liverpool every year, and puts on a fantastic free music festival for a whole week in the land of the The Beatles. It attracts Powerpop bands from all over Europe and the rest of the world (including this year, Japan, the USA and Canada). It is impossible to see every one of the bands as 3 stages are on the go simultaneously but we try to see as much as we can. We can’t promise to like all of the bands that play and certainly we will favour some over others, and indeed, some bands we like the sound of after checking them out on Myspace, may not be great performing live (and vice versa for that matter) but in this blog we offer our own personal opinion on the bands and the music we hear.

Our day started in the Cavern Pub, with Cardinal Jack kicking things off. This was a young and inexperienced band that appeared to think a band should yell into the mic and be totally inaudible. Certainly not our cup of tea, and we imagine this would be the sort of music that is played to the residents of Guantanamo Bay! We felt they wanted to be Nirvana, but Nirvana had the great hooks and tunes.

The next band was about the same age as Cardinal Jack and they could not have been much more different. The Peppermint Apes (www.myspace.com/thepeppermintapes) were really polished with great tunes, an excellent lead singer. These are a band to keep your eye on. They are already getting airplay on Janice Long’s Radio 2 show and made a TV appearance in New York! Their songs had a blend of harmony, foot tapping beats and an overall feel good factor and they looked like a pop group too!

Anthony Rivers is an experienced performer but everything seemed to conspire against him appearing at the IPO this year. He made the most out of a not so perfect situation, as his band was stuck abroad and he had to perform an acoustic set with 2 friends of his dad drafted in to help out, and a music machine. It was a struggle and they did not appear comfortable with the situation.

Bruise (www.myspace.com/bruiseuk) is really quite atmospheric and alternative, using a looping pedal to create all manner of sounds from the guitar. They played at a frenetic pace throughout their set, and their songs were deep and heavy but have grown on us the more times we have seen them played live. Isobel definitely goes into her own zone when playing these songs. It is kind of hard to believe that this is the same line up as Kelly’s Heels whose music is really quite different.

After the pace of Bruise, things were slowed down with an acoustic set from Spain’s Yani Martinelli (www.myspace.com/yanimartinelli). Yani fronted the band Navy Blue at last year’s IPO and this year she returned for a solo slot. She has a very Beach Boys influenced feel to her music, being light and summery. She also tackled the complex chords of “Busy Doin’ Nothing” – a song that has more chord changes than most bands have in their entire set!! She has a lovely voice and her guitar playing was very good. We look forward to listening to her album once we are back home.

As mentioned in the intro, bands come from far and wide to appear in Liverpool, and tonight, Laurie Biagini (www.myspace.com/lauriebiaginimusic) had travelled from Vancouver, Canada to perform two sets, one in the pub and later on in the night, in the Cavern Club front stage. She brought with her a bit of sun-shiny west-coast style pop and Richard Snow and the In Laws did a fine job being her “house band” for the evening. She certainly drew in a good crowd and went down very well.

Every year at the IPO, we find a bit of a nugget, a band that we had overlooked whilst doing our “research” on myspace, that turn out to be really rather great. We found this year’s nugget tonight, on the front stage of the Cavern club in the form of The Soundcasters (www.myspace.com/thesoundcastersmusic). This is a young band from Kent (with a drummer who looks like a young Rod Stewart) who are really vibrant, playing jumpy catchy tunes and had a large crowd watching them. One of the things that set them apart from many of the other young bands, was their professionalism, especially when the lead broke a guitar string and rather than stop playing, he continued with an off the cuff number whilst a replacement guitar (a rather nice pale blue Gretsch by the way!) was brought to the stage. They showed that their parents must have an excellent record collection as they included a cover of The Band’s “The Wait” complete with glorious Crosby Stills and Nash type harmonies. David Bash summed up at the end of their set, saying “what an impressive band” and we totally agree. We hope that we will have the opportunity to see them again some time. It may be a bit of a novelty that the band is so young, but at the end of the day, their songs really stand up and set them apart from many of the other young bands appearing at this festival. Speaking with some of our IPO friends after the gig, they all agreed this is a great band.

A firm favourite of Minty is Junebug (www.myspace.com/junebugtheband), a band that has appeared at all of the IPOs we have been to. We have come to expect them to play great powerpop tunes and we were not disappointed tonight.

The front stage was actually running ahead of time, which meant that Richard Snow and the In Laws (www.myspace.com/richardsnow) were already well into their set when we got there! Still, as expected, they played really well, and Richard's Rickenbacker sounded fantastic. They went down really well with an appreciative audience.

The finale of the night was the Bongo Beat Party, (www.myspace.com/bongobeatrecords), which has in the past been a highlight of the IPO for us. This year, they had control of the stage in the live lounge and it was hard to find a spot to sit, given the throng of people that filled the back room. Ralph, who started the party, is the epitome of what a cool jazz/beat poet is all about, the Chet Baker of the poetry world. He was on top form tonight, and during his set, recounted his recent trip to Italy, performed his great song “Billy Fury, Billy Fury” and finished up with a rip roaring “Louie, Louie”. It was great to see Simon from the Plastic Heroes playing bass.

Mike Badger looks like he has had a make-over! He seemed to be quite at home in the live lounge, with a guitar that looks like he has had for years. His last song was “Adios Los Amigos” which got a rapturous applause.

Then the non-stop energy ball that is Dave Rave (www.myspace.com/daverave) took to the stage for a totally awesome, high octane, power fuelled set. You cannot restrain this guy! He is totally infectious and gets the crowd going without fail. His “Rock The Party” and “When Patti Rocked” were particular highlights, as was his song "Anne-Marie" which was written with the real Anne-Marie in mind. The Beeb was invited up to help out on backing vocals for a cover of Brian Wilson’s “Love and Mercy” and he was back up on stage again, (along with half of the audience) for “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” which ended the party in true Bongo Beat style. We captured more fantastic memories that will stay with us for years, so thanks guys.

So Day 3 came to a close. Tonight we saw 12 out of the 25 bands on stage (with one seen twice), so almost back to a 50% hit rate!

We had changed our schedule tonight, and moved the Cavern Club a bit earlier than expected, due a sudden change in the Cavern's policy which was noted on the boards outside the club, that they would be charging a cover charge on everyone after 8pm. That's not really in the spirit of the Liverpool IPO. However, it appears that they did not enforce the charge as our mate got back into the club after 8pm with no financial loss!

See you tomorrow.

And here, courtesy of Stephen Bailey is some Youtube footage of The Bongo Beat party.

And RALPH in the Live Lounge (again, thanks Stephen)

And Dave Rave rocks the party (thanks Stephen)

And what is such a fantastic song "Hey Anne-Marie" - again thanks a lot Stephen for letting us use your Youtube clips.

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - LIVERPOOL DAY 2

SPYGENIUS

THE MONTANAS

JACKIE O'S FARM

POSTCARDS FROM PLACES THAT DON'T EXIST



CLOCKWISE

BAD LOVE EXPERIENCE

THE GRANDE

GIG: International Pop Overthrow Day 2
DATE: Wednesday 26th May 2010
VENUE: Cavern Pub and Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool
COST: it’s all free
RATING: Clocking off on a high

LINKS:
www.myspace.com/internationalpopoverthrow.com
http://www.internationalpopoverthrow.com/

First the intro blurb…….International Pop Overthrow, organised by David Bash visits Liverpool every year, and puts on a fantastic free music festival for a whole week in the land of the The Beatles. It attracts Powerpop bands from all over Europe and the rest of the world (including this year, Japan, the USA and Canada). It is impossible to see every one of the bands as 3 stages are on the go simultaneously but we try to see as much as we can. We can’t promise to like all of the bands that play and certainly we will favour some over others, and indeed, some bands we like the sound of after checking them out on Myspace, may not be great performing live (and vice versa for that matter) but in this blog we offer our own personal opinion on the bands and the music we hear.

We were once again running a bit late today, and missed the kick off to day 2. We wandered into the Cavern Live Lounge at 6 o’clock just in time for Spygenius (www.myspace.com/thespygenius). This was obviously an experienced band and the main man had a bit of personality about him, getting a bit of banter going, including recounting the tale of his first argument with his wife (the bass player) whilst on the Magical Mystery Tour. The second half of their set was the strongest, with “Pineapple Drive” a fun, summery type of pop song and a switch from a 6 string Rickenbacker to a 12 string Rickenbacker. Their last song was called “Surf” which had a pounding drum beat, with which you could imagine the surf building. We did however feel that the keyboards drowned out quite a bit of the Rickenbacker so we didn’t get to hear the full jingle jangle sound.

Next up were Clockwise, filling in with an extra set due to another bands’ absence. This band is what powerpop is all about, and we found out that their song “Boom Town” had been played on BBC Radio Liverpool earlier in the afternoon. The highlights of this set were “Everday” and “No Matter What” and the band attracted a decent size crowd towards the back of the room.

We stayed in the Live Lounge and caught a band from Norway, The Quay Porters. This was not a band on our list of “must see’s” and they really were not to our taste at all. There was only one vocalist and he seemed to lack depth, tone and emotion and the other guitarist was either new to the band or was filling in as he had to refer to sheet music throughout. Both guitarists seemed to play the same chords all of the time so there was no variety to their music. The size of the audience at the IPO can be unpredictable and some great bands have played to an almost empty room but we suspect the lack of audience here was down to the music. However, many people like Joy Division, so who are we to judge!

We popped across the street to the pub and took the opportunity to see a few numbers from the Montanas (www.myspace.com/themontanasrock), a band we had seen last night and liked a lot. They had attracted a really big crowd who really seemed to appreciate their music and we were certainly pleased to hear “Josie” again.

Back across in the Live Lounge, a band from Italy, The Jackie O’s Farm (www.myspace.com/thejackieosfarm) had complete control of the stage as they powered through a fantastic set. They had some very punchy numbers including their single in Italy which made them quite famous – Mrs Kali. There was some nice Gretsch guitar playing and the keyboardist, who had taken up the maracas for the rendition of their single, along with the lead singer, really looked like they loved being on the stage and performing their music.

The Live Lounge was becoming our second home for the night, as we stayed to watch Postcards from Places That Don’t Exist (www.myspace.com/placesthatdontexist). We found out later that this was only their fourth appearance live, and they did a pretty good job. This was another band where the lead singer was just the lead singer and didn’t play any instruments, and he was a bit like Mike Love of The Beach Boys, even down to the beard and cap! Their songs had all of the right ingredients to make a good powerpop mix – they were short, punchy and quite catchy, although some did end quite abruptly! We think that this band would benefit from some backing vocals to add that extra layer of harmony to the great songs they have in their set. And one word about the bass player….. walking about in the dark with sunglasses on isn’t really that cool!
Then was our highlight of the night – Clockwise (www.myspace.com/clockwisecanada) took to the Live Lounge stage again for the third and final time. This set, slightly different to their previous appearances was totally powered up and absolutely rocked and there was quite a large gathering of people who came to listen, albeit they were a bit shy and huddled towards the back of the room! Even David Bash was taking photos of the band! They finished up on “Peace Love and Understanding” which really resonated throughout the room. Nice one guys – we really, really enjoyed hearing you play.

The Italians were out in force today, and on the front stage, we saw The Bad Love Experience (www.myspace.com/badloveexperience) a young band from Livorno, Italy. Indeed the lead singer let us know that today was his 18th birthday, and the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to him! The guitarist had a blonde Epiphone, John Lennon re-issue which had The Beeb all a quiver! This band had a very raw energy which was quite infectious and they really did stand out from the crowd.

Our last band for the night was the same as last night - The Grande (www.myspace.com/thegrandeband). Tonight, the lapsteel had a prominent place in centre stage and we could hear it much clearer. They opened with “Don’t Let Me Down” which sounded very strong and there was no let up in quality as they went through their set, ending on a really crowd pleasing number which had some people line dancing, and others swinging balloons around! We get the feeling that this band enjoys their music, and love a good crowd as well.

So day 2 over…. Out of the 22 bands that played today, we caught 8 (only 8??) and one band we saw twice so our hit rate was not so good. On to tomorrow………..

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - LIVERPOOL DAY 1

ARMSTRONG

MONKEEMAN

CAMERA


THE SUNS

THE MONTANAS

CLOCKWISE

HAL OF MIRRORS

THE GRANDE

THE GRETSCH

GIG: International Pop Overthrow Day 1
DATE: Tuesday 25th May 2010
VENUE: Cavern Pub and Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool
COST: it’s all free
RATING: A gentle start with a crescendo of sound

LINKS:
www.myspace.com/internationalpopoverthrow.com
http://www.internationalpopoverthrow.com/

International Pop Overthrow, organised by David Bash, visits Liverpool every year, and puts on a fantastic free music festival for a whole week in the land of the The Beatles. It attracts Powerpop bands from all over Europe and the rest of the world (including this year, Japan, the USA and Canada). It is impossible to see every one of the bands as 3 stages are on the go simultaneously but we try to see as much as we can. We can’t promise to like all of the bands that play and certainly we will favour some over others, and indeed, some bands we like the sound of after checking them out on Myspace, may not be great performing live (and vice versa for that matter) but in this blog we offer our own personal opinion on the bands and the music we hear.

We were running a bit late this year, and missed the kick off to the festival. We wandered into the Cavern Club back stage (now rebranded as the Cavern Live Lounge) and caught the last 3 songs of The Weatherman. The name suggests a band but this was in fact a solo guy with acoustic guitar and a keyboard. He had a Noel Gallagher look about him and from what we heard of his set, wasn’t too bad, and was a nice easing into the start of the week long festival. The next act was down on our list as a “must see” - Armstrong (www.myspace.com/armstrong) From listening to their Myspace site, we had expected a full band to be appearing and were a little surprised when Armstrong turned out to be another solo guy with an acoustic guitar. Armstrong had quite a John Sebastian feel to him and you could also hear the Roddy Frame influence in his music. He banged out some good melodies from his guitar and overall his set was quite good. We bought his CD “Songs About The Weather” from the merchandise stall.

Next up, we went to the Cavern Pub where we caught the tail end to David Gibb’s set. His was a set of quick punchy folk/pop numbers, and his band line up included a violin and an accordion player. We felt they would be a good opener for Mike Harding’s radio 2 show rather that a powerpop band at the IPO.

Monkeeman (www.myspace.com/monkeeman) could be classed as IPO veterans but it is the first time we have managed to catch their set. They really rocked things up and had a fantastic drummer who managed to throw in loads of unexpected fill-ins. They beat the British stereotype image of the Germans by showing they had a great sense of humour as well, after being heckled in German by a member of the audience. Their song “Life is Wonderful” was really good and their set finished with (the ironic?) “The Great Escape”.

We had some spare time and caught Soundserif on the Cavern Front stage. We could hear the tinkling of a keyboard and had difficulty locating the source of this. The keyboardist was tucked away in the far corner of the stage behind the amps! This band had both a male and a female vocalist and after a couple of songs, the female voice did grate a bit. We left the front stage about mid-way through their set, enticed away with the offer of a free CD single from the band who were about to start in the Live Lounge.

Identity Parade (the givers of free singles) are from Dublin and had a real Irish rock feel about them. Every song had a very strong drum beat and they certainly rocked. Each band member had a different look to them, ranging from a Mod and Ska, to a bearded hippy! We really liked their song “Six Shades of Blue”.

Back to the Cavern Pub to catch Camera (www.myspace.com/cameratheband). We really enjoyed this band as they had a bit more harmony than the other bands we had seen so far, with both the bass player and the keyboardist providing backing vocals. Their really strong song was “Delilah” and up to this point had been the best song The Beeb had heard all day. They went down a treat.

We moved back to the Cavern Front Stage for the next round of bands. First in control of the stage was local band, The Suns (www.myspace.com/thesunsbanduk). Last year, the guy behind this band, David Lloyd had performed an acoustic set and this year it was good to hear the band fully plugged in and rocking. They had tremendous support and drew a reasonable sized crowd. Their songs were very punchy powerpop but slowed down a bit for “Soul Desert” which The Beeb particularly liked.

The Montanas (www.myspace.com/themontanasrock), from the Netherlands also had loads of support in the audience. Their set was really energetic, very lively and the vocals sounded good, especially “Josie” for which David Lloyd of the Suns joined them on stage and stayed for a cover of the Beatles “Taxman”. We did enjoy watching and listening to this band. It is unusual to see a band at the IPO where the lead singer is just that – a lead singer, without playing any instruments, but that did certainly not detract from them sounding great. They also get the award for being the tallest band of the festival!

We had extended our stay by a few hours at last year’s IPO to see Clockwise (www.myspace.com/clockwisecanada), who had travelled from Toronto to appear at The Cavern. When we learned they were on the bill for this year’s festival, we were really excited at the prospect of seeing them again. They performed a high energy, rocking set, which included “Inside Out”, “Boom Town”, “Faders on Stun” (the title track from their latest album), a great cover of Badfinger’s “No Matter What”, with very strong vocals and finished up with a fantastic version of Nick Lowe’s “Peace Love and Understanding”. They looked like they enjoyed playing and the members of the audience certainly seemed to appreciate them too.

Hall Of Mirrors had intrigued us during our “research” on Myspace, with their classification of their sound as “French pop” and a line up that included a violin, and wondered how they would re-create their music in a live environment. The band seemed to be a bit cut down, with just the vocalist (also on keyboard), electric 12 string guitar, bass guitar and drums, and no violin. In all honesty, we did not feel this band were really powerpop and would be more suited to film scores. There was just the one vocal, which was quite similar to Kate Bush and she could certainly hold a note, but this meant that there was no harmony. We also felt the 12 string guitar was wasted a bit as it was wired up to peddles to produce the strange, electric sounds of the band so you did not hear the usual jingly jangly sound a 12 string usually adds.

Our last band of the night was The Grande (www.myspace.com/thegrandeband) who is another local band. This band impressed us last year and it was good to hear that nothing had changed. The male lead vocals from Ben Sherwen mixed with Melissa’s female vocals still works extremely well and she still shows the strength to her voice on the songs she took lead for. We felt the lapsteel could have been a touch louder for the set but they did a great set, enjoyed playing their music and had loads of support in the audience. Watch out for their debut album coming out later this summer. Oh, and a special mention must be made of the most gorgeous sight on any stage so far this IPO. Sorry Melissa, not you, but the Gretsch White Falcon guitar your guitarist had. Boys and their toys!

So, day 1 started gently with 2 acoustic sets, and progressed to full electric powerpop sounds which rocked the Club and the Pub through to past midnight. From the 25 acts that were on stage today, we caught 12 of them, so an almost 50% hit rate. Not bad!

PET SOUNDS Vs SGT PEPPER - THE BRIGHTON BEACH BOYS

GIG: Pet Sounds Vs Sgt Pepper – The Brighton Beach Boys
DATE: Saturday 22nd May 2010
VENUE: St George’s Church, St George’s Road, Kemp Town, Brighton
COST: £15
RATING: Pet Sounds Vs Sgt Pepper? No contest

LINKS:
www.myspace.com/thebrightonbeachboys

We set off for Brighton early afternoon, in glorious sunshine, which meant the car rooftop was down and the summery sounds of The Beach Boys were blaring from the car stereo all of the way. Arriving with loads of time to spare, the gorgeous sunshiny weather beckoned us to Brighton Pier and ice-cream! As we wandered down the pier (coincidently playing the Beatles the whole time we were there) we wondered if the clash of “Pet Sounds” versus “Sgt Pepper” would be anything like the clashes of Mods and Rockers from days gone by!

Having seen Brian Wilson and his band perform “Pet Sounds” in its entirety many times we really did not know what to expect from the Brighton Beach Boys, other than that is had the potential to be a great show, given the fact that they have been doing this show from time to time over the last 5 years. At around 7.30ish we arrived at St George’s Church with our friends Ashley & Paul and we were guided to the balcony area, with a great view straight on to the stage. Immediately we could sense we were in for a good show, given the multitude of instruments set up, ready for the guys to play. (And Jesus, who may be bigger than The Beatles, was looking down on things.)

The Brighton Beach Boys took to the stage, and opened with a bit of a teaser – the Beach Boys song “California Girls” and the Beatles song “Eleanor Rigby”. “Eleanor Rigby” really stood out with the string quintet really complementing the 5 band members who harmonised so well for this song. Minty is not the biggest of Beatles fan but even she had her appetite whetted for more Beatles.

But the Beatles had to wait, as “Pet Sounds” started. We won’t give a song by song account, but focus on what were the highlights for us. Immediately, the drums made the whole showcase of this album being played on stage, in much the same way as Jimmy Hines played the drums when Brian Wilson did his Pet Sounds tours. The drummer, Theseus Gerrard pounded his drum-kit with so much passion which made the first song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” set the tone for the rest of the evening. The next track on the album is “You Still Believe In Me” and for the intro to this one, two of the band members plucked the strings of the grand piano. It was during this song that we noticed that the band layout was not dissimilar to Brian Wilson’s band, in that a percussionist was there beside the drummer, and he also beeped the bicycle horn at the right time!

The first instrumental track “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” was astounding, and once again, the drummer was exceptional. “God Only Knows” was slightly unusual in that the drummer did handclaps to keep the beat, which actually worked really well and for “I Know There’s An Answer” the chorus was from “Hang Onto Your Ego”. What worked on that song was that the bass harmonica was played along with the saxophone (something not done with Brian Wilson’s band as the same guy plays both!). The second instrumental and title track “Pet Sounds” was really outstanding, and included the “drum off” between the drummer and the percussionist and resulted in massive cheers from the audience.

The second half of the show started with a brief instruction on audience participation, where the previous drummer (now switched to maracas and tambourine, whilst another band member sat on the drum stool and pounded the drums) held up placards to instruct the audience on what to do at the appropriate times – “Cheer,” “Laugh,” “Scream,” after which they launched into the title track “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Ralph Brown took to the mic for “With A Little Help From My Friends” and “She’s Leaving Home” which had the most glorious harmonies and fantastic strings. The great thing about Ralph, thespian that he is.. he acted out all the songs he sang with a passion.

“Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite!” gave the band an opportunity to don circus masks, and the guy who took the lead vocal wore a Top Hat. Theseus took control of the Sgt Pepper drum and paraded up and down the aisles beating the bass drum with the Sgt Pepper logo on it!

Ralph Brown took lead vocal again for “Within You Without You” and with the sitar on stage, it sounded great, and got the massive applause it richly deserved. Everyone in the audience sang along to “When I’m Sixty-Four,” featuring an excellently timed hammer on a pipe. By the time the last notes of the Sgt Pepper album had died down and the band left the stage, the audience were on their feet demanding more.

Obliging, The Brighton Beach Boys came back to satisfy their audience demands, and their encore was “Penny Lane”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, Good Vibrations,” (that really got EVERYONE up dancing,) “All You Need Is Love” and then the finale to send everyone home “Love & Mercy” in true Brian Wilson style. The string arrangement at the end caught us out when it then went seamlessly into The Beatles “Goodnight” from the White Album for a final, and most appropriate verse, “Goodnight everybody, everybody everywhere…goodnight.”

To sum up this gig, other than putting it down as one of the highlights of 2010 so far, the band obviously enjoyed every second they had on stage, and their enthusiasm and love of the music filtered through to everyone in the audience. They constantly changed set up, playing different instruments as needed – indeed Ralph Brown went from keyboards to glockenspiel to saxophone and back again!

We were really taken by the drummer on the Pet Sounds section, Theseus who not only pounded the drums with as much passion as Dennis Wilson used to, but during the 2nd half, armed with just maracas and a tambourine, really stood out with his dancing around the stage with a mixture of Bez from Happy Mondays and Lee Evans and still kept perfect time!!! Even on Pet Sounds, he seemed to direct the traffic and just firmed up our belief that if you have a strong drummer on Pet Sounds, the rest falls into place. He was the most entertaining drummer The Beeb has seen since Ray Cooper played with Eric Clapton and an orchestra at the Royal Albert hall 20 years ago!
The piano player, Glenn Richardson really stood out vocally, adding great harmonies and the lead on Good Vibrations was excellent.

If you get the chance to see this show, take it. The band mentioned they had been doing this for the last 5 years and now thinking of moving on to cover other albums (we suggested Odessey & Oracle”!!!) so the chances are diminishing.

So, “Pet Sounds” or “Sgt Pepper.” Who won? Easy answer… the audience!
Nice one guys – thoroughly enjoyed it.

And the usual round up about the loos! Clean, but a bit out of the way!

ANNY CELSI & NELSON BRAGG

GIG: Anny Celsi & Nelson Bragg
DATE: Wednesday 28th April 2010
VENUE: “What’s Cookin’” @ The Sheep Walk, High Road, Leytonstone, London, E11
COST: free but donations collected for the band
RATING: Volcanic Ash can’t stop these two!

LINKS:
www.myspace.com/nelsonbragg

www.myspace.com/annycelsi

http://www.whatscookin.co.uk/

Leytonstone High Road has a bit of a nugget in terms of a music venue, and we found it tonight when we went along to see Anny Celsi and Nelson Bragg on their 2nd European tour. The Icelandic volcanic ash had threatened their whole tour (indeed a few gigs in Holland had been cancelled due to the travel restrictions) but we were certainly pleased that they had managed to get back to the UK for this gig.

From our seat, Anny was almost hidden by a big floral arrangement that framed the stage area. In fact the whole venue looked very much like a Nudie suit, but that did not detract from the music, and they launched into their opening number “Little Black Dress”, the title track from one of Anny’s albums. The set included some songs that are really well embedded firm favourites with us, “She Walks In”, “The Night She Learned To Drive”, “Empty Hangers”, “Tangle Free World” and “Summer Fling”. Some covers were also done, including the ever popular Lee Hazelwood “Some Velvet Morning”. Nelson’s “Forever Days”, a track from his solo album also went down a storm with the audience.

It is amazing to hear how just an acoustic guitar, 2 great voices, a snare drum, 2 tambourines tied to Nelson’s feet, and a shaker around his wrist can give such volume and depth to the sound of an acoustic set. Anny and Nelson’s voices compliment each other and are really harmonious, whether it is Nelson adding a few ooohs and ahhhs and harmony backing to Anny’s songs or Anny adding a bit of backing vocal to Nelson’s songs, the chemistry works.

The audience at the gig was quite sizeable, claiming all of the chairs around the tables, and seating along the back wall, with some standing (because that’s all they could do) and seemed to really enjoy Anny and Nelson’s music. Among the audience were a few of Nelson and Anny’s UK friends they have met along the way and the guy who ran the venue seemed genuinely pleased that Nelson and Anny’s pot of donations was growing.

“What’s Cookin’” is described on their webpage as “its a little bit country, a little bit rock'n'roll, with the best dressed little stage in London” and that describes it completely. Having been to a few pub gigs, we really expected the room above the pub to be dark, dank, and standing only. We were pleasantly surprised to find it carpeted, tables and chairs laid out and a bar too! The stage was decorated with plants and flowers, almost to the point of us asking whose funeral it was (!) but the venue as a whole gets a big thumbs up. Not so sure about the loos though!

This gig was well worth the hours drive each way!

JOE MEEK - THE FAREWELL CONCERT

GIG: Joe Meek – The Farewell Concert
DATE: Saturday 10th April 2010
VENUE: White Eagle Hall, Polish Club, Raans Road, Amersham, Bucks (Amersham Rock & Roll Club)
COST: £13.50 in advance
RATING: Quiffsville

LINKS:
www.myspace.com/joemeeksociety
http://www.joemeeksociety.co.uk/

The evening at the Amersham Rock & Roll Club kicked off at just after 7.30. Being resident in the Polish Club, a minutes silence was held in respect of the Polish president who tragically died in a plane crash that very morning.

The compere for the night was Robb Shenton(who has played in/been associated with many Joe Meek bands) and he introduced the first band on stage – The Saints. This band was the original house band for Joe Meek productions. Theirs was a fairly short set and included a Hank Williams number, complete with a lapsteel, a great version of Heinz’s “Just Like Eddie” which they had originally played on, and their final number (which was also their only hit from the 60’s) was “Wipeout”, featuring original drummer Ricky Winter.

Robb Shenton cracked a few jokes to keep the audience occupied while The Saints packed up their gear, and The Triumphs took to the stage. The Triumphs covered a couple of Joe Meek numbers, “Bless you” and “Telstar”. They introduced Bobby Rio to the stage and then were his backing band as Bobby launched into “The Wanderer”. Also included in Bobby's set was “My Prayer” the 1952 Platters’ hit, which needs a strong voice to sing it, and Bobby did just fine. The set closed with a cover of “Have I The Right” which made us realise just what a great crowd pleaser this song really is. We’ve never heard this song being done live before, but it certainly proved to be a dance floor filler tonight.

Next up were The Flames whose set included “Shakin’ All Over” and a Packabeats track. They then became the band in residence, as Charlie Gracie who had travelled across from the USA came on stage and started a great set of real Rockabilly type tunes. His guitar playing on some songs was fabulous (was he the forerunner to today’s guitar shredders?) and the crowd were up and dancing throughout his set, and demanded an encore, which Charlie obliged with.

After a short interval, the Flames came back on stage as the backing band for Mike Berry. Mike was dressed in black and started a rock and roll set, kicking off with “Hello Mary Lou”, “Summertime Blues” and “Please Don’t Tease”. His set also included a couple of Buddy Holly songs, and Alvin Stardust’s “Pretend”. Mike also did a couple of his own numbers – his own “Tribute to Buddy Holly” (which had been produced by Joe Meek) and then his 1980 chart hit “Sunshine of Your Smile”. He also came back on for an encore (he said he was coming back on anyway!) which was “High School Confidential” which sounded absolutely great. Again the crowd were up and dancing throughout the set.

Another short interval, and then the headline act, John Leyton was on stage, again backed by The Flames. Dressed in black leather with "J.L" embossed on the back of his jacket, he went straight into “Shout! Shout! Knock Yourself Out” which set the tone for the rest of the night – a great mix of good old rock and roll. His set was interspersed with recollections of his film and TV career, with some fond memories of Charles Bronson, with whom he had starred in “The Great Escape”. Highlights of John’s set in terms of covers were “Poetry in Motion”, “Oh Boy” (which had great backing harmonies from The Flames) and a Gene Vincent tribute with a teaser of “Be Bop A Lula” and then the full “Say Mama”. From his own repertoire of songs, we were treated to “Wild Wind”, “Tell Laura I Love her”, “Son This Is She”, “Make Love To Me” and the quintessential John Leyton classic, “Johnny Remember Me” which closed his set. Again the crowd filled the dance floor throughout and demanded more and they did get more.

As the music finished, John was called back to the stage, along with Clem Cattini (the original drummer and leader of the Tornados) who had been sitting in the audience, to be presented with a special commemorative award to mark the 50th anniversary of their musical careers by the Joe Meek Society.

This gig was quite special – it is not likely that these names will be back on stage together again, especially given that many of them are hitting 70 (if not already past that milestone). No wonder this was a complete sell out.

We had a great evening and The Beeb had the opportunity to chat with Clem Cattini (did you know that although he is 72, he has not hung up his drumsticks yet and is the drummer on Paul Weller’s new record?) and have his picture taken with him, and likewise with John Leyton.

PIPELINE CONVENTION 2010

GIG: Pipeline Convention 2010
DATE: Sunday 4th April 2010
VENUE: Metropolitan Police Sports Club, Bushey, Herts
COST: £16 in advance
RATING: Twanged Up

LINKS:
http://www.pipelinemag.co.uk/

This was our 3rd Pipeline convention, so by now we knew more or less what to expect…… an afternoon of sorting through racks of CD’s and DVD’s for sale interspersed with live bands playing.

First on the bill was a band from the Oxford area, The Vicars of Twiddly (www.myspace.com/vicarsoftwiddly). A tremendously religious band, wearing the clerical robes, blessing the audience, this band was very much Ventures influenced, and also quite heavy on the organ. Not a bad act at all, and supplemented with the go-go dancing Sister Jules they were a great fun act to kick off the convention. Although we would have to say they would be better placed in a pub / club at night rather than performing on Easter Sunday! Their set was definitely entertaining, and even included the old favourite “Churchin’ Safari”

Following another browse of the mounds of CD’s for sale, we took our seats for the next band on the bill – Apollo 11. The stage curtains had been drawn while this band was setting up and the programme introduced this band, from France as having been “invited to play at the annual Spotnicks festival – and you will soon see why”. The reason for the curtains soon became clear as the curtains were pulled back, the band were dressed in the Spotnicks’ space costumes. Dramatically they were good, however their set was quite mediocre and quite melodic, rather than guitar twanging rhythm. We think the fastest track they played was “Mona Lisa”, and were quite classical with their guitar playing.

The convention timing does not allow much time for eating and in order to grab some mid-afternoon sustenance, we missed the 3rd band on the bill, The Vintage (http://www.thevintage.se/) from Sweden. This is a young band, and from the last 3 years we have been to Pipeline the younger bands have always brought a lot of vitality and edge to the convention. After returning from lunch, we felt there was a bit of a buzz about the band so we did buy their CD and from the quality of that, we were sorry to have missed hearing them play live. We are glad we bought their CD though – the guy who sat beside us said we should get the CD signed as he felt this band was going to be big.

Next up on stage was The Shadowers (http://www.theshadowers.com/). From the name you can tell their influence is The Shadows, and the lead guitarist was certainly a doppelganger of a young Hank Marvin. Indeed, Bruce Welch from the Shadows was in the audience to watch this band. Coupled with a few years of experience in the band, from ex Shadows bassist Alan Jones and rhythm guitarist Steve Longden, this was a class band. They were tight. The lead guitarist, Justin Daish (the Hank lookalike) although young, was brimming with confidence and obviously loved playing his guitar and coaxed the notes out with seemingly little effort. This band stood out due to the fact that on occasions, Steve switched from electric guitar to acoustic (for tunes such as “Moonlight Shadow” and “Sound Of Silence”) which really made a difference. The drummer also had a spotlight slot, with a great drum solo.

The last band on the bill was a Duane Eddy tribute act. The Twang Gang started off with “Peter Gunn” with a very strong sax player. They did a few Duane Eddy numbers but in the spirit of Pipeline also did a number of other instrumentals, including a Chet Atkins number. The front man of the band also played a fantastic looking 1950’s Gretsch guitar which had actually been lent to Duane Eddy when he re-recorded a version of Pipeline. We had reservations about this band when they gathered on stage as we realised that some of the band had been guilty of constantly chattering in the background while the other bands had played, but their stage presence and great guitar & sax playing won us over and we found we really enjoyed their set.

So to sum up – another good convention day. We left the sports centre having seen some great bands and with some good CD’s ranging from Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin’ to a Dick Dale plus some DVDs.

DICK DALE

GIG: Dick Dale
Date: Friday 2nd April 2010
Venue: The Luminaire Club, Kilburn, London
Cost: £22.50
Rating: Truly the King of Surf Guitar

www.dickdale.com
www.myspace.com/dickdalecom


This was a highly anticipated gig, with the Luminaire’s website stating it was a sell out, and as we drove past in search of parking slot off the Kilburn High Road, we saw an orderly queue already formed ahead of the club’s doors opening at 8pm.

The support act was a 3 piece rock instrumental group from Philadelphia, Stinking Lizaveta. Their songs started with quite a surf guitar sound and ended with the gentle crescendo of cymbals, as if the surf was gently washing against the shore, and in between was a quite heavy, almost Black Sabbath sound. Not really our cup of tea.

During the Stinking Lizaveta set, the club was gradually filling and by the time the support had twanged their last note, the space from stage to the bar was filled solid with bodies.

Dick Dale took to the stage at about 9.50 and started what was a storming, bitchin’ 90 minute set which included an incredible “Ghost Riders In The Sky”, “Smoke On The Water” and “House of the Rising Sun” which had the audience singing back at Dick. He had not done a sound check so there was a bit of banter as Dick taught the sound engineer the “old school” needs of just a bit of bass, bit of treble and a bit of volume, before he got sexy with the gals at the front and then did a great “Ring of Fire” in homage to Johnny Cash. He also did a little wordy tribute to the memory of John Peel.

A set list did not exist, and Dick very much improvised and mixed songs whilst being the coolest guy in the venue, strolling around the stage playing his Fender Strat. “Let’s Go Trippin’” went down a storm, as did a tune where he played the harmonica fantastically (after professing to not know how to play it!) and another tune with a trumpet, which was very Louis Armstrong influenced. In fact, not only was his trumpeting Louie like, he did a fine vocal impersonation too.

There was also a running joke going with the bassist about him being fined $5 for basically not being able to read Dick's mind every time he went into a totally unreheased number. Dick also proved himself to be a bit of a racontour throughout the gig. That comes with playing so many gigs in such a long career.

“Hey Bo Diddley” was a particular highlight, with Dick taking up a spot alongside his drummer, and proceeding to do a fabulous tribal drums duet and ending up playing Sammy’s bass guitar with the drum sticks. This man was amazing.

There was no way the crowd was going to let Dick leave the stage without “Miserlou” and sure enough that ever so famous tune was played which had everyone stomping.

The final tune of the night was introduced after Dick thanked the crowd, and told them “you are my medicine”, a rather poignant remark given his recent battle with cancer which he seems to have won, and a remark which brought tears to Minty’s eyes. His rendition of “Amazing Grace” was just that – amazing. An incredible choice to end the night.

He left the stage to enormous applause and within minutes was back out among the crowd, giving his time generously, very kindly agreeing to have his picture taken with many of the audience and also signed photos.

This was probably the best gig of the year so far. The atmosphere was absolutely electric; some of the audience were dressed in 50’s style, with great quiff hairdos. The Beeb felt as if he could have been wandering around the set of “Grease” for a while!

Dick was a great personality on stage and the crowd loved him. He was totally amazing, as was his drummer (Brian) and his bassist (Sammy) and the sound was great.

One can only believe Dick when he explained that he'd never end his days in a wheelchair in a nursing home, and that he intends to blow up into a thousand pieces on stage during a gig. What a great attitude to have.

The Luminaire is a great venue too. It’s small enough to be a really intimate gig and frowns on people chatting over the music (which is a great policy to have!). The club encourages graffiti in their loos, and Minty even spotted a bit of graffiti promoting The Dotted Line, a band fronted by Scott Bennett, a member of Brian Wilson’s amazing band.

THE CADILLAC KINGS

GIG: The Cadillac Kings
DATE: Friday 22nd January 2010
VENUE: The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead, Herts
COST: £10
RATING: Definitely catch this band again

www.myspace.com/thecadillackings
www.cadillackings.co.uk

The Old Town Hall could not have stood up to any more shaking that it did tonight when The Cadillac Kings rocked it to it’s very foundations. This was an evening of 40’s and 50’s West Coast Jump, Jive, Boogie and Swing songs performed brilliantly by a band who’s love and enthusiasm for the music was plain for everyone to see and hear.

The old songs are complemented perfectly by the bands own original songs.
The band is a great mixture of experience and youth. From Mike Thomas’ avuncular vocals, to new kid on the block Henri Herbert’s virtuoso keyboard playing, the band played almost 30 songs over two sets in the fastest couple of hours we’ve known!

Gary Potts wailed his harp all night hardly coming up for breath apart from when he did his vocal duties. Mal Barclay played an old guitar that came straight out of the 50’s. Looking nothing less than a plank of wood with strings attached, the different tones he squeezed out of it all night was miraculous. This was all done without the aid of any effects pedals too, making his guitar playing all the more impressive.

Paul Cuff on double bass and Roy Webber on drums provided a great foundation for the band to build on.

The opening number, Jimmy McCrackin’s “Gonna Tell Yo Mama,” set the tone for an energetic, foot tapping evening. What followed was some astounding keyboard tinkling from Henri, who was looking so laid back at times you would almost think he was asleep. His effortless playing was like watching a DVD on fast forward.

Mal came to the fore on songs like T Bone Walker’s “T Bone Boogie.”

A good helping of humour was added to the evenings show on songs like “Who’s Bin Lickin’ My Chicken?” and “Mr Nip And Tuck.” These original songs are mixed seamlessly with covers of James Harman, Brook Benton and Champion Jack Dupree. “The Spirit Is Willing,” was dedicated to a couple in the audience who were celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary!

It’s no wonder that this band has won so many awards from the Rhythm and Blues fraternity over the years. They are such a good live act, and after listening to the CDs we bought they’re a great recording band too. We were lucky to catch them in an intimate venue like the Old Town Hall, but it’s possible to imagine them rocking a festival crowd too.

This is one band we’ll definitely be going to see again.