INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW DAY 3

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 3
DATE:: Thursday 17th May 2012
VENUE: Erics & The Cavern Pub
COST: All free
OUR VERDICT: Short but good

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

Day Three and it was a light day for us as we were heading out to Bootle to catch The Beat Rats. However we had some time to catch the bands scheduled early doors……..

Today, the festival was using Erics for the first time. And what a place this is... the stage is the original stage from way back when. The Sons had the honour of being the first IPO band to play this stage.


The Sons

The Sons (http://www.myspace.com/thesonsarealreet) are a five piece from Derby and they impressed us enough with the 3 songs we heard to buy their CD. They had some fantastic harmonies which washed over us and made us kick ourselves for being a bit late and not catching their set from the start. Immediately our feet were tapping to their catchy songs. Two of the band are The Herron Brothers, another great band (we saw them last year) who were on the bill today, and we were going to miss due to our trip out to Bootle.

Staying in Erics, Two Weeks Running were up next. They impressed us from the start as unlike other young bands, they knew their set, could end one song and go straight into another, and did not have to confer at the start of each song to determine which song was next and who was going to start it!!!!! This was a tight and professional young band.


Two Weeks Running

The drummer was very good and the backing vocals added from time to time, by the drummer and the bass player did compliment very nicely. Overall they had a good melody with some nice inter-changing guitar playing. Worthwhile watching and suited the stage at Erics.


Popping a couple of doors up the street, The Cavern Pub was hosting Rob Vincent.

Rob Vincent

The pub was packed and you were hard pushed to even find standing room! This was an interesting set up with a double bass and cello included in the line up. Theirs was a lovely melodic pop, with some beautiful harmonies from the keyboard player. Lovely stuff.

Our last band for this night was Richard Snow & The In Laws (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richardsnow.mail). This is another band who has played at all the IPOs we've been to, and they are a firm favourite with us. Unfortunately the stage was running a bit behind schedule so we caught only on the first three songs before we had to leave, but we were pleased to hear “Stop Your Crying” which is a great toe tapping, pop song. The band did sound on great form and we were very reluctant to leave.

But off to Bootle we went.........



Richard Snow & The In Laws

The Stats

Total number of bands seen today = 4
Number of bands seen more than once today = 0

Overall

total number of bands seen = 25
Number of bands seen more than once during the IPO = 4

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW DAY 2

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 2
DATE:: Wednesday 16th May 2012
VENUE: The Cavern Pub & Cavern Club (Front Stage and Live Lounge)
COST: All free
OUR VERDICT: Alien Rock

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

Day Two kicked off  in the Cavern Club Live Lounge with an act we had not intended to catch. From the blurb in the programme, We Are Alien (www.wearealienband.com) did not grab our attention but how different they were in real life!!! Expecting a folky/acoustic mum and daughter act, what we saw was a rock duo with enough punch and kick to orbit the Earth twice over!!!

We Are Alien

Mum on drums and a very confident daughter rocking her heart out on vocals and guitar, having the time of her life on stage. She had a lot of charisma on stage and you not help but to like her. All those hours practicing her rock chick poses in front of the bedroom mirror paid off. Joking aside, she's as natural a performer as we've ever seen at the IPO. After a real rocking time, they ended on a slow number which we felt was better placed elsewhere in the set, and they should have finished on what was actually the penultimate song – that would have left a great impression on the audience. That said, it was a great start to Day Two.

Fun Of the Pier

Next up, acoustic duo Fun Of The Pier, (www.facebook.com/#!/funofthepier) delivering some bright, breezy summery pop, singing of fun and being happy. The audience at this time of the afternoon was not huge, but they did clap loudly. This was the second year Fun Of The Pier has graced the IPO stage, and their confidence has grown immensely. Their set also included a song we empathised with totally – about people who rudely talk while bands play, and a great breezy cover of “Everybody’s Talking”. Nice set guys.


Taking the opportunity to grab a Starbucks, we got back to the Live Lounge just in time to catch Lincoln five-piece Postcards From Places That Don’t Exist (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Postcards-from-places-that-dont-exist/142090075852986) They kicked off with a really rocking number and kept that pace up for their whole set. As each song ended, the applause seemed to be louder and louder.

Postcards From Places that Don't Exist

James is an excellent front man for the band, he had a good voice which at times sounded a bit like Lennon’s, and terrific backing vocals were delivered by the bass guitarist and drummer. It’s hard to describe their style – a bit Beatles influenced, a tad of the Searchers about them but in reality they have their own style which really rocked the back stage. Their set included three covers which reduced the amount of their own material showcased, but still it was a great thirty minute set, and their cover of "Stand By Me" was really, rather good.

The Grande

Across to the Cavern Pub and The Grande were setting up, sans Melissa and the lap steel guitar for this set. This is a well-established band, who have played the IPOs for as long as we can remember. Their set today was one of good solid country rock, including some numbers we recognise from previous IPOs and a cover from The Band in memory of Levon Helm. The pub was fairly packed and reacted well to this band. For their second slot, later in the week they have promised the full band line up, including Melissa on vocals and the lap steel guitar.

Ashbury Keys

Next up at the pub was our second opportunity to see Houston band Ashbury Keys (www.ashburykeys.com). Once again we saw a really energetic set of fantastic power pop music and the stand out song for us was “Hero”. The vocals were strong throughout the set (although a bit drowned out as the guitars were turned up for the last 2 songs), the guitar playing rocked, and the drums really banged out a great beat. They seemed really at home playing in Liverpool over the last couple of days and we are glad we caught them. We managed to listen to their EP in the hotel and it was great too.

Back across at the Cavern Club, front stage and Postcards from Places that Don’t Exist were back on the bill. Same set as earlier in the day and good to see it a second time.

Midnight Playground, on stage in the Cavern Pub was a gap-filler for us. A young local band, vocals completely drowned out by the guitars and the drum summed them up. We didn’t stay long!

We Are Alien

So, back to the Front Stage of the Club and we caught, once again, We Are Alien. You could see how excited they were at being on the front stage, and the daughter really engaged with the audience who really seemed to love the set. Her confidence seemed to have increased, being much more comfortable with the slower numbers, and they certainly rocked!




Next up, a four-piece from London, The Reflections (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Reflections/194146040595598). These had a great 60’s vibe. The drummer was brilliant, with shadows of Hal Blaine throughout. The lead guitarist was a bit like Johnny Marr using gear from the Ventures! He had a great surf twang and reverb all through the set. The lead singer was expressive, and the backing vocals were so full, it was like all of the band were singing, but only two of them had mics. A highlight in their set was a song (we think was called)  “Last Exit To Brooklyn”. This was a very tight band, totally together and they stormed through their set with no interruptions. We liked them a lot, and took advantage of the fact they were giving their EP away as a freebie.

The Reflections

Norman Kelsey

Norman Kelsey (www.normankelsey.com) who had made the journey all the way from Los Angeles, was the next act up on the front stage. He is very soulful, just him and an acoustic guitar, and when he sang falsetto, there were hints of Prince and Smokey Robinson influences. He obviously loves sharing his music with everyone, but sometimes it was a battle over the audience background noise, a common conflict for acoustic performers at that time of night as the club starts to fill up. Norman was very engaging with his audience, and gave us an unplugged version of his newest single, "Your Majestic Rejection" which also sounds great,  and it was another couple of CDs in the bag for us.

The Merrylees

Through to the Live Lounge (Back Stage) and Edinburgh band The Merrylees were starting their psychedelic country & western set. Immediately we could see a bit of the Fast Camels about them  - the Gretsch guitars and the changing rhythm and tempo in the middle of songs were the give away here! We enjoyed their set but it was the Gretsch guitars that really made the sound for this band. Their final song was "Ghost Riders In the Sky" which was a great finish and left the audience cheering for more!

The Hacienda

Back to the front stage for our last band of the night, from Italy, The Hacienda. The front stage audience was filled with Italians, patiently waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the band to set up! Once the band got going, they got going…… at a frenetic pace, hardly stopping for breath as they powered through their set. The guitars drowned out any sound from the keyboard, and this was fast paced Italian pop!.



Exhausted, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
So ended night number two.

The Stats
Total number of bands seen today = 10
Number of bands seen more than once today = 2

Overall
Total number of bands seen = 21
Number of bands seen more than once during the IPO = 4

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW DAY 1

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 1
DATE:: Tuesday 15th May 2012
VENUE: The Cavern Pub & Cavern Club (Front Stage and Live Lounge)
COST: All free
OUR VERDICT: Poptastic!

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

David Bash launches the IPO

Day One kicked off at the Cavern Pub and not overly impressed with the band that started the festival off, we found one of our IPO nuggets with the second band on the bill, Magic Eight Ball, (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Magic-Eight-Ball/136714362223).

From Egham, this band is a mix of Jellyfish, Manic Street Preachers, with a bit of Neil Finn thrown in. They have  great melodies in their songs and a fantastic sound which just got the vibe pumping through your body and your feet tapping.

Magic Eight Ball

The main vocalist, Baz has a terrific voice and had a great look .Dressed in a striped fitted jacket and polka dot trousers, if Nicky Wire won a three minute trolley dash through BIBA in 1970, this is what he’d look like! Great backing harmonies came from the drummer, who gets our vote for the best smile of the IPO.
Off stage, you couldn’t wish to meet a nicer bunch of people either. 2 CDs in the bag already and we were only an hour into the IPO! Impressed? We were.

Next up, Johnny Monaco & the Traitors,  (www.johnnymonaco.com)  a Chicago based musician who is touring in the UK at the moment.

Johnny Monaco & The Traitors

This was a seasoned performer, going straight into each song without any need for discussion with the band. Johnny had a bit of an Elvis Costello sound about him, great vocals. His set was really good although the mic for the backing vocal could have been a tad higher.

Always Something There to Remind Me

The tempo slowed down for a cover of “In My Life” and then went into a stonking rendition of “Always Something There To Remind Me”, for which Baz from Magic Eight Ball joined him…….. that was a totally FAB version and Baz’s vocals blended superbly. Johnny’s performance was tight, well-rehearsed and got a great response from the audience.



The Montanas, from the Netherlands have been at many of the Liverpool IPO’s and have never disappointed us. Being a four-piece, of which 3 are brothers, you would expect the vocals to blend together with great harmonies and they do just that! The pub was pretty packed, as the band seemed to have brought along their own WAGs and friends, but even without their entourage, this band was a big hit with the audience.

The Montanas

They rocked right the way through their set, with the two guitarists taking their turn with the lead vocals which sounded superb, while giving us some really great riffs. A highlight was “Josie” which we have heard a few times at previous IPOs and a new song they have co-written with David Lloyd (of the Suns).



We headed across the street then to the Cavern Club, and the first act gracing the front stage were a local trio called The Dockers. Another IPO nugget.

The Dockers

This band look young but are really, really great musicians. The bass guitar had LED lights on the fret board, and the guy playing it was a dab hand at playing slap bass (Level 42 style). Their set was a mixture of rocking and slap bass, really strong drumming, a few guitar shreds and lovely vocals and harmonies – all the ingredients needed for a terrific Powerpop band. Their final song started softly, with just the guitarist and bass player harmonising (which sounded not dissimilar to the Everly Brothers) before hitting right between the eyes with a full on rock number to close the set! We hope we hear more from this band.

Next up, The Soundcasters, (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/thesoundcasters/) a band we have seen twice before at the IPO and love. Their songs are a mix of Mod, Ska and Pop (and it can be all within the same song!), with changing tempos. These guys seem to enjoy what they are doing, if the way they bounce around the stage is anything to go by.

The Soundcasters rock the Front Satge

Really enjoyed their set which had some of the songs we’ve grown to love after seeing them over the last couple of years (Pauline and a cover of a James brown song “I Don’t Mind”) plus a couple of new ones. Although we didn’t get across to the Pub for their second set later in the evening, we understand it was completely different and had more of their new material. Their second set apparently included “Just a Gigalo” with some great acapella harmonies. Sorry we missed that.

The Ace

The Ace, (http://www.myspace.com/theaceuk) from Leeds were up next. We had forgotten just how good this band is and they would not be out of place playing at a Dirty Water gig. Their songs are raw mod rock, with great guitar licks and you find yourself singing along to the “ba ba ba ba boos” and they have the maddest drummer of the IPO so far!!
Vocals were shared between the guitarist and the bass player, each sounded great and worked really well together.  “Go-Go Girl” was a highlight for us – a real 60’s mod beat. Another CD in the bag for us.


Next up for us, in the Cavern Live Lounge (Back Stage) was another local band, The Suns. This is another band we have seen a few times at the IPO, and again, really enjoyed catching them.

David Lloyd - The Suns

Their songs have a soft, melodic sound to begin with, building into a great pop sound with pop energy in all the right places. David Lloyd’s vocals were spot on today – he sounded great. Their set included a few new songs which we felt worked really well and the standing-room-only crowd appreciated them too. We look forward to the new songs being recorded and released on the next album.


Back to the front stage and Spygenius (www.spygenius.co.uk) were next up for us. After a few technical problems with the keyboard, their set got underway. Lots of surf guitar verb from the 12 string Italia.

Their set included “California Sunshine” during which the vocals from all the band members really gelled and sounded so summery. From that point on they didn’t look back and delivered a high energy, powerpop set which ended with one our favourites “Surf”.  This band is playing the London IPO, so go see them!

Spygenius

Dashing back to the Live Lounge, we caught the second performance from Magic Eight Ball. It was quite late and the audience had dwindled (being a week night) so many people would unfortunately miss out on the experience of seeing this band. Seeing them for the second time just re-enforced our opinion of how good Magic Eight Ball are.

Magic Eight Ball

The Live Lounge has a much fuller sound than the Pub, and the backing vocals from the drummer came through much stronger. They have some really great songs, a bit of country and rockabilly mixed in and Baz once again delivered a stellar performance, with awesome vocals, and if he was disappointed at the dwindling audience, he didn’t show it.



Ashbury Keys, (www.ashburykeys.com) from Houston, Texas were up next. This band suited the Live Lounge stage, delivering a fantastic energy filled powerpop set. The audience had dwindled again, but Ashbury Keys gave it their all and we really liked what we heard.

The guitar was great and the vocals sounded great. Their energy reminded us of The Gaslight Anthem, and we got a copy of their latest EP, which we look forward to spinning. This is a band we hope to catch again at the IPO.


Last but no means least, almost playing the graveyard shift was a local band, 20lb Sounds. The last slot of a mid-week night is a tough gig to play but the three piece did not let that deter them. The programme described them as “bluesy roots rock” and with the appearance of a harmonica that rang true. Not a bad set, but nothing really stand out great for us.

 So ended night number one. A great start and a very hard standard set!

Total number of bands seen = 12
Number of bands seen twice today = 1

ALBERT HAMMOND

GIG: Albert Hammond Songbook
DATE: Monday 7th May 2012
VENUE: The Stables, Wverley, Milton Keynes
COST: £16.50
OUR VERDICT:

coming soon

LOS FANTASTICOS

GIG: Los Fantasticos
DATE: Sunday 6th May 2012
VENUE: The Horse & Groom, Brighton
COST: free
OUR VERDICT:

coming soon

TOM TOOMEY

GIG: Tom Toomey
DATE:: Saturday 14th April 2012
VENUE: The Stables, Waverley, Milton Keynes
COST: £10
OUR VERDICT:

coming soon

LEICESTER INDIEPOP ALLDAYER

GIG: Leicester Indiepop Alldayer
DATE: Saturday 24th March 2012
VENUE: The Firebug, 1 Millstone Lane, Leicester, LE1 5JN
COST: £7 in advance
OUR VERDICT: Leicester’s got a crush on you

LINKS:

www.myspace.com/bmxbanditsgroup

www.facebook.com/pages/Serious-Drugs-The-Film-About-BMX-Bandits/108397285893794

www.mjhibbett.co.uk

www.myspace.com/tendertrap

The format of the day was forty five minutes for each of the eight bands on the bill, including set up and take down time, which gave about 30 minutes actual playing time (not unlike the International Pop Overthrow). By the time we got there, the second band was coming to the end of their set.

The third band on the bill was The Sweet Nothings – a three piece who seemed to be well rehearsed with lots of off-beat (and totally unnecessary) time signatures. The vocals came from the guitarist who had a bit of an Emo Phillips haircut. They sang about “Peace, Love & International Socialism”, the Daily Mail and one that made The Beeb smile, called “She’s An Accountant!” Not a bad start, we agreed.

As the next band set up, we thought “oh a bit of a Honeycombs type look” with a girl drummer…… appearances can be deceptive, as Anguish Sandwich sang about The Bermuda Triangle and we wished that they had found it! They kicked off the set at a frenetic pace, with the lead vocalist screaming into the mic, with a really high pitched voice. Towards the end of their 30 minutes, things did slow down a little and they sounded a bit better as their songs gained a half-decent beat, but this was not our cup of tea at all.

Next up was a band who never actually introduced themselves, so we are assuming the band noted on the bill was them (!) – Just Handshakes (We’re British). We felt this band had not been together very long and were very unsure of themselves and their set list as the gaps between each song was really drawn out as they all looked at one another as if to say “What’s next?”. They just didn’t flow. The girl who was the lead vocalist, behind a Moog and a keyboard, had a marshmallow voice – sweet and sickly with little substance. No power behind it at all. The Beeb picked up on a comment she made as the set was drawing to a close, “I have 2 more songs for you” as though she had forgotten there was a band behind her!!!

Then the evening really warmed up, as one of the highlights of the day took to the stage. Putting aside the fact that the lady who shared vocals was the spitting image of The Beeb’s sister, MJ Hibbett & the Validators was a FUN band. They have obviously played together a lot – they were very comfortable with their music and set list and had brought their own audience who knew the words and dance steps to what we felt was a terrific song called “Do The Indie Kid”. With everyone dancing, the floor shook!
Their set included some songs from (what we would describe as a concept album) called “Dinosaur Planet”, plus another good song “My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once”

MJ Hibbett & The Validators

It’s not often you see a violin in an indie band, but this worked perfectly throughout the set. They impressed us so much we purchased the CD’s and vinyl single immediately afterwards. We actually ended up with 3 CD albums, an EP and two vinyl singles. Plus, one of the CD’s at least, has another album worth of downloads on it. This was worth the entrance fee alone.

Next up was The Rosie Taylor Project. The set up included a trumpeter. They had a laid back, melodic beat, but we felt the lead singer was a bit miserable, only seemed to know one chord on the guitar and even had the band sit out one song while he did a solo gig! Having said that, the audience was a bit disrespectful, with many people chattering through their set, something we had not noticed while any of the other bands were playing.

Last and certainly not least on the bill was a five piece (but centred on three lassies) called Tender Trap. Wowzer! Minty absolutely loved them – a 60’s type girl group who kick ass! Their songs were short, punchy, and full of harmony and sounded absolutely terrific. They pitched a couple of songs form their forthcoming album, one of which they wanted as the single (“Step One”) and the other (“Kings Cross”) the record company wants as the single. From the audience “clap-ometer” there was not much in it, but we felt the former probably had a bit more commercial oomph to it. We felt this band would go down a storm at the International Pop Overthrow sometime.

Tender Trap

With the bands packed away and the stage cleared of the drum kit, the time came for the main attraction for us – the screening of Jim Burns’ music documentary “Serious Drugs – The Film About BMX Bandits”. It was exactly what it said on the tin….. celebrating twenty five years of that great Scottish band the BMX Bandits. The amount of music they have given us in that timeframe is phenomenal, and the credits at the end of the film just reiterated just how big their back catalogue is. The documentary is extremely well thought out and put together, covering the various line ups of the band over time and touching at times on the sensitive topic of depression but overall, commemorating the music the Bandits has released to the world since 1986.
We really hope that there is a DVD release of this, but in the meantime, if you have the opportunity to catch a screening of the film, then go see it. You won’t be disappointed.

The night ended with a short Q&A with the producer & director Jim Burns and BMX Bandit head honcho Duglas T Stewart. Unfortunately it was shortened as the “host” had had a lot to drink through the day and couldn’t put two sensible words together. But not before The Beeb made him look like the total buffoon he was, with one of his acerbic bits of repartee. It was good to hear the audience laugh at the idiot. (The host, not The Beeb.)

Both Duglas and Jim showed amazing stoicism with the host – a bit of grin and bear it! All the questions thrown at them were answered interestingly and informatively. Of real interest to us, was finding out the wonderful BMX Bandits 25th Anniversary gig we attended in Glasgow (see http://mintyandthebeeb.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/bmx-bandits.html)  could very well be on the DVD release.

PADDY CASEY

GIG: Paddy Casey
DATE: Saturday 10th March 2012
VENUE: The Oliver Plunkett, Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork, Ireland
COST: €15 on the door
OUR VERDICT: Irish Charm

Links:
www.facebook.com/pages/Paddy-Casey/23408360005
www.myspace.com/paddycasey

ARGENT

GIG: Argent

DATE: Saturday 4^th February 2012

VENUE: O2 Academy (Shepherds Bush Empire), Shepherds Bush Green, London

COST: £25.00 plus the usual extortionate booking fees!

OUR VERDICT: Heads Held High

www.rodargent.com

www.russ-ballard.de

Although it was snowing when we headed out to London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, we were determined not to miss this gig – the last night of a short, six date UK tour with the original members, Rod Argent (vocals and keyboards/organ), Russ Ballard (vocals & guitar), Bob Henrit (drums) and Jim Rodford (bass).

The flakes had trebled in size and were coming down steadily by the time we reached Shepherds Bush Green. We could see the queue outside the Empire (or O2 Academy as it is now called!!!) as we did a circuit of the green in order to find a suitable side road to leave the car.

The show was scheduled to kick off at 8pm, with tonight’s support act, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash, who gave us the best part of an hour filled with their melodic rock. Their set had a blend of harmonies with loads of guitar and Danny Wilson’s nimble finger work on his lovely PRS really shone through tonight (he was wasted in Showaddywaddy!).

Argent took to the stage right on time, and hearing the opening to “The Coming of Kohoutek” we settled in for a great night of rock. The set was the same as that just over a year ago when we saw this superb band in the Forum in Kentish Town (refer to our blog from Dec 2010).

The opener was just a smidgen of the song however, a bit of a teaser, before the band went into “It’s Only Money Parts 1 & 2” with Russ Ballard on fine form on guitar and vocals. Minty was happy as our seats were front row, right in front of Russ so she could sit and gawp! J

Rod Argent

Rod Argent then took the lead vocal on “Keep On Rolling” and “Rejoice” and then there was a fab primal drum beat from Bob Henrit for “Dance Of Ages” which included Rod performing his usual magic on his Hammond and Kurzweil (as he did throughout the whole gig).

“Be Free” swiftly followed and then “Sweet Mary” with Rod on lead vocal and some nifty guitar work from Russ included.

“Liar” sounded brilliant and then Russ introduced his favourite song that Rod had written at the tender age of just seventeen – “She’s Not There”, on which Rod played a sweet piano solo for the introduction.

Next up, Russ went to the other side of the stage and took up position by the keyboards to melt our ears with “I Don’t Believe In Miracles” which just gave goosebumps all over it was that good.

Russ Ballard sings "I Don't Believe In Miracles"

“Since You’ve Been Gone” was a particular favourite of Minty’s, when it was a hit by Rainbow. Hearing Russ sing it, is nothing short of brilliant and his guitar intro was awesome.

The night ended with two songs that perhaps Argent are really best known for, “Hold your Head Up” which Rod and Jim sometimes features in their shows with the Zombies, and then “God Gave Rock & Roll To You”.

A great way to end the night – on a total high.

Russ came to the front of the stage to shake hands with some of the audience who were still giving a standing ovation, which included Brian. Russ recognised him, and had a quick word with him which really made The Beeb’s night.

Russ Ballard recognises The Beeb

There was no hanging around afterwards, as the snow had continued to fall during the show which left a treacherous journey home…. taking two and a half hours to cover the 19 mile distance!

The venue had not been a sell-out (indeed we learned the Cardiff show from a couple of nights before had been cancelled), and with the hazardous weather, we suspect some ticket holders had not made the journey into London but those who did seemed to enjoy themselves. We certainly did.

The Flaming Cortinas

Gig: The Flaming Cortinas
Date: Saturday 21st January 2012
Venue: The White Hart Pub, High Street, Old Town, Hemel Hempstead
Cost: all free
Verdict: Flaming great