INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW LIVERPOOL - DAY 1 (TUES)

GIG: International Pop Overthrow Liverpool – Day 1
DATE: Tuesday 14th May 2013
VENUE: Cavern Pub & Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool
COST: It’s all free
OUR VERDICT: a great kick start

This is blog is intended to be a way for us to capture our personal memories form all the gigs we go to see. The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 130 artists, across 3 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles from folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!! Whilst we can’t see every artist / band, we try to catch as many as we can. Some we like, some we love, some are pure nuggets and some are just not our cup of tea. This is just our personal opinion of the acts we see through the IPO festival, highlights and lowlights included. If there’s a band we are not fond of, do still check them out as tastes differ and you could have a different opinion from us.

David Bash opens the 2013 IPO Liverpool

The Amazing Kappa

Day one was kicked off in the Cavern Pub by The Amazing Kappa, a local band consisting of a girl drummer, a girl on bass and a male lead singer / guitarist wearing snakeskin shoes. The pub was surprisingly busy for this time of day and after starting with a bluesy rock number this band entertained us all of the way. The guy’s vocals were very Steve Tyler-ish from Aerosmith and his guitar playing was just filled with lots of slick licks and pedal effects ending up with hints of Brian May. They were LOUD! At one stage he played his guitar from behind his legs, and then with his teeth! The momentum was kept going throughout the set, moving seamlessly into each new song. Not a bad start the the festival.

Next up, a four-piece, Typewriter who had travelled 16 hours, all the way from Singapore and we were encouraged by the lead singer wearing a Pet Sounds T.Shirt. Their second song “Enemy” had a really great beat to it and sounded great with added harmony from the other guitarist and the bass player. Their third song slowed the pace down a bit and gave us a bit of the jingle jangle powerpop we love so much. The crowd had started to thin out during their set, as is the way with the IPO as the Pub gets a passing through kind of crowd, rather than it being a reflection on the bands actually playing. They ended on a high with a lovely little head nodding number, we think was called, “Take Me Away”. They were given an extra slot at the end of the night due to another band’s no-show but we were not able to catch that one.

Typewriter

Having done our usual research ahead of the IPO, we had checked out the bands playing and the next one up, The Relics, had sounded good, with a lot of guitar reverb so they were on our list of bands to see. We were actually quite disappointed with the live show, however. The singer sounded a bit like early Bob Dylan when he sang and he seemed quite disinterested in playing this gig. When he introduced songs, his voice trailed off and he wasn’t exactly an enigmatic front man, although that may have been part of him trying to be all moody and rock and roll, we weren’t sure. The drummer was good though and kept a good beat going. Any of their songs were OK, but song after song it became hard to tell one from the other. With some of their own songs turning into a bit of a mash with The Faces and The Rolling Stones tunes, they did at the end up seem a bit too derivative.

Teenage Casket Company in the Cavern Pub

Band number four was Nottingham based Teenage Casket Company.  This was a great band although they have lost their claim on “Teenage”!. They loved being on the stage, really enjoyed what they did and gave a terrific performance. All four of the band have their own personalities and all shone through, whether it was the glam look from the front man, the guitar twangs from the lead guitarist, the joking nature of the bass player or the drummer who looked like he was enjoying every beat. They had a great heavy guitar sound, and with one of their new songs (which was the strongest in their set) “You Only Love Me When You Hate Me”, we heard our first good key change of the day. The bass player kept trying to flick his plectrum up and catch it and more often than not, he completely missed them and the things were flying everywhere, The Beeb suggested they rename themselves the Flying Plectrums! Their set went down a storm and we loved them.

We headed over to the Cavern Club, and into the Live Lounge, where we caught local boy, Marc Kenny. The Live Lounge can be a big place for a solo acoustic performer but Marc has such a rich voice he filled the room with his sound. We had not planned on seeing this artist but we are glad we did as he held our attention the whole time and after hearing his last song “Thank You”, which just resonated through the Club, we had to buy his CD. This was a wonderful set.

Marc Kenny

Ashbury Keys rocked

Staying in the Live Lounge, next up was Texas band Ashbury Keys. They performed here last year and we loved them. Their drummer does his stuff standing up, an unusual way to play, but boy, was it effective. The harmonies that come from this trio of Texans is amazing and the two really stand out songs in their set were “Hero” and a brilliant cover of Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds”. This might not be traditional "Texan Blues", but it was a blistering rocker of a set.

We stayed to catch Teenage Casket Company for their second slot. They had promised us that their set in the Club was going to be bigger and louder than their earlier set in the Pub, and they were not wrong. David Bash introduced them as “dynamic rock and roll….glammy….melodic…punk” and that really does describe what this band is like. Their second performance of the day was just as fresh as their first, and our friend commented that this was the first stadium band he has seen playing the IPO!! With a bit of audience participation at the end, Teenage Casket Company found a few new fans today, that’s for sure.

Guitar heaven from Teenage Casket Company



The Jooles



We headed through to the Front Stage where The Jooles (from Berlin) were setting up. Last year we caught their set, and likened the lead singer to being Marsha Brady on speed. This four piece, made up of two boys and two girls are a delight to watch and their soulful pop is great to listen to. Daria the lead (and the Marsha Brady lookalike) is infectious and the crowd (with some drunk men) really loved her, and she lapped it up, flirting and teasing, swinging her hips and kicking ass.

 Daria from The Jooles

We dipped in and out of the Front Stage where the next act was Rhonda from the German city of Hamburg, synonymous with the Beatles and the Live Lounge where Watchtower, another Liverpool band was entertaining a sizeable crowd. Rhonda was a blonde Amy Winehouse, complete with tattoos, who played a white Gretsch but whose music didn’t really set us alight at this point. Watchtower was full on rock pop. They had a bit of an odd drum beat every now and then, but they left the crowd cheering for more with their closing number, a cheeky cover of Little Richard’s “Johnny Be Good” which had some really good guitar playing and a fantastic drum solo included. We tumbled back to Rhonda again only to find they had really stepped up a gear and were now sounding excellent. Our first impressions were wrong then!

The Ragamuffins are another local band, a trio of lads with keyboard, acoustic guitar and trombone (no drums). In our research and planning for the festival, we had noted this band as having pop guitar and a mad 80’s keyboard. They were really quite quirky in a good sense of the word and we thought their set was really good. Their songs have a local influence, singing about how “It Never Rains in Mossley Hill” and “Last Train to Sub-Lime Street” and a bit of nostalgia, singing about flying saucers and sherbert dips. One to catch if you can.

The Ragamuffins

Staying on the Front Stage, The Ashbury Keys had an extra slot due to another band’s no-show. Again the drummer did his stuff standing up, which meant his hair was brushing the low ceiling. What a storming set they did – much the same as their Live Lounge performance but to a bigger and much more enthusiastic crowd. The place was jumping, literally. Again the stand out songs were “Hero” and “Suspicious Minds” which had everyone up and dancing. You couldn’t fault this performance – strong bass line, great guitar, thumping drums, an engaging front man, good vocals and tight harmony. All the ingredients to deliver fantastic stuff.

The Ashbury Keys with a storming set on the front Stage

Our last band for the night was the final band on the Front Stage, Fifty Nine Violets, a four piece from Hull. They had brought along a few friends who danced through their entire set at the front of the stage. One of the guitarists and vocalists looked a bit like Paul Weller and they had a great powerpop / rock sound, with jingly guitars and some good vocals and we were glad to have stayed the distance to see them. This band has obviously played together for a while as musically, they were very tight and knew their stuff. This was a good end to night number one.

Statistics:
No of bands seen = 11
No of bands seen more than once = 2
Top band...Teenage Casket  Company
Performance of the day...Ashbury Keys with Suspicious Minds.

THE QUARRYMEN

GIG: The Quarrymen

DATE: Monday 6^th May 2013

VENUE: St James Theatre, London

COST: £17.50 with NO booking fees

OUR VERDICT: Putting on the Style

The Stage is set.......

“The Beatles”, the biography by Hunter Davies was devoured when first published in 1968 while The Beeb was still at school, so the names of The Quarrymen had long been ingrained on his psyche.  Tickets for this intimate show, to promote the new play “And In The End: The Death and Life of John Lennon” were snapped up by him immediately.

No matter what kind of performance this was going to be musically, it didn’t matter. We were going to see a living, breathing piece of history before our very eyes. The band clambered on to the stage all dressed in Rory Gallagher type check shirts, and started off with “Mean Woman Blues”.

Rod Davis

Rod took to the mic and introduced the band before explaining how he joined The Quarrymen. We were then reminded how much of an influence Lonnie Donegan had been back then, before launching into “Rock Island Line”.

Len seems quite lugubrious about the whole thing, but it was easy to see he was really enjoying it all. A couple of volunteers then got up to play washboard and tea-chest bass on another Lonnie Donegan song.

Len Garry

Rod then had a go at the relative merits of Elvis, before the band played “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” in the original slow way, before cranking it up to Elvis’s better known style. He then explained to us how John came to meet Paul at the Woolton fete. We all know the story I suppose, but it was a real buzz to hear it from someone who was actually part of the story.

Before we knew it, The Beeb was up on stage with the band, washboard in hand helping out on another Lonnie Donegan classic, “Lost John.” He couldn’t even claim this was a dream come true, because he’d never dreamt of anything so ridiculous in his life.

The Beeb plays washboard

John then told us the story of The Quarrymen’s recording of “That’ll Be The Day” and “In Spite Of All The Danger” back in the late 50’s. The band had explained why they don’t really do Beatles songs, but “In Spite Of All The Danger” was a valid exception.

During the second half, Valentine Pelka who is starring as John Lennon in the play, got up on washboard for a song. He was actually dressed in character and really looked the part of John circa 1972. This was also The Beeb’s cue to have a go at the tea-chest bass as they fired into the old Liverpool classic "Maggie Mae".

The Beeb plays the Tea Chest Bass

John Duff Lowe recounts the tale
of the early Percy Phillips disc

John filled us in on more details of the early Percy Phillips disc, before playing an amusing anecdote from Paul McCartney. During “In Spite Of All The Danger”, Minty had noticed that Len always seemed to be having a laugh to himself while singing. He really WAS enjoying it all.

After a few more songs we were coming to the end of the show. Len took to the mic for a really beautiful and heartfelt version of “In My Life” that he dedicated to John Lennon. This is such a timeless and poignant song at the best of times, but to hear it performed in these circumstances left more than  a few with lumps in their throats for sure.

For the encore we had some more Elvis and a bit of Eddy Cochran too. There then followed a standing ovation for these guys who had brought history alive for us tonight.

After the show the band really went out of their way to take the time and chat and have photos taken with the fans. In some situations having former members of bands playing together after a long while could be looked at as exploitation, but certainly not in this case. The validation and credibility of the band is proven by the fact that they play songs that inspired THEM, The Quarrymen, not The Beatles.

They seemed to come across as being happy to have been part of what would become the biggest musical phenomenon the world would ever know. There certainly didn’t seem to be any regrets expressed by any of them.

For The Beeb, those names that he read about as a 12 year old Beatles fan, turned up tonight and made a dream he didn’t even know he’d HAD come true.

The Beeb mingles with Len, John and Rod

GRAHAM GOULDMAN

GIG: Graham Gouldman

DATE: Sunday 5^th May 2013

VENUE: The Stables, Wavendon, Milton Keynes

COST: £22.50 plus £3.70 in fees

OUR VERDICT: Harmony plus

Once again we found ourselves in the intimate setting of The Stables Theatre in Milton Keynes. A great venue that is custom built for a great sound. And once again, this was an artist Minty wasn’t well versed in apart from knowing he was a member of 10cc.

Support was provided by Tinderbox, an acoustic trio with two guys on guitars and a girl singer. They were a very pleasant listen, and it’s easy to see why they are highly regarded on some BBC radio programmes.

Graham Gouldman came on alone and started his set with one of his early song-writing hits, Billy J Kramer’s big hit "Pamela Pamela". He was then joined by Rick Fenn  with a 12 string guitar, and the sound that just the two of them managed on Graham’s hit for The Yardbirds, “Heartful Of Soul”, seemed to fill the hall.

Mick Wilson and Mike Stevens then came onto the stage and after a quick nod of the hat to 10cc with "Good Morning Judge", all four members of the band brought the house down with a stunning vocal performance of Herman’s Hermits “No Milk Today”. The harmonies on this were so well worked out they sounded like a choir. With 30 guitar stings strumming, this was just an aural delight.

A new song to us,” The Halls Of Rock And Roll”, had us singing the words of the chorus before it had finished.  This showed just what a catchy song-writer Graham actually is.

Sandwiched between a couple of Hollies songs was Graham's tribute to his late friend Andrew Gold. “Daylight” was a lovely song that could equally have been about Carl and Dennis Wilson in a way.

The Wax hit “Bridge To Your Heart” was given an ambitious re-working before another highlight, and probably the song 10cc will be best remembered for, “I’m Not In Love”. Again, for a record famous for so many vocal overdubs, the band carried it off brilliantly.

After a few more of Graham's excellent solo songs, it was back to where it all started for him.....The Yardbirds, “For Your Love”.

To show off just how good the vocal gymnastics were, the encore gave them a real work out on a Doo-wop style acapella version of the early 10cc hit “Donna”.  This was the last night of the tour, and it finished with another 10cc number one…”Dreadlock Holiday”.

This was pretty much an acoustic show all the way through, apart from a bit of occasional keyboards here and there. It showed that you don’t need to turn the volume to 11 to put on a really powerful show.

Graham and the band kindly took the time to meet and greet fans after the show. Another great night at The Stables.

 

The Beeb meets Graham after the show, with Mick Wilson and  Mike Stevens

The set list

PETE HAM TRIBUTE WEEKEND

GIG: Pete Ham Tribute Weekend

DATE: Saturday 27^th April 2013

VENUE: Swansea Rail Station & The Grand Theatre, Swansea

COST: £21.50 plus small transaction fee of £2.50

OUR VERDICT: They Came, We Got It!

The tribute weekend, on what would have been Pete ham's 66th birthday was the unveiling of a blue plaque to his memory and a tribute concert. We were given the heads up about this event on Facebook, thanks to Nelson Bragg, at the end of last year. The Beeb had just turned into a teenager when Badfinger started having their run of hits. They were part of the soundtrack to his wild teenage years, he says. This tribute concert was something he didn’t want to miss, so tickets were bought and a hotel booked the very night we learned of the gig.

We left very early on the morning of the gig to make sure we could make the most of Swansea. It was a lovely morning weather-wise, and we got there with plenty of time to spare. So we made our first stop the Library in the Civic centre where a Pete Ham/The Iveys/Badfinger exhibition was on display.

A valuable book

Much to The Beeb’s chagrin, Minty found a copy of Dan Matovina book “Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger.” It was all she could do to stop him trying to walk out with it under his jacket, rather than pay  £200 on Ebay. Well done to the library for having the exhibition in the first place. There is a whole Badfinger/The Iveys section of books, including old fan magazines, and a special display of photos and hand written song lyrics.

After that, we made our way to Ivey Place, and Swansea’s railway station where the Blue Plaque unveiling would take place. Things were still being set up, so we managed to catch something to eat in a classic “greasy spoon” café just across the road. Minty managed to scoff the unusual offering of three fish fingers in a roll. We’ve never seen this anywhere except Swansea.

Ivey Place - Swansea

Dan Matovina pays tribute

There were maybe 40 or 50 seats placed in front of a stage when we got back to the station, and we managed to get seats in the back row, unlike the very many people who turned up just after us. After a couple of well received speeches and songs, there was a collective dropping of jaws when Lorraine King sang “Maybe Tomorrow.” There was a spontaneous applause from the audience as she sang her heart out, and her voice just shot into the stratosphere. Truly a spine-tingling moment. The Beeb had his sun-glasses on and says there were no tears leaking out from behind them, but that’s not necessarily true!

Lorraine King - sounded wonderful

Pete’s daughter Petera and David Phillips, the Council Leader and a fine Scotsman to boot, then unveiled the Blue Plaque. What was really nice was the fact that this was the FIRST Blue Plaque awarded to anyone in Swansea. It’s so fitting that it was awarded to Pete Ham. 

Ready for the unveiling

Unveiled

An added bonus was meeting the lovely Petera who turned out to be another Glaswegian. We also met for the first time, Sue McGookin and her husband Bob, previously only known through Facebook. We arranged to meet up at the gig after booking into our hotel.

The Beeb and Petera

Our seats at The Grand Theatre were front row of the Upper Circle balcony (not good for those with a fear of heights as Minty has!!). The gig itself started off well, with some local artists doing their bit, including Mal Pope who appeared to be one of the main local guys who had helped to organise the whole weekend. That was a nice little warm up for what was to come from the main band, led by Bob Jackson. 

The stage is set

Bob joined Badfinger in 1974 and has carried the baton ever since, with his own touring band. He seemed to be a bit nervous with having responsibility for the evenings music placed firmly on his shoulders but he did a great job though. We were treated to “No One Knows”, “Take It All”, “Name Of The Game” and loads of others. 

The band was joined by Dai Jenkins and Ron Griffiths from Pete’s early days in The Iveys. “Come And Get It” was really energetic.

Bob managed a very moving version of his own Pete tribute, “I Won’t Forget You”, and then topped it with a tear jerking “Without You”. After the BIG HITS, we were joined again with the two Iveys’ for an extra rousing encore of “Come And Get It”. This really had the place rocking, despite the abundance of walking sticks in the hall!

The grand finale - Come And Get It

We then had a nice meal with Sue and Bob, and after the goodbyes we headed off to the pub where the band had invited all of the audience to an after show party. It was here that Bob Jackson really shone. Free from the responsibility of being in charge of the Grand Theatre stage, he really did sing his heart out. Not only that, he seemed to be right up for a party. Well done to him and the rest of the band who came along. They made the night even more special by having such a great jam session.

The next morning we went for breakfast in the greasy spoon, before heading up to Morrison Cemetery to see the new memorial stone placed there for Pete. We met a real Swansea character, and long-time Badfinger fan in the café, who came out with the immortal line, “Enjoy yourselves at the cemetery!” 

When we got to the cemetery, the memorial stone looked quite magnificent, and really stood out from everything else around it - it was not hard to find. It was nice to chat with some of the American visitors who had travelled over from the San Francisco area for the event. The Beeb left one of his plectrums to honour Pete.

The memorial stone

This was a lovely weekend of Pete Ham celebrations that so many people put a lot of hard work into making happen, not least of all Dan Matovina and Bob Jackson. As sad and tragic as the Badfinger story is, this was a weekend of joyous music that touched the hearts of a lot of people, including Minty, who had her ears opened to a lot of new songs she never knew beforehand. Music that keeps on giving.

Thank you Swansea

MARI WILSON

GIG: Mari Wilson

DATE: Saturday 20^th April 2013

VENUE: St James Theatre (studio) , London

COST: £17.50 (incl booking fee)

OUR VERDICT: Pure class

St James Theatre is a lovely little place downstairs from the main theatre, and resembles Ronnie Scotts to some extent, with low lighting, and small tables to sit at instead of rows of seats. We liked the venue immediately.

Mari came onto the stage for the first set, dressed in a lovely little black dress, with sequins along the bottom hem and changed into a smart trouser suit for the second half.

Backed by an acoustic guitarist and a pianist, her set included songs from her back catalogue, mainly from her "Emotional Glamour" and "Dolled Up" albums released a few years ago, but we were also treated to some 80's fayre with"Just What I Always Wanted", "Cry Me A River" and the theme from the Ruth Ellis film "Dance With A Stranger". 

A number of songs in the set were taken from her latest album "Cover Stories" which is a set of cover songs, stripped down and sung most beautifully. Mari proves that "Be My Baby" doesn't need the big Hal Blaine drumbeat and her voice sounds wonderful on songs like "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" and "Disney Girls".

In between songs, we were regaled with some funny anecdotes, stories from Mari's early years which sent ripples of laughter around the studio. She is a great raconteur and every time we see her, we hear different tales. 

The reaction from the audience spoke volumes of what they felt about the show - total silence and respect whilst she sang and thunderous applause when she finished each song.

We have seen Mari many times now, and have enjoyed each and every show. Long may it continue.

Check out her albums.

THE BARRACUDAS

GIG: The Barracudas

DATE: Sunday 17^th February 2013

VENUE: The Lexington, Kings Cross, London

COST: about £16

OUR VERDICT: Surfers were back

The Barracudas were back in London, for one night only and the Lexington was the venue. The last time they played in London (at the Dirty Water Club) Minty had to leave before they took to the stage in order to get the last tube home, so she was especially looking forward to this gig.

Former bassist David Buckley did a solo stint to warm everyone up: just him and an acoustic guitar and that went down well.

With a curfew on the live music, The Barracudas took to the stage not long after Buckley finished his set, their line up including  founding members Jeremy Gluck (vocals) and Robin Wills (guitar) with Flamin’ Groovie Chris Wilson (guitar).

The energy was amazing, the pace superfast and the middle aged men who made up the majority of the audience had the chance to re-live their youth of surf-punk-garage infusion. No stage is big enough to hold the personality of Jeremy Gluck and when he was not down on his knees or rolling about on the stage, he was weaving through the audience as he belted out Barracudas nuggets such as ”Surfers Are Back”,  “(I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again” and “I Want My Woody Back”. 

During the encore, David Buckley joined the band on stage, sharing the backing vocals.

A rare gig, and one we are glad to have caught. We will let the photos speak for themselves......

Flamin' Groovie Chris Wilson

Robin Wills plays a mean guitar

Jeremy Gluck - a great performer

A typical Gluck pose

Audience participation

David Buckley joins for the encore

The Beeb poses with Robin, and Chris Pearce from the great Surfin' Lungs

Minty gets Groovie with Chris Wilson

THEE SHERBERT PEARDROP EXPLOSION

GIG: Thee Sherbert Peardrop Explosion

DATE: Saturday 9th February 2013

VENUE: The Horse & Groom, Brighton

COST: free

OUR VERDICT: Check this band out

What do you get when you bring together four members of some of Brighton's finest bands? The Peardrop Explosion is what. The Surfin' Lungs, Los Fantasticos and The Squadron Leaders are represented here, so you can be assured of a fine pedigree.

This is a 60's psychedelic covers band who stormed through a truly fantastic set, and sounded like the genuine 60's West Coast article. The guitars reverberate , the tambourine shakes, the drums sounded really great and the vocals brilliant. It felt like we were watching the Nuggets Box Set come to life.

They played a great set list (sorry, it's been a while since the gig so we've forgotten many of the tunes) but they did end the night with a superb version of Link Wray's "Rumble".