It’s the 30^th anniversary of the classic LP Never Mind The Bollocks considered one of the most influential in rock'n'roll history. The Sex pistols sold out there London gigs in 15 minutes, we tried to get our tickets through the official site and like lots of other people I know they logged on at 9am to be latter told that the tickets had sold out. Every one I know who had tickets for the London Shows had bought them through an agency at up to more than double the face value. How could the agents have so many tickets, I sense a major scam is going on here only hope that some regulatory body will put a stop to this.

The Sex Pistols played Chelmsford over 30 years ago but this was a special gig only for those who were banged up in Chelmsford Prison and the concert was recorded live. (listen to radio Chelmsford Rocks stream) . There was a rumour that they may have headlined the City Rock 77 first ever Punk Festival hosted by the late John Peel and if they had the show may attractive thousands more.

After a beer myself and Barry boarded the 6.30pm train into Liverpool St and managed quench are thirst on arrival with an IPA at Hamilton Hall before taking the tube to Brixton. We arrived in Brixton and made our way towards the venue stopping at the Briton Beehive Pub which happened to be a Wetherspoons so it was a pleasure to drink some quality beers for less than £2.00 a pint. The pub was full of people having a pre gig beers and I would say that most were about our age (48) Some had the most amazing punk spiked hair and others wore Bollocks, God Save The Queen t shirts and I was proudly displaying my Never Mind The Bollocks Badge. The night was going well until Barry couldn’t find his phone but its ok I phoned is mobile and a guy called Ron had found it on the London To Felixstowe train.

When we arrived at the Brixton Academy and after fighting our way to the packed bar we took up position on the sloping floor downstairs , we felt like a we were now going to be a part of the great punk history .There'll Always Be An England" was playing through the speakers as the boys came onto stage to a roaring cheer and straight into Pretty Vacant , it was loud it was raw it was Punk Rock and we loved it. Many more tracks from the Bollocks LP were performed including Liar, Problems, No feelings, Seventeen , also Submission and My favourite , Iggy Pops “No Fun“. The area 20 rows back from the front was a mass pogo and when Holidays in the sun was played we made our move to the front to find our self’s surrounded by grown men in there late 40s and early 50 s going mad in mass jubilant frenzy, it was quite rough I thought someone was going to punch me once. Many of the younger members of the audience looked on in amazement. as they viewed from a safe distance so “so this is what is was like in 77“ I heard one say. The place went its most wild through God Save The Queen, it was mad down there and it was about then that Barry went over on the floor but some strong guys struggled to pull him up and decided that body serving him out was not an option. As Rotten returned for the encore he announced that arsenal had won 3-1 and went on to insult Man U Fans. Bodies and Anarchy (you tube clip  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Z3fAjufrs were the last tracks of the event ,of what was over an hour of great entertainment.

Maurice Hyde 14.11.07

Automatic Slim

27/10/07

St Annes Castle

Gt Leighs

Must thank our entertainment manager for the weekend "Bazza Promotions," he put on two really good events. This one was the second and the better one. It’s been absolutely ages since I have seen the Slim and the best thing I can say about them is, as we all try to educate our children in right and proper music, I have played my son Dr Feelgood, Solid Senders, Nine Below Zero, Mickey Jupp and all other British rnb. The one he likes is a couple of old vinyl Auto Slim albums.

Got to St Annes in an overloaded Citreon Picasso with many thanks to Nick. Its funny when your young and slim how its not to hard to squeeze 6 into a car, but when you become more mature of years and your arse starts to spread a bit, it’s not so easy. As we arrived Kris Dollinger was playing as support, I like this guy a lot, one man and a guitar, I have seen him before when he upstaged aging blues man Tony Mcphee. His only fault as far as I can make out is that he comes from Kent, but I highly recommend him if he is on near you.

Next was the main event, Automatic Slim fronted by the incredible shrinking Tim Aves. Looks as though he has lost loads of weight. The night started of the right way with Feelgood numbers "I was looking back" and "Don’t let your daddy know." They don’t play all that often and I think that you can see this as they are not stale and seem to enjoy themselves a lot. The rest of the set is old blues standards like "Little Red Rooster" "I’m a man" and "King Bee." They also play what I think are there own numbers as they have plenty of Essex references. Another thing they do is to combine different songs, "I drink alone" goes into "one bourbon, one scotch, one beer" and not being a blues expert, I am sure there is another song in this one as well. "I’m a man" goes into "The Hunter" with a great guitar solo from Ian Cundy. Of course this wouldn’t be a Slim gig without "Werewolves of London" which as usual went down very well.They finished up with an encore which included a power charged version of "She does it right." Great stuff. We even got a second encore with the evergreen Feelgood encores of "Boney Maroni" and "Tequilla."

This was a great night out in good company in a wonderful venue. St Annes Castle is a very old pub which is very intimate. It has low roofs and hardly any room for a band to play, so it makes it perfect for good atmosphere. Automatic Slim are great entertainers, they play Rhythm and Blues which everyone can enjoy. They are all good musicians who play with good humour to entertain. I would recommend anyone to go and watch them and we are already getting ready to go to Kelvedon Labour club (as long as the wife lets me) on November the 24^{th .}

                                                                 Lonely Night in Midddlesborough
 
After a fit of madness I applied for a university degree at Teesside University, which meant I had to spend Friday night in Middlesborough. What a place it was similar to a wet weekend in Scarborough. After having a meal in the hotel with the other scholars, I decided to have a look around the town centre and came across a pub called DOCTOR BROWNS.
 
This was a bit of a dive but was the only pub I found that sold hand pump bitter DEUCHERS, a bit flowery but not bad.
 
This pub had a good juke box similar to the Nags Head but more importanyly live music, in the shape of a 4 piece mid aged rock band called STORM, All but one of the band were in there late 40's, but acted like they had never grown up. The lead singer/bassist had long curly hair, moustache and wore a vest. Whilst the lead guitarist was all in black with long shaggy black hair that was blown back by a wind machine, i Don't know if for effect or to keep hi cool.
 
Not being a rocker I didn't recognize any of the first set, but the second half had a number of well played standars including The Cowboy Song, Whiskey in the Jar, Dazed and Confused and my favorite Sweet Child of Mine.
 
All in all it was a pleasent surprise to stumble accross live music, which made the night enjoyable, although my ears were ringing like hell during the lecture the next day. Who said the Uni is only for the young, I know how to live life to the full
 
Colin

Backstage

Having the chance to go backstage during this year’s V Festival was not only an exhilarating prospect, but the fact that we did not really know what to expect from the experience was exciting, yet intriguing.Our excitement amplified when we went to collect our wristbands and we saw what we thought would be the first of many celebrities during the weekend! Joe Swash who plays Mickey Miller in ‘Eastenders’ isn’t the most high profile star, but we thought if he’s collecting the same tickets as us, there could be more star spotting to come!!

After collecting our wristbands we headed to the hospitality area behind the main V Stage to try and get an idea of what benefits we had being backstage. Listening to the Just Jack, the first act on the main stage, we had a look around the hospitality area, which consisted of a massive bar that didn’t require beer tokens; a ‘Posh Food Bar’ – that really wasn’t that posh, just expensive; and marginally more hygienic toilets than a portaloo!

As we sat with our beers, to the left of us E4 were filming for the weekend, so we tried to get as many photos of people they were interviewing, even if we did not necessary recognise them!

Obviously we didn’t want to spend the whole day backstage, so after watching Julliete and the Licks on the channel 4 stage, we returned to the backstage area, just to get a couple of beers ready for the Editors on the V Stage. This time there was a dancing robot singing Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’.

 I was quite drunk so I got photos as proof as I thought this was highly random! I imagine there was a lot of entertainment like this going on backstage we were not here.

As Snow Patrol were playing we sat backstage listening to them which was a good way to enjoy them as they aren’t the most exciting band in the world! Not much was happening in the hospitality so we soon returned to the V Stage to position ourselves for the Foo Fighters.

We returned to hospitality one more time during the night, which was just after the Foo Fighters as the area stayed open until 12. After having a beer in which was a chilled out atmosphere with people mingling inside the bar area, we left for home waiting for a repeat of the fantastic day we had just had.

The Bands

The first band we went to see was Juliette and the licks. Watching from the back of the crowd, I was quite sceptical about watching these as I had heard some of their stuff before and was not much of a fan. However I feel they put on a show on stage as Juliette Lewis the lead singer came out dressed in outrageous fashion and was always lively throughout the performance.

5/10

We then headed to a populous V stage to watch the Editors. We tried to get as close to the front as we could, pushing past people to gain a better atmosphere, but for the time of day they had acquired many fans. They did not fail to disappoint on the big stage either as they produced a comfortable and professional performance which perfectly complimented to two bigger acts, Snow Patrol and Foo Fighters, who were headlining later on.

6/10

I was quite excited about going to watch 3-piece band from Liverpool, The Wombats. Tipped as a new and up and coming band they performed in the Virgin Union tent and produced a fantastic and energetic performance. After all 3 sang a brief and unique intro, they played their only current single, ‘Kill the Director’ which really got the fans going for the rest of the performance. Also they brought out the band mascot ‘Cherub’, a cuddly toy Wombat, who seemed to be a favourite amongst the crowd. I think and hope that they could be back in a few years and performing on a bigger stage if, as predicted, there debut album sounds anything like their live performance. After watching them we saw the lead singer outside of the tent, and asked for a photo.

I asked when we could expect to see there album out and he promised the end of October. These were my favourite performance of the day which made it even better that we got to talk to the lead singer!

8/10

We then went over to watch Babyshambles perform. I was looking forward to seeing Pete Dogherty perform live as so much gets said about him in the press. However after watching him and seeing how he looked on stage, it was little surprise to find out he had been arrested just a day later for possession of drugs. Still it was a sound show and I am glad to have had the opportunity to see live.

6/10

Not being a massive fan of Snow Patrol, I decided to listen to these from backstage. They are a very good band to relax to and were perfect to listen to backstage with a couple of pints sitting on the grass. I’m sure they produced a mesmerising and relaxed performance in preparation for the Foo Fighters.

6/10

The headliners Foo Fighters did not fail to impress. Having not being a huge fan before seeing them, I now appreciate their music and have listed to a lot more of them. Lead singer Dave Grohl was at his best and even managed to aim a jibe at Juliette and the Licks, as they kicked him out of their band. Wouldn’t they love to be headlining and to have sold over 20million albums world wide now! You can see where the success of the Foo Fighters comes from as they were at ease and looked experienced and vigorous throughout. Being quite close to the front was a privilege so we could really take in the atmosphere, aurora and enthusiasm of an energetic and probably half drunk crowd! Having seen the Foo Fighter, they have gained yet another fan, and hopefully they keep producing how they are now.

7.5/10

Backstage

We spent less time backstage Sunday as there were many acts I wanted to see and was moving about to go and see them. Before going behind the V Stage, we went to try and get into another Backstage area, behind the Virgin Union tent. However we were quickly told that the area was for ‘gold wristband members only!!’ Ours were Orange – not good enough obviously!

After watching the Cribs we went backstage and managed to see the lead singer of the Guillemots doing an interview on camera! At first we didn’tknow who it was so we asked a woman who looked like the producer of the program and she let us know! We both realised we had recognised him from an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks we had seen a few weeks ago!!

We went backstage one more time after the killers played just for a couple more beers. Again like the end of the night on Saturday, everyone was talking in the bar, which stayed open until around 12.

The Bands

The first band we saw on Sunday was The Cribs, who consist twins Gary and Ryan Jarman, and younger brother Ross Jarman. The band from Yorkshire had just been touring America and let the crowd know that despite being in sunny festivals in America, nothing beats playing in a drizzly Chelmsford! The Cribs were a band in which we were excited about seeing after I had been listening to their 3 albums a lot recently, and having seen them on Later with Jools Holland before.

They ended up producing a magnificent performance on stage which led to intoxicated lead singer Ryan, downed his pint, took off his shirt and jumped in the crowd! They were a perfect act to watch to get the day going and were one of my favourite acts of the weekend!

8/10

We then went to go and see The Fratellis on the main stage who were also tremendous. Having just the one album released, they took on the main V stage and showed that there popularity is just, having being promoted from the Channel 4 stage to the main stage after The Feeling pulled out. The indie rock sound proved a hit and showed that The Fratellis are a great festival style band. I especially enjoyed my favourite song from the album ‘Got Na Nuts from a Hippy’.

7/10

The penultimate band of the weekend we saw was Kasabian. They are a hugely popular band and the only thing keeping people away this year is the fact that they saw them play at V last year. They performed well on the main stage and showed their festival experience with a good performance.

6/10

After the Foo Fighters performance on Saturday night, The Killers had a lot to live up to, to headline the main stage. The Killers produced a good performance which is highlighted by when they received a crowd roar when they played their illustrious song, ‘Mr Brightside’. Going into the performance as a big fan of the band, I felt that they were good on stage but nothing outrageous. They showed they are a world-wide renowned band with a comfortable performance but their was nothing like the antics that smaller bands the cribs and the wombats had produced this weekend. I think Foo Fighters were the better of the two headliners but that is taking nothing away from the Killers good performance.

6/10

Overall, being able to have the opportunity to experience the backstage hospitality area and seeing a few famous faces was definitely a weekend wont forget. The highlights of the weekend were probably the performances of the Foo Fighters, The Cribs and The Wombats who were all exceptional and recommendable acts to go and see live. All in all, V Festival keeps getting bigger and better and with festival fever hitting the UK at the moment, we can only expect to see greater and greater V events here in Chelmsford.

Alex Hyde and Mike Hadgraft Aug 2007

Artist: - Tony Mcphee

Venue: - Bassment

 We are pleased to include the following SAHB review sent in by Laura from Scene South

V 2006 Hylands Park Chelmsford

THE 13th LEE BRILLEAUX MEMORIAL SHOW 5/5/2006 THE OYSTERFLEET HOTEL CANVEY ISLAND ESSEX

Not only was it Duncan's 47th birthday it was also the 13th Lee BRILLEAUX 13th memorial concert at the Oysterfleet Canvey Island. I had never been to the Oysterfleet or one of the memorial concerts so first a bit about the pub. It is relatively new being built on the location of the old Dr FEELGOOD Music Bar it is what you would expect from a newish pub/hotel very little character. Outside was a nice garden with a view over one of the creeks, the problem being the swarms of midges that soon chased you back inside. The concert was held in the upstairs function room which is more use to hosting weddings then concerts, with its fake chandaliers, overhead fans on the stage and velour wallpaper. What struck me about the audience were the age, in my mid 40's I felt quite young and the numerous accents you heard both foreign and from other parts of the country. Now the music, there were 5 bands on:

DOCTORS ORDERS:- These are a four peice band from Holland who had brought a fair few of there fans accross, they were decent enough and played a selection of r & b standards mainly FEELGOOD covers. The band members were introduced but it sounded as though someone was clearing there throat. The lead singer had a good voice for this type of music and played the Harmonica, he made a good effort at one of my favourite live songs Riding on the L & N' the first time I heard this was by NINE BELOW ZERO who are a hard act to follow. The main thing I can remember about the band was the drummer who reminded me of a manic older looking version of Joe PESCI's lawyer character in the film 'My cousin Vinnie'. Overall a good pub band who I would see again.

TWO TIMER:- A two peice accoustic combo who were very good, I had never heard of them before but evidently had been formed in 1993, they were Gordon RUSSELL a guitarist with the FEELGOOD's in the 80's on such albums as BRILLAUX and MAD MAN BLUES, for those who watched them at that time he would be carried around by the crowd whilst playing the guitar, the singer was Sarah JAMES a tiny, slim. curly ginger haired girl who played a snare drum and hi hat cymbal and she had a great voice. They appeared to play all of there own music and looking on their website they have four CD's which have a few covers on but are songs mainly written by themselves. They were joined on stage by the FIGURE and SPARKO although both have gone grey but are still instantly recognisable they then played 2 FEELGOOD tracks ' NO MO DO YAKAMO' and 'STUPIDITY' unfortunately Sarh's voice didn't suit these songs she was not deep enough. At the end she was replaced by Tim AVES lead singer of Automatic Slim. Towards the end of last year he had a heart attack and its nice to see him back in the saddle, although he looks greyer and thinner he still seems to enjoy being on stage. He agve a great rendition of 'GREAT BALLS OF FIRE'. As for the TWO TIMER's a band I can reccomend and one I will see again.

EDDIE and the HOT RODS:- As people who have read my previous reviews will know I am a big fan of Barry MASTERS and the RODS, very tight and energetic live and I'm not sure if there is anything new I can say about them. They did all your favourites 'TEENAGE DEPRESSION', 'QUIT THIS TOWN' and 'DO ANYTHING YOU WANT A DO' and a good version of 'WOOLY BULLY'. They never let you down always great to see live and always seem to give it there all. If you ever get the chance and you like your music fast and loud go and see them you wont be disappointed.

WILKO JOHNSON:- Another one of my favourites who for certainly my first time was teamed up with FIGURE and SPARKO so 3/4 of the original FEELGOOD line up. They were great I really enjoyed them, they played all FEELGOOD tracks but rightly so as WILKO penned most of them. His voice although odviously quite different to Lee's still complemented the music and his machine gun style of playing and gliding was as good as ever. A real treat to see them playing together. They were joined towards the end by an accordian player called SLIM, I have never seen an accordain being used on stage before and was plesantly surprised he also sang a couple of blues song with a surprising soft voive with a lisp for a big man, he was good and added a further dimension to the music, all together a great 45 mins of music.

DR FEELGOOD:- Now the headliners where do I start, it all depends on how you look at them. 1. You look at them as DR FEELGOOD having seen the FEELGOODS with BRILLAUX then you will be disappointed. They are certainly a good band and play the music well but I always think that most members of the band can change but not the singer, the voice is what sticks out on a song, although all the other members had played with BRILLAUX, Peter KANE is a good singer but he is no Lee BRILLAUX either in voice or stage presence. I think maybe I was biased when he first spoke he had a north east accent either Tyneside or Wearside but certainly not Thames Estuary FEELGOODS are as Essex as they come. The music was good although I think it was 'DOWN BY THE JETTY' which went on to long and became a bit guitar heroish. They were joined on stage by a Harmonica player who I didn't know but was excellent and Pete GAGE who was the first replacement for Lee, he had a deep gavely voice which was more suited to the music. 2. If you look at them as a tribute band or had never seen Lee then you would be impressed but then they should have been called something like 'DR FELTGOOD' or 'THE DOCTORS SUGERY' and not 'DR FEELGOOD'.

All an all a good night and certainly £15 well spent, but Peter KANE kept saying, 'AS MUCH AS THINGS CHANGE THEY STILL REMAIN THE SAME' in this case I think he is wrong.

Colin

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

 

 

 

 

The Mean Fiddler London 3^rd Dec 2005

 

 

VIDEO CAMERA CLIP SAHB VAMBO MEAN FIDDLER LONDON

The date was Saturday 3rd December 2005, quite a momentous date for me it was going to be the first time I had seen the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, since the death of the great man himself. Although the other lads had seen the band at the Underworld, Camden the year before and even in Aberdeen two weeks before it was for me the first time.

   

 

I had seen Alex Harvey previously at the Palladium when it was a great gig ranking in my top 5, this would have been in the late 70's or early 80's and then again at the Astoria when quite frankly I was disappointed, the only thing I can really remember about that gig was a woeful song about a whale, tis was a year or so before Alex had died.

First of the Mean Fiddler is a great venue for Rock Music, facing Centre Point in Charing Cross Road, you go downstairs into a pit area which is dark and dingy with a large stage at one end the mixing desk is set towards the back and you can get a good view from anywhere on the floor. There is a balcony that runs all around the top and I should think also gives a good view on the band. the only bad point is that you can only buy canned beer from the bar priced  it gets a bit pricey so no real chance of getting pissed.

      

Dead on 8pm the band came on to the sound of some type of dance music, the first things I noticed was Chris GLENN wearing a pair of glasses with some kind of red aiming light on which flashed into the crowd and Zal with his face all painted white with black lines on the eyes. then on came Max MAXWELL who is now the lead singer and started with the immortal words, 'LET ME INTRODUCE TO MY BAND.............'. the band went into with gusto. They seemed to enjoy the show the band when through all of there classics with my favourites being ISOBEL GOUDIE, GIVE MY COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF and FAITH HEALER. They were joined at one stage by the lead singer of ALABAMHA 3 who sounded like a good ole country boy from the deep south but I'm told he is only from south of the Thames, he did two numbers one being THERE FRYING BIG WILLIE TONIGHT or something like that I can take or leave him. As for Max MAXWELL I was well impressed he didn't try to replace Alex but did his songs in his own way including FRAMED which he changed into how he joined the band.

The encore consisted of VAMBO, BOSTON TEA PARTY and DALILAH a great end to a great gig, the band were tight with Zal still pulling manic faces, the new singer good and my ears were still ringing on Monday.

We were promised an interview with the band  (we were late again )but despite the efforts of Maurice could only get a word with Ted who said 'THEY LOVED PLAYING THE KURSAAL IT WAS A GREAT ROCK N ROLL VENUE'

A great night with good company I think Alex would have been proud of his band

Review by Colin Egleton 07.12.05

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Live At The Moshulo 18.11.05.

Duncan thought it would be a good idea to see The Sensational Alex Harvey Band live in Scotland and after a few beers one night myself Ash and Barry agreed . So I booked up an easy Jet flight & Hotel to Aberdeen as this seemed to be a good date to travel with all our work commitments. Had to get up at 4 in the morning as we had a 6.55am flight, we arrived in a frosty freezing Aberdeen at 8 on the Friday morning. After checking in to the Copthorn City Centre Hotel we went for breakfast that included my first taste of black pudding and had a walk round the City, Harbour and the beach . I had my Vambo Rool badge on and wondered if any one would spot it as we set of for lunch time drinks in the City. After a pub crawl round a very quiet Aberdeen we got back to the hotel. I was expecting the city to be buzzing on a Friday lunch time with packed bars full of drunken jocks but far from it all the pubs were nearly empty and at least half them didn’t sell bitter. But we did manage a few local ales in including a beer called 80 shillings that went down well. We were under the impression that SAHB would be coming on stage after 9.15pm as martin had informed another guy flying from London on the SAHB yahoo group web site so we planned to get to the venue before this time. While having an excellent curry from a Indian just round the corner from the hotel Zorro (from sahb groups) text me and said he was at the Moshulo  so we left and made for the venue. Just next door was a pub and as we understood the band would not be on till 9.15pm (well done Martin we only travelled 600 fucking miles) we went for a drink in this bar that had other people in who were going to the gig.

 

WE went to the Moshulu at 8.35pm and as we walked in SAHB and Max were on stage half way through Swamp Snake, well this was a big piss off I didn’t even have a drink and SAHB were on. Zorro was at the front and said we had missed 3 tracks Faith Healer . Midnight Moses and one more. The venue at this time had only about 90 people in so here was SAHB playing to an almost empty hall and I was able to walk straight to the front. The next song was Isabelle Goudie which is one of my favourite’s and is also number 81 in Mojos top 100 epic rock tracks (http://www.rockandrollreport.com/the_rock_and_roll_report/2004/04/mojos_top_100_e.html)

The band were playing superb very tight and Max was spot on much better than last year he was more relaxed and confident, the sound was loud I could feel my ribs pounding with beats. Chris was dressed in a long coat dark Matrix style and had dark glasses that had a small spot light on the lens. Max was dreesed in a black and white drape and moving round the stage in excellent style , what a front man he is for the band now. Hugh was looking a bit tired almost as if he was about to fall asleep but by his great key board work he never let the band down. Ted looked as he was really enjoying the gig and after Isabelle goudie did a solo on the drums, this went down well with the crowd now starting to increase a touch. Zal was brilliant tonight moving around the stage and giving it some  on the guitar, at one point the got his clown make up out during the act and made his face into that old seventy’s clown smile look the now more full crowd loved it with whistles and loud cheers. Next track on was the Tomahalk Kid I was expecting a new version as I had previously read they had changed the song but it sounded the same to me.  I think it was Gang Bang next but no stripping girl like we got in London last year. During Framed max made a line about playing to 100 people in a half empty hall the next number was Give My Compliments To The Chef, Ducans fav track and he just gone to the bar to get our first pint in the Moshulu club., so when he came back with the drinks he was double pissed of that he missed the start of the concert and was at the bar during his most loved track. .It is one of my favs to and always reminds me of SAHB  performance on Old Grey Whistle Test. During this gig ther was a guy filming for the big screen right of the stage so those at the back could have a good view but also every now and again the big screen was showing clips of Alex Harvey back in the seventy’s from those rare video recordings

Ok I was starting to enjoy myself now I had got over the shock of missing the start and now had a pint of beer in hand as the band went into the last of the Last Of The Teenage Idols. On part 3 Max changed the words to “I was the winner of the x factor competition“. I was thinking that the Tommy Steele show back in the fifty’s was properly the first ever X Factor type show of its kind and Alex Harvey one it.. Last song was Action Strasse then we all had to shout for more as Martin and other members of the band crew encouraged the now good sized crowd to shout for more. After a few minutes Ted walked on followed by the rest of the band and we got the Boston Tea Party and Vambo and that was the end of the first encore. So yet again we shouted for more and of course the band came back and performed Delilah complete with Chris and Zals silly Delilah dance that everyone gave a big cheer to. When we go to Mean Fiddler we will try and see the start of the show. 

After the gig I had a chat with a few of the fans and tried to get back stage for a word with Martin and the band but this was not to be as the club had some rarther big mean looking bouncers who were clearing the venue as at 10pm it re-opened as a night club. Still we all enjoyed the night and proceeded on the Drummond bar just over the road in a side street of Union Street,. Here we found a music venue and saw two more excellent young bands one called Eskimo Blond and the other The Little kicks. So in all an excellent night out in a very friendly city. Thanks Aberdeen.

 

Review by Maurice Hyde 20.11.05

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eskimo Blonde & Little Steps

Drummonds Bar, Belmont St, Aberdeen.

18/11/05

We stumbled on this place after coming out of the early finishing SAHB gig at the Moshulu. We was looking for a late pub and when we saw 3 bands for the princely sum of two quid we just couldn’t resist. Sadly we missed the first band Arrowspeed but didn’t expect much anyway for two quid. The bar is on 2 levels with seating when you come through the front door. There are then steps going down to the bar and stage. The bar seems to be very friendly and we didn’t get any looks from the much younger than us clientele. Barry said we was on a “last of the summer wine” party though I prefer an “end of the party seven” tour.

 

The first band Eskimo Blonde came on and they were very good, lots of guitar, great sound and they really looked as though they were enjoying themselves. This is the sort of music that I like lots of energy and good fun. Don’t ask me for a set list but I think the first one was a Killers track (Mo said so anyway). I am hopeless at describing music but they had a Moddy edge to them with overtones of the Who, they sounded a bit like Essex heroes Grasp. I don’t think they played a full set but most enjoyable. http://www.eskimoblonde.com/index.htm

 

The second band and I take it the headliners, Little Kicks then were on stage. The dance floor on the stage filled up more than the previous band, this was quite interestingly with quite a few young ladies. They started off very well with a semi psych start. They were a very competent band and played well and if you go to there excellent web site you can listen to how good they are www.thelittlekicks.co.uk

An excellent night out as our reason for visiting the Granite City was the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, who were excellent, but we also got the added bonus of seeing 2 young bands who were both great as well. Added to that a good drink and a laugh with good friends, Arsenal and Chelmsford City both winning, a super weekend even though I think next time we might try somewhere a bit nearer home, where its warmer for us southern softies.

Duncan

We stumbled on this place after coming out of the early finishing SAHB gig at the Moshulu. We was looking for a late pub and when we saw 3 bands for the princely sum of two quid we just couldn’t resist. Sadly we missed the first band Arrowspeed but didn’t expect much anyway for two quid. The bar is on 2 levels with seating when you come through the front door. There are then steps going down to the bar and stage. The bar seems to be very friendly and we didn’t get any looks from the much younger than us clientele. Barry said we was on a “last of the summer wine” party though I prefer an “end of the party seven” tour.

 

The first band Eskimo Blonde came on and they were very good, lots of guitar, great sound and they really looked as though they were enjoying themselves. This is the sort of music that I like lots of energy and good fun. Don’t ask me for a set list but I think the first one was a Killers track (Mo said so anyway). I am hopeless at describing music but they had a Moddy edge to them with overtones of the Who, they sounded a bit like Essex heroes Grasp. I don’t think they played a full set but most enjoyable. http://www.eskimoblonde.com/index.htm

 

The second band and I take it the headliners, Little Kicks then were on stage. The dance floor on the stage filled up more than the previous band, this was quite interestingly with quite a few young ladies. They started off very well with a semi psych start. They were a very competent band and played well and if you go to there excellent web site you can listen to how good they are www.thelittlekicks.co.uk

An excellent night out as our reason for visiting the Granite City was the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, who were excellent, but we also got the added bonus of seeing 2 young bands who were both great as well. Added to that a good drink and a laugh with good friends, Arsenal and Chelmsford City both winning, a super weekend even though I think next time we might try somewhere a bit nearer home, where its warmer for us southern softies.

Duncan