Jesus Was A Cockney?

After a mental week , which continues tomorrow, I had a ticket to see The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing. I was expecting a punk band with goggles and hats, but that's not what me and the audience got.I was late getting in, but as I got to the top of the stairs the second act had just hit the stage.....

Jordan Reyne:

.. was alone on stage dressed in black, with a pair of horns , and then some eerie backing vocals and a gorgeous voice. She was doing this all with recording loops , effectively recording her own backing live. Although this is an age old process , the first time I say this was John Martyn playing Big Muff on Rock Goes To College in the seventies. You can see it here.

Jordon though just sounded amazing , with great stories and some industrial noise thrown in such as on "Factory Song". Her set was amazing, dark , but with a light Australian audience rapport. I really cant remember such a different sound, the songs are spellbinding and originally minimalist. While it's clever to play complicated stuff , it's even better to make minimalism sound interesting, and the elements of her music may be simple they are woven in to complex wonderful tapestries. Then next ...

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing 

I don't know what I was expecting , but this band are multi dimensional , thoroughly entertaining and consonantly surprising. Visually what you'd expect from a Steampunk band , the bassist reminded me of David Morrisey, but bassist , guitarist and singer were all great at singing and entertaining the crowd. At one point I was thinking Chas'n'Dave meet Anthrax as an analogy, but you have to throw in Music Hall , The Bonzos, Half Man Half Biscuit as pointers , with impeccable comic timing and excellent musicianship. Lot's of audience participation songs such as Charlie and Isembard Kingdom Brunel.There songs are fun but also educational. They even managed to include some of Judas Priest's "Breakin The Law"

Breakin The Law

And the audience loved it , dancing , singing , joining in. Also many of the crowd were dressed in steampunk regalia and the crowd and the band turned a gig into a memorable event.

A fantastic night was had by all , I ended up buying 5 CDs, and will definitely be sing all of these again , you should too.

The Chestwigs Wear The Fox Hat!

Last night I visited The Old Fox in Felling for the second time. There were a lot of posters for upcoming gigs , notably AKQ Stottin on the 29th of November, which I can't make because I'm on holiday. Last night was to see the brilliant Star Spangled Chestwigs , and was chatting with all the band before the gig and Adas told me that this was where they played their first gig around 1992/3. So tonight was the first gig they'd played since Maz and Shev rescued the place from being turned into flats. So actually a historical event really, my favourite live band on the North East circuit returning to where it all started.

Shev is an Abominable Showman

Anyway last night Shev eschewed his usual sparkly dress in favour of either a Gorilla suit , or he's come out about his bodily hair problem, but he was a consummate frontman leading a crowd in a rousing "SHITE" chant.

The layout of the Old Fox means that it's difficult to take photos or video when there's a decent crowd in , so I didn't get many pictures or take any video. Actually this is a good thing because in makeds you concentrate on what you're there for rather than trying to take pictures.

THe SHITE List

The sound was excellent and the crowd had a great time, I did take a photo of the "SHITE LIST" so I know all the songs that were played last night, and there were a lot. They show no mercy to Abba , The Sweet , Slade , Kenny Rogers and John Denver.

Also included was stool racing and a touching rendition of John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads".

Another brilliant night and was great talking to the band before hand , also an excellent crowd and don't think it will be too long before I get back down there, you should too , it's straight off Felling Metro!

The Australian Connection

My last three gigs in Newcastle have had an antipodean theme running through the. There has been a Nick Cave night, Dave Swarbrick regaled us with tales of his time in New South Wales and tonight Pauline Murray was playing a warm up gig for her Australian tour.

The location was the Tyneside Bar and Cafe which is a great venue for intimate acoustic gigs.

Pauline Warms Up

I spoke to Pauline , before and after the gig , and she was lovely and engaging, signing CDs for many people and talking and finding time for everyone. Unfortunately I'd left my wallet at home so could n't buy a copy of the CD (which you can get here) but I will get myself a copy tomorrow, I owe her for an excellent gig.





To be on a stage with just you and an acoustic guitar must be daunting , but the guitar sound and her voice perfectly complemented each other and and sounded full and warm , making the hour she was onstage seem like five minutes to the appreciative audience. Australia is certainly in for a treat and hope she will treat the UK to some more solo outings.

It's funny , while Penetration were one of my favourite bands I never saw them in my youth but have seen them twice recently, so this was the third time I've got to see Pauline. Click here to see the other gigs I documented.

Tonight Pauline played a selection of new songs , Invisible Girl's songs and Penetration songs including Lovers of Outrage, Don't Dictate before finishing with a surprise excellent Australian standard. Although I knew the band versions of the songs the stripped down acoustic performances by Pauline showed how brilliant they are.

All in another great night at the Tyneside provide by my a wonderful singer, and the company of friends old and new. A great night.

Cave Night On Tyneside

To mark the release of the Nick Cave film "20,00 Days On Earth" last Friday the Tyneside Bar and Cafe hosted a night of Nick Cave music featuring the bands The Girl With The Replaceable Head, St James Infirmary and Stagerrin' Jon Lee and The Good Eggs featuring my friends Jon Lee, Sheena Revolta and Bethany Elen Coyle all looking the part and sounding wonderful.

Good Eggs

To a backdrop of Niclk Cave behind his deck The Good Eggs opened with "Where The Wild Roses Grow" with Jon taking Nick's part and Bethany being Kylie to excellent effect. Next guest was Sheena Revolta and the band entertained with another four songs as I drank fruit juice and had a blueberry muffin (my tea) , definitely not your average night out. Afterwards I chatted with Jon and Sheena (who gave me a big hug) and the crowd and performers were all having a great time.

Next up were the entertaining St James Infirmary , apparently from Ashington who were funny and treated us to for more songs after explaining about the contract they had with the Tyneside.

Finally The Girl With The Replaceable Head ghosted on to complete the night, at times sounding almost ethereal , although the bassist sported a beard you could hide a badger in.

All in all a great night, talked and chatted with some great people , and now just need to see the film. Ironically the song "Stagger Lee" has just come on the player so will have to have that as the post song.

The Fantastic Mr Old Fox

Shev's Fayre

Two of my great friends rescued The Old Fox in Felling from bing turned into flats. The location is fall off Felling Metro and then into the front door, it's probably almost more convenient for me than The Doll at The Black Bull, but anyway.....

Coming it it's a fantastic atmosphere, and everyone was really friendly and talkative, I'd gone with my friend Lynn so obviously she knows everyone in the world, but this isn't a pub review, however it's one of a group of three pubs plus Jaz's Fish Bar withing sight of each other. If the original singer with Marillion has a Jazz Club would it be Fish's Jazz Bar? Whatever.

Rigid Digits in Stage

Anyway the the icing on this cake was the excellent Rigid Digits , a Stiff Little Fingers tribute band with a brilliant front man who was extremely affable and friendly despite me mistaking him for the guy out of AKQ Stottin.

The venue is small but the sound was great and the band opened with "Roots ,Radicals,Rockers, Reggae" and their set makes you want to get out your SLF albums when you get home.

The between song banter is great with the odd swear word thrown in in the best possible taste. They are definitely another of my favourite live bands and you should catch them if you can. A brilliant gig , great attitude and great fun.

Part of a fantastic night at The Old Fox in Felling.

If My Memory Serves Me Well .... Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick At The Tyneside Irish Centre

The Dynamic Duo

A couple of weeks back I came across an advert for Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick playing live in Newcastle. In fact it was at the Tyneside Irish Centre , a venue I've played at many times. The last time I saw these two play it was on major stages , so , as I say , the intimate setting sort of surprised me, but I know Martin Carthy has played La Rosa in Whitby before (He lives in Robin Hood's Bay).






Anyway I was lucky to chat with both of them and they were great to talk with . I said that I'd first encountered the pair on a John Peel session playing "Price Heathen" , which Martin acknowledged was an incredible song. I also said my favourite Dave Swarbrick moment was the live version of Fiddlestix on Fairport Live which I said I wouldn't  think they would play which raised a laugh. The fiddle playing is so fast I can't even think about it in my head , maybe that's just me being low.

Anyway I can still remember most of the songs played , which is unusual for any concert that I go to , you remember highlights , but seldom the order in which they were played. Also almost every song , with chat took ten minutes , amazing regimentation for such a laid back and brilliant concert.

Set 1:

• Sovay
• The Death of Queen Jane 
• (Forgot)
• Three jigs and reels
• My Son John (updated for Iraq and Afghanistan)
• John Barleycorn 

Set 2:

• The Royal Oak
• Brave Admiral Cole
• (Forgot)
• Three jigs and reels
• (Forgot)
• Byker Hill

 Encore:

• New South Wales

Dave Swarbrick told a great story about his time in New South Wales , and Martin said that Martha hald told him that leaving the stage and coming back for an encore was a waste of time.

But it was a brilliant night and I felt privileged to have been there.

Another Great Night At Think Tank?

Punishment Tour

I nearly didn't make this gig tonight, the tickets could only be delivered by post if you ordered on line, RPM had not been informed of the gig and are the normal outlet in Newcastle for Think Tank? tickets , and Think Tank? weren't answering the phone, so I hoped I could pay on the door, and they let me in when I got there.

When I got in I noticed a lot of people were putting in ear plugs. The gig to me didn't sound too load , is that because I'm getting old or are todays youth soft/sensible? I remember Ted Nugent said "If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old" yet HE wore earlpugs, but we all know he'sa numpty.

Almost two months back I had my first gig at Think Tank? in Newcastle (apparently the question mark is part of the name) , essentially to see Bad Pollyanna, who were third on the bill with Ayria and Inertia. I was really impressed with them that night , and they were on with two excellent bands.

Tonight they were as part of the support on the William Control Punishment Tour , along with AshesToAngels and local lad Nic Wood.

The gig was better attended than the last one , and the atmosphere great, everyone one was friendly and dressed as you'd expect on what essentially was a GOTH night, but I was expecting three bands so was surprised when Nic Wood took the stage,

Nic Wood

Nic Wood @ Think Tank?

Nic Wood is a nice guy , and to talk to him he's really engaging and fun , and so is his onstage banter, however though he only has an acoustic guitar, the songs and performance are an incendiary fire storm, the guitar style wandering into flamenco on speed with needles. It isn't easy listening but the crows loved him and worth seeing if you get the chance , although thanks to Youtube youcn without leaving your chair! My friend Jane said "He's mental, but good mental" , an excellent evaluation and a great opener for the night. The video below is Nic at the O2 Academy

Bad PollyAnna

Bad Pollyanna were the band that I'd come to se, and are great promoters of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation (Click on the link to find out more and support them, and if anything were better than last time, although you would expect that. It surely cant be long before they are headlining at bigger venues than this. They were the purest Goth act on the night and the sound and performance was perfect. Opening with "Monstrous Child", they went through their excellent repertoire which I am a lot more familiar with including "Define Me" and "Hollow". After the gig they asked to meet with fans for photographs and I saw a lovely one of  Olivia with my friend Barbara's niece Melissa. Incidentally the drummers name is Valerian , a name used by Gary Numan when he was in Tubeway Army! All in all another brilliant gig.

AshesToAngels

AshestoAngels are a Bristol band who play very fast with smiles on their faces and my first impression was Slipknot without the masks on speed. I tried to get pictures but the singer was all over the stage like he was on a rocket powered pogo stick, as the set progressed either the songs got better or I got more used to the sound, but by the end of the set I thought they were great and so did the crowd. I can't remember any of the song names , but 666 was shouted a lot during the opener. I didn't know if I'd stay for long after Bad Pollyanna, these guys kept me there with a brilliant set. I don't know if they played Dorian but the video is great, see this and you'll want to see them.

William Control

William Control were the band most of the crowd had come to se, with the crowd chanting "William". The band look amazing , I was thinking Michael Buble via The Addams Family and early Alice Cooper. They showed great taste by coming on to Sam Cooke's "Touch The Hem Of His Garment", both appropriate and inappropriate at the same time , a wonderful gospel song to introduce a very darkside band!.

The vocals were excellently stylised and enunciated and supported by an excellent, if disturbingly attired, band. Not for the faint hearted , very dark , but again they should be playing bigger venues. They were, for me, a great finale to another great night at Think Tank? The crowd were ecstatic and I assume went home wanting more.

The Price We Pay was the opener last night, to give you an idea of what they sound like.

Two Sevens Clash again with Culture

One of my favourite albums of the seventies was Two Sevens Clash by Culture, which I was introduced to by the late great John Peel (Tom Ravenscroft's dad). I was surprised to see a facebook post for Culture , appearing at the Cluny supported by the Rasites a British Roots band , so quickly checked up and yes this was Culture. Th eplace was full not rammed and there was some dub playing until the Rasites came on about 9 ...

The Rasites

The Rasites

Immediately engaged with the crowd, and playing songs and grooves that whether you knew them or not , you were into within seconds of them starting. The crowd were under their spell and they started with an instrumental before launching into songs. I'm sorry I cant give you a tracklist but I would definitely pay to see this band and by the time they said they were playing their last song after a half hour the crowd were in love with them.

Culture

Culture backed by The Rasites

Then the surprise was that the Rasites bassist said Culture were coming on and the Rasites stayed as the backing band. The magic of Culture is that as soon as a song starts you are into it whether you know it or not and the crowd were dancing and singing along with all choruses, with lots of references to Jah , Rastafari , and Ganja with a chant of "Legalize It" which is a sentiment any sensible person would agree with.



The place was hot as were the band who still cut it and this was the fourth brilliant gig I have been to this August and we are only two and a half weeks it. There is another on this Friday but tonight has been a Culture night and I will be checking out the Rasites again. If you get the chance to catch Culture on this tour do it, you will not be disappointed and if you see the Rasites on any bill check them out , they are a brilliant band.

OK that's it , I'm off to bed now.

Three Tuns of Rebellious Penetration

I had no intention of doing a blog post for this gig, which was my first at The Three Tuns in Gateshead, but the bands and the venues were so good that I needed to actually get something down. This blog is fairly sporadic so it's unusual that Penetration get two write ups with a twelve month period, although they are a superb band.

This was Penetration's warm up gig for Rebellion , at the Three Tuns in Gateshead. However before they took the stage there were two other bands on the bill , Toxic and Go Go Midgets.

Toxic:

Toxic at The Three Tuns

Opened with a series of excellent Clash covers before including classics by Stiff Little Fingers and The Ruts, their set was over quickly but contained loads of quality music brilliantly played. Well worth checking out. Their Facebook page is here with lots of pictures and music to listen to. A great opener and the sort of band who give me a reason not to miss support bands.




Go Go Midgets:

Go Go Midgets EP

There's always a danger when a band plays original material that everyone leaved for the bar , especially when being sandwiched between and excellent covers band and a headliner who everyone has really come to see. Go Go Midgets are a three piece metal band who are anything but midgets and had the crowd on their side from the off. I can't remember the titles of their songs but by the end I was hooked and if I had left after they finished I would have had a great great night. The also gave away a copy of their EP "Beneath The Valley OF The Ultramidgets" which is a great way of spreading the word. Again another band worth checking out. Here's their page with music and pictures.

Penetration:

Penetration In Flight

By the time Penetration took the stage the place was getting hot. Pauline was in excellent voice from the off as they tore through lots of their classics Life's A Gamble , Don't Dictate , Patti Smith's Free Money before finishing off with Firing Squad after cajoling from the crowd for an encore. This was the warm up for Rebellion and they certainly warmed the crowd at the Three Tuns. Pauline looked and sounded brilliant and the band were superb. The only song I didn't recognise was Sea Song , so I will be checking that out sometime today.

An amazing night was had by all.

Stand and Deliver - The Chestwigs Come Again

Chestwigs Suitably Attired

Sheve Serenades Alan

Just a short post to say how excellent the Star Spangled Chestwigs were last night at The Doll at The Black Bull . All kitted out in winter attire in the middle of summer for a typical brilliant night.










Opening with Showaddywaddy's "Hey Rock and Roll" Shev press ganged me into singing the "Hey Hey Hey" response when the crowd weren't playing yet. I post a few pictures on Instagram and Twitter using the #SHITE hashtag if you want to check them out, though oddly the Chestwigs don't appear on that feed but it recommends you check out Ant and Dec and Fearne Cotton , so go figure that one.

Crowd Participation

Anyway the Bull was full and jumping , the crowd and band totally up for it and every song was brilliantly executed, and still find their take on "Rivers of Babylon" amazingly inspired.











The Doll at The Black Bull is now the North Easts number one Punk venue , I remember walking in when Maz and Shev took over, the place is unrecognisable and just a brilliant place to be, great staff , great crowd , great band and great everything and and a great setting for a great band. The Chestwigs always deliver and last night they did it again.

Fantastic gig.

Rain in The Summertyne

Summertyne ... and the living is Easy

I think the title's nicked from an excellent song by the Alarm. Anyway Summertyne 2014 has come and is superb as ever. Like all festivals there is so much going on that you can't get to see everything ,  but there is always something to see and do , and The Sage is an amazing setting for any event and this is a huge annual event.

Anyway I only managed to see two acts today but the atmosphere was brilliant.




I walked in on Lowri Evans , a welsh singer with a lovely voice. The crowd loved her and I enjoyed watching and listening to her whole set.She has an extensive back catalog worth investigating and think she made a lot of new fans and friends today including me.

Next up were The Snakes who reminded me a little of The Jayhawks and provided and excellent , mostly original set, but did a class cover of Warren Zevon's "Excitable Boy" and again the crowd were more than satisfied. The problem is with a name like the Snakes is that it's difficult track them down on the internet , a bit like the Xaviers who supported Wire.

Want Beer?

However one of the other things about Summertyne is the related food and merchandise , and I particularly liked the "Wanted" Beer notices. They were all over.

Then there was choli , hot dogs , burgers , chocolate bars and hats, as well as CDs and vinyl with the artists doing signing sessions.

Big Daisy Kiss

Marilyn and Ouija Cushions

My big discovery was Big Daisy Kiss who's Facebook page describe her emporium as "Stuff for Girls Who Like Girly Stuff!"  I think I spoke to Emma about her stuff which ranges from purses , clutch bags , wallets , belts and guitar straps covering styles from 50's rock and roll and Elvis , to 90's kid's TV (She Ra , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)  and their own goth designs. I suppose if you had to put one word to the display it would be Gothabilly.

There was loads of great stuff on show , and various presents for friend have been earmarked.

I know lot's of my friends will fall in love with this stuff, and the site and Facebook page is well worth a visit as the pictures and descriptions are more in depth and you can buy the stuff.

Eventually I decided to get a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guitar strap, which now graces my Tanglewood bass, just need a band now!

Emma of Big Daisy Kiss wanted to leave her hat on! Loved talking with her

I got the same buzz from this as when I saw Geoff Marston's Blues Suitcases which are somewhere down this blog.

So another brilliant day at Summertyne, I may have a wander along tomorrow.

Two Festivals: Corbridge and Mouth Of Tyne 2014

This weekend I treated myself to two festivals. Both were excellent and although there was a bit of rain it didn't affect the day too much. At Corbridge the rain came during Big Country's set and at the Mouth of Tyne it was during Neville Staple's set.

Saturday: Corbridge

Corbridge Festival

Talk Like Tigers

I got there a bit late and had missed the excellent Bessie and The Zinc Buckets and the compering of Stefan Peddie, but got of f at the train station walked past the excellent Valley Junction restaurant located there and destination of the Curry Train from Newcastle , past the caravans and tents (thinking this is quite a gathering), then a guy with a guitar on top of a platform, and a small (what I thought was and acoustic tent as someone was playing there) to what I thought was the main tent where the excellent Talk Like Tigers were taking to the stage. I enjoyed the set, and so did the crowd but I was thinking that this was a bit small for a festival stage and thinking is this it. Check out their web site and give them a listen, I think you will enjoy.



I then wandered round the corner saw a big crowd and the main stage, so I'd found the where I needed to be and had left was was actually the main stage, Where Leeds band The Happy Daggers were playing. The crowd liked them but their brand of pop funk was not my thing, although the final song Get Yourself Together was good and they left the crowd happy.

Ska Toons on the Night Boat To Cairo

Next up were the excellent Ska Toons , with an excellent ska based but eclectic set which included a ska version of Johnny and The Hurricanes "Red River Rock". The band really got the crowd going and their set was shorter than normal (most bands were playing 30-40 minutes, so it went by in the blink of an eye touching Madness, Toots and The Maytals and many other ska and pop touchstones, a must see if you get the chance.

Chris Helme - ex Seahorse

There was then an announcement that Chris Helme , the original singer with The Stone Roses was playing the acoustic tent. This obviously got my interest as I was sure that Ian Brown had been their front man from day 1 , but I went along to a packed acoustic tent where Chris Helme was just launching into the Faces' "Ooh La La" , which went down well. He then did a few more songs before doing  The Seahorses' "Love Is The Law", then it became clear, he was The Seahorses original singer. Again another great set which I enjoyed before wandering back to the main stage.

Then is was back to the main stage for Boy Jumps Ship who reminded me a little of General Fiasco, who are in the Kerrang chart  with their current single "Call To Arms". They were followed by half an hour of Chart Rave from Rozalla who the crowd really enjoyed , followed by the human beatbox Ball-Zee who kept the crowd jumping even though the rain started coming down.



Everyone was waiting for Big Country. As they stated "The faces have changed but the songs remain the same", and they certainly did not disappoint. They opened with "Harvest Home", and despite the rain they crowd were buzzing throughout the night's final set.They only played for about 80 minutes including encore, but the set seemed to go very quickly as the light faded and the rain was just sporadic. There were a lot of smiling faces both on and off stage. Big Country's sound is particularly suited to outdoor events , and they were excellent headliners for this gig. A rousing end to a brilliant day.


Sunday: Mouth of Tyne

Mouth of Tyne Festival

Sunday started off with heavy rain in Newcastle, which was a bit worrying for the Mouth Of Tyne Festival. After the success of Corbridge , my expectations weren't to high for the Sunday gig, and the previous night Paul Weller had been here. The full online program is here and hopefully t will stay there permanently. The afternoon was enhances by meeting up with some great friends, which is great for sharing the experience, whereas Corbridge had been totally solo.

I got into the Priory  and Jen Stevens and The Hiccups from South Shields were playing who provided an hour orf pleasant songs. the band I had come to see was Nevile Staple (ex Specials and Funboy 3)  and he certainly did not disappoint. Ska is great music in any environment and it was great to see all ages enjoying the gig.  

Neville Staple   is the first act I've seen more than once in this setting (the last time was as support to the Buzzcocks)  , he and his band could certainly come back as a headliner.





Toploader followed and while the first number was acceptable they soon descended into the blandness I expected , which some people love but I don't, and so I then left as I was not too bothered about the Brand New Heavies.

So all in all two great days, neither of which I would have wanted to miss.

I'm now looking forward to next year.

Bad Pollyanna, Inertia and Ayria Play Think Tank Newcastle

Tonight was my first time at Think Tank in Newcastle, and my first impression was that it was a bit small. There's nothing wrong with that, and it helped that it wasn't rammed tonight, although anyone who didn't go missed an absolute treat. It also has a decent outdoor balcony area

The music mixed goth , psychobilly and electronica and the fashion was generally steampunk though I played safe in John Martin black Armageddon T-Shirl and everything else black. The crowd had certainly put a lot of effort into  looking good for the the night.

Doors opened at seven , there were three bands and the gig closed at ten thirty, so you could choose where to carry on if you were up to partying. The sound throughout the night was excellent, the bass was door rattling but didnt affect my hearing , though I ended up with a bit of a headache ... I wonder why....

Anyway first up were Bad Pollyanna, the most Goth of all the bands, and the one that I had come to see. I thought they were American but the hail from Huddersfield and and if you get the chance go and see them. One of their songs "Define Me" was written in response to the senseless death of Sophie Lancaster murdered for "looking different". The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was set up to educate people in the hope that this will never be repeated.

Bad Pollyanna at Think Tank

The music is excellent and carries all the trademarks of excellent Goth rock, and is well demonstrated in the video to hollow , which was one of the many excellent songs they aired tonight. As the opening act they played around forty minutes but the music and stage presence was so good that it came and went far too quickly. "Monstrous Child" and "Define Me" were delivered brilliantly. A superb set worth the price of admission for them alone.

Inertia featuring Oscar

Next up were Inertia who have a decent back catalogue, were closer to Republica in sound with a dash of psychobilly and a huge dollop of panache. Two lead singers who doubled on drums which is no mean feat to pull off. The only song I knew was a cover of T Rex's "Children Of The Revolution" , but again the set flew by, great sound and crowd well stimulated.

Ayria in Full Flow

The headliners were Ayria , no drums , no guitars but high energy and more elctronica than goth , but great nonetheless.I managed to fined an hour gig of them so you can see just how good they are. The crowd and band were jumping for an hour and they were the only ones who had time to do a short encore.

All in all a brilliant night and if you et the chance to see any of these bands I totally recommend you take it.

Los Coyotemen Hang Up The Hood

..well until next time. This was the Curtain Call of The Coyotemen, and a brilliant night it was too.



First up were the Exes , who seemed to veer (in a good way) between Link Wray and Pavement with with B52's verve. Not sure of the title of the song but click on the name and you can get to their Facebook page or rather you could if I could find them as the Exes is a TV series according to Facebook. Definitely a band to watch.



Next were the more muscular Mansions of Glory, with some solid rock noise, which went down very well with the crowd, you eight minutes of them in the video below. Again well worth going out of your way for.



Finally the band everyone was waiting for Los Coyotemen, and they did not disappoint. The crowd got their moneys worth (ok it was a free gig but you know what I mean). Lot's of Coyotemen Classics capped by the return of Helmut Bruiser with Loopy Lopez. The doorman tried to eject Helmut but didn;t succeed and the Coyotemen went on to deliver another memorable set.

I hope they're back again soon but there's a few videos from the night on my video channel here. Check out all the Coyotemen posts here.