The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing ... But Are Responsible For A Lot Of People Having A Good Time

I had not intention of blogging this gig, but ....

I met with a great guy John , bassist with Urban Commandos, who had never seen The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing (who I will refer to as The Men for the rest of the post), caught up briefly with Daniel Dunlavey main man of Impossible Gears and not for the first time wanted to see the support act Louise Distras.

There's a few short videos on my Instagram Channel around here

So here goes, it was a great night.

Louise Distras:

Louise is from Yorkshire (Wakefield) and I had heard a couple of songs from here excellent "Street Revolution" EP, the first of which was "Poor Man" (How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?) originally composed by Blind Alfred Reed in 1929 (Louise told me about this)  which I had first heard from a Ry Cooder live album although it appeared on his 1970 eponymous album and I got into him when "Bop Til You Drop" (the first ever digital recorded mainstream rock album) came out, but I digress.

She came on stage unannounced and her voice and guitar just signifies extreme presence, she engaged with the crowd and got them singing , stamping and clapping on cue. She played for thirty five minutes and played "Poor Man" and then Solidarity" which is a mash up of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" and Little Steven's "Solidarity", and apparently Little Steven was most impressed with it. Louise's  song is absolutely excellent  although I had bought the eP before she started.

I chatted with her after (although didn't recognise her at first as I started say how excellent Louise Distras had been). She is someone I definitely need to listen to more and if you do get the chance to see her, just do it.

Also she is friends with Ryan Harvey who I featured in my last Woody Guthrie post on SevenDaysIn here.

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing:

The Men. Simply came on being them selves and rabble roused the crowd. They are just a totally amazing live experience combining mental , comic timing , banter , great musicianship and funny comedy with a social conscience as well as teaching you a bit of history. As I have previously said as sort of cross between Anthrax and Chas 'n' Dave with some Music Hall and Stand Up Comedy and Social Commentary thrown in. The night just flies by and your mood is always enhanced by seeing them, they are far better live than on record, in my opinion, but you cannot bottle the magic they bring to the stage. This was the final gig of their tenth Anniversary tour but they can go on for many more decades in my humble opinion.

Another great gig and looking forward to next time.

Not Your Typical Victorians - Charlie

Gorgeous Dress

I wasn't expecting to be writing this but after such a great night at Think Tank , meeting people like Daniel and Pete and my friends Gillian and Moira, and seeing the amazing costumes that people were wearing , really how could I not?

The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing were promoting their new album Not Your Typical Victorians with their hybrid rockney metal edge. Their comic timing is impeccable , they look great , have a musical saw ,and had the crowd up starting with the title track of the new album through some excellent material such as Charlie , a but of Hey Jude , lots of crowd joining in songs before finishing their encore with Isembard Kingdom Brunel.








They are Steampunk and here is a definition from Impossible Gears:

Steampunk is a design aesthetic rooted in Victorian Science Fiction. Steampunk items are characterised by a high level of craftsmanship and imaginative use of traditional materials combined with unusual additions such as clockwork mechanisms

Daniel and Pete

Daniel and Bo Peep

They really are a must see band and the crowd they attract look great and are incredibly welcoming and friendly.

Another brilliant night , these are a band on my automatic must see list.

If you haven't seen them , do something about it now, at least buy their new album.

And I met Pete, and Daniel of Impossible Gears which has some amazing looking stuff on there. These are the sort of people you meet there

Go on get out !!

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.