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.

Wire On Fire

Last night I went to the Cluny to see Wire for the first time ever in 35 years. The problem with the Cluny is that when it's rammed you are lucky to see the band. Still that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the night.

First band up were a Japanese Neu influenced band called the Xaviers. Consisted of Drummer , Guitarist and Electronics / Percussion. The started and played a seemingly continuous piece for 30 minutes much to the delight of the crowd. I can find nothing of them on the net! If you spot them , try and see them.

Wire hit the stage at twenty to 10 and played for an hour and half mostly incendiary stuff , such as Map Reference , Another The Letter and Adore Your Island. A fantastic night for all.  Really sorry I can't tell you more , it just blurred together in a mess of brilliant sound , one song after another some amazingly short all amazingly good. If you don't own a Wire CD rectify that immediately.

Big Ray , Chestwigs another Schooner Extravaganza

A Good Crowd

Well today was a bill to hope you would see once in your life , The Star Spangled Chestwigs and Big Ray and The Hipthrusters on the same bill outdoors at The Schooner in Gateshead.

 For reasons unbeknown the billing switched round and Big Ray opened , a still huge stage presence powering though classics like nobody's business . "No Spittin On The Bus" , "Riot In Cell Block #9" and Shel Silverstein's politically incorrect "Freakin' ant The Freakers Ball" . The weather was brilliant as were the band .

Big Ray , Ratty and a Chicken

When the band had finished the crowd were treated to Chicken Shit Bingo which raised £25 for charity , if you don't know what it is try Wikipedia , but this one involved Big Ray as adjudicator and a man in a chicken costume.





Next up were the Star Spangled Chestwigs , it was good to see them out of doors in daylight , a first for me I think , and for many of the crowd. Shev a master crowd manipulator in his sparkly dress , Adas the powerhouse drummer  driving the guitare and bass of through "Sweet Caroline" , "Hey Rock and Roll" , "Radar Love" and "Take Me Home, C(o)untry Roads" (John Denver will be turning in his gravy, which is a good thing). Any the crowd loved it , another great sunday at The Schooner.