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TOMCATZ, The Plough, Irlam,
5/6/04.
Anyone doing the circuit will tell you the easy money
(after cabaret) is knocking out ACDC etc covers, and playing blues can be hit'n'miss.
The Tomcatz get round this by playing blues and classic
rock to the highest standard, they belt out a set that covers all the bases. Opening with a terrific Shadowman the band rip
through a high energy first set that for me had such highlights as Wellers Peacock Suit, a terrific Rocket to Nowhere, were
Roger James powerful vocals impressed. The bands sound is great, with more gear on stage than Pink Floyd they get a sound
other bands would envy.
The second set revs up with Run Through Jungle, two Hendrix
numbers get the bikers out of the adjoining games room Stone Free and a version of Purple Haze were Phil Bush eclipses The
Hamsters Slim, he then goes on to top that during Fleetwood Mac's Green Manalishi.
Not to be outdone, The Tomcatz other lead guitar Dave
Woods gives us a version of Miserlou from Pulp Fiction that is so raw and powerful it can strip dental enamel. We are in the
presence of some s--t hot axemen here.
The pace doesn't let up, Steppenwolf,Stones,Feelgoods
a great version of Costello's Pump it Up, Mick on the drums hammering his way to the venues cellar. You Really got Me, done
as it shud be without all that VanHalanesc widdling.
All this driven by our own Lady Joan Bimson who the more
I see, the more I am convinced doesn't need rehearsing like the rest of us mortals, you just turn her loose on an audience,
you can see she took a little bit of all our fave Stadium bass players,and added some of her own venom.
Great stuff, can't wait till next time.
Oh aye, would they have cut it at the old place..
Absolutely!!
Timo Griffin.
| Below...Tomcatz..our very own Lady Joan in action. |
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COUNTRY JOE AND THECOUNTRY JOE BAND (formally THE
FISH)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3 June 11th 2004.
Well GIMME AN F....started us off as usual..looking really
good Country Joe led us through an evening of excellent music, crossing through psychedelia, folk, reggae? and even a wonderful
"1234 what are we fighting for ?" complete with Joe on trombone and the roadie on spoons and accompanied by the whole audience
on backing vocals.Joe was in good form and enjoyed his time onstage. A very varied audience I thought ,ranging from young
'uns to the remnants of the summer of love.
Joe was very charming when mentioning his support band who were
The Children ,trying very hard to be The Doors I thought..fairly good musicians ,however their attitude when they came off
stage was less than respectful to Joe. They seemed to have brought their whole family with them and chose in the main to ignore
the true star of the night and play around at the back being generally annoying. Just one thing...Will they be still around
and playing in 35 years time? I think not!
Anyway...we had 4/5ths of the original Fish and well worth it I
thought.Come back soon Joe.
| ABOVE AND BELOW..COUNTRY JOE BAND. |
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THE DARKNESS M.E.N. last year December
Well they were entertaining I s'pose
Every trick under the sun was tried..Riding above the audience on a stuffed tiger
was one.Not entirely my cuppa but ok .Still thanks to my mate Martin Page I got in for nowt so it wasnt like I lost anything.Rating
5/10
Craig
FROM MARK CHATTERTON
Deep Purple Liverpool
Stadium 28th February 1973
My first ever gig, not counting
Freddie and the Dreamers, plus Hermans Hermits, who I saw in pantomime in the 1960s! I first seriously got into rock music
around 1970/1971 and one of the first albums that inspired me was Deep Purple in Rock. I was also
a huge fan of Ritchie Blackmore and so was desperate to see Deep Purple live. Liverpool was the nearest big town to where
I lived, so when I heard about Deep Purple playing there I got a school friend to get me a ticket. Liverpool Stadium was a
bit of a dive, but it did have a great atmosphere. It was actually a boxing stadium with a 4,000 capacity, of which half would
be used for rock concerts. It was made famous in the Mott The Hoople song, All the Way from Memphis, immortalised in the line˜from
the Liverpool docks to the Hollywood Bowl". It wasnt actually in the docks but still wasnt that far away from them. I remember
getting there about half an hour before the doors opened and having to walk all the way round the side as the queue was that
long. We didnt know it was unreserved seating! People were drinking bottles of cider (as there wasnt a bar inside), and then
throwing the empty bottles against the wall of Liverpool Exchange station on the other side of the street! By the time we
got in, we were about three quarters of the way back, but you could still see the stage OK. Nazareth were the support band
and I was immediately struck by the drum sound which sounded very echoey in the live setting. I cant remember that much about
what Purple played that night. They were touring their Who Do We Think We Are album and it wasnt long
before the legendary Mark II line up would split up. In fact this was the last ever UK date for this particular line up “
until they reformed over ten years later. I do remember being amazed to see that Ritchie Blackmore didnt actually play that
much, with Jon Lord playing more than he did. Purple didnt come on until about half nine and as there was a train strike on
that day, my parents said that would meet me outside at half past ten. So reluctantly I had to leave before the end, but I
was now hooked on live music.
Hawkwind
Liverpool Stadium 14th July 1973
It wasnt long before I was back
at the Stadium. This time seeing a band who a lot of my friends were raving about called Hawkwind. It wasnt the gig where
they recorded the Space Ritual album, but the next one after that. I think I saw Hawkwind at Liverpool
Stadium about three times in all; it was almost their second home. A Hawkwind gig in the early 70s was an experience not to
be missed “ non-stop high energy rock music with all sorts of weird electronic noises thrown in for good measure! Not
forgetting the lovely Stacia and the drug filled atmosphere!
Barclay
James Harvest Liverpool Stadium 29th June 1974
By now I had sussed how to get
into the Stadium without queuing all the way round the block, so I sneakily managed to get a front row seat. This wasnt the
first time I had seen Barclay James Harvest live, but this gig was special as it was the night they recorded their Barclay
James Harvest Live album, (as well as at Londons Theatre Royal, Drury Lane). The band were near the end of their
tour and were at their peak in my opinion, before all the bickering and splits started. I could swear thats me clapping as
soon as the opening chords to Mocking Bird are played!
ROBIN
TROWER Liverpool Stadium 8th February 1975
Another great high-energy
gig where the audience were on their feet as soon as the lights went down. Once again I was in the front stalls and had a
great view of this master guitarist who had the unusual habit of moving his mouth from side to side as he played the most
blistering guitar solos. Lets not forget bassist/vocalist James Dewar (ex stone The Crows) who had one of the most soulful
voices in rock, who sadly died of cancer. I havent seen him play live since then, but as luck would have it, hes doing his
first UK tour for God knows how long in April and Im going along. (Robin Trower web site: www.trowerpower.com)
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27.06.2005 (Borrowed from U2.com)
'Beautiful Dublin, Summers Coming' What
a great show to finish a three-night stand in their home town.
From the opening Mexican waves, aided and abetted by
Stage Manager Rocco Reedy, to the surprise finale (when lots of people had already turned to leave), this was a night that
will be remembered for a long time.
Come to think of it, if you were the little girl plucked from the crowd during
Electric Co, you'll probably remember it for ever.
'What's your name?' asked Bono of his new friend in white hat and
green Vertigo t-shirt. 'My name's Paul but people call me Bono...you're beautiful!'
And with a kiss Bono takes her
hat, returning it as the band strike up Beautiful Day - a beautiful version in a beautiful city on a beautiful night. 'Beautiful
Dublin, Summers coming.'
How do you follow that ? How do you follow three nights playing to a quarter of a million
people - that's one in 16 of the entire population of the country - even Bono isn't sure.
'It's hard to know,' he muses.
'What else you can possibly ask for over the last three nights? We do a job as a band.
We don't feel it' s done. We have
some unfinished business...'
Actually, life itself is unfinished business, which is a pretty good cue for 82,000 people
to join in with I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. As his home town sing the song for him, Bono strolls out onto
one of the b-stages while Edge and Adam change instruments in preparation for a song that has rarely appeared on the tour
to date - but always won a rapturous reception. Bono, seemingly overwhelmed at the massed choirs of Croke, introduces it:
'This next song is about patience, it's a beautiful song - Original of the Species - for the ones you leave behind. Original
of the Species.'
And suddenly the spirits of Ewan McColl and Shane MacGowan are with us.
'Dreamed a dream
I
kissed my girl
By the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town...
'Croke Park we're gonna show you what we
think of you
For Shane McGowan
Guess we're the lucky ones..'
An ecstatic version of Bad gives way to City of
Blinding Lights ( 'Blinding lights brings on the night') with Bono showing some love to the Cusack Stand to an ovation of
applause before Christopher Nolan receives a moving dedication at the beginning of Miracle Drug.
Huge anticipation
as Larry heads to his floor drum at the tip of one b-stage and Adam saunters down the parallel track. This can only mean one
thing, Love and Peace or Else. And if Sunday Bloody Sunday needed any additional atmospherics, it was all in the location
and it was all here tonight.
'How long, How long... Eighty years ago in this stadium, a grave injustice, Sunday bloody
Sunday, a grave injustice. And because of what has come after that time, our kids will grow up in a different Ireland where
we can forget about bloody Sundays.'
Hard to describe the response to this, the stadium shaking as one in response.
'Coexist, enough of these bloody Sundays, say no more, no more... sing for the last night in Croke Park.'
And sing
we do, before Aung San Suu Kyi is again feted, in the week of her sixtieth birthday, still under house arrest.
'Freely
elected leader of Burma, great leader of human rights, lets sing to her tonight.'
During Streets, Bono sings to Adam,
way down the b-stage, with Bono taking a flag and bringing it up on stage - 'Make Poverty History'.
Maybe this next
weekend with Live8 and in the following days with the G8 meetings, the world will take a big step in that direction. It's
all still to play for, says the singer.
'These decisions are made at the last minute
So still need everyone to
get involved..'
And it's time to 'make Croke park into a Christmas tree' as the two boys holding high their Make Poverty
History http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/ sign remain on stage to underline the moment.
Most nights
the sound of the second rendition of Vertigo has been the signal that the show is about to come to a close but tonight, even
as many people are heading for the exits to avoid the crush, the band return to the stage with a dedication to friends and
family, management, Paul McGuinness, crew and the 'wonderful Sharon Blankson'. And there's still time for Yahweh and 40. What
a benediction! What a night! |
SPACE RITUAL Liverpool October 2005
Well they may be old but they can still play!
Some quirky versions of Orgone Accumulator and Silver Machine but otherwise
superb. Spoke to Nik briefly and he is well!! His solo "encore " was amazing and the audience enjoyed the participation
on "Bones of Elvis" GO SEE THEM!!!
Im a little pimp with my hair greased back.....
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