2013 - A brief reflection on some of my live highlights

It’s that time of year when we reflect on the previous 12 months and what fun we had. 

In no particular order here are some of my gig highlights from 2013. 

The Stranglers / The Godfathers – Birmingham Academy – March. 
Proving the old guard still have it this was an amazing double header.  The Godfathers still got the passion for it and some great new tunes.  The Stranglers were spectacular, a career spanning set, an eager crowd, still one of the best bands around. 

Stiff Little Fingers / The Men They Couldn’t Hang / Eddie Tenpole – Bilston Robin – April. 
The queue to get in shows the demand that Stiff still have.  Crowd pleasing set from Eddie, TMTCH were great and Stiff blew the roof off with a mix of hits and classics from their back catalogue, even throwing in a cover of Staring At Rudeboys as a encore. 

Ruts DC – Rebellion Festival – August. 
By the end of 2013 I’d seen the Ruts DC four times in 16 months but this was probably my pick of the bunch.  Playing at the end of a brilliant Saturday at Rebellion in the slightly more intimate Bizarre Bazaar stage they delivered a great set of new and older Ruts DC material but it’s hearing those old Ruts songs once again that gets the hairs on the back of the neck standing on end.  Truly Brilliant!. 

Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies / Angry Itch – Adam & Eve – June. 
Well this turned out to be a stormer of a night.  I’ve seen Pete & The Dinner Ladies quite a few times in recent years, usually at the Rebellion Festival but I always seem to enjoy them more in smaller more intimate venues (like most bands I guess) and this was a storming performance.  Making the night even more special was the discovery of one of the support bands, Angry Itch.  They just blew me away.  The Birmingham punks are only recently formed  so the fact they deliver their catchy fast tunes so tightly only adds to the summation that these guys are something special and worth watching in 2014! 

Beans on Toast – The Rainbow Pub – October.   
I love the intimacy of this venue so when Beans on Toast joins the crowd to perform half his set you know it’s going to be something special.  Brilliant, funny, though provoking and some great in-between song banter made this one of the best gigs of the year.  And support Gorgeous George weren’t bad either. 

Shellac – The Rainbow – November. 
Playing in one of the larger Rainbow venues round the back this gig was nothing less than superb.  One of the tightest bands you will ever see, all members are just so tuned in with each other the impact of each song is magnified.  The attention to detail in the songs is outstanding and the in-between song Q  & A sessions add another dimension to the night and show the band in a totally different light. 

The Damned / Ruts DC – Wulfrun Hall – December. 
The Ruts DC were on form again but the night belonged to the Damned.  Atmospheric stage props and a more varied set taking in most periods of the band added with some great playing and a great sound meant this tuned out to be a bit of a corker. 

Toy Dolls / TV Smith – Birmingham Academy – November. 
It’s easy to gloss over TV Smith and assume he’s just another ageing punk rockers treading water but there is much more than just those old Adverts classics.  A quite brilliant acoustic set showcasing the best of his solo material too, possibly the best performance of his that I have ever seen, not bad for the support.  The Toys Dolls are often passed off as a one hit wonder novelty band.  Sure there is a lot of humour in their songs but that belies their musicianship and the songs are catchy as hell.   

Birmingham Punx Picnic – Wagon & Horses – September. 
I only managed the Sunday but this was a great day out.  Ten band for a fiver.  With Eastfield kicking off proceedings and Hardskin finishing off, it was a great atmosphere and will be well worth visiting the Punx Picnic 2014. 

Punk Rock Chaos 2 - Wagon & Horses – September.  Hosted by Angry Itch another great night of Punk rock all for a fiver.  Angry Itch were brilliant again (and I got a song dedication!) and local heroes Rotunda rounded off proceedings – as the night ran behind a little things ended in a bit of a blurrr but another great night of Birmingham Punk Rock

The Undertones / The Nightingales - Slade Rooms - May
Apprehensive about seeing the Undertones as Feargal has such a distinctive voice but any doubts were immediately cast away with a greatest hits and more set, such a great back catalogue of tunes.  And the Nightingales were brilliant!

Louise Distras - Rebellion - August
What a year it's been for Louise, globe trotting the world (well some of it) spreading her political and catchy acoustic punk rock message.  Great set at Rebellion playing the highlights of her then soon to be released debut, Dreams From The Factory Floor.  Cannot wait to catch her in 2014.

In fact cannot wait to catch a whole bunch of live music in 2014.

OCTOBER GOOD STUFF

20 GOOD THINGS IN OCTOBER

Dedicated to the memory of Lou Reed

 New discoveries, gigs, songs / albums on heavy rotation and general rock n roll influenced greatness.

1. Drongos For Europe – Freedom video – brilliant video from the Brummie punkers
 

2. Good Vibrations – great film about Terri Hooley and his record a label, set amongst the late seventies Northern Irish punk scene, even bought a tear to the eye.
 

3. Filth – Very dark but funny as fuck film based on the Irwin Welsh novel
 

4. Beans On Toast – live at the Rainbow, Digbeth
 

5. The Mission – The Brightest Light.  This was a surprise - brilliant album from Wayne Hussey & the gang.
 

6. CBGB – Original Sound Track – Haven’t seen the film but the soundtrack is a blast.
 

7. INVSN – INVSN album.  Sounds like one of those great brooding 80’s albums but with a 2013 make over.  From the Refused front man.
 

8. Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – Repent, Replenish, Repeat – new release from the electronic hip-hop duo, darker and heavier than previous releases but still great stuff. 
 

9. Tim Burgess – the first Ten punk singles he bought – great feature from Louder Than War on the first punk singles purchased by the young Charlatan.  Some great (and maybe surprising) choices in there – take a look here: http://louderthanwar.com/the-first-10-punk-singles-bought-by-tim-burgess-of-the-charlatans/ 
 

10. Bad Manners – Firstly because I’ve been listening to a lot of ska recently and only just got round to getting (30 odd years late) the first two Bad Manners albums, which are great.  Secondly for Buster Bloodvessel’s definition of what a skinhead is to him as featured in the 2003 German documentary Skinhead Attitude, ending with the passionate words ”… and most importantly, anti-racist.” 
 

11. Franz Nicolay – Did Your Broken Heart Make You Who Are You? Multi instrumentalist having played with The Hold steady, The World/Inferno Friendship Society, Star Fucking Hipsters.  From Do the Struggle album.
 

12. Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhound.  Only just listened to this album, and it’s a corker.
 

13. Criminal Damage – Call Of Death.  Heads down no nonsense punk rock from Oregon.
 

14. Star Anna – Go To Hell .  Fuck this is good.  
 

15. Joan Jett – Unvarnished.  Still got it.
 

16. PiL.  Back on the road.  I didn’t get to see them so been dragging the albums out, and especially appreciating the under played Happy? / 9 / That What Is Not stuff. 
 

17. Rhoda with The Specials – The Boiler.  Still hard hitting but brilliant single.  With virtually no airplay it still reached number 35 in the charts.  Ironic that the BBC saw fit to effectively ban it due to it’s sensitive nature while turning a blind eye to the antics of some of it’s celebrities.
 

18. Southern Death Cult – Moya.  Dragged out of the archives to much excitement (for me anyway)

19. Crass – Penis Envy.
 

20. Dead Kennedys – Halloween- because it was

BEANS ON TOAST - LIVE AT THE RAINBOW - BIRMINGHAM

The Rainbow is a great venue to see live bands, where in the back room with its small stage and rustic appearance emitting a really great vibe perfect for the live experience.  We missed most of the first support acts set only catching the last couple of songs which included a fairly true reading of Dirty Old Town. 

Main support for the tour is Gorgeous George from London, a six piece multi instrument ensemble who crammed on to the small stage like eager musicians vying for a prime busking spot.   Difficult to define musically (the band themselves dislike genre categorisation) they’ve been likened to the Clash but personally if you think a little bit Gogol Bordello / Manu Chao, throw in a pinch of Madness (or even Ian Dury) to cover the cheeky not taking themselves too seriously  element and they maybe even could have been Joe Strummer’s alternative Mescaleros and hopefully you begin to build a picture.  Anyway they unleashed a short lively set crammed full of great tunes and definitely worth checking out. 

Okay, can I just say from the off, following this gig I have developed a bit of a man crush on Beans On Toast.  About three years ago I casually glanced in passing at his first album, Standing On A Chair, intrigued by the Beans on Toast moniker.  When looking through the 50 song titles scattered across the two CDs I saw a song entitled A Night Out With Henry Rollins so thought I would chance my arm.  And what a great album it turned out to be.  And now four albums in this was my first opportunity to catch the BoT live experience.  Joined on stage by his banjo and harmonica maestro friend we got a 75 minute set high on entertainment value from the off.  His voice sounds like he has just downed a bottle of Jim Beam and then set about his throat with a rasp - and I mean that as a compliment.  With songs of drugs, love and politics he engaged the crowd from the off – two songs in and he abandoned the stage and sang amongst the audience -  a gesture that put him not just metaphorically on a level with the crowd.  The in between (and sometime mid song) dialogue and anecdotes were hilarious and at time touching giving us far more insight into the mind-set than a hundred interviews.  There was no set list, with requests for songs often accommodated and sing-alongs encouraged.  We got an improvised song about West Midlands Safari Park and even a light hearted confrontation with a member of the crowd only added to the entertainment value.   Walking away at the end of the night the consensus of opinion from all of us was without a doubt one of the best performances we had seen all year! Buy the records.  But check him out live for the full experience

Beans On a Toast - Blow Job For The Blues

MY TOP TEN - SAM PARSONS

Okay, second in the occasional series of random Top 10's  This week it's little Sam. (That's my boy)

10. Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks

Feel good album all the way through, genius lyricist with a comedic value to her

 

9. Ramones - Ramones

First ever album I brought on vinyl. A great moment for my dad cause he knew in that moment, he'd succeeded in continuing the family's love for punk

8. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High

I used to listen to this album religiously in my early years of high school, the quirky names, the catchy songs, not the perfect album, but definitely a great

7. Beans On Toast - Standing On A Chair



By purely getting through this album, you feel like you've achieved something great in life. It's like watching the Lord Of Rings trilogy consecutively, all your senses burn but it's worth it

6. The Feeling - Twelve Stops and Home

This is a bit different to the albums I usually listen too but everyone needs that feel-good album and this is mine

 

5. Leatherface - Stormy Petrol

This is more to do with the songs on this album contributing to an amazing gig experience.

4. Pete Bentham & The Dinnerladies - Hip Potater

This album has it's own genre; kitchen sink punk. It is catchy throughout and doesn't get the size of audience it deserves

3. Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip - Angles



 

Everyone knows an album like this. Until you listen to it, no one can do it justice by trying to explain it to you

2. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

This album made me who I am today. An eleven year old in his room singing 'teenagers scare the living shit out of me' may seem unusual but it shaped my whole musical taste. Not one bad song on this album

1. The King Blues - Save The World Get The Girl

This band took the idea of punk rock and shaped it into their own style to make an album too perfect to be true. This album is the Pulp Fiction of music, it has something for everybody and everyone gets a catchphrase from it