Sunday 11th May
I **should** be disconsolate following yesterday’s first leg of the play-offs. Losing 1-2 at home to Bristol City is a very disappointing result, but fair play to the visitors who snuffed out the threats of Victor Moses and Scott Sinclair by whatever means they had at their disposal and scored two terrific goals, one a peach of a training ground move and the other a 35-yard rocket that gave Speroni no chance. With a second game to follow at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night, I still fancy Palace’s chances of turning things around – the odds of the Eagles playing as badly again must be somewhat remote.
But what the heck… given the club’s early season form, even being in the play-offs at all is a bonus. Next season we’ll be a force to be reckoned with, so I’m not too distraught. Brilliant sunshine is flooding in through my office window, the hangover is almost non-existent and I’m playing The Isley Brothers’ ‘Greatest Hits’… if there’s a better song to suit the day than ‘Summer Breeze’ then I’d hard-pushed to name it.
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Saturday 10th May
Christ - it's 5.53am and there's around six hours to go till the big kick-off, but sleep's the last thing on my mind. The house is quiet as a mouse and Bob the dog is sat nuzzling my feet as I wade through the emails.
As the division's form side, the bookies have made Palace the favourites to win the play-offs but the equation involves three other teams - Hull, Twatford and Bristol City, the latter of whom we play at Selhurst at 12.15pm - who've performed more consistently than us throughout the season. I hate it when the Eagles are expected to win, 'cos we never do. Very shortly it'll be time for a vodka. Time to top up last night's levels again, find the lucky shirt, drink out of the lucky mug...
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Thursday 8th May
How upsetting. One of my favourite festivals, the Rock And Blues Custom Show, has been called off after the organisers withdrew their application for a licence amid fears of a biker war. Police intelligence had predicted a clash between rival gangs over the shooting of 35-year-old Gerard Tobin after a rival festival last August. This year's show was due to feature Glenn Hughes And Friends, Molly Hatchet, Fastway, GMT, Blackfoot, Magnum, Hanoi Rocks and Budgie - quite a bill here in Lingland.
On a more upbeat note, Al Kooper, who I recently interviewed for Classic Rock, has sent a copy of his autobiography. It's been out of print of a while and this new edition has been updated... hope that Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs Of A Rock 'N' Roll Survivor lives up to its fanciful title.
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Wednesday 7th May
Despite my state of exhaustion, there was no danger of nodding off at last night's Def Leppard gig. It's been a while since Leppard had played such an intimate hall as the Islington Academy, and with the downstairs area full of cheering fans and the balcony stuffed with media representatives making the most of a free bar, a good night was had by just about everyone. Intended as a promotional bash for the just-released 'Songs From The Sparkle Lounge' album, the band featured four songs from their new baby, including my own favourite, 'Bad Actress' (which Joe Elliott grinned "isn't necessarily about Lindsay Lohan - but it might be"). Elliott was clearly still struggling with the illness that forced the cancellation of some US not too long ago, but the band seemed to be having fun despite the unusally crammed surroundings. Indeed, they even returned for an unscheduled second encore, reeling back the years to their first two albums with 'Mirror, Mirror (Look into My Eyes)' and the timeless 'Wasted'. Here's what filled Leppard's 75 minutes onstage: 'Let It Go', 'Action', 'Bad Actress', 'Armageddon It', 'Rocket', 'Nine Lives', 'Hallucinate', 'Animal', 'Photograph', 'Pour Some Sugar On Me', 'Let's Get Rocked',
'C'Mon C'Mon', 'Rock Of Ages', 'Mirror, Mirror (Look into My Eyes)' and 'Wasted'. Not bad at all, huh?
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Tuesday 6th May
It's lunchtime and I'm back from Selhurst, safely clutching tickets for the home and away legs of Palace's play-off semi-finals with Bristol City. Arrived at the ground at 6.45am to join the queues. Luckily I'd brought Pigs Might Fly, Mark Blake's excellent and exhaustive Pink Floyd book, to soak up some waiting time. I'm off to see Def Leppard at the Islington Academy tonite; it's been a long day, might have to invest in some matchsticks to prise the ol' eyes open. P.S. Better late than never, here are this month's Playlist and YouTube.
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Sunday 4th May
Look - I;m vety drunk an typing carefully. Jyst home from Selhurst.. Palace made the play-offb, winning 5-0 (yes. Very un-Palace-like). I'm sitting here with FM's 'Indiscreet' blaring, an a dpint of wine (with ice-cubes - ok it's gay). I Love fottbvall.
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Saturday 3rd May
Following his diary entry of a few days ago, Ross Halfin will be amused to learn that last night was spent at the Astoria 2, enjoying a Wishbone Ash concert (my first sighting of them in three years, in case anyone believes Ross' blatherings that I'm obsessed by them). The band were playing their 1972 masterpiece 'Argus' in its entirety. Tasty! Didn't make notes 'cos I wasn't reviewing, and to be honest several glasses of white wine had served to lubricate the gullet. But they did play all seven 'Argus' tracks in consecutive order, with the ever-triumphant 'Phoenix', 'Living Proof', 'Blind Eye', 'Jailbait' and 'The Way Of The World', from 1978's 'No Smoke Without Fire', all surfacing the in the latter half of the 130-minute performance. 'Happiness' and 'In Crisis' both represented the latest disc, 'Power Of Eternity'. They might've done more new stuff than that but, as I say, I was enjoying a liquid end to a tough week.
Speaking of the Ash, I was glad that guitarist/singer Andy Powell enjoyed my five-page Classic Rock story on the making of 'Argus', which of course touches upon the rivalry between Powell's Ash and the rival incarnation fronted by ex-bassist Martin Turner. He was disappointed but unsurprised by the quote from Turner - "Every time I go to see Andy's band I always end up in the bar". If you've read the piece and wondered why Powell was getting so uptight regarding the ownership of the name - "The 'Martin Turner' part getting left off the adverts causes a big problem. It mistakenly causes people to think there are two versions Wishbone Ash", says Andy - there was tangible evidence of his claim in the freebie newspaper London Lite, which printed a colour photo of Turner in its gig guide and began with the words: "The veteran British rockers, led by Martin Turner..." Oh dear...
P.S. So that prize Boris Johnson is the new mayor of London. Rest assured, the idiots that voted for Johnson on the strength of seeing him on topical TV quiz Have I Got New For You will live to regret their foolishness.
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Friday 2nd May
It's belated, admittedly, but here's my five penn'oth about Whitesnake's new album. The impressive chart placings speak for themselves, but whilst I've always been more into the band's blues-based era - 'Trouble' thru 'Saints & Sinners' - 'Good To Be Bad' is plenty good enough. The band sound lively, the songs rock convincingly and I love that cheeky cry of "eyyy-ooop" at the start of 'Got What You Need'... Terrific stuff. The tour with Def Leppard will be a corker.
Yesterday's postbag also included a promo of 'Calm Before The Storm', the debut album by Lauren Harris (Demolition Records, June 23). Obviously, it sounds nothing like Iron Maiden (her father is that band's Steve - keep up at the back! - who cranks up the expectation levels by guesting on a few of the record's songs). If you like Pat Benatar-style pop-rock, chances are you'll be pleasantly surprised. Admittedly, I've seen Lauren onstage a few times so I already knew the album's core, but this is catchy, hummable stuff. Okay, it's very Benatar in places, but who else makes that kind of music these days? Furthermore, there's a bonus version of UFO's 'Natural Thing', and she's also recorded her live favourite 'Come On Over', penned by Stray's Del Bromham and Steve Gadd. The gal has taste!
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Thursday 1st May
For the past few weeks I'd been planning on going to the Underworld for last night's gig from NWOBHM survivors Blitzkrieg, however the chance of earning a quid or two from interviewing Rick Derringer put paid to that. Hahaha... not that it was a chore or anything. As the man who inspired the title of the Steely Dan classic 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number', Derringer turned out to be a pleasant, talkative fella. Blitzkrieg will have to wait for another day.
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