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Sunday 27th February
Were
there two more inebriated individuals in the entire country
than myself and Mrs L after yesterday's fine victory over Judas
Bruce and his bedraggled Brummies? I doubt it. It would be a
significant understatement to say that one or two glasses of
wine were consumed in SE6 following Andrew Johnson's two goals.
All was good in the world as I sat in my office post-game, the
excellent new Rush tribute album (starring Kip Winger, Seb Bach,
Vinnie Moore, Jani Lane) blaring. Then I receieved an email
in which Bruce had the audacity to call AJ a diving cheap. I
quote: "He goes into the box, and does very well at falling
over. He does it remarkably well." My response to this
disloyal, despicable, fat, whinging colostomy bag on legs (cut
and pasted from a mail sent out immediately afterwards): Suck
my motherfucking
CCCCCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCKKKKKKKKKKK!!
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Thursday 24th February
Mountain
gigs are bitter-sweet experiences for me, and so it proved again
last night. Leslie West always delivers onstage, but enjoyable
as his gigs are, I end up thinking about the guy that turned
me onto the band, my old mate Paul
Samson. Leader of the NWOBHM group Samson, poor old Paul
used to waffle for hours at a time about Leslie's prowess as
a guitarist, till Paul died of cancer in the summer of 2002.
A Mountain gig always makes me remember him. Fittingly, the
band played a blinder at the Underworld. They'd been stuck in
a bit of a rut of late, but changing the set-list around worked
a treat, and the jamming and extended solos really livened things
up. I'm sure at one point I saw Leslie break into a smile!
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Wednesday
23rd February
Having
been unable to attend last week's Nazareth gig in Croydon (it
clashed with Waysted), last night I headed North to check them
out in Milton Keynes. What fun and japes. Stayed with my friends
Simon and Gry, who live round the corner from the gig, and several
bottles of white were consumed before, during and after the
show. Dan McCafferty's voice is still awesome, and to top it
all Palace didn't drop into the relegation zone as West Brom
could only draw with Southampton. Result!
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Tuesday 22nd February
Back
to a packed Mean Fiddler (again) last night, this time for Dragonforce.
Who'd have thought a UK-based power metal act could enjoy such
popularity? It doesn't seem so long ago that the Dragons were
mere unsigned kiddies, opening on these boards for Rob Halford
(although it was almost four years ago - ulp!). Without a plastic
sword to wave, an instamatic camera or the rest of the crowd's
compulsory short hair, I felt a bit out of place. It was an
enjoyable gig, though a little on the long side. The band's
energy and levels of musicianship do them credit, but when play
so many of their songs one after another they sometimes sound
a little interchangable. Opening act, Brazil's Angra, were making
their London debut. Adding progressive rock into the mix, their
65 minutes suggested that the UK will open up for them in time.
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Saturday
19th February
Last
night's Waysted gig - their first public appearance in more
years than anyone can care to remember - was a lot of fun. No,
make that a LOT of fun. They played just four songs ('Toy With
The Passion', 'Love Loaded', 'Night Of The Wolf' and the newie
'Garden Of Eden') in 25 minutes, going on before the Quireboys.
It was an early start, and not having time for anything to eat
I went into the Sainsburys next door to the Mean Fiddler to
pick up a sandwich. Who should be hovering about but Pete Way,
deliberating upon a purchase of his own. "I've been told
to behave, but I've crept out to buy a bottle of wine for the
soundcheck," he confided, looking over his shoulder. Some
things in life never change. Pete is one of them. The Quireboys
sounded good, as did the other band, the Tokyo Dragons, but
by then the white wine was starting to take hold. So my pals
and I headed around the corner for a top-up at the CroBar, where
who should we find but Batttttty enjoying the attentions of
two toyboys... and drinking orange juice! Hold the front page!!
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Thursday
16th February
Hear
ye, hear ye, hear ye. I've never been too fond of Germans (save
for a handful of very notable exceptions - hello Goetz, Oliver
and the rest!), but from this day forwards Mille Petrozza of
Kreator is granted status as an Honourary Englishman. Supported
by Dark Tranquillity, Mille's band played a set of quite wonderful
old-school thrash metal at the Electric Ballroom last night.
Christ, my neck still bloody aches. This morning, tendons sore
and groaning in protest, I went over to Sanctuary Records to
meet Bruce Dickinson. I'm writing the biography for his new
solo album. I can't give way too many details at this stage,
but I heard about three-quarters of it, and it's immense and
very, very heavy. Hot off the Judas Priest album, Roy Z has
done a great production job, and it picks off right where Bruce's
last outing, 1998's 'Chemical Wedding', left off.
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Wednesday
15th February
Glenn
Hughes was in amazing form at the Mean Fiddler last night. On
paper, it seemed a suicidal move to have thrown out many of
his vintage tracks in favour of material from the new 'Soul
Mover' album, but it worked. The audience had absolutely no
complaints about the content of the set, and there ain't many
too people who can legitimately encore with a song from both
Black Sabbath ('The Seventh Star') and Deep Purple ('Burn').
However, I wish I hadn't worn my Palace scarf to the show. What
part of, 'I don't want to talk about the f**king football' is
it that people don't understand? Two nights ago it had been
Gooners 5, Eagles 1. F**king gutted. It was of little consolation
that Arsenal had scored three unstoppable goals, strikes that
no team on earth could've prevented. Our own performance was
well below par. I'd consumed three bottles of white wine whilst
watching the game on TV, but Dougie Freedman's own inept performance
suggested he'd been drinking more than me. Unacceptable.
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Sunday
13th February
Nightwish
are an awesome live band, but I find them very frustrating.
Last night they had a sold out Astoria rocking in the aisles,
but stunned the place by announcing at just gone nine o'clock
that the next number would be their last. The set was eventually
stetched out to about 75 minutes (even including a cover of
Pink Floyd's 'The Division Bell' track 'High Hopes'), but for
a group with so many albums under their belt I consider that
even less generous than Simon Jordan's CPFC transfer window
budget. It felt like a bit like coitus interruptus. Nightwish
deliver quality, that's undeniable, but with a little more quantity
they'd be unstoppable.
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Saturday 12th February
Yesterday
was busy. Interviewed the Brain
Surgeons in the afternoon. Featuring ex-members of Blue
Oyster Cult, the Dictators and Manowar, they had lots to say.
Soundcheck, including a rousing 'Godzilla', was also very cool.
Unfortunately their debut London gig clashed with The Sweet's
return to the Underworld. My plan was to watch most of Sweet,
jump on the tube and catch the end of the Brain Surgeons. Due
to a bombscare I ended up watching all of Sweet's gig instead.
They were a bit under-rehearsed, but the set-list was incredible.
One song ('Everything') from 'Sweetlife', and the rest hard-rock/bubblegum
classics. Get this: 'Hellraiser', 'Burn On The Flame', 'The
Sixteens', 'Cockroach' (dedicated to the journalist from the
Daily Mail), 'Lost Angels', 'Wigwam Bam'/'Little Willy' (ahem!),
'Teenage Rampage', 'AC/DC', 'Love Is Like Oxygen', 'Action',
'Blockbuster', 'Fox On The Run', 'Peppermint Twist', 'Set Me
Free' and 'Ballroom Blitz'. Wow. On a personal note, the girl
who'd complimented me in the bar on my classic T-shirt from
the 70s turned out to be one of two daughters of Brian Connolly
that were in the house. In the bar after the show she said some
nice, moving things about her dad.
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Thursday 10th February
A
bit Mega-deaf this morning. Guess who I saw last night? Mr Mustaine
and his latest hired hands, playing what's promised to be their
last ever UK show. I'd heard less than encouraging reports of
previous dates, but what I saw was throroughly enjoyable. On
the downside, the band played at uncontrollably loud volume;
bits of the show were crystal clear, others so distorted you
had to strain to recognise the songs. But besides lots of tracks
from 'The System Has Failed', we got a veritable greatest hits.
'Skin O'My Teeth', 'Symphony Of Destruction', 'Wake Up Dead',
'Hangar 18' and 'Peace Sells...' all ruled, and there was also
a killer version of 'In My Darkest Hour'. Diamond Head, complete
with new boy Nick Tart (perfect name for a singer!), did a better
than expected job of warming up a Astoria crowd that included
Merv Goldsworthy, formerly of DH and the mighty FM.
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Wednesday
9th February
Yesterday I went to the Marquee for the launch party of
this year's Download
Festival. It was a lot of fun, with Ozzy Osbourne among
those in attendance. Alas, the free bar ran out earlier than
expected, and the rumoured live set from Billy Idol (who also
plays the festival in June) didn't materialise. Afterwards I
met my mate Paul Newcomb for a drink with Micky Moody. What
a nice fella. The white wine was flowing, and I ended up falling
asleep again on the train and missing my stop. Hic!
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Tuesday 8th February
I'm getting pissed off at having my favourite TV programme
interrupted by progress reports of Ellen MacArthur and her round
the world yachting exploits. Okay, she shaved a day off the
record, but couldn't she have done something more worthwhile
with the time and money? Let's not even consider the wasted
resources of the rescue services that were standing by. Last
night, the BBC News seemed to think it was a bigger story than
a possible peace deal in the Middle East. The radio bulletin
that awoke me this morning called MacArthur "Britain's
greatest ever sailor". Hello? Have these people never heard
of Admiral Nelson? Sir Francis Drake? John Inman? Malcolm Dome?
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Monday
7th February
Even
48 hours afterwards I'm still at a loss to comprehend how Palace
managed to lose against Bolton on Saturday. We had just about
all of the match, played with class and confidence and still
those f**kers stole the points with a hotly disputed 'goal'
that didn't seem to cross the line. However, Everton's injury
time equaliser against Southampton - thundered into the roof
of the net yesterday by ex-Eagle Marcus Bent - was celebrated
with utter jubilation here in Catford.
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Friday
4th February
This
evening I did phone interviews with James Young and Chuck Panozzo
of Styx. Both were interesting conversations, but the latter
was particularly poignant. For those that don't know, Chuck
was a founder member of Styx, though these days he plays with
them on a sporadic basis. To say the poor fella has had 'health
issues' is like saying Eric Cantona is a mildly dislikable individual.
Having seen his younger twin brother (and Styx drummer) John
die in July 1996, Chuck was diagnosed with AIDS two years later,
and has had the bravery to come out as a gay man in the ultra-macho
world of heavy rock. To top it all, he recently won a battle
with testicular cancer. Panozzo may make some guest appearances
on Styx's long-awaited UK tour in June, but - guess what? -
he's now recovering from painful leg surgery (all of this with
a dodgy immune system). For a lesson in just how bloody lucky
you are, go to Chuck's website.
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Tuesday 1st February
Today
began exceedingly well with the arrival a promo of Porcupine
Tree's 'Deadwing' album. It's bleedin' awesome. The relief of
last night's dramatic injury-time equaliser for Palace by Aki
Riihilahti is still sinking in. To have lost against West Brom
after leading for so much of the game, and playing the bulk
of it with 10 men, would have been a bitter pill to swallow.
Thanks, Aki! I listened to the commentary in a Camden Town boozer
before going into the Underworld to check out Adler's Appetite,
a new band formed by ex-GN'R drummer Steve Adler, and singer
Jizzy Pearl (Love/Hate, Ratt). So late was Palace's leveller
that I was under the impression we'd lost... till a 'bouncebackability'
text enlighened me! Shame to report, Adler's Appetite were good
- but not really what you'd call great.
FEBRUARY
2005
JANUARY
2005
DECEMBER
2004
NOVEMBER
2004
OCTOBER 2004
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