Monday 21 February 2011

DEVILISH PRESLEY.

Aaah, greetings dear reader. Come hither & tarry a while, put up thy feet & rest thou weary head....for I have a story to tell.
 'Twas the night of August 3 in the year of our lord 2006. However this little tale starts some 30 years previous.
 Many moons ago there was a very talented writer who wrote for a weekly music rag. Many of us hung on his word with baited breath.
 One week in particular he wrote a retrospective piece on the New York Dolls. Your genial host was dragged in; hook,line, sinker & thigh high gum boots. There was one particular phrase however, which I found quite beautiful & which kind of stuck with me for a long time. He said of the Dolls when they played Bibas in London 'They had a lease on your minds eye which lived with you forever'. I kind of half knew what he meant but couldn't quite put my finger on it.
   Fast forward some 30 years to the Cleethorpes Winter gardens, (now sadly reduced to a pile of rubble) where your old mate Flash Tightpocket had made the 70 mile journey to see the Damned.
 There were 4 bands in total on the bill & after a couple of worthy efforts I made my way to the bar.
 As I was repairing to my seat on the sidelines, I was hit like a punch in the throat. For there on stage was everything I loved about rock'n'roll.
 This 2 piece were flash they were brash & they made the most beautiful rock'n'roll noise. On guitar & vocals Mr Johnny Navarro prowling the stage like a horned demon victorian undertaker & on bass & vocals Ms Jacqui Vixen, like the coldly vampiric love child of Cruella deVille & Betty Page (I know, I know, the biology doesn't quite sync but you get the picture).

  In a 40 minute blaze of colour & noise they were gone & yours truly was properly hooked.
 Moreover those words of 30 years hence came straight back at me. Now I know what they meant.
 I have subsequently seen this band countless times since. Have I ever tired & wearied of seeing them? Like hell I have. This is the band I'd been waiting for all my life. Such well crafted songs & instantly memorable.
Devilish Presley are about to embark on a British tour in support of their 5th (count 'em) album out in May.
 May I add that's 5 albums all self financed, completely untainted by the cold dead clutches of a record companys hands.

 Miss this band at your peril they ooze the very essence of rock'n'roll, like the Heartbreakers,the Ramones & T'Rex before 'em.
 Recently, 'er indoors & myself took a 200 mile trek to Colchester to watch this band. We were stuck in snow & traffic for 8 hours & they refused to go on stage 'til we got there. 11.45pm. How many bands do you know who'd do that? They care & so should all of us, don't let your apathy & indifference kill 'em off.
 So dear reader, try to catch 'em at one of the above venues & in the unlikely event that you should come back to your old mate Flash & tell me that you weren't impressed, then you have the piss of a fetid old tramp coursing through your veins.

 Chin Chin my dears.
All live snaps from Bradford Zuu bar 29-1-11

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Walter Lure in the U.K..

Birmingham; Actress & Bishop:  16.10.10
And so dear reader, it was with great trepidation that Madame Tightpocket & myself  hoofed it up the road from Northampton to Birmingham in the old green rustbucket, for the last in the trilogy of Walters shows
  After an exceedingly hot & vastly overpriced 'ruby murray' (thank god for plastic, apparently you don't have to pay it back) we arrived at the Actress & Bishop. If it wasn't for the posters outside you'd have sworn there was nothing happening. It was all pretty quiet downstairs but after opening the door at the top of the wooden hill, it was like opening the gates of hell.(In the nicest possible way). 'Drongos for Europe' were going through their paces. It's been many a moon since I last saw them & they still make a mighty fine punkerama noise.
  Walter & the boys came on stage at about 11.30 & the place erupted, these Brummy folks sure know how to throw a party.
 The bread knife & me decided not to chase about snapping away, but to stand back & absorb the whole thing for one last time. 
 I'll not bore you with the details, all you need to know dear reader, is that Waldo rocked like fuck.
  Many many thanks must surely go to the people at 'stay sick' & the 'dirty water club' for getting Walter over here & making these shows possible, also hearty congratulations to the band (hi Jez) who pulled it all off with some aplomb. Sorry we couldn't hang around for drinks fellas, we had to drive home through the night to be up bright & early to pick up my 12 year old, long haired, wallet draining skateboarder.
 Madame Tightpocket & me drove home a little tired & a little saddened that it was all over.So we made the conscious decision to go & see the Waldos in New Yonkers in late 11-early 12.
  Walter, please don't leave it another 24 years, come back soon. 
We are not alone when we say......
   WE LOVE YOU.
  Chin Chin.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Walter Lure in the U.K..

Northampton Legendary Labour club 15-10-10






After a suitably snotty breakfast in our Kings Cross fleapit of a hotel, Mrs Tightpocket & myself  hot-footed it the few hundred yards to K.K station & jumped on our non horse drawn carriage to Wakefield; caught a bus to dear old Pontefract & landed home at 2.30pm. A quick wash & brush up, a cup of coffee & we jumped into our rapidly decaying old jam jar & chugged our way down to Northampton. Phew!
 The Travelodge we stopped in offered fantastic value at £29. We troughed our way through a town centre bar meal & then finally !!!! it was time to hit the Legendary Labour club.
 On  first viewing the club was anything but 'legendary'. An end terrace house knocked through with hot & cold running damp & dry rot. But hey, what the hell, I shouldn't be such a snob. These people have gotten off their asses & in these dark days when money is tight, they're putting some pretty hot gigs on.
 Might I add; none more hot, nay even more Legendary than the great Walter Lure & once again the man delivered with some gusto.


 With only a slight change in set-list, the man once again led us through the tunes you can trust & no-one in the building wanted it any other way.
 I have to say that when taking photos of live bands it always helps to have a good lighting rig. The lighting rig in this place was a standard lamp in the corner of the room. Priceless!
  I have seen some strange things in my time, but after the show I saw one of the strangest. We were having a chat & a drink, with Waldo & Ossie the drummer, when a guy came up & kissed Walters hand. .Now come on, I know the man is held in high esteem in certain parts but that was ...er....creepy.
 Once again another wonderful evening had sadly, to come to a close.
 With just one more show left in the trilogy to look forward to, I bundled a heavily alcohol sedated Mrs Tightpocket into our waiting taxi & headed back to our hotel with it's hd-tv.
Completely satisfied & happy that I'd touched that famous orange & white striped tie.



 Chin chin my dears!!