JULY, AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2005

STORIES, FEATURES, REVIEWS

HOPELESS ATTENDANCE - SPITTING VENOM September 2005
Just listened to a freebee/frizbee CD by, 'Hopeless Attendance'. Nice touch of irony there in the band name. The album is entitled 'Live at the Green Room'. No frizbee, this one, music-wise. This album spits venom. Deranged vocals and spikey guitars - Very nice ! They also have a posh album in a proper jewel case but I was too mean to part with the cash. Sorry about that. Watch out for there next gig, wherever.

THE RE-EMERGENCE OF LUTHER September 2005
'Luther, who is this man?' I hear you ask. Well, this is what his website has to say -
QUOTE
Luther's got a gig! It's at the Cellar Bar Boscombe on Saturday 1st October 2005. He's using his computer and is his first one-man show since 1981.
Today sees the roll-out of Luther's new promotional campaign to climax summer 2006. Hold on!!
The new album "popgroovy" is in pre-production; 7 titles are ready for recording.
Luther sacked the entire band on account of their hopelessly immoral behaviour.
UNQUOTE
To find out what exactly is the 'immoral behaviour' in question you will have to visit his website.

NAKED PHOTOGRAPHER SITED IN KINGS PARK September 2005
Now available - Latest Kings Park Fest Photos,
including such classics as -
'Exotic Dancer Wiggles To The Skank',
'This Man Is On Fire',
'Naked Photographer Crouches To Capture The Moment,
'Man Behind A Pole',
'Lucy On Fire'

Featured Bands -
Dubcatz, Blank Faced Babies, Butcher Blues Foundation, Betika, Adorn, Raising Kane,
Reverand Hotfoot Jackson.

(In focus photos taken by Roj Agogo)
(Out of focus photos taken by Shakey Jake)

LUCY GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH Autumn 2005
Here is a plug for a future gig and some interesting info about Lucy, lead guitarist with 'Reverend Hotfoot Jackson', famous for those primeval clanky old rock'n'roll riffs.
This is what Conrad, Rubber Soul main man, has to say on the subject -

"Lucy is indeed ex-Lillettes. Her newest combo, Surfra Getts (pronounced Surfra Jets), is all-instrumental & features 2 other ex-Lillettes, Laura & Sonya, + drummer Dave, ex-Absolute Darlings. Pulp Fiction meets Link Wray, according to the gal herself. They play Rubber Soul on Thurs 3rd Nov with the 1st band from last night, Rodeo 7, & revamped glamsters, Geurilla Tapestry".

To see Lucy in action with the Rev. Hotfoot Jackson at last night's gig,
click here. (Photos 2 & 3 in the set of 4)

UNMISSABLE GIG 25th August 2005
Rodeo 7 + Reverend Hotfoot Jackson + Black Bart @ O'Neill's - Unmissable !!! -
If you missed it, where were you ??? For pictures of the event, click here.

THE ONES 24th August 2005
The Ones @ The Green Room last night - The place was packed to bursting point - The temperature was equatorial in the Green Room even though out in the street the icy winds were blowing just as you might expect at the height of 'summer' - As I already implied, a gigantic and adoring following packed themselves like sardines into the sweltering venue - The music was good too - 'Teenage Kicks' and 'Twist & Shout' were both covered in splendid style - the set also included a host of nice original stuff - Scooped out and crunchy to the core - an evening very well spent, I thought.

THAT ULTIMATE SHOEGAZE MOMENT 18th August 2005
The Marlins at O'Neill's last night - fragmented and meandering but with definite echoes of The Stone Roses, which is absolutely fine by me. For pictures of the band, click here. The 3rd shot in the set of 4 can only be described as 'That Ultimate Shoegaze Moment'. Take a look for yourself.

REVEREND HOTFOOT JACKSON 12th August 2005
Reverend Hotfoot Jackson at The Green Room on Friday. As usual I arrived late and missed the support band. Too bad - the thing got off on the right foot in my books anyway - the D.J. was playing some stonking old vinyl - best described as somewhere twixt Johnny Kidd on heat and Bo Diddly on acid - excellent. The band itself were highly entertaining. They played in near darkness, but maybe that was by design. The drums and stand-up bass did the biz, true rockabilly style. The singer wore shades and a white cowboy hat (Dwight Yokam style) which completely hid his face. He spent much of the time facing away from the audience, reading lyrics from tatty sheets of A4. To be honest I didn't identify a single word all night, but what the hell! Blame it on the muddy reverb. But the star of the show for me was the lead guitarist. She played a gigantic semi acoustic guitar, and what an awesome sound. This was like Johnny Kidd, compressed, overdriven, tremeloed all at the same time. I believe she used to play in the Lillettes, but I'll have to check my facts on that one. Anyway, trust me, she was superb.

!!! Catch them, along with Black Bart & Rodeo 7, at O'Neill's, Thursday, August 25th !!!

LOVE DON'T LIVE HERE ANY MORE 8th August 2005
Reggae played without a drumkit, can you believe that? Dubcatz proved the feasiblity of this amazing concept very successfully at The Green Room on Monday night. Included in their set was a skanked up/down cover of the Rose Royce classic, 'Love Don't Live Here Any More'. Brilliant !!!

Sorry, no pictures of 'Dubcatz' but I have one of the excellent 'Delta Hub', who also performed at the same gig. To view this picture, and others taken at The Green Room, click here.

JUST LIKE BACK IN 1978 28th July 2005
Peeping Toms @ The Green Room on Thursday - Brilliant - Just like back in 1978 -
Old School Punk at its best - Sweet memories of Clash, Pistols, etc., etc.
No pussy footin' from the bass and drums - just total balls. Nice blend of guitars - gigantic crunchy wall of sound overlaid with twisting, tangling hooks. The singer - the man is a total pro - he's got the venom and he's got that penetrating quality that allows you to hear every word of every song, and believe me, there are some classic songs in the Peeping Toms set. And the sound balance - faultless. Why can't other bands sound as good as this ???

THE GREEN ROOM GOES INTERGALLACTIC 25th July 2005
The 'Forbidden Planet' session at the Green Room on Monday night was a resounding success. The penultimate act was named 'SK5'. Here are the facts about 'SK5' from Solid Air main man,
Conrad Barr -
SK5 (named after the 80's Casio sampling-keyboard that all members play) - a supercombo made-up of individuals from bands signed to Bmth indie label, superglider records... left to right: Chris (True Swamp Neglect), Mooro (Sea Monsters) & Dave (Betika/Sancho).
To see what the 'left to right' is all about, please click here.

O'NEILL'S GOES COSMIC 20th July 2005
Peace Offering - Sorry, got there late again and missed 'em - Subirach - Throbbing & Swirling - Orgone Accumulator - Cosmic Bedlam. To view pictures by Shakey Jake (no less), click here.
The night's enertainment was put together by the one and only Rubber Soul.

CICADA + SUBSTANCE + PURE @ O'NEILL'S 13th July 2005
Got there late, around 10pm, so I missed Cicada (sorry), caught about 2 songs from Substance (excellent) and caught all of Pure's set (visually eccentric - sonically psychedelic - very impressive). For brand new 'Shakey Jake', mind altering pictures of Substance and Pure, click here. Thanks to Conrad Barr and Paul Tucker for creating this fabulous Rubber Soul night of fun @ O'Neill's.

BOSH @ THE GREEN ROOM 14th July 2005
Bosh - a band that has passion and power and memorable songs and a sizeable highly charged group of followers. For a review of an earlier gig, click here .

NEW VENUE - BAR VIN July 2005
Bar Vin appears to have started to feature live bands on Thursday nights. Renegade are there on the 7th. Check it out.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT 7th July 2005
'Black Bart', who describe themselves as "The new face of alternative country rock" played
The Green Room last night. These guys are sharp dressers. From a distance the singer looks a little like Bob Dylan but sings like Tom Verlaine. The lead guitar is clanky and country to the core. The bass and drums are totally authentic. 'Black Bart' have discovered a niche for themselves. Unique. Brilliant.

AHOY THERE, CAPTAIN 6th July 2005
Pirate Ship Quintet were at The Green Room on the 6th. This oddly named band, famous for their unique style of alternative music and infamous for the use of politically incorrect language on their posters were essential listening this Wednesday night.
"At times dark and dense like a swirling smog, at times delicate and spacious like being suspended by a fine thread at the very edge of the Universe with only the twinkling of distant stars for company - Desolate - Trippy".
Support was from the even more oddly named, 'God Hits Like An Atom Bomb'. He certainly does!

BY POPULAR REQUEST 1st July 2005
By popular request 'Total Recall' return to The Green Room on Friday the 1st. Unmissable !!! Their set includes blistering cover versions of 'Revolution' by The Beatles and 'Maggie May' by Rod Stewart.

EDEN PLAY AMERICANA-FEST 4th July 2005
eden + a host of other acts play at Conrad Barr's 'Celebration of Americana' at the Green Room on Monday. The constantly evolving 'eden' will be fronted as always by Carl Chamberlain. The exact line-up of the band is not known to me at this time but do doubt will include some fabulously eccentric musicians playing weird and wonderful instruments. No excuse for not being there. If you are not into 'eden', there are loads of other bands on the bill. Should be a cracking gig.

Spitting Venom
The Re-Emergence Of Luther

Naked Photographer
Sited In Kings Park

Lucy Goes From Strength To Strength
Unmissable Gig
The Ones
That Ultimate Shoegaze Moment
Reverend Hotfoot Jackson
Love Don't Live Here Any More
Just Like back In 1978
The Green Room Goes Intergallactic
O'Neill's Goes Cosmic
Cicada + Substance + Pure @ O'Neill's
Bosh @ The Green Room
And Now For Something Completely Different
New Venue - Bar Vin
Ahoy There, Captain
By Popular Request
Eden Play Americana-Fest