Michael Schenker – Shepherd’s Bush Empire – 31^st May 2013

View: Centre balcony

In the liner notes for last year’s Temple Of Rock – Live In Europe album, Michael Schenker stated that in terms of rock music “there is not much new left to expect” and that he has now entered Stage 3 of his career “which is all about celebration”. This is a sentiment that he pursues with his current tour which is subtitled the “Lovedrive Reunion”.

This is not surprising as Schenker’s current band also features former Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell. Consequently the set is liberally peppered with Lovedrive classics. Indeed, the set commences with Lovedrive and Another Piece Of Meat. Later in the set, Coast To Coast crunches satisfyingly and Holiday appears as an encore.

The band as a whole, and Schenker in particular, seem to be enjoying themselves. The impression given seems to be one of mates getting together to bash out some great tunes. Schenker has a real rapport with the crowd and his playing is frequently jaw-dropping. Yet he makes it look so easy! It’s not all about Schenker though. The band are all individually excellent. Herman Rarebell in particular is a picture of unflappable calm.

In keeping with Schenker’s aforementioned assertion regarding ‘celebration’, there is little in the way of new or recent material in the set. Horizons, a Motorhead-like track from the upcoming Bridge The Gap album is essayed, whilst Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead from the Temple Of Rock album is dedicated to recent rock losses Ronnie James Dio and Trevor Bolder.

Other than that, it’s pretty much classics all the way. The 1980s Michael Schenker Group are represented by Assault Attack and Into The Arena, whilst from UFO we get (amongst others) Shoot Shoot and Only You Can Rock Me.

The main set ends with Lights Out, but the band are quickly back for an encore that lasts the best part of half an hour. During Blackout Schenker hands over the solo to keyboardist / guitarist Wayne Findlay, a far cry from his diva-ish behaviour in years gone by. During Rock Bottom Schenker solos with his left hand whilst taking photos of the audience with his right. It’s all so easy – apparently!

OK, so in terms of ‘artistic endeavour’ there’s nothing particularly new going on here, but does it matter? Surely it’s enough to be able to witness one of the best guitarists of his generation cranking out some of the songs that he’s best known for ably aided and abetted by some equally talented mates?

                                                                                                 Mark Kelly

 

Rush – London O2 Arena – 24^th May 2013

View: A vertiginous perch up on the side, stage right.

Rush are past masters at providing epic, spectacular rock shows, and tonight was no exception. In keeping with their current Clockwork Angels album, the gig is prefaced by a short steampunk-inspired film, whilst the stage is decorated in a steampunk style.

Notwithstanding these nods to Clockwork Angels, the set commences with Subdivisions from 1982’s Signals album. Indeed, for this first half of the gig we are very firmly returned to the 1980s, with amongst others Big Money, Grand Designs, Red Lenses and The Analogue Kid being essayed. Personally this era featured too much keyboard work for my taste. However, when Geddy Lee escapes from behind his keyboards, he produces some great bass runs, and proves that he hasn’t lost any of his agility by performing the odd Pete Townshend-style leap. Alex Lifeson displays his usual understated sartorial taste with what appear to be electric blue – possibly suede – shoes.

Strange things do happen during Rush gigs. Somebody dressed as a chicken walks across the stage, seemingly repeatedly dropping a giant banana skin. What precisely this signifies I don’t know, but it does prompt Neil Peart to commence a drum solo which ends the first half of the show.  

Like the first set, the second begins with a short film in which Rush unmercifully send themselves up. Virtuosi they may be, but let it not be said that they take themselves too seriously! For this part of the show they are joined by a string octet. This is unexpected. However, the octet rock out like they’ve partaken of some particularly powerful chemical amusement. The fact that they’re accompanied by LOADS of pyro probably helps!

The emphasis for this half is Clockwork Angels, which is a splendidly riff-driven beast. The material is superb. There is spectacle, bombast, humour and irony. Friends, almost all human life is here. At the risk of being accused of heresy, in my opinion Clockwork Angels is better than a great deal of the 1980s material played in the first half. There: I’ve done it now.

We don’t get all of the new album however. We return to the 1980s for Manhattan Project, which is followed by another drum solo which is accompanied by a great animation of Neil Peart as a robot! The main set ends with a vicious version of YYZ followed by Spirit Of Radio. The band aren’t gone for long though, returning for Tom Sawyer and a shortened (and ecstatically received) 2112. We’re sent on our way by another humourously self-mocking film.

The key feeling that I took away from this gig was a feeling of fun. Rush aren’t too self-important to have fun with their back catalogue. Their music is cerebral and complex but they are able to override that. More importantly they’re not predictable. The audience never quite knows what they’re going to get. Long may that continue.

Pad's Playlist

Here's what was rattling the windows last week:

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Their 70s & 80s soft rock influenced third album.


The Cure - Disintegration

You wanted dark? This is damn dark!!! The Cure mining the depths of human collapse from 1989. 


The Cure - Greatest Hits

For all of their legendary gothic miserabilism, it is often forgotten that The Cure are a jolly fine pop band. This album contains the proof.


The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette

The Damned were an early punk victim of intra-band strife, splitting up in 1978. They quickly re-formed however, with Captain Sensible moving onto guitar in place of the departed Brian James, and Algy Ward joining on bass. This superb album containing the classics Love Song, I Just Can't Be Happy Today, Noise Noise Noise and Smash It Up marked their return in 1979.


The Damned - The Black Album

Confounding the critics, in 1980 they followed the aforementioned slice of punk with this excursion into psychedelia. Never ones to stand still and all that.....


The Dandy Warhols - Earth To The Dandy Warhols

I remember listening to this at the time that it came out (in 2008) and thinking that it sounded rather tired and the druggy in-jokes were somewhat grating. Listening to it again after six years the jokes haven't improved at all (Valerie Yum for example) but the music sounds much perkier than before. Well worth revisiting.


Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul

Not everything on here is as gloomy as the title suggests. Indeed, there are moments of pure pop delight. However, the fact that Mark Linkous and Vic Chesnutt both comitted suicide shortly after this album was recorded does tend to hang over it like a pall. That doesn't stop it being a very good album though.


Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue

Ah - the man who invented 'the cool'. This album is an absolute classic and All Blues is particularly fine.


The Dead Weather - Horehound

Much more than just another Jack White collaboration. If anything the star turn here is Alison Mosshart from The Kills, who makes the album her own.


Deep Purple - In Concert

This album documents concerts Purple's classic mark II line-up gave for the BBC in 1970 and 1972. The performances aren't as free-flowing as on Made In Japan, as these performances are respectively promoting the In Rock and Machine Head albums shortly after their release, so presumably the new songs aren't fully bedded in as live vehicles. It's still very good though.


Deep Purple - On The Wings Of A Russian Foxbat

Here the mark IV line-up (featuring Tommy Bolin on guitar) are captured in concert in Long Beach, California, in 1976. The performances here are astonishingly good. Sadly, by the time the tour reached Europe, Bolin was so incapacitated by his heroin use that he could barely manage barre chords onstage. The band split up at the end of the tour, and Bolin died in 1977 at the age of 25. Purple re-formed with their mark II line-up in 1984.

Pad's Playlist

Here's what's been exacerbating my tinnitus over the last week.

Anna Calvi - Baby It's You (Youtube clip)

A cover of the Shirelles' song covered by The Beatles on their first album Please Please Me. With her imaginative treatment Calvi makes the song her own


The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

There seems to be a bit of a Beatles theme progressing here! This was their third album, and their first to be completely self-composed, which was both an unusual and pretty major achievement in 1964. Albums at that time comprised a hit single or two surrounded by undisguised filler. The first side of this album consisted of songs from the film, whereas side 2 comprised what would now be classed as bonus tracks. Top quality was maintained throughout.


Cream - Royal Albert Hall, London, May 2005 

The aural record of Cream's first (and thus far, only) live gigs since 1968. The 'secondary' market inflated ticket prices to such a degree (and they weren't cheap to begin with) that they couldn't be obtained without either taking out a second mortgage or sacrificing a limb.

However, the good news was that Eric, Ginger and Jack were on top form and the musical quality was astounding. Also the band were better at editing themselves than in days of yore. So whilst there were lengthy jams, they never became anything near aimless, which wasn't something that could always be said of their late sixties performances.


Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory

Whilst seemingly not viewed by some as one of the best Creedence albums, this still sounds like something of a greatest hits collection, featuring as it does Travelin' Band, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Run Through The Jungle, Up Around The Bend and Who'll Stop The Rain. The guitar intro to Up Around The Bend must be one of the most joyous sounds ever committed to record!!!


Crippled Black Phoenix - I, Vigilante

More of a collective than a band, CBP specialise in dark, psychedelic progressive rock. Standout tracks on this album are Bastogne Blues, evoking the frozen horror of the Battle Of The Bulge in late 1944 / early 1945, and Of A Lifetime. Highly recommended. 


The Cribs - The New Fellas

The debut album from Wakefield's finest. Apparently they used refer to bands they liked as "the Fellas", hence with their recording debut they became the new 'Fellas'.


The Cribs - Ignore The Ignorant

For this album and its subsequent tour they were joined by fan Johnny Marr. It's good, but not quite as good as the sum of its parts. 


The Arctic Monkeys - AM

The latest from the ever maturing and evolving Arctic Monkeys. Apparently some early fans feel alienated by the band's recent work. A pity, because this is fine stuff. Don't be too put off by talk of R'n'B grooves by the way. There's not much more than a hint of that here.


Morrissey - Ringleader Of The Tormentors

Worthy follow-up to the career resuscitating You Are The Quarry. This displays the effortless confidence that Morrissey so much needs to recover. The Youngest Was The Most Loved and The Father Who Must Be Killed are particularly good.


Biffy Clyro - Opposites

A sprawling double album that doesn't let down celebrated representatives of its genre such as The White Album, Physical Graffiti, and Melon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. A canvass this size gives the Biff opportunity to display the sheer breadth of their highly dynamic oeuvre. 


Jake Bugg - Shangri La

Definitely not 'more of the same' from the Nottingham bard. From the spiky indie of What Doesn't Kill You to the delicate Pine Trees, Bugg demonstrates the kind of onward momentum that it would take comparable artists four albums to achieve.


The Beatles - Beatles For Sale

With their second album of 1964, The Beatles failed to emulate its cover-free predecessor A Hard Day's Night. However, you could hardly blame them. When they weren't in the studio they had been on the road, conquering most of the world including, most emphatically, the US of A. This was a fine album which included no singles, although Eight Days A Week was certainly worthy of a single release. 


Crosby, Stills and Nash - Crosby, Stills and Nash

In which Graham Nash escapes the stultifying 'straightness' of The Hollies to join Crosby and Stills, alumni of The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield respectively. Apparently the three first harmonised together at Mama Cass's house in Laurel Canyon, and thereafter could not return to their previous lives. Or something like that anyway. This is a fine debut, featuring Suite: Judy Blue Eyes and Marrakesh Express.


Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Deja Vu

For their follow-up, CSN added the mercurial Neil Young to their mix. He brought the seemingly effortless Helpless to the party for this album. 


The Cure - Pornography

In which The Cure mine the dark stuff. However, they possibly surpassed this with Disintegration in 1989. Possibly best not listened to alone..... 


The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground with Nico

This was their debut album recorded under the sponsorship of Andy Warhol. With its Warhol designed sleeve, and with Nico on board at the artist's insistence, this album could have been construed as a Warhol 'project', but was none the worse for that. Nonetheless, the band loosened ties and emphasised their independence for their second album.


The Velvet Underground - VU

This collection of unreleased Velvets material was welcomed with huge excitement on its release in 1985. There was good reason for this, as the quality of its contents was very high indeed. One could only wonder why songs as good as I Can't Stand It weren't released the first time round.


Lou Reed - New York

Reed's 1989 album was a terrific piece of work, albeit one that was almost unremittingly dark. Many songs (Romeo Had Juliet for example) had a particularly Velvets influenced groove. Optimism was in short supply. See Busload Of Faith and The Great American Whale for proof.   

Steve Earle and the Dukes – Royal Festival Hall - 21^st May 2013

Making a welcome return to London to promote his “The Low Highway” album, Steve Earle initially takes the stage to introduce his support band

The Mastersons, telling us that they’re the best band he’s ever seen. A husband and wife duo comprising Eleanor Whitmore and Chris Masterson, tonight they borrow the Dukes’ rhythm section and make a delightful noise reminiscent of Lone Justice in their prime. Whitmore dedicates one song to “everybody suffering in these down times”. As we will discover, this will be something of a theme for the evening.

When Steve Earle and the Dukes emerge, it transpires that The Mastersons are actually half of the Dukes! They start with the title track of “The Low Highway”, and much of the new album follows. The album is very much influenced by the current hard economic times. Steve explains that Bob Dylan had recreated himself in the image of Woody Guthrie and other songwriters (Earle included) had followed suit. The reason for this is that Dylan and his (and later) generations hadn’t seen hard times like the 1930s. “Now” Steve tells us, “we have”.

However, the subject matter of many of the songs should not distract us from the glorious musical display being provided. I have to agree with Steve’s statement that this is the best band he’s ever fronted. Chris Masterson is a proper lead guitarist who totally owns the stage every time he steps forward to take a solo. Not content with that he also plays sublime pedal steel and (on one occasion) bass. Eleanor Whitmore contributes guitar, some truly incredible fiddle solos, keyboards and vocals. Is there anything that these people can’t do?!! The rhythm section is incredibly tight, with Will Rigby (from The dBs) being very much from the Charlie Watts ‘less-is-more’ school of drumming.

The set is festooned with highlights. For me “Taneytown” and the Stones-y “Calico County” stood out. Apparently Earle is waiting for the call from “Keith” to record the latter! Fan favourites “Guitar Town” and “Copperhead Road” are wisely placed the middle of the set rather than being predictably saved till the end, thus avoiding any potential mid-set ‘sag’. “Remember Me” was particularly moving as it was dedicated to Earle’s young son, who suffers from autism. The Stones’ “Mother’s Little Helper” was an unusual encore choice, and was followed by “Nothing But You”, which is apparently Bob Dylan’s favourite Steve Earle song – as it’s the only one he’s covered!

By the end of the encores, this gig proved itself to be by far the quickest two-and-a-half hours I’ve ever experienced! As always with Steve Earle, there was a broad musical palette on display, ranging from bluegrass to country to rock. A wonderful presentation of gloriously down-at-heel blue collar Americana.

                                                                                                Mark Kelly    

Status Quo – Hammersmith Apollo – 16^th March 2013

View: rear balcony

Twenty-five years ago there appeared to be little prospect of the classic line-up of Status Quo ever sharing a stage again, but here they are again on a UK tour. If that wasn’t enough cause for celebration, they’re basing their set on the classic 1977 “Live” album.

As the lights go down we get Jackie Lynton’s introduction from the aforementioned “Live” album and the band crash into “Junior’s Wailing”. Lancaster and Coghlan look in fine fettle, whilst Rossi and Parfitt seem to be more energised than they have been for years. Rossi’s playing in particular seems to have gone up a couple of levels.

They follow the “Live” album tracklisting for the first five songs before they play “Blue-Eyed Lady” from the “Hello!” album. Then after “Little Lady” and “Most Of The Time” they go well and truly off-piste with “(April) Spring Summer and Wednesdays” from “Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon” and “Railroad” from “Dog Of Two Head”! Outstanding stuff!

“4500 Times” is a highlight, but seems truncated in comparison with the version from the “Live” album. The main set closes with “Down Down” and “Roadhouse Blues”, and the encores of “Don’t Waste My Time” and “Bye Bye Johnny” bring proceedings to a close after one hour and thirty-five minutes.

Tonight emphasises the superiority of the classic line-up of Quo compared to the cabaret line-up that’s been operating for the last quarter-century. This line-up looks hungry and has teeth. I hope they do more. Bring on the Frantic Four!!! 

The Pretty Things – Brighton Komedia – 6^th March 2013

View: Front. Stage right.

Mercifully the ticket prices for The Pretty Things’ 50^th anniversary tour do not reach the stratospheric heights of those for the equivalent gigs of their Dartford cousins The Rolling Stones. However, that is in no way any reflection of the quality of the music on offer as we get a comprehensive tour of the Pretties’ illustrious back catalogue.

They begin with a four song celebration of their early r’n’b days featuring “Honey I Need”, “Buzz The Jerk”, “Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut”, and “Big City”. They clearly haven’t lost their youthful muscle as much of this is pretty brutal.

We then enter the Pretties’ psychedelic era with “Alexandra” from Electric Banana, and a selection of songs from “S.F Sorrow”. This particular album seems to grow in stature with each passing year, although the band considered it to be a failure at the time of its release. The songs now seem so fresh as to be almost timeless. The harmonies in the title song are commendably precise, and Phil May reading out the list of missing in “Private Sorrow” is surprisingly moving. Dick Taylor takes gruff lead vocals for “Baron Saturday”.

The band execute another gear change and present a blues set. Some of this is performed just by Phil May and a seated Dick Taylor who alternates between acoustic slide and an electric three-stringed banjo. They cover “Little Red Rooster”, a song apparently made famous by another Dartford group.

A return is made to the band’s mid-sixties heyday with “Get The Picture” and “Come See Me” before a version of “Mona” extended in a manner reminiscent of The Who’s “Live At Leeds”. “Midnight To Six Man” and LSD conclude the main set which is followed by encores of “Roadrunner”, “Don’t Bring Me Down” and (what else?) “Rosalyn”.

Tonight The Pretty Things not only demonstrate the breadth of their back catalogue but play with an energy that would credit a band a third of their age. In fact age is irrelevant. This is rock and roll, and that’s ageless.