The Grapefruits celebrate our 'special relationship' on 4th July at The Comedy

Now Streaming! Two New Songs by 14 Carat Grapefruit

Now streaming! Two brand new songs - 'Tamara Never Comes' and 'Let's Get Fuckin' Pissed' - from the Grapefruits' 'difficult' second album - if it ever comes! Follow this link to the ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-RECORD-SHOP to have a listen.

The band play The Dublin Castle in Camden, London, this coming Wednesday. On stage at a sensible 8pm.

New Gig, New Material, New Grapefruit: 14CG play the Dublin Castle, Camden, 14th March

14 Carat Grapefruit have just announced they will be playing at The Dublin Castle in Camden on 14th March. Expect new material, and a new Grapefruit in the shape of yours truly. More about that soon.

'Porn Star' by 14 Carat Grapefruit

So here it is! 'Porn Star', recorded recently in a porn-dungeon in London's trendy Shoreditch. Follow this link to hear it, and more by the band: http://bit.ly/p93mQi

And don't miss 14CG when they play the Miller in London Bridge on Saturday 10th September.

From Memory Lane to Parkway, via Wardour Street: A roundabout review of Glamweazel and 14 Carat Grapefruit at The Dublin Castle May 2011

Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.

At school and at sixth form college I had a mate who was also the drummer in my band at the time. He was part-Goth, part-New Romantic, and a big Bowie, Toyah,  Japan, Fad Gadget and One The Juggler fan.

We shared a passion for music - not always the same music - and for song lyrics, too, though also not always the same ones. As a result, our friendship had its moments. While I didn't regard myself as a Goth, per se, as you can see from the photograph above, I did wear a lot of black, especially around the eyes, as well as, copious amounts of hairspray; and I liked The Cult's Love album quite a bit, so you can understand why others got this impression. Others, like like my art tutor, who dubbed my friend and I, The Black Hand Gang, which we quite liked.

I've since lost contact with Stuart. He changed his surname (officially, he said) to something more romantic than his family name, which he hated. 'Haze' was his new surname, I think? I remember going to see the goth band he was fronting, as a singer/guitarist, at the Powerhaus in Islington in the early 90s. I don't remember much about it though. I have a terribly vague memory of the 90s - funny that. And the last time I saw him was on Kentish Town Road, hand in hand with his gothic loved-one. I don't remember crossing the road to say 'hello'.

He had a job in Robert Dyas in our home town for a while before he moved to London, where I heard on the grapevine that he now runs, or works, for a web design agency, I can't find him on Facebook, like all those people you really want to know about.

Anyway, one day, during our time at Godalming Sixth Form College ('83-'85), he convinced me to accompany him to the legendary Marquee club, then still in its rightful place in Wardour Street, to see One The Juggler (OTJ). This was probably my first gig in London. I remember seeing Lemmy on the way into the venue by the fruit machine, which is apparently where he could often be seen in the days before YouTube.

Currently residing in the 'Where-are-they-now?' file, back-combed beauties Balaam and the Angel, were the support act that night; All big messy hair (except the guy on the right, obviously), 3/4 length trousers and espadrilles. Stuart and I both stood at the front in awe of these proper musicians, and aspired to their greatness. I don't remember too much about One The Juggler's performance, but I recently had another listen to their songs to jog my terrible memory, and they definitely rang Romany bells.

So fast forward about 26 years and I am running a musicians network for older rock musicians, you know the one, when who should I receive an email from but OTJ guitarist Lushi Lee, AKA Jerry T Jones, who is recording and playing under a new alias Glamweazel, and he's looking for gigs. He promptly sends me his record, which I respectfully put in the window of ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-RECORD-SHOP.

I put him in touch with my good friends Bugbear Promotions at the Dublin Castle, and Bowie's your uncle - they have a gig, at which I introduce myself. Jerry is a lovely guy, still passionate about playing original music, whilst keeping himself busy playing in covers bands. He is still lucky enough to have enough hair to pull off a backcombed mid-80s gypsy/goth look - if that's your thing - and with RayBans and in the right stage light, to resemble a cross between Bob Dylan and John Cooper Clarke.

Last night, he and his band played their second gig at The Dublin, which, while a little less well attended than the first, was still performed with charm and professionalism. And culminated in a rendition of the lighter-waving anthem for the older musicians of the world, active in relative obscurity, Tangle Leads. Jerry also introduced me to another Juggler in the shape of Glamweazel's guitarist Colin Minchin, whose acquaintance it was also a pleasure to make.

One the same bill last night were old friends of RTYD, 14 Carat Grapefruit. The Grapefruits played a set which included a number of new songs: the relatively new and already sticky Porn Star; and the frightening Fat Bloke in The Gym. Brand new were: the rugby supporters anthem Let's Get Fucking Pissed, which asserted itself immediately among the Grapefruits' Greatest Hits, and the brief, yet hilarious, tribute to women's literature Chick Lit, which will likely be featuring as a secret track on the afore mentioned fantasy LP.

As usual, I grinned and laughed the whole way through the set, as did the 50 or so strong audience, which included Liam and Ray from Kryptic Klu. I only wish I had been promoting the gig, because I would have been in a better position to introduce the bands to each other. I always enjoyed that role. Must have got that from my mum. Sadly, the old Dublin Castle In-Out Routine came into play, and the two bands and their fanbases passed like old ships in the Camden night.

The third band of four was a young 3-piece from Portsmouth, whose gig-atmosphere suffered from a mass Grapefruit fans exodus, but who at the same time seemed somewhat relieved that this exodus revealed that there were at least a handful of young people left in the world. They then described the room as having resembled a "mortuary" during the first half of the night, which made me feel old and unwelcome, so at that point I made a discreet exit.

14 Carat Grapefruit & Glamweazel play the Dublin Castle, Camden, this Wednesday 4th May

http://rock-til-you-drop-records.com/fr_14caratgrapefruit

http://rock-til-you-drop-records.com/fr_glamweazel.cfm

14 Carat Grapefruit at The Dublin Castle, Camden, Weds 4th May: A message from Otto Pthrugg

Having had a panic about one of our guitarists being hospitalised with pneumonia, we are good to go on Wednesday next week - the big girl's blouse has pulled himself together!

We have a couple of new songs: "Chick Lit" and "Let's get F*cking P*ssed", as well as the newish "Fat Bloke in the Gym" with new added harmonica bit (if I can remember it!).

We should be on stage at 8.30, so don't be late as we only get 1/2 hour. The promoter says you can still park outside the Dublin Castle for free after 6.30pm on weekdays, but some of the other streets nearby may be different.

It should be the usual deal with £1 off if you come with the flyer, which also lets the promoter know how many people came to see each band.

Cheers,

Otto

14 Carat Grapefruit announce their next gig: 4th May at the Dublin Castle

Posh Totty by 14 Carat Grapefruit

Filmed by Gigvert.com (Liam Barnes/Kryptic Klu)

Close, but no Grapefruit

Otto from 14 Carat Grapefruit wanted to organise a gig for his band at the Dublin Castle in early May, so he sends me an email to see if RTYD wants to sub-promote it. I say "yeah, but no, but..." 'cos I'm tempted, but then I remember that I'm supposed to be trying not to do more than one gig a month this year. It is hard, but I'll get over it. Anyway, in the end, I suggest he contacts Bugbear Promotions (the pub's promoters) directly. I ask him if he'll try and get Pocket Rocket on the bill, and this he kindly agrees to do.

He is successful, I think it's in the bag, I've checked with the band, and I'm ready to pen it onto the calendar, when I realise I can't do it. I'm gonna be coming back from the US a few days before it, I'll be jet-lagged out of my mind, and unrehearsed. There is a recipe for a gig disaster.

In a disappointed yet enthusiastic state, I have since contacted Bugbear, and have pencilled in a new date (30th March - unfortunately without the Grapefruits who will play The Dublin as planned on 4th May) and if it is cushty with the rest of my band, I will endeavour to find another RTYD-associated band to play on the bill.

A couple of photos from last night's 14 Carat Grapefruit & Tres Retros gig at The Comedy

The 2010 ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-AWARDS

I had big plans for the ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-AWARDS this year. I remember planning to get sponsorship, and have more awards. Well, it didn't happen. I sent some emails, got one back from Hiwatt, who seemed a bit interested; Marshall sent me a nice email back, saying thanks but no thanks; and the rest ignored me.

Still, I'm not one to be put off by such things; if I was, I'd have given up making music around 1987 when the demo cassettes started coming back in the post along with xeroxed record company letters 'passing' on them. The show will go on, and the awards will be lovingly handcrafted and the engraved brass plaques will be funded by the 'firm', just as they were last year. The ERNIE BALL-ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-AWARDS sounds shit anyway. (The ROTOSOUND-ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-AWARDS sounds okay, though -Ed). (Fuck off - Author).

Last year's deserving winners of a 'Coffin' (so-called because that is indeed the shape of the award) were Creak for Best Band, 14 Carat Grapefruit for Best CD (Long Time Coming), Punks Not Dad for Best Song (In Me Shed), The Joint, Kings Cross, for Best Rehearsal Studio and the Dublin Castle, Camden, for the Best Venue.

 

I haven't decided how and when to present the Coffins this year, but I'm a few weeks ahead of where I was last year, so I'm not panicking. Quite yet. Gotta source some wood first, preferably oak...um, floorboards, like last year. No, they looked good, ask any of the winners, who incidentally are currently residing in the where are they now? file, where all award winners end their careers.

Of course that's not true. I know, cos they're all playing in December. See the RTYD Calendar for more details.

Voting link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NJR8C56

A short review: PUNK-ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP at The Dublin Castle

Wednesday night was PUNK-ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP night at The Dublin Castle. 14 Carat Grapefruit, Punks Not Dad and The Stabilisers came out to play, plus post-punk, new dads on the block, Live Wires.

14 Carat Grapefruit were first on stage and attracted the biggest crowd of the night, delighting them with their mix of filth (I refer specifically to their new song Porn Star), insult and bigotry. I'm still laughing! And I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen them play. It's got to be more times than Pavement now.

Last Christmas Punks Not Dad had to cancel appearance at PRTYD because of snow storms in Wales, where 3/4 of the band live, so it has been a year or so since we've seen them in London. Tonight they are less than ten days away from their Glastonbury debut, which is really exciting, as is the news that the Times article is due to be appear in the paper the same week. They played new material including a song about Tescos, their new single the IKEA-inspired I Can't Get It Up, and a cover of Jeff Beck's (correct me, if I'm wrong) Hi-Ho Silver Lining, re-titled Hi-Ho Silver Surfer! Always a pleasure to have them down from Wales, and in Johnny Cardigan's case, up from Brighton.

The Stabilisers, who have already played more gigs than Quo this year - you didn't realise Quo were still touring did you? Well, they haven't stopped since 1968. And it is they, of course, who have an album called Rock 'Til You Drop. Good name for a mature musicians' network, that). Where was I? The Stabilisers. As professional as ever. With that 'Jimmy' song, not Page or Hendrix or Pursey or Choo or Young, but White, no less. And why not?

And so, Live Wires. I haven't mentioned that, by now, we are running late and Live Wires are understandably anxious to get on stage. I am not Mr Popular, as I lose myself in the enjoyment of the evening, as well as, sight of stage times. Also, as each band leaves the stage, a small-portion of the audience leaves the room never to return. Live Wires are left with the dregs: Tox, Otto, Matt Russell (Outbursts), Istvanski, Simon and Jon Stabiliser, and me, and an enthusiastic handful of curious indie kids from the bar, who they proceed to impress enough to get an 'encore'. I like these guy, Live Wires, I mean. They bring a flavour of Wire and early Magazine to the punk club, as well as one word song-titles like Sublimate and Attitude. In one word song title - Brilliant.

To view videos from the gig go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/RockTilYouDropVideos, where you will also find a couple of songs by The Outbursts, represented on Wednesday night by bassist Matt. These two new original songs were filmed during their appearance at Peter Parker's Rock 'n' Roll club, a few weeks back. All I'll say is: don't play 'em to the kids!

Cheers, T.

The Times they-are-a-writing

It's 6am on Saturday morning, and this is the first time since Thursday that I've had to sit down and blog. Which is good, of course, because it is a sign that I am busy. And I like to be busy.

I'm always worried about the ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP nights at Fiddler's because, for whatever reason, people don't flock to them. The venue is five minutes from Chalk Farm tube, past The Enterprise pub, and down Crogsland Road, NW1, but this seems to be too far for many, or simply venturing into the 'unknown'. And as you know, most people don't like the 'unknown'. Those that do venture there, discover a great venue, with a good stage, sound and layout, and friendly staff. So I do hope it gains popularity. It deserves to.

Anyway, Thursday night's gig at the Fiddler's was made a bit special by the arrival on Thursday afternoon of an email from a young journalist from The Times, who wanted to talk to me about a piece she is intending to write on mature musicians, and to attend the gig with a photographer. Fantastic! We all know there's a great story in 'mature musicians'. It was just a matter of time before someone had the enthusiasm to write it. Apparently, another London promoter had given our young journalist, Mary, a heads-up about ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP, and being a musician herself she was sufficiently intrigued to listen to music by some of the bands associated with site. She said she was so impressed by what she heard, she felt there was a good story in it; a story about what motivates the mature musician to continue making music past the point that they are too old to 'make it'.

Man! My specialised subject. So I rang Mary and she interviewed me for 25 minutes. I couldn't say enough. I was virtually gushing. She was already aware of 14 Carat Grapefruit and Punks Not Dad, who she had already emailed but was was keen to come down to the Fiddler's to talk to, and photograph, more mature musicians and bands. And she came! Remember the days when you put A&R and journalists on the guest list, and they didn't turn up!

She came down with two associates, one a photographer, and so I fed her mature musicians throughout the night, and she proceeded to take them to a quiet place and eat them. I mean, interview them.
 
First I introduced Mary to Phil Ram of The Great Outdoor Experience, whose story, as some of you may know, includes a short spell in punk band The Vibrators in the early 80s. Tox from 14 Carat Grapefruit came down to show his support and was happy to talk, so I introduced him next. Then it was Luke Toms, who was playing with his band The Luke Toms Vanity Project. Now, Luke also has an interesting story, because he had a contract with a major record company (I think it was Virgin), for whom he made an album that was then 'shelved', and has never been released. I'd put him in his mid 30s. And finally, I sent in Conal Cunningham who fronts Loose Fruit Museum, the headlining band, which is remarkable for fact that they have been going, with various personnel changes since the 80s, or was it the 90s? A long time anyway.

I have to confess I was buzzing about it all. Even the next day.

Anyway, more about the gig in my next blog. There are a few photos here. And I have videos to post to YouTube.

Photos taken at 14 Carat Grapefruit's ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP gig at The Miller, London Bridge.

Probing Cranks

The Remnants

14 Carat Grapefruit

The 2009 ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP Awards

2009 is the first full year of ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP's existence. For those who didn't know, it all started one autumnal evening early in October 2008. So it only seemed right that we celebrate the scene we have created for ourselves by presenting a series of awards for bands, venues and studios voted for by members of the network.

The presentations were made at The Hope & Anchor in Islington last week midway through the Xmas-Rock-Til-You-Drop gig. My good friend, AXE-FM DJ and respected RTYD member, Colin Gillman opened the envelopes, announced the winners and presented the awards.

There were five categories: Best Band, Best Song, Best CD, Best Rehearsal Studio and Best Venue. The winner in each category was to receive a solid oak coffin-shaped award with engraved plaque.

Ben Ellis collected the award for Best Rehearsal Studio on behalf of The Joint in King's Cross.

The award for Best Venue went to The Dublin Castle and was collected by Bugbear employee Marcie. Sorry, no pickie of Marcie.

The award for Best Song went to Punks Not Dad for the excellent and hilarious In Me Shed. Unfortunately, due to a severe weather warning that night in Wales the band were unable to play the gig. But Otto Pthrugg of 14 Carat Grapefruit was happy to accept the Coffin on their behalf, if only for the opportunity to publicly slag them off for being frightened of "a little bit of snow".

14 Carat Grapefruit won the award for Best CD with their brilliant LP Long Time Coming, which they have been generously distributing free to those who have attended their gigs this year. You can listen to some of it at the ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-RECORDS store here.

The award for Best Band went to London covers-band Creak. Paul Rodger and Paul Stansfield, singer and drummer respectively, stepped up to collect the award on behalf of the whole band. Creak's line-up which was in a state of flux ealier this year has settled to include (another!) Paul on guitar, Vladi on lead and Pete on bass. The boys have worked very hard on the live circuit this year and are reaping the rewards now. They are even getting paid to play the occasional gig! I had the pleasure of seeing the boys play for RTYD earlier in the month and they certainly do put on a good show.


Next year, more categories, more awards, and sponsorship.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Toby

14 Carat Grapefruit close the Xmas-Punk-Rock-Til-You-Drop gig

So we opened with the Stabilisers, then came the presentation of the 2009 RTYD Awards (news of this in the next post), which was followed by The Outbursts and that punch. Punch of the year. There's a new category of award for 2010; along with Man of the Year, as suggested by Colin Gillman, who of course aims to win that one.

And last up, finally, at gone 11pm comes the patient and slightly gig-weary 14 Carat Grapefruit. No band likes this slot, but they have to play it 'cos their bass player Lem has another commitment that evening which means he can't play an earlier slot. Whenever they play, they never disappoint though. According to Otto's recent blog on the gig, he forgot the words to the opening number, which was their very own Christmas song. Hilarious it is, of course. I didn't notice any cock-up. I, like many around me, was probably too busy laughing.

The audience has shrunk to a meagre ten or so people, but 14 Carat always don't seem to care. We don't either. We feel lucky.

This is the end of a busy year for The Grapefruit. Word is that they're gonna play a little less in the new year. But they tell me the experience of working so hard in 2009 has been beneficial to the band as a whole, and has also served to strengthen the commitment and conviction of those who may have felt any ambivalence about being a part of it.

The band run through all the faves. And try to leave the stage without Otto doing a rendition of I Got A Little List. He is not allowed to leave the legendary basement venue without delivering. And I am honoured to be included in his list of the loathsome, in my capacity as the promoter who puts his band on long after the majority of punters have begun their journeys home.


Otto kindly gives me an inflatable pink guitar that I bring home for my daughter. She is delighted. She takes it to primary school the next day and begins spreading the word about 14 Carat Grapefruit in the playground there. Imagine them doing matinee performances like The Pistols used to do for the school-age kids! There's a thought.

14 Carat Grapefruit go down like a led zeppelin

Not the band, but the airship made of lead.

The early part of my Thursday evening was spent reminiscing and projecting in the company of Patrick Begley of the Dipsticks at the Spread Eagle pub in Camden, which was a pleasure, and then it was up to the The Enterprise in Chalk Farm, where 14CG were playing for LondonTourdates. I hadn't set foot upstairs there for over 10 years. It now has a stage with lights and a small PA. With its red velvet curtains, I felt a bit like walking into a scene from a David Lynch movie. The band playing as I walk in are Eights 'n' Aces. As in Guns 'n' Roses, and The New York Dolls. They are great if a little too in-yer-face for such an intimate space.

After an interview for LondonTourdates, 14CG take the stage and open with the a cappella Costas. It was clear from the off, that they, those few gathered here, weren't getting it. Now I can't understand how you can see 14 Carat Grapefruit as anything other than hilarious. But they could. I was laughing; Ande and Andy, of Milk Roar and Probing Cranks, respectively, were laughing. And we've heard the jokes numerous times before. But much of the room was not. The awkward silences between songs didn't help, as these left room for Otto's newest admirer to voice her disapproval of what she apparently considered to be racist and sexist lyrical content.

My guess is that Olive from On The Buses as she was dubbed by the band, doesn't care to know about 14CG's appearance at the Xmas Punk-Rock-Til-You-Drop night at the Hope & Anchor on 17th December. Just a guess.

12 Mince Pies and 14 Carat Grapefruit

Those mince pies have been playing on my mind since Morrisons put them out last week. 'It's too bloody early for mince pies, it's still October', I kept telling myself. Yesterday morning though, I just couldn't hold off any longer. I had a dozen in my trolley before I'd reached the fruit and veg.

So yesterday I ate my first mince pie of the year. And yesterday night I heard my first Christmas song of the year. Courtesy of 14 Carat Grapefruit. If you don't know them, you should. Their songs are rock rants and raves about tarts and posh birds, Scotsmen and Yorkshiremen, Colins and Daves, clergy and hippies, teenagers and modern technology. Virtually no one or nothing is left off 14 Carat Grapefruit's lyrical list of the loathsome.

Just off the far east end of London's Oxford Street, which incidentally already has its Christmas lights in place, if not illuminated, there is a basement club/lounge bar called Punk. No toilet, it is quite respectable, a bit posh even, for a music venue. Tuesday nights there are promoted by Dead or Alive Promotions who also put on gigs at The Comedy, off Leicester Square, as well as at other venues in the capital. This is where I cycle to see 14 Carat Grapefruit.

14 CG take the stage at 8:15. Despite it being a Tuesday night, they are playing to enough of a crowd to make it feel worth while; for them I mean - it's always worthwhile watching them. They are the first of four bands. They are not bothered about headlining, about bill-status, they're bothered about playing regularly, and to their fans. Many of their friends and fans work in the West End and the City, so going on early not only assures that they get to see them in a high-spirited after-work-drinks kinda-situation, but also that the band themselves aren't all too pissed to deliver a good performance.


They are a little ragged tonight, but this is not unusual and is all part of their charm and punkness. There are a few false starts, mostly the result of technical problems caused by what lead-ranter Otto Pthrugg (above) describes as the "IKEA house drum kit", but then musical tightness is not what they're about. Musicianship, I'm sure Otto would tell you, is for musicians, and musicians are all a bunch of righteous and lazy c#*ts. And he wouldn't be exaggerating that much, would he?

They kick off with three newer songs. The first, My Mate Dave, is an attack on Otto's mate Dave, a new-age hippy-type, who despite a diet of health foods, is always unwell. Everyone knows someone like this. Second is Volvo Driving Woman, which finds Otto at his most belligerent yet and sitting at the wheel of his car which is stuck in a car-park queue behind the female protagonist who is attempting to park said vehicle. He is helped in this rendition by a car steering wheel apparently recently acquired on Ebay. A 51-second two-chord wonder follows, and ends with Otto berating his band for always overruling his authority. This leads to string of old favourites including Minger, 40 years, Posh Totty and the afore-mentioned Christmas song.

As well as making me laugh, their Christmas song starts me reflecting on what a good year 2009 has been for 14 Carat Grapefruit. And it ain't over yet. They have a gig at The Enterprise in Chalk Farm for London Tourdates and a Christmas PUNK-ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP gig at the legendary Hope and Anchor, with Punks Not Dad, to come.

The Grapefruit are where what many of us hope to be. They have achieved what many of us aim to achieve. And that is simply to play regularly -they play about once a month. And they don't just look like they're enjoying it - they are enjoying it. And we, the audience, are enjoying ourselves because they are.

After their set, I cycle home for an early night and a mince pie, or two.

TV Smith and Gaye Advert at the punk ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP gig

There was a rumour that Tim Smith (AKA TV Smith, former front-man for The Adverts) and Gaye Advert (former bassist) were coming to watch Punks Not Dad at the punk Rock-Til-You-Drop gig at The Dublin Castle last night.

This rumour became a likely event about 8pm when I added their names to the guest list. And the likely event became a reality, when they walked into the pub about 9pm.

The Adverts are my favourite punk band. At secondary school, just before I belatedly discovered The Doors and decided I wanted to be Jim Morrison, I wanted to be TV Smith. I prized myself into the tightest drainpipes, bought the skinniest black ties and made my own badges like he did from newspaper headlines, in order to think, and feel something like I thought TV Smith did - which was probably quite uncomfortable, especially around the groin.

I wanted to write songs using the kind of imagery that TV Smith did. I was into all things apocalyptic back then and his lyrics always really inspired me to write more songs about, what in the early 80s appeared to be, inevitable Armageddon. And this was before I could even play guitar. I didn't have to know what his words meant, I just knew they sounded cool. I even called my first band and proper song, which included a bar-chord progression, 'Subterranean', after this line in The Drowning Men from 'Crossing The Red Sea with The Adverts'.

We're the subterranean vandals,
Tying air lines around door handles.

I like this one too:

The mutant freaks fantastical.
Knife's edge, unreal or actual.
Ambition stunted, the future fated.

(© TV Smith)

Having once before stood only six feet away from Tim at a back-stage bar, and on that occasion not plucked up the courage to say hello, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity last night. Anyway, this time I had a good reason, as promoter of the act he and Gaye had come to see, to introduce myself. Which I did.

Both Tim and Gaye we're lovely and were happy to pose for a photograph with me, which was sweet, and also meant I didn't need to Photoshop one up this morning.

The gig:

The gig itself was a real hoot and another great opportunity to socialise with active members of the RTYD network. The night opened with a storming set by South London three piece Probing Cranks, whose sound seems to owe something to the likes of The Stranglers and Killing Joke. They were followed by Punks Not Dad, who did not disappoint. They played all the faves, including In Me Shed, We Are The Dads and of course, Gaye Advert's Eyes, as well as their newest song I Can't Get It Up. They even bought a piece of IKEA furniture for the audience to assemble and graffiti during the latter song, which was a nice touch.

Although Punks Not Dad would have been a hard act for most bands to follow, 14 Carat Grapefruit managed to equal the entertainment value of their comic-punk allies. They unveiled two new songs My Mate Dave and a two-chord wonder, written especially for the occasion, and Otto Pthrugg had us in stitches all over again, ranting and raving his way through songs from the band's album Long Time Coming.

The Outbursts also put in a fantastic performance playing their own brand of garage punk with menace. Lead singer and keen fisherman Ian put in a suitably snarling vocal performance, and new-boy, guitarist Neale, played like he had been in the band for years.

DJ Dog-Headed Men entertained us between bands with quirky cover versions of punk classics, like To Drunk To Fuck and Gary Gilmore's Eyes, in bossanova and easy-listening styles, which added even more humour to the ocassion.

Great night, great bunch of people.

We must do it again, before too long.