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

Blues-Rock-Til-You-Drop at the Fiddlers

I have to confess I was dreading the soundcheck for the Blues-Rock-Til-You-Drop gig last night; 4 bands, 18 musicians. 1.5 hours. Guitarists plus-plus, Keyboard players times-two. It would have been a total nightmare, if Creak and Dove Jones hadn't boldly forfeited their soundchecks, the former due to the late arrival of their drummer, and the the latter because they are so used to a 'plug and play' approach to gigging.

Thanks to them then, the evening kicked off on time with Bang To Rights' whose take on the blues, included a great rock cover of You Keep Me Hanging On by Diana Ross, before it edged towards that less-well known sub-genre, disco-blues. And why not?

This got Creak thinking that now they were in, and once they were on, their version of the blues could follow this liberal view. Fairly well oiled, as a result of hanging around for about three hours to set foot on stage, they proceeded to romp through a set of blues-rock classics, throwing in the odd T-Rex number - in this case 20th Century Boy - and ending with their customary set-closer Creakin' All Over.

It is always a pleasure to watch my friend Dove Jones performing, and last night he was on fire as usual, offering up a set of blues-covers and throwing in an original at the end for good measure, appropriately entitled I Got The Blues. Imagine Mick Jagger fronting the Stones while playing keyboards and sweating like Joe Cocker at Woodstock, and you get an idea of the energy and passion of Jones's semi-sedentary performance.

It's 11 o'clock before the final act of the night take to the stage. Unfortunately, the room empties by half. It's not personal. It's just bed-time for many of those here, including The Beast. But those who exit don't know what they are about to miss. The Beast come on stage after a twenty year break and play the loudest, ballsiest, filthiest rock set I've heard in a while, crossing the vocals and drums of Led Zep with the dirty blues riffola of early AC/DC.

With 22 paying customers, 18 musicians, 10 or so non-paying barfly regulars, one of which tells me "at last we got some decent music in 'ere", and a few WAGs who blag their way in, there were enough people at the gig that the place wasn't rattling; a handful were even dancing at points during the evening, which was great.

So it was not a great night door-takings-wise. Bar-takings-wise, maybe? But I'm not out of pocket, which is good, and the whole night is worth it simply because it is both a musicians' social-networking opportunity and a chance to hear some great music and see some great musicians play. It was a chance too for some of those who know each other on-line to meet in the real world.

Patrick Begley of the Dipsticks comes down to support his former band-mates, Toby and John from The Beast, and in the process ran into a former brother-in-law, who is drumming for Bang To Rights. Small world. I put two and two together and realise that Maggie Brown for whom Mark McKendrick of the Dipsticks plays bass occasionally, is the backing singer in Dove Jones' band. Small world, again. Stephen Denholm and John from local blues band The Mighty Caretakers are also in attendance. You'll be seeing more of these two in the new year.