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.

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 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

Review: Pocket Rocket & Dipsticks at the Dublin Castle this week.

Always a pleasure to play with those erstwhile late-70s-Carol Street squatters, The Dipsticks. And nice to hear them through a full PA. We, Pocket Rocket, tonight appearing under the pseudonym Penile Rectum, also enjoyed the blue-mooner that is playing through a decent PA and staring into the pretty lights. I do like the colourful, semi-blinding, lights - they help me warm up and relax.

Attendance was helped by at least a dozen Dipsticks fans and half a dozen PocRoc ones - a handful of the former with their dancing shoes on, which is always nice to see. DJ Dog-Headed Men provided the between set soundtrack, which was, as always, an aural delight, and headline act The London Undaground, who sounded like a cross between Talking Heads, the Blockheads and Calvin Harris were thoroughly entertaining, too.

We soldier on around the toilet circuit averaging a fanbase of about seven people. Maybe it's time I  reconsidered my opposition to courting brands and corporate sponsorship.

Hanx!

Just a quick thanks or hanx! to all who came down to the Dublin Castle and made it such a successful night. I have plenty to say about it, just not the time to do so right now. Will report back soon.

Reasons to be absent, Part 3

So I got another night for Rock-Til-You-Drop at the the Dublin Castle. Scraped it, though. Not the monthly club that I was hoping for, but another night, all the same. Another chance. In June.

About 70 people came through the door there on Wednesday night and had a great night. For an opening night though, that had had press in The Metro, The Times and the Camden local press, this was a bit disappointing.

The second band didn't bring anyone, so that was a bit annoying. I didn't want to have to rely on the bands to bring people, but now I realise that I have to, to a large extent - in the early days at least. Naively, I thought the idea of a club where older musicians and music fans could feel at home, would be enough to get loads of people out that wouldn't normally come out.

I am a dreamer.

Those that came had fun though, and by the end, thanks to the wonderful I, Thalamus and their 30-something fans, the place was jumping. We had a fantastic MC in Mr Dove Jones, and an equally impressive DJ, in the shape and sound of DJ Dog-Headed Men, who kept them dancing, as well as appealing to the nostalgists among us. All the bands were professional in their approach to soundcheck and performance and were a pleasure to work with, too.

It's all very well having an on-line community though, but a physical one is harder to create.
The problem is the original one. The one about getting older and continuing to make music. Remember? The whole basis and inspiration for Rock-Til-You-Drop.

It gets harder, the older you get to continue to make music, and support others making music.

Here are some of the reasons:

You are tired. You want an early night.

You've had a hard day at the office, you're fucked.

It's too far to travel.

It's raining.

You're not in the mood.

You're not drinking this week.

You'd have to go on your own 'cos your mate's not coming out.

You've got a meeting or a presentation the next day.

You'd have to get the train home and you wouldn't be in 'til gone midnight and you gotta be up at 5:30 the next day.... you can't afford to look and feel like a pile of shit.

You've already been out once this week / you're going out later this week, so another night might not go down so well with the wife.

(please send more reasons)

To overcome these excuses/obstacles, perhaps we need a weekend daytime gig - a family-friendly event. (Leave it to me, I'm going to Oxford next week to try and organise just the thing)

I know that older music fans and musicians are harder to get out. This is why they don't have a scene of their own. That is why so many musicians give up.

No audience. No outlet. No point.

It was fun while it lasted, but I'm too old for all that now. Besides, I got a beergut. I ain't got any hair left....

Tonight's the night

So tonight is Rock-Til-You-Drop at the Dublin Castle. Hopefully there'll be a good turn out and it will go monthly from May.

Rehearsal was frustrating Monday night. Nigel said the atmosphere was more tense than usual. That was probably my mood prevailing. I was less than impressed that a certain guitar solo hadn't been worked out properly so a certain song could be included in a certain set at the Dublin Castle. And I just felt worn down by endlessly tweeking age-old songs to get them right.

The problem lies in differences in each band member's rehearsal requirements. Nigel wants to rehearse more often. Mike would rather rehearse less often. Lex can't afford it.

I just want everyone to be happy (typical, and not that helpful, really)

And to do their homework and remember what they've worked out at previous rehearsals.

Sorry

The Times they are a-featuring rock-til-you-drop.com

One week to go before Rock-Til-You-Drop's night at the Dublin Castle. Today the site got a mention in The Times. While it wasn't that large a feature (that's cos it was small) it was the first time in a national newspaper; my dad would be proud of me, and mum, of course. I wouldn't listen to my parent's advice to work on establishing a career to fall back on, so here I am. A self-employed drug addiction treatment co-ordinator (a chanced-upon arbitrary career path), a practising artist (not having had a solo show yet or sold a piece of work in 9 months), the founder of social network (so far no more than a vast act of altruism), an amateur (i.e. non-professional) musician, and a house-husband and school-runner (no complaints about the latter). Always busy but not earning very much. My wife is the bread-winner. She is the one who has so kindly let me spend some time finding myself....again?

When I worked full-time at the clinic I used to use this to define myself in social situations. As I still work occasionally for clinic, albeit in a freelance capacity, I still take this course of action from time to time, if someone asks me what I do; as they did the other night at a fancy dress party that I had half-heartedly dressed up for by applying an adhesive handle-bar moustache and donning a military cap, to achieve a look like something out of Woody Allen's film Bananas.
I couldn't say I was a web entrepeuner, could I? or the founder of a social network....that makes no money? Not in that moustache anyway. So I said I was a drug addiction treatment co-ordinator. That always sets them off, anyway.

Anyway, The Times. That's a result.

Four weeks...

Four weeks 'til the first Rock-Til-You-Drop live event at the Dublin Castle on 11th March. Flyers are going out to rehearsal rooms and musical equipment shops. Posters are going up too, here and there. Press releases are going out to the weeklies and the dailies.

The monthlies ignored me. Except the musicians' magazine Play Music Pick-up, that is. Turns out the editor Tim Slater is a mature musician himself so that was a touch. The club got a mention in the Camden New Journal today. And the Camden Gazette have promised a feature - so that's a start.